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Canku
Ota
(Many Paths) An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America |
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April
2016
- Volume 14 Number 4
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"Wáa
sá iyatee?"
The Tlingit Greeting How are you? |
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"Hotehimini
kiishthwa"
Strawberry Moon Shawnee |
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"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~ |
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We Salute |
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Our Featured Artist: | Honoring Students | |
Quebec
Mohawk Designer's Beaded Cape Gifted To Michelle Obama
Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau offered a unique gift to Michelle Obama today, during the Trudeau family's visit to the White House: an aboriginal beaded cape. The cape was made by Tammy Beauvais, a fourth generation artisan from Kahnawake, Que. |
Eagles
Nest Students Take Top Honors At Tuba City Math League Competition
Students from Eagles Nest Intermediate School in Tuba City competed against 20 other Arizona schools in an annual math competition in individual and team settings. More than 200 students entered the overall public school competition. |
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Our Featured Story: | First Person History: | |
Tonalea
Homes Get Electricity
On March 4, Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez traveled to Tonalea to celebrate completion of the White Mesa power line project, which brought electricity to 16 families who have been immobilized by the federal government's policy to ban development in the area since the mid-1960. |
History of
the |
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Education News | Education News | |
Bernie
Sanders Visits Navajo Nation
Bernie Sanders (I- VT) visited the Navajo Nation March 17 and put on a rally at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort before an enthusiastic crowd of thousands of people and addressed Native American issues. Sanders said there is sadly no discussion that since settlers first came to this country, Native Americans have been lied to, they have been cheated and negotiated treaties have been broken. |
Jane
Sanders Visits Oak Flat
Jane Sanders, wife of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I- Vermont), visited the Apache Stronghold at Oak Flat campground, a sacred site to the San Carlos Apache, calling attention to the fight against a land swap that will allow mining in the area. The controversial rider, which circumvented normal legislative procedures, was attached to the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. |
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Education News | Education News | |
Painting
The Legends
Oneidas, and other Haudenosaunee, rely on legends to teach them life lessons, history, the importance of taking care of the earth, and more. Such stories have been passed down from generation to generation with each family emphasizing a particular point or adding embellishments. And while these stories have certainly been told orally and written down (see Legend of the Mosquitoes and Autumn Color) several Oneida and other community members have put the legends to canvas. |
"Wilderness
Skills of Our Ancestors" Demonstration Offers Insight Into Past
"The Wilderness Skills of Our Ancestors" demonstration on Feb. 20
at the Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture and Lifeways provided a
packed room of participants with some indigenous knowledge and offered
insight into the past. Jim Miller of Willow Winds gave a spirited interactive demonstration that featured multimedia and some handson opportunities to learn about the tools and products used back in the day. |
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Preserving Language | Preserving Language | |
In
Their Own Words
EIGHT YEARS AGO, Delia Bull Waskewitch's ancestors visited her in a dream. She and her husband had just driven six hours from their home in Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan to the foothills of the Rockies in Morley, Alberta. There, she had made offerings of tobacco to the mountains and the sacred Bow River, and asked for the grandfathers' help with a work problem. |
Ho-Chunk Launch New Language Programs Language teachers Dana DeBoer and Gordon Thunder find joy in hearing their high school-age students speak Ho-Chunk. The language of the Native American tribe has seen
a steady decline in fluent speakers in recent years, but new and revived
efforts to pass it on to future generations have begun and will be ongoing
in the future.
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Living Traditions | Living Traditions | |
"Unbound:
Narrative Art Of The Plains"
The National Museum of the American Indians George Gustav Heye Center in New Yorks exhibition Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains opens March 12 and continues through Dec. 4 in the museums East Gallery; admission is free. Unbound reflects the dynamic tradition of narrative art among Native Nations of the Great Plains. The exhibition traces the evolution of the art form from historic hides, muslins and ledger books to a wide selection of contemporary works by Native artists, the majority commissioned by the museum exclusively for this exhibition. |
Museum
Home To New Water Bird Tipi
Last year curators at the Jim
Gatchell Memorial Museum, Buffalo, Wyo. were excited to erect an Indian
tipi, designed and inspired by Bilford Curley Sr., Northern Cheyenne elder
and society man, and painted by Jim Starkey (Defender Eagle), Cheyenne
River Sioux. The unique and colorful tipi will be displayed on the museum
grounds throughout the summer season, a highlight for museum guests, said
Museum Director John Gavin. |
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Preserving Language | Living Traditions | |
In
Effort To Preserve Language, Website Posts News In Lakota
A new website created with a primarily Native American audience in mind is posting news, features, sports and weather entirely in Lakota the first of its kind to do so in an attempt to help preserve a language that after forced assimilation policies is now spoken by fewer than 2,000 people. The site was developed by partners who have been involved in several initiatives to embed the Lakota language in various aspects of life. Their goal with Woihanble.com which translates to "dream" is to get the language out of the classroom. |
Haudenosaunee
Delegates Travel To Washington DC
On February 22nd 2016 a delegation of Haudenosaunee Chiefs and Clanmothers and observers met with federal representatives. The meeting was held in the Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building a few doors from the White House. The meeting was to recognize and honor the signing of the 1794 Treaty of Canandaigua. Our protocols were followed as was expected by our history with the United States. Chief Howard Thompson began with an Opening Address and then followed by Words of Condolence as is our custom when meeting with another Nation. One of the United States representatives then spoke words of condolence to us. |
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Education News | Education News | |
How
The North Wind Lost His Hair
The howling old north wind is afraid to come to the country around the Gulf of Mexico. Only now and then does this cold fellow dare to come into the south, and when he does he does not stay long. He is afraid of the strong young south wind. Once the two winds had a great fight. There are still signs of that fight in the southern woods. The Natchez and the Tejas Indians, who lived along the Gulf, had a story to tell about the north and the south winds and why the moss that grows in the trees is a sign of their fight. |
EBCI
Ancestors Remained East For Various Reasons
The common perception of why the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' ancestors remained in North Carolina after the Trail of Tears in the 1830s is that many of them hid in western North Carolina's mountains. During a presentation at the Trail of Tears Association Conference at Cape Girardeau, historian and genealogist Anita Finger Smith of Cherokee, North Carolina, covered the five circumstances during the early 19th century that contributed to the EBCI's ancestors remaining east. | |
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Education News | Living Traditions | |
Behind
First Nations Headdresses: What You Should Know
When headdresses make the news, the story usually revolves around non-indigenous people wearing them and whether that's appropriate. Recently Tsuu T'ina First Nation made national headlines, and stirred up debate, when it gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a headdress and an "aboriginal name," Gumistiyi, which translates to "the one that keeps trying." |
The
Revenant's Duane Howard Outfitted By Haida Designer For Academy Awards
Red Carpet
It's a designer's dream to dress a celebrity for the Academy Awards, but most designers couldn't step up to the challenge of stitching together an outfit on one week's notice. That's exactly what happened to Haida designer Dorothy Grant, who was asked to outfit The Revenant actor, Duane Howard. | |
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Education News | Education News | |
Return
Of Vancouver Island Elk A Boon For Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation
For decades, the population of Roosevelt elk in the forests near Campbell River, B.C., has struggled to remain viable, with only a few animals made available for local First Nations to hunt. But now, the herds are growing, which is providing a lot of meat to the Kwakwak'awakw First Nation. |
Bison
Bones Found At Lake Bottom Tell Few Tales
On a windy, much warmer day on this lake, Roger Van Surksum snagged the first bison bone with a fishing hook. The fishing guide knew it was no walleye and reeled it in slowly, carefully. The bone was 10 inches long, he said, "as black as the ace of spades." He put it in the back of his truck but couldn't get it out of his mind. "I had to figure out what it was," said Van Surksum,
69, standing near the shore of Lake Victoria in Alexandria this week.
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About
This Issue's Greeting - "Wáa
sá iyatee?"
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"How
are you?" is "Wáa sá iyatee?" in Tlingit. That is pronounced similar to
"wah sah ee-yah-te." But that is not generally used as a greeting. Modern
Tlingit people sometimes greet each other with "Yak'éi yagiyee" which
literally means "good day."
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Nature's
Beauty:
Red-headed Woodpecker |
This
Issue's
Favorite Web sites |
A
Story To Share:
The Legend of the Flute |
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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.
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Canku Ota is a copyright © 2000
- 2016 of Vicki Williams Barry and Paul Barry.
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The "Canku Ota - A Newsletter
Celebrating Native America" web site and its design is the
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Copyright © 1999-
2016 of Paul C. Barry.
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All Rights Reserved.
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