Native Village
Youth and Education News
February 1, 2007 Issue 175 Volume 1
"There are bad and foolish people in every race. You have to judge them one by
one, and then you have to give them a second chance." Imogene Bowen, Upper
Skagit Tribe
Teenage boy saves village elder from cabin fire
Alaska:
Seventeen-year-old Thomas Keesling is a hero. In December, the McGrath youth
went to visit 65-year-old Athabascan elder, Esai Esai. Through a window, Thomas
saw glowing flames on the floor and thick smoke. He opened the door and ran
inside. Esai lay in flames. Thomas pulled Esai out the door by his legs, snuffed
him with snow, then jumped on his snowmachine to get help. Luckily, local
firefighting and rescue teams were holding a nearby meeting. Thomas burst into
the room and shouted that a man was on fire. The teams reached Esai's cabin,
where flames were leaping at least 40 feet in the air. Esai was flown to
Anchorage, then Seattle, with third-degree burns. His cabin was destroyed. The
next day, the fire department ran a radio message hailing Thomas's heroic and
quick-thinking deed. Thomas makes it sound like no big deal. Did he save Esai's
life? "Yeah, sure," he said, ending a radio interview so he could chop wood
for his grandmother's stove.
http://www.adn.com/front/story/8530636p-8424395c.html
Ex-POW Jessica Lynch Names Baby For
Fallen Comrade
West
Virginia: Former POW Jessica Lynch has named her newborn girl in honor of Army
Specialist Lori Piestewa, a Hopi tribal member from Tuba City, Arizona. Piestewa,
who was the first female American soldier to die in Iraq, served with Lynch in
the 507th Maintenance Company. Piestewa died and Lynch was captured when their
unit was ambushed in March, 2003, near Nasiriyah. Lynch and her boyfriend, Wes
Robinson, named their daughter Ann (Lori's middle name), and Dakota (which can
mean "friend" or "ally.") Ann Dakota Robinson weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces.
http://cbs4boston.com/topstories/topstories_story_019214427.html
Man's beliefs pit military vs.
Navajos
Colorado:
Ronnie Tallman, 21, comes from a long line of Navajo spiritual leaders, but
there also were soldiers among his kin. In 2004, Ronnie joined the Marines.
Now he believes it was the wrong path and that his destiny lies in healing, not
fighting. The Navajo Nation and an organization of medicine men agree. The
Marines do not. Now a federal court will decide the case that pits Navajo
spiritual belief against United States military rules. It started in November
2005 while Tallman was on weekend leave on the Navajo Reservation. He underwent
a spiritual experience and discovered he had been given the sacred gift known as
teehn leii, also called hand trembling. Hand tremblers have a rare form of
spiritual diagnosing and healing celebrated among Navajos. They can sense
people's problems and illnesses and often restore physical, mental and spiritual
well-being. Because Navajo spiritual law holds that Tallman cannot keep his
power if he participates in killing, Ronnie applied for a military
conscientious-objector status. But the Marines rejected his status change
despite the approval from the Christian chaplain, investigating officer, and
three psychiatric evaluations. So far, Tallman has been disciplined with a
reduction in rank, a reduction in pay, and 30 days in a military jail. He is
also set for deployment overseas. Tallman's attorneys will ask for a temporary
restraining order to try and prevent his deployment until the court can review
the military's decision. "I'm nervous, but I'm strong in my belief," Tallman
says, "and that's going to take me further than the Marines."
[Editor's Note: In late January, the military granted Mr. Tallnam a
conscientious objector status.]
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5055144
From poverty, alcoholism, a tribal leader blossomed
Washington:
After President Clinton finished a speech in Seattle in 1994, he made a beeline
for Imogene Bowen, who stood behind the rope line holding back the crowds. With
a big grin, Clinton hugged Ms. Bowen and said, "You're Imogene. I've heard all
about you." Imogene, who was 71, recently passed away. Ms. Bowen lived a
difficult life, but overcame poverty, self-doubt and alcoholism to embrace her
heritage. She was single mom on welfare, a 52-year-old college graduate, a
tribal leader and a political activist. "Imogene was one of a half-dozen people
you had to talk to if you were a politician headed to Northwest Washington,"
said former Gov. Mike Lowry at Imogene's funeral. After Ms. Bowen was buried at
a family cemetery, a huge rainbow colored the sky and about 30 eagles soared
overhead. "I think they were definitely there to help her go into the next
whatever-you-call-it," said a friend. "They were there to fly up with her."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003525625_bowenobit15m.html
An Archaeological Treasure Found Up
North
Minnesota:
On top of Walker's highest hill, archaeologists have discovered evidence of what
could be the oldest human habitation in the state. The site, which is perhaps
13,000-14,000 years old, may also be among the oldest known archaeological sites
in North and South America. Walker's hill has revealed stone tools possibly
used by big game hunters towards the end of the Ice Age. David Mather, state
archaeologist, said the find "is something off our radar. We didn't think it was
even possible in Minnesota." In all, archaeologists found at least 50 objects in
a 50 square yard area, and "we didn't excavate everything," Mather added. The
artifacts ranged from large hammer stones to small handheld scrapers.
Scientists also found tough silt stone, which resists shattering and could have
been used to create sharp edges on other stones.
H-Amindian Listserve
Sacred gift
Minnesota:
In September, members of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewan were gathered near
Nett Lake for a ceremony. There, a drumkeeper named Shane Drift shared a recent
dream that forgotten stories and songs of the tribe would somehow ''come back to
us.'' About two weeks later, a Kentucky doctor named Raymond Cloutier phoned
the tribe. He had 42 birch bark scrolls hanging in glass cases on the walls of
his study. Inscribed with symbols and pictures, the scrolls had come with a
letter saying the they were more than 200 years old and had originated ''at Nett
Lake on the Bois Forte Reservation.'' The letter also said the scrolls depicted
ceremonial songs ''concerning the most fundamental laws and needs of the [Ojibwe]
people.'' Cloutier returned the scrolls to the tribe where a group of elders
confirmed that they are long-lost records of the Bois Forte lodge of the
Midewiwin. ''Spiritually, this is probably the most important thing that has
ever happened [to the tribe],'' said Rose Berens, the tribe's preservation
officer. ''I was awestruck.'' The Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, is an
Ojibwe religious order that preserved its rites on birch bark. The Midewiwin was
driven underground for most of the 20th century, when Indian religions were
outlawed by the US government. The scrolls range from 9 by 3 inches to 6 by 2
feet. The drawings are on the brown side of the bark. Some are drawn with
charcoal, others are applied with red paint, and a few images are carved. The
scrolls now rest at Bois Forte in a climate-controlled museum room. They cannot
be photographed, or even seen, by anyone who doesn't belong to the religious
order, except for museum curator, Bill Latady.
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414292
A similar tale predates Pocahontas
Virginia:
Pocahontas wasn't the first Virginia native woman to marry a European. Around
1568, an American Indian woman from today's Saltville married a Spanish
soldier. Her name was Luisa Menendez. "It's a great story, and we don't hear
about this," said Jim Glanville, a retired professor. Only a few firsthand
accounts stored in Spanish archives share the details. In 1567 -- nearly 40
years before the founding of Jamestown -- Spanish invaders left the Fort of San
Juan (near today's Morgantown, NC) to attack the Virginia Indian village. The
Spanish claim to have killed 1,000 people and burned 50 huts. Luisa and another
survivor eventually married two explorers, adopted Christianity, and settled in
the Spanish fort at St. Augustine, FL. In 1600, the governor of Spanish Florida
heard testimony from people who'd seen the interior of the country. Luisa was
among those who testified. She described her home, a place where salt was
made, called Maniatique. "She also said that there are three or four springs of
saltwater from which the Indians make salt," according to one translation of the
testimony.
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149191760392&path=!news&s=1045855934842
The Myth of The Sled Dog Killings
Quebec:
In the 1960s, Pita Aatami and his family walked a long way to fish at a local
lake. "I always thought it was because we were poor and we couldn't afford a
snow machine," said the Inuit man who lived in Kuujjuaq. "But my uncle told me
we had to walk because my grandfather's sled dogs had been shot. A lot of other
people had their sled dogs shot, too." The Inuit say that Canada's RCMP
slaughtered their sled dogs during the 1950- 1970. Without their dogs, natives
would be forced to settle in communities, buy snowmobiles and depend on federal
social programs. "To diminish our numbers as Inuit, our dogs were being
killed," said one Inuit elder. An RCMP investigation claims the slaughters never
happened. But Aatami is not giving up. "I want to know who gave the orders to
kill the dogs," he says.
H-Amindian Listserve
Visitors' Center, Trails Planned at
Sitting Bull Burial Grounds
South
Dakota: In 2005, Rhett Albers and Bryan Defender bought the land holding
Sitting Bull's gravesite. After cleaning it up, they formed the nonprofit
Sitting Bull Monument Foundation. Now Albers and Defender are planning short
trails and a visitors center complete with educational displays about Sitting
Bull's life. The site will include a bust of Sitting Bull created by sculptor
Korczak Ziolkowski, who also designed the Crazy Horse Monument in the Black
Hills
The Associated Press State &Local Wire
More Isolated Indians Survive in
Amazon Rain Forest, but Face Peril
Brazil: More
uncontacted Indian groups are surviving in Brazil's Amazon rain forest than
previously thought. A study by FUNAI, the government's National Indian
Foundation, estimates that 67 Indian groups live in complete isolation, up from
previous estimates of 40. "With the rate of destruction in the Amazon, it is
amazing there are any isolated people left at all," said Fiona Watson from
Survival International. Brazil probably has the largest number of uncontacted
tribes in the world. Most still hunt with blow guns or bows and arrows, and most
uncontacted tribes live as their ancestors did before European invasion.
However, these tribes risk being destroyed by encroaching loggers and miners.
The New York Times
Kodiak Natives cut an album in an
effort to preserve their dying language
Alaska: The
Sugpiaq people from Kodiak are working hard to preserve Alutiiq, their native
language. Recently Sugpiaq singers from across Kodiak Island came together at
Kodiak’s Alutiiq Museum to record songs which are sung in Alutiiq and Slavonic.
Susan Malutin, a second-year student in an Alutiiq language preservation
program, considers the recording an important event. “The best thing was to
have so many of our Elders here together in one place at the same time,” Malutin
said. “From 10 am -- 5pm every day, and that’s a really big commitment for some
of them.” The musical CD is produced by Stephen Blanchett, a member of Pamyua,
one of Alaska’s most popular singing groups. Blanchett, who is Yupik, has been
picking up jobs with his field recording equipment. He’s traveled to Barrow,
Tatitlek, and Chenega Bay, among other places. “I’m all about making recordings
and CDs because we don’t have anything to listen to,” he said. Alutiiq is
spoken by fewer than 100 people in Alaska, and only 35 - 50 original speakers
live on Kodiak Island today. A CD from the sessions will be available for sale
later this year. Museum workers say demand from visitors already exists.
kodiakdailymirror.com
photo
Contemporary Black Indian
Storytelling In Print
Massachusetts: Talking Drum Press has released a new book, Mixed Medicine Bag,
Original Black Wampanoag Folklore. A Mixed Medicine Bag contains 15 original
Black Wampanoag folk-tales shared by Mwalim, a contemporary master of oral
tradition. Mwalim (Morgan James Peters, I) is Eastern Native American, West
Indian, and African American. Mwalim, who is an assistant professor at
Dartmouth, believes stories should reflect our past and present and be told in
respectful ways. "Particularly in the native traditions, many traditional
stories are not appropriate to tell outside of their cultural contexts and
communities, " he said. "As an authentic Mashpee Wampanoag of African ancestry,
and having been raised in my cultures, I can assure you that all of my tales are
authentic." For 18 years, Mwalim has shared his original lore at powwows,
schools, festivals, and other venues. His work is praised by many. "Mwalim is a
Native-Afro street poet and storyteller whose flow takes you through the valleys
and mountains of a world as experienced by a Black Wampanoag Warrior who keeps
it real all of the time," said Cedric "Qaqeemasq" Cromwell (Running Bear) from
the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council.
Learn more about Mwalim:
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/mwalim/index.html
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