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Canku Ota
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(Many Paths)
An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
 
 
 
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Favorite Sites
 
 
collected by Paul and Vicki
 
Tribal Canoe Journeys 2014 Qatuwas Festival
The Heiltsuk have once again invited the indigenous people for a Qatuwas “people gathering together” Festival for August 2014. Following traditional protocol the Heiltsuk sent canoes to invite both the North and South coastal First Nations to Bella Bella for the Qatuwas “People Gathering Together”- Festival on the Central Coast. Over 100 hundred canoes with over 1000 pullers and more than 5000 visitors are expected from the Pacific Northwest and international participants.

http://www.tribaljourneys.ca/
The Cheyenne River Youth Project®
The Cheyenne River Youth Project® (CRYP), established in 1988, has become an essential youth and family services organization, integral to the Cheyenne River Reservation’s support system, in Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Our organization has become vital not only because we provide innovative youth programming and family services, but also because we are a grassroots initiative tailored to meet the needs of our community. With over 369 family memberships reservation wide, CRYP represents local problem solving for critical community concerns.

http://www.lakotayouth.org/
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Photo Sharing
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by a growing collection of unorganized digital photos. And, as camera resolutions improve, file sizes get bigger, and even emailing pictures to friends and family becomes nearly impossible. Each of today’s picks take a slightly different approach to sharing and managing digital photos, but all of them are free.
Facebook
Facebook is the social sharing site we either love or love to hate, depending on the time of day. But it is exactly because of its ubiquity that it is a marvelous photo-sharing tool. We can use it on our phones, on our desktops, and even your elderly Aunt Martha has an account. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the privacy settings, where you can share with all your Facebook friends or create family groups to limit photo viewing. Even if your photos are not specifically private, you can choose to create a family group so that your work friends (et cetera) are not overwhelmed with pictures of the family's newest little darling. Facebook is, however, only for those thirteen and up.

https://www.facebook.com/
Flickr
Flickr is one of my all-time favorites for online photo management and sharing, and they recently gave everyone 1000GB of free storage. That's one terabyte and it's enough space for more than 500,000 photos. As for separating G-rated photos from the rest, Flickr asks users to categorize their own photos into three content safety levels: safe, moderate or restricted. Users can also set their search preferences to SafeSearch. As with most communities, policing is a public duty, so photos that are incorrectly flagged are usually reported.

https://secure.flickr.com/
Instagram
Although Instagram is primarily an app for smart phones, it does finally have a website for viewing photos, but not for uploading new ones. There are two ways to limit who can view your Instagram photos and videos. First is to set your account to private so that only approved followers can view them. The second is to individually control who can view an upload by using Instagram Direct. This is a separate tab on the Instagram app, and let's you choose viewers on a photo-by-photo basis. Unfortunately there is no group sharing, so you will need to name each specific family member each time you share a photo.

http://instagram.com/#
Picasa
Picasa is both a tool for organizing photos on your computer, and a website for sharing and publishing photo albums. To begin, download the free Windows or Mac application, and let Picasa automatically find all your local photos and movies. The online component is now integrated into Google+, where you have total free storage limit of 15GB shared between Google Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photos. On Google+, family photos can be easily shared by creating a Google+ Circle.

http://picasa.google.com/

Shutterfly
Although Shutterfly is known for printing photos and creating photo albums, your free membership also includes free private websites for sharing photos and videos with family. When starting a site, you can choose from templates for family, sports teams, classroom, a special event, baby, wedding, travel and more. All of your site members can download your pix or order prints and photo books.

http://www.shutterfly.com/

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Hawaii
Aloha! President William McKinley signed a resolution annexing Hawaii as an unincorporated territory of the United States on July 7, 1898. Hawaii remained a territory until becoming our fiftieth state on August 21, 1959. Its natural beauty and tropical.

National Geographic: Hawaii Guide
Although some of the Hawaii Guide is geared toward tourists, there's quite a bit here for students writing state reports or just wanting to learn more about Hawaii. Best clicks are found under Facts (" Ecologists estimate that 89 percent of Hawaii's flowering plants and 97 percent of its land animals – among them the world's only predatory caterpillars – exist nowhere else on Earth."), Map, Video, and Your Hawaii Photos. The latter is a photo gallery of user-submitted snap shots. These photographers may not be on the National Geographic payroll, but their photos are fantastic. Don't miss them.

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/united-states/hawaii-guide/

TIME for Kids: Hawaii
"Sparkling in the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii's islands are a tropical paradise of exotic flowers, beautiful beaches and year-round warmth. The Hawaiian word aloha can mean ‘hello,' ‘goodbye' or ‘love.' Say aloha to the 50th U.S. state." With Quick Facts, a History Timeline, and Native Lingo, this TIME for Kids site is my Hawaii pick of the week.

http://www.timeforkids.com/destination/hawaii

50 States: Hawaii Facts and Trivia
"There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet." "The Hawaiian Islands are the projecting tops of the biggest mountain range in the world." "More than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples comes from Hawaii." Facts are fun, and these fifty facts are no exception. To explore facts and trivia for other states, use the search function, or hop on over to the site's home page, where all fifty states are listed.

http://www.50states.com/facts/hawaii.htm

A to Z Kids Stuff: Hawaii
"Hawaii is the southernmost U.S. state and the only state made up of islands. Ka Lae on the island of Hawaii is the southern most point of the USA." A to Z offers a cornucopia of Things to Know (about Hawaii) along with coloring pages, and links to off-site resources. Best click is the Hawaii State Symbols PDF which includes both color images of the state symbols, and a few coloring pages.

http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/hawaii.html

Hawaii Kids
Hawaii Kids is brought to you by the Hawaiian singing duo, Leon & Malia. Visit with your little ones to learn about Hawaii's animals, people and land. "Hawaii's humpback whales live most of the time in the waters off Alaska. Every year, as winter approaches and seas around Alaska get too cold, they leave their home and swim about 3,000 miles to the warm waters of the Hawaiian Islands! Here, they meet with many whale friends to relax and play with during the winter months."

http://www.hawaiikids.net/kids/
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Independence Day Quotes
To inspire you this 4th of July, here’s a collection of quotations about freedom, independence and patriotism. Some of these collections specifically address America’s independence, while others explore the concepts more broadly.
Brainy Quote: Independence Quotes
These independence quotes are not limited to America's independence, but deal with independence of all kinds. "In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then a recognition of interdependence." Henry Van Dyke. "The toddler craves independence, but he fears desertion." Dorothy Corkille Briggs.

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/independence.html
Goodreads: Quotes About Freedom
"Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." Mahatma Gandhi. Some of these freedom quotes, which are submitted and voted on by the Goodreads community, are attributed to a book, but others are not. "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Memoirs of the Life & Writings of Benjamin Franklin.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/freedom
Infoplease: Fourth of July Quotes
Infoplease offers up Founder's Wisdom, quotations from the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Each author also has a linked entry in the Infoplease Encyclopedia. "Equal and exact justice to all men…freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected,these principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us." Thomas Jefferson.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/july4quotes.html
Mark's Quotes: Founding Fathers Quotes
Another set of quotes from our Founding Fathers, but this one is more extensive. Use the page navigation at the bottom of each page to see more quotes. "If Virtue & Knowledge are diffused among the People, they will never be enslav'd. This will be their great Security." Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779.

http://www.marksquotes.com/Founding-Fathers/

Quote Garden: Quotations for USA Independence Day
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." Thomas Paine. This collection of Fourth of July quotes is curated by Quote Garden. There are fewer quotes here than you'll find at the bigger quote sites, but the theme is more focused. "In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved." Franklin D. Roosevelt.

http://www.quotegarden.com/fourth-of-july.html

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Duct Tape Crafts
Duct tape is an adhesive tape created by Johnson & Johnson for the US Military during World War II. After the war, it rose to popularity as a staple of home repair, and during the last several decades has become a popular craft material. It is now available in a rainbow of colors and prints.

By Stephanie Lynn: Creative Duct Tape Crafts
"The heavy duty adhesive [duct tape] has thousands of uses and probably known best for it's quick fix ability. But have you taken a peek at the fashionable colors and prints available now-a-days? For crafters, duct tape offers countless possibilities – and it's not only inexpensive but super easy to work with too!" Stephanie Lynn rounds up forty-five duct tape projects from across the web. To visit each one, click the link labeled "Source" below each photo.

http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2012/02/45-creative-duct-tape-crafts-projects-saturday-inspiration-ideas.html

Duck Brand: Ducktivities
This collection of duct tape "ducktivities" includes both user-submitted projects and those created by Duck Brand. The projects are organized into categories such as Crafts, Fashion Accessories, Flowers and Wallets. Each craft is user-rated on a scale of five, includes a skill level, and a time estimate. This is an excellent and extensive resource. It houses over 3400 craft ideas!

https://www.duckbrand.com/duck-tape-club/ducktivities/

Instructables: Duct Tape
Instructuables is a community that grew from an idea at the MIT Media Lab, and the site now houses over 100,000 project instructions. This channel is all about duct tape crafts. Since each "instructable" has a different author, they vary a lot. There even are a few projects here that don't use duct tape. But overall, the quality is fantastic, and there are nearly 300 ideas here.

http://www.instructables.com/tag/type-id/category-living/channel-duct-tape/

Pinterest: Kids Duct Tape Projects
This Pinterest board is a collaboration from twenty-one pinners. If you are new to Pinterest, consider it a visual bookmark collection. To reach any of the pinned sites, you need to click twice on its thumbnail image. Another way to use Pinterest is to start your own board, and add your favorite pins by clicking the red Pin It button that appears when you hover over a pinned image. You can find more duct tape crafts by using the search function in the upper-left hand corner.

http://www.pinterest.com/4thrprogram/kids-duct-tape-projects/

Sophie's World: Crafts
"Hi, I'm Sophie, and welcome to my world." Sophie loves crafts and has a knack for sharing her enthusiasm. Although there is no category for duct tape crafts, you'll find plenty of them here either by scrolling through the craft section, or via the search function in the upper right-hand corner. Most of her project instructions are accompanied by a video, and a printable template, in addition to the list of materials, and step-by-step instructions.

http://sophie-world.com/crafts

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The Ocean
Although it covers nearly three-quarters of Earth, scientists call the ocean our planet’s last frontier, and say that we know more about the moon then we do the sea floor. While oceanographers are racing to learn more about the deep secrets of the ocean floor, you can start your ocean journey at the following sites.
AMNH: OLogy: Marine Biology
"OLogy means ‘the study of.' And here on the American Museum of Natural History's OLogy website, you can study and explore many cool OLogies." This particular section is all about Marine Biology at an elementary and middle-school level. For an introduction to oceans, start at "What's the Big Idea." To explore related concepts, follow the little red asterisks that pop open multimedia lessons. Free registration allows you to collect cards from each station, and to submit projects for possible publication.

http://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/marinebiology
Monterey Aquarium: Animals & Experiences
This page is a fabulous collection of the best Monterey Aquarium pages for both kids and grownups. My favorites are the live web cams (keep in mind that these operate on Pacific Standard Time), activities and games (from K to 12), and the animal guides (sea otters, penguins, jellies and more.) Another great find is the 168-page printable Sea Searcher's Handbook chock full of articles and hands-on activities

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals-and-experiences
National Geographic: The Ocean
Gotta love those big, beautiful National Geographic photos! Best clicks are the Photo Galleries, Ocean Quizzes, along with any of the articles or videos. "Ninety percent of the large predators in the ocean are gone and their populations have collapsed. The reason for this is that we have taken too many fish out of the sea, and we keep taking more before the remaining populations are able to reproduce. Watch this video [Weird Fish Marine Reserve] where Mel, the ‘very weird' fish, will show you how marine reserves can help fish populations recover, and why we need many more."

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/
NOAA: Ocean Facts
What is the longest-lived marine mammal? What is an artificial reef? Are mermaids real? Find answers to this questions (and more) with these FAQs and fast facts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Scientists agree that the bowhead whale has the longest lifespan of all marine mammals. Whales are the largest animals on Earth and live longer than all other mammals in the contemporary animal kingdom. While many ocean lovers can easily identify the iconic sperm whale, the charismatic humpback and the wily orca, not all are familiar with the bowhead."

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/

Shedd Educational Adventures
Based on the Wild Reef exhibit at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Shedd Educational Adventures (SEA) brings the ocean to life with fact sheets and multimedia activities and games. To find something that interests you, search by grade level, or wander through the fact sheets (Explorer's Guide.) The games are outstanding (look for them in Interactives) and most come with a list of related resources. For example, Build a Fish (for grades three through six) is accompanied by a lesson plan, and eight printable fact sheets. "Build a Fish by choosing a body, mouth, and color/pattern, then release it into the reef! You can drive your fish around the reef in search of food and to evade predators. Can your fish find enough food without being eaten?"

http://www.sheddaquarium.org/Learning-Experiences/Educators--Classrooms/Field-Trips--Bus-Fund/

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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/
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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Canku Ota is a free Newsletter celebrating Native America, its traditions and accomplishments . We do not provide subscriber or visitor names to anyone. Some articles presented in Canku Ota may contain copyright material. We have received appropriate permissions for republishing any articles. Material appearing here is distributed without profit or monetary gain to those who have expressed an interest. This is in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
 
 
 
Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000 - 2014 of Vicki Williams Barry and Paul Barry.
 
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