What started at the turn of the century as an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S., has resulted in a whole month being designated for that purpose.
One of the very proponents of an American Indian Day was Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian, who was the director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. He persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the "First Americans" and for three years they adopted such a day. In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kans., formally approved a plan concerning American Indian Day. It directed its president, Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, to call upon the country to observe such a day. Coolidge issued a proclamation on Sept. 28, 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as an American Indian Day and contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.
The year before this proclamation was issued, Red Fox James, a Blackfoot Indian, rode horseback from state to state seeking approval for a day to honor Indians. On December 14, 1915, he presented the endorsements of 24 state governments at the White House. There is no record, however, of such a national day being proclaimed.
The first American Indian Day in a state was declared on the second Saturday in May 1916 by the governor of New York. Several states celebrate the fourth Friday in September. In Illinois, for example, legislators enacted such a day in 1919. Presently, several states have designated Columbus Day as Native American Day, but it continues to be a day we observe without any recognition as a national legal holiday.
In 1990 President George H. W. Bush approved a joint resolution designating November 1990 "National American Indian Heritage Month." Similar proclamations, under variants on the name (including "Native American Heritage Month" and "National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month") have been issued each year since 1994.
Themes for this year's heritage month are "Guiding Our Destiny with Heritage and Traditions" and "A Native Prescription: Balancing Mind, Body & Spirit."
Check out this website for more information: http://www.loc.gov/topics/nativeamericans/
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Seminole Tribe of Florida
Few non-Indians have witnessed a Green Corn Dance, a special spiritual event held at undisclosed South Florida locations each spring. Most Native Americans have a similar event within their cultures, stemming from traditional expressions of gratitude to the Creator for providing food.
At the Green Corn Dance, Seminoles participate in purification and manhood ceremonies. Tribal disputes are also settled during this time. Men and women separate into different "camps" according to their clans. In earlier times, the Green Corn Dance marked an important occassion when Seminoles from different camps and areas would get together.
The gathering will include hours and hours of "stomp dancing," the methodical, weaving, single file style of dancing traditional to Seminole Indians. Following behind a chanting medicine man or "leader," a string of male dancers will "answer" each exhortation, while women dancers quietly shuffle with them, shakers tied to their legs.
Several troupes of Seminole Stomp Dancers occasionally appear at public events, demonstrating the "fire ant," "crow," "catfish" and other Seminole social stomp dances.
To learn more about the Seminole click here: http://www.seminoletribe.com/index.shtml
At the Green Corn Dance, Seminoles participate in purification and manhood ceremonies. Tribal disputes are also settled during this time. Men and women separate into different "camps" according to their clans. In earlier times, the Green Corn Dance marked an important occassion when Seminoles from different camps and areas would get together.
The gathering will include hours and hours of "stomp dancing," the methodical, weaving, single file style of dancing traditional to Seminole Indians. Following behind a chanting medicine man or "leader," a string of male dancers will "answer" each exhortation, while women dancers quietly shuffle with them, shakers tied to their legs.
Several troupes of Seminole Stomp Dancers occasionally appear at public events, demonstrating the "fire ant," "crow," "catfish" and other Seminole social stomp dances.
To learn more about the Seminole click here: http://www.seminoletribe.com/index.shtml
Benefit concert to raise funds for Longest Walk II
SAN FRANCISCO - Dennis Banks, Floyd ''Red Crow'' Westerman, Kris Kristofferson and Peter Coyote will participate in a benefit concert, ''Music for Mother Earth,'' Nov. 3 at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium. The event will bring together American Indian leaders and high-profile celebrities with the aim to raise funds and awareness for the Longest Walk II: A Walk Across America for the Environment, to take place in 2008.
The Longest Walk II is a 4,400-mile journey that will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk, which took place in 1978, and work to bring attention to today's critical environmental issues.
The Longest Walk II will begin in San Francisco in February 2008 and end in Washington, D.C., in July 2008. The Longest Walk II is being led by American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks. That event successfully brought attention to 11 legislative bills introduced in the 95th U.S. Congress that would have abrogated treaties that protected remaining Native sovereignty. All 11 bills were defeated in Congress.
Similar to 1978, The Longest Walk II is a peaceful, spiritual effort to engage with the public about the disharmony of the environment by leading an effort to clean up communities. The Clean Up America campaign is a national effort taken up by Longest Walk participants to clean up our country's highways and roads by collecting debris found along the route. This monumental task will engage walkers in a global effort at a grass-roots level to promote harmony with the environment. Participants will carry specially marked trash bags to separate the collected refuse into trash bins and recycling bins. A rotating team of walkers will pick up trash along the way with trash pokers.
The walk is a grass-roots effort to recognize the success of the 1978 Longest Walk, which effectively halted legislation that might have had devastating effects on the tribes' sovereignty while cleaning up America mile by mile, village to village, state to state, shore to shore en route to Washington, D.C.
For information on The Longest Walk II, visit www.longestwalk.org. For more information about the concert, visit www.redhotpromotions.com.
The Longest Walk II is a 4,400-mile journey that will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the original Longest Walk, which took place in 1978, and work to bring attention to today's critical environmental issues.
The Longest Walk II will begin in San Francisco in February 2008 and end in Washington, D.C., in July 2008. The Longest Walk II is being led by American Indian Movement co-founder Dennis Banks. That event successfully brought attention to 11 legislative bills introduced in the 95th U.S. Congress that would have abrogated treaties that protected remaining Native sovereignty. All 11 bills were defeated in Congress.
Similar to 1978, The Longest Walk II is a peaceful, spiritual effort to engage with the public about the disharmony of the environment by leading an effort to clean up communities. The Clean Up America campaign is a national effort taken up by Longest Walk participants to clean up our country's highways and roads by collecting debris found along the route. This monumental task will engage walkers in a global effort at a grass-roots level to promote harmony with the environment. Participants will carry specially marked trash bags to separate the collected refuse into trash bins and recycling bins. A rotating team of walkers will pick up trash along the way with trash pokers.
The walk is a grass-roots effort to recognize the success of the 1978 Longest Walk, which effectively halted legislation that might have had devastating effects on the tribes' sovereignty while cleaning up America mile by mile, village to village, state to state, shore to shore en route to Washington, D.C.
For information on The Longest Walk II, visit www.longestwalk.org. For more information about the concert, visit www.redhotpromotions.com.
American Indians celebrate white buffalo's birthday
By Rebekah Sungala
FARMINGTON - For American Indians, the white buffalo represents unity. Kenahkihinen, whose name means "watch over us," was born at Woodland Zoo last year on Nov. 12.
In celebration of his first birthday, tribes from across the United States came together Sunday to pay reverence to the white buffalo. Kenahkihinen, joined by his mother and two other buffalos, came out of their shelter and trotted around the enclosure to the rhythmic beat of drums.
Approximately 200 people were in attendance for the celebration. Running Bear, a member of the Lakota tribe who lives at the zoo and helps care for the buffalo and other animals, said Kenahkihinen enjoys the attention.
"He was out dancing around to the beat," Running Bear said. According to Running Bear, the white buffalo is a sacred animal that represents unity and peace. Kenahkihinen has brought unity to people, Running Bear said, noting the different tribes -Lakota, Cherokee and Blackfoot - represented at Sunday's celebration.
Running Bear said at one point in time the tribes were warring and at odds with each other, but the birth of a white buffalo, throughout the centuries, has brought them together in peace. The belief of the sacred white buffalo comes from the American Indian legend of the White Buffalo Woman, a prophetess sent to her people by the Creator to teach them how to communicate with the deity through the prayer pipe.
Running Bear said the White Buffalo Woman appeared to two brothers, Sioux Indian scouts, who saw the beautiful woman walking in the distance. One of the brothers approached her, wanting to marry her, but was transformed into a pile of bones from which snakes evolved after being wrapped in the woman's cloak. Running Bear said the man died because he did not show respect to the woman.
The woman told the other brother, who behaved rightly, that he was to return to his tribe and tell his people she would return with a message from the buffalo nation. The Sioux were to prepare a lodge with a door facing to the east for her arrival, which they did, Running Bear said. When the White Buffalo Woman returned, she brought with her a prayer pipe and taught the people how to use it, teaching them how to respect and behave toward those things that are sacred.
Running Bear said that when the woman left, walking off in the same direction from which she came, she stopped and rolled over several times and a white buffalo calf appeared in the dust. American Indians still wait for the return of the White Buffalo Woman, Running Bear said, noting that a white buffalo is the most sacred living thing a person can encounter. Running Bear said several thousand people have visited the zoo and paid their respect to Kenahkihinen.
Sonny Herring, zoo owner, said the white buffalo is doing well and weighs between 700 and 800 pounds. He will be considered a mature adult at the age of 2, he said. The birth of a white buffalo occurs in about one in 10 million births. Herring said Kenahkihinen will continue to live in the same enclosure with his mother and another female buffalo, who recently gave birth. Despite the recent addition to the buffalo herd, Kenahkihinen continues to attract the most attention from zoo visitors.
Running Bear said people of all nationalities and religions are welcome at the zoo to observe, with respect, the white buffalo. "All people are welcome to come here, sit on Mother Earth and pray. To know peace," he said. "It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. The white buffalo brings unity."
FARMINGTON - For American Indians, the white buffalo represents unity. Kenahkihinen, whose name means "watch over us," was born at Woodland Zoo last year on Nov. 12.
In celebration of his first birthday, tribes from across the United States came together Sunday to pay reverence to the white buffalo. Kenahkihinen, joined by his mother and two other buffalos, came out of their shelter and trotted around the enclosure to the rhythmic beat of drums.
Approximately 200 people were in attendance for the celebration. Running Bear, a member of the Lakota tribe who lives at the zoo and helps care for the buffalo and other animals, said Kenahkihinen enjoys the attention.
"He was out dancing around to the beat," Running Bear said. According to Running Bear, the white buffalo is a sacred animal that represents unity and peace. Kenahkihinen has brought unity to people, Running Bear said, noting the different tribes -Lakota, Cherokee and Blackfoot - represented at Sunday's celebration.
Running Bear said at one point in time the tribes were warring and at odds with each other, but the birth of a white buffalo, throughout the centuries, has brought them together in peace. The belief of the sacred white buffalo comes from the American Indian legend of the White Buffalo Woman, a prophetess sent to her people by the Creator to teach them how to communicate with the deity through the prayer pipe.
Running Bear said the White Buffalo Woman appeared to two brothers, Sioux Indian scouts, who saw the beautiful woman walking in the distance. One of the brothers approached her, wanting to marry her, but was transformed into a pile of bones from which snakes evolved after being wrapped in the woman's cloak. Running Bear said the man died because he did not show respect to the woman.
The woman told the other brother, who behaved rightly, that he was to return to his tribe and tell his people she would return with a message from the buffalo nation. The Sioux were to prepare a lodge with a door facing to the east for her arrival, which they did, Running Bear said. When the White Buffalo Woman returned, she brought with her a prayer pipe and taught the people how to use it, teaching them how to respect and behave toward those things that are sacred.
Running Bear said that when the woman left, walking off in the same direction from which she came, she stopped and rolled over several times and a white buffalo calf appeared in the dust. American Indians still wait for the return of the White Buffalo Woman, Running Bear said, noting that a white buffalo is the most sacred living thing a person can encounter. Running Bear said several thousand people have visited the zoo and paid their respect to Kenahkihinen.
Sonny Herring, zoo owner, said the white buffalo is doing well and weighs between 700 and 800 pounds. He will be considered a mature adult at the age of 2, he said. The birth of a white buffalo occurs in about one in 10 million births. Herring said Kenahkihinen will continue to live in the same enclosure with his mother and another female buffalo, who recently gave birth. Despite the recent addition to the buffalo herd, Kenahkihinen continues to attract the most attention from zoo visitors.
Running Bear said people of all nationalities and religions are welcome at the zoo to observe, with respect, the white buffalo. "All people are welcome to come here, sit on Mother Earth and pray. To know peace," he said. "It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. The white buffalo brings unity."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
