Canku Ota - July 2016

	Canku Ota (Many Paths) An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
	July 2016 - Volume 14 Number 7


	"Yá'át'ééh Bina" The Navajo Greeting "Good Morning"
	Momma Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) and her babies

	"Hotehimini kiishthwa" Strawberry Moon Shawnee

"And when your childrens' children think themselves alone... they will not be alone...At night when the streets of your cities and villages are silent and you think them deserted, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled and still love this beautiful land." ~Chief Seattle~ 1855

We Salute
Destiny Nunez

Shines In Miss Indian World Pageant

Miss Florida Seminole Destiny Nunez trained since November for the Miss Indian World Pageant and last month, she and 23 other contestants from throughout Indian Country vied for the crown. Although she didn't win the title, Nunez emerged as a winner in other ways.

Our Featured Artist:		Honoring Students
Artist Interview: Painter And Flute-Maker Jeffery Chapman Jeffrey Chapman (Ojibwe) is a Minneapolis-based artist, flute maker, art historian and teacher. His artwork sits between two worlds: complexity and simplicity, humorous and serious, inside and outside. I sat down with Mr. Chapman to talk about his work.		Dr. Angela Gonzales To Join Faculty At ASU Dr. Angela Gonzales (Hopi) recently gave her final classroom instruction at the Cornell University in Ithaca, NY where she served as Professor of Development Sociology and Indigenous Studies since 2002. She is the only Hopi Tribal member to serve as faculty at the Ivy league school.

Our Featured Story:		First Person History:
A Conversation With Sherman Alexie About Thunder Boy Jr. and Other Stuff Thunder Boy Jr., the new children's picture book by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2016), is the latest in long line of literary works by the Native author and humorist. Alexie has been touring the country, doing personalized readings for schoolchildren and other audiences for several months.		Bering Strait Theory, Part Two: Racism, Eugenics and When Natives Came to America In Part 1 of our series we examined how the discovery and examination of the ancient Mexican skeleton, Naia, has led scientists to once again rethink the origins of American Indians.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Congress OK's NMAI Native American Veterans Memorial The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian has been charged by Congress with building a National Native American Veterans Memorial to give "all Americans the opportunity to learn of the proud and courageous tradition of service of Native Americans in the Armed Forces of the United States," according to a press release issued by the NMAI on Monday.		Tribal Members Harvest Kamas, Join Lily Day Celebration Shoshone-Bannock Language and Cultural Preservation manager Darrell Shay said enough of the Kamas was harvested they are able to serve the food at some of the cultural events. There were other folks from the Tribe who also went on their own throughout the last two weeks since then.

Preserving Language		Preserving Language
A School Seeks To Save Vanishing Language The sign on the wall in Rozella Ramirez's kindergarten/first-grade class reads: "Less talking more beading." Five- and 6-year-old hands diligently go to work stringing colorful beads onto necklaces that symbolize their heritage.		LaFayette To Teach Onondaga Language Starting in September, LaFayette schools will for the first time teach the Onondaga’s native language – Ongwehonwekha – in ninth grade, a critical step in the Onondaga Nation’s effort to save its native language from extinction.

Honoring Students		Honoring Students
Hill Represents Oklahoma At Stockholm Junior Water Prize Lexi Hill, Oneida Tribal citizen from Oklahoma, was named the Oklahoma state winner of the Stockholm Junior Water Prize. Her research focused on Municipal Wastewater Effluent Has Sublethal Effects on Freshwater Snails (Helisoma trivolvis). "I have a love for science and biology, and making sure that Mother Nature is being taken care of by its inhabitants," said Hill.		Museum of Northern Arizona's New Exhibit "When We Were Young" Features Youth Art From 1931-1974 An exhibit featuring Navajo and Hopi children's art from the 1930s-70s is on display through fall 2016 at the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) featuring around 20 children, some who went on to become professional artists.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Navajo Nation Launches Gardening Challenge Reconnecting Navajo families through self-reliance, food sovereignty and organic gardening is hard work. Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez knows firsthand about the intensive labor of farming. Each year, his family gathers to plant crops on the family farm.		Dibé be'iina Passes The Batten To A New Generation Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the Sheep is Life Conference. Or, if you prefer, the 20th time the conference was held on Navajo soil. Or, if you count the first unofficial conferences at Utah State University, before the sponsoring organization, Dibé be'iina, was incorporated, this was the 31st one. But its roots go much deeper than that.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) Kicks Off On Sunday In The Ak-Chin Indian Community The 14th Annual Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI), presented by the Ak-Chin Indian Community, Nike N7 and Seminole Tribe of Florida, will kick off Sunday, June 26 and showcases athletes representing tribal communities from across the US and Canada, competing for the prestigious NABI National Championship trophy and an opportunity to shine in front of college scouts.		Kanata:kon School Students Take On The Akwesasne Mohawk Police In A Kickball Game It's nearly 10 am in the morning at Kanata:kon School. A man walks through the main school entrance and out to the backdoor of the school to the ball field. He is wearing sneakers and is dressed in all black with a t-shirt that has 'POLICE' written on the back. This officer meets up with other Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service (AMPS) members who are gathered out back at the ball field.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Just say YES "How many more miles?" asks 13-year-old Molique Miller for the third time as he plops down in the shade of a stunted juniper, dwarfed by his borrowed backpack, and chugs some lukewarm, iodine-scented water from a plastic bottle.		Oneidas Celebrate Flag Day A 12 acre park in Hartsville, PA, that served as General George Washington’s Headquarters for two weeks in August 1777 – welcomed Members of the Oneida Indian Nation during its annual Flag Day celebration on Sunday, June 12.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Very Good Medicine: Indigenous Humor And Laughter Laughter has always been a part of being Indian, and Native humor is culturally distinct and complex. Indigenous languages and storytelling are integral to the cultural uniqueness of Indian humor. There are male jokes and female jokes, and most all Indigenous languages accommodate a feminine or masculine version.		Cold Water, Fast Currents -- Northwest Tribes Risk Willamette Falls To Harvest Annual Lamprey Migration Cold water beat down on Zach Penney's shoulders. Struggling in his black tank top to keep the shivers in check, he plunged his head under Willamette Falls and searched for a lamprey suctioned to the vertical rock wall.

Honoring Nature		Honoring Nature
Weasels Are Built For The Hunt At birth, the least weasel is as small and light as a paper clip, and the tiny ribs that press visibly against its silvery pink skin give it a segmented look, like that of an insect. A newborn kit is exceptionally underdeveloped, with sealed eyes and ears that won't open for five or six weeks, an age when puppies and kittens are ready to be weaned.		Wild Buffalo Advocacy Group Rolls Out National Mammal Billboard Beginning this week, travelers driving west on I-90/94 near Billings, Montana, will encounter a billboard to "Protect Our National Mammal" promoted by the wild buffalo advocacy group Buffalo Field Campaign.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Rare Petroglyphs In Michigan Provide Link To Native American Past In a discarded pile of garish yellow plastic chain – the cheapest possible option to keep people away from things they're not supposed to touch – Stacy Tchorzynski spied a little piece of red printed fabric wrapped around an offering of tobacco.		Nine-foot Statue Of Chief James Bigheart To Be Unveiled June 22 Chief Bigheart is known for his leadership in negotiating the 1906 Osage Allotment Act that preserved and provided ownership of the Osage Mineral Estate, leading to great wealth among the Osage. He is credited with holding up the signing of the act for 10 years until the mineral rights were preserved.

Living Traditions		Honoring Nature
'Very Honored': Lac Du Flambeau Woman First Female Army National Guard General Joane Mathews has many firsts in her combined active duty and National Guard military career. Some of these include being the first female commander of First Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment, as well as Wisconsin's first non-medical female colonel. Now Mathews, a Lac du Flambeau Chippewa tribal member, can add Wisconsin's first female general officer in the Army National Guard.		Nature 911: Enjoy Them Now Wild Berries Are Ripe I speak here not of the Himalayan blackberries, an invasive that come August rewards us with succulent fruit for the space it devours. No, here I am talking about the wild, native berries just now gleaming in the forests and river valleys, the food that has helped sustained the native people and wildlife of this place for as long as there have been summers in Puget Sound. On a recent hike in the Elwha Valley my progress was seriously slowed, not by tough terrain, but by the seduction of berries. Salmonberries, soft, juicy, gorgeous, in every shade of yellow, orange and deep red.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Yá'át'ééh Bina"

Navajo is an American Indian language spoken by between one hundred twenty and one hundred forty thousand people in the Southwestern United States.Navajo is a member of the Athabaskan family of the Na-Dené group of languages. It is considered to be closely related to Apache.

Nature's Beauty: Skunk	This Issue's Favorite Web sites	A Story To Share: Big Long Man's Corn Patch







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