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Canku Ota
(Many Paths)
An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

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March 2015 - Volume 13 Number 3
 
 
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Yeeh-Seeh!
The Hopi Greeting
Welcome
 
 


Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus)

 
 
SHAWI Or SHA-KONO
The moon (Month) of the FLOWERS
VALLEY MAIDU
 
 
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"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~
 
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We Salute
Lisa Billy Tapped For State Leadership Role

Oklahoma House District 42 Rep. Lisa Johnson-Billy has been appointed to a leadership position by Oklahoma Speaker of the House Jeff Hickman, R-Fairview.

Rep. Hickman named Rep. Billy as co-floor leader Jan. 8. She will share duties with Rep. Jason Nelson, R-Oklahoma City. Together they are responsible for developing the calendar and directing floor activity, including the scheduling of bills and resolutions for votes on the floor.

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Our Featured Artist: Honoring Students
Oklahoma Artist Wins Best In Show At Colorado Exhibit, Sale

Oklahoma artist Brent Greenwood was awarded the prestigious "Best in Show" award at the 22nd Annual Coors Western Art Exhibit & Sale in Denver, Colorado. The exhibit remained on display from January 10-25, 2015. The Show included works from 65 artists from the US, Canada and Europe considered some of the finest contemporary realists working in a variety of mediums from oil and photography to clay and bronze. The show captured and represented the "Western Spirit."

 
Next NSU Sequoyah Fellow Announced

Northeastern State University has selected Stacy Leeds as NSU’s third Sequoyah Fellow, according to a media release.

A Muskogee native, Leeds was an all-state basketball player for Muskogee High School. She attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree and participated as a student athlete, playing tennis and basketball. She then received a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee and law degrees from the University of Tulsa and the University of Wisconsin.

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Our Featured Story: First Person History:
Finding My Identity As An Urban Indian

Bozho, Makons Itíbíwín Nijwaw ndezhnekas. Hello, my spirit name is Young Bear That Looks Twice and my English name is Collin Church. I am from Allegan, Michigan. Currently a junior at Michigan State University majoring in the interdisciplinary humanities with an emphasis on political science and American Indian Studies.

 

History of the
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan

Chapter One
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News and Views Banner
Education News Preserving Language
Creating The Navajo Classroom

Growing up near Bowl Canyon on the Navajo Nation Reservation, Damon Clark '17 would play cowboys and Indians. "When I was a kid, I wanted to be the cowboy, because the cowboy kills the Indian," he says. "You know who wins, and you know who loses."

 
New Book Tells The Hero Twins Story In Navajo And English

Author Jim Kristofic and illustrator Nolan Karras James will sign their new children's book, "The Hero Twins" at the Museum of Northern Arizona on Feb. 21. The story uses pictures and words to tell the story in Navajo and in English.

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Cultural Preservation Cultural Preservation
'In The Land Of The Head Hunters,' A Recreated Artifact Of Ancient Ways

"In the Land of the Head Hunters," out on Blu-ray and DVD from Milestone, is the reconstruction of a reconstruction.

It preserves an artifact that used a once advanced technology to document a no longer extent way of life, and was itself all but lost to history. Around 1911, Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), the celebrated photographer of Native Americans, began preparations for a six-reel feature about the Kwakwaka'wakw (formerly Kwakiutl) Indians of British Columbia.

 
Is This Drawing A Self-Portrait Of Crazy Horse?

More than a century after he died, the Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who famously fought Lieutenant Colonel Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn, is thought of as transcendent force — attuned to the universe in a special way — though he's often commemorated in ways that are somewhat odd. He's the subject, for example, of a gargantuan (and controversial) mountain-top sculpture in South Dakota which — if ever finished — will be bigger than Mount Rushmore. And his name is the inspiration for a strip joint in Montmartre that has billed itself as "the most sophisticated cabaret in Paris."

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Then, and Now Caring and Sharing
Revelers Celebrate Big Cypress Reservation’s 119th Anniversary

Hundreds of cars and trucks packed a pasture-turned-parking lot Jan. 10 in Big Cypress where more than a century ago Seminole ancestors braved wilderness, swampland and bloody battles for Native American freedom.

“The Seminole people were so tough to survive those times and then to come so far. We have to give the people a lot of credit,” said Fred Douglas, a self-described “cowboy from LaBelle,” at the Junior Cypress Rodeo Arena.

 

Rumble On The Mountain Event Focuses On Sustainability And Sacredness Of Water

On Jan. 24 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Flagstaff, the Rumble on the Mountain event took place to bring awareness about the sacredness of water, sustainability and the importance of these issues to the community.

Rumble on the Mountain ran at the same time as the "Dew Downtown," an event sponsored by the city of Flagstaff, which used 475,000 gallons of potable drinking water to create a snow slope on north San Francisco Street for skiers and snowboarders.

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Honoring Students Preserving Language
Native American Tribes Captivate Students With Cultural Traditions And Storytelling

Colleen Kaska is a native of Grand Canyon in every sense possible, as a member of the Havasupai tribe and having been born and raised in the Canyon. On Feb. 11. Kaska was one of three Native American speakers asked to address students at Grand Canyon School.

 
Tuba City School District Honors Students For Outstanding Tribal Language Work

As part of Tuba City Unified School District's mission to incorporate daily cultural activity and Native language into the curriculum, the district recognizes the hard work students put in using their tribal language in classroom activity and school day conversation.

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Living Traditions Living Traditions
Inupiaq Actress Irene Bedard Plans To Bring 'Two Old Women' To Big Screen

Alaska Native actress and producer Irene Bedard plans to bring a film version of "Two Old Women" to theaters. Shooting could start as early as next spring.

 

Sci-fi Drama Tells Story Of Culture

"Legends From The Sky" is an independent American Indian film that focuses on the significance of self-acceptance while recognizing cultural upbringing. With a touch of science fiction added to the mix, it becomes a film that leaves a taste of excitement and thrills for audiences of all ages.

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Honoring Students Living Traditions
Eleven-year-old Andre Leaureaux Selected As Karate Junior Instructor

Eleven-year-old Andre Leaureaux, member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, has been selected as junior instructor at his karate dojo, Original Okinawan Karate of Holt, LLC.

As junior instructor, Leaureaux will assist in teaching beginner and intermediate karate classes. He will assist in a monthly dojo
(when students move to the next belt/rank) testing, and receive specialized training devoted to junior instructors.

 
Dancers Wow Crowds At Hoop Dance Championships

A bright blue sky and warm temperatures greeted a captive audience this past weekend when 71 contestants competed over two days at the 25th annual World Championship Hoop Dance contest at the Heard Museum in Phoenix.

With unseasonably warm temperatures in the 80s, the dancers spun and leapt to the beat of the native drums and singers. The dancers told stories with hoops that created intricate symbols of animals and symbols that hold great meaning for Native tribes.

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  Living Traditions
Dine' Actor Among Elle's 'Most Eligible'

It's hard to get a big head when you have Navajo friends to take you down a notch, Jeremiah Bitsui discovered.

Minutes after he posted on his social media sites that he had been named one of elle.com's 41 most eligible bachelors in America, the posts started to appear.

"That's too bad!" shot one friend.

"What are you doing wrong?" asked another.

 
Shell Carver To Share Knowledge Through Mentoring Program

Shell carver and Cherokee National Treasure Knokovtee Scott will share his knowledge of shell carving using river mussel shells beginning Feb. 7 at the Cherokee Arts Center.

The Feb. 7 class will be an introductory class and will begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Beginning Feb. 16, and throughout March and April, classes will meet from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.

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Cultural Preservation   Cultural Preservation
Returning To Our Native Roots Through Gardening

When one needs to prepare a meal or just replenish food items in the cupboard, a quick trip to the local grocery store or Wal-Mart takes care of everything. However, before the convenience of such retail businesses our Osage ancestors would have worked as a cooperative to provide a sustainable food system of hunting and agriculture for the tribe. Members would have provided particular services to the development of the gardens, maintenance of the seeds, cultivation, and the harvest.

 
Recipe For Three Sisters Soup

Native American peoples believe in the magic of the "three sisters": beans, squash and corn, planted together in a mutually supportive ecosystem. The beans climb onto the corn, and return nitrogen to the soil; the squash, nourished by the beans, provides shade to the shallow roots of the corn plants and keeps the weeds down. Native Americans also believe that since these three foods protect each other while growing, they will protect whoever eats them together. If that's true, this soup offers plenty of protection. The base of apple cider gives the soup a sweet undertone, which you can balance to your taste with a bit of hot pepper flakes.

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Cultural Preservation   Cultural Preservation
Museum Collaboration To Showcase Osage Weddings In Exhibition

Dr. Daniel Swan, an associate professor at the University of Oklahoma and Associate Curator of Ethnology at the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, showed black and white video footage of an Osage wedding to more than 30 attendees at the Osage Tribal Museum on Feb. 19.

 
‘Osiyo, Voices Of The Cherokee People' To Air Feb. 15

Beginning Feb. 15, "Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People," a new monthly, 30-minute news magazine-style program featuring the people, places, history and culture of the Cherokee Nation, will be airing locally.

Emmy-winning journalist and CN citizen Jennifer Loren, a former anchor at KOTV News on 6, will host the TV and online program.

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In Every Issue Banner
About This Issue's Greeting - "Yeeh-Seeh"
There are many relationships with other peoples, both in the area, and afar, that can be traced by the language. The Hopi language is of the Uto-Aztecan family, which is closely related to the Northern Paiute and the Aztecs of Mexico, and the Hopi dialect is Shoshone.

Many Pueblo people along the Rio Grande speak the Tanoan languages, which are of the second branch of the Azteco-Tanoan group. This is also the language of the Kiowa. Others in the same area speak Keresan languages, which belong to the Hokan-Siouan group. The Hopi recognize a distant relationship with all the peoples along the Rio Grande as well as with the Pima and Papago. The Kiowa-Apache share a language group with the Hopi, which leads full circle to the Navajo.
Nature's Beauty:
Black-tailed Jackrabbit
 
This Issue's Web sites
 
A Story To Share:
Rabbit Shoots The Sun
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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 - 2015 of Vicki Williams Barry and Paul Barry.
 

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