Native Village
Youth and Education News
October 1, 2007 Issue 180 Volume 1
"My Creator, Let me live today with an open heart. Let me realize to be vulnerable is a strength, not a weakness. Let me realize the power of an open heart. Let me be available to truth. If I get into trouble, let me hear the whisper of your guidance. Let me make heart decisions and let my head catch up to that decision." Audrey Shenandoah, Onondaga
JUBILATION
AS UN APPROVES INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DECLARATION
The world's Indigenous people are celebrating the UN General Assembly's approval
of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. After 22 years of
debate and negotiation, it was approved by a huge majority: 143 nations. Only
11 nations abstained, and 4 nations voted no: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and
the United States. Among the comments:
"We would like to say that we are really very happy and thrilled to hear about
the adoption of the declaration. It recognises that governments can no longer
treat us as second-class citizens, and it gives protection to tribal peoples so
that they will not be thrown off their lands like we were."
"With the adoption of the declaration, the lives of indigenous peoples will be
improved on an equal footing with the rest of world citizens."
Kiplangat
Cheruiyot, Ogiek tribe, Kenya.
"The declaration on indigenous peoples, with its recognition of collective
rights, will raise international standards in the same way as the universal
declaration on human rights did nearly 60 years ago. It sets a benchmark by
which the treatment of tribal and indigenous peoples can be judged, and we hope
it will usher in an era in which abuse of their rights is no longer tolerated."
Stephen Corry, Survival International.
Read the Declaration:
Resolution
of the Declarations of Indigenous Peoples
Survival International
The Longest Walk II
California: In February, 2008, marchers will leave Alcatraz in San Francisco to
walk thousands of miles to Washington, DC. The event, called The Longest Walk
II, commemorates The Longest Walk of 1978. Participants are walking for peace,
justice, the Seventh Generation, and the healing of Mother Earth and Native
people. Friends are welcome to join in the march during any point along the
trail.
Learn more: www.longestwalk.org
Interest Grows In Saving Nation's Indian Mounds
Ohio: Since the arrival of Europeans, Ohio's American Indian mounds have been
vanishing. Once thought to number 5,000, there might only be 1,000 left. Few are
undamaged -- most have been plundered by looters, excavated by archaeologists,
or erased from memory by farmers or developers. The Archaeological Conservancy
is dedicated to preserving these sites. Recently, Missouri volunteers came up
with a remarkable solution: the Missouri Mound Adoption Project. MMAP gives
volunteers the responsibility to be advocates for particular mounds.
H-Amindian Listserve:
Poll: Majority Support Federal Recognition of Hawaiians
Most Hawaiian residents support federal recognition of Native Hawaiians. A
recent poll says 70% of residents favor the Akaka Bill, and nearly 66% belief
race should not be a reason to deny federal recognition to Hawaiians. Federal
recognition would give Native Hawaiians status similar to federally-recognized
American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes.
www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=7026109
Alutiiq anthropologist honored as a MacArthur 'genius'
Alaska: Sven Haakanson, an Aleut anthropologist from Kodiak Island, has
received one of the most prestigious achievement awards in America: a MacArthur
Fellows. Also called a "Genius Award", the MacArthur Fellow comes with a prize
of $500,000. The MacArthur Foundation calls Haakanson "the driving force behind
the revitalization of indigenous language, culture and customs in an isolated
region of North America." It also mentioned his artistic accomplishments as a
mask carver and photographer. It was a complete surprise to Sven because the
awards process is secret; most candidates don't know they are being considered.
"They woke me up at 6:30 in the morning," Haakanson said. "Anybody calling you
that early, you think: Is this a joke?" When he realized the caller was
serious, he felt humbled, he said. "To have someone even nominate me is
wonderful." Haakanson is director of Alutiiq Museum in Kodiak. Through the
museum, Haakanson has led efforts to acquire and exhibit Alutiiq items scattered
in collections around the world. He's also identifying a trove of petroglyphs
and other stone carvings. Working with villagers, he has located 800 such
carvings in recent years.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/9329624p-9244769c.html
Poarch Creek woman crowned Miss Indian World
Alabama: Megan Young, Poarch Band of Creek Indians, was crowned Miss Indian
World during the Gathering of Nations Powwow. Young was one of 22 contestants
for the pageant. "We are pleased to have her represent Indian communities
throughout the nation but especially PCI," Chairman Buford L. Rolin said.
Young plans to travel extensively while she works towards a degree in human
resource management.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/american_indians_news_source_tulanappes_list/
Ancient Chewing Gum Yields DNA
Massachusetts: One day, Harvard archaeologist Steven LeBlanc was staring at
drawers full of quids--wads of plant material chewed by ancient Native
Americans--when he realized, "Quid ... saliva ... DNA ... DING! Since that
brainstorm, LeBlanc and others have recovered DNA from 2000-year-old quidsfrom a
vanished tribe called the Western Basketmakers. They lived from 500 B.C.E.- 500
C.E. in caves and rock shelters in today's Utah and Arizona. Nearly 14% of their
DNA samples contained haplogroup A, which is extremely rare in the Southwest,.
However, it occurs in about half of the population of Central America. This
fits with the idea that Western Basketmakers migrated from central Mexico,
bringing agriculture into the turf of foragers. The results were confirmed by a
second laboratory.
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/822/4
Indian Group Blasts Meteorite Sale
Oregon: The Williamette Meteorite is sacred to the Clackamas Indians. The tribe
holds an annual religious ceremony with the meteorite, named Tomanowas, in its
home at the American Museum of Natural History. The meteorite -- the largest
ever discovered in America -- was given in ancient times to the Clackamas people
by the Sky People. Now a 30-pound chunk of the 10,000-year-old meteorite is up
for auction, and the tribe is denouncing its sale. "We are deeply saddened that
any individual or organization would be so insensitive to Native American
spirituality and culture as to traffic in the sale of a sacred and historic
artifact," said Siobahn Taylor of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
Darryl Pitt, who is selling the chunk, recognizes the Grand Ronde's concerns.
"While I regret the Grand Ronde has taken offense, the bottom line is that a
portion of the meteorite is simply changing hands," he said. Tomanowas was
discovered in 1902 in the Willamette Valley by an Oregon miner who removed it
from the land. Today, the small chunk of the meteor will be auctioned at
Bonhams Auction House in NYC on October 28. Its pre-sale estimate is between
$1,100,000 - $1,300,000.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091400412.html
Discovery could bring Peru's 'cloud warriors' to earth
Peru: A massive ruin offers fresh clues about Peru's vanished Chachapoya, the
"cloud warriors." "I was shown to what seems likely the biggest free-standing
Chachapoya structure in the world, and just about in the last place I would ever
expect it," says archaeologist Keith Muscutt. The Chachapoya (cha-cha-POY-ah)
once ruled the northern Andes and built mountainous cliffside tombs they filled
with bundled mummies. The newly discovered structure was nicknamed "Huaca la
Penitenciaria de la Meseta" (The Penitentiary). Its largest platform is 24 feet
high, 200 feet long and 100 feet wide. Atop it are the remains of small homes or
ceremonial buildings. A second building, 30 by 60 feet, holds the apparent
remains of a lookout tower. Below, a plaza, about 200 feet wide and 300 feet
long, rests on 12-foot-high walls. Muscutt is working with The Discovery
Channel for a featured program for the series, Chasing Mummies, planned for next
year.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-01-16-peru-ruin_x.htm?csp=34
Dig Casts New Light on Indian Culture
Virginia: When archaeologists
found remnants of Werowocomoco, Powhatan's capital
city, what they began to unearth was unlike anything they had seen in the
region. About 1,000 feet from the river, they found what had been a long,
straight ditch. The ditch was so perfectly constructed they figured it was dug
by colonists with sophisticated metal tools and axes. But the team found only
native artifacts. Then radiocarbon testing showed that the ditch was built in
the 13th century, 400 years before Powhatan. More ditches were found.
Archaeologist Martin Gallivan thinks the ditches might be monuments, separating
the sacred part of the city, where Powhatan lived, from citizens who went about
the business of daily life. "The landscape was intentionally structured to
reflect the power of the place," Gallivan said. Now they wonder if Powhatan
chose to make Werowocomoco his capital once he became paramount chief of over 30
tribes. "This shows that Powhatan was a remarkable politician," said
archaeologist Randy Turner. "... And if our hypothesis is correct, he was using
the sacred nature of this place to further validate his status not only as a
political and military leader, but a spiritual and religious one."
Wereowocomoco Project: http://powhatan.wm.edu
Washington Post
Lost tribe says their culture is still alive
Texas: Thousands of years before European invasion, strong men and women fished
the waters, hunted game and walked the forests of Louisiana and Texas. They were
the Atakapas, who historians claim vanished in the early 1900s. But their
ancestors say the Atakapan culture is alive and well and want their name off the
federal government's extinct cultures list. "It will give us our identity back
and we can do things for our people and bring back our culture and heritage,"
said Chief Michael Amos of the Atakapa-Ishak Nation. The Atakapa-Ishak Nation
has about 400 active participants who are reviving their language and talking
about museums in Texas and Louisiana. They have also filed a letter of intent
to become federally recognized by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. "They may
say we're extinct, but that's not true," Amos said. "How could people just
vanish from the face of the Earth? Think about it. It doesn't make sense."
http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18792974&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6
Language Revitalization's "Race Against Time" Goes High-Tech
The Indigenous Language Institute focuses on revitalizing Native languages. They
provide easy-to-use computer technology, work with Native communities and
organizations, and raise awareness of the importance of keeping languages alive.
ILI teams visited 52 native language programs around the country and found both
success stories and challenges. Today, they are rebuilding these languages with
help from elders and by transforming oral traditions into the written word.
artwork: www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/
H-Amindian Listserve
New Alaska Native language dictionary has been published
Alaska: The "Dena'ina Topical Dictionary has been published by The Alaska Native
Language Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The new Athabascan
dictionary is the most complete topical dictionary for any of the 20 Alaska
Native languages. Dena'ina is also known as Tanaina and is a language spoken by
Alaska's Athabascan Indians.
.http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/9129608p-9045762c.htm
N.B. woman recording elders speaking Maliseet for posterity
New Brunswick: Imelda Perley has devoted her life to connecting Maliseet people
to their culture. Her new Internet project is capturing the voices of elders and
others who speak Maliseet as their first language and making it available for
youth. "[The Malisett Language] been taught in schools in the community, but
it's been taught as a subject and not something you can carry," she said. "I'm
really worried that it's going to become extinct."
Learn more form Ms. Perley:
http://www.indigenousgeography.si.edu/community.asp?commID=219&lang=eng
http://www.cbc.ca
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