A Cherokee Elder's Guide to Parenting

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"A warrior is challenged to assume responsibility, practice humility, and display the power of giving, and then center his or her life around a core of spirituality. I challenge today's youth to live like a warrior." - Billy Mills

                                                                        --Submitted by Kim Summer Moon

What you love you empower and what you fear you empower - What you empower you attract.

Wisdom of Elders:

Traditional American Indian

Food and Recipes

This 70+ page, soft-bound cookbook is brimming with recipes, tribal profiles, authentic preparation methods, as well as colorful ideas for menu planning. Gain insight into age old traditions and read stories about the American Indians who prepared these tasty delights. Proceeds from the sale of this cookbook go to the National Society for American Indian Elderly.

Manataka highly recommends this book for those who are concerned about providing a healthy diet for their families.  Full course meals are colorfully displayed. It is difficult to decide whether this book belongs on the coffee table or in the kitchen. Sections on food preparation traditions make this book a valuable addition to any library.  Glossy pages are easily cleaned.

Order yours now for only $21.95

Manataka Elder Jim Pathfinder 

Featured On Prophecy Keepers Radio

Listen now and 24/7 anytime in the next year at www.prophecykeepers.com  

ProphecyKeepers.com interviewed Jim PathFinder Ewing (Nvnehi Awatisgi), 52, an enrolled member of the Southern Cherokee Tribe & Associated Bands in Texas, an Elder of the Manataka American Indian Council (Hot Springs, Ark.), a member of the Bear Clan Medicine Society (Russelville, Ark), a Bear Dancer (Yona Galisgisgia) and Water Pourer with training in Shamanism, Reiki and other forms of energy medicine.  

He alternates living in Buffalo, Texas, at the tribe’s Ceremonial Grounds, and in Lena, Mississippi, where he practices, teaches, and holds Bear Lodge (Asi/Inipi) and leads a monthly Drum Circle, a prayer ceremony honoring the Native American Medicine Wheel.  

A Registered Karuna Reiki® Master Teacher, Usui/Tibetan Reiki Master Teacher and sponsor of workshops by The Foundation For Shamanic Studies, he writes a monthly newsletter (“Keeping In Touch …”) that has subscribers across the United States and in several foreign countries.

Respect, Humility, Honor
By David L. Maack - hrlytopr@execpc.com

I was once asked by a native elder, what do you mean by "walking the "Red Road"? People throw that term
loosely around, but what do you mean?" I was caught by surprise but had to agree. Many people I knew would
use "walking the "Red Road" as some sort of cliché but when pressed, could not offer an explanation of went
that meant.

As I see it, we are all on a journey until we walk on to the Spirit World. Though people will walk with us at various times, we are on this journey by ourselves. As I continue to walk and grow, there are three things that I have learned-respect, humility and honor-and they go hand in hand.

Respect
Fool's Crow was once asked what makes a leader and he thought for a while and then answered: "First I would
say respect. Respect for the responsibility and for the people."

Respect (Mawnawjiwin) is one of the seven major teachings of the Ojibwa people. It is also one of the four pillars of the Lakota.

We are taught to show respect for our elders, for other people, for the gifts the Creator has given us and for the world around us. Life is cyclical and there is a cause and effect to our actions. If we treat others with respect, we ourselves will gain respect but if we are disrespectful, people will be disrespectful to us.

Our elders have earned our respect because of their age and the wisdom they have acquired. We let them go
first, giving them the places of honor in our gatherings. According to the Midewiwin Code for Lifelong Wisdom, we are to "Honor the aged, in honoring them, you honor life and wisdom."

Lloyd Shearer said, "Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant with the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these." Sadly many talk about respect but they do not "walk the talk."

We must also respect the world around us. When we get up in the morning, we offer our tobacco (semah), when
we go out on the lake, we offer our tobacco (semah), when we take the life of an animal, we offer our tobacco (semah) because we acknowledge that we are caretakers of that which is around us; there is interdependency between us and the environment.

We need to be careful that we take only what we need, not what we want. Over the years, areas have been stripped clean because of greed and invasive species have been introduced. A classic example of an "eco-system" run amok is Lake Michigan. "On the surface, Lake Michigan remains one of the world's biggest and wildest bodies of freshwater and one of its most popular fishing destinations. But under water, it is largely a man-made production Most ominous, there is mounting evidence that the lake could be on the brink of "ecosystem shock," a food chain collapse caused by a non-stop invasion of foreign species."

Humility
The second trait that Fools Crow speaks about is humbleness or humility. "Remembering the leader is a
hollow bone that the creator uses to do good for his people. His life is for his people. His life is dedicated to them and serving them." Humility (Duhbuhsaynimoowin) is also one of the seven major teachings of the Ojibwa.

Lao-Tzu understood this principle. "I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men."

Humility is an interesting trait because it goes against human nature. The world around us is driven by greed, competition and the desire to excel. We want it all and we want it now. To be humble, one must see beyond themselves. We can compare ourselves with our neighbor and walk away thinking we are better than them. We can boast about being a big shot and think we are something greater than we really are. But if we would travel to the moon and look down, we would not even appear as a speck. If we hold our life up against eternity, it is but a wisp of smoke. A Serbian Proverb admonishes us to be humble. "Be humble for you are made of earth."

There are many in Indian Country who I look at with respect and awe for the knowledge they hold but then when you talk with them, you learn they are simply on that same journey and they often admit that though it seems like they know much, they know very little in light of all the knowledge that is out there. Helen Keller said, "I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble."

The challenge is to remain sincerely humble. Unfortunately, there are many who say, "Look at me, I am a humble man." However, a humble man would not draw attention to his humility. The humble man sees himself as he is.... The man who is falsely humble, we know from our own experience, is one who is falsely proud." 

I have learned that is best to walk humbly before our Creator and before our fellow man. 

If we walk humbly, we are less likely to get in trouble with those around us, we will care for the needs of others before we tend to our own wants and desires and we will hear Creator's voice, calling to us all so gently.

Honor
Honor is an oxymoron in Indian country because it is those who are being honored who are the ones who turn around and honor others for the privilege of being honored.

Honor can either be a noun or a verb. As a noun, it connotes recognition and as a verb, it means to pay tribute to someone. When we honor someone, we hold them and their accomplishments up for all to see. These people are often seated in the most prominent spots and often showered with gifts and titles. As with a King or Queen, they are the ones served, bowed to and shown honor by all who enter their court. They make decrees and people are expected to follow them. There is a tradition, however, within "Indian Country" that when a person is honored, they give something away. This past summer we attended a wedding on the Lac Du Flambeau Reservation and the couple held a "give away." Each person who attended the wedding took home a gift from the bridal couple. When we held my wife's graduation party in August, we did the same thing. We wanted to honor those who had come to honor my wife.

My daughter was honored as a Jr. Princess and with that title and crown came great responsibility. Royalty, as they are called, are allowed to dance behind the head dancers and at most give aways they are called up to receive a special gift. The girls are also role models for other girls and as role models; they are expected to serve the people. It may be helping an elder find a seat at the Pow Wow, helping out as needed or serving food at the evening feast.

In the same way we should look at leadership in the same vain. In many tribal villages, the poorest member of the tribe was the chief because he was constantly giving away and meeting the needs of the people. In essence, servant leaders should look at what they can bring to the table, not what they will take away from the table. Leaders are called to serve the people.

"(Joe) Bush (White Earth Pipe Carrier) lives in a small two-story home near the White Earth community of Pine Point in northwestern Minnesota. People knock on his door at any hour of the day or night, seeking his help. "They'll offer me tobacco. Can you say a prayer for me. I'm having family problems. I'm having a drinking problem. I want to get out of drugs. Can you help me." Joe Bush will climb the stairs to his bedroom, and bring down his pipe. He'll smoke and pray with the person who wants help. Then he sends them away, confident the Creator is listening. Joe Bush says he will carry the pipe until just before he dies."

Max Dupree said, "The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader."

If we commit ourselves to showing respect for all those around us, seek to walk with humility, lest we become proud and arrogant, give honor to those who should be honored and when honored, taking that responsibility seriously, than this world would be a little better for all us.

David L. Maack - hrlytopr@execpc.com

Nanticoke Leni-Lenape reclaim their identity
By Jacqueline L. Urgo, Inquirer Staff Writer


BRIDGETON, N.J. - From the time she was a child, Tina Pierce Fragoso was told to keep the family secret.

That her parents and grandparents and their ancestors had carried on the traditions of the Nanticoke Leni-Lenape - believed to be the original inhabitants of what is now New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of Pennsylvania - was something that needed to remain hidden.

Afraid of racial discrimination and decades of what they perceived as government tactics to disperse American Indians, the Nanticokes closely guarded the secret of their heritage.

Until now.
Pierce Fragoso, her tribal elders, and other members of the Nanticoke tribe have begun, for the first time in their 10,000-year history, a push to raise public awareness about the Nanticoke Leni-Lenape, an offshoot of the
Delaware tribal nation.

Members are now making dozens of appearances in schools throughout the state each year to lecture about the Nanticoke Leni-Lenape. And the tribe has mounted a drive to raise about $1.5 million through special events and
private donations to build a cultural and educational center on 28 acres it owns in nearby Fairton, Cumberland County.

The 3,000-member Nanticoke tribe is part of pending legislation being cosponsored by Assembly members Bonnie Watson Coleman (D., Mercer) and Douglas Fisher (D., Cumberland). The legislation also involves the Powhatan
Renape Nation in Burlington County and the Ramapough Mountain People in Bergen County.

Although the tribes were officially recognized in an informal joint resolution of the state Legislature in 1980, the new bill would formally recognize them and thereby allow them to market their handcrafts under an "authentic Indian" label.

The legislation could also lead to federal recognition of the tribes, making them eligible for government loans and grants for education, health care and housing.  

Fisher said the Nanticoke Leni-Lenape have added much to the cultural fabric of the region.

"These are families that have been here for generations, for hundreds and hundreds of years," he said. "They are a group that in recent times had lost their identity, but through the foresight of their elders are now taking
opportunities to regain that identity."

Opponents of the bill, including State Sen. William Gormley (R., Atlantic), say the legislation could open the door to American Indian casino gaming in New Jersey.

Pierce Fragoso, 32, said the Nanticokes are focused on preserving their culture and do not want to build a casino. They want to erect a three-story structure that would take on the symbolic shape of a turtle - their revered
symbol of "mother" - to house a museum and library. 

The building would also provide an outreach location for health care and other assistance, which have been administered to tribe members from a small storefront on Commerce Street for the last 25 years.

Pierce Fragoso said the center provides food, medical care, and social-service referrals and operates on a shoestring budget of less than $40,000 a year. It also houses a small gift shop where members sell their
works, such as native pottery, dolls and clothing.

"We have a lot that we need to preserve and share, and now is that time that it needs to be done before our heritage slips away and is lost forever," said Pierce Fragoso, a cultural anthropologist with a bachelor's degree from Princeton University and a master's degree from Stanford University.

Pierce Fragoso, who worked briefly in anthropological consulting before returning to Cumberland County to coordinate the tribe's nonprofit corporation and administer its outreach programs, says the tribe previously
hid its heritage as a means of preserving it.

"To deny who we were, to just not let it become an issue, was the only way we knew how to survive," said Mark Gould, 66, the tribe's chief.

Seared deep into the memories of the tribe's elders were images of their brethren, as recently as 1924, being stripped of their lands by the government and loaded into railcars in Salem by government agents to be
shipped off to a reservation in Oklahoma, Gould said. 

And it wasn't until 1978, when Congress passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, that it became legal to practice their sacred rites.

If no one knew they were Nanticoke Leni-Lenape, then they would not be rounded up and carted off or arrested, reasoned Lew Pierce, Pierce Fragoso's father, who is the tribe's spiritual leader and conducts many of the
Leni-Lenape religious ceremonies.

"You were told [by your parents] to keep your mouth shut and not talk about who you were," Pierce said. "If someone thought you were black or Hispanic, you just went along with it. Indians come in all shades, so it was easy to hide. It wasn't the time to make a stand."

So Pierce Fragoso was told by her parents to just "blend in" with the crowd at school or with friends.

And she was to ignore the small-town chatter and racial slurs that linked her to a tiny settlement just over the city limits called Gouldtown, where "all the high yellows" supposedly lived.

"But I couldn't keep my mouth shut much of the time, and I wanted to correct the wrongs that people were saying," Pierce Fragoso said. "Sometimes teachers listened, sometimes they just told me to sit down and be quiet."

Historically, Gouldtown was an "Indian town," where many residents could trace their lineage back more than a dozen generations to the Nanticokes, Pierce said.

In federal census data from the 1800s through the 20th century, many of those living in Gouldtown described themselves as "mulatto." 

And their worship centered on a little white church on Fordville Road called St. John's United Methodist Church.

With a congregation still largely made up of Nanticoke descendants, regular Methodist worship takes place on four Sundays each month. But in months with five Sundays, traditional American Indian ceremonies are held. Until 1978, these ceremonies were held in secret.

But things have changed over the last decade. Although some curriculums haven't quite caught up, the tribe gets more than 300 requests a year to travel to schools throughout the region to talk about Nanticoke Leni-Lenape
heritage.

"I've never let the negative comments impact how I see myself or my people," Pierce Fragoso said.

Instead, she decided to arm herself with credentials that can help her play a vital role in preserving the tribe's heritage.

"When you look at the pieces of our people scattered about, it doesn't look like we have much," Pierce Fragoso said. "But put together, we have a lot. We have a story to tell."

jurgo@phillynews.com.
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Leni-Lenape Facts

The Leni-Lenape are believed to be the original inhabitants of the Mid-Atlantic region, including what is now New Jersey and Delaware, and parts of New York and Pennsylvania.

American Indians were not officially granted U.S. citizenship until 1924. Until 1978, they were banned by law from publicly holding traditional religious ceremonies.

Traditionally, the Nanticoke Leni-Lenape were split into three clans: the turtle, the turkey and the wolf. Each is connected with various stories revolving around native life.

The language spoken by the Leni-Lenape is called Lenape Delaware, or Unami, and is an Algonquian language. It was once common in New Jersey and Delaware, but the nuances of the language have been lost to the ages because no fluent speakers of it remain. A recent resurgence in interest about Unami is helping to revive the language among younger tribe members.

The Leni-Lenape historically were a farming people, with the women of the tribe doing most of the harvesting of corn, squash and beans. Nanticoke foods include corn bread and succotash.

SOURCE: The Nanticoke Leni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey

Elder's Meditation

"Bright days and dark days were both expressions of the Great Mystery, and the Indian reveled in being close to the Great Holiness."  -- Chief Luther Standing Bear, Sioux

The Great Spirit created a world of harmony, a world of justice, a world that is interconnected, a balanced world that has positive and negative, this way and that way, up and down, man and woman, boy and girl, honest and dishonest, responsible and irresponsible, day and night. In other words, He created a polarity system. Both sides are to be respected. Both sides or anything are sacred. We need to do good and we need to learn from our mistakes. We need to honor what takes place in the daytime and we need to honor what takes place in the nighttime. WE learn that we need to learn and we see what we are supposed to see by staying close to the Great Spirit. We need to be talking to Him all the time, saying "Grandfather, what is it you want me to learn?"  

Great Spirit, let me learn today that all things are sacred. Help me stay close to You, my Creator.

 -- Elders.meditation@whitebison.org

THE MIRACLE OF WD-40 

I thought that you might like to know more about this well-known WD-40 product.  

When you read the "shower door" part, try it. It's the first thing that has cleaned that spotty shower door. If yours is plastic, it works just as well as glass. It's a miracle!

Then try it on your stovetop... Viola!  It's now shinier than it's ever been.  You'll be amazed.

The product began from a search for a rust preventative solvent and de-greaser to protect missile parts. WD-40 was created in 1953 by three technicians at the San Diego Rocket Chemical Company. Its name comes from the project that was to find a "Water Displacement" compound. They were successful with the Fortieth formulation, thus WD-40.

The Corvair Company bought it in bulk to protect their Atlas missile parts.  The workers were so pleased with the pro- duct they began smuggling (also known as "shrinkage" or "stealing") it out to use at home.  The executives decided there might be a consumer market for it and put it in aerosol cans.  The rest is history.  Ken East (one of the original founders) says there is nothing in WD-40 that would  hurt you.

Consejo Nacional de Ancianos Mayas de Guatemala

Mayan Elders Give Urgent Warning

by Mitch Battros – Earth Changes TV Newsletter

I have just received an urgent notice from Adam Rubel of Saq Be’. Adam states he has just received word from Carlos Barrios (Mayan Elder), that earth changing events are “in motion” to escalate. No, not next year, not next month, but next week or next day.

 

What Is An Indian?

How much Indian are you? This question was asked of a group of American Indian children at Anderson Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Their answers were quite interesting and very disturbing. In this circle of black, brown, and blondish hair of black, brown, green, blue, and hazel eyes of wiry, curly, kinky, and straight hair, they were very percent-of-blood oriented. 

 

From 15/32 to ¼ to ½ they were calling out their individual percents, that is, until they began to laugh. Especially when one child was asked to point to the half of him that was Indian and the half that wasn't. Yes, it is ridiculous. Is this form of identifying our identity shared by other people? When did we ever hear a Jew state that he was half Jewish? What makes a Jew a Jew is his religion. 

 

American Indian authors Walter Peek and Thomas Sanders explain it this way: "To define the American Indian is as impossible as it is to define the Jews and for many of the same reasons. A Jew knows he is a Jew because he recognizes himself within the framework of a historical-cultural setting that allows him identity. "The Native American, the Indian, the Navajo call him what you will knows he is an Indian because of the mystic tie to the land, the dim memory of his people's literature that has been denied him, the awareness of his relationship to Sakoiatisan, Maintou, Huaca, Wakan Tanka (depending on his being Iroquois, Algonquin, Inca, or Lakota-Sioux) somehow manifests itself within him and conscientiously calls him back to his ancestors. 

 

Bill Charfield, elder teacher and historian, agrees with this philosophy. 'My cultural identity makes me what I am. It is my beliefs that make me Indian.' '' This brings up an interesting point: Can an individual be Jewish and Catholic at the same time? Can an Indian? According to Charfield, an individual's sacred regard for language, his concept of Creation, and his desire to live in harmony with the natural world all must be applied when seeking to define an Indian. 

 

While addressing a college audience, LaDonna Harris was asked to define the Indian. LaDonna replied, "I can't define the Indian anymore than you can define what you are.  Different governmental agencies define him by amount of blood. I had a Comanche mother and an Irish father. But I am Comanche, I'm not Irish and I'm not Indian first. I'm Comanche first, Indian second. When the Comanche took in someone, he became Comanche. He wasn't part this, part that. He was all Comanche or he wasn't Comanche at all. Blood runs the heart. The heart knows what it is." Elizabeth Hallmark, an Ojibwa and Director of the Minneapolis American Indian Center, thinks along these lines: "Just because an individual has a tribal enrollment number entitling him to certain services does not, in my mind, define this person as an Indian. It is the heart of this person that speaks to me. That's where my Indianness is in my heart." One of the great Lakota-Sioux holy men of our time was John Fire Lame Deer. He associated Indianness with the heart also. His beliefs in the concepts symbolized in the pipe identified him as an Indian. 

 

He recollected at a time in his life when the meaning of the pipe filled his senses. He stated that at that moment he realized that to truly understand what it meant to be an Indian was to understand the pipe. He went on to say that even as an old man he was still learning. We must ask ourselves then what bureaucrat has the right to say who is and who isn't an Indian? Or who is more of an Indian? To be an Indian is a way of life, a looking within and feeling a part of all life, an allegiance to and love for this earth.  Historically we did not judge whether someone was Indian based on the color of their eyes or the color of their hair, but by how they conducted and lived their lives. 

 

To debase our identity by reducing us to percentages of  blood is another version of genocide. To deny our tribal nations the right to traditionally adopt and naturalize citizens is relinquishing our tribal sovereignty. The last time some of us were required to show papers for proof of blood was when we wanted to breed dogs or horses. The confusion of attempting to define what is Indian will persist in governmental bureaucracies but will not be shared by many American Indians who know what they are. 

 

For many of us, to be Indian is not heritage granted by legislation, percents of blood, bureaucratic studies, or even by a community's consideration. It comes from the heart and the heart knows what it is. It seems that if the traditional American is to remain at all visible and have a voice in the affairs of the people, then traditional thinking American Indians must challenge the bureaucratic system of identifying Indians if for anyone, for their children.

 

Submitted by Manataka Correspondent - Jennifer Whitefeather Attaway

The Children's Story

By Carol Perez Petersen

On Sat November 13, 2004  a purification lodge in Morongo Valley was prepared for a 12 year old Apache warrior boy.

It started with an earthquake in Big Bear.  There were 13 children who journeyed into the womb of Earth Mother along with him.  The fire was tended by a child and the born and ancient ones received their heart song.  It was a children's lodge.

The child elders sat with a passion to purify.  Mother help us they prayed.  We need a place to grow without prejudices.  It is hard to play.  Our parents are very stressed and I can’t breathe the air.  We do not need medication.  We need help from supernatural powers.  

The Big Bear rose from the grove of pine trees to listen.  I am awake I have heard your prayers.  I am as the below and as the above the big dipper, Ursa Major.  I am the guardian of the seven sisters.  Big Bear said, "You must come to me to open heaven's gate." 

With that said the adults went scrambling and phoning each other to make sure the earth bear ship had the crystals in place for the sunrise ceremony on November 15.  The 8 infinity wheels fired up with radiance not of this world but in the world. The love songs penetrated into mother earth like the hands of a gentle midwife singing.

Up at the Big Bear medicine wheel just before Grandfather Sun would break free from the night time, when all is still before you’ve had your coffee, everywhere in the silence there came a stirring. Songs were waiting in the ethers to be awakened and they were sent through the voices of many natives gathered on hallowed ground. The dancers held their drums and went into ecstasy.