Canku Ota - December 2015

	Canku Ota (Many Paths) An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
	December 2015 - Volume 13 Number 12


	"Unha hakai nuusuka?" The Comanche Greeting How are you?
	American Black Bear

	"wanicokan wi" moon when the deer shed their antlers Lakota

"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
Citizen Potawatomi Corey Lewis Receives USMC Intel Award

The photos of Potawatomi service members on the Veterans’ Wall of Honor inside the Citizen Potawatomi Nation Cultural Heritage Center are a testament to the willingness of Tribal members to serve in the nation’s armed forces.

Following a path that hundreds of fellow Potawatomi have tread, has been Mokena, Illinois-native Corey Lewis, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps since 2011. Lewis was recently in Washington D.C. to receive recognition for his service during a tour of duty in Afghanistan as the 2014 recipient of the Lance Cpl. James E. Swain Marine Corps Intelligence Enlisted Marine of the Year Award.

Our Featured Artist:		Honoring Students
"A Native American Life" – The Amazing Art Of Keith Secola, Jr. Keith Secola Jr. who has recently graduated from IAIA - has already made an impression in Indian Country. His work can be seen in the "On Fertile Grounds" exhibit at the All My Relations Gallery in Minneapolis and was featured at All My Relations Art at the Pow Wow Grounds there. He was juried into the AHA Progressive Arts Festival in Santa Fe with a select few native artists which is kind of a big thing for new artists.		'Overcome with emotion': First Nations student named Rhodes scholar Billy-Ray Belcourt, first ever First Nations person in Canada to receive the Rhodes Scholarship, cried with his grandma after hearing news. The first Canadian First Nations student to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship says he's hoping to serve as an inspiration to other indigenous people, while also changing the way First Nations people are so often portrayed.

Our Featured Story:		First Person History:
Adidas To Help High Schools Change Native American Mascots Adidas on Thursday announced a new initiative to help high schools change "potentially harmful" Native American mascots.The sports apparel company, which has North American headquarters in Portland, Oregon, will allow schools to volunteer for the program and will provide financial assistance for mascot and nickname changes "to ensure the transition is not cost prohibitive," it said in a release. Schools that want help changing mascots can email Adidas to enroll in the program.		History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan Chapter Ten

Honoring Studemts		Education News
Carrie Nuva Joseph, Hopi Ph.D. Student Brings University Of Arizona Research Back To Her Community Carrie Nuva Joseph is a Ph.D. student in the Soil, Water, and Environmental Sciences Department of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona. She is the rare researcher whose efforts directly benefit the place she calls home and the people who raised her. Joseph studies inactive uranium mill sites across the country, specifically targeting those located in Native American communities. Her studies are part of a uranium mill site remediation project funded by the Department of Energy (DOE).		Tuba City High School Students Benefit From Visiting Art Scholars Poet and writer Lance Henson, a member of the Cheyenne, Oglala and French nations, along with Michael Begay, a member of the Navajo Nation who works with students creating and writing classical music for public performance, worked with Tuba High School students last week. Henson shared his writing talent with students throughout the week in the areas of poetry and short stories. Henson, who was raised on a farm near Calumet, Oklahoma by his great aunt and uncle, showed students how to gather personal experiences and turn that into something creative that can be shared with a larger audience.

Education News		Education News
Rare, Traditional Arts Making A Comeback At Tribal Colleges Ancient Native arts and technology are bringing a cultural revolution to 13 tribal colleges and universities that received a grant from the American Indian College Fund. The three-year "Restoration and Preservation of Traditional Native Art Forms and Knowledge Grant" allows tribal colleges and universities (or TCUs) to develop curriculum on lost or rare art forms that have fallen out of usage.		$1M To Boost American Indian Nutrition Research Although they suffer more than other cultural groups from diet-related chronic diseases, there lacks widely available nutritional information specific to American Indian communities. A $1 million donation to University of Minnesota researchers is slated to increase the amount of information available on American Indian nutritional health.

Education News		Education News
OU President announces Native American Studies Department, Native Nations Center and Liaison at Indigenous Peoples' Day University of Oklahoma (OU) President David L. Boren today announced that he will recommend the elevation of the Native American Studies program to a department, the creation of a Native Nations Center and the appointment of a Tribal Liaison Officer.		SUNY ESF Acknowledges And Honors Onondaga Nation On Wednesday, November 18, 2015, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) announced today that they were incorporating three statements into their regular communications and installing a stone monument that acknowledges that SUNY-ESF is on the lands of the Onondaga Nation. Tadodaho Sid Hill, and Clan Mothers Wendy Gonyea, Francine Lyons and Frieda Jacques were there to receive the acknowledgement, which was commemorated with a string of wampum beads presented to the Tadodaho by the President of SUNY-ESF, Dr. Quentin Wheeler.

Mascot News		Education News
Change The Mascot Praises U.S. Department Of Labor's Center For Civil Rights For Promoting An Inclusive Work Environment Free Of The Washington NFL Team's Offensive R-word Name The Change the Mascot campaign is applauding the U.S. Department of Labor's Center for Civil Rights for its efforts to create a welcoming and inclusive work environment. The group requested that no Washington NFL team jerseys, paraphernalia and memorabilia be worn to a football-themed staff party held on Friday.		Native American Athletes Headed To The 2015 NCAA Division I Volleyball Tournament The NCAA announced its 64 team field for the 2015 NCAA Division 1 Volleyball tournament last night and Indian Country will once again be well represented with the players below who will be playing or appearing with their respective teams. The semi-final and final championship games will be hosted in Omaha, Nebraska and will be played at the Century Link Center and December 17th and 19th respectively.

Living Traditions		Living Traditions
Anishinabe-Kwe In The House! Karen Diver, Chairwoman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota, has just announced that she is stepping down from her long time position as tribal chairwoman and has accepted an appointment to serve at the White House as special assistant to President Barack Obama on Native American affairs. Not bad for a woman who started out as a 15 year-old single mom struggling to educate herself while supporting her daughter.		From Navajo Reservation To NASA How does a reservation kid from the Navajo Nation grow up to work at NASA at a lab that sends robots to Mars? For Aaron Yazzie it started in Tuba City, where he was born. His mother's family lives in Shadow Mountain in Cameron, Arizona and many of Yazzie's relatives attended Tuba City High School, including his mother. Yazzie was raised and went to school in Holbrook, Arizona. His parents Kee and Shirley Yazzie still live in Holbrook. He is Salt clan, born for the Bitter Water clan.

Preserving Language		Education News
Saving A Dying Language In an aggressive effort of saving the Southern Ute language, tribal members met during a Language Revitalization and Documentation meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 18 to discuss the various strategies of keeping the language alive – which many have agreed is unfortunately deteriorating. Dr. Stacey Oberly, Southern Ute Indian Montessori Academy Ute Language Guide, gave a number of suggestions that were deemed beneficial in reviving the Southern Ute language, which includes working with younger age groups, recording songs in the Ute language, hosting camps, and creating partnerships with universities. "We need to document every aspect of our language and we need to do it quick – we don't have many elders left," Dr. Oberly said.		Haskell Indian Nations University Among 8 Colleges To Partner With Nike N7 To Honor Native American Heritage Month Haskell Indian Nations University men’s and women’s basketball teams will partner with Nike N7 this month to celebrate Native American Heritage month. Among the colleges selected, Haskell was the only tribal college among the other universities from the NCAA. Nike N7 is proud to partner with these eight colleges to honor Native American Heritage Month. During selected men and women’s basketball games throughout November and into December, Nevada, Oklahoma State, Florida State, San Diego State, Gonzaga, New Mexico, Stanford and Haskell Indian Nations University (the only all-native school in the country) will each wear N7-inspired turquoise uniforms. Turquoise represents harmony, friendship and fellowship in Native American culture.

Honoring Students		Education News
SaNoah LaRocque: Chippewa, Cheerleader And Superstar SaNoah LaRocque has only been at Harvard for three months but she’s made one heck of an impression. From her fantastic fashion sense to her love for her culture, there’s plenty of things to talk about when it comes to SaNoah. She hails from North Dakota and is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. She fought against her school to be able to wear an eagle feather, a treasured symbol in the Chippewa tribe, on her cap at graduation.		Six Tribal Colleges Receive EPA-AIHEC Tribal ecoAmbassador Grants This month, six Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) received competitive grants totaling $160,000 through the American Indian Higher Education Consortium's longstanding Tribal ecoAmbassador partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Tribal ecoAmbassador program empowers tribal communities to identify and address their own unique environmental needs while building the capacity of Tribal Colleges and Native students by encouraging relationships with federal scientists and offering hands-on field and laboratory experience.

Healthy Living

Journey Of Hope Conference Gives A Boost To Healthy Habits

The annual Journey of Hope Conference, which was originally named the Diabetes Conference, provided a bevy of opportunities to learn how to cope with diabetes and how to stay healthy.

It was held Thursday and Friday, November 5 and 6, at the Stony Creek Inn in Wausau.

A Pendleton blanket was presented to Karena Thundercloud for the many years she was with and was director of the Ho-Chunk Community Health Department.

Living Traditions

Two Hopi Traditions: Running and Winning

Above the creased high-desert landscape of northeastern Arizona, the Hopi village Oraibi, continuously inhabited for nearly 1,000 years, sits atop a blond mesa crumbling at the edges.

Each fall, during one of the Hopi calendar's dozen or so ceremonial races, a hundred or more Hopi men gather in a pack on the scrubby plain below, all muted tones of mustard yellows and sage greens. A woman in Hopi dress holds a woven basket in the distance. Onlookers shout, "Nahongvita" — loosely, "stay strong" or "dig deep" in Hopi. A signal is given.

Healthy Living

Hopi High School Boys Win 26th Consecutive State Cross Country Championship Title

The Hopi High School Boys Cross Country team did it again and won the Division IV Cross Country State Title for the 26th time in a row. Hopi Bruin Diome Talaswaima (sophomore) finished 2nd place, a second behind individual State Champ Zhariff Lee of Many Farms, both with a time of 16:34.

Living Traditions

Ska-nonh Great Law Of Peace Center Opens

he Ska-nonh Great Law of Peace Center is set to open to the public on Saturday.

Ska-nonh, which is located at the site of the former Sainte Marie Among the Iroquois, will celebrate Haudenosaunee culture from the perspective of the Haudenosaunee people. The Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, includes the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations.

Healthy Lifestyles

Sarabia Finds Success In BMX Sport

A young Cherokee Nation citizen is making a name for herself in the BMX world, also known as bicycle motocross. Payton Sarabia, 5, has two big titles under her belt and is just beginning her biking journey.

Payton's mother, Priscilla, said Payton became interested in BMX after attending one session.

"It was very hard to find a sport that would take kids at that young of an age, and BMX was one of them. We took her one day and she tried (it) and from there she was hooked," she said.

Preserving Language

How An El Sereno Charter School Fought For (and won) The Right To Teach In An Indigenous Language

On a main thoroughfare in East Los Angeles, there's a brightly painted public school: Anahuacalmecac International Preparatory High School, part of the Semillas school network. Semillas — Spanish for "seeds" — teaches teenagers about their indigenous roots and culture.

Students there learn in Spanish and Nahuatl, incorporating Mayan mathematics and indigenous visual and performing arts. One course teaches indigenous diplomacy and youth leadership skills. Parents and grandparents are integrated into the student's learning.

New & Newsworthy

Bob Marley Of The Lakota: A Playboy Conversation With Frank Waln

You may not know the name Frank Waln. I could tell you that he's a 26-year old Sicangu Lakota rapper from the Rosebud Sioux Reservation. I could tell you that he's an award-winning artist, a globe-trotting emcee and producer. I could tell you that he's a Native-American leader and activist who's been integral in the struggle to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline from risking the health of his people. But let's reframe how we think about this young man. Because he is something new.

Living Traditions

Tonalea Chapter Launches Archive Project To Preserve History, Voices Of Elders

The Tonalea Chapter recently launched a project to safeguard the voices, stories, teachings and wisdom of its older citizens to benefit its younger citizens.

With a $4,500 grant from the Navajo Generating Station, the Tonalea Archive Project is tape-recording interviews with elders, collecting photos and seeking documents that refer to the pastoral community.

Honoring

Osage Congressman Inducted Into French Brotherhood

Osage Nation Congressman John Maker was inducted into the French Brotherhood of Muscat de Rivesaltes on Oct. 17 in Riversaltes, France.

Muscat de Rivesaltes is a sweet white wine made from the region around the town Rivesaltes that sits on the bank of the Mediterranean Sea. In 1827, when six Osages traveled to France and were left stranded for more than two years and left to beg and starve in the streets of Paris, they made it to Montauban, France where a Bishop took them in and nursed them back to health. One of those Osages was Big Soldier, and the story goes that Big Soldier loved the Muscat de Rivesaltes.

Honoring

Tribe Formally Dedicates New Veterans Memorial Wall

Under a beautiful sunny sky on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, the Puyallup Tribe held the formal dedication ceremony for its new Veterans Memorial Wall. Gathering outside of Takopid Health Center with men and women in dress uniforms representing many branches of military service, tribal members mixed with friends and family, visitors and honored guests for this important occasion.

The memorial is now fully complete, with benches to sit on, new landscaping to admire and young evergreen trees planted.

Healthy Living

South Dakota Dominates 2015 Indian National Finals Rodeo

Perseverance, hard work, and above all else, family/community support is what makes a great athlete.

For the second straight year, Jordan “Slick” Phelps, an Oglala Lakota/Dakota cowboy from Thunder Valley SD, is the 2015 Indian National Finals Rodeo Bull Riding Champion.

“There’s no greater feeling than winning the ‘world’ back to back! My greater focus is the American semi-finals. I’m gonna work hard to have a better showing than last year. I want to thank everyone for their continued support," stated Phelps.

Jeremy Meeks, of Interior, SD, won the gold buckle in the Saddle Bronc category. Meeks pulled in a 74 point ride in the short go to bring his overall average up to 274 points which secured his world championship title.

Honoring

National Museum Of The American Indian Presents Unprecedented Retrospective "Kay WalkingStick:
An American Artist"

For nearly five decades, Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee, b. 1935) has charted an artistic career that is not bound by singular definition. While her early work with Native themes celebrate heroic American Indian leaders with stately, abstract compositions and her more recent heroically scaled paintings recast American landscapes as Native places, WalkingStick's artistic persona originates from roots in the New York art world of the 1960s and 1970s and her immersion in considerations of abstraction, minimalism and feminist art. "Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist" is the first major retrospective of WalkingStick's work, including more than 75 works that trace her dynamic career from the 1970s to the present.

Healthy Living

Running For Rain

The Paatuwaqatsi 50K Run and Relay stands out in the list of races included in the 2012 Trail Runner Trophy Series because it is not a race, not really. It is a monument to community, heritage and preservation. In the spirit of giving, it is a non-profit event, operated entirely by volunteers, and hosted by the Hopi people in Northern Arizona to celebrate the sustaining connection between water and life in the way they have done for centuries—by running.

New and Newsworthy

Navajos Rush to Pick Up Pendleton Star Wars Blankets

When Star Wars themed Pendleton blankets arrived in town Thursday, Diné fans rushed to pick them up.

Navajo Arts and Crafts Enterprises received a shipment of 80 Star Wars-themed Pendelton Woolen Mills blankets on Thursday at the store in Window Rock, and within two hours of opening sold well over half the shipment.

Living Traditions

How Turkeys Got From Mayan Temples To Your Thanksgiving Dinner Table

It is an amusing (and apparently apocryphal) piece of Thanksgiving lore that Ben Franklin believed the turkey ought to adorn the presidential seal.

In reality, he was complaining in a letter to his daughter that the eagle chosen for the seal looked more like a turkey. Which, he admitted, he didn't much mind.

"For the truth the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America," he remarked, according to the Franklin Institute. "He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on.

Living Traditions

A Thanksgiving Ritual:
Two Virginia Tribes Present Deer To Governor As Tribute

Just another morning in Richmond.

The Treaty of Middle Plantation in 1677 was specific. The governor of the colony of Virginia, Herbert Jefferies, was to be paid each year in beaver skins. That demand is laid out in Article 16 of the peace and mutual protection accord between King Charles II of England and a number of Virginia's Indian tribes.

"That every Indian King and Queen in the Moneth of March every year, with some of their Great Men, shall tender their Obedience to the Right Honourable His Majesties Governour at the place of his Residence, whereever it shall be, and then and there pay the accustomed Tribute of Twenty Beaver Skins to the Governour."

Honoring

Chief Supports 35 Foot Osage Monument In Missouri

The largest monument recognizing Osage people will stand 35 feet tall, roughly as tall as a telephone poll, 20 feet wide and 80 feet long. It is currently under construction at the intersection of I-44 and highway 19 in Cuba, MO, or good old Route 66. The famous cross-country super highway makes its way through Missouri on the same path Osage people used long ago. Osage Nation Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear is excited about supporting the one-of-a-kind project. He’s heading to Cuba Oct. 28 to Oct. 30 as a special guest to support the initiative.

Living Traditions

Native Americans Revive Squash From Seeds Found In An 800-year-old Pot

Some Native Americans found squash seeds in a pot about 800 years old and revived the plant for the first time in centuries. The seeds from the large, bright orange squash have been distributed to native communities and to others, including some college students in Canada who grew a big, orange squash this fall.

There is a worldwide movement to keep the planet's rich heritage of food crops safe from genetic modification, catastrophe and loss of diversity that may result from food producers' growing just a few high-yield or tough varieties of fruits, vegetables and crops.

About This Issue's Greeting - "Unha hakai nuusuka?"

"How are you?" is "Unha hakai nuusuka?" in Comanche.

Nature's Beauty: Black Bear	This Issue's Favorite Web sites	A Story To Share: How Bear Lost His Tail







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