"They could not capture me except under a white flag. They cannot hold me except with a chain." -
Osceola - Seminole
Monday, April 14, 2008
Navajo Creation Story
The People went through four worlds before they walked up a reed from the bottom of the Lake of Changing Waters into the present world. First Man and First Woman led the others, and with them came their two first children, the Changing Twins.
One took some clay from the stream bed in his hand and it shaped itself into a food bowl. The other Twin found reeds growing and with them he shaped a water basket. Then they picked up stones from the ground, and the pieces became axes and hammers, knives and spear points in their hands. Last of all the Twins shaped digging sticks from branches of mountain mahogany, and hoes from deer shoulder blades.
They found the Kisani, a different people growing gardens in the valleys, and the People traded their tools and baskes and bowls for weapons for seeds to plant in their own places along the rivers. They learned how to build dams and spread the water on the dry ground where it was needed.
One took some clay from the stream bed in his hand and it shaped itself into a food bowl. The other Twin found reeds growing and with them he shaped a water basket. Then they picked up stones from the ground, and the pieces became axes and hammers, knives and spear points in their hands. Last of all the Twins shaped digging sticks from branches of mountain mahogany, and hoes from deer shoulder blades.
They found the Kisani, a different people growing gardens in the valleys, and the People traded their tools and baskes and bowls for weapons for seeds to plant in their own places along the rivers. They learned how to build dams and spread the water on the dry ground where it was needed.
Walk On
By: Candace Begody
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.—It's been a grueling 1,000 miles of passage through Arizona's sizzling desert and the San Francisco Peak's freezing cold, but the 157 men, women and children of the Longest Walk 2 northern route reached the Navajo Nation's capital last week in high spirits.
"It's been absolutely awesome," Dennis J. Banks, American Indian Movement co-founder and Leech Lake Ojibwe, said of the walk. "We ought to change the name from the Longest Walk to the Longest Buffet — the Navajos have been feeding us tons of food."
The Longest Walk 2 is a nearly 3,000-mile, coast-to-coast trek to promote harmony with the Earth and social justice for indigenous people. It began Feb. 11 at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
The walk has two routes. Those on the southern route, led by Banks, are scheduled to travel through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.
Those on the northern route, led by Jimbo Simmons, a Choctaw, are scheduled to journey through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Both routes will converge in Washington, D.C., where the group will voice their concerns on sacred sites issues, pollution of the earth and social justice, and commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first Longest Walk.
Read more here: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/feature-article/walk
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz.—It's been a grueling 1,000 miles of passage through Arizona's sizzling desert and the San Francisco Peak's freezing cold, but the 157 men, women and children of the Longest Walk 2 northern route reached the Navajo Nation's capital last week in high spirits.
"It's been absolutely awesome," Dennis J. Banks, American Indian Movement co-founder and Leech Lake Ojibwe, said of the walk. "We ought to change the name from the Longest Walk to the Longest Buffet — the Navajos have been feeding us tons of food."
The Longest Walk 2 is a nearly 3,000-mile, coast-to-coast trek to promote harmony with the Earth and social justice for indigenous people. It began Feb. 11 at Alcatraz Island in San Francisco.
The walk has two routes. Those on the southern route, led by Banks, are scheduled to travel through New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.
Those on the northern route, led by Jimbo Simmons, a Choctaw, are scheduled to journey through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Both routes will converge in Washington, D.C., where the group will voice their concerns on sacred sites issues, pollution of the earth and social justice, and commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first Longest Walk.
Read more here: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/feature-article/walk
Parade celebrates culture, protests historical treatment
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY -- At least half of the 39 recognized American Indian tribes in Oklahoma were represented at a parade that mixed celebrations with demonstrations on Saturday, organizers said.
The Society to Preserve Indigenous Rights and Indigenous Traditions, or SPIRIT, hosted the event, which began at the corner of Reno and Hudson avenues and ended at the Land Run statue in Bricktown.
Along the way, drivers with tribal affiliations attached to their vehicles honked their horns and cheered while others walked with handmade signs bearing slogans such as “Frybread Power” and "Dawes Commission + land run = organized theft.”
SPIRIT spokeswoman Brenda Golden, who organized the event, said the parade was really a way to recognize American Indian heritage, and was timed to occur before annual events re-enacting the Oklahoma Land Run happen. “We’re having our parade first because we were here before the Land Run,” she said.
The main goal of the organization is education, she said. Members want to have a tribal spokesman on the textbook committee for Oklahoma schools and to end Land Run re-enactments, which they consider offensive.
“We can’t change history, but what we can say is that we were here first and that they ran over us,” she said.
Richard Whitman, 59, an American Indian activist and artist, brought his grandchildren with him. Their knowledge of their ancestors is his primary concern.
“History is told for us ... We’re not part of the national narrative,” he said. “We’re part of Oklahoma history ...”
After reaching the Land Run statue, some stretched out on the ground under the bronzed horse hooves to symbolize how the Land Run trampled their people, Golden said.
“In some ways, we feel homeless in our own homeland,” Whitman said.
SPIRIT members plan to deliver on April 22 a signed resolution to Gov. Brad Henry about Land Run re-enactments and the depiction of America Indians in schools.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- At least half of the 39 recognized American Indian tribes in Oklahoma were represented at a parade that mixed celebrations with demonstrations on Saturday, organizers said.
The Society to Preserve Indigenous Rights and Indigenous Traditions, or SPIRIT, hosted the event, which began at the corner of Reno and Hudson avenues and ended at the Land Run statue in Bricktown.
Along the way, drivers with tribal affiliations attached to their vehicles honked their horns and cheered while others walked with handmade signs bearing slogans such as “Frybread Power” and "Dawes Commission + land run = organized theft.”
SPIRIT spokeswoman Brenda Golden, who organized the event, said the parade was really a way to recognize American Indian heritage, and was timed to occur before annual events re-enacting the Oklahoma Land Run happen. “We’re having our parade first because we were here before the Land Run,” she said.
The main goal of the organization is education, she said. Members want to have a tribal spokesman on the textbook committee for Oklahoma schools and to end Land Run re-enactments, which they consider offensive.
“We can’t change history, but what we can say is that we were here first and that they ran over us,” she said.
Richard Whitman, 59, an American Indian activist and artist, brought his grandchildren with him. Their knowledge of their ancestors is his primary concern.
“History is told for us ... We’re not part of the national narrative,” he said. “We’re part of Oklahoma history ...”
After reaching the Land Run statue, some stretched out on the ground under the bronzed horse hooves to symbolize how the Land Run trampled their people, Golden said.
“In some ways, we feel homeless in our own homeland,” Whitman said.
SPIRIT members plan to deliver on April 22 a signed resolution to Gov. Brad Henry about Land Run re-enactments and the depiction of America Indians in schools.
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