Paging Gazhekwe

[gazhekwe]

The following is a statement released by Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe’s chairman Kevin Keckler in regards to the latest developments in the progress of a case for Vern Traversie and the alleged events that happened at Rapid City Regional Hospital.

The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe expresses outrage over what was apparently done to tribal elder Vern Traversie, while he was a patient at the Rapid City Regional Hospital and since he filed complaints leading to investigations by our tribal police, the State of South Dakota, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

This past Monday [August 6], South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley overstepped his authority by asserting in a news release posted on the state’s website that all investigations had concluded that “the scars on Mr. Traversie are a side effect of the surgery performed on him.” He is wrong, and so are those news outlets that reported this statement without asking anyone for confirmation.

First, Attorney General Jackley has no business rendering conclusions about our Tribal Government’s law enforcement investigation. Second, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Police, the first responders to our elder’s complaint last October, made no conclusion whatsoever about “the letters carved into his torso,” simply because our tribe does not have regulatory authority over Rapid City Regional Hospital or its doctors, nurses or other staff. Instead, our police ably responded to and documented their investigation and referred the matter to the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office and Rapid City Police Department for review.

Regrettably, County and City police, both with limited resources, completed their joint investigation last October without even examining our elder’s scars or meeting him in person. Instead, they simply spoke to his surgeon and relied upon the hospital’s representations. Not only did the ways in which the local investigations were handled violate our elder’s human rights but the State of South Dakota and Attorney General Jackley now distorts those local investigations for their own purposes.

In contrast, the United States, with which the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe has a government-to-government relationship and from which our elder is owed a trust and fiduciary responsibility under our tribe’s treaty, has two investigations actively underway. One by the Federal Bureau of Investigation [[“FBI”), and the other by Health and Human Services [[“HHS”). Contrary to Mr. Jackley’s assertion, neither of these federal investigations are closed. The two active federal investigations seek to understand whether our elder’s civil and patient rights were violated while he was in aftercare at the Rapid City Regional Hospital, and whether a hate crime was committed against him. These inquiries are necessary and critical not only for our elder but also for the entire Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation and for all Indians in South Dakota.

That is also why in May 2012, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe called upon U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate “whether Mr. Traversie was the victim of racial discrimination [[American Indian) or disability [[blindness), and whether his civil rights were violated during the course of his hospitalization at RCRH in August 2011.” We are pleased that the United States has answered our call for a full and fair investigation, and we are hopeful that no matter the outcome of the FBI and HHS’s investigations, they will each be carried out and concluded in an honorable way.

In the end, though, it will be a jury of our elder’s peers who will hear all of the evidence and testimony from medical experts before deciding what was done to him, and who did it.

So today we join our 69-year-old tribal elder Vern Traversie in calling for justice, and for a just investigation process, not only for him but as he has said so many times, for all Indian people – so no one is ever again treated the way he believes he was treated by the hospital and the State of South Dakota.

Read more: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz23A15AxLX

[gazhekwe]

I don't know who all is reading this thread, but I am so happy you are here. Thank you all for your interest.

If there is anything you would like to see here, Ideas would be very welcome.

Thank you, Ravine, for giving us this opportunity to present little known news, stories and history.

[gazhekwe]

By ICTMN StaffAugust 12, 2012
Long thought to be a beverage reserved for the ruling class and priests, archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History say chocolate could have been used for more as far back as 2,500 years ago by the Maya.

Traces of chocolate were found on fragments of plates at the Paso del Macho site in Yucatan in 2001. For beverages, the cacao beans were crushed and mixed with liquid.

“This is the first time it has been found on a plate used for serving food,” institute archaeologist Tomas Gallareta Negron said in a release. “It is unlikely that it was ground there [[on the plate), because for that they probably used metates [[grinding stones).”

Researchers are saying this find could indicate links to traditional dishes eaten today such as mole, a chocolate-based sauce made with chili peppers and served with meat.

“I think their inference that cacao was being used in a sauce is likely correct, though I can imagine other possibilities,” John S. Henderson, a Cornell University professor of Anthropology and an expert on ancient chocolate, told The Telegraph, citing possibilities like adding it to a beverage or using it as a condiment or a garnish.

Though the plate fragments date to about 500 B.C., they aren’t the oldest evidence of chocolate usage found in Mexico. The Telegraph reports beverage vessels that are 1,000 years older have been found from the Olmec culture to the west of the Yucatan and other sites in Chiapas, to the south.

Read more:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz23LDwF6rg

Gazhekwe note: In the first paragraph, the phrase Long thought to be a beverage reserved for the ruling class and priests, tells much about the anthropologists who study ancient native cultures, and the teachings they pass on to the general population.

The only measure they use is their own culture. This is called ethnocentrism, and it permeates the information we have about native non-western cultures throughout the world. Anthropologists are well aware of ethnocentrism and it is indeed a concept taught in anthropology studies. However, it is very difficult for a person to see when their understanding of something is colored by their own cultural beliefs.

In one college anthropology class, I was invited to give a guest lecture. Afterward, the professor was talking about subjects they were working on. One student was advancing the theory that the Indians could not have made maple syrup until the white man came with his iron pots. Really. I asked the professor if he planned to challenge that theory with facts, and he said no, he was going to see what the student could learn during research. I wish I could have read the paper presented by that student. The opening proposal was as clear an example of ethnocentrism as I have ever seen.

Tomorrow, I will post two recipes for molé, one done the original way, and the one I use, which is fast and good.

[gazhekwe]

This recipe uses a blender to puree the items that would have been ground by hand in a metate. Because there is so much work to it, mole was traditionally prepared in large amounts. Hand grinding produces a finer paste than can be achieved with a blender, or so the story goes.

CLASSIC MOLE POBLANO SAUCE
[[from The Whole Chile Pepper Book)

4 dried pasilla Chiles, stems and seeds removed
4 dried red New Mexican chiles, stems and seeds removed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and seeds removed, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 corn tortilla, torn into pieces
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon round coriander
3 tablespoons shortening or vegetable oil
1 cup chicken broth
1 ounce bitter chocolate [[or more to taste)

Combine the chiles, onion, garlic, tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of the sesame seeds, almonds, tortilla, raisins, cloves, cinnamon, and coriander. Puree small amounts of this mixture in a blender until smooth. [[I added a small of amount of water each time to make it smooth.)

Melt the shortening in a skillet and sauté the puree for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the chicken broth and chocolate and cook over a very low heat for 45 minutes. The sauce should be very thick. The remaining sesame seeds are used as a garnish.

Serving suggestion: This sauce is excellent with poultry; serve it over a turkey or chicken breast. It is also excellent as a sauce over shredded chicken or over turkey enchiladas.

The Seven Moles: mole negro, colorado, amarillo, verde, chichilo, coloradito, and mancha manteles

[gazhekwe]

I found this recipe at Trailerchix.com and it has become a favorite here. Note it has 14 ingredients when mole poblano usually has 20 or so ingredients. Chile powder typically combines several spices though so maybe that makes up for it.

1 1/4# boneless, skinless chicken thighs [[about 5)
1/2 tsp salt, divided [[She called for Kosher salt, but I just use regular)
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 T coconut oil, divided [[I didn't have this so use evoo)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T ancho chile power [[I just use regular)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 c chicken broth
1/4 c semi sweet chocolate chips [[note this recipe does not have raisins which I hate, so the sweetness of the chips makes up for the lack of the sweetness of raisins)
1 1/2 T natural peanut butter or almond butter
1 T toasted sesame seeds [[toast them until fragrant stirring constantly in a dry pan over low heat, about two minutes)

Heat 1/2 T oil in large pan over medium high heat. Season chicken with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper. Brown on both sides about five minutes, set aside on a plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add 1/2 T oil, garlic, chile powder, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, oregano, 1/4 tsp salt, cook and stir about 30 seconds til fragrant. Add tomato sauce, chocolate chips, broth and peanut or almond butter. Stir to combine, bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium low. Return chicken and any juices to pan and turn to coat chicken. Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about six more minutes.

Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds over rice or with tortillas.

[Jimaz]

If there is anything you would like to see here, Ideas would be very welcome....

If you have anything from Shaking The Pumpkin or similar, that would be nice every so often. That's a very amusing and enlightening book. The brief stories would suit the forum format well.

Thank you so much for your efforts.

[gazhekwe]

Well, Jimaz, I was hoping for some others to come in and add some more ideas.

Shaking the Pumpkin is a marvelous collection. I loaned out my copy years ago and never saw it again. Ah, well, it would be easy enough to replace it. Meantime, here is a piece I found in a blog, posted by the editor of the book, Jerome Rothenberg. I love the earthy animal images in this poem.

Navajo
Navajo Animal Songs

1.

Chipmunk can't drag it along
can't drag it along

Chipmunk holds back his ears

2.

Chipmunk was standing
jerking his feet
with stripes
he's a very short chipmunk

3.

Mole makes his pole redhot
Says: I'll shove it up your ass
Says: feel how it shakes your belly

4.

Wildcat was walking
He ran down here
He got his feet in the water
He farted
Wow, wow! says Wildcat

5.

A turkey is dancing near the rocks
shoves out his pelvis
woops-a-daisy we all go crazy

6.

Big Rabbit goes to see his baby
pisses
pissing all around him

7.

Pinionjay shits pebbles
now he's empty

English versions by Jerome Rothenberg, after David McAllester

POSTED BY JEROME ROTHENBERG AT 6:26 AM
http://poemsandpoetics.blogspot.com/...-range-of.html

[Pam]

I was hoping for some others to come in and add some more ideas.

You seem to be doing fine with your picks. A little bit of everything is good.

[Jimaz]

...
Navajo Animal Songs
...

Ah, yes. I remember that one. Such a playful, carefree style.

[gazhekwe]

The Potawatomi Trail of Death was the journey of Potawatomi from Indiana to the prairies of Kansas. The 660 mile journey was the forced removal of 859 Potawatomi in 1838. It began in Twin Lakes, Indiana, near Plymouth, on September 4 and ended two months later on November 4.

Sadly, during these two months, over 40 Potawatomi died along the way. Those who died were mostly children and elders. Most of those who died did so as the result of typhoid fever. This is why the journey is known as the Trail of Death.

“The first day [of a workshop] I asked for a show of hands of how many people heard about the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Everyone's hand went up. Then I asked about the Long Walk of the Navajo. Most hands went up. But, when I asked the first workshop of 50 people how many knew about the Potawatomi Trail of Death, only about 10 hands went up,” recounted Kelli Mosteller as she was conducting the "Trail of Death" workshop on Saturday afternoon at the Gathering of the Potawatomi Nations.

While the 1838 removal was one of twelve of the Potawatomi from the Great Lakes region, it is the best known because of the stigma associated with the deaths. [During this same period of time, most Potawatomi were removed from southern Michigan.--Gazhekwe]

The Trail of Death occurred after a Potawatomi leader named Menominee refused to sign a treaty to leave his village at Twin Lakes, Indiana to go to Kansas, as other Potawatomi did. After Menominee's refusal, the governor of Indiana ordered the militia to remove them.

As the deaths occurred, the dead were buried along the route.

“These burials were against the traditions of the Potawatomi, who had certain rituals the performed for their dead. The walk did not allow them the proper time to do what they would have done had they not been traveling. Not only did the Potawatomi have to deal with the loss of their loved ones, but there was doubt about their journey to the spirit world,” stated Mosteller.

During the workshop, Mosteller pointed to a group ten elders from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation present who are direct descendents of survivors of the Trail of Death.

Mosteller, who will earn a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin this December, said she was pleased on how attentive people in the audience were. Some 120 attended the four, 1½ hour long workshops during the Gathering.

“I guess the high note, if there is one, is we, Potawatomi, have survived from this tragic removal,” stated Mosteller.

“We can gain strength from knowing there were survivors of the Trail of Death.”

Drawn by a Potawatomi during the Trail of Death in 1838

posted August 16, 2012 8:40 am edt

http://www.nativenewsnetwork.com/pot...gathering.html

[gazhekwe]

It's all happening at Council Point Park in Lincon Park. Now you know why it's called Council Point Park.

After holding its traditional pow wow this month, the American Indian Movement [[AIM) of Michigan is poised to organize a bigger gathering next year to coincide with the 250th anniversary of Chief Pontiac’s call for a council along the Ecorse River.

The historical significance of the event has not been lost to the City of Lincoln Park that asked AIM to be a partner in the weeklong event planned for April 20 to April 28, 2013.

“We said yes. So for next year, instead of having the pow wow in August, we will have it in April,” said Helen Wolfe, co-organizer of the AIM Michigan pow wow.
This year’s pow wow, August 11-12, kicked off with a Canoe Border Crossing from metro Detroit area to Windsor, Ontario, Canada on August 10, Friday. It was followed by the two-day “Honoring Our Traditions Pow Wow” at Lincoln Park, Michigan’s Council Point Park.

Wolfe, who organizes the event with Bryan Halfday, chairman of the board for AIM of Michigan, said they expect to hold their event for three days again next year similar to what they have just done.

“It’s a little bit too early to say what will change. It depends on what we can afford,” she said, adding that AIM Michigan-a local chapter-is a non-profit group and relies on donations from volunteers and organizers.

“We are working with the historical commissions of Lincoln Park and the downriver area,” said Wolfe, adding that the City of Lincoln Park will finance most of the activities during the week, except for their three-day pow wow event.

“There is a proposal to have a statue of Chief Pontiac-wooden or stone carving-to be done by a Native American for this commemoration,” said Wolfe.

There is currently a boulder with a plaque recognizing Chief Pontiac’s historical role in Michigan at Council Point Park that was put in 50 years ago, she added.
Chief Pontiac, head of the Ottawa tribe, is known for the Pontiac War that was launched in 1763 after he called on other tribes to retake the Great Lakes area from the British.

AIM, through its pow wows, has been educating the local community of the rich cultural heritage of the original inhabitants of the area and is an advocate of human rights. One of its missions is to increase awareness about aboriginal treaty rights.

Wolfe said the recent U.S.-Canada river crossing relates to the Jay Treaty, ratified 1796, when American statesman John Jay went to England and averted the threat of a war. It is significant because it gives Natives the right to freely pass and re-pass the border.

“This is an exercise of the rights,” said Wolfe of the kick-off event. “If you don’t exercise your right, you lose them.”

The gathering by the river, said an AIM event information, is the first ever USA-Canada Canoe Border Crossing as a peaceful demonstration of the rights stated and found in the Jay Treaty.

About 25 people crossed Canada in about eight canoes for a one-mile round trip. There were three round trips made from Belle Isle, near the U.S. Coast Guard station to Peace Fountain in Windsor, Ontario.

An estimated 250 people gathered to see the canoes cross the two countries, with 100 people on the Belle Isle and 250 on the Windsor side, said Wolfe. On Saturday, the traditional and spiritual pow wow began with a grand entry.
An estimated 1,500 people came for story telling, drums, American Indian food and crafts and a variety of dancing activities-intertribal, grass, traditional, fancy, two-step, round, spot and candy dancing for children.

Participants came from Detroit and surrounding areas, Ontario and Alabama. Gordon Sand was emcee, Mark Davis, arena director; Joe Jacobs, head male dancer; Joan Jacobs, head female dancer; All Nations Veterans, color guard and security; Wayne Hardwick, head veteran; Red Sun Singers, host drum; and Blue Lake and Buzzing Eagle, invited drums.

Read more:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz245OC9tnd

[gazhekwe]

I mean, he swallowed the White-washed history as taught to our school children, hook, line and sinker. He seems to think the Indian Wars are still on. It is likely he would call current thought trends revisionist, however, the teachings we have been subjected to all our lives are biased versions of what actually happened and it is high time we face up to it and begin teaching more balanced views.

RNC Official Says NM Governor Disrespected Custer by Meeting American Indians

By Rob Capriccioso August 24, 2012

WASHINGTON – Pat Rogers, a Republican National Committee [[RNC) leader, is facing calls for his dismissal after telling the staff of Gov. Susana Martinez, R-N.M., that because she agreed to meet with American Indians, she disrespected the memory of Col. George Armstrong Custer.

Custer is infamous for being a U.S. Army commander in the mid-1800s who killed many American Indians during what are historically known as the Indian Wars. He was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Rogers is a GOP lobbyist and partner with the Modrall law firm of Albuquerque, New Mexico. A recent member of the RNC Executive Committee, he is also an RNC National Committeeman for his state. He is currently in Tampa, Florida preparing for the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Rogers was appointed to the GOP executive committee by former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who faced his own Indian-themed controversy after using the phrase “honest injun” in 2010.

Rogers made the Custer-friendly statement in an e-mail obtained by ProgressNow New Mexico, a liberal advocacy organization that is urging his exit from the RNC. Organizers with the group say his writing was a “tactless and bigoted statement.”

“The state is going to hell,” Rogers wrote in part of the e-mail. “Col. [Allen] Weh would not have dishonored Col. Custer in this manner.” Weh was a Republican candidate for governor of New Mexico in 2010 who ran against Martinez.

The e-mail was sent following a meeting in June between Martinez and the state’s tribes, according to ProgressNow. It was directed to senior members of the governor’s administration. The governor’s office has not responded to requests for comment.

“George Armstrong Custer may be regarded as a kind of military hero by Pat Rogers, but to the Native peoples of America Custer represents the bellicose imperialism that was responsible for the systematic slaughter of American Indians throughout this continent,” according to an e-mail being circulated by ProgressNow.

“Such a blatantly racist statement against our Native people is offensive from anyone, but to come from a national GOP leader and lobbyist for some of our country’s largest corporations is indefensible,” said Pat Davis, executive director of ProgressNow New Mexico, in a statement.

“These e-mails show the contempt and disrespect New Mexico’s Republican leadership has for our Native people. Unless they drop Pat Rogers immediately, we can rightly assume that those organizations he speaks for, including the RNC, Modrall Sperling and his lobbying clients, feel the same way.”

ProgressNow New Mexico has posted an online tool that allows people to e-mail RNC leaders and the corporate CEOs of Rogers’ law firm and lobbying clients to call for his firing.

Rogers was forced to resign in July from the board of a state group, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, after his role in a separate e-mail scandal was investigated. He had been criticized for using personal e-mail accounts to contact state government officials attempting to influence their decision-making–a practice that carries questions under state law.

The RNC and Rogers have not responded to requests for comment, although they have previously taken umbrage with ProgressNow New Mexico for its activism.

Read more:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz24UQqSHxj

[gazhekwe]

Somehow, it is better he died of something natural, but I still really miss that little guy. It is a mystery to me trying to mesh the two stories, but I am preferring to rejoice that the evil that was suspected in the original story did not happen. Still mourning a beautiful baby miracle, though --Gazhekwe

The Hunt County Sheriff’s office has concluded that the rare white buffalo calf named Lightning Medicine Cloud died of a bacterial infection, and has closed its investigation of the case.

This finding directly contradicts the account given by Arby Little Cloud of the Lakota Ranch, who told the press, including ICTMN, that the animal [AND his mother] had been murdered and skinned.

Lightning Medicine Cloud was born May 12, 2011, at the Lakota Ranch near Greenville, Texas. The buffalo was said to be a natural, non-albino white bison, which occurs just once in every 10,000 births. Such rare white buffalo are sacred to many Natives, most notably the Lakota due to its connection to the story of White Buffalo Calf Woman.

Arby Little Soldier reported that the carcass of Lightning Medicine Cloud was discovered on his property on April 30, after Little Soldier and his wife returned from a trip out of town. The animal, he said, appeared to have been skinned. The calf’s mother, Buffalo Woman, looked unwell, Little Soldier said, and died the following day.

According to WFAA-TV, Sheriff Randy Meeks said that “we have photographs indicating LMC was not skinned. The photographs depict skin and hair on the remains and the vet advised there was a lot of skin that was still left on the remains.” Meeks added that the death of the calf had not been reported promptly. “Lightning Medicine Cloud was deceased at least six days and buried for three days prior to our notification. The remains were decomposed,” he said.

A bacterial infection commonly known as black leg is the suspected cause of Lightning Medicine Cloud’s death. According to a report at NewsOK.com, two more buffalo on the ranch have died since May. Texas A&M extension office veterinarian Terry Hensley told NewsOK.com that black leg spores will enter an animal’s body through the mouth or a wound, and can remain dormant for months or years. The animals are “healthy one day and the rancher finds them dead the next,” Hensley said. Hensley added that there is an approved black leg vaccine for cattle, but not for buffalo.

Contacted by WFAA before the announcement, Little Soldier said that Lightning Medicine Cloud was killed in what he feels should be regarded as a hate crime. Little Soldier has attracted attention for the $45,000 reward offer [[there is an explanation for it at lightningmedicinecloud.com) and for reportedly naming Yolanda Blue Horse, who is part of Greenville’s American Indian community, as a suspect. The Sheriff’s Office said it would not file any charges against Little Soldier.

Read more: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz24auXfGqK

[gazhekwe]

By Rob Capriccioso, 8-27-2012

WASHINGTON – The Republican National Committee [[RNC) is standing by a top leader with the organization who said that Col. George Armstrong Custer was “dishonored” when New Mexico’s governor met with American Indians earlier this year.

The embattled RNC executive committee member is Pat Rogers, a GOP lobbyist and partner with the Modrall law firm of Albuquerque, New Mexico. He wrote the following words in an e-mail to the staff of Republican New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez in June after her tribal meeting was announced: “The state is going to hell. Col. [Allen] Weh would not have dishonored Col. Custer in this manner.” Weh was a Republican candidate for state governor who ran against Martinez in 2010.

The e-mail, reported on by Indian Country Today Media Network on August 24, was obtained by Independent Source PAC and publicized by ProgressNow New Mexico, both liberal advocacy organizations.

Rogers’ words have since made nationwide headlines, and he has drawn few defenders, although the RNC has ignored calls for his dismissal.

“We disagree with Committeeman Rogers’ comments, and he has rightfully apologized for them,” Ted Kwong, a spokesman for the RNC, told ICTMN over the weekend. “We are a big tent party that is focused on speaking to all Americans who want a different direction after nearly four years of deficit spending and failed leadership. We will continue to talk about how to create jobs for the 23 million Americans who are looking for work, despite the desperate efforts by Democrats to make this election about anything but their dismal economic record.”

Rogers’ apology came in an August 25 Albuquerque Journal article, in which he said he was attempting to be funny: “I made a poor attempt at humor in a private e-mail, and it’s being twisted by a partisan group,” he told the newspaper. “I certainly intended no offense, but I do apologize.”

Many American Indians have not taken Rogers’ words as a joke, and the RNC has not heeded calls for a reprimand. Officials there also did not acknowledge that he has not apologized directly to American Indians.

“He has apologized, no other changes to announce,” Kwong said when pressed on whether Rogers will continue to serve with the RNC. Kwong would not say if Rogers was available for an interview. Rogers has not responded to several requests from ICTMN.

The apology and the RNC’s reaction have fallen flat in many circles of Indian country.

“Only the geniuses at the Republican National Committee could figure out a way to send out an apology about Native Americans without mentioning Native Americans,” said Chris Stearns, a Navajo lawyer and chairman of the Seattle Human Rights Commission.

“It is appalling that one of the leading organizers of the RNC is spewing such garbage,” said Rhonda LeValdo-Gayton, president of the Native American Journalists Association. “I wonder if he even knows that Custer didn’t deal with the tribes in New Mexico?”

Rather, Custer battled Indians in Dakota Territory, including Lakota and Cheyenne citizens. He and his troops killed many American Indians during what were historically known as the Indian Wars, and he was killed in 1876 at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

“[T]his country doesn’t need someone like Mr. Rogers who appreciated or held in high regard a person who helped carry out the genocide of Native people,” added LeValdo-Gayton, a citizen of the Acoma Pueblo, which is based in New Mexico. “Right now, those tribes in New Mexico contribute to the state economy with their uniqueness that brings in tourists from all over the world.”

LeValdo-Gayton noted that her people were never moved from their land, they never signed a treaty, and they maintained their unique cultures and languages like all the other pueblos, which she said was impressive to even President Abraham Lincoln in his day.

“Mr. Rogers, all our Native nations across this country have a history that you need to fully understand before dishonoring Native people again,” LeValdo-Gayton said.

Officials with the Navajo Nation, the largest tribe in New Mexico, have also rebuked Rogers, as has Martinez, whose staff said she is proud of her relationship with New Mexico tribes.

The Republican National Convention is scheduled to take place this week in Tampa, Florida, with Rogers in attendance.

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz24khRfk2z

I can't wait to find out how my Dad will rationalize this. --Gazhekwe

[gazhekwe]

Discovery of Long-Lost Silent Film With All-Indian Cast Has Historians Reeling

By Jordan Wright August 28, 2012

How a silent film featuring an all-Native cast came to be made, lost [[seemingly forever), discovered nearly a century later [[in shambles), then restored and shown to the cast’s descendants is one of the most fascinating stories in the annals of American filmmaking. The Daughter of Dawn, which had its world premiere in June at the deadCENTER Film Festival in Oklahoma City, may be the only all-Native cast silent film ever made.

In the autumn of 1919 Norbert Myles was hired to direct a film for Richard Banks, owner of the fledgling Texas Film Company. Banks, who had written the story for his new project, was looking to make an adventure film in Oklahoma. He had met Myles a few years earlier on a California movie set and was impressed by the ambitious upstart. Myles, who had been a vaudevillian, a screen actor and sometime Shakespearean actor, had falle

Banks drew on his 25 years of experience living among the Indians and his knowledge of what he called “an old Comanche legend,” to lend authenticity to the film. He decided to shoot on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, a national reserve known for its mountains and grassy plains spread across 60,000 acres in southwestern Oklahoma. This was an attractive setting for several reasons, including the fact that in 1907 a program to reintroduce the nearly extinct bison to the Great Plains was launched. Under the auspices of the American Bison Society, 15 of these American icons, plucked from New York City’s Bronx Zoo, were sent by railway to grasslands in Oklahoma, and in little more than a decade, they flourished and were an enormous herd.

Banks must have also realized that shooting there would provide not only the perfect backdrop, but would also afford him an abundant source of American Indian talent. For actors Myles tapped into the local tribes—notably the Kiowa and Comanche, who were living on reservations near Lawton, Oklahoma. This wildly ambitious project had an all-Native cast, just one cameraman, no costumes, no lighting, no props and wild buffalo. The Indians, who had been on the reservation less than 50 years, brought with them their own tipis, horses and gear. Featured in the film were White Parker, Esther LeBarre, Hunting Horse, Jack Sankeydoty and Wanada Parker, daughter of Quanah Parker, a Comanche chief and one of the founders of the Native American Church movement. Among the 100 extras were Slim Tyebo, Old Man Saupitty and Oscar Yellow Wolf.

Myles ordered his cameraman to shoot buffalo chase scenes “from a pit so as to have all the buffalo…and Indians…pass directly over the top of the camera.” To add verisimilitude, Myles incorporated the tribe’s tipis, horses, personal regalia and other artifacts, and shot scenes of the Comanches using cross-tribal Plains Indian sign language. He also shot scenes of tribal dancing while the women prepared buffalo for a celebratory meal.

The tribes’ participation in the film did not sit well with a certain “Assistant Field Matron” assigned to the area by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to monitor the tribes’ activities. In her weekly report, filed July 31, 1920, and sent directly to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, she wrote:

“Went to a camp close to headquarters where their [sic] are about 300 Kiowas and Comanches gathered dancing and having pictures taken to be used in the movies.

“These dances and large gatherings week after week are ruining our Indian boys and girls as they have been going on for about three months and different places. No work done during these days.”

Her actions had little effect on the enthusiastic cast members, who Myles called “very shrewd” in their financial negotiations with him.

When the 80-minute silent film was screened in October 1920 at the College Theater in Los Angeles, it received raves, with one critic calling it “an original and breathtaking adventure…hardly duplicated before.” But despite favorable reviews, the film was, for some unknown reason, never released. And it was never shown again—that is, until June 10, 2012.

The story of the film’s unlikely return is as dramatic as the story of its making. It began in 2003 when a private investigator in North Carolina looking to collect his fee from a client was given five cans of what was originally a six-reel film. The investigator-for-hire needed to convert the rapidly decaying film into cash to cover his expenses so he contacted Brian Hearn, film curator at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. He told Hearn he believed the film was The Daughter of Dawn. At that time the museum was not in the business of collecting films so Hearn got in touch with the Oklahoma Historical Society [[OHS), which also operates the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City.

The film was purchased by the OHS in 2006, and Bill Moore, the society’s film archivist and video production manager, took possession of the five cans of the nitrate film. “Our first concern was to protect it,” he recalls. “So after watching the footage on a Moviola and noting its fragile condition, we applied for a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation in the hopes of preserving it as soon as possible.

“In the early years of filming, producers had to provide a copy to what was called the Paper Print Collection. It was a requirement to show every frame of film and file it with the Library of Congress’s Copyright Office in order to establish the copyright of the film. The library would then shoot the films from the ‘contacts’—the individual frames—and that’s how this film survived. It took only a few months to restore the film and after the intertitles [dialogue text pages inserted into the film between cuts] were added, the footage expanded out to the full movie and the original six canisters.”

The completed film has a four-way love story and includes two buffalo hunt scenes, a battle scene between the Kiowa and the Comanche, scenes of village life, tribal dances, hand-to-hand combat and a happy ending.

...Cut paragraph about the history of film preservation to make post fit space...

Once descendants of the Kiowa and Comanche cast members were identified, Blackburn arranged to screen The Daughter of Dawn for the families in the Oklahoma towns of Anadarko, Carnegie and Lawton.

“There were tears,” he recalls. “They recognized an aunt or a grandparent, and out of that conversation came recognition of the tipi used in the film. It was very powerful for them to see family members who were pre-reservation wearing their own clothing and using family heirlooms that had been brought out of trunks. It was very emotional for them.”

“This film is so important to Indian people and is a rare piece of art as well, since only two percent of independent films made in this era have survived,” Blackburn says. “We plan to show it in Telluride, Denver and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2013. [Documentary film producer] Ken Burns has committed to assist with the film’s distribution.”

...cut another paragraph re: symphonic score, to make it fit...

Blackburn, clearly thrilled with the interest the film is drawing from audiences and historians, describes its appeal this way, “The Daughter of Dawn is all Oklahoma. Acted by Oklahoma Indians, filmed entirely in Oklahoma, in a story of Oklahoma’s Kiowa and Comanche nations, scored by a Comanche and played by the Oklahoma City University Philharmonic students, even the film was restored by an Oklahoman working in Hollywood for the Film Technology Lab.”

He believes the film has the potential to become the centerpiece for a national exhibit and wants it to be shown at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. In the meantime, the OHS is making a short film to show next spring. It will tell the story of the making ofThe Daughter of Dawn and Native Oklahomans talking about their ancestors, as well as an interview with Yeagley.

In June at the deadCENTER Film Festival, award-winning actor Wes Studi, Cherokee, came to view this major cinematic event that had brought together film buffs as well as descendants of the Kiowa and Comanche tribal members who had performed in the film. After the screening, Studi said, “It’s a film worth seeing for all people who are either in the business of making films or those who watch film in terms of American Indians.

“It’s really a historic film.… I would say this film proves that Indians have been acting since day one.”

Read more: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz24qgeIgED

[gazhekwe]

In this pic from the film, the clothing is said to be the actors' own clothing from their own life. What I find particularly interesting in the woman's headband. These days, we are told the headbands were the invention of Hollywood costumers who needed something to keep the wigs on their actors made up as Indians. It would seem that the ubiquity of the headbands might be a Hollywood artifact, but they do seem to stem from actual dress by some tribes, in this case, Kiowa and Comanche. Is the debunking of the headband a case of American Indians bending over a little bit backwards to take back our history from the jaws of Hollywood?

Below, another pic from the film showing the Kiowa village set up with the people's own tipis, and the Comanche riders on their own horses wearing their own clothes.



Comanche “raid” on Kiowa village [[Courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society)

Read more:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz24qmLb5TZ

[Pam]

Cool. I wonder if it will come out on DVD?

[gazhekwe]

We can hope! Meantime, my brother was in a feature length movie, Sweet Medicine, filmed at Bay Mills in the 70s. My grandmother was in it, many cousins, and another tribal elder, last of our native speakers also. I keep hoping someone will restore that and show it. I have a really terrible VHS copy. Now that I think of it, must get that digitized. My brother [[the brat) was really good in the lead role. My poor grandma got beat up in it by some bad spirits, and Doc Bill, the other elder, was in it start to finish as the medicine man.

Meantime, I was looking for it on youtube and I found this interview with my brother in his coffee shop, Dancing Crane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P34dmeFELDE

[gazhekwe]

Custer-Friendly RNC Official Resigns from Law Firm

By Rob Capriccioso September 4, 2012

Pat Rogers, the Republican National Committee [[RNC) executive committee member who said that Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer was “dishonored” when Republican New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez met with tribal leaders, has been forced to resign from his law firm.

Pressure had been mounting on both Rogers and the firm, Modrall Sperling, since August 24 when Rogers’ pro-Custer statements he wrote in a personal e-mail to the governor’s staff were publicized by liberal advocacy organizations.In a statement, firm president R.E. Thompson, said that he accepted Rogers’ resignation on August 31.

“Recent revelations of private e-mail communications have distracted from our mission, and Pat Rogers has tendered his resignation from the Firm,” Thompson said.

Rogers’ words have also been a distraction for top Republicans, who are trying this election season to portray themselves as a big-tent party. Still, Rogers remains in his position at the RNC, despite calls from American Indians and others for his dismissal.

“The state is going to hell,” Rogers wrote in part of his now infamous e-mail, referring to Martinez’ tribal meeting. “Col. [Allen] Weh would not have dishonored Col. Custer in this manner.” Weh was a Republican candidate for governor of New Mexico who unsuccessfully ran against Martinez in 2010, and he has also denounced Rogers’ words, as has Martinez. Weh is a retired U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Colonel.

Rogers told the Albuquerque Journal that he resigned “with great sadness,” and he previously told the newspaper that his e-mail was meant to be a joke.

In July, Rogers was also forced to resign from the board of a state group, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, after his role in another e-mail scandal was investigated. He had been criticized for using personal e-mail accounts to contact state government officials attempting to influence their decision-making–a practice that carries questions under state law.

American Indians have generally been pleased to learn of his resignation from the firm, but some think the RNC must take action, too.

“I do think the RNC should show some respect to Native Americans and [show] that they take our issues seriously by asking him to resign, especially after coming out with that platform ‘Honoring Our Relationship with American Indians,’” said Rhonda LeValdo-Gayton, the Acoma Pueblo president of the Native American Journalists Association. “If they don’t, that goes directly against what that platform stands for.”

Read more:
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz25W1FF2Pz

[gazhekwe]

Prairie Island Indian Community Calls for Permanent Nuclear-Waste Solution

By ICTMN Staff September 5, 2012

A “temporary” dump of nuclear waste on power plant lands adjoining the Prairie Island Indian Community’s lands has outstayed its welcome, and tribal leaders are blanching at news that the plant’s owner, Xcel Energy, has petitioned to extend its so-called dry cask storage permission for another 40 years. The 882-member tribe’s land in southeastern Minnesota is right next to the Prairie Island nuclear power plant.

“They’ve said it was temporary,” Prairie Island Indian Community secretary Ron Johnson told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “This fuel was supposed to have been removed in the 1990s. We translate that to mean it’s probably more of a permanent storage facility.”

Spent fuel rods are stored at the site, and although nothing is leaking from the outdoor storage casks, that could change, according to an affidavit from John Greeves, a former director of the waste management and environmental protection division of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Statistically, he said, leakage could very well happen, according to the Star-Tribune.

All told, the Star-Tribune said, 15 other power plants in the U.S. are under similar scrutiny as groups nationwide call for the federal government to live up to its promise to designate permanent storage.

The tribe wants the federal government to set a firm deadline for removing the waste and to ensure that there are enough safeguards in place. The reservation is home to 200 tribal members as well as host to up to 8,000 daily visitors at its Treasure Island Resort and Casino, the Star-Tribune said. Studies on long-term storage have not been conducted, the tribe pointed out, because no one expected the rods to be stored long term.

Trust is already an issue for the Prairie Island community, given incidents like the temporary shutdown of one of the facility’s reactors on August 14 when two diesel generators broke down during a routine monthly maintenance test. Failure of the generators, which are in place to help the plant operate during power outages, did not inspire confidence from the tribe even though Xcel assured tribal members that the outage posed no danger.

“Despite these assurances, today’s unplanned shutdown—and the unusual white steam clouds released throughout the day during the reactor shutdown—are ominous reminders of the fact that the 40-year old Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant operating a half-mile from our homes relies on aging technology,” the Prairie Island Indian Community said in a release at the time. “To have not just one, but both of the back-up diesel generators fail is very troubling. A failure of the back-up diesel generators can affect all other safety features that rely on the electricity that they generate. The failure of both of them during a routine monthly test is simply not acceptable.”

The tribe pointed out that more than 30 incidents have been reported over the past few years.

“Our community’s concerns over nuclear power deepen as we learn more about the operations and maintenance issues of the nearly 40-year-old nuclear power plant that sits next to our reservation,” the tribe said in a position paper on its website. “Those concerns are multiplied as new international studies emerge that raise serious question about the health impacts for people living next to nuclear power plants, especially children. And finally, our frustrations continue to grow over the federal government’s failure to live up to its responsibility to adequately address the nuclear waste issue and as more of that toxic waste builds up next to our community.”

Read more: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...#ixzz25b8rLDLZ

NOTE: Prairie Island and the nuclear plant are about 30 miles down the Mississippi River from St. Paul.

[gazhekwe]

BREAKING NEWS out of Michigan Supreme Ct. Casino Ballot Proposal Killed and knocked off November Ballot.

[gazhekwe]

A month ago, when I went to vote in the primary, the precinct worker, who greeted me by name when I walked in, required me to show my government ID. I've been voting there every election for the past 23 years and they clearly know me. I was tempted to show my tribal ID, but opted for no hassle and showed my driver's license instead. She swiped it in a reader and gave it back to me. It seemed clear the reader would not have understood my tribal ID which does not have a magnetic strip on it. I asked whether it had to be a driver's licence and the precinct worker said it could be any government ID. What if it doesn't have a strip? Well, the strip just makes it easier.

As it turns out, the whole thing was an impermissible exercise perpetrated on disparate communities in Michigan by our voter fraud hawk SOS Ruth Johnson. Made me wish I had gone for the hassle route. Some oxen are meant to be gored.

Here is an op-ed about ID issues in NDN country:

Native Nations’ IDs and Voting Rights Cases

September 6, 2012 By Suzan Shown Harjo

Native Nations’ IDs are both evidence and exercise of sovereignty, and they should stand on their own as validators of tribal citizens’ rights to vote in tribal, federal or state elections and to travel and return home unimpeded. This should be so for those Native Nations that issue passports to their citizens and those that issue other IDs.

Whether Native people consider themselves as citizens solely of their Native Nations or as having dual citizenship, first in their Native Nations and then in the U.S., they should be on the same side as those who are opposed to overly stringent voter ID requirements by states.

The Republican-led state initiatives, however nicely self-described, will most likely keep from voting the non-white, elderly, young and poor, who tend to vote for the Democrats. Or, as Mike Turzai, the Pennsylvania House Majority Leader, infamously bragged in June about the Republican checklist: “Voter ID—which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania—done!”

The Pennsylvania law requires voters to produce state-approved photo identification. This can impose a substantial if not complete burden on people who do not drive or who no longer have a driver’s license; have changed residences and/or last names, but haven’t updated their Social Security card or other IDs; have misplaced or do not have a birth certificate; or who have identification from other states. What about the unlucky person who lost all required papers in a fire, burglary or flight from abuse, or who lacks the means to obtain the necessary backup documents?

How might that apply to Native people? For starters, there are a lot of Native people in Pennsylvania, even though the commonwealth did a thorough job [[or nearly so) in getting rid of Native Nations. Many Native people in Pennsylvania and elsewhere were born at home and have delayed birth certificates [[which often are challenged) or none at all. More than a few cannot locate papers because of domestic upheaval or dysfunction. If they don’t drive and don’t have non-driver’s licenses, they may rely fully on tribal IDs.

Native Nations already have all needed documentation on file, some with family histories going back well before there was a United States or states or colonies. They have recorded birth, death, marriage, children, name change and other data to vouch for their citizens. Native Nations are the cognizant authority for their citizenry and states should afford them the respect and recognition they deserve. Would Native Nations be free of error, manipulation or corruption? No, but no state can answer affirmatively either.

If Pennsylvania or any other state does not expressly declare acceptance of tribal IDs for voting purposes, does that mean Native Nations’ IDs are invalid identifiers for voting on November 6, 2012? Is that a test case any Native Nation wants during an election so heated that it threatens to set the country on fire? Is there even time to have a negotiation on the matter and in what state would that take place?

The matter should be settled law in Minnesota, as a result of a 2004 lawsuit upholding tribal IDs for state voting. However, on August 27 the Minnesota Supreme Court approved balloting on the general question of government-issued voter identification [[meaning state government only), and statewide referenda on minority rights usually do well for the majority and not so well for minorities. A state judge upheld Pennsylvania’s voter ID law on August 15, and the decision is on appeal to the commonwealth’s Supreme Court.

Other voting rights cases are on separate, but equally fast tracks to the U.S. Supreme Court. Federal courts have stopped efforts that would impose burdens on people trying to vote in Texas and Ohio, on August 30 and 31, respectively, and the Texas Attorney General vows to appeal to the high court. As the 56-page decision in the Texas case describes the state plan: “[A]ny Texan who wishes to vote must file a registration application with the county elections registrar. That application must include the voter’s name, date of birth and a sworn affirmation of U.S. citizenship.” Native Nations’ IDs do not carry the last item. Would they be rejected for that reason? Would an application be approved with a clarification for dual tribal and federal citizenship?

Native Nations have worked with Homeland Security for several years and many have developed IDs that conform to imprint and other safety standards and are accepted by the Transportation Security Administration and other federal agencies. Those Native Nations which have their own passports are still waiting for final agreement for their citizens to travel and return through the U.S. It is hoped that the numerous, complex cases do not place more barriers in the way of Native peoples’ governmental authorities or rights to travel or vote.

Read more:

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/native-nations%e2%80%99-ids-and-voting-rights-cases#ixzz25iywICLM

[Pam]

Ishi, The Last Yahi:
http://youtu.be/3YuV-7Wq2wA

[RaumVogel]

Ishi, The Last Yahi:
http://youtu.be/3YuV-7Wq2wA

OMG, I rented that movie!

[gazhekwe]

One of my favorite actors, Graham Greene, played Ishi in a TV movie, 1992, The Last of His Tribe. Jon Voigt plays the anthropologist who can communicate with Ishi.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104690/

Ishi's story on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishi

In 1865 many of Ishi's people were wiped out in the Three Knolls massacre. A few years later, cattleman killed many of the survivors. Ishi, his mother and sister escaped to live in hiding for the next 30 years. In 1908, surveyors came across their encampment. Ishi's sister was ill and hid herself, while Ishi and his mother fled and hid. The surveyors ransacked the camp and took or destroyed everything. Not long after, the two women died. Ishi toughed it out three more years before finally coming out. He was captured trying to steal meat near Oroville after some forest fires. The local sheriff took Ishi into custody and word got out about the "wild man." He was brought to the Museum of Anthropology at Berkley where he lived in an apartment for most of the rest of his life. He died of TB in 1916.

Three Knolls Massacre, 16 white men seeking revenge for a killing sneaked up on the sleeping camp and killed 40 Yahi at Three Knolls on the Mill Creek. Only 30 left alive.