Manataka American Indian Council Volume XIl Issue 7 JULY 2008
Manataka - Preserving The Past Today For Tomorrow
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Contents: |
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| Announcement: | Open Attendance at Manataka Gatherings | |
| History: | The White Roots Reach Out | |
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Grandfather Hawk Speaks Speaks: Grandfather King Coke Speaks: |
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| Feature Story: | Butchart Gardens, Victoria, B.C., Canada | |
| Elder's Meditations: | Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa), Oglala | |
| Women's Circle: |
Defiance in the Land of the Free Carrie Dann Profile |
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| Food & Nutrition: |
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| Book Reviews: | Five Featured Books | |
| Poetry Circle: |
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| Educational Message:: |
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| Healing Prayer Basket: | Crossing Over, Sickness, and Memorials | |
| Manataka Business: | June Elder Council Meeting | |
Attendance Policy Change
Open the doors and let 'em in! The upcoming Summer Gathering will have no restrictions on attendance - members and nonmembers alike may join in the prayerful ceremonies. Current members are not required to request an invitation and neither are former members, guests and visitors. Manataka will continue to not advertise or promote Gatherings to the public.
The June issue features Chapter 6 "White Roots Reach Out" of a 15 Chapter series on the founding of the United States of America and the previously misunderstood and often discounted, yet tremendous contributions of American Indians in the process.
Exemplar
of Liberty:
Native America and the Evolution of Democracy
Original Artwork by John Kahionhes Fadden
Foreword by Vine Deloria, Jr.
Chapter 2 - Perceptions of America's Native Democracies
Chapter 3 - Natural Man In An Unnatural Land
Chapter 4 - Ennobling 'Savages'
Errand In The WildernessChapter 6 - White Roots Reach Out
Chapter 7 - Mohawks, Axes, and Taxes - Coming in August 2008
By Hawk With Seven Eyes Hoffman
How Well Do You Know Your Children?
Now that school is out for most children, what type of relationship do you have with your children? What kinds of recreation will they be involved in over the summer months?
In these modern times our children are constantly bombarded with ideas that could cause them various problems. Changes in their life due to growing, Friendship issues as well as an abundance of related problems. We work hard to make sure of the types of friends they and keep them free of "bad" associations. Street gangs pull some youngsters into their way of thinking and usually cause them problems with the law.
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~By Robert Gray Hawk, July 2008 |
“Truth is the foundation of all knowledge and
the cement of all societies.” -John Dryden
Truth can be seen as two different things because we have Absolute Truth and Relative Truth. Absolute Truth deals with the Divine Principals, and Relative Truth deals with human thoughts and emotions.
They are created from different sources and have different definitions. When we are talking about things dealing with the Creator, we are talking about Absolute Truth, which is absolute, unlimited, unchanging, and complete. This would refer to the Ten Commandments, the Gold Rule, Judge Not, and Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself.
When
we argue about human behavior, we are dealing with Relative Truth.
Relative Truth changes and is limited, incomplete, and definitely, not
absolute. This is the cause of arguments, law suits, and wars
When you examine an event by running it through your filter to determine the response which would reflect the truth for you, it may not always be anyone else’s truth. One of the flaws of Relative Truth is that we don’t all end up at the same response, even when we begin with the same event.
In-fighting or community conflicts are good examples of living by Relative Truth. We rarely have all the information about what has happened, much less an understanding of why it happened. In fact, the people involved often realize that they don’t have all the facts, but for some reason, they keep fighting and defending their position and judgments.
Works of the Creator
See these and more pictures taken at
Butchart Gardens, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
No offense intended for any individuals or tribes.
Start Praying
An
urban girl just moves to the Rez and starts school. She meets a cute Native guy
and they hit it off and start dating.
She asks her new boyfriend to come over Friday night and have dinner with her
parents. The girl than whispers to her boyfriend that after dinner, she would
like to go the dance and make love for the first time.
The boy is thrilled but growing up in an isolated part of the area, he has never
had sex before, so remembering grandpa's advice on birth control, he takes a
trip to the Indian Health Service (IHS) pharmacist to get some condoms.
The pharmacist advises the boy for about an hour. He informs the boy everything
there is to know about condoms and sex. Before providing the condoms, the
pharmacist asks the boy how many condoms he'd require, a 3-pack, 10-pack, or
family pack? The boy insists on the family pack because he thinks he will be
rather busy, it being his first time and all.
Friday night rolls around and the boy drives into town to the girl's parents
house. The girlfriend meets him at the door. "Oh, I'm so excited for you to meet
my parents, I've told them so much about you!"
The boy goes inside and is taken to the dinner table where the girl's parents
are seated.
The boy quickly offers to offer prayers and bows his head. A minute passes, and
the boy is still deep in prayer, with his head down. 10 minutes pass, and still
no end to the boy's prayer.
Finally, after 20 minutes with his head down, the girlfriend leans over and
whispers to the boyfriend, "I had no idea you were this religious."
The boy turns, and whispers back, "I had no idea your father was an Indian
Health Service pharmacist."
Maggie's
SOAP NUTS
THE SOAP THAT GROWS ON TREESTM
"Sometimes dreams are wiser than waking." -Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa), Oglala
The Great Spirit has many ways of communicating with the human being. He talks to us through the five senses - sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. For example, we can observe nature and see a lesson or get an answer. These five senses function primarily in the physical world. But we also have the ability to
receive communication from the Unseen World. To do this we have a sixth sense. It
comes in the form of dreams, imagination, intuition, inspiration or a hunch. Along with the dream or intuitive thought there is a feeling, a knowing. We just know it's true without the need for proof. We need to pay attention to our dreams and intuition. Don't cast them off as being silly or useless. Be respectful to your dreams and feelings.
Creator, if you speak to me
through dreams,
let me know it in
terms I can understand.
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Woman of the Tsalagi!
Dekanogi ulogilv daquado
Woman of the Tsalagi created by Great Mysteries own plan, blood kin to her Mother Earth respecting each other in their giving birth, she need hang her head to no man, or humble herself before him, her words are the lessons we live by and remember.
It is through her the clans are counted, her bloodlines that are followed, her wisdom has always helped to guide our Nation, equal in all ways without her there is no balance, no peace and gentleness it is her heart that is the white path we claim to follow.
The Warriors of our own kind
have forgotten she is his own mother and grandmother,
Who with broken heart watches the hungry babies cry, the old ones sigh, and the children die with no justice given, who sees most clearly the injustice of this land she walks, who is now treated the same by the men of her own kind?
Healthy Eating Tips for Teens... And Adults
Obesity among teens is rampant today, especially among American Indians. The prevalence of obesity in American Indian/Alaska Native populations has increased dramatically over the past 30 years. All tribes throughout the U.S. have suffered adverse effects from the high prevalence of obesity. Many chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, and breathing problems are associated with theincreasing prevalence of obesity in American Indians.
Always eat breakfast—studies show it helps you stay full for longer throughout the day.
Choose vegetables that are different colors. This will ensure that you get a wide variety of nutrients at each meal.
Eat carrots; they are loaded with Vitamin A which helps prevent night-blindness.
Smoothies are good! Frozen fruit may be fresher than fresh fruit which begins to lose nutrients when picked. So get your vitamins by whipping up a frozen fruit smoothie.
One can of soda contains 10 teaspoons of sugar (that’s more than a bar of chocolate!). So think before you drink.
Take a healthy snack wherever you go so that you won’t have to hit the vending machines if you get hungry. Some healthy and still delicious snacks:
Almonds
Fruit Cups
Yogurt and granola
Veggie sticks and all-natural peanut butter or almond butter
Read serving size information—sometimes a small package can contain lots of calories and fat.
Ditch diets that cut fat, sugar, protein or carbs from your diet completely (South Beach, Atkins, etc.). Even though many of these diets let you go back to eating bread, cereal, fruit, and sugar after a two week "detox" period, a lot of people still can't stick to the guidelines and end up right where they started at the beginning of their diet.
Drink 4-6 glasses of water, seltzer or other unsweetened, non-caffeinated beverages a day.
A serving size (of fruit, meat, pasta, rice, etc.) is about the size of your slightly open fist.
If a diet (supplement or weight loss pill) sounds too good to be true it IS too good to be true…and could even be dangerous!
Eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day.
At a restaurant, have a salad and split an entrée with a friend—you’ll eat healthier and save money!
Source:
http://www.dosomething.org/tipsheet/healthy_eating_tips_for_teens
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The Wolf Woman
By
The guardian of the wolf, the woman of the moon, Protector, mother of the pack, Teacher of the hunt,
Creator of the wolfs unique abilities, She becomes the wolf, She is the wolf, She leads the pack, She howls at the moon,
When dawn breaks-- she shape shifts back to a woman again, She sits upon the ground and grooms her brothers and sisters, Gently stoking a faithful head that pants with contentment.
Wolf pups play and mock the hunt, The wolf mother brings harmony and stability to her totems, She is the master of strategy, The planer of their destiny, Their leader.
From a distance they watch over man, The wolf pack envelops their spirit, Travel in their minds,
The sacred wolf protects the chosen ones, The people of the wolf clan, That shares the forests, the prairie, the tribes of the mountains, The Red man.
These people see the wolf woman in dreams, In visions, They call on her in troubled times, They see her in times of death.
The dead wait for her to come and led the way to their ancestors, The hunting party waits for her to howl to point the way, For she knows where the deer hide, She knows the location of the buffalo, The big horn sheep are sent in the direction of the hunter,
The mountain goat is prevented from scaling the mountain slopes, She moves in a ghostly haze, And the hunter’s pursuit is successful, Helped by an unseen sister, A kindred spirit.
A protector of the clan. My vision my dream.
Graphic Credit: http://www.sharpergraphics.com/native_americans.htm
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Where Eagles Pray
Above mountain mist, the eagle prays. The breath of the Great Spirit ruffles the feathers, As the eagle glides, In ever increasing circles, On thermals he rides, Higher and higher, Further and further, Up into his domain, The master’s place, Way out into space, The eagle views his face, Where the eagle prays,
Divinity, Infinity, Like the circles endless, The medicine wheel turns, As yesterday becomes today, To day becomes tomorrow,
Where eagles pray, All below is seen, All below is surveyed, Eyes magnified, Injustice horrific, In justice specific, Smoke turbinates, Spirals, To mark the place of tragedy,
The eagle cries, And tear drops fall, Lightning lights up a darkened sky, Thunder explodes across the sky, The earth trembles, The Great Spirits anger announced, Lightning speared towards the ground, The eagle plummets, To where bodies are found, The wind sings, The wolves howl, As spirits take their journey, To a place where the eagle prays.
Graphic Credit: |
Did you know...
about American's original people?
There are over 600
Indian Nations & Tribes in the United State alone.
83% of federally
recognized Nations in the United States have
populations of less than 1,000 members.
American Indian's were
given citizenship in 1924, after many Indian men
fought in World War I.
American Indians were
used to send message that could not be decoded
during World War II.
The Cherokee had a
written language before the coming of European
settlers.
60% of the world's food
eaten today is of American Indian origin.
The U.S. Constitutions
frame was adopted from the Iroquois Confederacy.
Jim Thorpe, Sauk and
Fox Indian was selected the greatest all-around
athlete of the first half century.
26 of the state names
derived from Indian words.
Time to many Indian
people is not relative. Things are done as needed.
American Indians
believe that patience is considered a good quality.
The respected members
of a Nation are one who shares and gives of
his/her wealth to others.
Many Indians have large
extended families. Aunts are often considered
as mothers, uncles are called fathers and cousins are brothers
and
sisters.
Members are suspicious
of members that collect many material
possessions.
It is believe that 75
million Indians lived here before Columbus. In
the 2000 census American Indians and Alaskan Natives number only
about
2.5 million.
Many Indians do not
believe that they came over the Bering Strait.
Many Nations have creation stories that tell of them coming from
this
land.
65% of Indians live in
urban areas.
Many of the Nations are
matrilineal.
There are 250 Indian
languages still spoken.
Indian Nations through
treaties with the federal government ceded Indian
lands to America, but retained rights and cultural practices
hundreds of
years older that America.
Many Nations were
farming as early as 1200 BC.
During the fall of the
Romans, Indians were constructing the largest
irrigation canal in North American.
Some Indian villages
and cities housed up to 50,000 people. Read up on
Cahokia!
Most Indian Nations
have a different name for themselves. Many call
themselves "people" or "real people". The 3 tribes of Michigan:
The
Ojibwa (Chippewa), the Odawa (Ottawa) and the Bode wad mi (Potawatomi)
refer to themselves as Anishinaabe, not native or American
Indian.
There are Indian
ceremonial mounds that are 2 acres bigger that the
Great Pyramid of Egypt. (Read up on Cahokia)
By Columbus second
trip, the Old World diseases had killed two thirds of
the New World's American Indians.
Cotton Cloth was invented by the Native Americans
~Submitted by Andre Cramblit, Indigenous News Network
Prayer and ceremony work. Creator heals and brings peace.
Crossing Over...
Jimmie E. Thigpen, 79, of Picayune died June 24, 2008 in Gulfport, MS. His son, Jimmie Thigpen of UTO is a Commissioner and Vice Chairman AIA in TN. ~Selena 06-24-08
Evette LaBatte Tubby, Philadelphia, MS. Sister of Woableza, Mother and Grandmother died of a massive heart attack. Evette was a special Lakota lady living on the Choctaw Reservation for many years. We remember her husky laugh and beautiful smile. She will be missed greatly by her family and many friends. ~Lee Standing Bear Moore 06-23-08
Irena Sendlerowa, 98, Warsaw, Poland. The life of Irena Sendler was one of great testimony, one of courage and love, one of respect for all people, regardless of race, religion and creed. Our hearts and prayers go out to her worldwide family. Irena Sendlerowa led the rescue of 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust in World War II. She was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Her legacy of repairing the world continues, as good continues to triumph over evil. http://www.irenasendler.org/default.asp ~Juli 05-12-08
Will
Branham. 26,
Huntington, VA.
Dancer and
drummer at Monacan homecomings, was a police officer who passed from
lung cancer. Father of two small girls, son to Birdie. We
was a loving husband and a very brave man. ~Chief
Bernard H. Belvin 05-01-08 George E. Haverkamp Jr.,
66,
(Evergreen, Colorado) husband of Marva
Black Elk (Wallace Black Elk's eldest daughter), unexpectedly crossed
over on Friday, April 25, 2008 from cardiac arrest. Services and
Internment will be at Evergreen Memorial Park, Evergreen, CO. A
traditional Wake will be held starting at 3:00pm on Thursday, May 1,
2008, in The Barn Chapel at Evergreen Memorial Park. It will run all
night. Burial will be at 10:00am on Friday, May 2, 2008. Chief Leonard
Crow Dog and Wesley Black Elk will be officiating. Jennifer Black
Elk - 720-628-6532.
Jim Riley, Arizona. Owner of the white buffalo ranch had a heart attack and passed. Dena and Jim gave everything to help the buffalo. Susan 04-12-08
Sharon Dee Black Elk,
49, (Wheat Ridge, C0)
passed on Wednesday, March 19,
2008. Burial at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Traditional rites as
well as full military honors were conducted. Jennifer Black Elk
04-20-08
Prayer Needed - Sickness, Injury,
Troubles... Pastor Frank Sayford,
64, Philadelphia, PA.
In
St. Mary Medical Center for atrial fibrillation and ventricular
tachycardia.
He is in good hands. Ask
God to watch over my father. ~Kim
Summer Moon
Sayford-Wilson
07-01-08 Anna Marie
Patrick, 34, WV.
My
Granddaughter is recovering at
home after the brain surgery in VA She returned back to West Virginia
about 3 weeks ago
~Red
Wing
Vinson
07-01-08 Cyril Taylor. A long time
rights activists and representative of the United Confederation of Taino
People in Washington DC, Grandfather Cyril has been admitted into the
hospital and is in guarded condition. Send him your good wishes at
cyrilt@comcast. Graham
Osceola Waters, Darwin, Australia.
Valiantly fighting cancer. Osceloa is of Muskogee American Indian
descent. He is a great artist and walks in beauty with his
tireless efforts to benefit the Henbury School in the Northwest
Territory.
All of Manataka is praying for this
wonderful man. We are doing healing work and ask for your prayers.
Lynn Smith-Guy,
06-09-08
From Kalaloch Lodge, Pacific Ocean near Forks, WA.
Anita,
who works here in the office has asked for prayer for her mother who has
cancer.
Linda’s mom has very low blood pressure and may need to have her
pacemaker replaced soon.
John’s beloved cousin, Glendine, who lives in Arkansas
has a newly diagnosed cancer for which she is taken treatment.
Highland
Presbyterian Church in Hot Springs, AR; Boueff Presbyterian Church in
Gerald, MO; Marback Christian Church, San Antonio, TX; Inman
Christian Center in San Antonio, TX; First Baptist Church, Fairview
Heights, IL; and, the Mid-America Indian Fellowship in MO, KS and
AR. Linda and John James 06-09-08
Prayers Answer for
Shannon Crossbea
Ruth King, WV. Going in for knee surgery. Suffering from pain for
30 years, Ruth is hopeful. There will be a six month recovery time. Ruth
has wonderful attitude and a loving spirit. She is much loved at Manataka.
~Helen Red Wing 05-28-08
Billy
David Beecham,
Nashville
A
Native American woman is at war with the US. For 30 years she's
been 
