Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

December 1, 2008 - Volume 6 Number 3

"Hau Koda. Toked yaun hwo?"

The Dakota Greeting

Hello Friend. How are you?

"Wanicokan Wi"

Moon when the deer shed their antlers.

Dakota

"A Warrior is challenged to assume responsibility, practice humility, and display the power of giving, and then center his or her life around a core of spirituality. I challenge today's youth to live like a warrior."
~Billy Mills~

We Salute
Lee Marmon

One spring afternoon in 1943, photographer Lee Marmon stood at the bow of a passenger ship sailing into the harbor of Cordova, a tiny fishing village along southern Alaska’s rocky coast. As he surveyed the panorama, the straight-out-of boot-camp 19-year-old, traveling with 200 fellow Army troops, had an epiphany of sorts.

Our Featured Artist:

Honoring Students

Jay Laber

Once he gets started, Jay Laber can twist, turn, carve, cut and weld abandoned cars into spectacular images with so much detail it’s possible to see the nose hair on a buffalo.

Now any visitor to the Missoula Art Museum can look closely at Laber’s work outside on the north side of the building - and see the texture of the buffalo’s tongue.

He wasn’t always that committed to detail.

First Navajo female surgeon among speakers at WFU event celebrating American Indian History Month

Wake Forest University will celebrate National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month by hosting “Native American Voices,” a symposium featuring five nationally-renowned American Indian leaders who will discuss how they have broken through cultural barriers to achieve their success.

Our Featured Story:

Living Traditions

W.K. Kellogg Foundation names award recipients

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has announced the winners of the 2008 National Leadership in Action Award. Two of this year’s five recipients are organizations being honored for promoting economic and professional development in Native American communities.

The Seattle-based Potlatch Fund was selected “for its dedication in inspiring the Native tradition of giving in Northwest Indian country.” Minneapolis-based Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAIP) was selected for the award “Because of the great work they are doing with their leadership development program and their support of Native Americans working in the field of philanthropy,” Washington said.

Oneida Indian Nation Joins Celebrations Added to float lineup of 82nd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Tree of Peace takes root at Herald Square as the Oneida Indian Nation of New York debuts in the 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. On Nov 27, the OIN’s True Spirit of Thanksgiving float will ride down Broadway, spreading the message of Thanksgiving to more than 3.5 million spectators and more than 50 million viewers nationwide. Sharing the Oneida creation story, the float will be a beautifully symbolic depiction of the legendary nation’s birth.

Education News

Education News

Students embrace Cherokee language

Well into his third year of teaching, Brad Wagnon encourages his students at Tahlequah High School to embrace a language and culture that is foundational to the Cherokee Nation.

Students enrolled in the Cherokee language class at Tahlequah High School are getting a taste of a unique culture.

Juneau will be first Native woman to win statewide office

Denise Juneau - the unofficial winner in the race for Montana’s top K-12 educator - was on her way to making history Tuesday night as the first Native woman elected to a statewide office, and arguably the first Native woman in the nation to do so.

Education News

Education News

Hopi leadership program inducts Class of 2008-09

On Sept. 15, the Hopi Foundation began a second year of its Hopi Leadership Program (HLP) with an induction ceremony and banquet to welcome 14 new inductees. The ceremony and banquet was held in the Hotevilla Elderly/Youth Center. Purple and gold colored shears draped the windows and were outlined with strands of tiny lights. Handmade candle holders made from paper bags with cut out Hopi designs illuminated the banquet tables. The atmosphere was further enhanced by the soft guitar music performed by Blair Quamahongnewa.

Orchard serves as health, educational tool for Hopi

Building on the historical agrarian lifestyle of the Hopi people, coupled with a desire to support and nurture a healthy lifestyle that teaches responsibility and respect for plant life, FruitaBü, Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and Hopi Tutskwa PermaCulture planted a total of 320 trees and set up drip irrigation system style orchards at First Mesa Elementary School and Moencopi Day School. Three other community orchards were planted in the village of Kykotsmovi.

Living Traditions

Preserving Language

Lakota author examines heritage in opera

Halfway through the world premiere of the opera "The Trickster and the Troll" in Brookings last Sunday, it occurred to me that I was watching a Thanksgiving story more appropriate to the South Dakota experience than that feast in 1621 from which our national holiday supposedly originated.

Fluent Lakota speakers running out of time.

The Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Language Summit: Uniting the Seven Council Fire to Save the Language has brought together a mix of 400 Native American educators, language experts and traditional fluent speakers. They are here to determine how to keep their languages from disappearing.

Honoring Students

Living Traditions

Students help reclaim stretch of Tanwax Creek

The Nisqually Indian Tribe is helping a local landowner reclaim a stretch of Tanwax Creek for salmon.

Yelm Schools played a role in restoring the creek, volunteering student labor through mid-October.

Baking the Bread

On any given week, tourists from around the world may knock at the front door of the Paywa home in Zuni Pueblo.

Along with freshly baked Zuni bread, they are probably looking for something more — a unique tourist stop, information about a centuries-old tradition, or a personal glimpse into a Native American home.

Living Traditions

Living Traditions

Defender Wilson one of four First People's awardees

Mary Louise Defender Wilson of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota, was one of four recent recipients of the Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award, given by the First Peoples Fund to honor artists who embody "Collective Spirit," those activities which sustain the fabric of a community.

No place like a hogan

Last week, Indian Health Services officials opened a new hogan at the Gallup Indian Medical Center with a blessing and dedication ceremony. The hogan is located on the southwest side of the hospital, and GIMC staff said the most heard comment has been, "It's about time."

Preserving Language

Menominee language finds new life in schools

Everyone must participate in Margaret Snow's "talking circle" when the fifth- graders introduce themselves using the Menominee language — that's a rule.

Some students easily pronounce the words, repeating their name, clan and hometown as quickly as they can recall it. But it's more of a challenge to others who may not have been as exposed to the native language.

New Mexico Governor unveils New Navajo Language Textbook

Gov. Bill Richardson traveled to Gallup High School and Farmington High School late last month to talk with students and Navajo leaders about the first Navajo textbook, "Diné Bizaad Binahoo'aah" (Rediscovering the Navajo Language). This is the first time that a text written by a Navajo author has been adopted as a textbook for teaching the Navajo language.

Education News

Free Online Curriculum Helps Teachers Take Storytelling Into The Digital Age

Target Stores, Scholastic, and the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, have partnered with Sube Learning language thru Art, Music and Games (www.sube.com), a New Mexico-based innovator in language education, to offer a free online curriculum designed to bring Digital Storytelling training to the widest possible population.

Rosella Hightower, Prima Ballerina and School Founder, Is Dead at 88

Rosella Hightower, an Oklahoma-born ballerina of enormous flair and virtuosity who followed up a celebrated international career by founding the Centre de Danse Classique in Cannes, France, one of the world’s leading ballet schools, has died at her home in Cannes, her daughter said Tuesday. Miss Hightower was 88.

Education News

Tribal leaders are hopeful after Obama's victory

President-elect Barack Obama, who mentioned American Indians in his victory speech Tuesday night, likely will bring positive changes to the U.S. Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, tribal leaders said Wednesday.

A New Dawn for Museums of Native American Art

Decorated with spirals and migration symbols, Nathan Begay's multicolored jar resembles an ancient assemblage of shards. But it's actually a synthesis of historical and modern: Mr. Begay, a 46-year-old artist of Hopi and Navajo descent, created it five years ago.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Hau Koda"

Hau Koda! Toked yaun hwo?(Men's Speech) - Han Koda! Toked yaun he?(Lady's Speech)

The Dakota Greeting is pronounced: How koda. Toe ked ya un whoa?(male) - Han koda. Toe ked ya un heh?(Female)
the "n" is nasalized ... according to Albert White Hat Sr. ... to practice "Plug your nose."
"Hello friend. How are you?"

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.

This Issue's Web sites
Here are some web sites that have caught our eye ... Some are informative ... Some are just fun.

Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry.

The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the

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