By: Mary Annette Pember
Although 39 federally recognized American Indian tribes are headquartered in the state of Oklahoma, it comes as some surprise that there were no tribal colleges in the state until this century. During the past eight years, however, tribal colleges have been cropping up throughout the state, including the Comanche Nation College, the College of the Muscogee Nation, the Pawnee Nation College and most recently the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College (CATC) is located on the campus of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) in the city of Weatherford. Like the other tribal colleges in Oklahoma, CATC has an academic relationship with its sponsoring college as it pursues independent accreditation. CATC opened its doors in 2006 with fewer than 20 students in the “old” science building on the SWOSU campus. The tribal college’s students are dually enrolled at SWOSU and subject to its rules and requirements.
The tiny college, which Cheyenne and Arapaho chief Lawrence Hart admits has a lot of “ifs” associated with its survival, has a definite edge. That edge comes in the form of Dr. Henrietta Mann, newly inaugurated college president. Mann, of the Cheyenne tribe, is a well-known powerhouse in Indian education circles. A native of Hammon, Okla., Mann earned a bachelor’s at SWOSU. Mann also holds the first endowed chair in Native American studies at Montana State University. She is also the author of Cheyenne-Arapaho Education, 1871-1982.
Mann began serving on the board of CATC regents at its inception in 2003 before agreeing to serve as interim president when the college opened. This past April she was formally inaugurated as the college’s first president.
CATC, she says, will teach Cheyenne and Arapaho history through the voices of its people. She maintains that this will help give Indian students a strong sense of who they are as they gain an understanding of Cheyenne and Arapaho culture, values and language.
“Our culture has sustained us for a long time; that’s why it’s so important for Indian people to know who they are,” she says. “It’s been my self-appointed task to help ensure that American Indian young people learn these lessons.”
There's more to the story here: http://www.diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_11266.shtml
Friday, June 13, 2008
Grassy Narrows Victory - Company Pulls Out
As posted on Manitoba Wildlands.org
One of the largest logging companies in North America has surrendered its license to log in the Whiskey Jack forest of northwestern Ontario.
The one-million-hectare boreal forest region is considered sacred by Grassy Narrows First Nation and is within their traditional territory. Grassy Narrows First Nation has held the longest running blockade in Canadian history. A recent campaign to end logging in the entire Whiskey Jack forest has gathered support from consumers, environmental, and human rights groups.
Abitibi Bowater is willing to surrender its license to cut 700,000 cubic meters of wood each year from the Whiskey Jack forest until 2023 to avoid years of negotiations with Grassy Narrows First Nation.
"All companies operating in the boreal forest should take this as a wake-up call," said David Sone of the Rainforest Action Network. "This is proof that communities can say 'no' and enforce their right to control development in their traditional territory."
One of the largest logging companies in North America has surrendered its license to log in the Whiskey Jack forest of northwestern Ontario.
The one-million-hectare boreal forest region is considered sacred by Grassy Narrows First Nation and is within their traditional territory. Grassy Narrows First Nation has held the longest running blockade in Canadian history. A recent campaign to end logging in the entire Whiskey Jack forest has gathered support from consumers, environmental, and human rights groups.
Abitibi Bowater is willing to surrender its license to cut 700,000 cubic meters of wood each year from the Whiskey Jack forest until 2023 to avoid years of negotiations with Grassy Narrows First Nation.
"All companies operating in the boreal forest should take this as a wake-up call," said David Sone of the Rainforest Action Network. "This is proof that communities can say 'no' and enforce their right to control development in their traditional territory."
Apology part of healing process
Caroline Zentner
Treaty 7 Grand Chief Charles Weaselhead described the government’s apology as a watershed in the history of the residential schools.
“This apology is an important part of this whole process leading to healing and reconciliation. The organization that did the damage has come forward with an apology,” he said in a telephone interview from the Tsuu T’ina First Nation. “It definitely puts a mark of accountability on everybody’s shoulder. Aboriginal people will no longer bear the full burden of what happened in Indian residential schools.”
Weaselhead, Chief of the Blood Nation, is a survivor of the residential schools who was only six years old when he was taken from his family.
As he listened to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology, he did so as both a leader and an individual. The schools and the repeated abuses created “a great divide between First Nations people and who we were” and the government’s policy was nothing more than the “execution of our uniqueness as a people.”
The results are evident in the addictions, crime, suicide, poverty and dysfunctional communities First Nations people experience.
“These problems are not because we are aboriginal but the way history has forced us into a situation,” Weaselhead said. “I know, as a leader, we cannot continue on this path of destruction.”
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11068.php
Treaty 7 Grand Chief Charles Weaselhead described the government’s apology as a watershed in the history of the residential schools.
“This apology is an important part of this whole process leading to healing and reconciliation. The organization that did the damage has come forward with an apology,” he said in a telephone interview from the Tsuu T’ina First Nation. “It definitely puts a mark of accountability on everybody’s shoulder. Aboriginal people will no longer bear the full burden of what happened in Indian residential schools.”
Weaselhead, Chief of the Blood Nation, is a survivor of the residential schools who was only six years old when he was taken from his family.
As he listened to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s apology, he did so as both a leader and an individual. The schools and the repeated abuses created “a great divide between First Nations people and who we were” and the government’s policy was nothing more than the “execution of our uniqueness as a people.”
The results are evident in the addictions, crime, suicide, poverty and dysfunctional communities First Nations people experience.
“These problems are not because we are aboriginal but the way history has forced us into a situation,” Weaselhead said. “I know, as a leader, we cannot continue on this path of destruction.”
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_11068.php
Historical Indian Tribe linked with Texas history
By: Bob Bowman
Thousands of people drive through East Texas each year without the knowledge that an Indian reservation -- one that played a role in the independence of Texas -- exists within the pine forests.
The difficulties faced by the Alabama-Coushatta tribes to remain on their land and create economic opportunities for their people reach back to the 1830s. The tribes saw their lands taken by white settlers and encountered setbacks that have wiped out other Indian reservations in the U.S. Yet, the tribes remain steadfast and strong, continuing to maintain their humble root on lands between Livingston and Woodville.
The first historical reference to the tribe was in 1541 when Spanish explorer DeSoto noted a reference to the Alabama tribe in the area that would eventually become Alabama.
Early in 1836, as Sam Houston's army was retreating eastward across Texas, pursued by the Mexican army under Santa Anna, many Texas settlers fled toward the Sabine River in the "Runaway Scrape."
As the revolutionary army marched toward San Jacinto, Houston sent a delegation to ask the Alabamas and Coushattas for assistance.
The delegation dispatched by General Houston to negotiate for the services of about 250 Alabama and Coushatta warriors arrived at Long King's Village several days before the battle of San Jacinto.
While the discussions were proceeding, the battle of San Jacinto was fought, and the services of the Indians were no longer needed. Although the Alabamas and Coushattas did not participate militarily in the war, they were generous in their efforts to feed and care for settlers who passed through their villages in the Runaway Scrape.
"We helped them with food, shelter and crossing the Trinity River," said Arnold Battise, who was born on the reservation. "Sam Houston was a friend to the Indians, so when he learned about our assistance, he became instrumental in having a reservation awarded to our tribe."
Keep reading here: http://www.c-bstatesman.com/news/2008/0612/historical/012.html
Thousands of people drive through East Texas each year without the knowledge that an Indian reservation -- one that played a role in the independence of Texas -- exists within the pine forests.
The difficulties faced by the Alabama-Coushatta tribes to remain on their land and create economic opportunities for their people reach back to the 1830s. The tribes saw their lands taken by white settlers and encountered setbacks that have wiped out other Indian reservations in the U.S. Yet, the tribes remain steadfast and strong, continuing to maintain their humble root on lands between Livingston and Woodville.
The first historical reference to the tribe was in 1541 when Spanish explorer DeSoto noted a reference to the Alabama tribe in the area that would eventually become Alabama.
Early in 1836, as Sam Houston's army was retreating eastward across Texas, pursued by the Mexican army under Santa Anna, many Texas settlers fled toward the Sabine River in the "Runaway Scrape."
As the revolutionary army marched toward San Jacinto, Houston sent a delegation to ask the Alabamas and Coushattas for assistance.
The delegation dispatched by General Houston to negotiate for the services of about 250 Alabama and Coushatta warriors arrived at Long King's Village several days before the battle of San Jacinto.
While the discussions were proceeding, the battle of San Jacinto was fought, and the services of the Indians were no longer needed. Although the Alabamas and Coushattas did not participate militarily in the war, they were generous in their efforts to feed and care for settlers who passed through their villages in the Runaway Scrape.
"We helped them with food, shelter and crossing the Trinity River," said Arnold Battise, who was born on the reservation. "Sam Houston was a friend to the Indians, so when he learned about our assistance, he became instrumental in having a reservation awarded to our tribe."
Keep reading here: http://www.c-bstatesman.com/news/2008/0612/historical/012.html
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