Native Village
Youth and Education News
March 1, 2007 Issue 176 Volume 1
"Because
woman lives so close to our first mother, the Earth, she emanates the strength
and harmonious
nature of all things."
Larry P. Aitken, Chippewa
Hopi
Runners to Carry the Gift of Water Communities
Arizona: In April, runners from the Hopi villages atop Black Mesa will run from
the "center of the universe" to Sedona, Arizona. The 130-mile, three-day
journey is to raise awareness of human impact on the earth's very limited supply
of fresh water. The athletes, who range in age from 12-85, will be "Carrying
the Gift of Water" in a traditional Hopi gourd, the ancestral water vessel. The
water was gathered from sources on tribal lands. Vernon Masayesva, Hopi,
recently described a Hopi view of water:
"Within this living system, water from
each of the four terrestrial directions-from rivers and springs, from great
aquifers and tiny seeps-bring life, give life, sustain life among all life. And
when its work is done, the waters are re-gathered in the celestial sea, the home
of the cloud ancestors. There it is renewed and rejuvenated, and then
transformed again into water, into rain and snow, sleet and hail, mists and
fogs. It falls toward the earth, toward the depths of the great sea, and rises
again to nourish the lakes, the ponds, and the streams upon which all beings,
all brothers and sisters, depend. It returns and the great cycle of water is
renewed bringing new energy to the universe."
Before the run, elementary-school
students from Sedona and the Hopi Tribe will visit each other's communities as
part of a "Student Exchange." The overnight event gives the children an
opportunity to learn about each other through educational activities, art and
family experiences.
Learn more:
www.ioet.org
http://nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8612
New Mexico Indian village receives historic designation
New Mexico: Acoma Sky City sits atop a mesa 60 miles west of Albuquerque. As the
oldest continuously inhabited community in North America, Acoma Sky City has
become a National Trust Historic Site. The adobe village was built by the Acoma
people and dates from at least 1150 A.D. It includes a Spanish mission
completed around 1640. About 15 families live year-round in the community,
which is owned by the Pueblo of Acoma. About 3,000 other Acomas live in nearby
village.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/fea/travel/thisweek/stories/DN-regnotes_0211tra.ART.State.Edition1.2a080fc.html
Burial
mound put on auction block
Florida: Fourteen hundred years ago, an indigenous people lived at the mouth of
the Manatee River. They settled in a small village where they fished, harvested,
lived and worshipped. They built inland huts a sacred temple where the
bodies of tribal leaders were buried. Today, this temple is a white sand mound in Bradenton,
and it's being eyed by developers. The owners, the South Florida Museum, has put the
property on the market because it needs money for new exhibits. The museum says
it also has trouble maintaining the 20-foot mound. "I'm astonished that they're
selling it," said archaeologist Bill Burger. "They have said that the mound
doesn't 'fit their mission.' What is their mission if it's not this" The
property is valued at $147,500 and the museum's board is looking for $200,000 or
more. The site is known as the Pillsbury Temple Mound, after famed landowner Asa Pillsbury.
If it's not sold, the Pillsbury Temple Mound could be eligible for a 2007 preservation grant.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070218/NEWS/702180308
Many on Easter Island Prefer to Leave Stones Unturned
Easter Island: Easter Island contains an estimated 20,000 archaeological sites.
The mysterious giant statues that stand along the rocky coast are the greatest
treasure of this remote place, but about 40% have been destroyed or damaged.
While many outsiders would like to restore more--or all--of the moai, as the
statues are known, local people regard this idea with a mixture of suspicion and
dread. "Our elders ask what possible reason there can be to restore more moai,
when we can see that those that have been restored are deteriorating more
rapidly than those that are broken and still lying on the ground,” said Pedro
Edmunds Paoa, the mayor of Hanga Roa. “By exposing them to rain, salt, lichens
and chemicals, you merely make things worse.” Elders and locals also complain
that many researchers fail to explain what they are doing or to include them in
their projects. “As Rapanui, we are tired of people coming here, investigating
us and then going away with a ‘Ciao!’ and not giving anything back,” said island
resident, Arévalo Pakarat. There are fewer than 50 repaired and re-erected moai
on display to visitors, Estimates of the island's total moai are more than 900.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/world/americas/09easter.html?ei=5059&en=ecdb90e01ae9a15d&ex=1169010000&partner=AOL&paganted=print
Rayonier donates dugout canoe to Fernbank Museum
Georgia: Recently, a 17-foot long wooden dugout canoe submerged in sand and
shallow water near the Satilla River. Rayonier Southeast Forest Resources
removed it from the muck. Now they have donated it to the Fernbank Museum in
Atlanta. The historic find is believed to be the first such canoe documented in Georgia.
"We can't understand local Indian lifeways without considering the role of
dugout canoes, any more than we can think about our own society without taking
cars into account," said Dennis Blanton from the Fernbank Museum. "Dugout canoes
were the only transportation alternative available to local Indians beyond foot
travel, and they were especially important on Georgia's coast and in the wetlands
of South Georgia." The Fernbank Museum is waiting for a Carbon-14 date on a
piece of wood from the canoe. The canoe will be place on exhibit after conservation, a
process expected to take several months.
Photo:
http://www.thebladeplus.com
http://www.thebladeplus.com/news/2007/0205/News/016.html
After 153 years, Treaty Tree lost to winter storm
Washington: After surviving earthquakes and more than 153 years of history, the
Treaty Tree finally fell during a winter windstorm. The Treaty Tree
was a widely known and beloved landmark, said Billy Frank, a Nisqually tribal
member. "People love this tree, not only the Indian people, but the people who
know the history," he said. The weathered Douglas fir in Thurston County was
witness to the signing of the Treaty of Medicine Creek, the first Indian treaty
in Western Washington. The council took place in a grove of firs which included
the Treaty Tree. George Gibbs recorded the proceedings of the treaty council:
"The Indians took their quarters on a forested bench a short distance away. The
scene was lively. Thin temporary huts of mats with the smoke of their numerous
camp fires, the prows of the canoes hauled up on the bank and protruding from
among the huts, the horses grazing on the marsh, the gloom of the firs and the
cedars ... and the scattered and moving groups of Indians in all kinds of odd
and fantastic dresses present a curious picture."
The Nisqually tribe may place a monument or totem pole at the Treaty Tree site.
They are also deciding what to do with the remaining pieces. "You can feel the
spirit of the tree, the spark of life in this tree," Frank said, touching the
bark. "It was a symbol of a place, and of that treaty. You close your eyes; you
can still see the canoes right here." But the tree is not completely gone. In
1975, DOT employee, Bill Melton, had gathered seeds and planted a grove of Treaty
Tree descendants. Today, those descendants stand some 40 feet tall. A new crop
of seedlings from these descendants are also being grown and will be gifted to
area tribes. "This old-timer, his day has passed," Frank said of the Treaty
Tree. "But as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow and the sun rises in
the east and sets in the west, that treaty is alive."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003567902&zsection_id=2002111777&slug=treatytree12m&date=20070212
A Struggle For Land: Native Americans Today
Ontario:
Last year, kids and adults from the Six Nations near Caledonia climbed over a
fence and set up tents on land belonging to their people. This small parcel of reclaimed land is only part of the large tract given
to them by the British government in a 1784 treaty. The treaty guaranteed that
the Canadian government could not develop or build on that land without
permission from Six Nations people. Then, in 1992, the government sold a piece
of that land to a company called Henco. Many said the sale was illegal, but in
2005, Henco began building luxury homes on the site. When construction began,
Six Nations people blocked the construction and pushed the tractors out. In 2006, the Ontario Provincial Police raided the site and arrested sixteen people,
some of whom were teenagers. Many Canadians and Americans support the Six
Nations actions. John Fadden, a Mohawk from the Akwesasne reservation, is
hoping that others will learn more about the Native tribes and youth who support
this cause. “Most kids east of the Mississippi don’t know Indians are here,”
John said. He suggested ways youth could learn more. “Go to places where
Indians gather and speak with them. Read books.”
http://www.tuscaroras.com/graydeer/pages/sixnamus.htm
Mardi Gras Indians struggle to survive
Louisiana: For more than 250 years, the "black Indians" of New Orleans have
sung the ancient chants and donned the regalia of a culture unique in the United
States. Dubbed Mardi Gras Indians, they have nurtured the ancient rituals of
Africa and the Caribbean while merging them with Native American rites. As early
as 1729, African slaves joined Natchez Indians in a revolt against colonial
French authorities. Thereafter, black slaves in New Orleans escaped their
captors into the swamps and bayous, aided by Native Americans. From these two
besieged peoples, experts believe, rose the black Indian culture, which combined
the chant, dance, music and costume rituals of Native Americans and
African-American slaves. Caribbean emigres who arrived in the 19th Century added
to the mix. "It's African, Native American and Caribbean cultures all coming
together in one stream," said Joyce Marie Jackson, professor at Louisiana State
University. "It's the whole history of New Orleans, really, expressed in the
rituals of these people." But the Mardi Gras Indians, who were on the decline
through the 20th Century, have been devastated in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina. Like other New Orleanians, the black Indians have been scattered
across the country. Now the Indians face a particular challenge: reclaiming not
only their homes but also their artistic heritage.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/16342570.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
MARY ANN
ANDREAS TO BE HONORED MARCH 30TH
California: On March 30, Mary Ann Andreas of the Morongo Band of Mission
Indians, will be honored for her leadership and contributions at "A Women's
Symposium: Honoring American Indian Women of Distinction." Mary Ann grew up on
the Morongo Reservation in a house with dirt floors and no running water or
electricity. She overcame many obstacles to attend Harvard University and to
lead her tribe from poverty to one of the largest tribal employers in the
State. Elected as Tribal Chairwoman four times, Mrs. Andreas was named as one
of the top ten Native American leaders in the nation. She was honored in 1998 as
the Tribal Leader of the Year by the National Indian Gaming Association. Last
year, Vice Chairwoman Andreas was instrumental in the return of more than 100
traditional baskets back to their tribal home at Morongo reservation.
salcamarillo1@sbcglobal.net
Fairbanks professor rewarded for language work
Alaska: Michael Krauss has received the Ken Hale Prize for lifetime
achievement by the Society for the Study of Indigenous Languages of the
Americas. The prize is awarded for a lifetime of dedication to the understanding
and preservation of native languages. Mr. Krauss, a professor emeritus at UA
Fairbanks, is a founder of the Alaska Native Language Center which opened in
1972. Krauss' personal work has centered on Athabascan and Eskimo languages. He
is especially focused on the Eyak language, for which only one fluent speaker
remains. "When you lose a language and a language goes extinct, it's like
dropping a bomb on the Louvre," Krauss said. "Ken Hale said that, 'Of the
earth's remaining 6,000 languages, nearly half will completely
disappear during this century.' We work to save endangered species, but we don't
work to save endangered languages. It's a lot easier to keep them
alive than to bring them back."
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/020507/sta_20070205012.shtml
In Bolivia, Speaking Up For Native Languages
Bolivia: It's believed that 37% of Bolivia's population still speaks a native
language used before Spanish invasion in the 1500s. Government officials hope
that language-training programs will raise that percentage. President Evo
Morales -- the country's first indigenous president -- wants all government
employees to have indigenous language training. He also wants public school
children to take native language classes. Universities are enrolling more
students in indigenous language programs, and the Education Ministry continues
to open new language education centers. Many Bolivians, however, have little
connection to indigenous communities and are angry about the idea. "Evo wants
to make Quechua and Aymara the official languages of Bolivia, instead of
Spanish," said a taxi driver from Santa Cruz. "That might be fine for the
highlands where they actually speak those languages, but not here." Officials,
however, deny the accusation. They argue that promoting native languages should
be a priority because more than 50% of Bolivians call themselves Indigenous.
H-Amindian Listserve
Cap sales to benefit Cherokee programs
Oklahoma: To help preserve and promote its language, the Cherokee Nation has
created baseball caps with logos from three Oklahoma universities written in
Cherokee. Fans of the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University or
Northeastern State University can buy the caps at several Cherokee gift shops.
70 cents of each dollar will go back to the nation for education, job creation,
health and social programs, such as Cherokee language immersion classes.
http://www.newsok.com/article/2984558/?print=1
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