Ojibway legend...
Many, many years ago when the world was new, there was a beautiful river. Fish in great numbers lived in this river, and its water was so pure and sweet that all the animals came there to drink.
A giant moose heard about the river and he too came there to drink. But he was so big, and he drank so much, that soon the water began to sink lower and lower.
The beavers were worried. The water around their lodges was disappearing. Soon their homes would be destroyed.
The muskrats were worried, too. What would they do if the water vanished? How could they live?
The fish were very worried. The other animals could live on land if the water dried up, but they couldn't.
All the animals tried to think of a way to drive the moose from the river, but he was so big that they were too afraid to try. Even the bear was afraid of him.
At last the fly said he would try to drive the moose away. All the animals laughed and jeered. How could a tiny fly frighten a giant moose? The fly said nothing, but that day, as soon as the moose appeared, he went into action.
He landed on the moose's foreleg and bit sharply. The moose stamped his foot harder, and each time he stamped, the ground sank and the water rushed in to fill it up. Then the fly jumped about all over the moose, biting and biting and biting until the moose was in a frenzy. He dashed madly about the banks of the river, shaking his head, stamping his feet, snorting and blowing, but he couldn't get rid of that pesky fly. At last the moose fled from the river, and didn't come back.
The fly was very proud of his achievement, and boasted to the other animals, "Even the small can fight the strong if they use their brains to think."
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Do you know...
Paula Gunn Allen was the daughter of a Lebanese-American father and a Pueblo-Sioux-Scots mother. She was raised near Laguna and Acoma Pueblo reservations and was influenced by the matriarchal Pueblo culture. She received both her BA in English and her MFA in creative writing from the University of Oregon, and a doctorate in American studies, with a concentration in Native American literature, from the University of New Mexico.
In 1978 she received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and in 1980, a fellowship to study Indian women's writings. Her 1983 novel, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, reflected her own upbringing. Her collections of poetry include Coyote's Daylight Trip (1978), Shadow Country (1982), and Life is a Fatal Disease (1996). Studies in American Indian Literature: Critical Essays and Course Designs (1983) is considered a landmark text in Native American literary criticism. The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions (1986) explores the importance of women in traditional Indian culture. Along with Patricia Clark Smith, Allen wrote As Long as the Rivers Flow: The Stories of Nine Native Americans (1996) for younger readers. Her latest work is Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2003), a new look at Pocahontas through the eyes of a Native American woman.
She has taught at Fort Lewis College, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, the University of New Mexico, and retired in 1999 from the University of California at Los Angeles.
She is also listed in 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History.
In 1978 she received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and in 1980, a fellowship to study Indian women's writings. Her 1983 novel, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, reflected her own upbringing. Her collections of poetry include Coyote's Daylight Trip (1978), Shadow Country (1982), and Life is a Fatal Disease (1996). Studies in American Indian Literature: Critical Essays and Course Designs (1983) is considered a landmark text in Native American literary criticism. The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions (1986) explores the importance of women in traditional Indian culture. Along with Patricia Clark Smith, Allen wrote As Long as the Rivers Flow: The Stories of Nine Native Americans (1996) for younger readers. Her latest work is Pocahontas: Medicine Woman, Spy, Entrepreneur, Diplomat (2003), a new look at Pocahontas through the eyes of a Native American woman.
She has taught at Fort Lewis College, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University, the University of New Mexico, and retired in 1999 from the University of California at Los Angeles.
She is also listed in 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History.
Native American Artifacts
Disclaimer: Spirit People Intertribal does not in any way advocate or support the sale of or collection of North American Indian Artifacts. The following is for informational purposes only. This piece was found on this website: http://www.native-languages.org/composition/native-american.html
With a long history that dates back long before the first European settlers arrived on North American soil in the 1400 and 1500s, Native Americans left many Native American Artifacts scattered among the far-reaching plains and untamed wilderness that was their homeland for thousands, upon thousands of years.
As the Native American populations were dispersed throughout the country, their artifacts were often left behind or taken and passed down through generations to ensure the history of their culture and the traditions and history of their tribe was not lost.
Native American artifacts have become collectors items for their beauty and significance in the grander history of North America, allowing archeologists and anthropologist or even the average collector a peek into the life, culture, traditions and societies of Native Americans through the Native American Artifacts left behind.
Beautiful clay and earthen pottery pieces, clothing, including moccasins, headdresses and leather works, knives, tomahawks, bows and arrow heads, paintings, sand paintings, pipes, drums and more all comprise the list of Native American artifacts.
Collectors of Native American artifacts have combed through their ancient lands and former homelands searching for pieces that provide cultural clues to the Native American tribes. While many Native American artifacts share similar characteristics, several rules and norms and spiritual ceremonies differed from among the hundreds of tribes scattered around the United States and Canada, allowing for a large and diverse collection of Native American artifacts.
Ensure The Authenticity Of Native American Artifacts!
While collectors and retailers abound offering different Native American artifacts, you must ensure that any piece you may consider purchasing be unique and legitimate. By and large, Native American artifacts collectors have verified their authenticity of their pieces prior to offering them up for sale, and several Native Americans themselves have collected numerous pieces throughout the years or have kept them within their families for generations.
With a long history that dates back long before the first European settlers arrived on North American soil in the 1400 and 1500s, Native Americans left many Native American Artifacts scattered among the far-reaching plains and untamed wilderness that was their homeland for thousands, upon thousands of years.
As the Native American populations were dispersed throughout the country, their artifacts were often left behind or taken and passed down through generations to ensure the history of their culture and the traditions and history of their tribe was not lost.
Native American artifacts have become collectors items for their beauty and significance in the grander history of North America, allowing archeologists and anthropologist or even the average collector a peek into the life, culture, traditions and societies of Native Americans through the Native American Artifacts left behind.
Beautiful clay and earthen pottery pieces, clothing, including moccasins, headdresses and leather works, knives, tomahawks, bows and arrow heads, paintings, sand paintings, pipes, drums and more all comprise the list of Native American artifacts.
Collectors of Native American artifacts have combed through their ancient lands and former homelands searching for pieces that provide cultural clues to the Native American tribes. While many Native American artifacts share similar characteristics, several rules and norms and spiritual ceremonies differed from among the hundreds of tribes scattered around the United States and Canada, allowing for a large and diverse collection of Native American artifacts.
Ensure The Authenticity Of Native American Artifacts!
While collectors and retailers abound offering different Native American artifacts, you must ensure that any piece you may consider purchasing be unique and legitimate. By and large, Native American artifacts collectors have verified their authenticity of their pieces prior to offering them up for sale, and several Native Americans themselves have collected numerous pieces throughout the years or have kept them within their families for generations.
Sioux logo T-shirt stirs controversy
By: Ryan Schuster
A T-shirt produced by a North Dakota business attempting to poke fun at the UND Fighting Sioux logo controversy has inflamed tensions on an already sensitive issue.
The shirt, which Jamestown, N.D.-based Originals Inc. began printing about a week ago, includes the words: "No Sioux Logo No Sioux Casinos!" It also features UND's Indian head logo with the words: "Hostile and Abusive," and plots out the location of three casinos in North Dakota and South Dakota, which it describes as "Destructive and Addictive."
"This is not a sentiment we are promoting, fostering or supporting in any way, shape or form," said UND spokesman Peter Johnson. "We just don't think there is any place for this type of thing in the dialogue we would like to have. It is not what the University of North Dakota is about."
UND has agreed to discontinue use of the Fighting Sioux name and its Indian logo within three years if it is unsuccessful in winning tribal support. The NCAA at one point alleged that UND's use of the nickname and logo created a "hostile" and "abusive" environment for American Indian students.
Read more here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=59492&freebie_check&CFID=72277656&CFTOKEN=37007498&jsessionid=8830a1560cb3c514a2a5
A T-shirt produced by a North Dakota business attempting to poke fun at the UND Fighting Sioux logo controversy has inflamed tensions on an already sensitive issue.
The shirt, which Jamestown, N.D.-based Originals Inc. began printing about a week ago, includes the words: "No Sioux Logo No Sioux Casinos!" It also features UND's Indian head logo with the words: "Hostile and Abusive," and plots out the location of three casinos in North Dakota and South Dakota, which it describes as "Destructive and Addictive."
"This is not a sentiment we are promoting, fostering or supporting in any way, shape or form," said UND spokesman Peter Johnson. "We just don't think there is any place for this type of thing in the dialogue we would like to have. It is not what the University of North Dakota is about."
UND has agreed to discontinue use of the Fighting Sioux name and its Indian logo within three years if it is unsuccessful in winning tribal support. The NCAA at one point alleged that UND's use of the nickname and logo created a "hostile" and "abusive" environment for American Indian students.
Read more here: http://www.grandforksherald.com/articles/index.cfm?id=59492&freebie_check&CFID=72277656&CFTOKEN=37007498&jsessionid=8830a1560cb3c514a2a5
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