Manataka American Indian
Council Volume XIV Issue 06
JUNE 2010
SMOKE
SIGNAL
NEWS
Manataka
- Preserving The Past Today For
Tomorrow
June 2010
 |
 |
|
FATHER'S DAY
June 20 |
SUMMER SOLSTICE
June 21 |
Page 1 of 3 Pages
NOTICES:
|
 Join
the Manataka Powwow Committee Now!
As chairman of the June 2011 Manataka Powwow at Hot Springs
National Park, Arkansas, Grandfather Hawk Hoffman will share many
years of powwow experience as you provide needed assistance in
organizing, promoting, supervising details and working at the event.
Scheduled for June 10 - 12, 2011, the Manataka Powwow will have a
huge arena at Bald Mountain Park and Campgrounds to host dancers, drummers, special
entertainment, and vendors. Send us your contact information
and what you would like to do to help.
PowwowCommittee@manataka.org
See the Manataka Powwow flyer here
Vendors: Sign up for booth space here...
before they are all gone...
|
Congratulations Angela!
 |
 |
|
Manataka member Angela
SittingBear, Choctaw/Cherokee, of Little Rock, AR recently won the
Powwow Princess crown during the
May 14 - 16, 2010,
United Indian Nations Powwow
Okefenok Swamp Park, Waycross, GA. Angela serves
as Manataka's Powwow Calendar coordinator. Read about powwows
in your area at:
http://www.manataka.org/page828.html
|
|
American Indian
Information and Trade Center Needs Your Help
Attention Tribes, Indian Organizations, Media, Museums, Cultural
Centers, Powwows, and Events
Publishers of the
Native American Directory: Alaska, Canada, U.S. and Powwow on the
Road need your help in updating their extensive database. Get a FREE listing in
the best and largest Native American Directory in the country!
Promote your event, powwow, organization! The Native American
Directory is unique with layers of information circulated by 20
individual agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of
the Census, Public Health Service, Indian Health Service and all
Native organizations and associations. "information that is
hard to find!" "directory on Indians for the 21st
century" "Indian red page bible.”
Contact As soon as possible:
Fred Synder, Director
and Consultant
Deborah Sakiestewa,
Consultant for Revision
American Indian
Information and Trade Center
P.O. Box 27626 Tucson,
AZ 85726-7626
520.622.4900 Fax:
520.622.3525 Tue./Wed./Thur. 10am-7pm MST
www.usaindianinfo.org
info@usaindianinfo.org
oodhamgirl@aol.com
|
Support Manataka Smoke Signal News
SHOP AT
THE
The Manataka American Indian Council does not accept federal or
state government grants, nor do we accept corporate grants.
MAIC does not conduct telephone, door-to-door, email, or
mass-mailing fund raising. Our sole source of revenue comes
from
our
good members and folks who shop our online Trading Post.
Manataka is a 100% all-volunteer organization - no paid staff.
We need your support this time of year to fulfill requests for
assistance and to carry on our work for the coming year.
ELDER MEDITATION
"You have to
have a lot of patience to hear those old people talk, because when they
talk, they talk about motivation, the feeling, the unsound that is around
the universe. They explain everything to one understanding. They bring it
all together, and when they finish, just one word comes out. Just one word.
They might talk all day, and just one word comes out."
--Wallace Black Elk, Lakota
We need to be careful about judging
the old ones when we talk. At first they may not make sense to us. Maybe
we'll say they're old fashioned and don't understand. But the old ones do
understand! When they speak, listen very carefully. Often it will take weeks
or maybe even years before we understand what they are really saying. This
is the way of Wisdom. We need to listen, listen, listen.
Great Spirit, today, open my
ears so I can hear the Elders
http://www.whitebison.org
By Don Coyhis
Manataka Video
Store
FEATURE STORY
A man of great vision departs Mount Rushmore
Memorial
By Tim Giago (Nanwica
Kciji) ©2010 Native Sun News
Gerard
Baker, a member of the Mandan/Hidatsa Tribe of the
Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, is a man
of vision. And yet he is vilified by those white
people who know nothing about the history of the
Black Hills of South Dakota.
When Baker was appointed
as Superintendent of the Mount Rushmore Memorial he
saw the faces of four white presidents carved on the
mountain. But he saw those faces through the eyes of
an Indian. He chose not to diminish the glow that
history has bestowed upon George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Teddy Roosevelt, but
to add to that luster by introducing elements of the
Native people who preceded the Memorial by
centuries.
Very quietly, but with
dignity, Baker began introducing elements of the
Native culture and traditions to the Memorial. He
had several tipis constructed near the site and
introduced Native speakers to talk to the tourists
and visitors about the history of the Hills and of
the region. Aside from having the opportunity to
view the sculpted faces of the four presidents, the
visitors to the Memorial soon flocked to hear the
Native speakers and to look at the other Native art
and artifacts brought to the Memorial by the Lakota
and other tribes of the Northern Plains.
The Native speakers and
exhibits soon became two of the most popular
features at the Memorial much to the chagrin of many
white residents of Rapid City and the surrounding
region. These are our Hills and our presidents on
display and the Indian things Baker is bringing to
the Memorial do not belong there, was the biggest
and probably the most ridiculous complaint.
Read More >>>
FEATURE
STORY
LA FOURCHE PARISH, La. -- The native
Houma people, who have long relied on fishing and trapping in
the marshlands of Louisiana, have been through a lot as a tribe.
They have been robbed of their
lands, subjected to segregation, witnessed the steady erosion of
marshlands and been displaced by hurricanes. Now, some fear the
oil slick that threatens to invade the bayou could be the final
blow to their culture and traditions.
“We still could make a living here,”
says tribal elder Antoine “Whitney” Dardar, 74. “But now, with
the oil coming, I don’t know.”
The tribe, which has about 17,000
members, has lived off the marsh for hundreds of years, and
until recently many members made their living entirely off of
marsh resources—moving from one harvest to another, season by
season.
“In May there was shrimping,
then we would start crabbing, we caught redfish in the
summer, white shrimp in August, and then trapped nutria in
the fall and sold the pelts,” says Aubrey Chaisson Jr., who
is in his 50s.
The Houma survived this way
after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, when the U.S.
government took control of the region from the French.
Unlike French and Spanish colonists before them, the
Americans rejected the Houma property claims, says tribal
historian Michael Dardar, who is the nephew of Antoine. The
Houma were eventually forced out of their permanent villages
to the north in Bayou Cane, and moved into this area deep in
the marshes, where they traditionally had seasonal fishing
villages.
Read More>>>
CRAZY
COYOTE'S HIDES
Garment Leather: Deer,
Cow, Elk and Buffalo
Expertly Tanned Buckskin: White, Gold, Smoked and Willow
We offer a great selection of
buckskin colors and sizes for any craft project from buckskin moccasins to
buckskin shirts, dresses or leggings. From our economical Garment Buckskin, to
our premium natural, white and smoked buckskins, you'll find the buckskin you
need at great values.
Take a tour now!
ENDANGERED EARTH:
The Center for Biological
Diversity
Feds Approve 27 Oil Drilling Projects in Gulf After
BP Spill
Even as the BP spill gushes millions of gallons of oil into
the Gulf of Mexico, the agency tasked with overseeing
offshore drilling is continuing to exempt dangerous new
drilling operations from environmental review. Since the BP
oil-rig explosion on April 20, an investigation has revealed
that the U.S. Department of Interior's Minerals Management
Service has approved 27 new offshore drilling plans as of
May 7 -- 26 of those under the same environmental-review
exemption used to approve the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon
project. In fact, two of the exempted approvals went to BP,
based on the same false assertions about oil-rig safety and
an inconceivably alleged improbability of environmental
damage. This is more bad news about the Mineral
Management Service, but unfortunately it gets worse. Last
week, the MMS became embroiled in controversy when it was
revealed that it had exempted BP's offshore drilling plan
from environmental review, and that it exempts hundreds
of dangerous offshore oil-drilling projects in the Gulf of
Mexico every year, by using a loophole in the National
Environmental Policy Act meant only to apply to non-damaging
activities like building an outhouse or creating a hiking
trail.
In response to the review-exemption scandal, last Thursday
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that he had banned
approval of new offshore oil-drilling permits -- but the
next day, Interior acknowledged that environmental
exemptions and drilling plans have not been halted. Salazar
is still allowing those flawed drilling approvals to
proceed, only halting the issuance of a last technical
check-off that doesn't involve any environmental review.
Get more from
ABC News and see Center for Biological Diversity
Executive Director Kierán Suckling talk about it on
Democracy Now!
Gulf Disaster Growing:
Pressure Mounting on BP, Regulators
The
Center for Biological Diversity has been going nonstop since
our update on the Gulf Disaster last week -- every hour,
there's more coming out about BP's lack of adequate safety
and spill-mitigation measures, more failures to stop the
gushing oil, the oil industry's widespread influence over
regulatory agencies, and continued approvals of Gulf
drilling projects after the spill (see below). Through our
extensive, well-researched efforts, hundreds of newspaper,
radio, and television stories are out now discussing the
dangers of offshore oil drilling, its impacts on coastal
communities and their endangered wildlife and plants, and
the urgent need to reassess how and where offshore drilling
is permitted.
The Center's team of
expert researchers, lawyers, and scientists couldn't be
doing this critical, urgent work without your outpouring of
support and energy -- thank you. But the BP spill
won't stop tomorrow. Clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico will
take years, and more drilling is slated to happen from the
Gulf to the Arctic. The Center will be following every
development closely and putting the pressure on the Obama
administration and Secretary Salazar to stop all future
offshore drilling. Join us in
taking action and read our collection of
oil-spill media stories.
Check out the Center's
Gulf Disaster Web site every day for the latest news on
the spill, press releases from the Center, a
slideshow of impacted species, and updated answers to
the most important spill-related questions. There's also a
map of the oil spill and critical habitat for the
imperiled Gulf sturgeon and piping plover.
|
FUNNY
BONES
No offense intended for any individuals or tribes.
OLD
NDN TRICK
Recently a
routine Yakama police patrol parked outside Pete's tavern. Late in the evening
the officer noticed a young tribal man leaving the bar so intoxicated that he
could barely walk. The man stumbled around the parking lot for a few minutes,
with the officer quietly observing.
After what
seemed an eternity and trying his keys on five vehicles, the man managed to find
his car which he fell into. He was there for a few minutes as a number of other
patrons left the bar and drove off. Finally he started the car, switched the
wipers on and off (it was a fine dry night) flicked the blinkers on, then off,
honked the horn and then switched on the lights. He moved the vehicle forward a
few inches, reversed a little and then remained still for a few more minutes as
some more vehicles left. At last he pulled out of the parking lot and started to
drive slowly down the road.
The police
officer, having patiently waited all this time, now started up the patrol car,
put on the flashing lights, promptly pulled the man over and carried out a
breathalyzer test. To his amazement the breathalyzer indicated no evidence of
the man having consumed alcohol at all! Dumbfounded, the officer said "I'll have
to ask you to accompany me to the Police station this breathalyzer equipment
must be broken." "I doubt it," said the man, "Tonight I'm the designated decoy."
Aye!!!! Old tribal trick!
MOTHER
EARTH WATCH
Smithsonian's "Dig It!"
exhibition reveals the secrets of soil
Dig into captivating videos, slideshows, and interactive puzzles at the
companion website for an exhibition on soil.
Read more...
Antibiotic-resistance
genes in environment are increasing
The number of genes for antibiotic
resistance in soil microbes has significantly increased over the past 70
years. A team of British scientists tested samples of benign and
disease-causing bacteria from a soil archive in the Netherlands that
dates back to 1940, the era when antibiotic use became common. Genes
that confer resistance significantly increased over time, for every
antibiotic drug class they tested. Genes that confer resistance to
tetracycline antibiotics are 15 times more abundant in current-day soil
samples than in samples even from the 1970s. Levels of resistance rose
in spite of improved waste management practices and the Dutch policy
restricting nontherapeutic antibiotic use in agriculture, which is
tougher than that of many other countries including the United States.
The team concluded that environmental levels of antibiotic-resistance
genes are probably still increasing in similar locations worldwide.
Read the study abstract in Environmental Science and Technology.
Biotech companies
suppress research on engineered crops
Biotechnology companies are using
"strong-arm tactics and close-fisted
attitudes" to prevent independent scientists
from conducting research on genetically
engineered (GE) crops, according to
Nature Biotechnology. Because companies
have patent rights on these crop varieties,
they are legally allowed to control their
use, even for research. Companies have
refused scientists' requests for seeds and
have interfered with publication. In one
case, DuPont/Pioneer forbade scientists from
publishing their findings that ladybugs
(beneficial insects) were killed by its GE
corn in feeding trials. Subsequently the
company gained regulatory approval to market
a nearly identical corn variety—but it did
not submit the data on the feeding trial
that killed the ladybugs.
Read the article (pdf).
GRANDFATHER
SEVEN HAWK EYES SPEAKS
COYOTE
DANCES WITH THE STARS
After
Kareya gave the coyote so much cunning he became very ambitious, and wanted to
do many things which were very much too hard for him, and which Kareya never
intended he should do.
One of
them once got so conceited that he thought he could dance with the stars, and so
he asked one of them to fly close to the top of a mountain and take him by the
paw, and let him dance once around through the sky. The star only laughed at him
and winked its eye, but the next night when it came around, it sailed close to
the mountain and took the coyote by the paw, and flew away with him through the
sky.
But
the foolish coyote soon grew tired of dancing this way, and could not wait for
the star to come around to the mountain again. He looked down at the earth and
it seemed quite near to him, and as the star could not wait or fly low just
then, he let go and leaped down. Poor coyote! He was ten whole snows in falling,
and when he struck the earth he was smashed flatter than a willow mat or a frog
in the road.
Another one, not taking
warning from this dreadful example, asked a star to let him dance once round
through the sky. The star tried to dissuade him from the foolhardy undertaking,
but it was of no avail; the silly animal would not be convinced. Every night
when the star came around, he would squat on top of a mountain and bark until
the star grew tired of his noise. So one night it sailed close down to the
mountain and told the coyote to be quick for it could not wait, and up he jumped
and caught it with his paw, and went dancing away through the great blue heaven.
He, too, soon grew tired, and asked the star to stop and let him rest a little
while. But the star told him it could not stop, for Kareya had made it to keep
on moving all the while. Then he tried to get on the star and ride, but it was
too small.
Thus he was compelled to
keep on dancing, dangling down from one paw, and one piece of his body after
another dropped off until there was only one paw left hanging to the star.
As given by
Paul White Bear Bosch to Daniel Hawk Hoffman
TRIBAL NEWS
Time for Alaska Native and Native Americans to
Speak
By Terrance H. Booth, Sr., Tsimshian
President Obama nominated another candidate
Justice to US Supreme Court. This nomination is U.S. Solicitor General and
former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan for the U.S. Supreme Court
All the Alaska Native and Native American Tribal Governments and tribal
leadership and Native people need to voice their Native Perspective on the
Candidate Justice to the US Supreme Court for this court over several
decades has weaken tribal sovereignty.
The Trend of the U.S. Supreme Court….. “A
roll of the United States Supreme Court throughout history is the protection
of the rights of minorities. From the 1960s, throughout the 70s, and
throughout most of the 80s the Supreme Court, in a really inspiring way,
recognized Indian rights, recognized tribal sovereignty, fishing rights, the
trust relationship and tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians. Those decades
were times when tribes brought their grievances to the Court and by and
large they were honored. But starting in the late 1980s there has been a
change. Instead of the Supreme Court advancing Indian law in favor of tribal
sovereignty, the Court has gone in a different direction, making a series of
decisions which undermined tribal sovereignty. In the 1990s, tribes lost 23
out of 28 cases in which they appeared before the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has moved away from guiding
principles called ‘canons of construction.’ Under those guidelines,
the Court would interpret treaties and Indian statutes in favor of the
tribes when they were unclear or uncertain. It is one area of law that has
always been useful to the tribes. The Supreme Court ever since Worcester,
and all the way through the 19th and 20th centuries has recognized that
Indian treaties and statutes should be construed in favor of the tribes. If
there is unclear language, the Court interpreted those ambiguities in favor
of the tribes. Read
More >>>
Judge rules for Indians in voting rights case
Fremont County’s at-large voting system for county commissioner
elections dilutes the American Indian vote and must be changed, U.S.
District Judge Alan Johnson has ruled. Johnson ruled April 29
that Fremont County’s election system violates the Voting Rights Act
and the county must submit a voting plan to the court by June 30 to
create single-member districts. Five members of the
Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes sued Fremont County in
2005. The two tribes share the Wind River Reservation, which
falls mostly within Fremont County. Johnson dismissed the
defense argument that apathy was behind low participation among
American Indians and dilution of their voting strength in county and
state elections. “This argument overlooks the fact that Indians were
historically denied the right to vote, that literacy tests had been
imposed, and that Indians had suffered other forms of discrimination
in the past, all of which have been responsible for denying Indians
the opportunity to participate in the political process,” Johnson
wrote in his ruling. Read More >>>
Havasupai
Indians Ban University DNA Researchers
SUPAI, Ariz. — Seven
years ago, the Havasupai Indians, who
live amid the turquoise waterfalls and
red cliffs miles deep in the Grand
Canyon, issued a “banishment order” to
keep Arizona State University employees
from setting foot on their reservation —
an ancient punishment for what they
regarded as a genetic-era betrayal.
Members of the tiny, isolated tribe had
given DNA samples to university
researchers starting in 1990, in the
hope that they might provide genetic
clues to the tribe’s devastating rate of
diabetes. But they learned that their
blood samples had been used to study
many other things, including mental
illness and theories of the tribe’s
geographical origins that contradict
their traditional stories.
Read More >>>
Keith Moore Appointed to
Head of
Bureau of Indian Education
WASHINGTON - The Obama
administration has picked another South
Dakotan to be part of the team that
oversees federal policy in Indian
Country. Keith Moore, an enrolled
member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, has
been named director of the Bureau of
Indian Education. The BIE
implements federal education laws and
provides aid to 183 elementary and
secondary schools as well as peripheral
dormitories on 64 reservations in 23
states that collectively serve about
42,000 students. The agency also
serves post-secondary students through
higher-education scholarships and
support funding to 26 tribal colleges
and universities and two tribal
technical colleges. Larry Echo
Hawk, assistant secretary for Indian
Affairs in the Interior Department,
praised Moore as a "dedicated
educational administrator for many
years." Moore joins several other South
Dakota Indians named to the Obama
administration, including Yvette
Roubideaux, a member of the Rosebud
tribe, appointed as director of the
Indian Health Service; Lillian Sparks, a
Lakota woman of the Rosebud and Oglala
Sioux Tribes, named commissioner of the
Administration for Native Americans; and
Michael Black, a member of the Oglala
Sioux tribe, tapped as director of the
Office of Indian Affairs.
2010 Tribal Directory
Tribal Web Sites
(Federally recognized tribes only; Alphabetical by State)
EDUCATION
Paying for
College - Student Resource Guide
(Includes scholarships,
internships, fellowships, books, and websites)
download now
2009_Paying_for_College-master.pdf
(184 KB)
GeneralScholarships.pdf
(580 KB)
Our youth deserve the best
summer possible ! Healthy, productive and enriching. Please
let all our relations know that Registration for our Tribal Youth
Summer Programs are now open ! Youth 12-18 and chaperons may
download registration forms on line at
www.InterTribalYouth.org
Our popular programs fill
quickly, and we encourage early registration. This is our 10th
Anniversary ! We are honoring Native California by offering Summer
Enrichment Programs in San Diego, Central California (Mammoth, Mono,
Yosemite), and Northern California. Academics, Adventure,
Culture, Wellness
INSPIRATIONAL
THOUGHTS...
The
Two Horses
There is a place in the countryside with a field that has two horses in it.
From a distance, each
horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by,
you will notice something quite amazing....
Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has
chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him.
This alone is amazing.
If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking
around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller
horse in the field.
Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell.
It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow.
As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the
bell is always checking on the blind horse, And that the blind horse will listen
for the bell and then slowly walk To where the other horse is, Trusting that he
will not be led astray.
When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, it
stops occasionally and looks back, Making sure that the blind friend isn't too
far behind to hear the bell.
Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we
are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.
He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are
in need.
Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of
those who God places in our lives.
Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way......
Good friends are like that...You may not always see them, but you know they are
always there.
Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours. Remember to be kinder
than necessary- Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle. Live
simply, Love generously, Care deeply, Speak kindly......
Leave
the rest to God.
~Submitted by Terry Zumwalt
GO TO PAGE 2
Help
Support the Manataka Smoke Signal News
SHOP AT
THE
No Need for
Fabric Softener or Dryer Sheets!
Maggie's
SOAP NUTS
THE SOAP THAT GROWS ON TREESTM
READ MORE
INDIAN DVD MOVIES!
On Cold Winter Nights Snuggle Up with These Great Indian
Movies
|
|
RED
HAWK
HANDCRAFTS |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Fringe
Bags |
Totem
Necklaces |
Pipe
Bags |
Beautifully Handcrafted
Jewelry |
Great prices - Wonderful
Craftsmanship
- Special Orders Accepted -
Shop Now!
GO TO PAGE 1
GO TO PAGE 2
GO TO PAGE 3
SMOKE SIGNAL NEWS ARCHIVES
|
Disclaimer, Trademark
and Copyright Information
Material appearing here is distributed without profit or
monetary
gain to those who have expressed an interest in viewing the
material for research and educational purposes.
This is in accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. section 107.
Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright
law.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
Non-profit/Teaching/Educational
©2009 ManatakaTM
American Indian Council. The word "Manataka"
is a registered trademark exclusively owned by the Manataka
American Indian Council. Use of this
trademark without the expressed written permission of MAIC is
prohibited and violators will be prosecuted. 15 U.S.C. Section
1051(a), (b). The Smoke Signal News is copyrighted in its
entirety and no reproduction, republishing, copying, or
distribution is permitted without the expressed written
permission of MAIC is strictly prohibited and violations will be
prosecuted.
|
EMAIL HOME INDEX TRADING
POST
|
