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

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June 2017 - Volume 15 Number 6
 
 
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"Neenjit dagoonch'uu"
The Gwich'in Greeting
"How Are You?"
 
 


Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus)

 
 
"DEHALUYI"
GREEN CORN MOON
Cherokee
 
 
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"Our treatment of Indians...still affects the national consciousness...It seems a basic requirement to study the history of Indian people. Only through this study can we as a nation do what must be done if our treatment of the American Indian is not to be marked down for all time as a national disgrace" -- John F. Kennedy
 
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We Salute
American Indians Serve In The U.S. Military In Greater Numbers Than Any Ethnic Group And Have Since The Revolution

On this Memorial Day holiday, as we remember those who have given their lives in service to our country while protecting the freedoms and ideals we hold dear, many of our fellow Americans remain unaware of the major contributions Native Americans have made to our nation’s armed forces. In fact, American Indians serve in their country’s armed forces in greater numbers per capita than any other ethnic group, and they have served with distinction in every major conflict for over 200 years.

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Our Featured Artist: Honoring Students
RedCan 2017

RedCan is rising once again. With interest in Indian Country’s only invitational graffiti jam hotter than ever, CRYP’s third annual RedCan event will take place from June 29 to July 1 at CRYP’s Waniyetu Wowapi (Winter Count) Art Park and throughout the city of Eagle Butte.

 

HUNAP And Wings Of America Partner For First-Ever Pursuit Program

Five Native high school students were selected to participate in activities held at Harvard and the Boston Marathon.
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Our Featured Story: First Person History:
An Inspiration For Youth: Grandma Thomas Walked 80 Miles Each Year To Raise Funds For Youth Complex

If you've been wondering where she's been, look no more.

She had walked for years raising money for the youth of Chinle. Her 80-mile trek between Chinle and Window Rock was a common sight in September during the Navajo Nation Fair.
 

History of the
Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
of Michigan

GRAMMAR OF
THE OTTAWA AND CHIPPEWA LANGUAGE - Verbs
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Education News Education News
CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS

Volunteer at the Largest Native American High School Tournament in the Country!

July 9-15, 2017
Maricopa, Az

 

Belcourt ND Native Graduates From Harvard University At Age 20

As if graduating from Harvard with a degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology isn't impressive enough try doing it before you can even legally drink.
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Education News Education News
Native American Students Take On Substance Abuse

A group of seven Native American students at Browning High School in Montana will serve as role models to help middle school students avoid drugs and alcohol with a substance abuse prevention program called “Be Under Your Own Influence.”

The program is primarily designed for seventh graders and has been found to reduce substance use through positive, future-oriented messages.

 
Pendleton Introduces The 2017 American Indian College Fund Blanket

Pendleton Woolen Mills, the acclaimed- lifestyle brand headquartered in Portland, Oregon, introduces a new, exclusive blanket for 2017, Gift of the Earth, to benefit the American Indian College Fund. For more than 25 years the College Fund has supported access to higher education for Native American students.

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Honoring Students Education News
Being True To Himself

When Damon Clark '17, a member of the Navajo (Diné) Nation, arrived on campus from New Mexico, he wore short hair, a cowboy hat, and hiking boots. He was here to absorb the best of Western education, to be transformed by the Harvard experience.

At graduation, the "transformed" Clark plans to wear a traditional turquoise necklace and his moccasins, with his long black hair tied into the traditional bun called "tsiiyéél" in Navajo. In his culture, Clark noted, hair is considered an extension of a person's thoughts and should not be cut.

 
How "Rez Accents" Strengthen Native Identity

An emerging field of research suggests that much like Cajun English or African American Vernacular English — otherwise known as Ebonics — unique speech patterns also have developed among indigenous people in Canada and the United States, creating Native American English, or "the rez accent." Here's what else researchers have discovered: The rez accent — short for "reservation accent" — occurs in indigenous communities regardless of whether a heritage language is spoken; and that through English, indigenous people are creating and maintaining their own ethnic identities.

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Honoring Students Education News
NSU Inducts Wildcat Into Its Hall Of Fame

Northeastern State University recently inducted Miss Cherokee 2016-17 Sky Wildcat into its Hall of Fame for bringing state and national recognition to the university in her role as a tribal ambassador.

NSU recognizes students annually who have brought special recognition to the university or who have made contributions to the school. Wildcat, of Muskogee, was one of three 2017 NSU Hall of Fame inductees recognized at this year's Hall of Fame Ovation Awards Ceremony.

 
Quebec Woman Crowned Miss Indian World

Raven Swamp, 23, a member of the Mohawk tribe has been crowned 2017 Miss Indian World at the Gathering of Nations.

Swamp from Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada, received the honor April 26 out of 23 Native American women representing their different tribes. Contestants were judged on areas of tribal knowledge, dancing ability, public speaking, and personality assessment.

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Preserving Language Preserving Language
New Mexico Pueblo Attempts To Save Language From Extinction

With fewer than 100 speakers remaining, the Acoma Keres language is on the verge of extinction. Few young people under the age of 40 have learned the language. If no action is taken, the Native American Pueblo of Acoma stands to lose a fundamental part of its heritage, an Acoma educator said. Acoma's Department of Education and the Language Conservancy have created an Acoma Language Recovery Plan to restore the Keres language and preserve the pueblo's legacy for future generations. They wrapped up the first phase of the project mid-March.

 
Online Classes, Modern Textbooks Helping Revitalize Cherokee Language

Recent research focusing on Native American languages and how they are taught is helping revitalize the Cherokee language, in part, through online courses and modern textbooks developed by the Cherokee Nation.

Using these updated methods, the Cherokee Nation's Cherokee Language Program continues to have a far-reaching impact, with up to 3,000 students taking online courses and around 400 taking community classes each year.

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Living Traditions Living Traditions
Wadopana Canoe Journey 'Will Revive Part Of Our Culture'

Since contact, the history of the Wadopana Nakoda people has been reinterpreted and rewritten by others, and the people have been attacked by disease, displacement and relocation to reservations.

But the Wadopana Nakoda never forgot who they are, never forgot their ties to the water—how Iktomi created them and the land from mud from the bottom of the sea; how they traveled by canoe on their ancestral waters, what we know now as the Great Lakes. How their name, Wadopana (pronounced Wa-DOH-pa-nah), means "canoe paddler."

 
SHS Students Learn Cherokee Booger-mask Making

In May, Cherokee National Treasure Roger Cain visited Cherokee languages classes at Sequoyah High School to teach students how to make booger masks.

"I've been bringing a cultural component to the language class. (Language teacher) Chris (Holmes) has been gracious to invite me over to share some knowledge," Cain said. "We've got more stuff planned for next year as well."

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Living Traditions   Honoring
Inuit Designers Revive Sealskin Fashion, Celebrate 'National Seal Products Day,' May 20

Sealskin fashion has claimed its place in haute couture. Once simply an essential winter wardrobe material in the icy cold of Northern Canada, today Inuit designers are expressing their cultural pride and creativity through less traditional means: high-fashion parkas, stilettos and even lingerie.

"It's part of my culture," Victoria Kakuktinniq, founder of Victoria's Arctic Fashion, told The Guardian. "The Inuit are really trying our best to promote our culture and show our way of life and how our ancestors lived."
 
WCU Honors Revered Cherokee Elder During Spring Commencement

Commencement at Western Carolina University included the awarding of an honorary doctorate of humane letters to Jeremiah "Jerry" Wolfe, an elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and U.S. Navy veteran of World War II.

Wolfe taught young men and women at the Oconaluftee Job Corps in Cherokee for more than 20 years, and since 1997 has worked in outreach and education at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, where he has shared his extensive knowledge of tribal history and culture with thousands of visitors.

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Healthy Living   Honoring History

Native American Breastfeeding Expert Speaking In Wisconsin

Camie Goldhammer, the country’s leading Native American expert on breastfeeding, will be speaking in Wisconsin as part of Great Lakes Intertribal Council’s “Breastfeeding: The Traditional Way” Program, sponsored by W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The goal of the program is to improve breastfeeding duration rates for tribal communities in Wisconsin by normalizing breastfeeding as the traditional and natural way to nourish and nurture our young.
 
'Remember The Removal'
Participants Depart Tuesday

The Cherokee Nation will host a send-off ceremony at 9 a.m., May 30 at One Fire Field west of the Cherokee Nation Tribal Complex for the 14 Cherokees who leave for the 2017 “Remember the Removal” Bike Ride.

This year’s cyclists range in age from 16 to 24. They will join eight cyclists from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina on a 950-mile ride that begins June 4 in New Echota, Georgia, and concludes June 22 in Tahlequah.
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What We Do   Legends

Debra Haaland of
Laguna Pueblo Throws Hat in Ring for US Congress

As former New Mexico Democratic State Party Chair, Debra Haaland, an enrolled member of Laguna Pueblo, has an impressive record of helping get Democrats elected. New Mexico was one of only two states in the 2016 elections to have its state house turn from red to blue. In addition, the number of Democratic State Senatorial seats increased by three, and Democrats won two out of three statewide elections. Haaland’s campaign is hoping to build on that spectacular winning streak by getting the first ever Native American woman elected to the U.S. Congress—namely, herself.
 
The Native American's Legend of Crystals

In ancient times, people lived in harmony with Nature.
They spoke the same language as the animals and plants.
They hunted for food only to satisfy their hunger and needs, always offering prayer of thanks for what
they had taken from Nature.

As time went on, humans lost this innocence and harmony.
They took more then they needed.
They forgot their prayers of gratitude.
They killed animals, and each other, for sport and pleasure.
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Honoring History   What We Do

Dakota Gather At Fort Snelling, Recall Their Exile

For the first time, Dakota people whose ancestors were exiled from Minnesota 154 years ago met last week at Fort Snelling. It was just below the fort, where women, children, and the elderly were put onto steamboats and sent down the Mississippi, up the Missouri, then to the Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota.
 

Girl Scout Cookie Phenomenon Began In Indian Country

Millions of people look forward each year to Samoas, Thin Mints and Tagalongs, but few know that the tradition of Girl Scout cookies started in Oklahoma, in the heart of Indian country, 100 years ago.
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Living Traditions   Honoring History

So What Is Singing?

So, what is singing? What's the purpose of singing? I've heard the term or phrase, "All they do is sing." When it comes to singing, it plays an important part, a piece of our Culture, our traditional ways of life. The creator has given each individual a gift, whether you're a singer, speaker, dancer, craftsman, athlete, it's up to you to find it, not everyone is a singer. The purpose of the Singing Society was to keep the singing going, keep it strong.
 

Osage Nation Finds Jesuit Archives Preserving Its History

The Osage Nation knew the Jesuits had some documents relating to the history of the tribe. Delving into those papers has brought new revelations. "It was so much more," said Osage Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear. "
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Honoring History   LIving Traditions

The Many Hands Shirt: Reuniting A Family And An Heirloom

In late 2013, I got an out-of-the-blue call from Stella Iron Cloud, a member of the Oglala Lakota (a.k.a. Oglala Sioux) Tribe of South Dakota. She asked if she could visit the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS), where I am the chair of the anthropology department, to see a beaded shirt that once belonged to her family.
 

With Native Song And Dance, Ponca Tribe Celebrates As It Takes Ownership Of Chief Standing Bear Trail

For so long, this sliver of land has pierced the hearts of the Ponca people.It is their trail of tears, a path trudged 140 years ago by more than 700 people at the end of bayonets belonging to a government the Poncas had never resisted.
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Living Traditions   Honoring Students

CRYP Hosts First Peoples Fund's Rolling Rez Arts

On April 18-20, the Cheyenne River Youth Project® welcomed the First Peoples Funds' Rolling Rez Arts mobile unit to the Cheyenne River Lakota Nation. Visiting artist Wade Patton and First Peoples Fund Coordinator Bryan Parker spent three evenings with the nonprofit youth organization's teen arts interns, providing valuable instruction in multiple mediums.
 

Showdown For The Gold

The state shot put finalist in Division II had to take a backseat to Tyson Jones and Turner Washington.

As one of the top billings at the Arizona state track meet, Jones and Washington made it an eventful one on Saturday afternoon at Mesa Community College. The two best throwers in the state regardless of class upped the ante as spectators watched this event in suspense.
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Honoring History   Living Traditions

This Tiny, Human-like Species Coexisted With Early Humans 300,000 Years Ago

Scientists unveiled the first evidence on Tuesday that early humans co-existed in Africa 300,000 years ago with a small-brained human-like species thought to already be extinct on the continent at that time.

The findings, published in three papers in the journal "eLife," raise fresh questions about human evolution, including the prospect that behaviors previously attributed to humans may have been developed by hominin precursors of Homo sapiens.
 

Chickasaw Begins 322-mile Washita River Adventure

Chickasaw master craftsman and artist Richard Thomas plans to kayak more than 320 miles down the Washita River to honor the memory of Southern Cheyenne tribal leader Black Kettle, who died near here 149 years ago.

Black Kettle lost his life in the 1868 “Battle of the Washita,” which some historians characterize as a massacre, as George Armstrong Custer led his men in a daybreak attack on the Cheyenne’s winter encampment.
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In Every Issue Banner
About This Issue's Greeting - "Neenjit dagoonch'uu"
"How are you?" is "Neenjit dagoonch'uu" in Gwich'in.
Nature's Beauty:
Tundra Swan
 
This Issue's
Favorite Web sites
 
A Story To Share:
The Red Swan
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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 - 2017 of Vicki Williams Barry and Paul Barry.
 

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