Paging Gazhekwe

[Pam]

Sage, cedar, sweetgrass and tobacco are the four sacred herbs. When burned, their smoke carries our prayers to the Creator. Each one represents a different direction and phase of life.

Thanks for the additional info. The booklet they gave out at the Cathedral just said they were "traditional symbols of purification and blessing."

[gazhekwe]

It is a lot more complex than can be explained in a pamphlet I guess. Purification is right, "blessing" is a Catholic word, so not so traditional. It is more like a messenger, smoke goes everywhere and 'Shpeming [[up in the sky) to carry our prayers to the Creator.

Some more teachings on the Sacred Herbs:

Sema -- In addition to the Eastern Direction and the first aspect of life [[the mind), Sema represents the first part of the day, the first season [[spring), the first stage of one’s life, the first clan [[the eagle), and the Oriental race.

Giishik -- represents the southern direction, the middle part of the day, the second season [[summer), the second stage of life [[youth), the second aspect of life [[the body), the second clan [[the deer), and the Anishinaabe nation.

Mshkwadewash -- represents the western direction, the evening or setting sun, the third season [[autumn), the adult stage of life, the third aspect of life [[emotions), the buffalo clan, and the black race.

Wiingashk -- represents the northern direction, the last part of the day [[the night), the last season [[winter), the last stage of life [[the elder), the fourth aspect of life [[the spirit), the bear clan, and the white race of man.

I pulled this from Kenny Pheasant's wonderful website because it is so concise. I <3 Kenny Pheasant.

http://www.anishinaabemdaa.com/ceremonies.htm

Note the representation of the four races, race being a rather foreign concept, but representing the four recognized general skin colors. If you go around the medicine wheel, the colors coincide as well, Yellow in the east, Red in the south, Black in the west, and White in the north.

[Detroit Stylin]

It is a lot more complex than can be explained in a pamphlet I guess. Purification is right, "blessing" is a Catholic word, so not so traditional. It is more like a messenger, smoke goes everywhere and 'Shpeming [[up in the sky) to carry our prayers to the Creator.

Some more teachings on the Sacred Herbs:

Sema -- In addition to the Eastern Direction and the first aspect of life [[the mind), Sema represents the first part of the day, the first season [[spring), the first stage of one’s life, the first clan [[the eagle), and the Oriental race.

Giishik -- represents the southern direction, the middle part of the day, the second season [[summer), the second stage of life [[youth), the second aspect of life [[the body), the second clan [[the deer), and the Anishinaabe nation.

Mshkwadewash -- represents the western direction, the evening or setting sun, the third season [[autumn), the adult stage of life, the third aspect of life [[emotions), the buffalo clan, and the black race.

Wiingashk -- represents the northern direction, the last part of the day [[the night), the last season [[winter), the last stage of life [[the elder), the fourth aspect of life [[the spirit), the bear clan, and the white race of man.

I pulled this from Kenny Pheasant's wonderful website because it is so concise. I <3 Kenny Pheasant.

http://www.anishinaabemdaa.com/ceremonies.htm

Note the representation of the four races, race being a rather foreign concept, but representing the four recognized general skin colors. If you go around the medicine wheel, the colors coincide as well, Yellow in the east, Red in the south, Black in the west, and White in the north.

Thats interesting....

[gazhekwe]

Yes, their being on the wheel shows balance, we need all the four colors to balance our wheel of life, just as we need our four seasons, and our four ages, infancy, adolescence, adulthood and elder.

[gazhekwe]

Republicans Propose Scorched-Earth Land-into-Trust Legislation
By Gale Courey Toensing August 3, 2011

Republican legislators have introduced scorched-earth proposals that would make it almost impossible for the Interior Department to take “off-reservation” land into trust for gaming—or any other purpose.

Senators John McCain [[R-Arizona) and Jon Kyl [[R-Arizona) have introduced a stand-alone bill in the Senate called the “Off–Reservation Land Acquisitions Guidance Act.” In the House, Representatives Charlie Dent [[R-Pennsylvania) and James Lankford [[R-Oklahoma) have introduced amendments to H.R. 2584: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012. Together the proposals form a multi-pronged attack on the Interior Department’s ability to take off-reservation land into trust for gaming or any other purpose.

It’s unlikely that any action will be taken on the proposals until September since both the Senate and Congress are scheduled to recess now that the debt deal has passed. But opponents of the bills are already lining up and Congressman Jim Moran [[D-Virginia) is the first to speak out.

“These amendments are an assault on Indian Country, attacking the land into trust mechanism established to ensure that tribes who suffered for centuries at the hand of the U.S. government receive some measure of compensation for their loss,” Moran said. “They should be defeated and if they come up for a vote this fall I will work to try and stop them.”

The Lankford and Dent amendments to the Interior appropriations bill introduced on July 28 are so potentially devastating to land into trust acquisitions that the National Indian Gaming Association sent out action alerts urging members to contact their congressional representatives and tell them to vote no. Both amendments would alter the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act [[IGRA).

The Lankford amendment would restrict all land into trust acquisitions by barring the government from increasing the net number of acres of Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. “If adopted, this amendment would immediately halt all land into trust applications for Indian Tribes,” NIGA said.

The Dent amendment would stop tribes from using land claim settlements to open casinos. Generally, tribes cannot ask Interior to take land into trust for gaming on land acquired after IGRA was enacted in 1988. But Section 20[[b0[[1)[[B) of IGRA provides a number of exceptions to that rule, including allowing land to be placed into trust as part of a land claim or an initial reservation for newly recognized or restored tribes. The provision has only been used twice—by the Seneca Nation for an off-reservation casino in downtown Buffalo, New York, and by the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma for an off-reservation casino in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, according to Indianz. Dent’s amendment prohibits using any funds from the Interior appropriations bill on Section 20 land into trust acquisitions.

Dent apparently only opposes Indian gaming, not commercial gaming and particularly not commercial gaming in his home state. The American Gaming Association reported in a May 9, 2001, press release that Pennsylvania is the number one state in the amount of tax revenues generated by commercial casinos with slot machines and table games. AGA reported in its “annual State of the States survey” that slot machines and table games at Pennsylvania’s 10 operating casinos generated $1.33 billion in tax revenue in 2010, an 18.8 percent increase from the previous year. That amount is also $450 million more than the second-place state, Indiana, AGA said.

Tom Rodgers, a Blackfeet lobbyist and founder of Carlyle Consulting, found a model for Dent’s apparent obliviousness to commercial gaming in his state. “Given that the state of Pennsylvania in just three years has become the number one state in the generation of commercial casino tax revenue perhaps Representative Charlie Dent can star as a modern day Claude Raines in the remake of Casablanca,” Rodgers wrote in an email statement. “I know he must be shocked, shocked to find out that gambling is occurring in Pennsylvania. Representative Dent, it would appear, is seriously misinformed as to the facts and even history. He needs to revisit the history of the Pennsylvania tribe that the beautiful Susquehanna River was named after and hopefully that will inform him, for to remain ignorant as to history is always to remain a …. ” Rodgers said he deliberately included the incomplete sentence in his statement.

McCain’s bill would stop the Interior Department from taking land into trust for gaming if the off-reservation the land is not within “reasonable commuting distance from the reservation of that Indian tribe.” The bill would reinstate a Bush-era “guidance memorandum” that was tossed out by Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk in June. The guidance memo issued in January 2008 set a new rule—an undefined ‘’commutability” limit—on taking off-reservation land into trust for gaming. Echo Hawk rescinded the memo after extensive consultations with tribal leaders—a required procedure that didn’t take place for the guidance memo, which was issued unilaterally by former Assistant-Secretary Carl Artman. McCain’s bill would carve the “commutability” requirement into statutory stone, making it far more difficult to rescind than a guidance memorandum.

McCain has named his bill the “Off –Reservation Land Acquisitions Guidance Act”—a benign-sounding title, but the devil is in the details, which would place such onerous reporting requirements on both tribes and the department that positive land into trust determinations would be virtually impossible.

The Interior Department would be required to prepare a report assessing the benefits to the tribe of taking off-reservation land into trust; the impact on unemployment on the reservation; the impact to tribal members, “their dependents and descendants” of relocating to the off-reservation land or adjacent communities; the specific benefits to the reservation of taking off-reservation land into trust, including whether reservation jobs would be created and how many; and “whether the tribal government can efficiently exercise the governmental and regulatory responsibilities of the trial government if a gamily facility is constructed on off-reservation land.”

The bill gives unprecedented added weight to state and especially local concerns, requiring the Interior Secretary to prepare a report assessing whether the off-reservation parcel is likely to disrupt established local governmental operations; the potential impacts to state and local government on property taxes; whether the tribe had “intergovernmental agreements” addressing both state and local government concerns, including agreements on law enforcement jurisdiction on the off-reservation land; traffic, noise, “and other negative effects on development”; any potential incompatible use of the off reservation land and adjacent or contiguous land zoned or used for national parks, national monuments, conservation areas, national fish and wildlife refuges, daycare centers, schools, churches, or residential developments.

Tribes would be required to “disclose and submit” in writing all plans, contracts, agreements “or other information” relating to the use or intended use of the parcel; a written opinion of gaming eligibility for the land from the Office of Indian; and “any other information” the Secretary needs to determine a land into trust application for the benefit of the tribe. The proposed use of the land must be “compatible” with state and local planning and zoning and public health and safety requirements. There would be no grandfathering of pending land into trust applications, if the bill passes. Instead, the new law would apply retroactively to the pending applications.

Indian Country Today Media Network:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...t-legislation/

[gazhekwe]

Native American ex-NBC employee suing for harassment

By JAMIE SCHRAM and LACHLAN CARTWRIGHT
Last Updated: 4:55 PM, August 5, 2011
Posted: 1:35 AM, August 5, 2011

A Native American NBC studio technician was tormented about his ethnicity by cruel colleagues, who strung up an Indian doll on a noose and called it his "long-lost daughter," he claims in a lawsuit.

Faruq "Peter" Wells -- who worked on the "Today" show, "Dr. Oz" and "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" -- endured the abuse after returning from a vacation and eventually quit his job when NBC's Human Resources Department told him to ignore the problem, the court papers charge.

Wells said his horror story began on June 14, 2009 -- within an hour of returning from an Arizona vacation to his desk at the Peacock Network.

Colleague Rich Citelli told him to look over at the desk of co-worker Evelyn Cordero -- and he saw a "dark-skinned female doll adorned in traditional Native American clothing," says the suit, which will be filed in Manhattan Supreme Court today.

Citelli then showed him despicable cellphone images of the doll strung up in Christmas lights with a Post-it note that read, "Baby Wells," the documents allege.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I was extremely upset. I felt I was made to be a laughingstock," Wells told The Post.

"I went right to my supervisors and showed them the picture and said, 'What is this?' Wells said. "One said to me, 'I told her not to put it up.' I asked, 'Who is she?' He said, 'Evelyn [Cordero].' I was shocked because I didn't expect that from her," Wells said.

Hours later, the suit claims, a still-reeling Wells became the butt of sleazy jokes.
"Hey, Pete, do you have any illegitimate children?" Cordero asked, the court papers say.

Cordero then put the doll on his workspace and said, "Look, it's got your DNA, skin color and you both have the same hair. It's braided just like yours," the suit charges.

Wells' lawyer, Matthew Blit, said, "They are very creative racists. Unfortunately, I've seen some horrific cases, and this is definitely one of them."

Wells went to his union rep the next day and was told of two prior racially tinged incidents -- slurs and drawings scribbled on cafeteria trays and nooses found hanging in the former Conan O'Brien studio, court papers say.

He then explained the incident to HR, which only made things worse, he claims.

Two days later, he found a block of fake cheese in the common area signifying that he was "a rat," according to the suit.

"[HR] called me after a week and told me to return to work and not talk about what happened," Wells said.

He stayed away during an investigation only to be told about six weeks later that no action was taken, according to the suit. Fed up, he quit on Aug. 31, 2009, after three years at NBC.

Citelli declined to comment, efforts to reach Cordero were unsuccessful.

An NBC Universal said in a statement:
We take all allegations of harassment and discrimination seriously. At the time of the 2009 incident, the company conducted a thorough and independent investigation and disciplined employees who had behaved inappropriately. The EEOC reviewed Wells’ complaint and NBCUniversal’s response and declined to take any further action. We believe that NBCUniversal took appropriate actions in 2009 and that the lawsuit is without merit.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/m...#ixzz1UCoQivaK

[gazhekwe]

Power to the Native Player

Monica Whitepigeon in Entertainment.


Native Hero

The gaming industry today is constantly evolving and exploring new types of gameplay and story concepts. Sometimes in order to move forward, a step backwards is required.
"From Dust" is a new innovative game from Ubisoft [[the producers of Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed) that takes this concept and puts the player in a tribal setting with the ability to manipulate the physical world. The main purpose is to create a stable, working society by using special abilities to restructure the world to better fit the tribe.

While strongly influenced by Indigenous tribes, the various tribal characters use masks to distinguish themselves from each other and rely on the tribe's shamans for insight to various environmental catastrophes.

Tribal shamans alert players of impending natural disasters. The player has the ability to alter the natural disasters harmless. For instance, a tsunami can become jellified and wildfires extinguished.

This is a refreshing and beautiful take on a society-based game that is not overpopulated with Caucasians, and has a main character who is dark-skinned. From Dust is available on XBox360, PS3, and will soon be available for PC.

The initial release was July 27 on Xbox 360.
This is a video game is rated E10 [[Everyone 10+) Mild Violence

Monica Whitepigeon is a tribal member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and has a degree in animation.

posted August 6, 2011 8:57 am edt

Hmmm. Jellification? I would hope for a more realistic solution. If we get a warning, should we not take some real world action to avoid catastrophe that cannot be stopped?

[gazhekwe]

Post #716 had to do with Eagle Rock, the notice that Kennecott could start blasting this fall, and a response from Kennecott that they were really respecting the sacred site which they have fenced off. Here is a response to Kennecott:

onute July 28, 2011
To Mr Blondeau and to Kennecott leaders,
Encircling a Sacred Site, a site that is central within the creation stories of many tribes, with a fence, seizing their land and procuring permits under questionable circumstances, ignoring an administrative judge’s ruling, setting up a No Trespassing sign among other things is not something I consider a consideration nor mindfulness of how sacred Eagle Rock is to the Native American people. This type of statement and “mindfulness” is no different than a corporation desiring the riches within, under and around the Vatican to fence it off from the people, encircle it with guards and Do Not Enter signs and then blasting away at what it just wants while telling the Catholic people that it is respecting their faith and sacred site and no damage will be done.

In addition, the water that surrounds this site is sacred and must be considered, protected, respected and blessed. We have all seen the recent horrible consequences of greed and corporate irresponsibility as we saw oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico causing the destruction of life and the ecosystems throughout that whole area. What would you say to the people and to all of life that depends upon this fresh water to live if sulfuric acid poisoned the fresh water supply. WE are the caretakers and we must honor and respect the resources that our Creator has provided, not rape the Earth for them because we could. We must walk as stewards of the land that we have been entrusted to lovingly care for and respect. May our Water be Blessed and may Eagle Rock be protected. It is sacred to the Native American people and this must be respected. We are all part of a Oneness that we must see and understand. Our Hearts understand our Oneness. May our thoughts and actions reflect this understanding that dwells within our Hearts.
Anne Savickas

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...ng-eagle-rock/

[gazhekwe]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - August 8

"The Creator told everyone of us in our tribal beginnings to look after our ceremonies, and each other." -- Barney Bush, SHAWNEE

Our ceremonies are important and each has a purpose. They teach us about the Creator and about each other. The ceremonies teach us to be humble and teach us to pray. They teach us to look inside ourselves. We should remember to pray each morning. Ask the Creator to guide our thinking. Think only good thoughts. Think good thoughts about our relatives and about our brothers and sisters. Pray for our children in ceremony. Give thanks to the Great Mystery of life. All life is sacred. Pray in a sacred way.

Oh Great Spirit, I come to You this morning in ceremony. I come to this sacred place to talk to You. I thank You for Your guidance and protection. Give me Your eyes today so I may see the beauty in all things.
____________________________________
What kind of ceremonies do we have in our society these days? Christmas? For so many, it is not so much a ceremony as a celebration of consumption. There is a difference.

Thinking about technology's effect on our lives, it does seem as though technology works to erase ceremony. We go from TV to the shopping experience to entertainment, all the while tethered to an electronic device that makes us continuously available. There is no time for reflection, no time to stop and celebrate life either alone or in concert with our community.

The elders have taught that we need ceremony in our lives, to mark the rites of passage, to begin new trails, to end old trails. In each, we ask for spiritual strength and support to move along our path with our direction clear and our actions guided by the Creator or life force.

Is ceremony something we miss, would we find it helpful to our physical, emotional, spiritual existence?

[Bigb23]

Gaz -

I used to do a lot of remote two track camping up in the Huron National Forest by myself. Well, on Saturday nights, [[I think), I used to pick up something called Native American radio on one of the few stations I could get.
I tried Google and WCMU, and came up with nothing. Is there a link you could post here with a down-loadable podcast?
Are you familiar with it? Thanks.

[gazhekwe]

Yes, I do know the show, it is really hard to come by around here though. I've heard it on the radio in Colorado, Alaska, Arizona.

You can get a stream here: http://www.nativeradio.com/radio.cfm

It opened in iTunes for me, not Windows Media Player though.

Then there is Native News. It's a five minute broadcast that you can pick up at 5:30 daily at:

90.1 Marquette http://tunein.com/tuner/?StationId=2...rogramId=1043&

The show's website: http://www.nativenews.net/

[Bigb23]

Thanks, I don't have Itunes, but I'll try podcast software. It must have been NPR from Traverse City or Mt. Pleasant/Lansing at the time.

[gazhekwe]

Yes, it was CMU. but it's only at 5:30 pm. You don't need iTunes for that one.

The music station has a .pls extension, not sure what program opens that.

[Wingnatic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLS_[[file_format)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player

I'd say the VLC player is the most widely used in place of a Windows Media player and is '' open source'' which means its free just like the widely used OpenOffice.org which is also free vs the mega expensive Microsoft Office

[gazhekwe]

Thank you, Wingnatic! That will help a lot of people, I bet. I am going to hold off since iTunes will play it for now, and hey, maybe I can save something for my iPod. Nice music!

[Bigb23]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLS_[[file_format)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player

I'd say the VLC player is the most widely used in place of a Windows Media player and is '' open source'' which means its free just like the widely used OpenOffice.org which is also free vs the mega expensive Microsoft Office

I already have had VLC and OpenOffice. I'll try updating VLC and try that.
But I've had a heck of a time finding decent freeware to copy and reformat youtube videos. I'm on my third program now, and they are tough to use and reformat from .FLV to .AVI and .3GP for my new portable. Read the comments on CNET before doing any downloads.

[Wingnatic]

Have you tried DVD Videosoft ? I had it for downloading video's and audio off video's until Feb. when I changed operating systems . I think it does a whole bunch of other things as well . As with any download including Adobe updates , decline any toolbars that may be offered .
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm

[Bigb23]

Have you tried DVD Videosoft ? I had it for downloading video's and audio off video's until Feb. when I changed operating systems . I think it does a whole bunch of other things as well . As with any download including Adobe updates , decline any toolbars that may be offered .
http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/free-dvd-video-software.htm

I've spent a lot of time trying to download freeware over the past week, and find out what works. What I found was commercials for the upgrade. Nobody expects something for nothing, but freeware has made some people rich for some line code. OpenOffice is the the best, everything else is kind of smarmy. I'll look at your link, but like I said, check out CNET first.

[Bigb23]

Sorry, Gaz, not to take up your thread.

[gazhekwe]

No problem, Kchiamo. If you get into the music station, let me know how you like it.

[gazhekwe]

International Day of the World's Indigenous People: Time to Craft Our Future

Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Condition.

Today, August 9, is recognized by the United Nations as the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.

Since 2005, the International Day of the World's Indigenous People has been celebrated on August 9 each year to recognize the first United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations meeting in Geneva in 1982.

On December 23, 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World's Indigenous People should be observed on August 9 annually during the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People.

In 2004 the assembly proclaimed the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People [[2005-2014). The assembly also decided to continue observing the International Day of Indigenous People annually during the second decade. The decade's goal was to further strengthen international cooperation for solving problems faced by indigenous peoples in areas such as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment, and social and economic development.

This year's United Nations theme is "Indigenous designs: celebrating stories and cultures, crafting our own future."

As this nation's indigenous people, American Indians throughout the United States should pause today to celebrate who we are as indigenous people. We know our history has not always been easy.

Being a people that passed our histories orally from one generation to the next, we know American Indians have rich stories to share. We need to tell our own stories. We know that we have not always appreciated how we have been depicted by non-Indians. It is time to tell our own stories.

For decades, in boarding schools, there was an intentional movement to strip American Indians of our culture. In some cases, it was purposely "beat out" of us. Fortunately, this gross injustice perpetrated against American Indians was not 100 percent successful. Our culture survived and, most important, so did we. Fortunately, we can now celebrate our cultures as Native people.

Now it is time to craft our own future.

This past December at the 2010 White House Tribal Nations Conference, President Obama embraced the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples on behalf of the United States.

The Declaration speaks clearly about the rights indigenous people around the world have. Finally this country is embracing some fundamental principles it has preached around the world when it did not live up to them with American Indians.

While this move by the Obama administration is a positive gesture in the right direction, American Indians must demand full compliance of the Declaration by the United States, even down to respecting our sacred burial sites.

On this International Day of the World's Indigenous People, American Indians can be proud that we have been rich in stories and we can now openly celebrate our cultures.
Now it is time to craft our future.

revised 2:15 pm; posted August 9, 2011 10:50 am edt

http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/int...ur-future.html

[gazhekwe]

It's another anniversary! TWO years of this thread, and still perking along. Should we continue? What would you like to see?

The first year, we had a lot of stories and lore. The first anniversary started with post #400. At that time, we had "nearly 10,000" views.

Anniversary # 2 starts with post #747, and we have 30,165 views. News really dominated the year, with police happenings in Seattle, sacred site desecration in Michigan, and more. We also had stories, music and dance.

[Pam]

It's another anniversary! TWO years of this thread, and still perking along. Should we continue? What would you like to see?

The first year, we had a lot of stories and lore. The first anniversary started with post #400. At that time, we had "nearly 10,000" views.

Anniversary # 2 starts with post #747, and we have 30,165 views. News really dominated the year, with police happenings in Seattle, sacred site desecration in Michigan, and more. We also had stories, music and dance.

I actually like the current events more than the folk tales, but variety is good.

[gazhekwe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmaSF2aIxZM

[gazhekwe]

Rolled out on July 1, killed on July 7, the Eska bottled water ad drew widespread disapprobation among Natives and others. The ads depicted three non-natives dressed in stereotypical "Native" attire including breechcloths, braids and feathers. The Eska Warriors protected the purity of the water by shooting darts at someone trying to add OJ to their water.

In the included YouTube video, Clifton Nicholas does a great job explaining the import and harm of such negative stereotypes.

http://www.mandmglobal.com/community...acist-ads.aspx