Men say that the world was made by Raven. He is a man with a raven's beak. When the ground came up from the water it was drawn up by Raven. He speared down into it, brought up the land and fixed it into place.
The first land was a plot of ground harly bigger than a house. There was a family in a house there: a man, his wife, and their little son. This boy was Raven. One day he saw a sort of bladder hanging over his parents' bed. He begged his father for it again and again, but his father always said no, until finally he gave in. While playing, Raven broke the bladder, and light appeared.
"We had better have night too," said the father, "not just daylight all the time." So he grabbed the bladder before the little boy could damage it further. And that is how day and night began.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Featured Artist - Arvel Bird
Arvel Bird (Paiute/Me'tis), a classically-trained violinist, performs and records in a number of diverse genres including blues, jazz, bluegrass, Celtic, Cajun, Western swing, American roots, and Native music. In addition to the violin, Bird also is an accomplished mandolin, guitar and Native flute player. An experienced musician who toured the world with Glen Campbell, Loretta Lynn, Ray Price and others for several years, Bird recently has turned his musical focus to his Paiute/Me'tis heritage, and now focuses most of his time on writing, performing, and recording music which reflects that background.
Born to a Mormon inter-racial family in Idaho and raised in Utah and Arizona, Bird was aware of his Indian heritage from an early age, but, like many families in that time and place, Indian heritage was not mentioned, let alone celebrated. Bird grew up as part of a hard working, middle-class family and out of fear of his mother's reaction, he never asked her about her Native origins. As an adult, Bird became more and more interested in his background, eventually donating time and resources to a project aimed at protecting ancient Native burial sites in Tennessee. In 2000, Bird released the first Native American album that simultaneously launched Singing Wolf Records. This sparked the beginning of his personal journey to uncover the truth about his Paiute heritage. In the summer of 2001, Bird received documentation previously unknown to him from his mother supporting his bloodline to the Shivwit Paiute tribe in Southern Utah. The effect this discovery has made on Bird has been profound.
He made trips to St. George, UT and the Shivwit Paiute reservation where he met half sisters (cousins), searched and studied his genealogy, attended powwows and talked to elders, all the while finding a stronger affinity and connection to the underlying core beliefs of Native America and a deepening sense of who he was. Since then all of his performances have reflected and honored his Native American heritage through his music and stories.
From the age of nine, Bird knew what he wanted to do with his life-he wanted to play the trumpet. With no funds for a trumpet available, Bird was presented with his first violin, an instrument given to his mother by a violin maker named Joseph Smithbauer. Bird and the violin were soon inseparable, although the instrument's size challenged the young player. Bird's family recognized his special gift, and were eventually able to provide him with private lessons. Bird continued to study classically on a music scholarship to Arizona State University. Though his desire was to develop his performance skills, each and every professor he encountered told him he wasn't "good enough" to perform and that he should concentrate on teaching instead. Bird's response was to leave Arizona and move to the mid-west to study with Paul Roland, a renowned Hungarian violin instructor at the University of Illinois-Champagne/Urbana. Under Roland's tutelage, Bird gained the technical proficiency and confidence that has served him so well over the years.
His work is featured here. Other samples can be found by clicking here: http://downloadmp3music.plinplan.net/2008/04/05/arvel-bird-animal-totems/
Born to a Mormon inter-racial family in Idaho and raised in Utah and Arizona, Bird was aware of his Indian heritage from an early age, but, like many families in that time and place, Indian heritage was not mentioned, let alone celebrated. Bird grew up as part of a hard working, middle-class family and out of fear of his mother's reaction, he never asked her about her Native origins. As an adult, Bird became more and more interested in his background, eventually donating time and resources to a project aimed at protecting ancient Native burial sites in Tennessee. In 2000, Bird released the first Native American album that simultaneously launched Singing Wolf Records. This sparked the beginning of his personal journey to uncover the truth about his Paiute heritage. In the summer of 2001, Bird received documentation previously unknown to him from his mother supporting his bloodline to the Shivwit Paiute tribe in Southern Utah. The effect this discovery has made on Bird has been profound.
He made trips to St. George, UT and the Shivwit Paiute reservation where he met half sisters (cousins), searched and studied his genealogy, attended powwows and talked to elders, all the while finding a stronger affinity and connection to the underlying core beliefs of Native America and a deepening sense of who he was. Since then all of his performances have reflected and honored his Native American heritage through his music and stories.
From the age of nine, Bird knew what he wanted to do with his life-he wanted to play the trumpet. With no funds for a trumpet available, Bird was presented with his first violin, an instrument given to his mother by a violin maker named Joseph Smithbauer. Bird and the violin were soon inseparable, although the instrument's size challenged the young player. Bird's family recognized his special gift, and were eventually able to provide him with private lessons. Bird continued to study classically on a music scholarship to Arizona State University. Though his desire was to develop his performance skills, each and every professor he encountered told him he wasn't "good enough" to perform and that he should concentrate on teaching instead. Bird's response was to leave Arizona and move to the mid-west to study with Paul Roland, a renowned Hungarian violin instructor at the University of Illinois-Champagne/Urbana. Under Roland's tutelage, Bird gained the technical proficiency and confidence that has served him so well over the years.
His work is featured here. Other samples can be found by clicking here: http://downloadmp3music.plinplan.net/2008/04/05/arvel-bird-animal-totems/
Miami University helps Miami Tribe reclaim language
By: Lisa Cornwell
Kelsey Young - like many other members of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma - could not understand her tribe's language. The Myaamia Project, supported by the tribe and Miami University, is changing that - helping the tribe reclaim and keep its language and culture alive.
The Miami language is one of many that have been threatened with extinction. Linguists have said that of an estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world, nearly half are in danger of disappearing in this century and are falling out of use at the rate of about one every two weeks.
In April, an online version of the Miami dictionary debuted. Myaamia Project Director Daryl Baldwin said the online version will make the dictionary more accessible.
The Myaamia inhabited land that now makes up Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, including the Miami Valley region where the tribe's namesake university now stands, and parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.
The tribe now has only about 3,400 members scattered around the country and fewer resources than larger Native American groups to save their language.
Researchers still adding vocabulary to the Miami dictionary have gotten through about 35 to 40 percent of available documentation.
Baldwin has taught the language to his four children and says it's vital that Miami children have that exposure if the tribe's language and culture are to survive.
"Knowledge of the language gives a much deeper and richer sense of the culture and what it means to be Myaamia," Baldwin said. "My hope for my children is that they will value it, cherish it and pass it along."
Kelsey Young - like many other members of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma - could not understand her tribe's language. The Myaamia Project, supported by the tribe and Miami University, is changing that - helping the tribe reclaim and keep its language and culture alive.
The Miami language is one of many that have been threatened with extinction. Linguists have said that of an estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world, nearly half are in danger of disappearing in this century and are falling out of use at the rate of about one every two weeks.
In April, an online version of the Miami dictionary debuted. Myaamia Project Director Daryl Baldwin said the online version will make the dictionary more accessible.
The Myaamia inhabited land that now makes up Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, including the Miami Valley region where the tribe's namesake university now stands, and parts of Michigan and Wisconsin.
The tribe now has only about 3,400 members scattered around the country and fewer resources than larger Native American groups to save their language.
Researchers still adding vocabulary to the Miami dictionary have gotten through about 35 to 40 percent of available documentation.
Baldwin has taught the language to his four children and says it's vital that Miami children have that exposure if the tribe's language and culture are to survive.
"Knowledge of the language gives a much deeper and richer sense of the culture and what it means to be Myaamia," Baldwin said. "My hope for my children is that they will value it, cherish it and pass it along."
Water Flowing Together
PBS feature film:
WATER FLOWING TOGETHER is an intimate portrait of an important American artist, New York City Ballet’s Jock Soto, one of the most influential modern ballet dancers. Soto graced the stage of the New York State Theater for 24 years, partnering such renowned ballerinas as Heather Watts, Darci Kistler and Wendy Whelan. On the eve of his retirement in 2005, The New York Times wrote: “Ballet is a man called Jock.”
The film introduces Soto when he is 40 and facing the daunting prospect of retiring from the only life he has ever known or desired. While Soto is an artist who found his medium of expression in dance, the film explores more than Soto’s career—it is as much about the complexities of the man, about heritage, family, identity and transition.
Jock Soto was born on the Navajo Indian reservation in 1965, to a Navajo mother and a Puerto Rican father, and raised in a time and place where ballet dancing for boys was virtually unheard of. Following in the footsteps of his mother, he first learned to hoop dance—a complex traditional American Indian dance—which provided an early foundation for his talent. He fell in love with ballet at the age of five after seeing Edward Villella, often cited as America's most celebrated male dancer, on TV and his surprised but supportive parents began driving him to classes. Soto excelled, eventually becoming one of the last dancers to be personally selected by George Balanchine, founder of the New York City Ballet, to join the company, achieving his dream when he was barely 16. He soon became a child of the New York City arts scene, befriending Andy Warhol, and finding his way as a gay man.
Jock Soto became a force of the New York City Ballet that helped define the identity of the prestigious institution as much as it has defined him for more than two decades. Unprecedented access to the company and New York State Theater provides the audience with a rare glimpse into an unseen world.
In WATER FLOWING TOGETHER (the title is the name of Soto’s Navajo clan), filmmaker Gwendolen Cates follows a contemplative Soto as he prepares for his farewell performance, tries to imagine his future and travels to the Navajo reservation and Puerto Rico to reconnect with his heritage. Soto’s relationship to his heritage is one of both detachment and devotion, defying stereotypes in the same way that his powerful, fluid dancing transcends the expected. Told through the words of Soto, his family and his dance colleagues, the film offers a sensitive and unique insight into the influences and adventures of this fascinating artist, and reveals a man at the crossroads of his life.
"I actually think it’s very funny sometimes, putting on the makeup and then putting on the tights and then putting on your costume and then I look in the mirror and think, 'This is such an odd occupation for a 40-year-old man.'" —Jock Soto
WATER FLOWING TOGETHER is an intimate portrait of an important American artist, New York City Ballet’s Jock Soto, one of the most influential modern ballet dancers. Soto graced the stage of the New York State Theater for 24 years, partnering such renowned ballerinas as Heather Watts, Darci Kistler and Wendy Whelan. On the eve of his retirement in 2005, The New York Times wrote: “Ballet is a man called Jock.”
The film introduces Soto when he is 40 and facing the daunting prospect of retiring from the only life he has ever known or desired. While Soto is an artist who found his medium of expression in dance, the film explores more than Soto’s career—it is as much about the complexities of the man, about heritage, family, identity and transition.
Jock Soto was born on the Navajo Indian reservation in 1965, to a Navajo mother and a Puerto Rican father, and raised in a time and place where ballet dancing for boys was virtually unheard of. Following in the footsteps of his mother, he first learned to hoop dance—a complex traditional American Indian dance—which provided an early foundation for his talent. He fell in love with ballet at the age of five after seeing Edward Villella, often cited as America's most celebrated male dancer, on TV and his surprised but supportive parents began driving him to classes. Soto excelled, eventually becoming one of the last dancers to be personally selected by George Balanchine, founder of the New York City Ballet, to join the company, achieving his dream when he was barely 16. He soon became a child of the New York City arts scene, befriending Andy Warhol, and finding his way as a gay man.
Jock Soto became a force of the New York City Ballet that helped define the identity of the prestigious institution as much as it has defined him for more than two decades. Unprecedented access to the company and New York State Theater provides the audience with a rare glimpse into an unseen world.
In WATER FLOWING TOGETHER (the title is the name of Soto’s Navajo clan), filmmaker Gwendolen Cates follows a contemplative Soto as he prepares for his farewell performance, tries to imagine his future and travels to the Navajo reservation and Puerto Rico to reconnect with his heritage. Soto’s relationship to his heritage is one of both detachment and devotion, defying stereotypes in the same way that his powerful, fluid dancing transcends the expected. Told through the words of Soto, his family and his dance colleagues, the film offers a sensitive and unique insight into the influences and adventures of this fascinating artist, and reveals a man at the crossroads of his life.
"I actually think it’s very funny sometimes, putting on the makeup and then putting on the tights and then putting on your costume and then I look in the mirror and think, 'This is such an odd occupation for a 40-year-old man.'" —Jock Soto
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