More than 40 years later, Native American Richard Plass still tells the story of what happened at a basketball game in Kaukauna when he was a senior at Shawano High School. He told it again Thursday evening when he spoke to an interdisciplinary class called "Spirit of the Rivers" at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc.

It won best of class in the Diverse Art Forms division and Best of Show for the entire 6th Annual Cherokee Art Market, but the turkey-feather cape made by Cherokee artist Shawna Cain may have also won the comeback category if there was one.

Like pottery making and beadwork, the making of turkey-feather capes among the Cherokee was lost over time.

When you hear Waverly Yazzie speak about her dream of having empowered youth in her community leading efforts to improve Tohajiilee, you would probably guess that she is far older than twelve. Indeed, Waverly is a seventh grader from the Tohajiilee community of the Navajo Nation who is spearheading efforts to create the Tohajiilee Youth Council.

Americans are opening their hearts to the young dreamers of the Pine Ridge Reservation after watching their stories on "A Hidden America: Children of the Plains," Friday's "20/20" special with Diane Sawyer.

Native Americans have served honorably in all our nation's wars despite the fact that they were not granted citizenship until 1924. About 12,000 Native Americans served our country heroically in World War I; 44,000 (of a total population of 350,000 at the time) served in World War II; and 42,000 served in Vietnam -- more than 90 percent of whom were volunteers.

Since learning about the Navajo Code Talkers in their history books, eight-graders from Ch'ooshgai Community School asked to meet one.

Their wish was granted Aug. 13 when Principal Lester Hudson invited Navajo Code Talker Samuel Tso to the school for a special visit.

A retired teacher from Maryetta Public Schools is using her knowledge, old and new, to teach children about Cherokee heritage.

Susie Thompson, a Cherokee Nation citizen, said when she speaks Cherokee it takes her back in time, creating a connection to her mother and grandmother.

Henry Owl was a pioneer for American Indians. The EBCI tribal member was the first person of color admitted to the University of North Carolina and the first American Indian graduate.

He received his master's degree in history from the school in 1929. Owl's master's thesis was entitled "The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians: Before and After the Removal". The university has named a fellowship after Owl in honor of his historic achievements.

A pilot project that is being called the first of its kind in Canada is aiming to give aboriginal children a role model.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada has partnered with a First Nation on a teen mentoring program. The organization signed an agreement last weekend that will see high school students from the Flying Dust First Nation who attend class in the city of Meadow Lake work with elementary school kids from the reserve.

The National Indian Health Board recognized five Navajos in the field of health and gave them awards during the annual awards ceremonial luncheon here on Sept. 28, during their conference, "Health, Hope, and Heroes: Using the Foundations of Tribal Values and Knowledge to Advance Native Health!"

Ten-year-old Cherokee citizen Trinity Hobbs has been barrel racing since she was four years old and will make her first appearance at the Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. This is only the second year for the INFR to have juniors barrels represented in the finals rodeo.

"We're happy to represent the Cherokee Nation at the Indian National Finals Rodeo.

Mississippi: Last summer, 45 teams played in the 9-day Choctaw World Series of Stickball. On the final night, Beaver Dam and Conehatta, two bitter rivals, fought for the championship in front of 5,000 fans and a local television audience.

Stickball is an ancient, violent sport with few rules and defiantly true to its Native American roots. Each summer, a tournament is held to decide the champion of the game known as tolih in the Choctaw language.

The migration story of the Ojibwe people tells of following the miigis (cowry shell) west and looking for a place where food grows on the water. That food was manoomin (wild rice), and the place, basically, was northern Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan and west-central Ontario.

"It's considered a sacred plant," says Peter David, a wildlife biologist for the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).

It's not often that a self-taught Montana artist gets national recognition from the federal government.

And it's practically unheard of for a group of Northern Cheyenne art students at Chief Dull Knife College — total enrollment, about 260 students — to have their work on display in Washington, D.C., for thousands of people to see.

After translating English words into Cherokee for many projects in the past few years, the Cherokee Nation language technology group decided to use those translations by creating Google Maps using the Cherokee syllabary.

Creating a map on Google Maps allowed the language technology group to add places and points of interests and even upload videos providing information on that location in Cherokee. Cherokee is one of the many languages that Google supports.

Eleven students greeted a group of New Zealand educators with a traditional Navajo song as they walked into Diné Bi Olta School Sept. 20.

"We're here to listen and learn from the Navajo Nation," said Hemi Rau, an educational leader and advocate for Maori language immersion schools in New Zealand.