Native Village 

Youth and Education News

May 4, 2005 Issue 151 Volume 1

"As a Native American youth you need to be successful in both worlds. That means you need to be successful in keeping our culture alive and you also need to be successful in the Western way of living. That means going to college and coming back to help." Tasha Norton, Hupa, Yurok and Karuk

Brazil authorises Indian reserve
Brazil: President Liz Inca Lull DA Silver has signed a decree creating Rapes Sera Do Solon, an Amazonian Indian reserve in northern Brazil.  The move follows 30 years of campaigns by the Indians which led to bitter conflicts with miners, settlers and farmers. During that time, at least a dozen Indians were killed in conflicts.  Rapes Sera Do Solan --"The land of the fox and mountain of the sun--" is home to 12,000 Indians. Its hills, rivers and forests cover 17,000 sq. km (6,500 square miles).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4450755.stm

Thousands expected for 2005 Canoe Journey
Washington: -The Lower Elwha Klallam tribe will host the 2005 Canoe Journey, drawing handcrafted vessels from as far away as the Aleutian Islands.  Eighty canoes supported by 8,000 Native Americans will land along the Port Angeles waterfront on August 1, 2005, for the six-day event that may--or may not--pause to let participants sleep. Tse-whit-zen, the ancestral Klallam village where artifacts date back 2,700 years, will be the focus of this year's events. Tse-whit-zen will give young people who make the journey a touchstone for their cultural past and present. "It's also a healing process,'' said Tribal Chairwoman Frances Charles. "It's all about the youth.''
IndigenousNewsDigest

First Nation walk around Lake Huron
The 3rd Annual Mother Earth Water Walk began April 30 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Participants are walking the 3000 km. around Lake Huron to raise awareness of a precious resource--water. Last year the group walked around Lake Michigan and in 2003 journeyed around Lake Superior.  For the schedule and ways you can help the grandmothers, visit: http://www.motherearthwaterwalk.com/index2.htm
http://www.gatheringplacefirstnationscanews.com/PressReleases/050429_05.htm

    World's biggest igloo just the beginning
IQALUIT - About 18 men in Puvirnituq have completed the biggest igloo in the world. Measuring 40 metres in circumference, 12 metres in diameter and five metres high, the snowhouse can hold at least 500 people – about half the town's population.  More than 670 snow blocks were used. The base took about 60 blocks. Johnny Weetangaq, who says the igloo is a way of promoting Inuit culture, hopes to create an even larger one during the next snow festival in two years.  "If we can build an igloo that can hold 500 people, then we can build one that can hold 1,000 people"  "Weetangaq said. 
CBC News
Igloo by Farhan Zaidi and Irfan Zaid

Ancient Indian artifacts found
Mississippi: The discovery of what might be a major prehistoric Native American site has stopped work on a new elementary school in Walls. Materials such as projectile points, pottery shards, and human remains appear to date back to nearly 1,000 A.D. a "We may end up with a site that could wind up as one of the great teaching sites of this region," said Kenneth P'Pool from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
http//www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/11474537.htm

Priceless Artifacts Lost In Barn Fire
Connecticut: A fire that destroyed an historic North Stonington barn also destroyed a large collection of 19th-century Mashantucket Pequot Baskets. Built in 1711, the barn was owned by Anna Palmer Coit, 97.  Coit and her tenants lost all they stored in the barn including old-fashioned barrels and a wooden bench made around 1720, and 30 to 40 Pequot baskets purchased by Colt's ancestors. “The Indians used to come around selling baskets,” Coit said. “The ladies of the household probably bought them from about 1821 to about 1900.” Coit has kept the baskets, which had been photographed and were to be catalogued for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. The baskets, ranged in size up to two feet wide and were decorate with dots, colored washes or other design. A small fraction of the collection remains, because Coit kept about 15 of the baskets in a farmhouse she has set up as a museum.
http://www.theday.com/

Washington: Delegates' final resting place
Washington D.C: Dozens of American Indians, many of whom died far from home and family, are buried in Congressional Cemetery. Founded in 1807, the 32-acre wooded cemetery overlooks the Anacostia River. Scattered in a sea of 60,000 graves, the bodies of John Philip Sousa and J. Edgar Hoover rest with Apache, Cherokee, Chippewa and Creek. Most Indians buried there were visiting Washington as ''lobbyists'' to hold the government responsible for its promises to their tribes.
Among those buried in Congressional Cemetery:

Project Moccasins gives Native soldiers comfort, tie to culture
Minnesota: Project Moccasins aims to give a free pair of moccasins to every Native soldier overseas and those returning home from overseas deployment.  "I spent seven years in the Special Forces, and I was disconnected from my heritage," says Anthony DeClue, a 38-year-old Lakota Native Veteran. "I want the warriors over there to feel connected. When they take off their boots and put their feet in the moccasins, they might feel a little closer to where they are from."  DeClue threads up the moccasins, then sends them on to a leatherworker who stamps on eagle feathers and returns it for painting. The moccasins are smudged before DeClue puts in a "piece of Mother Earth so that our warriors will come home." Each pair of moccasins is sent with a little dreamcatcher. DeClue estimates he has 300 requests to fill, and "we are doing it until all the Natives come home and everyone has one."  DeClue and his friends perform this service free-of charge
If you know of an Indian soldier that could use the moccasins, e-mail Sherry Girty at shergirt@yahoo.com
        
Passing of Mary Dann
Nevada: Mary Dann, who fought the U.S. government to reclaim 24,000,000 acres she considered Western Shoshone Nation ancestral land, has died from injuries sustained on her ranch.  Dann, who never gave her actual age, was believed to be in her 80s. Dann and her younger sister, Carrie, attracted international attention with their three-decade battle against the Bureau of Land Management. Carries said that Mary Dann's death would not interrupt their long crusade.  "This was Mary's lifework," she said.  "As far as we're concerned, we will live up to our spiritual beliefs and nothing will change that.  Mary believed that and lived by it and so do I."
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-dann28apr28,1,4238128.story?coll=la-news-obituaries

Buffalo Ceremony Rescheduled for May 14
The Yellowstone ceremony honoring the buffalo has been postponed  until May 14 due to the tragic death of a close friend to those organizing and leading the prayers. 
View recent buffalo video footage shot by Buffalo Field Campaign Volunteers: http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

Aging American Indians Get $30 Million from Administration on Aging
The Administration on Aging (AoA) has given nearly $30,000,000 in grants to support community programs and services for tribal elders and their caregivers. The grants represent about $1,000,000 per tribe. $24,000,000 will provide nutrition and support services to American Indian and Alaska Native elders. $6,200,000 was awarded as Native American Caregiver Support Grantsfor those who help care for elders,  and for elders caring for their grandchildren. “An increasing number of American Indian and Alaska Native elders prefer to remain in their homes, communities and on reservations,” said Josefina G. Carbonell.  “Therefore, our programs will provide them with services such as homemaker services and transportation to the doctor, which will help them maintain their independence, well-being and positive lifestyles while preserving the heritage of Native American culture.”
IndigenousNewsNetwork

Neighborhood Coalition Honors Indian Leader Elouise Cobell
Washington D.C: Montana's Eloise Cobell was honored at the Annual National and Neighborhood Leadership Awards Reception for her nine-year long court fight in Cobell vs. Norton. The class action lawsuit seeks to hold the federal government accountable for lands and monies it held in trust for 500,000 individual Indians. "We are proud to salute Elouise Cobell for her commitment to communities that have been robbed of their most vital assets," said Anne Pasmanick from The National Neighborhood Coalition, an organization that advocates for low-income people and neighborhoods.  For her efforts on behalf of 500,000 American Indians, Cobell was awarded The Pablo Eisenberg Award for Neighborhood Leadership.
Indian Trust

Liberals Give 250,000 Dollars To Broaden Program Aimed At Preserving Aboriginal Language
British Columbia: An Internet-based computer program will become more accessible after a cash injection of $250,000 dollars.  Launched in 2003, FirstVoices.com is designed to preserve aboriginal language. It was created by a team of aboriginal language teachers, linguists and technology specialists to record and teach indigenous languages. FirstVoice.com provides tools to archive text, sound, picture and video, and present these resources in language-teaching materials. "The preservation of language is a key to building strong aboriginal communities,"  said Murray Coell. Aboriginal Nations currently involved in the project include Nuu-cha-nulth, Nitinaht, Cowichan, Saanich, Musqueam, Sto:lo and Shuswap, and many others. The new funding will help additional communities receive training and language archiving in FirstVoices.com for one year.
The Vancouver Sun

Learn more: http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/search/books/FIETHI.html

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