By: Carver Rayburn
More than 1,000 people attended a ceremony on Friday officially marking the transfer of Nanih Waiya Mound and Cave back to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in what was billed as a celebration of the return of "Our Mother Mound."
The ceremony featured traditional food, dancing, remarks by officials, storytelling of the Choctaw's rich culture and history and a proclamation by Miko Beasley Denson, chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
Denson declared the second Friday in August "Nanih Waiya Day," a holiday celebrating the occasion when the Tribe's "Mother Mound" was restored to its people.
"Nanih Waiya is the cultural and religious center of the tribe and is the birth place of the Choctaw people," Denson said. "Our mother mound was taken from the Choctaw people long ago, but it has now been restored to her children."
Denson talked about the importance of the ceremony bringing all the communities within the Choctaw tribe together as one people. He also stressed the importance of preservation of the mound and asked anyone who witnessed destruction or defamation to report it to Choctaw authorities.
Ownership of the Nanih Waiya Mound, which rests in the corners of Winston, Kemper and Neshoba counties, was given back to the Tribe by the state of Mississippi when Gov. Haley R. Barbour signed the deed in August of this year.
Nanih Waiya, which means "leaning hill" or "place of creation" in Choctaw, is the cultural and religious center of the Tribe and is thought to be the birth place of the Choctaw people. It was built over one thousand years ago and its construction is thought to have taken two or three generations to complete.
There's more here: http://www.neshobademocrat.com/print.asp?ArticleID=17790
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Obama appoints Native officials to transition team
By JODI RAVE of the Missoulian
As President-elect Barack Obama appoints a new team of cabinet members and fills other key federal work posts, he's named six Native people to his transition team - half of them assigned to assist in Interior Department policy, budget and personnel changes.
“We're lucky to have such stellar representatives with people with whom Indian Country has really good relationships,” said Jacqueline Johnson-Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 250 tribes.
So far, Mary Smith, Mary McNeil and Yvette Robideaux have been assigned to work on justice, agriculture and health issues, while three current and former attorneys with the Native American Rights Fund - John Echohawk, Keith Harper and Robert Anderson - will advise Obama on changes proposed within the Interior Department.
As advisers to the Interior transition team, the Indian law experts could inspire a significant transformation within the department's Indian trust fund system, an organizational debacle that has been subject to 12 years of litigation during the Cobell vs. Kempthorne suit.
“This is our last big chance to get a lot of things done,” said Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff from Montana's Blackfeet Nation in the class action lawsuit. “It's like a broken record every time we have a hearing. Nothing really happens. Maybe if we get the right people in these positions, we can all work together: the tribes, Congress and the administration.”
Get the whole story here: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/11/20/jodirave/rave07.txt
As President-elect Barack Obama appoints a new team of cabinet members and fills other key federal work posts, he's named six Native people to his transition team - half of them assigned to assist in Interior Department policy, budget and personnel changes.
“We're lucky to have such stellar representatives with people with whom Indian Country has really good relationships,” said Jacqueline Johnson-Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 250 tribes.
So far, Mary Smith, Mary McNeil and Yvette Robideaux have been assigned to work on justice, agriculture and health issues, while three current and former attorneys with the Native American Rights Fund - John Echohawk, Keith Harper and Robert Anderson - will advise Obama on changes proposed within the Interior Department.
As advisers to the Interior transition team, the Indian law experts could inspire a significant transformation within the department's Indian trust fund system, an organizational debacle that has been subject to 12 years of litigation during the Cobell vs. Kempthorne suit.
“This is our last big chance to get a lot of things done,” said Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff from Montana's Blackfeet Nation in the class action lawsuit. “It's like a broken record every time we have a hearing. Nothing really happens. Maybe if we get the right people in these positions, we can all work together: the tribes, Congress and the administration.”
Get the whole story here: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/11/20/jodirave/rave07.txt
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
Eighteen years ago today, November 16, 1990, The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was enacted. What other culture in the world requires such a law? Yet, here we are, still having to take steps to prevent bombastic acts against our ancestry and culture. If you took a shovel to your local cemetary and began digging up the remains under the guise of excavation for historical study, you would be promptly arrested and charged with several crimes. I, for one, am happy the government saw fit to pass this federal law but there remains many thousands of unearthed human bodies housed within museums and archaeologists artifacts. And to think we're the ones called savages.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
National American Indian Heritage
Editorial by: Pamela Waterbird Davison
The month of November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Though most everyone knows February is Black History Month and October is Hispanic Heritage Month, very few know that in 1990, President George Bush signed a declaration designating November as the time for recognizing and honoring the contribution and impact of Indian Culture on this land now known as the United States of America.
November is also the month in which many historical dates surround the Tribal Units of this country. From Custer's attack on the Cheyenne camp on Washita River in 1868 to the installment of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 to the tall tale of the first Thanksgiving, this month is viewed as both sorrowful and triumphant by the majority of Indian communities.
While this blog is continuously honoring the First People of Turtle Island (North America) and examining the issues found within the Indian community, the focus this month will be on these historical dates from the single perspective of myself. To my ancestors, my brothers and sisters of today, and to the next seven generations, you should know you have not been forgotten.
The month of November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Though most everyone knows February is Black History Month and October is Hispanic Heritage Month, very few know that in 1990, President George Bush signed a declaration designating November as the time for recognizing and honoring the contribution and impact of Indian Culture on this land now known as the United States of America.
November is also the month in which many historical dates surround the Tribal Units of this country. From Custer's attack on the Cheyenne camp on Washita River in 1868 to the installment of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 to the tall tale of the first Thanksgiving, this month is viewed as both sorrowful and triumphant by the majority of Indian communities.
While this blog is continuously honoring the First People of Turtle Island (North America) and examining the issues found within the Indian community, the focus this month will be on these historical dates from the single perspective of myself. To my ancestors, my brothers and sisters of today, and to the next seven generations, you should know you have not been forgotten.
Important Dates in November
November 2, 1972: Approximately 500 Native Americans occupy the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices in Washington, DC.
November 14, 1944: The National Congress of American Indians is founded.
November 16, 1990: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is enacted.
November 17, 2000: U.S. gold coin is minted commemorating Sacajawea.
November 20, 1969: Native American occupy Alcatraz Island claiming right of possession under previous treaties.
November 27, 1868: Custer attacks Cheyenne camp on Washita River killing Black Kettle.
November 28, 1989: National Museum of the American Indian Act is signed.
November 29, 1864: Sand Creek Massacre, troops commanded by Colonel John Chivington attack Chief Black Kettle’s Cheyenne killing mostly women and children.
November 14, 1944: The National Congress of American Indians is founded.
November 16, 1990: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act is enacted.
November 17, 2000: U.S. gold coin is minted commemorating Sacajawea.
November 20, 1969: Native American occupy Alcatraz Island claiming right of possession under previous treaties.
November 27, 1868: Custer attacks Cheyenne camp on Washita River killing Black Kettle.
November 28, 1989: National Museum of the American Indian Act is signed.
November 29, 1864: Sand Creek Massacre, troops commanded by Colonel John Chivington attack Chief Black Kettle’s Cheyenne killing mostly women and children.
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