Ten Bears - Comanche:
Also known as Ten Elks, Paria Semen (also Paeea-wa-semen, Pariaseamen, Parooway Semehno, Parrywasaymen or Parywahsaymen) was an eloquent poetic speaker and adroit negotiator who effectively represented his Comanche followers. Although he was apparently never active as a great warrior, he was still held in high esteem by the tribe, who choose him to be their delegate at many peace conferences with the Whites. His early years were seemingly uneventful; he was born about 1792 on the Southwestern Plain and by middle age had come to be a leading speaker for the Comanche.
He visited Washington D.C. in 1863, but failed to win significant concessions from the authorities. He signed the 1865 treaty at the Little Arkansas River and two years later was present as a speaker at the Council at Medicine Lodge, Kansas, which resulted in a treaty whereby the Comanche agreed to go on a recently established reservation in the southwestern section of the Indian Territory.
Though he was always a peacemaker, Ten Bears was equally determined as a Native American patriot who resented the White man's intrusion. During a long and eloquent address at the Medicine Lodge conference, he stated, "You said you wanted to out us upon a reservation…I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures and where everything drew a free breath…I want to die there, and not within walls."
But the Whites were not there to negotiate; they were there to dictate. Previous treaties had "not made allowance for the rapid growth of the White race," and the Comanche, Kiowa and other tribes of the Central Plains were forced to sign a treaty whereby they gave up most of their lands in exchange for a reservation. The days of free hunting were over and the tribes were expected to become peaceful farmers.
Ten Bears set off on another futile journey to Washington D.C., with other leaders from the Southern Plains, always hoping that this time it would be different, that the White man would honor his promises, but it was not to be. He returned to the hated reservation, where he died at Fort Sill a few weeks later, in 1873.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
The Little Mice
Sioux legend -
Once upon a time a prairie mouse busied herself all fall storing away a cache of beans. Every morning she was out early with her empty cast-off snake skin, which she filled with ground beans and dragged home with her teeth.
The little mouse had a cousin who was fond of dancing and talk, but who did not like to work. She was not careful to get her cache of beans and the season was already well gone before she thought to bestir herself. When she came to realize her need, she found she had no packing bag. So she went to her hardworking cousin and said:
"Cousin, I have no beans stored for winter and the season is nearly gone. But I have no snake skin to gather the beans in. Will you lend me one?"
"But why have you no packing bag? Where were you in the moon when the snakes cast off their skins?"
"I was here."
"What were you doing?"
"I was busy talking and dancing."
"And now you are punished," said the other. "It is always so with lazy, careless people. But I will let you have the snake skin. And now go, and by hard work and industry, try to recover your wasted time."
Once upon a time a prairie mouse busied herself all fall storing away a cache of beans. Every morning she was out early with her empty cast-off snake skin, which she filled with ground beans and dragged home with her teeth.
The little mouse had a cousin who was fond of dancing and talk, but who did not like to work. She was not careful to get her cache of beans and the season was already well gone before she thought to bestir herself. When she came to realize her need, she found she had no packing bag. So she went to her hardworking cousin and said:
"Cousin, I have no beans stored for winter and the season is nearly gone. But I have no snake skin to gather the beans in. Will you lend me one?"
"But why have you no packing bag? Where were you in the moon when the snakes cast off their skins?"
"I was here."
"What were you doing?"
"I was busy talking and dancing."
"And now you are punished," said the other. "It is always so with lazy, careless people. But I will let you have the snake skin. And now go, and by hard work and industry, try to recover your wasted time."
Potawatomi Indians
Potowatami indians today are divided into seven distinct bands in the United States and three bands in Canada. They are a Woodland Indian tribe. The Potowatami language belongs to the Algonquin language stock.
The Potawatomi name is a translation of the Ojibwe "potawatomink" meaning "people of the place of fire." It has also been translated by various sources as: Fire Nation, Keepers of the Sacred Fire, and People of the Fireplace - all of which refer to the role of the Potawatomi as the keeper of the council fire in an earlier alliance with the Ojibwe and Ottawa.
In their own language, the potowatami people call themselves Neshnabek, a Potawatomi word that refers to "original people". The Potowatomi also sometimes call themselves Anishinabe because at some time in the past, they were part of a larger tribe that split into three tribes.
They are also called the Adawadeny or Atowateany (Iroquois), Assistaeronon (Huron), Kunuhayanu (Caddo), Ouapou, Pekineni ( Fox), Pous, Poux, or Pu (French), Tcashtalalgi (Creek), Undatomatendi (Huron), Wahhonahah ( Miami), Wahiucaxa (Omaha), Wahiuyaha (Kansa), and Woraxa (Iowa, Missouri, Otoe, and Winnebago). Common misspellings of potowatami include Potowatami, Pattawatima, Putawatimes, Pouteouatims, and Poutouatami.
The oral history of this tribe says the Potawatomi originated in the Great Lakes area and more than likely in the area we now call Wisconsin. They then migrated toward the east and lived there along with the Ojibwa and the Odawa. As a result of a spiritual happening these tribes migrated back to the West and eventually returned to the Great Lakes area, where they were known as the Anishinabe.
Want to know more? Click here: http://potawatomi.aaanativearts.com/
The Potawatomi name is a translation of the Ojibwe "potawatomink" meaning "people of the place of fire." It has also been translated by various sources as: Fire Nation, Keepers of the Sacred Fire, and People of the Fireplace - all of which refer to the role of the Potawatomi as the keeper of the council fire in an earlier alliance with the Ojibwe and Ottawa.
In their own language, the potowatami people call themselves Neshnabek, a Potawatomi word that refers to "original people". The Potowatomi also sometimes call themselves Anishinabe because at some time in the past, they were part of a larger tribe that split into three tribes.
They are also called the Adawadeny or Atowateany (Iroquois), Assistaeronon (Huron), Kunuhayanu (Caddo), Ouapou, Pekineni ( Fox), Pous, Poux, or Pu (French), Tcashtalalgi (Creek), Undatomatendi (Huron), Wahhonahah ( Miami), Wahiucaxa (Omaha), Wahiuyaha (Kansa), and Woraxa (Iowa, Missouri, Otoe, and Winnebago). Common misspellings of potowatami include Potowatami, Pattawatima, Putawatimes, Pouteouatims, and Poutouatami.
The oral history of this tribe says the Potawatomi originated in the Great Lakes area and more than likely in the area we now call Wisconsin. They then migrated toward the east and lived there along with the Ojibwa and the Odawa. As a result of a spiritual happening these tribes migrated back to the West and eventually returned to the Great Lakes area, where they were known as the Anishinabe.
Want to know more? Click here: http://potawatomi.aaanativearts.com/
Paying to teach and 'play Indian'
by: Shadi Rahimi
SAN FRANCISCO - They climb mountains on a quest for a vision. They beat drums and shake rattles. They pray in sweat lodges. Some study for years and later teach others the spirituality they paid to learn.
They are a growing population. But they are not Native. And as self-proclaimed medicine men and women or shaman - referred to by some critics as ''plastic medicine men'' or ''shake and bake shaman'' - they often charge for spiritual services.
That, for many Natives here, is a big problem.
''Even if they're not charging for money, they have no idea about our people's ways, they have no idea what they're doing and how catastrophic it can be,'' said Jimmy Red Elk, 32, a traditional Oglala Lakota who lives in Los Angeles. ''It's really bad out here.''
The liberal-leaning state has always been abundant with New Age centers and people who advertise Native-themed services ranging from ''Native healing and ceremonies'' to ''pilgrimages to sacred places.''
Over the past two decades, such centers and retreats run by non-Natives have spread across the state - and the country - sometimes with deadly results. In 2002, two people died after spending more than an hour in a sweat lodge in southern California run by the group the Shamanic Fellowship.
Traditional elders, activists and groups have written resolutions and held protests denouncing such services. Some have even forcibly shut down questionable practitioners by dissembling their sweat lodges.
Click here to read more: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415228
SAN FRANCISCO - They climb mountains on a quest for a vision. They beat drums and shake rattles. They pray in sweat lodges. Some study for years and later teach others the spirituality they paid to learn.
They are a growing population. But they are not Native. And as self-proclaimed medicine men and women or shaman - referred to by some critics as ''plastic medicine men'' or ''shake and bake shaman'' - they often charge for spiritual services.
That, for many Natives here, is a big problem.
''Even if they're not charging for money, they have no idea about our people's ways, they have no idea what they're doing and how catastrophic it can be,'' said Jimmy Red Elk, 32, a traditional Oglala Lakota who lives in Los Angeles. ''It's really bad out here.''
The liberal-leaning state has always been abundant with New Age centers and people who advertise Native-themed services ranging from ''Native healing and ceremonies'' to ''pilgrimages to sacred places.''
Over the past two decades, such centers and retreats run by non-Natives have spread across the state - and the country - sometimes with deadly results. In 2002, two people died after spending more than an hour in a sweat lodge in southern California run by the group the Shamanic Fellowship.
Traditional elders, activists and groups have written resolutions and held protests denouncing such services. Some have even forcibly shut down questionable practitioners by dissembling their sweat lodges.
Click here to read more: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415228
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