Bison Making Comeback as Healthier, Tasty Meat

NORTHFIELD, MN (Reuters) - Huddling for warmth during a Minnesota snowstorm, the three black woolly bulls bolted from their enclosure when a rancher and a visitor approached and galloped away over a hill, recalling a long-lost era.

The bulls are American buffalo, or bison, a species that once grazed across much of North America before being driven to the brink of extinction by 19th-century settlers. The slaughter of the continent's estimated 70 million bison dropped their number to only 250 animals by the early 1900s.

Importance of Bison/Buffalos Students

ENID, OK - In a time when modern conveniences are at the hands of every fourth-grader, it's a little hard for them to imagine a life in which their very survival lies in the hands, or rather hooves, of just one animal.

Desiree Webber, author of "The Buffalo Train Ride," presented the story of the buffalo in Oklahoma to fourth-graders at Chisholm Elementary School.

Native American Dancers Thrill Students

McAlester, OK - People shouldn't believe everything they see or hear on television - especially when it comes to Native Americans and their culture, according to Dennis Zotigh, an Indian History research assistant with the Oklahoma Historical Society.

Zotigh and Jay Roberts were at Frink-Chambers School Tuesday to perform as part of the Great American Indian Dancers, a professional dance company that demonstrates some of the dances and music of the 500 Native American tribes in the United States.

Native American Distance Runners to Speak at Fort Lewis College

DURANGO, CO - Three nationally known Native American distance runners will speak at 6 p.m. March 19 in the Student Memorial Lounge of the College Union Building as part of Fort Lewis College's annual Hozhoni Days celebration.

Speakers include Brandon Leslie, a five-time all-American from Adams State College, Steve Gachupin, a six-time winner of the Pikes Peak Marathon, and Felicia Guilford, one of the nation's top high school distance runners.

The Struggle for B.C.'s Languages

Trying to save a language in a place with an English-speaking majority is like trying to rescue a non-swimmer from a flood.

Victor Guerin, for one, has dived right in, but he's still swimming against the current.

All of BC's native languages are sinking into oblivion -- at least six have already disappeared -- and of the 26 or so survivors, Musqueam is critically endangered. It has only one fluent speaker remaining, 91-year-old Adeline Point.

Guerin, who is one of a handful of semi-fluent speakers, began teaching the complex language to kids at the reserve's preschool last spring.

Elders Seek Way to Preserve Fading Language

The casino and resort are built. The cash is flowing. The tribe is thriving.

But for all of the secular success the Miccosukee Indians have enjoyed from their flourishing capitalist pursuits in recent years, one ancient investment is no longer a sure bet.

The Miccosukee language, the only one that some tribal elders speak fluently, is becoming an endangered cultural species among tribal youth -- a victim rather than a victor in the tribe's increasing encounters with mainstream America.

Navajo Professionals Mentor KCHS Math, Science Students

KIRTLAND, NM - When Karlissa Benally settled into her dorm room at New Mexico State University nine years ago, she wasn't sure she had made the right decision.

A first generation college student, Benally was overwhelmed with her course load and missed her strong family ties back on the Navajo Nation. Today Benally is an environmental engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility and she is teaming up with students at Kirtland Central High School to provide the support and guidance she missed out on during her collegiate career.

Science Fair Projects Combine Western, Native Knowledge

Western scientific method partnered with age-old knowledge at the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Society's state science fair.

The event, which is open to nonurban students statewide, encourages participants to work with Native elders on subjects pertinent to their geographic regions.

"What we're trying to do is link these kids with elders so they can see they are one of the greatest sources of information," science fair coordinator Alan Dick said. "Elders have tremendous knowledge."

Tribe Works to Keep Ancient Tradition Alive

CHARENTON, LA - Imagine having a 6,000-year-old family tradition passed down to you. John Darden, assistant curator of the Chitimacha Museum, tribal member and basket weaver, is pretty close to knowing what that means.

Darden is not sure if the Chitimacha basket-weaving tradition is as old as archaeologists say the tribe's presence in the area is, but he knows the tradition is so ancient that tribal myths have grown up around it. Those myths, like the basket-weaving process, are kept secret by the tribe.

Two Will Honor Ancestors by Walking Miles in Their Shoes

GRAND RONDE, OR - Today, February 23, two members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde will follow the footsteps of some of their ancestors, retracing the 1856 forced march of 325 Native Americans from Table Rock near Medford to the reservation in Grand Ronde.

Steve Bobb, a Vietnam veteran, and Brent Merrill, editor of the tribal newspaper, Smoke Signals, are walking to commemorate one of Oregon's little-known "Trail of Tears" as they raise money for a veterans memorial at tribal headquarters.

Cherokee's Story Spurs Reading

FONTANA, CA - Teachers at Sequoia Middle School in Fontana have a powerful new tool to promote reading in the classroom.

He is Sequoyah, a Cherokee Indian who, despite being illiterate, invented the Cherokee alphabet and taught thousands of Native Americans to read.

Through research, assistant principal Linda Buck discovered that the school's namesake was a vocal promoter of literacy. She jumped at the chance to use his story to encourage students to read.

"We learned that Sequoyah stands for literacy and, being educators, literacy is of upmost importance to us," Buck said. "We found the connection very powerful and significant."

Showing Other Kids How to Take Heart

TULALIP, WA - Loreal Jack nibbled on a chocolate bar in between talking about her newest adventure.

The 13-year-old Tulalip Tribes member is a kid at heart, but often puts her energy into more adult things, such as her recent venture in starting her own nonprofit organization.

"I talk on the phone until my mom tells me to get off," the Marsyville Middle School student said, shrugging her shoulders and revealing a big grin.

She loves pizza and Top Ramen. But she's one of few kids around who has sought an official means of raising money for less fortunate families. Her main mission? To buy sneakers for kids who need them and assist families in need.

Earth Day Groceries Project

Welcome to The Earth Day Groceries Project, 2002 - one of the oldest and largest educational efforts coordinated on the Internet. Earth Day is on April, 22nd (a Monday this year), so it is time to get started for the big event!

The Earth Day Groceries Project is a cost-free environmental awareness project in which students decorate paper grocery bags with environmental messages for Earth Day. One of the oldest and largest educational projects on the Internet, the Earth Day Groceries Project is managed online by Mark Ahlness, a third grade teacher at Arbor Heights Elementary School in Seattle, Washington.

This activity is also open to organizations other than schools. Cub Scout troops, environmental camps, after school programs, and many others have joined in before. All are welcome!

Navajo 'Grammas' Provide Heritage of Will, Wisdom

I was about 10 miles out of Chinle last summer, driving over the Defiance Plateau in northeastern Arizona, when I saw a "gramma" walking along the dirt road in the windblown dust.

She wore typical tennies, ankle socks, a broomstick skirt, a velveteen blouse, turquoise bracelets and a scarf. I looked for sheep she might be tending. There were none. I determined she was hitchhiking.

Navajo grammas don't hitchhike by thumbing. They merely appear by the right-hand roadside and start walking. It is the duty of drivers to realize their intent.

I stopped, rolled down the truck window and said the traditional "Ya'at'eeh shima (hello, my mother)." She smiled and said, "Ya'at'eeh shiyazh (hello, my son)."

Harvard Holds Warm Welcome for Native Americans

The ivy-covered walls of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts can seem intimidating to anyone at first glance. The bustling urban campus is filled with apparent scholars lost in the spirit of academic excellence and clearly focused on the goals ahead. It is an easy place for students to feel overwhelmed and even a bit alone. For Native American students, many of whom are far away from their homes and support systems for the first time, it can be even more challenging. The Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP) combats these challenges by providing a warm and welcoming community for its students through many academic and social services.

Native American education is woven into the history of Harvard beginning with its Charter of 1650 calling for "the education of the English and Indian youth of this Country." Today at the University there are approximately 110 Native American students, representing some 40 tribes. The mission of HUNAP is to bring together Native American students and interested individuals from the Harvard community for the purpose of advancing the well-being of indigenous peoples through self-determination, academic achievement, and community service.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Yak' ei haat yigoodee"

Tlingit is spoken in the far Northwest of British Columbia as well as the adjacent areas of the Yukon and Alaska.

Tlingit belongs to the Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit language family

The Athabaskan language family as a whole is fairly closely related to Eyak, a language once spoken in the Cook inlet area of southern Alaska. Eyak is no more closely related to the neighboring Alaskan Athabaskan languages than it is to Navajo; it evidently split off long ago from the rest of Athabaskan.

Tlingit is a more distant relative of Athabaskan-Eyak. The relationship of Tlingit to Athabaskan-Eyak was unclear for many years. As a result, Tlingit is listed in many sources as an isolate. However, improved knowledge of Tlingit has made it clear that Tlingit is related to Athabaskan-Eyak.

This Date In History

Recipe: MudBugs

Story: Why the Nighthawk's Wings are Beautiful

What is this: Nighthawk

Project: Regalia - Headgear - Part Three

This Issue's Web sites

Opportunities

"OPPORTUNITIES" is gathered from sources distributed nationally and includes scholarships, grants, internships, fellowships, and career opportunities as well as announcements for conferences, workshops and symposia.

Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 of Vicki Lockard and Paul Barry.

The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 of Paul C. Barry.

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