Canku Ota

 

(Many Paths)

 
 

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

 
 

January 27, 2001 - Issue 28

 
 

 
     

Ka-Hay. Sho'o Daa' Chi

 means “Hello!”

 

Crow

"mkokisis"

Month of the Bear

Potawatomi

"In our story of Creation, we talk about each one of us having our own
path to travel, and our own gift to give and to share. You see, what we
say is that the Creator gave us all special gifts; each one of us is
special. And each one of us is a special gift to each other because
we've got something to share."

--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG

We Salute
Wateca Singers

I had the honor and distinct pleasure of meeting and spending some time with these fine young people and their chaperones in D.C. An awe-inspiring representation of Lakota youth and the Rosebud Reservation. It is my opinion; that these children were the pride of all Indian nations during the inaugural festivities.

 

The information here will include items of interest for and about Native American schools. If you have news to share, please let us know! I can be reached by emailing: Vlockard@aol.com

 

Artist:
Joanne Shenandoah

Oneida Nation member Joanne Shenandoah has been nominated for the first ever Native GRAMMY award.

Ms. Shenandoah is one of five finalists for the award, the highest honor bestowed upon musicians by the National Academy for the Recording Arts. The presentations of the GRAMMYS will take place February 21 in Los Angeles, California.

 

King's Dream Touched Many on Reservations

I don't remember when I first heard Dr. Martin Luther's King Jr.'s preacher-like voice. I don't remember when I first saw him, with his raised fist, before the television camera. I do remember watching him march arm-in-arm with other civil rights activists. I do remember that he showed up as often in the media as did Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.

 

     

Log to Become "Rite of Passage" Canoe

Yesterday, it was still a log, albeit a majestic log -- 750 years old and 41 feet long, smelling sweetly of its cut cedar base and a smudge of burning sage.

Children from Seattle's Alternative School No. 1 crowded around the rough wooden trunk as it rested at their Northgate schoolyard yesterday.

They were told that Haida carver Robert Peele would carve a canoe from the log over the next six months -- not creating the canoe, so much, as liberating the shape the log was born to become.

 

Northwest Tribes Turn Treatment Center Into National Model

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations is rapidly expanding its substance abuse treatment services to Indian children throughout the nation.

Nestled on 38 wooded acres on the outskirts of Spokane, the Healing Lodge is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization operated by the Spokane, Kalispel, Colville, Umatilla, Kootenai, Coeur d'Alene and Nez Perce tribes.

The 30-bed residential chemical dependency Youth Primary Regional Treatment Center is dedicated to helping Native American youth and their families heal from the trauma of alcohol and drug abuse.

 

     

Fishing in Two Worlds

Chris Williams is a fish person.

A member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the 20-year-old grew up salmon fishing, learning from his grandfather the craft that is central to his tribe's culture and religion.

 

Former 10K Gold Medalist at Chinle

Billy Mills' motto is "Follow Your Dreams." In direct eye contact with Chinle High School students, Mills said, "Follow your dreams. Dreams do come true."

He said the road to success is difficult. "Set a goal. When you accomplish the goal, set another goal," he stated. "Be focused, be ready to accept the challenges."

 

     

Airy Inspiration

The Anchorage author of a beginners' book on the Native American flute has a piece of advice that may seem unusual: You don't need his book, or any book, to learn the flute. Just do what he did: pick one up and play.

"Anyone who's willing to blow it a few months will be able to make music out of it," says Anchorage musician Tim "WindWalker" Crawford.

 

Indian Humor Belies the Stoic Stereotype

Flip through any 19th-century collection of American Indian portraits and you'll see many images of stereotypical Native Americans: the serious expression of Sitting Bull; a warrior whose eyes avoid the camera, chin tilted forward in a gesture of nobility; children wearing the military uniforms of a government boarding school.

 

     

She's Got the Book on Oneidas

Just inside the boundaries of the ancient Oneida Indian territory is a treasure-trove of books on Indian art, history and law.

The shelves of the semiprivate Oneida Indian library are stacked with at least 200 American Indian art books, many of which are catalogs from exhibits on jewelry, photography, pottery and painting. Some are out of print.

A rolling cart carries newly printed books on Iroquois culture, Indian sovereignty, the Treaty of Canandaigua, even a book that attempts to expose the leadership of the Pequot Indian Nation as fraudulent.

 

Navajo Language Course Offered to New Mexico State University Students

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- New Mexico State University students can take advantage of a language program not offered at most universities.

Two Dine language classes, beginning and advanced, are being offered this semester to students at NMSU. According to Dolly Manson-Montoya, a Navajo and the instructor of the classes, Dine is the name for the Navajo language.

 

     

O'odham Plan to Hit Airwaves on New Station

The Tohono O'odham Nation expects to break ground by March for a $1.2 million radio station, and its disc jockeys hope to hit the airwaves by July.

The 100,000-watt station will be heard throughout the 2.8 million-acre reservation west of Tucson, an area roughly the size of Connecticut.

KOHN, 91.9-FM, also will be heard in the Tucson metropolitan area, Florence, Coolidge and Gila Bend. It will offer talk shows as well as native O'odham "chicken scratch" and rock music for a young audience. Half the people living on the reservation are younger than 25.

 

Indian Musician Adds Show

More than 800 Native American students from throughout the region will take their school lessons to the pulsing of drums inside the Alberta Bair Theater on Friday, January 19.

The inventive alternate to the traditional classroom is to be one of the best-attended offerings of the ABT’s 2000-01 Programs for Schools and Educators.

On Friday, January 19, nearly 2,500 area students will be among three audiences to see Robert Mirabal, the 1999 New Age Artist of the Year. The Pueblo Indian from Taos, N.M., will present “Taos Tales,” with his 12-member company.

 

     

School to Give Net Access to Tribes

The University of California at San Diego is providing high-speed wireless Internet access to three North County American Indian reservations, and wants to expand the fledgling project to include other tribes.

The university is using $2.3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation to create the prototype wireless network, known as the high-performance wireless research and Education Network.

The network will connect reservations, ecological field stations, earthquake sensors and astronomical observatories to the Internet. These remote locations have limited or no access to cable, phone and power lines, all major ingredients of the Internet.

 

Tribal Members Conduct Moose Census

INDIAN TOWNSHIP, Maine — They are the giants of the forest, and during the past week, Passamaquoddy Tribe planners had the opportunity to see how many inhabit tribal lands.

Wildlife biologist Joe Kemmer, along with two tribal members, went moose hunting Wednesday. But instead of guns, they were armed with notebooks and maps.

Their mission was to conduct an aerial survey of the moose that range over the 23,000 acres owned by the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Washington County.

 

     

Appleseed Foundation

In 1993, members of a law school class decided to do something very different for their reunion.

As seasoned attorneys, they recognized a serious breach in access to justice for all - and wanted to do something about it, beyond what had been done before.

This idealism and ambition led launched an organization -- The Appleseed Foundation -- that would seed a new model of public interest advocacy across the country.

The Appleseed Foundation's mission is to effect and enable constructive systemic change leading to a more just, equitable, and sustainable society.

 

Statement for World Peace and Prayer Day 2001

For the sake of future generations, we have come to this place of great urgency!

When I was twelve years old, words of prophecies were instilled in me by our Spiritual Elders of that time, concerning drastic changes that would come to all life upon Mother Earth. These changes are here with us today. I was told that a sign of these changes called the cross-roads would come to pass when the spirit of the White Buffalo Calf Woman would once again stand upon Mother Earth, which I never believed that I would witness. The first white buffalo was born in 1994 and since then eight have been born.

 

     

About This Issue's Greeting - "Ka-Hay. Sho'o Daa' Chi"

 

In traditional and contemporary Crow culture, it is customary to greet each other with a quick glance away or a blink and nod of the head. If they are wearing a hat, they might tip the brim of the hat. Handshaking is a white man's custom and was only recently accepted as a greeting in Crow culture. You will rarely see Crow people embracing publicly. From: Vincent Goes Ahead, Jr., Museum Tour Content

This Date In History

 

Recipe: Buffalo

 

Story: Legend of the Jumping Mouse

 

What is this: Jumping Mouse

 

Project: Earth Pigment Painting

 

This Issue's Web sites

 

     

Opportunities

"OPPORTUNITIES" is from sources distributed nationally and includes scholarships, grants, internships, fellowships, and career opportunities as well as announcements for conferences, workshops and symposia.

 

 
     
 

 
     
 

 
  Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107.  
     
 

Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry.

 
     

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