Native Village
Youth and Education News
April 1, 2007 Issue 177 Volume 1
"A
vision without execution is nothing but a hallucination."
Kim Krokodilo, Elk Valley
Rancheria
First
Americans May Have Sailed, Not Walked, to New World
Many
theories about the New World suggest that its first humans walked across
the frozen Bering Straights from [today's] Russia into Alaska about 13,000 years
ago. According to "Prehistoric Americans,'' however, the New
World may have been a melting pot long before Christopher Columbus invaded.
"Prehistoric Americans", a program aired on National Geographic TV, agrees that
people traveled over the Bering Straights. It also suggests humans from both the
Pacific Rim and Europe arrived earlier. And rather than walk, some may have
sailed to the Americas on an ancient version of the yacht.
According to the program:
Early sailors navigated along a "kelp highway'' that hugged the coastline from
the southern Pacific Rim to today's California. The thick, anchored vegetation
attracted fish and animals for the yachtsmen's food and lessened the impact of
waves. Human remains found along the route bolster the theory;
Immigrants could have walked to America over a sheet of ice connecting today's
Western Europe to Canada, or navigated along the icy rim in boats;
250 fossilized indentations found south of Mexico City are human footprints that
date back at least 40,000 years;
Some Virginia artifacts go back 17,000 years;
A stone tool found near Pittsburgh has been dated at 16,000 years.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a2wefdU27lIU&refer=muse
No fake snow at Snowbowl, court rules
California: A federal appeals court has ruled that the operators of the Arizona
Snowbowl may not use treated wastewater to make snow. The 777-acre resort is
located in the San Francisco Peaks, which are sacred to many Native People.
Operators wanted to add another chair lift, clear about 100 acres of forest and
spray man-made snow to attract more skiers and extend the ski season. However,
the court ruled that these plans violate the religious freedom of 13 tribes in
the Southwest. Judge William A. Fletcher compared the practice to using
wastewater in Christian baptisms.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0312skiflap12-ON.html
Archaeological Sites In Palm Beach Looted
Florida: Palm Beach County is losing its native history. Developers are paving
over countless sites once home to Florida's earliest civilizations. Other
ancient sites are being pillaged by thieves who dig up centuries of history in
search of clay pots, tools and jewelry that can be sold to collectors. The
practice is illegal, but the ancient sites, (some thought to be burial mounds
dating back thousands of years), are too remote and inaccessible to be patrolled
every day. Now the problems are mushrooming as Internet buyers and sellers are
instantly connected around the globe. "Unless we happen to catch people in the
act [of looting], it's just about impossible," said archaeologist Chris
Davenport. "There's no way to guarantee that a certain pot or necklace came
from a specific site. It's very frustrating." Palm Beach County has 208 known
sites where entire communities were established up to thousands
of years before Spanish invasion in the 1500s. Unsure of the different
civilizations and tribes who occupied the areas, researchers simply call them
the 'Glades People."
H-Amindian Listserve
Has 1811 Battle Victim Been Found?
British Columbia: In 1811, Tla-o-quaht warriors ambushed the U.S. ship Tonquin
in Clayoquot Sound. During the battle, 25 mariners died. Following their
deaths, the one surviving sailor lured the 150 Tla-o-quaht warriors back on
board. He then torched the armories, and the ship blew up. Recently, a human
skull washed up onto a beach near the battle site. The skull is filled with
holes similar to those from buckshot, and a piece of metal is embedded in the
skull. Some believe the skull may be from someone killed in that ambush. That
skull is now being examined by a pathologist. There are also plans to send the
skull to an RCMP forensic lab where DNA testing may be done.
H-Amindian Listserve
Canadian "lost tribe" hoping to collect U.S. government payout
Ontario: 175 years ago, the United States pressured Pottawatomi tribal members
-- at gunpoint -- to leave their traditional territories in Michigan, Wisconsin,
Illinois and Indiana and settle west of the Mississippi. But some bands
escaped, settling in remote woodlands or crossing into Upper Canada.
"I can trace my family back to the States in the late 1830s," says Pottawatomi
Chief Ed Williams from Moose Deer Point First Nation. "My forefathers chose not
to move to reserves in Oklahoma and Kansas. We were Great Lakes people." Now
these scattered remnants have launched a new bid for compensation. With help
from Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, the Pottawatomi hope to settle the debt
owed to their ancestors under the 1833 Treaty of Chicago. While Inouye's
previous attempts to pass the bill failed in Congress, many hope a new Congress
will have different views. Included in the bill's introduction is a 1908 report
to Congress. That report concluded that if the claims from Canada were judged
"solely on the basis of descent, then it would seem that these Canadian Indians
would be entitled to the same share in any fund arising from the claim" as U.S.
Pottawatomi. If the U.S. legislators do finally come through, Williams says
"we're all set" to manage the payment through a trust that has been established
to disburse funds for education, cultural heritage and economic development
among the estimated 6,000 Pottawatomi descendants living today in some 30
Ontario communities.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=aeb8647f-17a5-41c5-8094-d56472a6b05b&k=37539&p=2
Grandmother seeks owner of box possibly made in Yukon
Saskatchewan: Choutla Residential School was a school for First Nations students
from across the Yukon. Established near Whitehorse by the Anglican Church, it
opened in 1911 and closed in the 1970s. Recently, Geraldine Greyeyes found a
wooden box at a garage sale that bears the inscription "Choutla Residential
School." She wants to give it back to its owner. "I saw the little box sitting
there, and it was by itself, and I know that I could feel that the little box
wanted to be taken out of there," she said. "Somehow or another, there was a
communication between my heart and that little box." The box also has a large
emblem, a Latin inscription and the date 1952 on the top. Phil Gatnesby, former
Choutla student, believes if the box belongs to a former student, it could bring
back painful memories. "I think we have a tendency to sort of romanticize. I
do," he said. "I'm not really sure it would be so wonderful for the person, but
maybe it would be. I hope it would be." Greyeyes is aware of the memories that
the box might bring. "Maybe they'll just put it away for a while, and once they
work through their own history, it may be very valuable and positive," she
said. She said the box could fill in a missing part of a person's history.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/north/story/2007/02/23/residential-box.html
War Hero Billy Walkabout Passes away
Connecticut: Billy Walkabout, the most decorated Native American soldier of the
Vietnam War, passed away in March from Agent Orange complications. Billy, a full
blood Cherokee, was 57 yrs old. The Airborne Ranger of the 101st received a
Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry in combat, including
an incident in November 1968: After a long range reconnaissance patrol
southwest of Hue, Billy's team radioed for helicopter extraction. When
the helicopters arrived and the lead man moved toward the pick-up zone, he was
seriously wounded by hostile fire. Sergeant Walkabout quickly rose to his feet
and continued fire on the attackers while other team members pulled the wounded
man back to their ranks. Sergeant Walkabout then gave first aid to the soldier
in preparation for medical evacuation. As the man was loaded onto the
helicopter, the enemy attacked the team again. While under heavy fire, Walkabout
moved to where the enemy were concentrating their assault and continued firing
his weapon at them. A mine detonated and ripped through friendly team, instantly
killing three men and wounding all the others. Although Billy was wounded
by the blast, he rushed from man to man to administer first aid. He
bandaged one soldier’s severe chest wound while reviving another soldier by
heart massage. He then coordinated gunship and tactical air strikes on the
enemy’s positions. When evacuation helicopters arrived again, Walkabout worked single-handedly under fire to
board his disabled comrades. Only when the casualties had been evacuated and
friendly reinforcements had arrived did he allow himself to be extracted.
http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8630
Famed falsetto singer became leader of native Hawaiians
Hawaii: Linda "Keawe'ehu" Dela Cruz, 77, has passed away in Hilo. Linda will
be remembered for her two voices as "Hawaii's Canary" and as a voice for her
people. Linda began singing in the 1940s with the Halekulani Girls. Late in
her singing career, she was awarded the "Na Hoku Hanohano Lifetime Achievement
Award" from the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts for her unique vocal stylings.
Following her retirement from singing, Dela Cruz headed several community
organizations, held political offices, and won a seat on the Office of Hawaiian
Affairs Board Trustees. Haunani Apoliona, Chairwoman of the
OHA Board of Trustees, said Linda's death is a tremendous loss for the Hawaiian
community, and that OHA sends its sincerest aloha to her family. "She was very
proud of OHA, and she was very proud to be Hawaiian," Apoliona said. "We'll miss
her. I miss her."
Listen to Linda Dela Cruz:
http://www.territorialairwaves.com/index.php?page=2&pid=24
http://starbulletin.com/2007/03/17/news/story07.html
One Woman, Fighting to Save Her People From Extinction
Quebec: Sheila Watt-Cloutier is among 181 nominees for this year's Nobel Prize.
The Canadian activist, who lives in a remote community above the Arctic
circle, has spent 12 years fighting to protect Inuit peoples and lands
threatened by global warming and climate change. "It's been a long haul and a
daunting task to get the message out," she said. "When you're 155,000 people at
the top of the world, there aren't very many people who even know who you are or
what you're facing." Ms. Watt-Cloutier was born in 1953 in Kuujjuaq. She
attended schools in Nova Scotia and Manitoba before graduating from McGill
University in Montreal. The first part of her career was spent working in
public health and education. She was also a cultural go-between and interpreter,
shuttling between the Inuktitut, English, and French languages. In
1995, Sheila became president of Canada's branch of the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference. After this, she began dedicating all her efforts against global warming.
"The sea-ice season is a lot
shorter than it used to be. And as a result we have less time to hunt on the
ice ...," she said. "What you see on the surface is no longer what it is
underneath. The Arctic sink is warming from under, and the ice is changing from
under as well. So the rules have all changed and so has the wisdom we pass on to
our young people. Many of our elders are being stumped by it, because it is so
unpredictable."
www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030807A.shtml
A once-in-a-lifetime show
England: The British Museum's latest exhibition,
"A New World: England's First View of America," reveals an Elizabethan
explorer's view of America. In the late 1500s, Spain and Portugal claimed
"title" to the Americas, with the French receiving bits of Canada and Florida.
England was without a claim. To establish England's presence in the New World, Queen Elizabeth I granted Walter Raleigh a patent for "inhabiting and planting
out people in America." For five years, attempts to establish an English colony
in America failed, but out of that failure came some of the most extraordinary
works of art ever made. They are the subject of "A New World: England's First
View of America," a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition at the British Museum. In
1585 the artist John White traveled across to American to draw and paint
accurate visual records of the New World's plants, animals, birds, fish and
people, most of which could not have survived the return journey to England.
The watercolours and drawings White created are among the rarest of the world's
art -- the earliest surviving views of America. "A New World: England's First
View of America," is on display until June 17.
View a slideshow of John White's watercolors:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Slideshow/slideshowContentFrameFragXL.jhtml;?xml=/arts/slideshows/white/pixwhite.xml&site
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/03/20/banewworld12.xml
University press republishes Penobscot
history "Red Man"
Maine: When Charles Norman Shay was a boy, his mother kept a small, green book
in her writing desk. The book, titled "Red Man," was written by his grandfather,
Joseph Nicolar. But it wasn’t until 1949, when Shay was 25, that he picked up
the 147-page volume and started reading. In it, he found a rich history of his
tribe, the Penobscot Nation. "I found it very interesting," Shay said. "It was
very detailed. It required a lot of concentration." Today, that book is
considered a literary masterpiece and has been reprinted and retitled "The Life
and Traditions of the Red Man." Originally printed in 1893, the book
transcribes the history of the Penobscot tribe as it was passed down in the oral
tradition of the Penobscot Nation. "I ... read it cover to cover … I was blown
away," said Annette Kolodny, a University of Arizona professor. "There is
nothing else like this book written by a Native American in the 19th century."
James Eric Francis, Sr., tribal historian for the Penobscot Nation, said the
republishing of the book is a great honor for the tribe. "I think that this is
a really important piece of literature by a Penobscot person at a time when
there weren’t a lot of educated Penobscot people," Francis said. "It is our
legend that he retells in that book. It’s great to see those stories be brought
to the forefront again."
http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=147083&zoneid=500
MACBETH EXPLORES CULTURAL TIES
Alaska: Twenty-five years ago, Anita Maynard-Losh moved to the remote community
of Hoonah, a largely Tlingit village. Anita,
who had taught Shakespeare in
schools, was struck by the similarities between the Tlingit and Scottish
cultures. ''When I was in Hoonah, I started seeing these connections: the
society built on clan systems; the connection with the supernatural, which is very
strong; and the fierce warfare that the Tlingits were famous for, the Scots
also were quite renowned for,'' she said. Anita has now produced Macbeth with
Tlingit culture interwoven: battles are waged to the beat of drums; witches as
land otters slink across the stage; and Banquo's ghost dons a raven mask. After
the Tlingit version of Macbeth was staged to public acclaim, Anita decided to
translate it into the endangered Tlingit language. That decision won over actor
and language coach, Lance Twitchell. Twitchell is among 15 young adults working to become the first fluent
speakers in more than a generation. "You will never get the culture unless you
get the language," Twitchell said. "And it will never really be carried on
unless the language is carried on. It will just be like a shell of what once
was." Today, only 300 elders are fluent in the
language, and Maynard-Losh says the psychological impact of bringing Tlingit to the
stage has been profound. ''To hear young people speaking Tlingit and acting and
talking about big ideas and big emotions is something so unique; it was really
moving and exciting to hear," she said. The Tlingit version of Macbeth
recently played to audiences at the National Museum of the American Indian in
Washington, DC.
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