Canku Ota - June 29, 2002

Athabascan Language Conference Opens The haunting strains of a potlatch prayer song, led in a strong voice by its composer Jerry Isaac of Tanacross, opened the Athabascan Languages Conference Sunday afternoon. About a dozen of Isaac's relatives and friends sang with him before almost 150 linguists, Athabascan speakers, educators and policy makers gathered in the UAF Wood Center ballroom.		Joining Two Worlds Starlight Benally, a 13-year-old eighth grade student, pounded the tightly woven maroon-colored churro yarn against the strands of white yarn with her wooden batting stick as she sat in front of a loom. Benally, a participant in the Indohoo'aah summer program, is weaving her first rug in a Monument Valley High School classroom. "It's fun," Benally said shyly. "I sold my first sash belt in Oregon."

Columnist Encourages Native American Students to Tell Their Stories Syndicated columnist George Benge urged Native students to pursue careers in journalism, where American Indians are underrepresented and their stories are often inaccurately told. Native journalists have the ability to "tell it from the heart and to tell it from the head," Benge, a Cherokee, told a group of Native college students attending the Freedom Forum's American Indian Journalism Institute at the University of South Dakota.		Native American Journalists Hone Skills For Pine Ridge native Tasiyagnunpa Livermont, a three-week American Indian Journalism Institute course is a chance to pursue an ideal. "I've always like writing, and I'm addicted to the truth," said Livermont, a South Dakota State University journalism student and one of 26 Native American students enrolled in the class. "I think it's important just having a native or other minority in the newsroom. You make people stop and think. You're right there, you're in their face," she said. "I think it helps keep them honest. I think it contributes to the truth."

College Graduates Praise Success that Comes with Education Kester Tapaha, a native of Montezuma Creek, Utah, said his purpose in life is to reach out to Navajos to let them know they can achieve. Recently Tapaha, 34, earned his master's degree in rehabilitation counseling from San Diego University and his goal is to complete his credentials in school counseling.		Oglala Lakota College to Graduate Largest Class Ever Oglala Lakota College will graduate 148 students on Sunday, June 23, the largest graduating class in the school's history. Buffy Sainte-Marie, a longtime activist, entertainer and founder of the Cradleboard Teaching Project, will give the keynote speech at Sunday's graduation.

Oglala Code Talker Last Link to History Since 1968, the world has known that American Indian code talkers helped Allied forces win World War II by transmitting strategic military messages in their native languages. But 30 years later, many people still believe all code talkers were Navajo. They have been honored with congressional medals, and they're the focus of a new movie, "Windtalkers," released last Friday.		The Littlest Code Talker Brandon Roberts will soon realize the magnitude of his part in a major Hollywood production based on the Navajo Code Talkers. Roberts celebrated his fifth birthday on Sunday. By Friday, Navajos across the nation will see the 5-year-old Navajo on the silver screen during his acting debut in Windtalkers.

As Old Friends, Tlingits Bid Farewell to Orphaned Orca Booming drums and undulating chants briefly drowned out the TV news copter hovering nearby. Red-and-black cloaks bejeweled with abalone shell-buttons and geometric renderings of whales shielded from view the half-dozen boats that buzzed around the little orca -- a rehearsal for today's attempted capture.		Learning about 'the Rez' Each of the three young nursing students has a stethoscope draped around her neck. They're trying to be inconspicuous on this morning at the Coeur d'Alene Tribal Wellness Center. But they feel so white. "You kind of feel like the minority here," says 23-year-old Lisa Spitzer.

Honor, Heritage Of Navajo Code Notah Begay III paused on the practice range at the TPC at River Highlands Tuesday. The man whose first name means "almost there" in Navajo needed a moment. "I never met my grandfather because he died before I was born," Begay said. "It doesn't change a thing, though. I'm so proud of him. "He's always there with me." His grandfather, Notah Begay, was one of about 375 Navajo code talkers recruited during World War II.		Mountain Horse Song Set for Rodeo Finals A small crowd lined the gate leading to Arena 1 at McGee Park Wednesday, listening to the rehearsal of the Four Sacred Mountains Horse Song, which will be sung during the National High School Finals Rodeo. The blessing is a warpath song which will be performed at 8:30 a.m. July 22, right before the opening ceremonies for the rodeo. "We were asked by the National High School Rodeo Association to provide something with the Navajo culture in it and to include them in everything we could," said Tres Rios Executive Director ElizaBeth Scott.

Fun is Academic at College Camp OK, so the beds are uncomfortable and the dorm food may be just a little too healthy for teenage taste buds. But more than 30 high school students from area Indian reservations are in Pullman this week for a taste of college life -- and that's just what they're getting at Washington State University. They're also trying out classes in engineering and communication, two fields in which Native Americans are underrepresented.		Conference Breathes Life Into Native American Languages "Makke amakma polsonmak" ... meaning "colors of our people," these words, reborn out of a language not spoken fluently for over 70 years, finally reached ears at a conference Saturday to revive California Native American languages on the brink of extinction. The Breath of Life Conference, held every other year since 1995 at UC Berkeley, seeks to provide resources and help to those trying to learn California Native American languages. The languages explored are either difficult to research or hardly spoken or remembered.

Tribe Strives to Pass on Wampanoag Culture When the Mashantucket Pequots opened the largest Native American museum in the country four years ago, they called on the Mashpee Wampanoag for help. The museum next door to the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn., provides a trip through time, tracing the Pequot history from the last Ice Age to the present. The centerpiece of a replica half-acre village is comprised of three wetus - domed cedar huts that northeastern Indians built for temporary family shelters as they roamed the wooded coast, fishing and hunting.		Mother Tries to Save Navajo Heritage Edmonda Betsuie, 18, and her grandmother, Etta Denny, are both full-blooded Navajo American Indians. That's where the similarities end. Edmonda speaks only English; Denny, 72, speaks only Navajo. Edmonda lives in Las Vegas, has blond highlights in her hair and wants to be an architect. Denny lives on a reservation in Utah with no phone, electricity or running water. In just two generations, much of this Navajo family's culture, language and history has been lost, says Edmonda's mother, Matilda Betsuie.

Hopi Eighth Graders Ready for High School Valedictorian Brendan Steele thanked his classmates for putting forth the work everyday that made them successful in class. Steele offered his comments May 29 at the Hopi Junior High School promotion. About 900 friends, family and educators packed into the auditorium to watch 99 students receive their promotion from junior high to high school.		Inuit Art On 1 April 1999, Nunavut became Canada's newest territory. Covering about 1.9 million square kilometres of land and water, and spanning three time zones, Nunavut is home to about 25, 000 people. The name means "our land" in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, who make up 85% of the population of Nunavut. Nunavut's capital is Iqaluit, at the head of Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island. The name Iqaluit means "place of many fish" in Inuktitut.

And the Nominees Are... Nominees for the Fifth Annual Native American Music Awards were announced in a national press conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday, June 18th at 1:00PM C.T. At the press conference, Indian Summer Festivals Inc.’s President, Jim Warren, Mary Denis of the Greater Milwaukee Visitors And Convention Bureau, and NAMA’s President/CEO, Ellen Bello, made statements. Special performances were also held by some of this year's new nominees; Jana (Single of the Year), Robert Tree Cody (Best World Music Recording) and Micki Free (Debut Artist/Male Artist/Best Rock-Pop Recording).		Winnemucca's Good Fight for Right Her Native American name is Thocmetony -- "Shell Flower." She was the daughter and granddaughter of Paiute tribal leaders, and had the march of "civilization" not interfered, that might well have been the end of it. But at the time of her birth around 1844, white settlers were nibbling at the edges of her family's homeland, and by her early teens, Sarah Winnemucca and her people were in a full-blown fight for survival.

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About This Issue's Greeting - "Aang"

Aleut is the only language of the Aleut branch of Eskaleut language family.

Aleut is spoken both in Russia (the Commodore Isles) and in the USA (the Aleutian Isles and the Pribilov Isles). There are about 700 Aleuts in Russia (190 of them can speak Aleut), and about 2100 — 5000 Aleuts in the USA, according to different researchers. Only 525 Aleuts in the USA are native speakers of Aleut.

This Date In History		Recipe: Let's Picnic!!

Story: The Meeting of the Wild Animals		What is this: Wolverine

Project: Cherokee Leaf Painting		This Issue's Web sites


Opportunities
"OPPORTUNITIES" is gathered 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.

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	Canku Ota
	(Many Paths)
	An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
	June 29, 2002 - Issue 64


	'Aang"
	The Aleut Greeting
	"Greetings "

	Pablita Velarde, "Green Corn Dance", 1956
	"DEHALUYI"
	GREEN CORN MOON
	Cherokee

"Our treatment of Indians...still affects the national consciousness...It seems a basic requirement to study the history of Indian people. Only through this study can we as a nation do what must be done if our treatment of the American Indian is not to be marked down for all time as a national disgrace" -- John F. Kennedy

Thunderhawk - The Missing Mouse Adventure by Geoff Hampton Writer Geoff Hampton shares this story that should delight both young and old.		Tolerance 101 A project by Southern Poverty Law Center In the next issues of Canku Ota, we are going to share ideas with you about learning and teaching tolerance. Perhaps this will inspire you to come up with your own ideas to share.

Indian Youth Project Honored as a National Model What started as a single camp program for Native American youth some 20 years ago now serves thousands of students in the area with similar programs copying its formula throughout the country. On June 7, as a crowning confirmation of the National Indian Youth Leadership Project's success at steering its charges away from their community's social ills, the federal government recognized it as among the nation's leading prevention programs and the most effective at working with Native American youth.		Young Dancers Learn and Share Native Dance Traditions Audience members tentatively approach the stage to ask questions of the young performers. “How old are you all?” asks an elderly man. “Sixteen,” four of the dancers answer in unison. Others chime in, “Fifteen.” “Eighteen.” “Oh my, you’re so young, and so poised. I really enjoyed your dancing. Thank you.” An elderly woman asks, “Are you all from the same tribe?” A brief smile passes among the dancers. “No, we represent three different cultures,” responds Vernita Bunyan.

GAP Primary School — Biggest Little School in Tuba City School District What they don’t have in size or numbers, they have in heart and dedication. The thirty-six students at GAP Primary School are lucky enough to have the time and attention of a small and very personal staff to oversee their classroom instruction, meals, activities and outdoor recreation and emotional well-being.		'Journey to Justice' Tells Poignant Tale of Almost-forgotten California Tribe For 127 years, a collection of lovingly crafted pine-nut skirts, feather headdresses, animal-skin quivers and exquisitely woven baskets sat in storage at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.


Assistance Needed!
Arizona Tribes in Dire Need of Help