"It does not require many words to speak the truth." -
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Today in history...
1520: Hernán Cortés and his army have managed to escape from Tenochtitlán (modern Mexico City). Today near Otumba, they encounter an Aztec army. The Spanish manage to win the battle against a much larger army.
1539: The Francisco de Ulloa Expedition is designed to explore the coast of Baja California. This expedition proves California is not an island. Three ships, the Santa Agueda, the Trinidad, and the Santo , leave Acapulco, Mexico.
1539: The Francisco de Ulloa Expedition is designed to explore the coast of Baja California. This expedition proves California is not an island. Three ships, the Santa Agueda, the Trinidad, and the Santo , leave Acapulco, Mexico.
Do you know...
Native American Mary Youngblood, half Seminole and half Aleut, is the first woman to professionally record the Native American Flute, and the first woman to win not just one, but two Grammy Awards for "Best Native American Music Album".
About her second Grammy Award, Silver Wave Records said, "...Mary Youngblood has always had the talent to stand out above the crowd, and with this honor she stakes her claim as the number one star of Native American music."
Mary's fifth and latest album “Dance with the Wind” won the 2007 Grammy Award for “Best Native American Music Album”. In an interview after accepting her award, Mary told the media that "'Dance With the Wind' was created during the 2006 winter storms in Northern California. The storms brought extremely high winds; a tall oak lost a few good sized limbs and the maples took a thrashing. Having an incredible affinity to trees, Mary looked at them in her backyard, and thought it would be hard to be a tree right then. But as she watched them, she noticed how the trees were almost moving with purposeful rhythm, and with something that resembled... JOY. Mary related her own personal stormy times to the dancing trees and realized she could be like they were. She was not going to give in to the elements either; she was going to learn to be more like the trees ... and "Dance With the Wind".
Mary’s fourth album “Feed the Fire” was nominated for the 2005 Grammy “Best Native American Music Album”. Mary’s original melodies and lyrics spanned a variety of musical styles and instruments - her wood flutes, piano, alto flute and sweet vocals. Special guest appearances by Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull), Bill Miller, and Joanne Shenandoah, all contributed to Mary’s album full of energy, warmth and passion. The tribute song ‘Feed the Fire’ for her birth parents and dedicated to her birth mother will melt your heart.
Find out more here: http://www.maryyoungblood.com/biography.asp
About her second Grammy Award, Silver Wave Records said, "...Mary Youngblood has always had the talent to stand out above the crowd, and with this honor she stakes her claim as the number one star of Native American music."
Mary's fifth and latest album “Dance with the Wind” won the 2007 Grammy Award for “Best Native American Music Album”. In an interview after accepting her award, Mary told the media that "'Dance With the Wind' was created during the 2006 winter storms in Northern California. The storms brought extremely high winds; a tall oak lost a few good sized limbs and the maples took a thrashing. Having an incredible affinity to trees, Mary looked at them in her backyard, and thought it would be hard to be a tree right then. But as she watched them, she noticed how the trees were almost moving with purposeful rhythm, and with something that resembled... JOY. Mary related her own personal stormy times to the dancing trees and realized she could be like they were. She was not going to give in to the elements either; she was going to learn to be more like the trees ... and "Dance With the Wind".
Mary’s fourth album “Feed the Fire” was nominated for the 2005 Grammy “Best Native American Music Album”. Mary’s original melodies and lyrics spanned a variety of musical styles and instruments - her wood flutes, piano, alto flute and sweet vocals. Special guest appearances by Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull), Bill Miller, and Joanne Shenandoah, all contributed to Mary’s album full of energy, warmth and passion. The tribute song ‘Feed the Fire’ for her birth parents and dedicated to her birth mother will melt your heart.
Find out more here: http://www.maryyoungblood.com/biography.asp
Federal court upholds tribal court's jurisdiction
by: David Melmer
ST. LOUIS - The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a discrimination verdict in favor of tribal members and validated tribal court jurisdiction.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court and the tribal appeals court awarded a nearly $1 million judgment in favor of tribal members who claimed they were discriminated against by a commercial bank because they were tribal members.
Ronnie and Lila Long, owners of the Long Family Land and Cattle Company Inc., claimed the Plains Commerce Bank, formerly the Bank of Hoven, withdrew a promised loan to them based on the fact that they were tribal members. The Longs lost nearly 500 head of cattle in the harsh winter of 1996 - '97 because the loan was withdrawn by the bank.
The Longs filed the lawsuit in 2003 in tribal court and were awarded nearly $900,000 in damages, interest and costs. That verdict was upheld by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court of Appeals.
The bank then moved the case to federal court with the claim that the tribal courts had no jurisdiction over discrimination cases. The U.S. District Court affirmed the tribal court's jurisdiction and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that determination.
There's more here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415363
ST. LOUIS - The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a discrimination verdict in favor of tribal members and validated tribal court jurisdiction.
The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court and the tribal appeals court awarded a nearly $1 million judgment in favor of tribal members who claimed they were discriminated against by a commercial bank because they were tribal members.
Ronnie and Lila Long, owners of the Long Family Land and Cattle Company Inc., claimed the Plains Commerce Bank, formerly the Bank of Hoven, withdrew a promised loan to them based on the fact that they were tribal members. The Longs lost nearly 500 head of cattle in the harsh winter of 1996 - '97 because the loan was withdrawn by the bank.
The Longs filed the lawsuit in 2003 in tribal court and were awarded nearly $900,000 in damages, interest and costs. That verdict was upheld by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court of Appeals.
The bank then moved the case to federal court with the claim that the tribal courts had no jurisdiction over discrimination cases. The U.S. District Court affirmed the tribal court's jurisdiction and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that determination.
There's more here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415363
Pine Ridge farmer struggles to grow hemp
MANDERSON, S.D. (AP) - Alex White Plume hoped his extended family could make a good living growing hemp when he first planted seeds on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota, but years of fighting with federal drug officials have left him in financial trouble.
The White Plume family planted hemp for three years from 2000 through 2002, but they never harvested a crop. Federal agents conducted raids and cut down the plants each year because U.S. law considers hemp, a cousin of marijuana, to be a drug even though it contains only a trace of the drug in marijuana.
''We had all these plans of grandeur and independence, to lead the way with industrial hemp,'' White Plume said. ''None of it worked out.''
White Plume plans to sell much of his ranching operation this fall. He said he probably can keep his house and at least some of his buffalo that graze among the pine-dotted ridges that give the reservation its name. His horses, a truck with license plates reading ''HEMP'' and other equipment likely will be sold to pay off some of his debts.
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415365
The White Plume family planted hemp for three years from 2000 through 2002, but they never harvested a crop. Federal agents conducted raids and cut down the plants each year because U.S. law considers hemp, a cousin of marijuana, to be a drug even though it contains only a trace of the drug in marijuana.
''We had all these plans of grandeur and independence, to lead the way with industrial hemp,'' White Plume said. ''None of it worked out.''
White Plume plans to sell much of his ranching operation this fall. He said he probably can keep his house and at least some of his buffalo that graze among the pine-dotted ridges that give the reservation its name. His horses, a truck with license plates reading ''HEMP'' and other equipment likely will be sold to pay off some of his debts.
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415365
Narragansetts, Langevin meet over tribal rights
By Katie Mulvaney
CHARLESTOWN — Narragansett Indian leaders say they pressed U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin yesterday for congressional hearings on restoring their rights as a federally recognized Indian tribe.
“We would hope, certainly, that some of the entitlements that belonged to the tribe would be returned to the tribe,” said John Brown, the medicine man in training who serves on the Tribal Council.
Langevin met with Brown, Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and three tribal elders yesterday at the tribe’s Four Winds Community Center, on Route 2, Brown said. It was the start of a daylong tour of Charlestown that included stops at St. Mary-St. James Food Pantry and the Kettle Pond Visitor Center.
Of concern to Narragansett leaders are recent court rulings they say threaten their sovereignty. In particular, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year — in a decision the Supreme Court declined to review — that the state police had the authority to execute a search-and-seizure warrant on Narragansett land in Charlestown to stop the tribe from illegally selling tax-free cigarettes.
Brown charged yesterday that the decision was “politically based as opposed to legally based.”
Read more here: http://www.projo.com/news/content/LANGEVIN6_07-06-07_AC69D0B.34c4af2.html
CHARLESTOWN — Narragansett Indian leaders say they pressed U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin yesterday for congressional hearings on restoring their rights as a federally recognized Indian tribe.
“We would hope, certainly, that some of the entitlements that belonged to the tribe would be returned to the tribe,” said John Brown, the medicine man in training who serves on the Tribal Council.
Langevin met with Brown, Chief Sachem Matthew Thomas and three tribal elders yesterday at the tribe’s Four Winds Community Center, on Route 2, Brown said. It was the start of a daylong tour of Charlestown that included stops at St. Mary-St. James Food Pantry and the Kettle Pond Visitor Center.
Of concern to Narragansett leaders are recent court rulings they say threaten their sovereignty. In particular, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year — in a decision the Supreme Court declined to review — that the state police had the authority to execute a search-and-seizure warrant on Narragansett land in Charlestown to stop the tribe from illegally selling tax-free cigarettes.
Brown charged yesterday that the decision was “politically based as opposed to legally based.”
Read more here: http://www.projo.com/news/content/LANGEVIN6_07-06-07_AC69D0B.34c4af2.html
Turtle Island Productions
Turtle Island Productions was formed in 1995 by filmmaker and Director of Photography James M. Fortier.
TIP focuses on two distinct areas of production; broadcast and corporate video, as well as Native American productions.
The former includes cable and broadcast specials and news events, corporate teleconferences, sales and training videos, marketing and promotional videos; and video production for the web, DVDs, and video games.
The latter area of production includes dramatic, educational, and documentary videos focusing on Native American issues and stories.
James Fortier is an award winning Writer/Producer/Director working primarily in video, television and web site production.
Jim was the Associate Producer and Writer for the 5 -Time Emmy Award winning "Waasa-inaabidaa: We Look In All Directions," a six-hour national PBS documentary series focusing on the history of the Ojibway people of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The series also received the Best Documentary Feature Award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. He is also the producer for the companion web site at www.ojibwe.org.
Jim, who is Métis- Ojibway, also recently directed, co-wrote, and was the DP for the documentary "Alcatraz Is Not An Island," which received the Best Documentary Feature Award at the 1999 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, and was selected by the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2001.
Check out their website: http://www.turtle-island.com/ojibmovies.html
TIP focuses on two distinct areas of production; broadcast and corporate video, as well as Native American productions.
The former includes cable and broadcast specials and news events, corporate teleconferences, sales and training videos, marketing and promotional videos; and video production for the web, DVDs, and video games.
The latter area of production includes dramatic, educational, and documentary videos focusing on Native American issues and stories.
James Fortier is an award winning Writer/Producer/Director working primarily in video, television and web site production.
Jim was the Associate Producer and Writer for the 5 -Time Emmy Award winning "Waasa-inaabidaa: We Look In All Directions," a six-hour national PBS documentary series focusing on the history of the Ojibway people of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The series also received the Best Documentary Feature Award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. He is also the producer for the companion web site at www.ojibwe.org.
Jim, who is Métis- Ojibway, also recently directed, co-wrote, and was the DP for the documentary "Alcatraz Is Not An Island," which received the Best Documentary Feature Award at the 1999 American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco, and was selected by the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2001.
Check out their website: http://www.turtle-island.com/ojibmovies.html
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