Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

March 8, 2003 - Issue 82

"Posoh!"

The Menominee Greeting

Means "Hello!"

Month of the Crane

Potawatomi

"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~

We Salute
Wings of America

The Wings of America all-Indian junior men’s and women’s teams captured 1st and 3rd places respectively at the USA Winter National Cross Country Championships held in Houston, Texas, February 15-16.

The challenging European-style course at Buffalo Bayou Park was especially brutal after rain fell Friday night and most of the day Saturday. Runners slipped and fell on the steep hills and sharp turns as they plowed their way through the slick mud. Even the spectators were covered in mud during the two-day event.

We introduce another of our regular contributors ... Suzanne Westerley. Suzanne is a freelance photojournalist. She reports on health, education, gaming, and business conferences, art shows, music award shows, art award shows primarily in the southwest including Arizona, New Mexico and California.

Hey Kids! Enter the new Easter Bovine Illustrating Contest!

Would you like to enter a new illustrating contest? Read the Easter Bovine story and draw what you think each or all of the characters from the story look like. Illustrate them in action or just simply as a standing portrait.

There will be age group winners and overall winners for the contest.
Send your entry via e-mail to GEOFFLHAMPTON@aol.com.
Be sure to include a short note explaining what you liked best about the story!
Entry Deadline: Wednesday, April 16th - 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time.

Good Luck!

Our Featured Artist:

Our Top Story:

Jimmy Wolf

ROME, N.Y. - Guitar string suppliers have to smile when they hear that a new Jimmy Wolf album is in the works. The poignant blues rocker must go through plenty of string when he wrenches a new tune out of his guitars.

Wolf's latest album, "Mohawk Stomp" is certainly no exception. The Turtle Clan Mohawk tortures his Gretch, Silver Jet and Gibson SG into providing both lead and bass lines simultaneously. Wolf also plays drums, harmonica and sings his own songs. He wrote 10 of the 13 tracks on "Mohawk Stomp" and got help on "Indian Hawk" from his young daughter Hannah.

Sioux returning to the Plains

KYLE, S.D. – During a sunset in the Badlands, 10 buffalo work their way through the landscape of elephant-hide rock toward a creek for the night. From a ridge high above them, they look like big black shadows in the cinnamon half light, moving silently among the trees.

Such a herd brings hunters and tourists to this remote corner of South Dakota. But for American Indians, a herd brings something else - hope.

Thunderhawk - Our Featured Story:

Northwestern Wisconsin History:

Thunderhawk - The Great Cross Country Adventure - Part 5
by Geoff Hampton

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

C.H. Cooke's Diary Written in 1868, Tells of the Logging War, Beef Slough Versus Eau Claire.
submitted by Timm Severud (Ondamitag)

This is the conclusion of C.H. Cooke's diary account of a trip up the Chippewa River in the spring of 1868. It was something of a feeling of regret that we began our homeward journey. Headed down stream with the current we traveled rapidly. At noon we halted to stretch ourselves at an Indian camp of four teepees, two of birch bark and two of canvas.

Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness

Health and Wellness
by Geoff Hampton

At a recent Childhood Obesity Conference that I attended here is San Diego, Dr. Richard Carmona, The US Surgeon General declared the state of obesity in our country as the number one cause of preventable death, surpassing even smoking. He went on to say that the state of obesity is actually "A threat to national security". Its time for all of us to get involved!

This problem obviously is not just a problem for our children. It has had devastating effects on the adult population too.

REZ-ROBICS For Couch Potato Skins Will Have You Laughing and Moving More Than Just Your Fork
by Suzanne Westerley

Yes, it's been a long wait since you were first told about the Rez-Robics videos in early 2001. Well, the wait is over, and you'll be impressed by the high quality of the videos that producers Pam Belgarde and Gary Rhine (and friends) created on a very tight budget.

Arizona Education News

Hopi High Team Wins
Academic Decathlon Awards

Polacca — Hopi High School’s Academic Deacathlon team took first place in the Superquiz Category at the Kingman Invitational Jan. 11.

Academic Decathlon has students competing in seven different subject areas. The Superquiz asks questions in all subject areas, but has one major theme each year. The theme this year was Oceanography.

Wanted: More Native American Students

DURHAM -- Her back erect and head held high, Samantha Locklear will pay homage to her ancestors Saturday when she dances in her high school gymnasium, moving slowly and steadily to the beat of a drum.

Wearing flowing animal-skin clothing and wrapped in a long, fringed shawl with a feather in her hair, Locklear will be transformed from a chatty, energetic teenager into the reserved head female dancer for the 12th annual Native American powwow at the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics.

Alaska Education News

Wahington Education News

Teacher Seeking Teachers

Faced with a foreign culture, harsh winters, and in some cases a lack of basic necessities, many Lower 48 teachers who accept jobs in rural Alaska don't make it more than a year.

That's why the state needs to attract Native students to careers in education, says Rhonda Hickok, manager of the federally funded Preparing Indigenous Teachers for Alaska Schools program at the University of Alaska Southeast. Hickok, 37, a former Juneau-Douglas High School history teacher, has headed the PITAS program since July of 2001.

Teacher Certification Program Will Strengthen Tribal Cultural
Heritage, Add to State Cultural Resources

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Creation of a pilot program to certify state of Washington tribal language and culture teachers will strengthen the cultural heritage of tribes and add to the cultural resources of the state, said a Washington State University official.

Traditions in Action

Oneida Tribal History

Traditional Cheyenne Leaders Fix Modern Problem

LAME DEER -- Traditional chiefs and warrior society leaders of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe came to the rescue of their tribe Thursday night.

A lingering dispute between the tribe's elected council and president escalated Thursday morning. Tribal President Geri Small, who was suspended without pay two weeks ago, obtained a court order to resume power.

Oneidas' History Unearthed

"It's like reclaiming my past," says Oneida Nation Bear Clan member Brian Patterson of an archaeological "dig" held in partnership with Colgate University to uncover traces of the Oneida Indians' past.

"It's something tangible for our people," he says, "It is representative of both the past and present."

Teaching Traditions

Yukon Education News

Young Chippewas Learn To Make Shoes Old-Fashioned Way

SUGAR ISLAND -- Even though modern snowshoes are readily available, the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians still teaches the traditional way of walking on snow.

Young Chippewas learn how to make wooden snowshoes at the tribe's Culture Camp, where age-old lessons are taught on weekends.

"Our ancestors were hunters and gatherers, and winter was a hard time," camp coordinator Bud Biron said. "It was before high-powered rifles, and you had to get real close to an animal to bring it down.

Separate Aboriginal Schools May Come To Yukon

WHITEHORSE - A First Nations educator says separate schools for native children in Yukon are a real possibility.

Colleen Joe, the manager of Education, Employment and Training with the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, says Yukon's aboriginal people are extremely frustrated with the public school system.

She sat on a federal education working group that released a report proposing separate systems for native students.

Wisconsin History

Wisconsin History

Don't Eat the Moose Until You Catch Him
submitted by Timm Severud (Ondamitag)

This trip to a country where moose were then plentiful brings to mind a short story of the attempted capture of one of these animals on Chequamegon Bay. Quite early in the forties, I think it was in '43, there lived on the banks of Fish Creek, a small stream which empties into the head of Chequamegon Bay, near the present city of Ashland, Wisconsin, and Indian named Da-cose and his wife. They were childless and lived apart from the Chippewa tribe, to which he belonged, by reason of his eccentric nature.

Jean Brunet Devoted Life to Chippewa Valley
submitted by Timm Severud (Ondamitag)

If the question were asked who was the most noteworthy person in the early history of the Chippewa Valley probably the first place would be given to the name of Jean Brunet. This being the case, there is nothing approaching a biography of the man had never been recorded. In the entire list of publications of the Wisconsin State Historical Society there is to be found only some ten references, mostly brief and disconnected, pertaining to this interesting character.

NCAI Interns and Fellows

Celebrating Tribal Colleges

National Congress of American Indians Receives $25,000 Contribution from Nike, Inc. to Help Fund the Intern and Fellowship Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The nation's oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization in the United States, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), today announced it had received a $25,000 contribution from Nike to help fund its intern and fellowship program.

College Provides Cultural Education and Hope to American Indians

Since the first tribal college opened its doors in 1968, thousands of American Indian students have earned degrees without leaving their reservations… in surroundings rich in their cultural heritage. Now, one of the 33 tribal institutions is moving beyond its own borders in an attempt to educate other Indigenous people around the world. Jim Kent has the story of the Indigenous People's World University and the tribal leaders from the South Dakota Lakota Sioux and the New Zealand Maori who are working together to make this global educational network a reality.

Teaching Traditions

Traditional Games

Little Feather, Laughing Bear

Little Feather is an inspiration to Mountain Avenue Elementary School fourth-grader Ashley Brines. Ashley heard the story of Little Feather at an assembly Wednesday that taught students about Native American history and culture. Presenter Kiyomi Ortega, who uses the name Running Deer in performances, told the story of the 10-year-old boy who brought prosperity back to his famine-torn people, against many odds.

"I'm 9, so it was kind of like I could do that too," Ashley said.

The Game of "Peone"

"Peone" is a highly competitive game of complex strategy, skill and calculation.

It is played with eight players - four on each side, with an additional man or woman to act as umpire (Koymi). The two sides are usually made up of male or female players from different tribes or bands. The object of the game is for one side to win all the tally sticks.

Much betting accompanies the game among both the men and the women. The game may be won in a short time, or it may - as frequently happens - prolong itself through an entire night, until the early morning, with several hundred dollars changing hands!

Basketball Tournament Announcement

Montana Education News

NABI 2003 Announces Sponsorships
Supporting Young Native American Athletes To Reach Their Goals!

Phoenix, AZ - March 4, 2003 - The Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury have agreed to sponsor the Native American Basketball Invitational tournament for Native American high school students July 11-13 in America West Arena.

New Project puts Live Trout in 12 Schools

PABLO -- Teen-aged students up and down the reservation are studying fisheries biology in their science classes, thanks to the Tribes' Natural Resources Dept. and Salish Kootenai College.

NRD and SKC are cosponsors of the Native Fish Interactive Program designed by doctoral candidate Michael LaFlamme of the University of Montana in Missoula to help students appreciate native fish through "place-based and experiential learning."

Basketball Tournament Report

Basketball Tournament Report

Girls Lakota Nation Invitational Filled With Thrills

RAPID CITY, S.D. - The boys may have drawn the larger crowds for their tournament but the Girls Lakota Nation Invitational brought about some thrilling basketball.

The Champions, Red Cloud Lady Crusaders won the title and the trophy by using determination and a not-give-up attitude to defeat a skilled but scrappy Hill City Ranger’s team 50-39.

Sho-Ban Chiefs: District Champions

FIRTH — The Sho-Ban Chiefs achieved their goal of again winning the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference 5/6 District championship Tuesday night as they defeated the Mackay Miners 72 to 70 at Firth High School.

The next goal is to return to state and play as a different team. “This was our goal and that was to repeat winning the district title,” said Chiefs Coach Merle Smith.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Posoh"

In most respects Menominee is a typical Algonquian language. Menominee has six vowels rather than the usual four, and has complex rules governing vowel length, but otherwise the sound system is similar to Ojibwa, Mesquakie (Fox) and Shawnee. The vocabulary is also similar to the neighboring languages; especially, most Menominee words will have an exact equivalent in Potawatomi and Ojibwa. The noun inflections are similar to other Algonquian languages, but Menominee has a number of verb inflections not found in the other languages, and consequently some sentences are put together in a different way than in Ojibwa or Mequakie.

This Date In History

Recipe: Seafood Lagniappe

Story: The Race Between the Hummingbird and the Crane

What is this: Whooping Crane

Craft Project: Scrimshaw

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, 2003 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, 2003 of Paul C. Barry.

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