>Joe Medicine Crow, A War Chief, Historian And The Last Link To The Battle Of Little Big Horn, Dies At 102

When Joseph Medicine Crow wrote the important book, "From the Heart of The Crow Country: The Crow Indians' Own Stories," he lamented, "the traditional historians and storytellers are all gone now and I must work with their children and grandchildren, who have been exposed to their views and recitals of the old stories."

He, of course, did not count himself among the traditional historians and storytellers then. But, he was, and now he's gone.

In 2009, President Barack Obama presented Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed on any individual in the United States.

Yesterday, Dr. Medicine Crow walked on at the age of 102.

On Monday, April 4, the White House released President Obama's statement on the passing of Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow.

Deep within the genuine strengths of each individual, there often lies a shattered image of security, value, and hope. In the confines of every American Indian reservation, thousands of native males and females have felt that feeling of isolation after being diminished to the burdens of violence, domestic, emotional, and sexual abuse. A cry for help is sought in an attempt of desperation and rescue, but the biggest problems revolve around the ignorance of the subject matter, as well as native victims who choose not to confess about their own dilemmas.

When Gavino Limon was 14 months-old, he began his professional career as a champion Grass Dancer, a mere five months after he began walking. Limon is now six years-old and continues his love for dancing as a member of the world famous Native Pride Dance Troop. His parents, Douglas and Rachel Limon believe that having him in a cradleboard during his infancy had a tremendous influence on his advanced large motor skills

The practice of smudging dates back to prehistoric times, and is still very much in use today worldwide for cleansing everything from dwellings to human spirits. However recent research has shed light on the popularity of this activity, revealing that burning certain plant matter actually clears harmful bacteria.

Members of a commission that studied Native American mascots in schools on Monday reported success, blazing the way for a national effort.

At 81 years old, the great-grandmother is one of only 200 Wukchumni left living in the San Joaquin Valley of California and has taken it upon herself to revive the language.

The process has taken seven years and required Wilcox to learn to use a computer. "I'm just a pecker, one word at a time," she said. "When I had all these words together, I thought it would be a good idea to try to make a dictionary."

1992 marked the quincentennial of Columbus’s ruinous landfall. As state-sponsored anniversaries go, National pride and patriotic excitement was on a high that year. But, so was the critical voice. Natives did what they’ve done since 1492 and resisted triumphant expressions of colonization. Curators and some artists looked to frame many exhibitions with meaning derived from a critical, Post-Colonial context.

About 1,000 years ago, Norse explorer Leif Ericson bumped into the New World at Newfoundland. The old world was filling up, with 300,000 people living in the Roman capital of Constantinople. At the same time, up here in Alaska, the ancestors of today's coastal Alaska Natives were quietly having one of the more successful runs in human history.

Not far from the Suwannee River, historic Bowlegs Town rests almost like a whisper within a wide vista of North Florida high ground. The town is flanked by coastal mangroves and grassy plains with fingerlike waterways that slither west into the Gulf of Mexico and thick oak hammocks that shadow the Dixie County outback to the east.

Thus, it is told, one time a caravan of Teton Lakota was slowly moving toward the Black Hills to harvest the many varieties of fruit abounding there. Such journeys were always leisurely, well-ordered and pleasurable.

Long ago, two young boys found themselves lost on the great prairie. They had played together one afternoon and had wandered far out of the village. Then they had shot their bows still farther out into the sagebrush. Then they had heard a small animal make a noise and had gone to investigate. They had come to a stream with many colorful pebbles and followed that for a while. They had come to a hill and wanted to see what was on the other side. On the other side they saw a herd of antelope and, of course, had to track them for a while. When they got hungry and thought it was time to go home, the two boys found that they didn't know where they were.