Manataka American Indian Council Volume XII Issue 10 OCTOBER 2008
Manataka - Preserving The Past Today For Tomorrow
OCTOBER ISSUE Page 1 of 3 |
Contents: |
|||
PAGE | |||
1 |
Upcoming Events: |
Gatherings, Meetings, Conventions | |
1 |
Elder's Meditation: |
Frank Fools Crow, Lakota | |
1 | Website Updates: | 29 New Stories | |
Announcement: | 2009 Cherokee Heritage Calendar | ||
1 |
Feature Story 1: |
Manataka: Fountain of Youth? | |
1 |
Ecological Notes:: |
|
|
1 |
Grandmothers Speak: Momfeather: Waynonaha Gram Selma Palmer Magdala Rameriz Carol Petersen |
|
|
1 | Mother Earth Watch: | ||
1 | Tribal News: | ||
1 | Education: | Teaching About American Indians | |
1 | Inspirational Thoughts:: | Nature | |
|
|||
2 | Legends of Old: | Corncob Boy - Cochiti Legend | |
2 | Feature Story 2: | 12% of Indian Deaths Due to Alcohol | |
2 |
Letters to the Editor: |
Obama, Palin, Wolves, Whole Foods | |
2 | Organic Consumer Watch: | Monsanto Beast Being Destroyed | |
2 | Elder's Meditations: | Frank Fools Crow, Lakota | |
2 | Health: | Needless Vaccine - Danger of Gardasil | |
2 | Plant Medicine: | Black Seed Oil - Cancer Treatment | |
2 | Fluoride: | Kidney Patients Should be Notified of Potential Risk | |
2 | Animal Rights and Wrongs: | A | Are You Eating Cloned Meat? |
2 | Endangered Sacred Sites: | Portal to Maya Underworld Found? | |
|
|||
Announcement: | Open Attendance at Manataka Gatherings | ||
3 |
History: | Exemplar of Liberty: Chapter 9 American Synthesis | |
3 |
Grandfather Hawk Speaks: Grandfather King Coke Speaks: |
||
3 | Feature Story 3:: | U.S. must return land seized in 1877 | |
3 |
Elder's Meditations: | Frank Fools Crow, Lakota | |
3 |
Women's Council: | Betty Marie Tall Chief | |
3 |
Food & Nutrition: | Keep It Wild | |
3 |
Book Reviews: |
|
|
3 |
Poetry Circle: |
|
|
3 |
Healing Prayer Basket: | Sickness and Memorials | |
3 |
Manataka Business: | September Elder Council Meeting |
WANNA BECOME A MEMBER OF MANATAKA?
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO JOIN!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Standing Stone Memorial Event - October 11
Gatherings, Meetings, Conventions, Seminars
Flute Player Needed Wedding on January 1 near Lafayette, LA. 1 hour only. Contact Simone. simoneaolivier@msn.com
Help Wanted -- Immediately in France An Indian couple for craft demonstrations are needed in Le Mans, France, about 250 km from Paris. The lucky couple will have an opportunity to dance and drum for French tourists. Meals and living accommodations in a two-bedroom mobile home or a real tipi lodge are furnished. All travel expenses are paid, including travel documents. $2,000 per month salary. Contract from October 15 to April 15. The couple are requested to bring to wear during work hours. Contact Jean at les.tipis@aliceadsl.fr
Finger Weaver Needed Work from home. Paid by the project. Experience in intricate design required. Also looking for a cradle board maker. Send examples of work to: manataka@sbcglobal.net
|
2009 Calendar. Stunning artwork by Cherokee Artists. Months and days in the Cherokee language. Important historical dates and ceremonies marked. Model: CAL-01. Shipping Weight: 1lbs. 50 Units in Stock.
GET YOURS BEFORE THEY ARE ALL GONE!
Maggie's
SOAP NUTS
THE SOAP THAT GROWS ON TREESTM
Maggie's Soap Nuts are the only laundry soap that grows on trees! Truly effective, 100% natural and safe for your most sensitive skin. Soap Nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree. They contain saponin, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to clean clothes, just like the plants used by American Indians for washing.
Put a few Soap Nuts into a small cotton sack (included) and drop it in your washing machine. Your clothes will come out clean, vibrant, and soft. Replace your laboratory detergents and softeners with the soap made from nature. Your skin, clothes, family and your planet will thank you.
"When life is too good, we think too highly of ourselves and our blessings. Then we decide we are the wisest and the favored ones, and we don't think we need Wakan-Tanka and the Helpers anymore." --Frank Fools Crow, Lakota
It is sometimes easy to get off track when times are good. We start to take the credit and start to think we are in control. We start to take the credit and start to think we are in control. We start to think we are smart. Then we quit praying or pray only with lip service. We say the words but don't mean them. Sometimes our head is our greatest enemy. We start acting like a foolish child. We must develop the discipline to be humble during the good times. We need to remember how honorable it is each day to come into the presence of the Creator. How happy we should be to talk to the Grandfathers, to have the choice to start each day on the Sacred Spot - our place of communion with the Great Spirit.
Oh Great Spirit, first let me thank You
for the honor of talking to You today.
To have the insight of Your love,
that only You can love me when I don't deserve to be loved.
Let me be reminded to talk to You all day long
Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas
Needs Your Support!
An Open Letter to Manataka Readers
LIPAN APACHE TRIBE OF TEXAS
P.O. Box 261110, Corpus Christi, TX 78426
Lipan Apache Culture Center & Museum
First came the Spanish Conquistadors and soon thereafter the Texans and then the Americans and they all laid claim to a land once inhabited by the Lipan Apache.
The greatest skill the Lipan Apache possessed was stealth. They were taught how to walk quietly on any terrain and how to hide in plain sight. As events unfolded over the centuries, the Lipan Apache transitioned from open warfare to exercising this grand skill of visible invisibility.
Our People are now living as American and Mexican citizens and have served their countries as rugged individuals in contribution to their adopted homelands. Among our population you will find generations of heroic veterans, teachers, policemen, pastors, entrepreneurs, and scientists. This is but a short list of the many ways we have learned to not only survive, but excel in the new world around us.
Our journey has been difficult and our story needs to be told. Our children will be taught of our old ways, as well as the new. Our Ancestors will be honored by our acts of integrity. Through prayerful intent and respectful actions our language and traditions shall not perish.
The Lipan Apache Culture Center and Museum is scheduled to open October 18, 2008. It is at this place we will tell our story. It is at this place where we will archive Tribal records, provide a refuge for research, as well as artifacts and historic records.
Never in our history have we claimed one place as home. Most of Texas and Northern Mexico are the lands we roamed, but never have we had a place where the heart of our People can beat and be safe.
I am the Chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas. It is my charge to keep the heart of my People strong and with your help we can accomplish this honorable task together.
Bernard F. Barcena Jr.
Chairman of the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas
Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization. Donations are tax deductible. Direct questions to Bill Larew, Tribal Administrator 361-774-4881
READ MORE about the Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas
SEPTEMBER WEBSITE UPDATES
Manataka: The Fountain of Youth?
By Linda VanBibber
The area in Hot Springs known as Manataka encompasses Hot Springs Mountain, Indian Mountain and West Mountain, referred to as the Three Sisters by First Nations People. Surrounding the Three Sisters are seven imperfect concentric linear circles composed of geologic and energetic features that encompass a wide geographic area in south-central Arkansas.
The center of this area was a gathering place for indigenous nations for thousands of years prior to the explorations conducted by the Spanish and the French. The area was heavily mined for novaculite (whetstone), a stone which could be shaped into a very hard sharp edge for spear tips and cutting tools. Prior to the arrival of iron products brought by white traders, this stone was much sought after for weapons and tools.
These ancient mines are still evident on both Indian Mountain and West Mountain. Archeological evidence provides strong support that Indians gathered in the area for mining and trading of this valuable stone.
Between these mining sites lies Manataka Mountain, today called Hot Springs Mountain. The hot springs, at the time of the explorations of Dunbar and Hunter in 1804-1805 were found to be a great natural curiosity generating much excitement on the part of the explorers.
On February 14, 1805, an interview with George Hunter appeared in the Orleans Gazette, in which he presented a grandiose view of the natural potential of the lower Louisiana Purchase and touted the medical virtues of the hot springs:
.
. . He visited the hot springs of Ouachitta, and found them amongst the greatest
natural curiosities in the country. . .The doctor is of the opinion that they
possess extraordinary medical virtues.
[Berry, Trey; Beasley, Pam; Clements, Jeanne, editors, The Forgotten Expedition,
1804-1805: The Louisiana Purchase Journals of Dunbar and Hunter, Louisiana State
University Press, Baton Rouge: 2006.]
What a wonder must have been presented to their eyes upon their arrival at the springs. They had sent scouts ahead who had returned with excitement about what they had seen and the sweetness of the ‘boiling’ waters. Hot water issued forth from the side of the mountain from as high as 187 feet. The springs were surrounded by mounds of white tufa, created by the mineral deposits from the springs. These white mounds were streaked with red iron oxide. The overall all exotic landscape caused one writer to think mistakenly that the area had volcanic activity. Not a scientific conclusion, but an understandable error based on the steaming mounds on the side of the mountain.
RED
HAWK JEWELRY & CRAFTS
Summer Gift Ideas
Great prices - Wonderful Craftsmanship
- Special Orders Accepted -
ELDER MOMFEATHER SPEAKS Manataka
welcomes our newest correspondent. We have
known this fine lady for many years and always felt the world
was blessed to put her where we could witness her beautiful
works. Today, the people sing wherever she goes.
~Editors
I am the tree of my life.
Many summers have come and gone.
My leaves have shaded many.
I am always amazed at the fruit from the tree,
it has fed many that have been hungry.
Time nurtures me and helps my growth.
I like the leaves that have fallen from my tree.
Not all so colorful but just as important.
Each returning something to the Earth
Mother and awaiting a new beginning.
It is now the harvest time of my life
and I watch the colors blend,
creating harmony as the tree drops leaves
of love and peace for all to enjoy.
Expect your every need to be met, expect an answer
to every problem, expect abundance at every
level, and expect to grow spiritually.
The Creator is the root of my abundant security.
Read About
Momfeather Erickson
A
champion of Native American ways in Kentucky
We Can't Drill Our Way Out Of This Mess
By Robert Redford
For the
|
|
eldom
do politics get this cynical. Seldom is the real pain of real people so
cravenly exploited. Many of our fellow Americans now choose between buying
gas to get to work and buying food to feed their families. Meanwhile,
President Bush is trading on that desperation to peddle a lie: that
sacrificing our coastlines and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to Big
Oil will solve our problems at the pump. He's already lifted the executive
ban on drilling off our coasts and challenged Congress to do the same. The
president knows very well that we cannot drill our way to lower gas prices.
We cannot for the simple reason that America has only 3 percent of the
world's oil reserves. The rate at which we extract that small share is all
but meaningless to the vast world oil market where we buy and sell the stuff
like everyone else.
Nevertheless, the president and his allies in Congress point
their fingers at environmentalists because it distracts attention from an
extremely inconvenient truth: that the Bush-Cheney energy policy, drafted in
secret by industry insiders, is what got us to where we are today. That
policy consisted of giving away millions of acres of pristine public lands
so that oil and gas companies could expand drilling. And what is the result?
Sky-high gas prices, record oil and gas profits, more global warming
pollution, and zero progress toward the new energy economy that is our only
salvation.
READ MORE....
|
The Messenger Eagle Shadow Spirit
Sunday and the time had also changed without me knowing it. I woke up to the clock on the cable box reading a different one than the clock on my bed side table. Whole days and months have gone by without being conscious of their passage. My mind and heart are like the frozen ice locked in some void that I just cannot escape from. My spirit feel frozen from all feeling at times, then plunged into some dark depth of emotional pain that rips and pulls the soul fiber it is made from.
Many
things have happened lately that are awakening my heart to the purpose and
reason of life for which there is no explanation. Still the ice remains a
constant barrier between my heart and mind and the real spiritual world.
The day came slipping in across the frozen lake with quiet dignity. I peeked from my window to see if the ice had done any more damage.
Just before going to sleep last night I heard another loud boom that shook the house. When I hear this it means that yet another piece of ice has fallen from the upper roof onto the lower roofs. I tried to see where the damage was done but could not see much in the dark from my windows.
READ MORE...
No offense intended for any individuals or tribes.
Whatever you give a
woman, she's going to multiply.
If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So - if you give her crap,
you will receive more shit than any one human being can handle.
~Submitted by Runninbear
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Code Talkers | ||||
Cradleboards | ||||
Lots More Videos - DVD and VHS - Fast Delivery |
By Gram Selma, Ocali Nation
As we age and the wrinkles on our faces show, wrinkles in our heart and soul start to be felt more. Some of us tend to forget what simple pleasures surround us even on the worst of days!
What
joy we experienced as a child with playing in a stream or
even a water puddle. Our amazement watching tadpoles and our
disbelief when adults told us they would grow into frogs!
We tend to forget our first thrill at chasing and trying to catch a butterfly and then an adult telling us that if we caught them that it would kill them as the fuzz would come off their wings.
So, we learned to simply watch them and if one landed on us to marvel in sheer joy, remembering not to touch it in fear of killing it
Do you know who this is?
I am under 45 years old
I love the outdoors
I hunt
I am a Republican reformer
I have taken on the Republican Party establishment
I have many children
I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor's office.
Did you guess?
Find the answer at the bottom of this page.
Magdala |
Blue Star Woman Message
by Magdala, Maya Priestess
How was your Equinox? Powerful? It was!
Here I am my brothers and sisters. We are creating the temple of the feminine. She has 12 realms plus one, and the star on top, it is so beautiful! Soon it will be accomplished! And many teachings will be there for the feminine, as it was in the ancient temples.
Many things are unfolding for the mother is cooking such a beautiful things. The doors are wide open for people to embrace her, she is the Holy Spirit, she is the force of life. Yet there are still many preparations to be done, before 2012, where the cosmic way of thinking will be in the hearts of the people.
Yes, we have been working in many seminars about dimensions and how to reach those dimensions, the new worlds inside of yourself. It is beautiful to see how people are embracing themselves and finding out who they are. Mama wants to have more teachings about the feminine, the virtual reality, she has come not to destroy any religion or tradition but to consummate them. For indeed, it is through the feminine hemisphere of the brain where those doors resides.
Blue Star Woman, the Tonanazin, came to us during the ceremonies of the equinox....
Toxic levels falling in the Arctic
by Lauren Zack
The
Canadian Press
reports the first large-scale attempt in a decade to measure
contaminants in Arctic food animals has found carcinogens such as PCBs and
other pesticide toxins "have largely leveled off or have begun declining."
Survey researcher Laurie Chan of the University of Northern British Columbia
says it's good news that "organochlorines, like DDT or chlordane or
toxaphene or industrial chemicals like PCB, are declining." Chan called the
falling levels proof that "the Stockholm Convention is having some effect."
The 2004 convention limited the use of the so-called "dirty dozen" chemicals
that are pushed north into the Arctic by global air currents. Canada's Inuit
once had some of the highest PCB levels -- up to 10 times the levels found
in southern Canada -- and PCB was found in the breast milk of Inuit mothers.
A 2003 study found statistically significant nervous system and behavioral
changes in Inuit babies that may be linked to PCBs. Since 1997, PCB levels
in whales, walruses and ringed seals have fallen by an average of 43 percent
while the PCB contamination reaching local people has dropped by an average
of 20 percent. Exposure to toxaphene -- an insecticide that damages the
lungs, nervous system and kidneys -- has dropped an average of one-third
across the Arctic. Unfortunately, the study found that levels of mercury,
probably from the world's growing number of coal-fired power plants, is
rising in some animals. Meanwhile, levels of some persistent organic
pollutants (POPs) like the pesticide endosulfan remain high in the Arctic,
underscoring the need for global action to ban POPs pesticides. from:
Pesticide Action Network North America: http://www.panna.org
SHARE MORE - See PANNA magazine "Silent Snow: Arctic Paradox"
Related Article:
Flame retardant chemicals, known as polybrominated diphenyls (PBDE's) found in furniture, clothing, and carpet padding manufactured in the U.S and Europe have been found to accumulate in women's breast milk. They have also found their way to the Arctic, poisoning Indigenous peoples and endangering Arctic polar bears and other wildlife. What you can do to reduce PBDE's and other toxic chemicals in your home and environment: http://www.manataka.org/page1948.html
101By Carol Perez Petersen
They came through me The breath empowered The shadow weeping A heart in flames Feet crowned of thorns
They came through me Two Ravens on the tell all pole While I underneath Picked the feather from the bush
They came through me The Perseid shower and Bouquets of yucca pods Hatchling fairies on the knoll
They came through me Long limbed Nordic’s Blue faces Star Council Special burn victims unit
They came through me The nightingale’s torrent Swallowing suffering A rage so vital and pitiful
They came through me Images of lost souls Waiting for the womb Eager for the red Eager for a pulse
They came through me The nameless Decreed woman unmask Naked flesh pound for pound We will mold you in our image
Carol Perez Petersen Clan Mother Deer Nation rainbowmedicineblanket@yahoo.com
|
On Cold Winter Nights Snuggle Up with These Great Indian Movies
Native American Trust Fund: Massive Mismanagement
Cobell Indian Trust Fund Scandal: Bringing This Case to a Close
In 1996 banker Elouise Cobell filed a class action lawsuit
charging the government mismanaged far more than $30 billion in oil, timber,
grazing and other royalties on land owned by some 500,000 individual Indian
beneficiaries. The financial operations cover more than 11 million acres of
Indian land and profits have accumulated since the trust was imposed in 1887.
According to accounts from whistle-blowers, money belonging to individual
Indians was pilfered, skimmed, redirected or thrown in with general government
funds by the U.S. Department of the Interior or its appointed representatives.
The Interior Department has not accounted for or repaid losses of trust
resources, proceeds, or royalties. After struggling for decades to receive a
hearing, American Indian families went to federal court in 1996 to plead their
case.
On behalf of the Indian plaintiffs, attorney Keith Harper has argued that the
lack of records made the government accountable for billions of dollars in lost
trust funds. Further, plaintiffs argue that the government benefited from the
use of Indian people’s money all those years, and that a "disgorgement,” or
giving back of funds, must happen.
U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled on January 30 2008, that “a remedy
must be found for the Department’s unrepaired, and irreparable, breach of its
fiduciary duty over the last century.” He also called on Congress to adequately
fund a settlement between the Interior Department and the plaintiffs.
After a trial in June, Judge Robertson ruled in August 2008 that the government
is responsible for about $455 million of missing Native American money. The
Native American plaintiffs expressed disappointment at the verdict, which holds
the government accountable for only a fraction of the amount descendants claim
to be owed, and have not yet said whether they will appeal.
Background: Can the Government Account for the Money?
No. “Indeed it is now clear that completion of the required accounting is an
impossible task,” declared US District Judge James Robertson in his
ruling. Robertson also
ruled that the government’s failure to account for Indian people’s money is “not
simply sloppy bookkeeping. It is willful neglect, including the active
destruction of records and the failure to comply with court orders,” as
described in
the New York Times.
Robertson acknowledged that the Department of the Interior has taken steps to
improve its accounting system. Nevertheless, his January 30
decision
on accounting states that “those improvements are for future beneficiaries...
Their implementation at the close of the 20th Century has not remedied and
cannot remedy the failures of the past, nor do they -- together with all the
other projects Interior has implemented -- amount to the accounting required [.
. . ].
In response to the ruling,
Cobell,
the lead plaintiff declared, “We’ve argued for over 10 years that the
government is unable to fulfill its duty to render an adequate historical
accounting, much less redress the historical wrongs heaped upon the individual
Indian trust beneficiaries.” Robertson’s ruling should put an end to further
years of delay by eliminating Interior's claim to be working on an accurate
accounting.
More on Native American Trust Fund: Massive Mismanagement
Credits:
Quaker Friends Committee on National Legislation
http://www.fcnl.org/issues/item.php?item_id=3187&issue_id=112
TEACHING ABOUT AMERICAN INDIANS
Teaching Resources for Educators
Here are resources if you've ever wanted classroom-teaching activities on
American Indians beyond the Thanksgiving holiday or the history of American
Indian Education or best teaching practices addressing American Indian learners.
Resources include books, magazines, articles, bibliographies, maps, etc.
Although often times there is overlap, these resources are organized in four
categories:
Teaching About American Indians
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for American Indian Learners
Researching American Indian Education
Other Resources
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. - Anne Frank
~Submitted by Romaine Garcia
Help Support the Manataka Smoke Signal News
SHOP AT
THE
Flags
Authentic
Tribal Flags
TWO FEATHERS
CREATIONS
Now Open!
Two Feathers Creations by Bonnie Two Feathers, is a unique
experience. Bonnie's hand craft work is
an excellent example of traditional and modern art, jewelry
and crafts.
Elegant yet surprisingly inexpensive.
Art Gallery
Jewelry Store
Book Store
100's To Choose
Furs, Hides, Robes
Gifts - Home Decor
Crafts
100's to Choose
Teepee Store
Drums
Video Store
OCTOBER 2008 SMOKE SIGNAL - PAGE 1
OCTOBER 2008 SMOKE SIGNAL - PAGE 2
OCTOBER 2008 SMOKE SIGNAL - PAGE 3
Disclaimer, Trademark and Copyright Information
Non-profit/Teaching/Educational
©2008 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.
|