By: Francisco Tharp
Women and African-Americans aren’t the only demographics receiving extra attention from Democrats this year. The party has also been reaching out to Native Americans.
“In the past, Native American voters have been ignored, or thought of in the last minute,” says Laura Harris of the Comanche Tribe. “What (Democratic National Committee Chairman) Howard Dean has done is incorporate us into the process, not just for our vote, but for our participation and economic support, too. It’s an exciting time to be a Native American and take our place in the political process of the U.S.”
Harris, who serves as the executive director of the nonprofit Americans for Indian Opportunity, is one of an “unprecedented” six Native Americans appointed to the Democratic National Convention’s standing committees. She’s just one example of how the Democratic Party is recognizing Native American issues and courting Indian voters.
When Dean took his seat as chairman of the Democratic Party in February 2005, he initiated the party’s “50 State Plan,” in order to “not write off voters who we didn’t expect to win, and not take for granted voters we thought we already had,” according to Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera.
The national party is working with state parties to hire full-time staff to reach out at a state level, rather than engaging only voters in key demographics or during election years. Every state, says LaVera, now has at least three full-time party employees. And four states – Arizona, Oklahoma, Alaska and New Mexico -- have full-time Native American party organizers.
Read more here: http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17590
Monday, March 17, 2008
State says it can't stop destruction on Schaghticoke land
By: Gale Courey Toensing
KENT, Conn. - When Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell testified at a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing in May 2005, she claimed that there were no tribal reservations left in the state.
''We have few expanses of open or undeveloped land. Historical reservation lands no longer exist. They're now cities and towns filled with family homes, churches and schools,'' Rell said at the hearing, which is available at http://indian.senate.gov.
Now the state says it can't stop a non-Schaghticoke man from cutting down trees and excavating land on the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation's 400-acre reservation in Kent.
Tribal council member Joseph Velky, who is a nephew of STN Chief Richard Velky and a member of the nation's Environmental Committee, said he asked the Department of Environmental Protection Nov. 19 to intervene to stop the destruction. The DEP holds the land in trust for the tribe.
''Officials there and at the state police and the state's attorney's office said they couldn't intervene because they don't know who owns the land or who the leader of the Schaghticoke is,'' Joseph Velky said.
Get the rest of the story here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416754
KENT, Conn. - When Connecticut Gov. Jodi Rell testified at a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing in May 2005, she claimed that there were no tribal reservations left in the state.
''We have few expanses of open or undeveloped land. Historical reservation lands no longer exist. They're now cities and towns filled with family homes, churches and schools,'' Rell said at the hearing, which is available at http://indian.senate.gov.
Now the state says it can't stop a non-Schaghticoke man from cutting down trees and excavating land on the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation's 400-acre reservation in Kent.
Tribal council member Joseph Velky, who is a nephew of STN Chief Richard Velky and a member of the nation's Environmental Committee, said he asked the Department of Environmental Protection Nov. 19 to intervene to stop the destruction. The DEP holds the land in trust for the tribe.
''Officials there and at the state police and the state's attorney's office said they couldn't intervene because they don't know who owns the land or who the leader of the Schaghticoke is,'' Joseph Velky said.
Get the rest of the story here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096416754
'Spirited Encounters: American Indians Protest Museum Policies and Practices,' by Karen Coody Cooper
Book review - by Dale Carson
Everyone with an interest in anything ''American Indian'' or ''Native American,'' or in museums in general, and has a heart, must read this book.
I am usually cautious of being asked to review a book by someone I know thinking that just because I like them, I'll be tempted to say nothing but good things.
I do know the author of ''Spirited Encounters,'' a fun-loving, upbeat, kind, intelligent person, always with a great smile on her face, never ''down'' or negative.
I've known Karen Coody Cooper since the early '80s in many of her various capacities as an educator, historian, curator and friend.
When I started reading this book, I said to myself, ''Wow, I had no idea she was such a good writer, and so incredibly organized.'' My head hurt from nodding in agreement every other page or so, or thinking, ''Really? I didn't know that!''
She covers every Native experience with regard to museums and institutions and manages to explain protests, cover-ups and mistakes, and progress toward understanding in a straightforward way that keeps you right there, interested.
Every important aspect of the subject is covered and explored. The politics involved in the display of sacred objects, human remains, art, Columbus, Thanksgiving, and the effect protests have had on these and other subjects are carefully and clearly explained in a flowing, concerned manner without finger-pointing malice. Here are the facts presented in an interesting way that makes you want to understand the hows and whys of Native actions past and present. I couldn't be more honest or blunt when I say, ''Run, don't walk, to the nearest bookshop and get this book.''
Everyone with an interest in anything ''American Indian'' or ''Native American,'' or in museums in general, and has a heart, must read this book.
I am usually cautious of being asked to review a book by someone I know thinking that just because I like them, I'll be tempted to say nothing but good things.
I do know the author of ''Spirited Encounters,'' a fun-loving, upbeat, kind, intelligent person, always with a great smile on her face, never ''down'' or negative.
I've known Karen Coody Cooper since the early '80s in many of her various capacities as an educator, historian, curator and friend.
When I started reading this book, I said to myself, ''Wow, I had no idea she was such a good writer, and so incredibly organized.'' My head hurt from nodding in agreement every other page or so, or thinking, ''Really? I didn't know that!''
She covers every Native experience with regard to museums and institutions and manages to explain protests, cover-ups and mistakes, and progress toward understanding in a straightforward way that keeps you right there, interested.
Every important aspect of the subject is covered and explored. The politics involved in the display of sacred objects, human remains, art, Columbus, Thanksgiving, and the effect protests have had on these and other subjects are carefully and clearly explained in a flowing, concerned manner without finger-pointing malice. Here are the facts presented in an interesting way that makes you want to understand the hows and whys of Native actions past and present. I couldn't be more honest or blunt when I say, ''Run, don't walk, to the nearest bookshop and get this book.''
Friday, March 14, 2008
Do you know...
Dekanawida, a semilegendary Native American leader, is credited with helping unite the five Iroquois tribes of northern New York in the late 1500s. According to legend, Dekanawida (whose name means "two rivers flowing together") a Huron prophet, was born near present-day Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Because of warnings that he would bring ruin to his people, his mother tried to drown him several times. However, on each occasion, he miraculously survived and reappeared the next morning lying next to her.
As an adult, Dekanawida left the Hurons and went south, where he met another legendary Indian figure, Hiawatha. Together with Hiawatha, he is credited with founding the Great League of the Iroquois, joining in a confederacy the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas. Considered the theoretician of the two leaders, he was also one of the first of the Pine Tree Chiefs, chosen by merit rather than by heredity. The two men developed a plan for uniting the five Iroquois nations into a single confederacy. According to legend, Dekanawida came up with the idea but was a poor speaker, so Hiawatha became the spokesperson. The Iroquois Confederacy later served as a model for founders of the government of the United States.
He is also listed in 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History.
As an adult, Dekanawida left the Hurons and went south, where he met another legendary Indian figure, Hiawatha. Together with Hiawatha, he is credited with founding the Great League of the Iroquois, joining in a confederacy the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Senecas. Considered the theoretician of the two leaders, he was also one of the first of the Pine Tree Chiefs, chosen by merit rather than by heredity. The two men developed a plan for uniting the five Iroquois nations into a single confederacy. According to legend, Dekanawida came up with the idea but was a poor speaker, so Hiawatha became the spokesperson. The Iroquois Confederacy later served as a model for founders of the government of the United States.
He is also listed in 100 Native Americans Who Shaped American History.
North Dakota hosts American Indian event
By: Amy Dalrymple
About 1,200 students, faculty and administrators involved in American Indian higher education across the country will gather in North Dakota next week.
The 27th annual American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference is Monday through March 20 in Bismarck.
One of the main attractions is a knowledge bowl competition for students from the nation’s 36 tribal colleges.
The event also features workshops from American Indian education professionals.
Speakers include Cecilia Fire Thunder, who served as the first woman tribal president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, and Dale Brown, who coached Shaquille O’Neil at Louisiana State University.
For more information, visithttp://aihec.sittingbull.edu.
About 1,200 students, faculty and administrators involved in American Indian higher education across the country will gather in North Dakota next week.
The 27th annual American Indian Higher Education Consortium Student Conference is Monday through March 20 in Bismarck.
One of the main attractions is a knowledge bowl competition for students from the nation’s 36 tribal colleges.
The event also features workshops from American Indian education professionals.
Speakers include Cecilia Fire Thunder, who served as the first woman tribal president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, and Dale Brown, who coached Shaquille O’Neil at Louisiana State University.
For more information, visithttp://aihec.sittingbull.edu.
Indian DNA Links to 6 'Founding Mothers'
By: Malcolm Ritter
NEW YORK -- Nearly all of today's Native Americans in North, Central and South America can trace part of their ancestry to six women whose descendants immigrated around 20,000 years ago, a DNA study suggests.
Those women left a particular DNA legacy that persists to today in about about 95 percent of Native Americans, researchers said.
The finding does not mean that only these six women gave rise to the migrants who crossed into North America from Asia in the initial populating of the continent, said study co-author Ugo Perego.
The women lived between 18,000 and 21,000 years ago, though not necessarily at exactly the same time, he said.
The work was published this week by the journal PLoS One. Perego is from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City and the University of Pavia in Italy.
The work confirms previous indications of the six maternal lineages, he said. But an expert unconnected with the study said the findings left some questions unanswered.
Perego and his colleagues traced the history of a particular kind of DNA that represents just a tiny fraction of the human genetic material, and reflects only a piece of a person's ancestry.
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031301096.html
NEW YORK -- Nearly all of today's Native Americans in North, Central and South America can trace part of their ancestry to six women whose descendants immigrated around 20,000 years ago, a DNA study suggests.
Those women left a particular DNA legacy that persists to today in about about 95 percent of Native Americans, researchers said.
The finding does not mean that only these six women gave rise to the migrants who crossed into North America from Asia in the initial populating of the continent, said study co-author Ugo Perego.
The women lived between 18,000 and 21,000 years ago, though not necessarily at exactly the same time, he said.
The work was published this week by the journal PLoS One. Perego is from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City and the University of Pavia in Italy.
The work confirms previous indications of the six maternal lineages, he said. But an expert unconnected with the study said the findings left some questions unanswered.
Perego and his colleagues traced the history of a particular kind of DNA that represents just a tiny fraction of the human genetic material, and reflects only a piece of a person's ancestry.
Want to know more? Click here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/13/AR2008031301096.html
Should tribes consider ditching blood requirements?
By: Jodi Rave
PHILADELPHIA - Some of the greatest legal scholars of our time recently sat in judgment of a hypothetical court case, asked to determine the fairness of a futuristic race-based affirmative action program.
As I listened from the audience, the scenario - set four years into the future - seemed too familiar. The lawyers, professors and judges made arguments and fired questions about a university admissions test that relied on DNA testing as proof of students' connection to a cultural heritage.
The case: Should a male student who grew up in an African-American community be given more or less consideration for adding diversity to a university campus, compared to a female student adopted by whites and raised in a white-and-wealthy neighborhood?
What if a DNA lab report showed the first student's genetic makeup as 24 percent black versus the female student, whose report showed she was genetically 26 percent Asian and black?
A Peter Jennings Project journalism fellowship recently led me to the National Constitution Center, where I had the chance to meet and listen to legal experts like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan and Stanford Law School professor Kathleen Sullivan.
Sullivan argued the moot case before a panel of judges. She represented the young man who grew up in a 95 percent black neighborhood, while professor Charles Ogletree of Harvard Law School defended the woman who recently discovered her black-Asian genetic makeup.
The argument central to this case asked whether the mechanics of a blood test should trump diversity acquired through living in a culturally ethnic community.
As the mock hearing neared its end, it was clear which lawyer would claim victory.
Read more here: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/14/jodirave/rave15.txt
PHILADELPHIA - Some of the greatest legal scholars of our time recently sat in judgment of a hypothetical court case, asked to determine the fairness of a futuristic race-based affirmative action program.
As I listened from the audience, the scenario - set four years into the future - seemed too familiar. The lawyers, professors and judges made arguments and fired questions about a university admissions test that relied on DNA testing as proof of students' connection to a cultural heritage.
The case: Should a male student who grew up in an African-American community be given more or less consideration for adding diversity to a university campus, compared to a female student adopted by whites and raised in a white-and-wealthy neighborhood?
What if a DNA lab report showed the first student's genetic makeup as 24 percent black versus the female student, whose report showed she was genetically 26 percent Asian and black?
A Peter Jennings Project journalism fellowship recently led me to the National Constitution Center, where I had the chance to meet and listen to legal experts like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan and Stanford Law School professor Kathleen Sullivan.
Sullivan argued the moot case before a panel of judges. She represented the young man who grew up in a 95 percent black neighborhood, while professor Charles Ogletree of Harvard Law School defended the woman who recently discovered her black-Asian genetic makeup.
The argument central to this case asked whether the mechanics of a blood test should trump diversity acquired through living in a culturally ethnic community.
As the mock hearing neared its end, it was clear which lawyer would claim victory.
Read more here: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/03/14/jodirave/rave15.txt
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