Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

June 5, 2004 - Issue 114

"Ka-hay Sho-o Dah Chi"

The Crow Greeting

Hello. How are you?

"Ode'imini-giizis "

Strawberry Moon

Anishinaabe

"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
Jaime Taylor

Four years ago, Jaime Taylor took a detour from the University of Washington to pursue an interest in flying. On May 22, she becomes an aviation pioneer.

Taylor, 26, will represent the Tulalip Tribes in a three-state flight to spotlight aviation as a career path for young American Indians.

Taylor, Cherokee, will fly a single-engine, four-seat general aviation airplane from a campus of Northwest Indian College west of Marysville, Wash., to D-Q Tribal College west of Davis, Calif. The flight will be filmed from a chase plane and made into a documentary, according to organizer Lee Carson.

For the last 3 1/2 years, Paul and I have shared "Canku Ota" with you, at no charge.
To date, we've received no funding for our work, either.
But, we now have a dilemma, and we need your help.

Our Featured Artist:

Another Story

Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings

Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings doesn't think of herself as an artist.

Instead, she views herself as a Kiowa woman living in the aged traditions and ways passed down from her grandmother.

The 52-year-old wears her hair in braids and dresses primarily in leggings, moccasins and broadcloth dresses she makes herself. She also makes cradleboards, beadwork, saddles, headdresses, headstalls for horses and men's leggings, shirts and moccasins.

20 Best Native Movies of All Time
by Roscoe Pond

Our Featured Story:

Northwestern Wisconsin First Person History:

The Eagle and the Snake – Redman Speaks – Part 10
by Geoff Hampton

The Indian Priest
Father Philip B. Gordon
submitted by Timm Severud (Ondamitag)

Chapter 5 - Murder and 'Buried Gold'

Youth News

Youth News

Cheyenne River Tribe to Break Ground for New Youth Center

If you build it, they will come.

That's what organizers of a new youth center at Eagle Butte are hoping.

The $2.1 million youth center is scheduled to open on Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in the summer of 2005 because its youth dreamed big

A Li Mi A Grand Opening is a Day of Celebration

On June 12, 2004 A Li Mi A, a new youth entrepreneurship center on the Crow Indian Reservation, will commemorate its grand opening with a day of celebration. Events including a Future Warrior Parade, Chief Race, Buffalo Hide Race, Indian Relay and ribbon cutting begin at 9 am at the Edison Real Bird Complex.

After 2 pm, activities will move to A Li Mi A where Olympic gold medalist and Running Strong for American Indian Youth® National Spokesperson Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota) will share stories from his life, encouraging local youth with his message based on character, dignity and pride.

Living Traditions

Living Traditions

Tribes Share the Gifts of the Yucca

As a teen, James Ramos hiked into the foothills to harvest yucca so his grandmother could cook a delicious dish from the cluster of white flowers atop the fibrous plant.

She looked at the stalk he brought back and said it was dry and worthless. Ramos had picked it too late.

That first experience did not deter the young San Manuel tribe member from harvesting yucca again, but he learned an important lesson pluck the plant before the sun saps its moisture.

Spring Ritual Honors Tribe's Historic Reliance on Fish for Sustenance

The Lummi tribe celebrated its "schelangen," (pronounced shlay-n-gun), or way of life, as one intertwined with salmon at the annual First Salmon Ceremony on Thursday.

Nearly 500 Lummi Tribal School students, community members and guests filled the Wex Li Em hall for dance, prayer and to eat tiny, oily pieces of the first chinook salmon caught this year.

Living Traditions

Living Traditions

It's that time of year again

It seems like only last week that winter winds were blowing in the threat of snow. People in different parts of the country have their own way of marking the change in seasons. Some watch daffodils and irises poke their heads through the ground. Others see the return of seasonal birds.

Now, despite the cold winds that chilled the area last week, Navajos are untying the blades of their shears and giving their sheep and goats their first haircuts of the season.

Tribal Members Build on Tradition of Cedar Working

Don Day listens to a Western cedar log to know if it split cleanly.

During a cedar-working demonstration Saturday outside the University of Oregon's Natural History Museum, Day could hear a person miss the mark after swinging a cedar mallet into a handmade wedge of yew.

Honoring Student Success

Honoring Student Success

Violinist hits a high note

What began as a simple request to start an orchestra at the local high school has progressed into some sweet music for freshman Leo Norris.

Now 15, Norris, while in the sixth grade, wrote a three-sentence letter to the Desert Eagle Secondary School (DESS) in his home Salt River Pima-Maricopa Community. His motive was simple. He wanted to emulate one of his favorite musicians, Emily Erwin of the country western band the Dixie Chicks.

Checkmate!

Russian writer Irving Chernev once wrote, "Every chess master was once a beginner." This is true for the Pine Hill chess team.

Twenty-two students competed at the National High School (K-12) Chess Championship in Dallas, Texas April 16-18. They placed 20th in the Unrated Division and 18th in the Under 900 Division.

"There were so many schools that were participating and we did really well," said Jacqueline Martinez, head chess coach.

Preserving Traditions

Preserving Traditions

Seneca Faithkeepers School Tries to Keep Alive the Tribe's Traditional Ways, Language

Last winter, at a meeting of the Seneca Tribal Council, an 8-year-old boy stood up to give the invocation.

In front of a council filled with smoke shop owners and casino enthusiasts, the boy spoke the language of his forefathers, the language of the Longhouse.

"This little boy spoke for eight to 10 minutes, all in the Seneca language," said Rickey L. Armstrong Sr., the tribe's president. "I was in awe listening to this."

Navajo Elders Give 150,000 Hours to Nation

Navajo foster grandparents came from every corner of the Navajo Nation to be recognized for volunteering with children at Little America Hotel in Flagstaff May 26.

“Thank you for volunteering. You really deserve this respect and we are all very proud of you,” said Anslem Roanhorse Jr., executive director of the Navajo Division of Health, who addressed 195 elders who volunteer over 150,000 hours this past year. The recognition ceremony is an annual event.

“You truly are the fabric of our nation,” added U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., a guest speaker.

Preserving Traditions

CPN Tribal Heritage Project Connects Threads of Generations

The handle-bar mustachioed William A. "Billy" Trousdale stares sternly out of the historical photo, taken about in 1895 holding the reins of his horse.

The photo of Pottawatomie County's first elected sheriff is an ancestor of Bob Trousdale, deputy tribal administrator of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. It's an appropriate illustration of the rich history of the 25,000-plus member Potawatomi tribe being recorded for future generations in its Tribal Heritage Project.

Linking Families, Language and Heritage

Seventy-year-old Marie Wilcox has a simple dream, a dream in which she hears the language spoken by her Wukchummi grandparents once again.

The language is dying.

"It is something I feel in my heart, I want to hear again," Wilcox said.

The dream came one step closer to becoming a reality Tuesday when the Owens Valley Career Development Center held its grand opening.

Preserving Language

New Life for Languages in Whitehorse School

A Whitehorse school council wants to bring Gwich'in and Tlingit languages into the classroom.

School councillors, parents and students from F.H. Collins high school started working on the idea a few months ago after Yukon's minister of education announced funding for more native language instructor trainees.

"There are many First Nations in the Yukon and we think this enriches the school environment and is very important for language and culture," says Heather McFadgen, chair of the school council at F.H. Collins.

Campers Challenged to Use Only Lakota Language for a Week

No cell signals, no radio waves, no cable, no English.

It's all part of a plan to keep technology and the 21st century at bay while immersing students into the American Indian language and culture of the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation.

As a way to strengthen an endangered language, Si Tanka University will challenge 100 student campers to a week of accelerated learning where only the Lakota language is spoken.

Youth News

Mdewakanton Fire Department Explorers Win New Post of the Year

They may look like they are playing dress up in the turnout gear and rubber boots, with helmets a tad oversized for their heads, but these youth are serious about what they do. The ten Explorers from Mdewakanton Fire Explorer Post 9100 devote more than two hours each week learning what fire fighters do. The Explorers from Shakopee, Prior Lake, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community range in ages from 14 to 17. All Explorers are CPR and First Aid certified. Members of the Post also perform public service such as picking up litter every other Saturday on a section of County Road 82, along with other Community service projects.

Students Explore Mars

A team of students at Laguna/Acoma High School in New Mexico is helping NASA explore Mars. They’re one of only 13 student groups selected by Cornell University as student interns for the Mars Exploration Rovers.

Geologist Larry Crumpler, a research curator at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science wanted to get New Mexico students involved. Science and math teacher Joe Aragon at Laguna/Acoma High School sent the winning proposal for how the program would help their students.

The Laguna/Acoma High School has approximately 400 students and 35 teachers. It’s a public school located on the Laguna pueblo reservation in a rural area.

Honoring Student Success

Morongo Tribe To Present $30,000 In Scholarship Funds To Native American Students at Ceremony Tuesday, May 25th; Scholarship Program First Of its Kind In California

Creating a new program designed to provide financial support for California Native American students statewide, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians has launched a scholarship program unique in the state. Three Indian students will be the first recipients of this innovative effort when they are presented with $30,000 in scholarship funds by the Morongo tribal council today.

Endowment Honors Tribal Leader

The late Percy Richardson was a long-time leader of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of Halifax and Warren counties in North Carolina, with a life-long passion for Native American education, said his granddaughter Shirly Ann Richardson, whom he called Ann.

Richardson and her husband, Alonza, of Naples, Fla., established the Percy Richardson Endowed Memorial Scholarship at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke in December 2002 to honor the tribal leader.

Living Traditions

Skye's the Limit for Young Dancer

Skye Gizhek Wapskineh snuggles close to her grandmother, the woman she knows and loves as a mother. Skye, 5, is a jingle dancer, and she turns to her grandmother, Shirley, to make sure she is explaining her dress correctly.

The gold rose signifies the design of her tribe, the Prairie Band Potawatomi, and the dress is called regalia or Indian clothes. It is not a costume.

Shirley Wapskineh listens and smiles as her granddaughter talks about dancing.

Swinomish Youth Pick up Cameras, Tell Their Own Stories

Alcoholics. Drug addicts. High school dropouts.

Native American youth are aware of the stereotypes that taint their heritage. Ask a group of Native kids from the Swinomish tribe near La Conner, Skagit County, about what it means to be an American Indian, and you may be surprised by their candor and insight:

"You probably think I'm another stoned Indian. Well, you're wrong. I'm going to become a lawyer."

Preserving Traditions

Putting Names to Ancient Faces

A handful of Inuit youth reached a milestone last week in putting names to faces of Nunavut elders, formerly missing from photographs of Inuit stored at the National Archives of Canada.

After months of traveling door-to-door in Nunavut communities, the mostly volunteer group has wrapped up the first phase of Project Naming, an effort to find the names of Inuit shown in stacks of black and white photos taken decades ago, and now stored in the federal government archives in Ottawa.

Tour de Acoma Spins Into Action

Beneath blue skies in the rolling hills and mesas of Acoma and Laguna pueblos, with the backdrop of the snow-capped sacred Mount Taylor, more than 350 bicyclists spun along the 25-mile and 50-mile routes on the Third Annual Tour de Acoma.

"It is wonderful. The scenery is beautiful and everyone is so friendly. We want to do it again," said Roland Curtis, who brought his 13-year-old nephew Spencer Garcia.

Living Traditions

Lori Piestewa Memorial Day Plaque Dedication on Mount Solidad

Native American Veterans and Elders attended the Memorial Day dedication of a plaque in honor of Lori Piestewa on Mt. Soledad May 31, 2004. The Barona Band of Mission Indians and the Barona Museum and Cultural center sponsored this memorial dedicated to: Lori Piestewa, Hopi Warrior, fallen in battle in Iraq while serving with the U. S Army.

Diabetes Can Be Contolled, Educator Says

Diabetes is a serious disease but it can be controlled.

That was the message Louise Querceto, health education technician with the Special Diabetes Project in Window Rock, delivered to students at Window Rock Elementary School on May 13.

"It's not fun being a diabetic," Querceto said. "But I can control it."

About This Issue's Greeting - "Ka-hay Sho-o Dah Chi"

In traditional and contemporary Crow culture, it is customary to greet each other with a quick glance away or a blink and nod of the head. If they are wearing a hat, they might tip the brim of the hat. Handshaking is a white man's custom and was only recently accepted as a greeting in Crow culture. You will rarely see Crow people embracing publicly. From: Vincent Goes Ahead, Jr., Museum Interpreter, Vice Chairman of the Crow Tribe

This Date In History

Recipe: Cicada Delights

Story: The Rabbit and the Grouse Girls

What is this: Ruffed Grouse

Craft Project: Backpack Key Chain

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, 2004 of Vicki Barry and Paul Barry.

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

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 of Paul C. Barry.

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