Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
"bozho " |
Potawatomie |
Hello |
"OPUNHOPIZUN" |
THE MOON YOUNG DUCKS BEGIN TO FLY |
Cree |
|
"For the American Indian, the ability of all creatures to share
in the process of ongoing creation makes all things sacred." |
Rev. Aileen Rice (Auntie Soda) The Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship recognizes and encourages the virtues of good citizenship by honouring Ontarians who have made outstanding public contributions through exceptional long-term efforts. The award reflects their acts of selflessness, generosity and kindness, and outstanding contributions to community life. It consists of a silver medal emblazoned with the provincial coat of arms on one side and the trillium on the other. Among those receiving the award was: Rev. Aileen Rice, of the Wasauksing Reserve near Parry Sound, is known by many in the community as Auntie Soda, and has been described as the "glue that holds this community together." |
School News With this issue, we are adding a new feature to Canku Ota. The information here will include items of interest for and about Native American schools. If you have news to share, please let us know! I can be reached by emailing: Vlockard@aol.com |
Artist: "My Indian heritage is part of who I am, so some of it comes out in my music,
but I sing about a variety of human conditions. I just want to tell the truth about the world as I see it,"
says musician Annie Humphrey. |
Di-ga-da-yo-s-di Cherokee Marbles is a game of skill, still played in the form of tournaments. Also
a skill is the art of making the marbles themselves. |
|
Teaching Racial Tolerance, Understanding, and Appreciation When we began publishing our newsletters, we did a lot of research and web surfing
to come up with ideas and sites to share with you. One site, in particular, disturbed us so much, that trying to
combat its message became the basis for Canku Ota. This site, an educational page done by a middle school teacher,
in West Virginia, was talking about the Hopi People. The information was about Kachinas and all of the verbage
was past tense. For example..."the Hopi USED to"...this teacher went on to have her class make Kachinas
as a project. It became painfully clear to us that even in the year 2000, people still believe, and teach, that
our cultures and traditions are no longer living or deserving of respect. |
Teaching to Reach Out When Gary Johnson recently asked his college students to visualize an American Indian,
their collective image was a dark-skinned man in buckskin and feathers. "It's interesting; there's so much I didn't know,'' said Schmidt, a Carlton resident studying to be a social studies teacher. "The biggest things were stereotypes I didn't even know I had.'' |
|
What She Was Called Not as Important as Who She Was You say to(mah)to and I say tom(ay)to. You say Sajacawea and I say Sakakawea. |
For Indians, Trip Began Conquest of Their Culture As the Corps of Discovery bicentennial approaches, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
are being heralded as astronauts in buckskin who defined American character by exploring a continent. |
|
Tulalips Hope to Join the Computer Age While Protecting Their Heritage TULALIP -- On the Tulalip Indian Reservation, high tech means electronic slot machines
in the casino, not PCs in the homes. And although the glow of new technology is just a glimmer on the horizon,
the old ways of the tribe are fading. |
Alabama-Coushatta Tribes Work To Preserve Unwritten Languages In the sad, old Indian story, two friends argue and destroy their friendship. One,
a dove, forever mourns the loss. |
|
Natives to Get Major Say in Determining Endangered Species, Says Minister IQALUIT, Nunavut -Aboriginal groups will get a voice in deciding which endangered species get protection in legislation now being drafted, federal Environment Minister David Anderson promised Tuesday. "No people are as concerned about the disappearance of species as aboriginal people," Anderson said in Iqaluit, where he is attending a meeting of Canadian wildlife and environment ministers. Anderson said an aboriginal representative will have a seat on the scientific committee that determines whether a species is at risk, said Anderson. |
Navajos Visit Cousins in Alaska to Improve Student Achievement FAIRBANKS, Alaska—When the automatic glass door to Fairbanks International Airport
slid open, Maggie Benally, a Navajo language teacher from Fort Defiance, Arizona, stepped outside the terminal.
She slowly glanced around the brightly lit landscape and looked at her watch. “It is 2:30,” she whispered. “Where
are all the people and automobiles?” |
|
Crow Fair’s Colorful History Dates to 1904 In 1904, a government Indian agent devised a plan to help the Crow Indians become self-sufficient through farming. Nearly a century later, the Crow Fair tradition is still alive and well. Patterned after Midwest county fairs, the agent envisioned a festival where cash prizes would be awarded for the best produce, handicrafts and native foods. Crow Fair eventually encompassed active participation by the entire tribe and gradually revived more American Indian rituals. After World War II, agricultural aspects went by the wayside and social and cultural affairs stayed. |
Capitol Dome: Indian Statue Selection Gains Support from Tribal Leaders Placing an American Indian statue atop the Capitol dome will increase the appreciation of Oklahomans for the historical role Indians have played in the state, Wilma Mankiller said Monday. The former chief of the Cherokee Nation was one of several American Indian leaders in the state to speak out in favor of a decision last week by state officials that the to-be-built capitol dome will be crowned with the likeness of a generic male Indian, representing the state's unique heritage. |
|
Library's Bookmobile Workers Complete a Circle of Human Contact I was taught as a child that life is a circle, the sacred hoop, and as we travel the
hoop, it is the journey that is of importance, not the destination. It is how we conduct ourselves when our journey
touches another's that has value, rather than our arrival at that place. |
Humboldt State Program a Model for Training ARCATA, Calif. — Seeking to stem the staggeringly high school-dropout rate among American
Indian students, in the late 1960s tribal leaders and educators agreed that Native students would respond better
to Native teachers. |
|
About This Issue's Greeting - "Bozho" |
The Potawatomi language belongs to the Algonkian language group; as such it is related in structure and vocabulary to the Ojibwe, Menominee, Kickapoo, Miami-Illinois, Shawnee and Cree languages, and most closely resembles Ojibwe and Kickapoo. Linguists classify it as a separate language that became a distinct entity long ago. Most Potawatomi who are involved with the language feel strongly that this is so. |
This Date In History |
Recipe: Camp Cookies |
|
Story: Skunk Outwits Coyote |
What is this: Prairie Dogs |
|
Project: Birchbark Projects |
This Issue's Web sites |
|
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 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry.
|