Canku Ota - May 2021

	Canku Ota (Many Paths) An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
	May 2021 - Volume 19 Number 5


	"Anpetu Waste " a Lakota Greeting Good Day
	Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum)

	"canwape to wi" moon of the green leaves Lakota

"If the white man wants to live in peace with the Indian, he can live in peace ... Treat all men alike. Give them all the same law. Give them all an even chance to live and grow. All men were made by the same Great Spirit Chief. They are all brothers. The Earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it ..." ~White Elk~

We Salute
President Biden Nominates Muscogee Citizen Lauren J. King to Federal Bench for the Western District of Washington

Lauren J. King, a tribal citizen of the Muscogee Nation, was nominated by President Joe Biden on Wednesday to become a federal district judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Our Featured Artist:		Honoring Students
Eight Contemporary Native American Artists Challenging The Way We Look At American History Pop culture and design loves to appropriate grossly stereotypical elements of percieved Native American cultures (do I really need to bring up Coachella?), learned from normalized racially insensitive media portrayals such as the "Piccaninny Tribe" in Disney's Peter Pan.		'Everything That You Do Impacts Future Generations To Come' Samantha Maltais’ mother likes to tell the story of how her then 7-year-old grew angry over a violent raid on a smoke shop that led to the arrests of members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe. “Don’t these people know we have rights?” the child had asked.

Our Featured Story:		First Person History:
Heartland The Yurok Tribe reclaims its ancestral territory in Northern California. The Klamath River runs like an artery through the ancestral homelands of the Yurok Tribe. From its headwaters in the foothills of southern Oregon's Cascade Mountains, the river courses past rocky cliffs and sloping coastal forests, crossing the Oregon-California state line as it flows through six dams, eventually spilling out into the Pacific Ocean at a wide, rocky beach in far Northern California.		A New Chahta Homeland: A History by the Decade, 1860-1870 Iti Fabvssa is currently running a series that covers the span of Oklahoma Choctaw history. By examining each decade since the Choctaw government arrived in our new homelands using Choctaw-created documents, we will get a better understanding of Choctaw ancestors’ experiences and how they made decisions that have led us into the present. This month, we will be covering 1860-1870 when the Choctaw Nation created the Constitution of 1860, entered the U.S. Civil War and dealt with the consequences for its participation, primarily the Treaty of 1866.

Preserving Heritage		Preserving Heritage
School Of Language To Conduct Important Count Of Choctaw First Speakers The Choctaw Nation School of Language will conduct a vital survey beginning in May of tribal members who are fluent first speakers of the Choctaw language. The survey will remain open through the end of June. All Choctaw tribal members who are first speakers are asked to complete the short survey. A first language speaker is someone who grew up in a home where Choctaw was spoken.		Cultural Heritage Center Expands Offerings Through New Website The Citizen Potawatomi Nation's Cultural Heritage Center exists to protect CPN history and educate Tribal members and the public. Its revamped website, potawatomiheritage.com, features six state-of-the-art components that help connect Citizen Potawatomi to their heritage, including an online encyclopedia, family manuscripts, archives, allotments, veterans and Mezodanek — a genealogical research platform.

Our Heritage		Our Heritage
Brittain Takes On Modeling World In NYC NEW YORK CITY – In high school, people would ask Colby Brittain if he was a model, and if he wasn't, he should be. He took it as a sign and signed with his first modeling agency in Tulsa. Brittain initially thought he would go to college to play sports or have a career in the medical field.		Alaska Native Teen Makes Waves As May Vogue Mexico Covergirl Growing up in rural Alaska, 18-year-old Quannah Chasinghorse (Han Gwich'in and Oglala Lakota) didn't see herself as beautiful. "I have really Lakota facial features," the teen told Native News Online.

Education News		Education News
Tribe Signs MOU With South College Asheville The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and South College Asheville (SCA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 4 that tribal officials hope will encourage more tribal members to enter the health care field. Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed and Dr. Lisa Satterfield, SCA campus president, signed the MOU in the Office of the Principal Chief with SCA officials and officials from the Tribe's Higher Education Program.		Cherokee Speakers, Leaders Break Ground At Site Of Future Language Center TAHLEQUAH – Fluent Cherokee speakers and tribal leaders gathered May 19 to celebrate a forthcoming, multi-million-dollar project that will transform a former casino into the tribe’s new language hub.The fanfare and groundbreaking ceremony were held near the Tribal Complex at the former Cherokee Casino Tahlequah, which will be remodeled and expanded into the Durbin Feeling Language Center for approximately $5 million.

Living Tradition		Preserving Heritage
Cherokee Nation Installs Solar Panels On Mid County Community Organization Building BARON – Cherokee Nation officials celebrated Earth Week on April 22 with a visit to the Mid County Community Organization building in Adair County, where new rooftop solar panels were installed as part of Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.'s $30 million Housing, Jobs and Sustainable Communities Act passed by the Tribal Council in 2019. The solar panels will lower utility costs and provide an eco-friendly energy source for the Cherokee community organization.		Osage Nation Launches New Culture Website Culture is one of the core components of maintaining sovereignty as a tribal nation. It is also one of Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear administration’s strategic focus areas. We have been unable to provide much in-person teaching throughout the public health emergency, and our current website at osagenation-nsn.gov is designed to convey government messaging. In September last year we started working on a platform to bridge that gap, bringing culture and language information to your home, where you can safely continue (or start!) to learn about our culture & language.

Living Traditions		Education News
These Parents Are Trying To Raise Their Kids In An English-free Home A couple in Ontario are trying to raise their kids in an English-free home. Emmaline Beauchamp (Mshkogaabwid Kwe) and her husband Monty McGahey (Ozaawaa Giizhigo Ginew) are aiming to speak to their children exclusively in Anishinaabemowin, to ensure they carry the sounds of their ancestors. "I just feel like it's the most beautiful gift you can ever give somebody," said Beauchamp about raising their two toddlers in Anishinaabemowin. "It's a language that is alive. It's a spirit in itself."		Special Education Teacher Named Shawnee Public Schools' 2021 Teacher Of The Year Among eight finalists, Citizen Potawatomi Nation tribal member and special education teacher Sandra Bradley received recognition as Shawnee Public Schools' 2021 Teacher of the Year. She works with fourth and fifth grade special education students at Horace Mann Elementary School, where she started six years ago.

Living Tradition		Living Traditions
Regalia Seized At Anchorage Graduation Ceremony Forces School District To Look Deeper ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Last week, 17-year-old David Paoli should have accepted his diploma at his West Anchorage High School graduation ceremony with pride in both his milestone accomplishment, and in his culture—expressed through the sealskin-adorned mortarboard graduation cap his mother Indigenized the year before to wear at her own master's graduation.		New 'Oregon Trail' Game Revisits Westward Expansion From Native Perspective The iconic video game "The Oregon Trail" is back with a new version—and a more nuanced approach to the story of white settlers traveling across the American West in 1848. As Kimber Collins reports for WKRG, the updated iteration, created by Gameloft, is now available through the Apple Arcade subscription service. First launched in 1971 as a computer game, "The Oregon Trail" lets users step into the role of wagon leader. Players struggle to keep people and oxen alive in the face of starvation, dysentery and other dangers.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Hopi Wellness Center Shares Walking And Running Tips For The Hopi Community Kykotsmovi, Ariz. – It's Tuesday, May 4, 2021 and are you looking for a way to gradually increase your personal walking and running times? Or maybe you want to try something new to keep your walking and running routine fresh, yet a little challenging to get back into shape? Here are a couple of plans to try out. But before starting this walking plan, talk with your doctor if you have serious health issues, or if you're older than age 40 and you've been inactive recently.		1800s Ancestral Scroll Returns To The Ojibwe An Ojibwe scroll lost since the late 1800s is on its way home, thanks to the efforts of two St. Paul businessmen. Sean Blanchet and Robert Snell, owners of Revere Auctions, noticed an Ojibwe birchbark scroll with Minnesota ties pop up on a Boston auction website. Thinking it may be of cultural relevance to the local Ojibwe, Blanchet contacted the auction house and offered to buy it outright. He also reached out for help from other interested parties and donors.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Anpetu waste "

"Good Day " is "Anpetu Waste" in Lakota. That is pronounced similar to "ahn-pay-two Wash-tay." Perhaps a more common greeting is "Hau Kola" - Hello Friend.

Nature's Beauty: Texas Horned Lizard	This Issue's Favorite Web sites	A Story To Share: Horned Toad







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