"A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers, but when I go up to the river I see camps of soldiers on its banks. These soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo and when I see that, my heart feels like bursting." -
Santana - Kiowa
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Today in history...
1542: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo will leave Mexico today to go up the Pacific coast in exploration. Cabrillo will be the first European to land in San Siego Bay, California. He will go as far north as the Rogue River, in California.
1879: The Drifting Goose Reserve will be created out of townsites number 119, 120, and 121 north, of range 63 west in the Dakota Territory today. It is created for the "MAG-A-BO-DAS or DRIFTING GOOSE Band of the YANKTONAIS SIOUX Indians."
1879: The Drifting Goose Reserve will be created out of townsites number 119, 120, and 121 north, of range 63 west in the Dakota Territory today. It is created for the "MAG-A-BO-DAS or DRIFTING GOOSE Band of the YANKTONAIS SIOUX Indians."
Remembering Sunshine, murdered Lakota woman special spirit
By Brenda Norrell
At the end of a scorching day, with a gentle breeze at sunset, the people of Tucson came from every walk of life to a downtown park to honor a special soul that touched the lives of so many in her life and death.
Lillian Ruth Wright, known as Sunshine, was Lakota Sioux from Rosebud, South Dakota. Wright, 69, was found on the morning of June 12, lying in a pool of blood beneath the stars where she chose to sleep in downtown Tucson.
Rosebud Sioux tribal member Connie Laven and Sunshine's sister Sylvia Konop remembered Sunshine and thanked those who came to El Presidio Park to honor her.
Laven asked the crowd to imagine an Indian boarding school, with people carrying wajapi and fry bread, with beautiful star quilts and speaking words of respect. She asked those gathered to imagine Sunshine's friends shaking hands with the family and crying as they vowed never to forget her.
"We bury our dead very well," Laven said.
Attorney Robert Lundquist, who allowed Sunshine to sleep outside his law office and use the electricity and water hose, also welcomed her as a housesitter in his home during summers. Tearfully, Lundquist remembered this Lakota soul who gave him so much.
Bearing a basket of organic vegetables from his garden as an offering for those who came and were in need of food, Lundquist spoke of the gifts that Sunshine gave him."She was a gift to humanity, as we all can be," Lundquist told the crowd of several hundred friends, attorneys, community members and people who make their homes on the streets of Tucson.
Click here to read more: http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8827
At the end of a scorching day, with a gentle breeze at sunset, the people of Tucson came from every walk of life to a downtown park to honor a special soul that touched the lives of so many in her life and death.
Lillian Ruth Wright, known as Sunshine, was Lakota Sioux from Rosebud, South Dakota. Wright, 69, was found on the morning of June 12, lying in a pool of blood beneath the stars where she chose to sleep in downtown Tucson.
Rosebud Sioux tribal member Connie Laven and Sunshine's sister Sylvia Konop remembered Sunshine and thanked those who came to El Presidio Park to honor her.
Laven asked the crowd to imagine an Indian boarding school, with people carrying wajapi and fry bread, with beautiful star quilts and speaking words of respect. She asked those gathered to imagine Sunshine's friends shaking hands with the family and crying as they vowed never to forget her.
"We bury our dead very well," Laven said.
Attorney Robert Lundquist, who allowed Sunshine to sleep outside his law office and use the electricity and water hose, also welcomed her as a housesitter in his home during summers. Tearfully, Lundquist remembered this Lakota soul who gave him so much.
Bearing a basket of organic vegetables from his garden as an offering for those who came and were in need of food, Lundquist spoke of the gifts that Sunshine gave him."She was a gift to humanity, as we all can be," Lundquist told the crowd of several hundred friends, attorneys, community members and people who make their homes on the streets of Tucson.
Click here to read more: http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8827
Ancestry.com Launches 150 Years of Native American Family History, Online for the First Time
PROVO, Utah, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Ancestry.com, the world's leading online family history resource, today launched more than 7.5 million names in U.S. Indian Censuses, the largest online collection of Native American family history records. Taken by the Bureau of Indian affairs, the censuses document some 150 years of Native American family history. These censuses create an intimate portrait of individuals living on all registered Indian reservations between 1885 and the 1940s.
The U.S. Indian Censuses are among the most important documents for tracing Native American family history -- as well as the place to for anyone with Native American ancestry to begin searching for their heritage. Representing more than 250 tribes from some 275 reservations, schools and hospitals across the United States, the censuses typically recorded names, including Indian names, ages, birthdates, tribe, reservation and more.
Details of children born in the 1940s combined with information about individuals born in the early 1800s enable researchers to find parents and grandparents as children in 20th century censuses and trace their family to earlier generations. Clues in the census show where ancestors lived and how families changed over the years.
"The stories contained in these censuses will help Native Americans preserve their tradition-rich personal and cultural identity," says Megan Smolenyak, chief family historian for Ancestry.com. "Crossing tribal and reservation boundaries, these censuses tell personal stories of Native Americans living on reservations across the United States. In them we find influential Native Americans who led their people along side those whose stories are still waiting to be told."
Among the well-known names in the Native American censuses include: -- Celebrated Iwo Jima flag raiser Ira Hayes was counted on Arizona's Gila River reservation in censuses from 1930 to 1936. -- Legendary Jim Thorpe appears 15 times in the censuses -- first as a three-year-old named Jimmie living in Indian Territory, finally as a 50 year old in 1937. The census also tells countless personal stories, such as: -- Jesse Cornplanter of New York's Cattaraugus reservation appears in 16 censuses -- first as a child with his parents, then as a father with a wife and child -- Gabe Gobin, a logger on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington, who appears in 33 years of censuses. -- Seminole Mary Parker appears as a young teenage in three censuses taken in the 1930s.
Because the Native American censuses were taken so often, they are among the best censuses worldwide for tracing family history. The U.S. federal census is taken only once every ten years. In addition, because Native Americans were not granted full U.S. citizenship until 1924, the U.S. federal censuses before 1930 are sporadic at best for counting Native Americans. The yearly counts and updates reflected in the Indian censuses offer Native American family historians a more complete and accurate picture of their ancestors than the federal census.
The U.S. Indian Censuses are among the most important documents for tracing Native American family history -- as well as the place to for anyone with Native American ancestry to begin searching for their heritage. Representing more than 250 tribes from some 275 reservations, schools and hospitals across the United States, the censuses typically recorded names, including Indian names, ages, birthdates, tribe, reservation and more.
Details of children born in the 1940s combined with information about individuals born in the early 1800s enable researchers to find parents and grandparents as children in 20th century censuses and trace their family to earlier generations. Clues in the census show where ancestors lived and how families changed over the years.
"The stories contained in these censuses will help Native Americans preserve their tradition-rich personal and cultural identity," says Megan Smolenyak, chief family historian for Ancestry.com. "Crossing tribal and reservation boundaries, these censuses tell personal stories of Native Americans living on reservations across the United States. In them we find influential Native Americans who led their people along side those whose stories are still waiting to be told."
Among the well-known names in the Native American censuses include: -- Celebrated Iwo Jima flag raiser Ira Hayes was counted on Arizona's Gila River reservation in censuses from 1930 to 1936. -- Legendary Jim Thorpe appears 15 times in the censuses -- first as a three-year-old named Jimmie living in Indian Territory, finally as a 50 year old in 1937. The census also tells countless personal stories, such as: -- Jesse Cornplanter of New York's Cattaraugus reservation appears in 16 censuses -- first as a child with his parents, then as a father with a wife and child -- Gabe Gobin, a logger on the Tulalip Reservation in Washington, who appears in 33 years of censuses. -- Seminole Mary Parker appears as a young teenage in three censuses taken in the 1930s.
Because the Native American censuses were taken so often, they are among the best censuses worldwide for tracing family history. The U.S. federal census is taken only once every ten years. In addition, because Native Americans were not granted full U.S. citizenship until 1924, the U.S. federal censuses before 1930 are sporadic at best for counting Native Americans. The yearly counts and updates reflected in the Indian censuses offer Native American family historians a more complete and accurate picture of their ancestors than the federal census.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Neither Wolf Nor Dog
On Forgotten Roads With An Indian Elder
Book review:
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Kent Nerburn (The Wisdom of the Native Americans) has been deeply involved in Native American issues and education. In this extraordinary work (which won the 1996 Minnesota Book Award), Nerburn has fashioned a powerful drama around his encounters with Dan, a Lakota elder who unflinchingly speaks the truth about Indian life, past and present.
Like a Zen Master, Dan refuses to whitewash the historical clash between whites and his people. Nerburn comes with certain expectations and idealism that is shattered by Dan's refusal to be written off as just another Native American wise man. The author becomes the brunt of many jokes as he travels down dusty roads, sees reservation life, and is exposed to his own prejudices. This teaching strategy of Dan reminds us of the tricksters in Zen and Sufism who are always trying to take us beyond conventional thinking and dogmatism.
Nerburn gets the point and learns some hard truths about himself and his assumptions about Indians. He respects the diversity of Native American experiences and the differences between tribes. Nerburn stays far away from the clichéd images of the drunken Indian, the vicious savage, the noble wise man and the silent earth-mother. And he acknowledges the harm done by whites who exploit Indian themes or rituals as well as those who fall under the "Cherokee Grandmother" syndrome (claiming a Native American in their family tree and in a flash being able to be one with these people). This smacks of a pernicious kind of spiritual arrogance where whites try to appropriate for themselves the customs and rituals of other cultures and religions.
In one of the most crucial passages in the book, Dan explains to Nerburn why for centuries his people have been unable to see eye to eye with the rest of Americans. Dan explains that for the American white person, the most important thing is freedom. But for an American Indian, the most important thing is honor.
Click here to read more: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=10149
Book review:
By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Kent Nerburn (The Wisdom of the Native Americans) has been deeply involved in Native American issues and education. In this extraordinary work (which won the 1996 Minnesota Book Award), Nerburn has fashioned a powerful drama around his encounters with Dan, a Lakota elder who unflinchingly speaks the truth about Indian life, past and present.
Like a Zen Master, Dan refuses to whitewash the historical clash between whites and his people. Nerburn comes with certain expectations and idealism that is shattered by Dan's refusal to be written off as just another Native American wise man. The author becomes the brunt of many jokes as he travels down dusty roads, sees reservation life, and is exposed to his own prejudices. This teaching strategy of Dan reminds us of the tricksters in Zen and Sufism who are always trying to take us beyond conventional thinking and dogmatism.
Nerburn gets the point and learns some hard truths about himself and his assumptions about Indians. He respects the diversity of Native American experiences and the differences between tribes. Nerburn stays far away from the clichéd images of the drunken Indian, the vicious savage, the noble wise man and the silent earth-mother. And he acknowledges the harm done by whites who exploit Indian themes or rituals as well as those who fall under the "Cherokee Grandmother" syndrome (claiming a Native American in their family tree and in a flash being able to be one with these people). This smacks of a pernicious kind of spiritual arrogance where whites try to appropriate for themselves the customs and rituals of other cultures and religions.
In one of the most crucial passages in the book, Dan explains to Nerburn why for centuries his people have been unable to see eye to eye with the rest of Americans. Dan explains that for the American white person, the most important thing is freedom. But for an American Indian, the most important thing is honor.
Click here to read more: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/books.php?id=10149
The Cherokee Ball Game
By Lowell Kirk
When the long, hot days of dry, dusty summer begin to give way to the cool, crisp, colorful days of autumn, “Footballmania” sweeps through the American landscape like a wildfire rushing up a mountainside.
All across the United States, excitement for the game consumes Little League moms and pops. Friday nights are filled with local civic pride for high school games. Saturdays bring us festivities, ceremonies and tail-gate parties on college campuses. On Sundays millions of Americans focus on professional teams and many continue the “mania” with Monday Night Football. Millions of us have an obsession for the “ball game.” It is as American as apple pie and motherhood.
However, many centuries before the hoards of European invaders came flooding to America upon the heels of Christopher Columbus, for the original Americans, the ball game was as American as cornbread, beans, pumpkins and pristine rivers. The Cherokee, and all other Native American tribes, were just as obsessed with the ballgame as any present day weekend warrior. The Cherokee name for the ball game was “anetsa.” It meant, “little brother of war.” Much of the village pride depended upon winning ball games with rivals. Great players were sought after in much the same manner as Peyton Manning and many concessions were made by villages to obtain them. And the Indian ball game was a far more dangerous game than football. The entire village turned out for a ball game. Large wagers were made. The Cherokee once won an entire Creek village in Georgia by winning a ball game.
Want to know more? Click here:
When the long, hot days of dry, dusty summer begin to give way to the cool, crisp, colorful days of autumn, “Footballmania” sweeps through the American landscape like a wildfire rushing up a mountainside.
All across the United States, excitement for the game consumes Little League moms and pops. Friday nights are filled with local civic pride for high school games. Saturdays bring us festivities, ceremonies and tail-gate parties on college campuses. On Sundays millions of Americans focus on professional teams and many continue the “mania” with Monday Night Football. Millions of us have an obsession for the “ball game.” It is as American as apple pie and motherhood.
However, many centuries before the hoards of European invaders came flooding to America upon the heels of Christopher Columbus, for the original Americans, the ball game was as American as cornbread, beans, pumpkins and pristine rivers. The Cherokee, and all other Native American tribes, were just as obsessed with the ballgame as any present day weekend warrior. The Cherokee name for the ball game was “anetsa.” It meant, “little brother of war.” Much of the village pride depended upon winning ball games with rivals. Great players were sought after in much the same manner as Peyton Manning and many concessions were made by villages to obtain them. And the Indian ball game was a far more dangerous game than football. The entire village turned out for a ball game. Large wagers were made. The Cherokee once won an entire Creek village in Georgia by winning a ball game.
Want to know more? Click here:
Do you know...
The Catawba – River People – were located along the North/South Carolina border. This was the boundary that separated them from the neighbours, the Cherokee. The Catawba referred to themselves by the name of Iyeye meaning ‘people.’ Prior to the coming of the white man, the Catawba numbered as many as ten thousand people. From first contact with the British in the mid 1600’s, however, the tribe was hit by disease. Warfare and the introduction of the demon drink also took their toll. A smallpox epidemic in 1738 wiped out nearly half of the Catawba people. Twenty years later a second epidemic further decimated these people. By the 1820’s they were down to only about a hundred people. That number has grown until now there are about 2,600 Catawba who live in and around Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The Catawba speak a variation of the Siouan language. However, the language of the Catawba is so different from other Siouan languages that it wasn’t recognised as belonging to that family until the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The Catawba were originally two tribes – the Catawba and the Iswa. Prior to the 1700’s the Tribes lived in small scattered villages. Around 1760 the Catawba absorbed the Iswa and the people began to live together in larger villages. By the 1780’s there were two main Catawba settlements, Newton and Turkey Head, both of which lay along the Catawba River.
The Catawba lived in bark covered long houses. Religion was a prominent part of their lives. Large temples structures were prominent parts of their villages. The Catawba were farmers, with maize being the main crop. They were also hunters and fishers as well as fierce warriors. Their traditional enemies were the Cherokee, Shawnee, Delaware and the Iroquois. The Catawba warrior presented a fearsome sight. Their faces would be painted for war, with a black circle pattern around one eye, a white circle around the other and the rest of the face painted black. Their hair style was in pony tail style. The Catawba also practiced the custom of flattening the foreheads of their infant males, which added to the fearsome appearance of their warriors.
The Catawba soon allied themselves to the interests of the English colonists of the mid 1600s. From the British the Catawbas got a hold of guns with which they could take on the many invading tribes. The Iroquois were the greatest enemies of the Catawba and warfare between them continued for over a hundred years after the Catawba allied with the British. The problem for the English was that they were also allied with the Iroquois, which put them in a very delicate situation. In 1706 the British brokered a peace between the Catawba and the Iroquois. This was to prove only temporary, however. After fifty more years of bitter rivalry peace was again established between the two tribes in 1759. The Shawnee, however, still loomed as a major threat to the Catawba people. The Catawba also fought against other native tribes and, of course, the Americans for the British. During the French – Indian War of 1755-63 the British employed the Catawba as scouts against the French. This association with the British inevitably led to the adoption of many European ways and the loss of some aspects of their own culture.
In 1760 the treaty of Pine Hill established a fifteen square mile reservation along the Catawba River. Almost immediately, however, this small apportionment of land suffered white encroachment. Although the Government of South Carolina agreed to evict all white settlers within the Reservation territory, nothing was done to enforce these promises. By 1826 nearly all of the reservation area was gone. 110 Catawba were crammed into an area just one square mile in size.
In 1840 the Catawba sold their land to the State of South Carolina. They tried to relocate in North Carolina, but no land was available to them there. They moved back to South Carolina, where they resettled on just 600 acres of their old reservation lands. In the 1880’s Mormon missionaries moved into the Catawba region. They were able to convert nearly all of the people to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. The Catawba did not receive Federal recognition until 1941.
The Catawba speak a variation of the Siouan language. However, the language of the Catawba is so different from other Siouan languages that it wasn’t recognised as belonging to that family until the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The Catawba were originally two tribes – the Catawba and the Iswa. Prior to the 1700’s the Tribes lived in small scattered villages. Around 1760 the Catawba absorbed the Iswa and the people began to live together in larger villages. By the 1780’s there were two main Catawba settlements, Newton and Turkey Head, both of which lay along the Catawba River.
The Catawba lived in bark covered long houses. Religion was a prominent part of their lives. Large temples structures were prominent parts of their villages. The Catawba were farmers, with maize being the main crop. They were also hunters and fishers as well as fierce warriors. Their traditional enemies were the Cherokee, Shawnee, Delaware and the Iroquois. The Catawba warrior presented a fearsome sight. Their faces would be painted for war, with a black circle pattern around one eye, a white circle around the other and the rest of the face painted black. Their hair style was in pony tail style. The Catawba also practiced the custom of flattening the foreheads of their infant males, which added to the fearsome appearance of their warriors.
The Catawba soon allied themselves to the interests of the English colonists of the mid 1600s. From the British the Catawbas got a hold of guns with which they could take on the many invading tribes. The Iroquois were the greatest enemies of the Catawba and warfare between them continued for over a hundred years after the Catawba allied with the British. The problem for the English was that they were also allied with the Iroquois, which put them in a very delicate situation. In 1706 the British brokered a peace between the Catawba and the Iroquois. This was to prove only temporary, however. After fifty more years of bitter rivalry peace was again established between the two tribes in 1759. The Shawnee, however, still loomed as a major threat to the Catawba people. The Catawba also fought against other native tribes and, of course, the Americans for the British. During the French – Indian War of 1755-63 the British employed the Catawba as scouts against the French. This association with the British inevitably led to the adoption of many European ways and the loss of some aspects of their own culture.
In 1760 the treaty of Pine Hill established a fifteen square mile reservation along the Catawba River. Almost immediately, however, this small apportionment of land suffered white encroachment. Although the Government of South Carolina agreed to evict all white settlers within the Reservation territory, nothing was done to enforce these promises. By 1826 nearly all of the reservation area was gone. 110 Catawba were crammed into an area just one square mile in size.
In 1840 the Catawba sold their land to the State of South Carolina. They tried to relocate in North Carolina, but no land was available to them there. They moved back to South Carolina, where they resettled on just 600 acres of their old reservation lands. In the 1880’s Mormon missionaries moved into the Catawba region. They were able to convert nearly all of the people to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. The Catawba did not receive Federal recognition until 1941.
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