Associated Press
The room is jammed full of symbolic keepsakes, including a green Miss Junior High Indian Princess crown, mounted caribou antlers sent from Alaska, three woven ``burden baskets'' from the Apache people and a big brown stuffed Teddy bear.
The memorial room in the home of Terry and Priscilla ``Percy'' Piestewa is kept locked and no photography is allowed. In this sanctuary, the Piestewas and their two grandchildren, Brandon, 9, and Carla, 8, pay tribute to the memory of Lori, the daughter and mother they loved so well.
Army Spc. Lori Ann Piestewa, 23, was killed March 23 during an ambush in Nasiriyah in the first days of the invasion of Iraq by U.S. forces and their allies.
``Papa'' and ``Grandma,'' as the children call them, have been caring for Brandon and Carla since the death of their mother.
``They'll be times when they'll miss their mother,'' said Terry, 64, who is Hopi and was born in Winslow. ``Percy takes them into the memorial room. She'll talk to them about their mother, and they'll feel better about their mother. It's kind of like a healing place to us.''
Lori, a member of the Hopi tribe, was the first American Indian woman to die in combat while serving in the U.S. military.
There's more to this story and her connection to Jessica Lynch. Click here: http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=768710&r=1
Friday, March 21, 2008
Crow legend in line for national honor
By: Becky Shay
Joe Medicine Crow missed fighting the Plains Indians' wars. Born in 1913, he arrived decades after the battles his people, the Crow Indians, fought.
Medicine Crow still became a warrior and chief - honored not only by his tribe but also possibly soon as a recipient of one of America's most prestigious honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Medicine Crow was schooled in the ways of the chief by his grandfather, Yellowtail. As a child near Lodge Grass, Medicine Crow was trained by running, swimming, riding horses and walking barefoot in the snow. When he was called to be a warrior, those demanding lessons were part of Medicine Crow's nature.
"All that came in handy during World War II," the Army veteran said.
Considered a warrior chief by his tribe and the oldest living Crow Indian veteran, Medicine Crow has been nominated for the Medal of Freedom by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The medal is the highest civil award an American can receive.
Medicine Crow, 94, is recognized as a warrior chief by his tribe for completing all four actions of counting coups while in battle as an Army soldier in World War II. The first member of the Crow Tribe to earn a master's degree, Medicine Crow is a noted tribal historian and the author of several books on Crow culture.
There's more here: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/03/20/news/local/26-medal.txt
Joe Medicine Crow missed fighting the Plains Indians' wars. Born in 1913, he arrived decades after the battles his people, the Crow Indians, fought.
Medicine Crow still became a warrior and chief - honored not only by his tribe but also possibly soon as a recipient of one of America's most prestigious honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Medicine Crow was schooled in the ways of the chief by his grandfather, Yellowtail. As a child near Lodge Grass, Medicine Crow was trained by running, swimming, riding horses and walking barefoot in the snow. When he was called to be a warrior, those demanding lessons were part of Medicine Crow's nature.
"All that came in handy during World War II," the Army veteran said.
Considered a warrior chief by his tribe and the oldest living Crow Indian veteran, Medicine Crow has been nominated for the Medal of Freedom by Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. The medal is the highest civil award an American can receive.
Medicine Crow, 94, is recognized as a warrior chief by his tribe for completing all four actions of counting coups while in battle as an Army soldier in World War II. The first member of the Crow Tribe to earn a master's degree, Medicine Crow is a noted tribal historian and the author of several books on Crow culture.
There's more here: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/03/20/news/local/26-medal.txt
As U.S. border fence rises, a tribe tightens ties
By: Tim Gaynor
CAMPO, California (Reuters) - As U.S. authorities tighten security on the porous Mexico border in this election year, some communities have been caught off guard by government plans to build miles of fencing and barriers.
But members of one Native American tribe whose scattered settlements stud the rocky highlands of southern California and northwest Mexico, saw the build-up coming years ago and have turned something they dreaded to their advantage.
"There was a sense among a lot of people that something needed to be done to prevent us from losing touch ... and so that's what we did," said Mike Connolly, a councilman with the Campo Band of the Kumeyaay nation.
Expecting the wall to come crashing down on their community, the tribes have deepened ties, from cultural exchanges to visa regimens that ensure families can easily cross the U.S.-Mexico divide.
For centuries the Kumeyaay thrived as farmers and hunter gatherers in the borderlands, where there are now 13 Kumeyaay reservations, or "bands," dispersed across the rugged highland corner of San Diego County and four further settlements in Baja California, Mexico.
Their dispersed traditional settlements gave names to many of the cities and towns on both sides of the international line, including Tecuan, which became Tijuana, now the largest city on the border, and Otay, an area of trade parks in southern California.
Members of different settlements in Mexico and California used to cross informally back and forth over the line to visit their kin for decades, often bypassing checkpoints and simply hopping over a cattle fence in the oak-studded highlands east of San Diego.
But as a crackdown on illegal immigration from Mexico placed more border police and taller steel barriers along the line near San Diego in the 1990s, the members of the fragmented tribe realized that they needed to take decisive action if they were to stay together.
"The Kumeyaay were like a broken vase, and we needed the pieces back together again," said Louie Guassac, executive director of the Kumeyaay Border Task Force.
Get the whole article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/19/AR2008031903086.html
CAMPO, California (Reuters) - As U.S. authorities tighten security on the porous Mexico border in this election year, some communities have been caught off guard by government plans to build miles of fencing and barriers.
But members of one Native American tribe whose scattered settlements stud the rocky highlands of southern California and northwest Mexico, saw the build-up coming years ago and have turned something they dreaded to their advantage.
"There was a sense among a lot of people that something needed to be done to prevent us from losing touch ... and so that's what we did," said Mike Connolly, a councilman with the Campo Band of the Kumeyaay nation.
Expecting the wall to come crashing down on their community, the tribes have deepened ties, from cultural exchanges to visa regimens that ensure families can easily cross the U.S.-Mexico divide.
For centuries the Kumeyaay thrived as farmers and hunter gatherers in the borderlands, where there are now 13 Kumeyaay reservations, or "bands," dispersed across the rugged highland corner of San Diego County and four further settlements in Baja California, Mexico.
Their dispersed traditional settlements gave names to many of the cities and towns on both sides of the international line, including Tecuan, which became Tijuana, now the largest city on the border, and Otay, an area of trade parks in southern California.
Members of different settlements in Mexico and California used to cross informally back and forth over the line to visit their kin for decades, often bypassing checkpoints and simply hopping over a cattle fence in the oak-studded highlands east of San Diego.
But as a crackdown on illegal immigration from Mexico placed more border police and taller steel barriers along the line near San Diego in the 1990s, the members of the fragmented tribe realized that they needed to take decisive action if they were to stay together.
"The Kumeyaay were like a broken vase, and we needed the pieces back together again," said Louie Guassac, executive director of the Kumeyaay Border Task Force.
Get the whole article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/19/AR2008031903086.html
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Quotes
"Many proposals have been made to us to adopt your laws, your religion, your manners and your customs. We would be better pleased with beholding the good effects of these doctrines in your own practices, than with hearing you talk about them". -
Old Tassel - Cherokee
Old Tassel - Cherokee
Featured Tribe - Bannock
Bannock ( from Panátǐ, their own name). A Shoshonean tribe whose habitat previous to being gathered on reservations can not be definitely Outlined. There were two geographic divisions, but references to the Bannock do not always note this distinction. The home of the chief division appears to have been south east Idaho, whence they ranged into west Wyoming. The country actually claimed by the chief of this southern division, which seems to have been recognized by the treaty of Ft Bridger, July 3, 1868, lay between lat. 42° and 45°, and between long. 113° and the main chain of the Rocky Mountains. It separated the Wihinasht Shoshoni of west Idaho from the so-called Washaki band of Shoshoni of west Wyoming. They were found in this region in 1859, and they asserted that this had been their home in the past. Bridger (Ind. Aft. Rep., 363, 1859) had known them in this region as early as 1829. Bonneville found them in 1833 on Portneuf River, immediately north of the present Ft Hall reservation. Many of this division affiliated with the Washaki Shoshoni, and by 1859 had extensively intermarried with them.
Ft. Hall reservation was set apart by Executive order in 1869, and 600 Bannock, in addition to a large number of Shoshoni, consented to remain upon it. Most of them soon wandered away, however, and as late as 1874 an appropriation was made to enable the Bannock and Shoshoni scattered in south east Idaho to be moved to the reservation. The Bannock at Ft Hall were said to number 422 in 1885. The northern division was found by Gov. Stevens in 1853 (Pac. R. R. Rep., f, 329, 1855) living on Salmon River in east Idaho. Lewis and Clark, who passed through the country of this northern division in 1805, may have included them under the general term Shoshone, unless, as is most likely, these are the Broken Moccasin Indians they mention (Expel., Coues ed., ]r, 523, 1893). In all probability these Salmon River Bannock had recently crossed the mountains from the eastward owing to pressure of the Siksika, since they claimed as their territory south west Montana, including the rich areas in which are situated Virginia City, Bozeman, and other towns (Ind. Aff. Rep., 289, 1869). Stevens (1853) states that they had been more than decimated by the ravages of smallpox and the inroads of the Siksika. It is probable that at no distant time in the past, perhaps before they had acquired horses, the various groups of the entire Bannock tribe were united in one locality in south east Idaho, inhere they were neighbors of the Shoshoni proper, but their language is divergent front the latter.
The Bannock were a widely roving tribe, a characteristic which favored their dispersal and separation into groups. Both the men and the women are well developed; and although Shoshonean in language, in physical characters the Bannock resemble more closely the Shahaptian Nez Percé than other Shoshonean Indians. Kroeber reports that the language of the Fort hall Bannock connects them closer with the Ute than with any other Shoshonean tribe. At the same time Powell and Mooney report that the tribes of west Nevada consider the Bannock very nearly related to themselves.
The loss of hunting lands, the diminution of the bison herds, and the failure of the Government to render timely relief led to a Bannock outbreak in 1878, the trouble having been of long standing. During the exciting times of the Nez Percé war the Bannock mere forced to remain on their inhospitable reservation, to face the continued encroachment of the whites, and to subsist on goods provided from an appropriation amounting to 2½ cents per capita per diem. During the summer a drunken Indian of the tribe shot and wounded two teamsters; the excitement and hitter feeling caused by his arrest, Nov. 23, 1877, resulted in the killing of an agency employee. Troops were called for, and the murderer was pursued, captured, tried, and executed. This episode so increased the excitement of the Indians that, fearing what was assumed to be threatening demonstrations, the troops surrounded and captured two Bannock camps in Jan., 1878; but most of the Indians were afterward released. On account of insufficient food the Bannock left the reservation in the spring and went to Camas prairie, where they killed several settlers. A vigorous campaign under Gen. Howard resulted in the capture of about 1,000 of them in August, and the outbreak came to all end after a fight on Sept. 5, at Clark's ford, where 20 Bannock lodges were attacked and all the women and children killed.Bridger states that when he first knew them (about 1829) the southern Bannock numbered 1,200 lodges, indicating a population of about 8,000.
Ft. Hall reservation was set apart by Executive order in 1869, and 600 Bannock, in addition to a large number of Shoshoni, consented to remain upon it. Most of them soon wandered away, however, and as late as 1874 an appropriation was made to enable the Bannock and Shoshoni scattered in south east Idaho to be moved to the reservation. The Bannock at Ft Hall were said to number 422 in 1885. The northern division was found by Gov. Stevens in 1853 (Pac. R. R. Rep., f, 329, 1855) living on Salmon River in east Idaho. Lewis and Clark, who passed through the country of this northern division in 1805, may have included them under the general term Shoshone, unless, as is most likely, these are the Broken Moccasin Indians they mention (Expel., Coues ed., ]r, 523, 1893). In all probability these Salmon River Bannock had recently crossed the mountains from the eastward owing to pressure of the Siksika, since they claimed as their territory south west Montana, including the rich areas in which are situated Virginia City, Bozeman, and other towns (Ind. Aff. Rep., 289, 1869). Stevens (1853) states that they had been more than decimated by the ravages of smallpox and the inroads of the Siksika. It is probable that at no distant time in the past, perhaps before they had acquired horses, the various groups of the entire Bannock tribe were united in one locality in south east Idaho, inhere they were neighbors of the Shoshoni proper, but their language is divergent front the latter.
The Bannock were a widely roving tribe, a characteristic which favored their dispersal and separation into groups. Both the men and the women are well developed; and although Shoshonean in language, in physical characters the Bannock resemble more closely the Shahaptian Nez Percé than other Shoshonean Indians. Kroeber reports that the language of the Fort hall Bannock connects them closer with the Ute than with any other Shoshonean tribe. At the same time Powell and Mooney report that the tribes of west Nevada consider the Bannock very nearly related to themselves.
The loss of hunting lands, the diminution of the bison herds, and the failure of the Government to render timely relief led to a Bannock outbreak in 1878, the trouble having been of long standing. During the exciting times of the Nez Percé war the Bannock mere forced to remain on their inhospitable reservation, to face the continued encroachment of the whites, and to subsist on goods provided from an appropriation amounting to 2½ cents per capita per diem. During the summer a drunken Indian of the tribe shot and wounded two teamsters; the excitement and hitter feeling caused by his arrest, Nov. 23, 1877, resulted in the killing of an agency employee. Troops were called for, and the murderer was pursued, captured, tried, and executed. This episode so increased the excitement of the Indians that, fearing what was assumed to be threatening demonstrations, the troops surrounded and captured two Bannock camps in Jan., 1878; but most of the Indians were afterward released. On account of insufficient food the Bannock left the reservation in the spring and went to Camas prairie, where they killed several settlers. A vigorous campaign under Gen. Howard resulted in the capture of about 1,000 of them in August, and the outbreak came to all end after a fight on Sept. 5, at Clark's ford, where 20 Bannock lodges were attacked and all the women and children killed.Bridger states that when he first knew them (about 1829) the southern Bannock numbered 1,200 lodges, indicating a population of about 8,000.
Hunter and the Dakwa
Cherokee legend...
In the old days there was a great fish called the Dakwa which lived in the Tennessee River near the mouth of Toco Creek. This fish was so large that it could easily swallow a man. One day several hunters were travelling in a canoe along the Tennessee when the Dakwa suddenly rose up under the canoe and threw them all into the air. As the men came down, the fish swallowed one with a single snap of its jaws, and dived with him to the bottom of the river.
This man was one of the bravest hunters in the tribe, and as soon as he discovered where he was he began thinking of some way to overcome the Dakwa and escape from its stomach. Except for a few scratches and bruises, the hunter had not been hurt, but it was so hot and airless inside the big fish that he feared he would soon smother.
As he groped around in the darkness, his hands found some musselshells which the Dakwa had swallowed. These shells had very sharp edges. Using one of them as a knife, the hunter began cutting away at the fish's stomach. Soon the Dakwa grew uneasy at the scraping inside his stomach and came up to the surface of the river for air. The man kept on cutting with the shell until the fish was in such pain that it swam wildly back and forth across the river, thrashing the water into foam with its tail.
At last the hunter cut through the Dakwa's side. Water flowed in, almost drowning the man, but the big fish was so weary by this time that it came to a stop. The hunter looked out of the hole and saw that the Dakwa was now resting in shallow water near the riverbank.
Reaching up, the man pulled himself through the hole in the fish, moving very carefully so as not to disturb the Dakwa. He then waded ashore and returned to his village, where his friends were mourning his death because they were sure he had been eaten by the great fish. Now they named him a hero and held a celebration in his honour. Although the brave hunter escaped with his life, the juices in the stomach of the Dakwa had scalded all the hair from his head, and he was bald forever after.
In the old days there was a great fish called the Dakwa which lived in the Tennessee River near the mouth of Toco Creek. This fish was so large that it could easily swallow a man. One day several hunters were travelling in a canoe along the Tennessee when the Dakwa suddenly rose up under the canoe and threw them all into the air. As the men came down, the fish swallowed one with a single snap of its jaws, and dived with him to the bottom of the river.
This man was one of the bravest hunters in the tribe, and as soon as he discovered where he was he began thinking of some way to overcome the Dakwa and escape from its stomach. Except for a few scratches and bruises, the hunter had not been hurt, but it was so hot and airless inside the big fish that he feared he would soon smother.
As he groped around in the darkness, his hands found some musselshells which the Dakwa had swallowed. These shells had very sharp edges. Using one of them as a knife, the hunter began cutting away at the fish's stomach. Soon the Dakwa grew uneasy at the scraping inside his stomach and came up to the surface of the river for air. The man kept on cutting with the shell until the fish was in such pain that it swam wildly back and forth across the river, thrashing the water into foam with its tail.
At last the hunter cut through the Dakwa's side. Water flowed in, almost drowning the man, but the big fish was so weary by this time that it came to a stop. The hunter looked out of the hole and saw that the Dakwa was now resting in shallow water near the riverbank.
Reaching up, the man pulled himself through the hole in the fish, moving very carefully so as not to disturb the Dakwa. He then waded ashore and returned to his village, where his friends were mourning his death because they were sure he had been eaten by the great fish. Now they named him a hero and held a celebration in his honour. Although the brave hunter escaped with his life, the juices in the stomach of the Dakwa had scalded all the hair from his head, and he was bald forever after.
Monument Valley Film Festival
The 2nd Annual Monument Valley Film Festival is making a call for entries to all Native American film makers for this year’s 2008 festival. This year’s festival will be held July 4-6, 2008 here on the Navajo Nation in Kayenta, Arizona. Like the previous year, the festival will be focusing on original films directed, produced or written by Native Americans.
The festival was started last year by Shonie and Andee De La Rosa of Sheephead Films. Well over 500 people and film makers attended the film festival last year to watch over 40 Native American films from all over North America. This years festival will once again be held in conjunction with the 4th of July Celebration here in Kayenta, AZ which is one of the biggest rodeos and pow-wows held on the Navajo Nation.
With the 4th of July Celebration going on and the thousands of tourist passing through Kayenta on their way to Monument Valley and the Four Corners area attractions, we expect attendance to be quite high.
All Native film makers are encouraged to submit their original works to this year’s film festival. First time and youth film makers are strongly encouraged to submit their works. All entries will be considered for screening after review. There is not an entry fee and admission to the film festival will be free to the public.
Submission guidelines are simple. All entries must be written, produced or directed by a Native American. Subject matter in films submitted must be tasteful. Remember, the festival is free to the public. This includes children. Films promoting drugs, alcohol, gangs, sex, etc will not be considered for public screening. Explicit language or violence in a film does not exclude it from possible selection for the festival. Use common sense when submitting a film(s). All submissions must be on DVD or MiniDV. Please, when submitting DVD, make sure it works by testing it on different DVD players before you send it to us. Please fill out all submission forms completely and clearly for each film submitted.
The Official Monument Valley Film Festival web site is available for more information and you will also be able to download this years submission forms for the film festival. Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2007.
The festival was started last year by Shonie and Andee De La Rosa of Sheephead Films. Well over 500 people and film makers attended the film festival last year to watch over 40 Native American films from all over North America. This years festival will once again be held in conjunction with the 4th of July Celebration here in Kayenta, AZ which is one of the biggest rodeos and pow-wows held on the Navajo Nation.
With the 4th of July Celebration going on and the thousands of tourist passing through Kayenta on their way to Monument Valley and the Four Corners area attractions, we expect attendance to be quite high.
All Native film makers are encouraged to submit their original works to this year’s film festival. First time and youth film makers are strongly encouraged to submit their works. All entries will be considered for screening after review. There is not an entry fee and admission to the film festival will be free to the public.
Submission guidelines are simple. All entries must be written, produced or directed by a Native American. Subject matter in films submitted must be tasteful. Remember, the festival is free to the public. This includes children. Films promoting drugs, alcohol, gangs, sex, etc will not be considered for public screening. Explicit language or violence in a film does not exclude it from possible selection for the festival. Use common sense when submitting a film(s). All submissions must be on DVD or MiniDV. Please, when submitting DVD, make sure it works by testing it on different DVD players before you send it to us. Please fill out all submission forms completely and clearly for each film submitted.
The Official Monument Valley Film Festival web site is available for more information and you will also be able to download this years submission forms for the film festival. Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2007.
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