By: Julia Ferrante, The Tampa Tribune
ODESSA - In the wild, the great horned owl and red-tailed hawk are known to compete for prey, most of the time keeping their distance from one another.
In a display at a powwow this weekend at the Starkey Ranch, the owl and the hawk shared a perch and a water dish, hardly seeming to notice they were supposed to be, more or less, enemies.
'They called a truce,' Deborah Larsen of the Sebring-based Wrede's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center said of the owl, snatched from its nest as a baby, and the hawk, unable to hunt because of an injury.
'I wish the world would take a lesson from nature.'
Larsen's group was among a couple of dozen vendors at the Spirit People Intertribal Family's September powwow, billed as a teaching and learning event. The nonprofit organization of about 45 people celebrates with music, dance, food, storytelling and educational displays three times a year, with proceeds going to the ranch owners, who allow the group to use their property for monthly meetings and other events.
Members of the Spirit People come from many different tribes, although American Indian heritage is not a requirement. Those who join simply must 'come in a good way' and promise not to indulge in drugs or alcohol, Chief Rob 'Buffalo Eagle' Lambert said. The Spirit People, part of the education program at the Starkey Ranch, also visit schools and hospitals. Although members celebrate their ancestry, they do not exclude others who want to participate in their traditions.
'It is a community event,' Lambert said. 'The dances are intertribal. We want people to feel free to come and dance and follow along even if they don't know the dances. To be a good student, you have to participate.'
Vendors at this weekend's powwow, which Lambert said drew a few thousand people between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening, sold dream catchers, walking sticks, buffalo burgers and kettle corn and gave demonstrations on woodcarving and arrow-making.
Falon Kitsmiller of Odessa, her 3-year-old daughter Gabby and other family members came to the powwow Sunday to learn more about American Indian culture.
'Her dad has some Indian in his family,' Kitsmiller said of her daughter.
Paula Hayducky was searching for pottery, dolls and other decorations for her home in Hudson.
'I usually check out some of the powwows,' she said. 'This one is smaller than we've been to, but it's nice.'
Monday, September 24, 2007
Native American $1 Coin Act signed into law
The Native American $1 Coin Act was signed into law by President Bush last Thursday.
The bill authorizes a new back for the Sacagawea dollar coin to honor Native Americans and their contributions to the United States. The front will still feature an image of the young Shoshone woman who helped Lewis and Clark on their journey to the West.
The designs for the back will be approved by the Department of Treasury in consultation with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the House Congressional Native American Caucus, the National Congress of American Indians, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
“I was honored to introduce this bill. I can think of no better way to pay tribute to the Native American people than to cast in gold their contribution to the development of this nation and its history,” said Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Michigan). “The coin will preserve the memory of Sacagawea and guide Americans through the journey and experiences of Native Americans."
The bill authorizes a new back for the Sacagawea dollar coin to honor Native Americans and their contributions to the United States. The front will still feature an image of the young Shoshone woman who helped Lewis and Clark on their journey to the West.
The designs for the back will be approved by the Department of Treasury in consultation with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the House Congressional Native American Caucus, the National Congress of American Indians, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
“I was honored to introduce this bill. I can think of no better way to pay tribute to the Native American people than to cast in gold their contribution to the development of this nation and its history,” said Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Michigan). “The coin will preserve the memory of Sacagawea and guide Americans through the journey and experiences of Native Americans."
Mann: AISES: Powerful medicine for the spirit and education
By: Henrietta Mann
American Indians are this country's first scientists, a fact that is often overlooked by contemporary America in general and the scientific community in particular. As indigenous peoples walked through history on their respective cultural roads of life, they formulated sophisticated bodies of traditional knowledge, some points of which converge with mainstream science. They were intimately familiar with their environment and knew where they stood in the universe. In indigenous thought, life is viewed holistically and for them science is but a strand that is interwoven into a vast, delicately balanced ecological system in which everyone and everything is connected and interdependent. For them, science did not stand separate from life.
Recognizing the paucity of American Indians in the fields of science and engineering, a small group of scientists, engineers and educators in the late 1970s began to address the issue of under-representation of American Indians in higher education and in the science and engineering fields with a focus upon improving graduation rates. If more American Indian students were to be recruited into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, strong support systems had to be created and implemented. With incredible foresight and drawing upon the experience and strength of the past, they sought to bridge intellectual aptitude and contemporary education, while simultaneously instituting culture-based support structures and networks that would lead to graduation and on to successful professional careers. Thus, the group organized the American Indian Science and Engineering Society to meet the academic goals and needs that were vital to students studying in the STEM fields.
There's more here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415757
American Indians are this country's first scientists, a fact that is often overlooked by contemporary America in general and the scientific community in particular. As indigenous peoples walked through history on their respective cultural roads of life, they formulated sophisticated bodies of traditional knowledge, some points of which converge with mainstream science. They were intimately familiar with their environment and knew where they stood in the universe. In indigenous thought, life is viewed holistically and for them science is but a strand that is interwoven into a vast, delicately balanced ecological system in which everyone and everything is connected and interdependent. For them, science did not stand separate from life.
Recognizing the paucity of American Indians in the fields of science and engineering, a small group of scientists, engineers and educators in the late 1970s began to address the issue of under-representation of American Indians in higher education and in the science and engineering fields with a focus upon improving graduation rates. If more American Indian students were to be recruited into the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, strong support systems had to be created and implemented. With incredible foresight and drawing upon the experience and strength of the past, they sought to bridge intellectual aptitude and contemporary education, while simultaneously instituting culture-based support structures and networks that would lead to graduation and on to successful professional careers. Thus, the group organized the American Indian Science and Engineering Society to meet the academic goals and needs that were vital to students studying in the STEM fields.
There's more here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415757
Passamaquoddy suit to stop gas terminal finds new life
By: Gale Courey Toensing
BOSTON - A federal appeals court has ruled that a group of Passamaquoddy Indians can move forward with a lawsuit they hope will stop a liquefied natural gas terminal development on tribal land.
The three-judge panel's ruling Sept. 14 reversed a federal district court judge's decision last November that the group, Nulankeyutmonen Nkihtaqmikon (''We Protect Our Homeland''), lacked legal standing to sue the BIA for approving in 2005 a land lease between the tribe and Quoddy Bay LLC, an Oklahoma developer seeking to construct an LNG terminal on a three-quarter-acre parcel of tribal land at Split Rock.
Additionally, the appeals panel ruled that the group's claims were ripe for review even though the LNG terminal has not been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The decision was written by 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Juan R. Torruella.
In May 2005, the tribal government and Quoddy Bay LLC formalized a 50-year land lease agreement that included four distinct phases: permitting, construction, operations, and removal and remediation. The lease was sent off to the BIA May 19, 2005, for review, in accordance with the Indian Long Term Leasing Act of 1955.
The BIA approved the lease on June 1, 2005, ''solely for the site investigation required for the FERC permitting process in the development of an Environmental Impact Statement,'' according to the court document. The BIA said that the site investigation did not require an EIS before the lease was approved, and that continuing the lease would be contingent on FERC approval.
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415786
BOSTON - A federal appeals court has ruled that a group of Passamaquoddy Indians can move forward with a lawsuit they hope will stop a liquefied natural gas terminal development on tribal land.
The three-judge panel's ruling Sept. 14 reversed a federal district court judge's decision last November that the group, Nulankeyutmonen Nkihtaqmikon (''We Protect Our Homeland''), lacked legal standing to sue the BIA for approving in 2005 a land lease between the tribe and Quoddy Bay LLC, an Oklahoma developer seeking to construct an LNG terminal on a three-quarter-acre parcel of tribal land at Split Rock.
Additionally, the appeals panel ruled that the group's claims were ripe for review even though the LNG terminal has not been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The decision was written by 1st Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Juan R. Torruella.
In May 2005, the tribal government and Quoddy Bay LLC formalized a 50-year land lease agreement that included four distinct phases: permitting, construction, operations, and removal and remediation. The lease was sent off to the BIA May 19, 2005, for review, in accordance with the Indian Long Term Leasing Act of 1955.
The BIA approved the lease on June 1, 2005, ''solely for the site investigation required for the FERC permitting process in the development of an Environmental Impact Statement,'' according to the court document. The BIA said that the site investigation did not require an EIS before the lease was approved, and that continuing the lease would be contingent on FERC approval.
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096415786
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