Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

January 11, 2003 - Issue 78

"Quyakamsi!"

The Siberian Yupik Greeting

Means “We Welcome You”

Potawatomi

"Think not forever of yourselves, O chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families, think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground. "
~Peacemaker, Founder of the Iroquois Confederacy circa 1000 AD~

We Salute
David Neito

LAWRENCE, KS -- Lawrence artist David Nieto knows that age doesn't matter when it comes to art.

The 12-year-old Central Junior High School student is an up-and-comer in the American Indian art world.

He has won numerous awards for his sculpture and jewelry at the Red Earth Art Show in Oklahoma City and the Lawrence Indian Arts Show in Lawrence.

"Native Heroes" Essay Contest Winners!

We have entries!!!

Artist:
Harrison Begay

Harrison Begay is a Navajo artist who was born in 1917 at White Cone, near Keams Canyon, Arizona. This area is high desert, a fairly flat, open, and barren land. He was raised in a traditional way, residing in a hogan. His family herded sheep and goats for a living. At Keams Canyon, north of his home, there was a famous trading post where his family probably traveled to trade wool for foodstuffs and manufactured goods. However, most of what the family needed they found or raised on their own land. A trip to the trading post was a long journey by horse and wagon.

Graham Greene receives Spirit Best Actor Nomination for "Skins"
by Roscoe Pond

Graham Greene has received a Best Actor nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards for his portrayal of Mogie Yellow Lodge in the film "Skins".

... The LA Times calls "Skins", "A wrenching, uncompromisingly bleak film" and it's Stars, "Scwheig and Greene are actors of strong physical presence. Each has emotional range and intensity that demolish movie stereotypes of Indians as stoics".

Thunderhawk - The Great Cross Country Adventure - Part 1
by Geoff Hampton

Writer Geoff Hampton shares this story that should delight both young and old.

2002 Mascot Retrospective
by Robert Eurich

Winners

• The New Hampshire State Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution calling for local school districts to stop using American Indian sports mascots.
• Coe-Brown Northwood Academy in Northwood, New Hampshire, dropped its "Comanche" mascot.
• ... more

Hazel Pete Revived Interest in Art of Basket Weaving

When Hazel Pete was born in 1914, in a one-room house on the Chehalis Indian Reservation, Native American art often took a back seat to survival. Tribe members say poverty, alcoholism and shame about Indian culture were problems that overshadowed traditions like basket weaving.

Coleman Keeps Washoe Spirit Alive Through Weaving

“It’s a very spiritual thing for me,” the 52-year-old woman said.

Business School to Woo Native American Students

Of all high school graduates across the United States, Native Americans are among the least likely to get a college or graduate degree. But in Dallas, Texas, the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University is trying to counter that trend. As Suzanne Sprague reports, it's launched a new effort to court Native American students in what's believed to be the first such program in the nation.

Nike Donates $50,000 to Install Track at Native American School

Indian Reservations haven't been known for their exceptional athletic facilities, in fact, with most of the education budget cuts the athletic facilities have been last to be funded. Nike hopes to reverse that trend by donating $50,000 to help refurbish Sequoyah High School's running track in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of the Cherokee Nation. Sequoyah High School was started by the Cherokee Nation for Cherokee orphans of the Civil War in 1872.

Tahlequah Sidewalk Tells Cherokee History

To honor its early leaders and to educate young people about events of the Cherokees, the tribe in 2001 commissioned 40 granite stones to be placed in a brick sidewalk at the square.

Boys and Girls Club Brings Technology to Remote Alaska

Thanks to a joint program of the Boys and Girls Club and Microsoft, the Seldovia club offers its members, and many local Natives, computers and access to the Internet.

Morongo Tribe Donates in the Spirit of the Season

CABAZON, Calif. - A few decades ago the Morongo Band of Mission Indians knew all about charity. During the holiday season local church groups and other philanthropic organizations would make seemingly routine visits to the perpetually destitute reservation in the desert east of Los Angeles to bring holiday food and gifts for the children. Now the Morongos are returning the good deeds. In the spirit of the season, the tribe donated more than $30,000 to charitable causes in its local community in Riverside County.

Newberry Meeting Looks Into Future of American Indian Studies

CHICAGO - Top-level scholars from around the country will debate the future of academic American Indian studies at the end of January at this city’s Newberry Library, home of one of the nation’s major collections of Indian materials. The meeting will raise pressing issues for these programs at all levels, such as bringing in Native students and hanging on to them, and getting mainstream colleges in better touch with tribal communities.

2003 American Indian Festival of Words Author Award goes to Vine Deloria, Jr.

The American Indian Festival of Words Author Award will be given to Vine Deloria, Jr. Saturday, March 1, 2003 at 11 a.m. at the Central Library, second floor, Fourth Street and Denver Avenue

This award is given every other year by the Tulsa Library Trust. Its purpose is to give formal recognition, on behalf of the Tulsa County community, to nationally acclaimed authors of American Indian descent who have made significant contributions to contemporary literature.

Vine Deloria Jr., a renowned author, historian, scholar, political scientist and activist, is the winner of the 2003 American Indian Festival of Words Author Award. Deloria will speak, answer questions and sign autographs at the award presentation.

Guidebook 2nd Edition Released on South Dakota's Juvenile Justice System

The South Dakota Coalition for Children has just released the 2nd edition of its free guidebook for youth and parents on the South Dakota juvenile justice system. The updated sixteen-page booklet, written by a workgroup of South Dakota experts, explains youth's rights and how the juvenile justice system works in South Dakota.

"The Second Edition of the Guidebook reflects recent changes in South Dakota law which went into effect in 2002," says Dr. Susan Randall, Executive Director for the South Dakota Coalition for Children. "It tells you what to expect as you move through the system, what kind of costs you can expect to pay, and the resources that are available to help you. In short, it tells you everything you need to know when you are confronted with the legal system."