Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Quotes
When it comes time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home...Chief Tecumseh
Do you know...
Dennis Banks - Anishinabe (Ojibwa) activist...Born: Apr. 12, 1937; Birthplace: Leech Lake, Minn.
At an early age, Dennis Banks was removed from his home and sent to boarding schools, run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in which native Indian languages were forbidden. After a hitch in the military, he got in trouble with the law and was eventually jailed for burglary. He was released from prison in 1968 and helped found the American Indian Movement (AIM).
AIM spearheaded the 1969 Alcatraz occupation, in which the organization demanded the return of federal lands to Indian control; the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties caravan to Washington, D.C.; and the 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973. After a long trial, Wounded Knee felony charges against Banks and AIM co-founder Russell Means were dropped.
In 1975, Banks was convicted for riot charges concerning the Custer courthouse incident that led to Wounded Knee. He went underground, returning in 1984 to serve more than a year in prison. Banks founded Sacred Run to promote the sacredness of all living things and has led runs across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
He had small roles in the movies War Party (1988), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and Thunderheart (1992). His autobiography Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement, was published in 2004.
At an early age, Dennis Banks was removed from his home and sent to boarding schools, run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in which native Indian languages were forbidden. After a hitch in the military, he got in trouble with the law and was eventually jailed for burglary. He was released from prison in 1968 and helped found the American Indian Movement (AIM).
AIM spearheaded the 1969 Alcatraz occupation, in which the organization demanded the return of federal lands to Indian control; the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties caravan to Washington, D.C.; and the 71-day siege of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973. After a long trial, Wounded Knee felony charges against Banks and AIM co-founder Russell Means were dropped.
In 1975, Banks was convicted for riot charges concerning the Custer courthouse incident that led to Wounded Knee. He went underground, returning in 1984 to serve more than a year in prison. Banks founded Sacred Run to promote the sacredness of all living things and has led runs across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
He had small roles in the movies War Party (1988), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and Thunderheart (1992). His autobiography Ojibwa Warrior: Dennis Banks and the Rise of the American Indian Movement, was published in 2004.
COWEE — The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on Monday officially reclaimed one of the few undisturbed American Indians mounds remaining in Western No
COWEE — The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on Monday officially reclaimed one of the few undisturbed American Indians mounds remaining in Western North Carolina.
“This property is not just about a mound,” Principal Chief Michell Hicks said. “It is about a way of life.”
The tribe worked with the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee to buy the 71-acre tract in the Cowee community north of Franklin.
The mound, which has never been excavated, was owned by generations of the Hall family before transferring to the late James Porter through his wife, Katherine, said Paul Carlson, executive director of The Land Trust.
The tribe has no plans to develop the property. It will be managed under a conservation easement. The site will one day offer interpretive signs, environmental education programs and a park. Cowee was the economic hub of the tribe because of its riverside location and proximity to white settlements.
Until the late 1770s, around 800 Cherokee lived there. The mound was owned by generations of the Hall family before transferring to the late James Porter through his wife, Katherine, said Paul Carlson, executive director of The Land Trust.
Lloyd Porter, James Porter’s nephew, said Monday that seeing the mound and the surrounding land back in the tribe’s control was “an honor.” Dolores Porter said her husband’s aunt and uncle always wanted the mound protected. “We feel like we are honoring their wishes,” she said.
Tom Belt, a Cherokee language instructor at Western Carolina University, was one of the speakers during Monday’s ceremony. The program also featured traditional dancing by the Warriors of AniKituhwa.
Belt, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, said he grew up in Oklahoma hearing stories about the people who stayed back east after the Removal. As the story goes, he said, the Creator wanted the Eastern Cherokee to stay behind to make sure the tribe’s homeland remained protected. He said returning the mound to its people fulfills that prophecy.
“We are not just reclaiming property,” he said. “We are, in fact, rebuilding the tribe.”
“This property is not just about a mound,” Principal Chief Michell Hicks said. “It is about a way of life.”
The tribe worked with the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee to buy the 71-acre tract in the Cowee community north of Franklin.
The mound, which has never been excavated, was owned by generations of the Hall family before transferring to the late James Porter through his wife, Katherine, said Paul Carlson, executive director of The Land Trust.
The tribe has no plans to develop the property. It will be managed under a conservation easement. The site will one day offer interpretive signs, environmental education programs and a park. Cowee was the economic hub of the tribe because of its riverside location and proximity to white settlements.
Until the late 1770s, around 800 Cherokee lived there. The mound was owned by generations of the Hall family before transferring to the late James Porter through his wife, Katherine, said Paul Carlson, executive director of The Land Trust.
Lloyd Porter, James Porter’s nephew, said Monday that seeing the mound and the surrounding land back in the tribe’s control was “an honor.” Dolores Porter said her husband’s aunt and uncle always wanted the mound protected. “We feel like we are honoring their wishes,” she said.
Tom Belt, a Cherokee language instructor at Western Carolina University, was one of the speakers during Monday’s ceremony. The program also featured traditional dancing by the Warriors of AniKituhwa.
Belt, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, said he grew up in Oklahoma hearing stories about the people who stayed back east after the Removal. As the story goes, he said, the Creator wanted the Eastern Cherokee to stay behind to make sure the tribe’s homeland remained protected. He said returning the mound to its people fulfills that prophecy.
“We are not just reclaiming property,” he said. “We are, in fact, rebuilding the tribe.”
Navajo chapter comes out against proposed power plant
SANOSTEE, N.M. -- A Navajo community in northwestern New Mexico has issued a resolution in opposition to a proposed $3 billion coal-fired power plant, but a tribal lawmaker says the community's concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
Jerry Bodie, a delegate who represents the Sanostee Chapter, said a few dozen of the chapter's 1,500 voters showed up at meeting this month and passed the resolution against the Desert Rock Energy Project.
Bodie said he took the chapter's message to the Tribal Council last week, and each delegate received a copy.
"They didn't listen to it and they think the power plant is good for all the people," Bodie said.
Critics claim the plant will add pollution to a region that already has two existing coal-fired plants, but Desert Rock supporters argue that the opposition represents a minority and that the Navajo Nation as a whole supports the project.
Houston-based Sithe Global and the tribe's Dine Power Authority have partnered on the project. It's expected to bring in about $55 million each year for the Navajo Nation and provide about 400 permanent jobs.
The Sanostee resolution requests a comprehensive health study of residents living within a 60-mile radius of coal-fired power plants. Sanostee is about 12 miles west of the proposed site, Bodie said.
The resolution also urges the Navajo Nation to consider alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, in place of the plant. A draft environmental impact statement on the proposed plant is expected in several weeks, and the resolution asks that public hearings on the document be held in Sanostee.
Jerry Bodie, a delegate who represents the Sanostee Chapter, said a few dozen of the chapter's 1,500 voters showed up at meeting this month and passed the resolution against the Desert Rock Energy Project.
Bodie said he took the chapter's message to the Tribal Council last week, and each delegate received a copy.
"They didn't listen to it and they think the power plant is good for all the people," Bodie said.
Critics claim the plant will add pollution to a region that already has two existing coal-fired plants, but Desert Rock supporters argue that the opposition represents a minority and that the Navajo Nation as a whole supports the project.
Houston-based Sithe Global and the tribe's Dine Power Authority have partnered on the project. It's expected to bring in about $55 million each year for the Navajo Nation and provide about 400 permanent jobs.
The Sanostee resolution requests a comprehensive health study of residents living within a 60-mile radius of coal-fired power plants. Sanostee is about 12 miles west of the proposed site, Bodie said.
The resolution also urges the Navajo Nation to consider alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, in place of the plant. A draft environmental impact statement on the proposed plant is expected in several weeks, and the resolution asks that public hearings on the document be held in Sanostee.
The First Fire - Cherokee lore
In the beginning of the world, there was no fire. The animal people were often cold. Only the Thunders, who lived in the world beyond the sky arch, had fire. At last they sent Lightning down to an island. Lightning put fire into the bottom of a hollow sycamore tree. The animal people knew that the fire was there, because they could see smoke rising from the top of the tree. But they could not get to it on account of the water. So they held a council to decide what to do.
Everyone that could fly or could swim was eager to go after the fire. Raven said, "Let me go. I am large and strong."
At that time Raven was white. He flew high and far across the water and reached the top of the sycamore tree. While he sat there wondering what to do, the heat scorched all his feathers black. The frightened Raven flew home without the fire, and his feathers have been black ever since.
Then the council sent Screech Owl. He flew to the island. But while he was looking down into the hollow tree, a blast of hot air came up and nearly burned out his eyes. He flew home and to this day, Screech Owl's eyes are red.
Then Hooting Owl and Horned Owl were sent to the island together. But the smoke nearly blinded them, and the ashes carried up by the wind made white rings about their eyes. They had to come home, and were never able to get rid of the white rings.
Then Little Snake swam across to the island, crawled through the grass to the tree, and entered it through a small hole at the bottom. But the smoke and the heat were too much for him, too. He escaped alive, but his body had been scorched black. And it was so twisted that he doubled on his track as if always trying to escape from a small space.
Big Snake, the climber, offered to go for fire, but he fell into the burning stump and became as black as Little Snake. He has been the great blacksnake ever since.
At last Water Spider said that she would go. Water Spider has black downy hair and red stripes on her body. She could run on top of water and she could dive to the bottom. She would have no trouble in getting to the island.
"But you are so little, how will you carry enough fire?" the council asked.
"I'll manage all right," answered Water Spider. "I can spin a web." so she spun a thread from her body and wove it into a little bowl and fastened the little bowl on her back. Then she crossed over to the island and through the grass. She put one little coal of fire into her bowl and brought it across to the people.
Every since, we have had fire. And the Water Spider still has her little bowl on her back.
Everyone that could fly or could swim was eager to go after the fire. Raven said, "Let me go. I am large and strong."
At that time Raven was white. He flew high and far across the water and reached the top of the sycamore tree. While he sat there wondering what to do, the heat scorched all his feathers black. The frightened Raven flew home without the fire, and his feathers have been black ever since.
Then the council sent Screech Owl. He flew to the island. But while he was looking down into the hollow tree, a blast of hot air came up and nearly burned out his eyes. He flew home and to this day, Screech Owl's eyes are red.
Then Hooting Owl and Horned Owl were sent to the island together. But the smoke nearly blinded them, and the ashes carried up by the wind made white rings about their eyes. They had to come home, and were never able to get rid of the white rings.
Then Little Snake swam across to the island, crawled through the grass to the tree, and entered it through a small hole at the bottom. But the smoke and the heat were too much for him, too. He escaped alive, but his body had been scorched black. And it was so twisted that he doubled on his track as if always trying to escape from a small space.
Big Snake, the climber, offered to go for fire, but he fell into the burning stump and became as black as Little Snake. He has been the great blacksnake ever since.
At last Water Spider said that she would go. Water Spider has black downy hair and red stripes on her body. She could run on top of water and she could dive to the bottom. She would have no trouble in getting to the island.
"But you are so little, how will you carry enough fire?" the council asked.
"I'll manage all right," answered Water Spider. "I can spin a web." so she spun a thread from her body and wove it into a little bowl and fastened the little bowl on her back. Then she crossed over to the island and through the grass. She put one little coal of fire into her bowl and brought it across to the people.
Every since, we have had fire. And the Water Spider still has her little bowl on her back.
Native American Rights Fund
Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide.
NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues. Our work depends solely upon the generosity of donors like you. Please make a secure online donation today.
http://www.narf.org/
NARF’s practice is concentrated in five key areas: the preservation of tribal existence; the protection of tribal natural resources; the promotion of Native American human rights; the accountability of governments to Native Americans; and the development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues. Our work depends solely upon the generosity of donors like you. Please make a secure online donation today.
http://www.narf.org/
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