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Canku
Ota
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(Many
Paths)
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An
Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
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June 2014 - Volume
12 Number 6
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Favorite
Sites
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collected
by Paul and Vicki
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Osprey
Cam, 2014 edition!
The biggest wildlife reality television stars are back for a
new season! Welcome to Osprey Cam, 2014 edition! Last year,
thousands of viewers from around the world enjoyed the real-life
drama of Allie and Bama, two ospreys who set up a nest in Orange
Beach, Alabama. The cam provided an intimate view into the lives
of nesting ospreys. We’re back for a new nesting season
with Josie and Elbert, named after the nearby Alabama towns
of Josephine and Elberta. And this year, there’s a new
feature. Thanks to a special infra-red sensor – don’t
worry, it doesn’t bother the birds – you can now watch
the ospreys 24/7.
http://blog.nature.org/science/2014/03/25/osprey-cam-2014-reality-tv-bird-cam-alabama-gulf/?src=e.nature&lu=3705271 |
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Native
Arts & Cultures Foundation
The Native Arts & Cultures Foundation (NACF) is a 501 (c)
3 philanthropic organization dedicated exclusively to the revitalization,
appreciation and perpetuation of indigenous arts and cultures.
The Native-led national foundation supports American Indian,
Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native artists and communities.
http://www.nativeartsandcultures.org/ |
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Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848 – May 8,1903) was a French Post-Impressionist
artist recognized after his death for his use of colors and
as a forerunner of the Symbolist movement. He was contemporary
of Vincent Van Gogh, and his work influenced Pablo Picasso and
Henri Matisse.
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Biography:
Paul Gauguin
"Famed French artist Paul Gauguin, born in Paris on June
7, 1848, created his own unique painting style, much like he
crafted his own distinctive path through life. Known for bold
colors, simplified forms and strong lines, he didn't have any
art formal training. Gauguin instead followed his own vision,
abandoning both his family and artistic conventions." This
Biography Channel synopsis includes quick facts, a biography
and a full-episode video about Gauguin and Van Gogh's friendship,
rivalry, and art work.
http://www.biography.com/people/paul-gauguin-9307741#awesm=~oFA11DjkfTdKtW
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BrainyQuote:
Paul Gauguin Quotes
"Art is either plagiarism or revolution." Enjoy a
different perspective on Paul Gauguin with this collection of
short quotes, and nary a painting or sculpture in sight. "There
is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation
the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite." Each
quote is accompanied by a series of social share buttons, including
one that allows you to create an image from the quote.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/paul_gauguin.html
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Met
Museum: Paul Gauguin (1848–1903)
"Paul Gauguin styled himself and his art as 'savage.' Although
he began his artistic career with the Impressionists in Paris,
during the late 1880s he fled farther and farther from urban
civilization in search of an edenic paradise where he could
create pure, 'primitive' art." Visit this virtual exhibit
for a slideshow of Gauguin's work, a biography, a timeline,
and a collection of thematic essays, about topics such as Post-Impressionism
and Symbolism.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/gaug/hd_gaug.htm
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MoMA:
Paul Gauguin
"Following the stock-market crash of 1882, Gauguin lost
his bank job. Having no income, he envisaged supporting himself
by his painting and took his family from Paris to Rouen and
then to Copenhagen, where he worked as a salesman for a canvas
manufacturer. He spent a miserable year in Denmark in 1885:
neither his parents-in-law, who took the couple in, nor the
Danish public appreciated Impressionist painting." Visit
MoMA's site for an in-depth biography, and a slideshow of Gauguin's
work.
http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=2098
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National
Gallery of Art: Paul Gauguin
"In 1891 his rejection of European urban values led him
to Tahiti, where he expected to find an unspoiled culture,
exotic and sensual. Instead, he was confronted with a world
already transformed by western missionaries and colonial rule.
In large measure, Gauguin had to invent the world he sought,
not only in paintings but with woodcarvings, graphics, and
written works." Click "Start Tour" for an annotated
look at six Gauguin paintings from the National Gallery of
Art.
https://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg82/gg82-main1.html
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Bugs
Why do kids love bugs? I don’t know, but parents seem to
fall into two camps: those that tolerate bugs for science’s
sake and those that don’t. The latter are always apologetic.
They know bugs are a part of nature and they know their kids
love bugs. Whether you’re a bug tolerator or not, treat
your kids to these creepy creatures. They will thank you for
it!
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ASU:
Ask a Biologist: True Bugs
"Bug – it's a word you hear almost every day. There
are bed bugs, computer programs with bugs, or maybe someone
is bugging you. But did you know that scientists use ‘bug'
for a very specific group of insects. That's right, not all
insects are bugs." Explore the gallery of bug pictures,
and learn about the characteristics of a "true bug"
from the biologists at Arizona State University.
http://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/true-bugs |
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B-Eye
Created by a neuroscientist working on bee vision, this unusual
site shows you how honey bees perceive the world. Bees, like
most other insects, have compound eyes, an array of hundreds
of single eyes each with its own lens and each looking in a
different direction. You can choose any of eighteen images to
view through the "B-Eye."
http://andygiger.com/science/beye/beyehome.html |
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BugGuide
The Bug Guide is a gallery of North American bug photos collected
and annotated by an "online community of naturalists who
enjoy learning about and sharing our observations of insects,
spiders, and other related creatures." Have a bug you want
to identify? Start with the Clickable Guide in the upper left-hand
corner. Otherwise, you can browse the taxonomy.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740 |
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The
Insects Home Page
Learn that an insect is an air breathing animal with a hard
exoskeleton and a body divided into three parts: the head with
two antennae, the thorax which carries six legs and usually
four wings, and the abdomen. This site is a good introduction
to entomology (the study of insects), and has interesting stuff
on the largest, smallest, and the most abundant bugs.
http://www.earthlife.net/insects/six.html |
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University
of Illinois Extension: Let's Talk About Insects
This animated slideshow introduces elementary-ages to entomology.
"Let's meet C.P. Ant and talk insects! C.P. is a carpenter
ant and is properly known as Camponotus pennsylvanicus. Insects
make up more than half of all living things in the world.
Today there are more than a million known species of insects
– that's 1,000,000 – and there are many more waiting
to be discovered." This program is available in both
English and Spanish (click on Index to see the language options.)
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/insects/01.html
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Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) was first
observed in 1868 to honor the soldiers of the Civil War. Its
origins can be traced back to General John A. Logan who proclaimed:
“The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of
strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of
comrades who died in defense of their country during the late
rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village,
and hamlet churchyard in the land.” Has the original meaning
of the day been lost?
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Department
of Veteran Affairs: Memorial Day
It is believed that the end of May was chosen for the first
Memorial Day because "because flowers would be in bloom
all over the country." Visit the Department of Veterans
Affairs Memorial Day site for a comprehensive history of the
holiday, the story of taps, and to learn how the poppy became
the Flower of Remembrance. There are also links to national
observances, veteran statistics, and flag protocol.
http://www1.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/ |
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The
History Channel: Memorial Day
Explore the history of Memorial Day with a one-page feature
article and a gallery of History Channel videos and photos.
"The Civil War claimed more lives than any conflict in
U.S. history, requiring the establishment of the country's first
national cemeteries. By the late 1860s Americans in various
towns and cities had begun holding springtime tributes to these
countless fallen soldiers, decorating their graves with flowers
and reciting prayers."
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history
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Library
of Congress: Patriotic Melodies
Now for something a little different. From "America the
Beautiful" to "You're a Grand Old Flag," this
Library of Congress site "tells the stories behind many
of the songs that have now become part of the American national
heritage. A combination of hymns, national songs, music of the
theater, radio and television, military themes, and poetry,
all of this music demonstrates that while over history many
things have changed, this expression of pride and hope remain
a constant part of the American experience."
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/patriotic/patriotic-home.html
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Library
of Congress: Veterans History Project
"Every veteran has his or her own war, and each is custodian
of a unique story and memories. At the Veterans History Project,
we treasure the personal narratives sent to us by veterans from
all wars. Vivid as if they happened yesterday, these heartfelt
accounts make us laugh, cry and remember." The stories
are amazing (making this Library of Congress site my pick of
the day) but better yet you can interview a family member, and
add their story to the collection. The participation page is
chock full of interviewing tips and sample questions. Stories
can be submitted online or via a printed form.
http://www.loc.gov/vets/ |
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PBS:
National Memorial Day Concert
The Memorial Day Concert from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol
is broadcast live on PBS. This companion website, while it
doesn't host the concert, (via streaming) has lots of interesting
Memorial Day content. Visit for video highlights of previous
concerts, and the thoughtful essays in the Meaning & History
section, including a list of ways that Americans observe Memorial
Day. "Memorial Day is a favorite time for Americans to
read their family history, look at old photographs and learn
about their ancestors; especially those who died in the line
of battle."
http://www.pbs.org/national-memorial-day-concert/memorial-day/history/
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California Gold Rush
A pea-sized gold nugget was unearthed at Sutter’s
Mill in Coloma, California on January 24, 1848. Although the
news did spread, Sam Brannan, a San Francisco newspaperman,
is credited with starting the actual rush on May 12 when he
walked the streets of San Francisco holding up a quinine bottle
filled with gold nuggets and shouting, “Gold, gold, gold,
from the American River.” Within three days, a third
of the city’s 600 men were on their way to Sutter’s
Mill. By mid-June, Brannan’s newspaper had to suspend
publication because his entire staff had run off to gold country.
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The
Gold Rush
"Throughout 1848, reports and rumors about plentiful gold
in the mountains and streams of California percolated throughout
America. Some of the accounts seemed too good to be true --
chunks of gold waiting to be scooped up. Instant prosperity!"
The best nuggets on this PBS site (created as a companion to
their television documentary) can be found in the Special Features
section. And don't miss Strike it Rich!, an interactive role-playing
game.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/goldrush/ |
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Gold
Rush! California's Untold Stories
Welcome to Oakland Museum's Gold Rush exhibit. This virtual
tour is divided into a narrative (Gold Fever), a display of
Gold Rush paintings (Gold Rush Art), and a photo exhibit (Silver
& Gold). The best clicks of the site are the multimedia
components (Shockwave and Apple's QTVR) listed across the top
of each page.
http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/ |
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History:
The Gold Rush of 1849
Start with the opening video to discover how the Gold Rush led
to the "invention of California." Below the video,
this one-page history lesson is divided into four sections:
Discovery at Sutter's Mill, News Spreads, The ‘49ers Come
to California, and Lasting Impact of the Gold Rush. "Though
gold mining continued throughout the 1850s, it had reached its
peak by 1852, when some $81 million was pulled from the ground.
After that year, the total take declined gradually, leveling
off to around $45 million per year by 1857."
http://www.history.com/topics/gold-rush-of-1849 |
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Museum
of City of San Francisco: Discovery of Gold
"It was in the first part of January, 1848, when the gold
was discovered at Coloma, where I was then building a saw-mill.
The contractor and builder of this mill was James W. Marshall,
from New Jersey." So begins General Sutter's own account
of the discovery of gold. This collection of eyewitness tales
includes reports from European and New York newspapers, as well
as a detailed chronology of California's history during the
Gold Rush years.
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html |
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SacBee:
Cal Gold Rush
The Sacramento Bee published this dedicated Gold Rush site
in 1998, the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold at
Sutter's Mill. Despite its age, Cal Gold Rush is excellent
resource for students and grownups. Visit for maps, a timeline,
and the story of the Gold Rush told in seven sections, with
a special emphasis on Sacramento. "They came by the tens
of thousands from around the nation, riding on horseback or
wagon train, steaming around Cape Horn, hacking their way
across the isthmus of Panama or walking through the desert
scrubland of northern Mexico. The destination was Northern
California, their goal was gold, and for many, the hardships
meant little when compared with the riches that awaited them
in the gold fields."
http://www.calgoldrush.com/
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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/
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Changing
Winds Advocacy Center
Through presentations, classroom sessions, curriculum, fund
raising, charitable works, and multi-media efforts, we seek
to raise public awareness of the stereotyping, discrimination,
racism and other unique situations facing Native Americans.
http://changingwinds.org/
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