American Marten (Martes americana)

"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~

Do you ever wonder Why The Buffalo Was Important To Native American People? I sure do.

Sometimes referred to as The Wal Mart of long ago, the mighty Bison (Buffalo) was a significant part of First Nation’s way of life and had many uses for the tribes at this time. Nowadays, you can only see Buffalo here and there, but at one point they roamed North America, by the million’s. But what happened to them? Let us explore deeper into the mighty bison.

I come from a lineage of geniuses.

My Samoan ancestors were so intelligent that they figured out how to sail across the Pacific using only the stars as their guide. Can you imagine that? People nowadays can barely get from point A to point B without Google Maps dictating each and every step that they're supposed to take.

Climb the ladder, get an education…. Then what? The reservation will always be here….. But its people may not always be. Go off and make us proud…. But, what if I want to make you proud right here at home?

These are all things I have been told time and time again as a scholar growing up on the Navajo Nation. And, like every other Navajo child running through our chapter houses, I listened. I climbed that ladder tirelessly until I found myself at the top walking across the stage to retrieve my diploma at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. And, yes, in my 22 years of life, the reservation has remained, but it is changing.

Sylvia Dale, a senior at Ganado High School in Apache County, will represent Arizona at the 15th Annual Poetry Out Loud national finals competition in Washington, D.C., April 27 – 29.

The Arizona Poetry Out Loud State Finals were held at Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix March 7. Ten students, representing schools from Tucson to Ganado, a chapter of the Navajo Nation, recited poems by a diverse array of literary luminaries, including Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, and contemporary Arizona poet, Natalie Diaz.

At Iroquois Lacrosse Arena in Hagersville, Ontario, the home of the Six Nations Chiefs, box lacrosse champions of eastern Canada, a photograph from 1931 hangs on the wall. Gazing ahead resolutely and gripping a lacrosse stick is a handsome dark-haired Mohawk man with a bandage over his right brow.

That man was Harry J. Smith, but many years later, he became known to the world as Jay Silverheels, the actor who played Tonto in the "The Lone Ranger," a television series that ran from 1949 to 1957.

When a bear starts feeding off garbage and loses its fear of humans it is quickly shot but an unlikely conservation partnership may be setting a different path

In early April, a young grizzly bear swam through the chilly waters off the western coast of Canada in search of food.

He came ashore on Hanson Island, one of more than 200 rocky outcrops in British Columbia's Broughton archipelago, and quickly started eating garbage from a cabin.

It was a dangerous move: bears that get too comfortable eating food waste and start to lose their fear of humans are quickly shot.

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian has a new cultural exhibit ready for patrons once it re-opens its doors following the COVID-19 pandemic. "Many Faces" features the ancient art of Cherokee mask making in a modern realm and will inform visitors of this art form still practiced today by many Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians artists.

"The exhibit explores the contemporary mask culture," said Dakota Brown, Museum of the Cherokee Indian education director. "Not only will guests be able to see a wide variety of Cherokee masks, but we were lucky enough to be able to collect some oral histories from mask makers that we have incorporated throughout the exhibit."

Columbus famously reached the Americas in 1492. Other Europeans had made the journey before, but the century from then until 1609 marks the creation of the modern globalized world.

This period brought extraordinary riches to Europe, and genocide and disease to indigenous peoples across the Americas.

The Land O'Lakes Native American maiden, a silent spokeswoman for the Minnesota-based cooperative since the late 1920s, has disappeared from butter, cheese and other product packaging.

The Native American Club at Flagstaff High School gathered in early March to discuss renaming the San Francisco Peaks to the indigenous names to respect the people, culture and history of the mountain in Flagstaff.

Five students from the club were at the press conference: Taralyn Sloan, Trissdyn Nez, Ignacio Agoodie, Denver Seaton and Skyla Ramos.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Wáa sá iyatee?"

Nature's Beauty:
American Marten

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