Native Village
Youth and Education News
December 1, 2007 Issue 182 Volume 2
"The hearts of little children are pure, therefore, the Great Spirit may show to
them many things which older people miss." Black Elk (Hehaka
Sapa) Oglala Lakota
Hualapai Ethnobotany Project publishes cookbook
Arizona: The Hualapai Ethnobotany Project brings together tribal elders and
young people to share tribal culture, plant, and food knowledge. Twice each
month, the youth and elders travel across the reservation and their traditional
homelands. Students have learned to identify and use plants from the lands. They
learned how to make cradleboards and basketry. They've also learned how to cook
with foods like mesquite beans, prickly pear, jerky while learning oral
histories from their elders. The students and elders in the Hualapai project
have published a traditional foods cookbook and a deck of playing cards
featuring recipes of the Hualapai Tribe.
NativeNews Digest Number 3509
Sage
shares her heritage
Ohio: Sage LaDeaux, 9, is the great-granddaughter of Sioux Chief Oliver Red
Cloud. The 4th grade girl recently shared her American Indian heritage with
classmates at Lincoln Elementary School. She showed items from the reservation
and shared native music “When we dance in circles, our feet sort of stomp on
the grass,” Sage told them. She also shared a medicine bag that would contain
wild sage. “You can guess where I got my name,” she said. Cindy Suffecool,
Sage’s foster mother, is ill and moved to Ohio for medical treatment. Sage’s
birth mother, Rainee, wanted more opportunities for her daughter, so asked if
Suffecool would take Sage along. “She wanted a better life for Sage. Isn’t that
awesome?” Suffecool asked. “Her mother gave her up so she could have a better
life.” As a non-native, Suffecool only has temporary custody of the child; the
Sioux tribal court does not grant adoptions to non-natives fearing the children
will lose their heritage. Suffecool speaks the tribal language with Sage. She
also makes sure Sage has correct regalia and is involved in area powwows. They
stay in close contact with Sage's family, and her uncle tapes reservation
powwows and sends her movies. Suffecool is saving money to go back to see
Sage's family next summer. “That would be awesome for her,” she said. “It’s time
to go again.”
Chief Oliver Red Cloud photo: http://www.prministries.net/
http://www.advertiser-tribune.com/page/content.detail/id/501558.html?nav=5010
How UVic is Encouraging Aboriginal Students to Dream Big Dreams
Australia: For the past few summers, aboriginal high-school students from the
Vancouver Island area have been bussed to a the University of Victoria. These
students come from remote villages of a few hundred people. For many, life has
only been about survival, so the culture shock of thousands of people and big
buildings is overwhelming. When the students are asked about their career plans,
no one knows. This is how UVic's week-long mini-university summer camp for
aboriginal students usually begins. During their time on campus, the kids stay
in residence and are exposed to everything a great university offers. When the
week ends, and before they hop on the bus, students will again be asked about
career plans. Their interviews will be videotaped.
H-Amindian Listserve.
Nixyaawii students connect with past
Oregon: For three months, small groups of students at Nixyaawii Community School
have been interviewing tribal elders and documenting the information. Each
project includes three interviews: asking about childhood experiences; the teen
years, and dealing with adulthood and the future. "We had one group who was
really excited about the information that they were getting because they've
never really asked these questions to their grandparents before," said one
educator. High school senior, Isaiah Welch, was especially interested about the
dramatic life changes the elders experienced. "They went through changes from
living off the land to living in houses, and having to go to school and learn a
foreign language," he said. He described elder's story of one Celilo Falls,
once a prominent fishing and trading outpost for tribes. It was destroyed by The
Dalles Dam in 1957. "He remembers when ... there was a boy down there who was
7 years old, and he fell into the falls," Welch said. "And there was about
seven families who had different fishing areas, and they tried catching him with
their nets, but they couldn't catch him. And he fell into the swift water and
some guy got him with his net." Students learned audio and video editing and
are using those skills to create a final multimedia presentation. The finished
projects will be on display at Tamastslikt Cultural Institute beginning in
December.
Tamastslikt Cultural Institute and photo credit:
http://www.tamastslikt.com/
http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=69422&TM=63940.24
Miss Teen Lumbee's crown stolen
North Carolina: Alexis Rising's hand-made shawl, moccasins, regalia, and silver
crown have been stolen from a car in a mall parking lot. The solid silver crown
depicts the Lumbee crest. It is worn with a traditional Lumbee dress, once made
from gingham and old feed sacks. Alexis, 15, wears the regalia at educational
events and powwows. “She was devastated...” said Rising's mother. “She is really
without everything. She lost so much in just a moment." The stolen items are
not covered by her insurance. Anyone with information about the missing Indian
wear is asked to call the Lumbee tribal office at (910) 521-8602.
Miss Teen Lumbee: http://www.lumbeehomecoming.com/teen.html
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=278382
Takini School wild horse program helps youth
South Dakota: Takini School is located on an isolated area of the Cheyenne River
Reservation where there is little for youth do. Ten wild horses were adopted by
the school in a program to help give youth direction and responsibility in
their lives. The yearlings will require a lot of groundwork before anyone can
ride them. Phillip Whiteman Jr., Northern Cheyenne, will teach the students
traditional methods of training horses. Whiteman calls his method the medicine
wheel model to natural horsemanship. Like American Indian people, Whiteman says,
the horse is a circular thinker. He looks to the center of the circle to balance
himself. Students can also learn to balance themselves from that circle and
apply the lessons to school, social life, sports, and families. Students'
comments:
"I like working with them [horses]; they are very neat, a neat creature. When
I'm working with them, it's like I'm in a different place. It's just me and the
horse, the whole time."
Christian,
10th grade.
''I don't know a lot about it, but I do know how horses think now. I know that
they think, not about talking, but with sign and body language.''
Christian,
10th grade.
''This will teach us patience and responsibility and how to be focused.'' Kiko,11th grade.
''I
have learned how to communicate with horses, and with other people." Taten,
student .
Other reservation districts wish to adopt some horses as well. The horses are
descended from herds brought to the Americas by the Spanish. The Cheyenne River
herd began in 2001 when the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe acquired them from Nevada
in 2001. The original 82 head grew to a herd of 300, much larger than tribal
pastures could sustain. The Tribe tried to acquire more land, but the deals
fell through. As a result, most of the wild horses are now up for adoption.
Otherwise, they will starve. Takini School is asking for donations of hay or
money to buy hay for the horses that are in dire need of food.
Takini School:
http://takini.k12.sd.us/
Takini School: http://takini.k12
Banner World of whiz kids
Arizona: Phoenix recently hosted the 29th annual American Indian Science and
Engineering Society national conference. More than 2,000 Native students and
those with careers in engineering and science attended the 3-day AISES
gathering. Also attending were recruiters from major companies such as Intel
and Google. Events included a career fair, student workshops, panel discussions,
and speeches from renown speakers. The tribes ranged from Inupiat Eskimo and
Athabaskan from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks to Oneida, Hopi,
Anishinabe and Choctaw.
Comments:
"There's
a lot of job offering that goes on here. Last year I attended the conference in
Detroit and was able to get an internship out of it." Rueven Jim,
freshman, Fort Lewis College.
"I want to find a job and come back to the community. There's petroleum in the
area, it would be good to come back and help people back home." Jim, 18
"My AISES connections got me to Intel. Now I'm giving back to the Native
community, being out here at the AISES conference and helping these students."
Elmer Roanhorse of Intel
"There was a teacher there who doubted me. It became so that I just wanted to
succeed to prove him wrong." Karlette Chief, Ph.D. in hydrology and water
resources, former Miss Navajo.
"You have to really be interested in what you are doing to go to grad school. I
didn't like what I was doing at first, I thought it was boring. But I was really
only scratching the surface. As time went on I became more and more excited by
what I was learning." Aaron Thomas, a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, tenured
professor.
"... first I want to go to Diné College to learn more of the Navajo language. I
feel I need to make that connection so that I can continue toward my goal of
helping my people. It seems that the older Navajo people especially respond
better when you speak to them in Navajo." Heather Yazzie, senior, Dartmouth
College.
"Be willing to ask questions. At Stanford I was shy - I was a good student, I
did every reading assignment and attended classes, but still didn't get good
grades. After one class where I received a poor grade, I asked the TA what I
did wrong, she said I had to participate more in discussion in classes. I
realized that I quickly had to develop that skill in order to succeed at
Stanford." Karlette Chief, Ph.D. in hydrology and water resources, former Miss
Navajo.
"Voice your ideas. be inquisitive about whatever field you're pursuing. The
more questions the more direction you have in what you study." Karlette Chief,
Ph.D. in hydrology and water resources, former Miss Navajo.
"There's so much out there, open your eyes. The rez will change, but it will
always be there... " Anthony Marquez, Navajo, graduate student
"You need to give back, but you only have these chances once. Take all the
education and things you see back with you. Don't go home just because you're
homesick - everyone gets homesick." Anthony Marquez, Navajo, graduate student.
AISES website: http://www.aises.org/
http://www.navajotimes.com/education/index.php
Growing strong
Montana: Salish Kootenai College is among the most successful tribal colleges in
the United States. SKC opened in 1977 in an abandoned school with a handful of
classes and less than 50 students. Today, Salish Kootenai serves more than
1,100
students on a 140-acre campus in Pablo. It offers eight bachelor's degrees in a
range of fields, associate degrees in many more, and certificate programs from
highway construction to dental-assisting technology. Joe McDonald, SKC president
for 28 of its 30 years, remembers when the school moved to Pablo. “Originally,
our campus was just a small building,” McDonald says. “It had a kitchen,
cafeteria and classrooms... We put the building in back of the tribal office
so we could share their parking lot.” Today, two new buildings, a performing
arts center and a special events center with a 2,700-seat gymnasium are being
built. SKC may soon offer its own graduate degree, field intercollegiate
athletic teams, and apply to join the Frontier Conference.
List of Tribal
Colleges
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2007/10/31/territory/ter50.prt
Interest in Native American studies grows at BSU
Indiana: College students nationwide are showing increased interest in Native
American Studies. In the past few years, students working toward a Native
American Studies minor at Ball State have grown from very few to 12 students,
said Colleen Boyd who oversees the NAS minor. "We have a plan to revitalize the
minor, bring it into the 21st century," Boyd said. "And classes are filling
up." In addition to the NAS minor, Ball State will add more electives focusing
on Native American culture. A new faculty advisory board, which includes faculty
of Native American descent, is helping select the courses. Students are also
showing more interest in Ball State's chapter of the Native American Student
Association. Similarly, Indiana University's NASA chapter was resurrected in
2006.
http://www.thestarpress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/NEWS01/711100329/1002
Trick or Treaty DVD sparks fears at Haskell
Kansas: Linda Warner has been President of Haskell Indian Nations University
for only eight months. She is making a lot of small changes across the campus,
and University students are concerned. Some of these concerns are included on
a DVD titled “Trick or Treaty,” which began circulating on the campus on
Halloween. “I’ve cried every time I watch it,” said Connie Hudson, a senior in
American Indian studies. “Trick or Treaty,” is a 30-minute documentary that
accuses former Haskell President Gerald E. Gipp of trying to shut down Haskell
in the 1980s. It also has a short segment, “Parallels of a Dictatorship,” that
implies Warner is trying to do the same. “Trick or Treaty” questions some of
Warner’s changes including:
Why she took the football concessions away from students;
Why faculty and students can’t send campus wide e-mails;
Why Warner’s executive assistant was appointed as an adviser to the student
newspape;
Primarily, students are concerned about a rumored increase in student fees from
$210 to $1,000. They fear this raise would cause decreased enrollment and risk
closing the university.
Warner said she wishes those behind “Trick or Treaty” had talked to her before
circulating it on campus. “If you had a real concern, you would come in here and
ask me or you would stand up and say, ‘I think X, Y or Z." But they are not
doing that. So somebody is encouraging people to be sort of almost terroristic
in their tactics.” The original “Trick or Treaty” was made by some time ago by
James Mountain Chief Sanderville. Although he isn't responsible the section
about Warner, he thinks it is “wonderful” the DVD is being watched. “People
need to know the history of Haskell,” he said.
See Trick or Treaty: http://www2.ljworld.com/videos/2007/nov/12/15933/
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/nov/12/trick_or_treaty_dvd_sparks_fears_haskell/
Law students celebrate Native American Heritage Month
Washington, DC: The Native American Law Students Association at George
Washington University recently hosted Lawrence Baca, Pawnee, as a speaker during
Native American Heritage Month. Baca's speech focused mostly on the Indian
sports mascot issue. "The prevalence of these racist mascots is inextricably
linked to the basic human rights that many Native Americans are not welcome to,"
Baca said. "Countless native people cannot obtain loans from banks or live where
they want to due to the negative stereotypes these mascots encourage." Baca said
many schools have become racially hostile places because of American Indian
mascots He's a strong supporter of multicultural education. "Multicultural
education is so important in college because the development of cross-cultural
competencies is basically essential for future careers," Baca said. "Every
student should engage in activities like this."
National Association for Multicultural Education:
www.nameorg.org
http://media.www.gwhatchet.com
Sen. Johnson, Rep. Pomeroy Introduce Tribal School Construction Bill
Washington DC: The Indian School Construction Act would address the federal
government's responsibility to repair, renovate, and replace tribal schools.
Introduced by two senators, the proposed legislation will:
*
Allow individual tribes to issue 15-year bonds;
*
Authorize the federal government to create an interest bearing escrow account to
repay the principal owed on the bonds;
*
Provide tax credits for tribal financial partners to pay off the interest on the
bonds.
The Indian School Construction Act would not interfere with the any tribe's
sovereign immunity. Instead, it pushes the federal government toward fulfilling its
treaty agreements with Indian tribes.
H-Amindian Listserve
Native Village is published with the generous help and support of friends, listserves, and online publications. Without you, Native Village would not exist. Megwich to you all.
To join our mailing list and receive news update
reminders, send email address to: NativeVillage500@aol.com
To contact Native Village staff, email: NativeVillage500@aol.com
Native Village Linking Policy
Our research, study and resource collections cover a lot of Internet territory! We do our best to screen all links and
select only those we designate "kidsafe" and appropriate. However, Native Village does not control the content
found on third-party sites, so we are not always aware when content changes. If you discover a link that contains
inappropriate information, please contact us immediately. In addition, please be aware that each linked site
maintains its own independent data collection, policies and procedures. If you visit a Web site linked
from Native
Village, you should consult that site's privacy policy before providing it with any personal information.
For more information about keeping kids safe online, please read about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
(COPPA).In accordance with Title 17
U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment for
non-profit research, archival, news, and educational purposes only.
Native Village © Gina Boltz
All rights reserved
