Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

July 26, 2003 - Issue 92

Favorite Sites

collected by Paul and Vicki

They can be written by hand, or typed on a computer. You might keep yours private, or share it with the world. Some call them diaries; others prefer the word journal; and online afficionados often call them blogs (which evolved as a concatenation of the phrase "Web log.") Finding your voice through journal writing is a skill that improves with practice. Learn how to start with today's site selections.

Creative Writing Prompts
Delivering on the promise of their title, Creative Writing Prompts serves fresh ideas to get your pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard. "Write a story about an empty glass." "Begin a story with the line, 'The clock winked.'" In addition to the nearly daily online prompts (which are archived back to June), the site offers a free download of Write Sparks! Lite, a Windows program that delivers writing prompts right from your desktop.
http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/

Diarist.net
"Whether you call us diarists, journalers, or bloggers, we've got everything you need to know all about the people who tell all." Best clicks are the Spark writing prompts (look for the link in the lower right-hand corner), the Diarist.net Guide (a how-to for wannabees), and the collection of celebrity blogs. The list of journaling hosts is good, but since it is several years old, the newer blogging tools are noticeably absent. And when browsing the directory of diaries, please keep in mind that not all personal journals are appropriate for young kids.
http://www.diarist.net/

Elementary Writing Prompts
"Would you like to be famous?" "What would you do if you found a magic wand?" Written specifically for Canadian elementary teachers, but appropriate for a much wider audience, this long list of more than two hundred writing prompts is enough to keep anyone writing for years. The prompts are organized into questions that ask "Who, what, where, and when?" as well as "I wish," "Describe" and "Miscellaneous."
http://www.canteach.ca/elementary/prompts.html

Lakota Language Revitalization
Native language instruction for children has changed in recent years to include computer-based pedagogical material. As a result, a variety of multimedia language programs have been developed as a way to teach vocabulary, sentence structure, and oral retention. These tools are becoming recognized as an important and accessible way for teaching languages. Such developments are particularly important in light of the very real threat of extinction faced by these language. In this regard, there is a concerted effort under way from both from the community and the academy to revitalize and preserve these languages. An example of this effort is the series of language programs developed between community members,teachers and myself in 1998 and 2000 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The project has highlighted the ability of multimedia programs to open new areas of opportunity for Native language transmission and preservation.
http://php.indiana.edu/~wmeya/projects.html

Tribal Journeys
Tribal Journeys is an event among many in a cultural resurgence among Northwest Coast Native Americans and First Nations. It is a reaffirmation of lifeways practiced for millenia, a reawakening of Canoe Culture. For its participants, their villages and hosts, it is a celebration of dependence on the ocean. It is a common expression within villages of ancient knowledge and tradition, it is the solitary expression of strength and courage for paddlers and it is a triumph of survival for Native people. For those of us who view it from outside it is a telling glimpse of ecological and cultural values that are powerfully true to place, uplifting and inclusive to Native Americans and non-Native Americans alike.
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/projects/02tribal/welcome.html

Games of the Arctic
The Inuit have always enjoyed a variety of games and sports. Skills developed by these games were often those necessary for everyday survival in the harsh environment. Thus, the games concern physical strength, agility, and endurance. Many Inuit games are traditional and require no equipment. Some traditional games may have been learned in Asia before the Inuit migrated across the Bering Strait (c. 2000 B.C.), while others were undoubtedly learned after migration, through contact with southern Aboriginal peoples who had migrated at an earlier time from Asia into the Western hemisphere.
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Traditions/English/inuit_games.html

STAR
Students And Teachers Against Racism announces their new website that offers insight into the Native American perspective to teachers and educators.
http://www.racismagainstindians.org/