More things borrowed from American Indian culture
These are just a few of the things our culture owes to the ones that were here already.
Sporting Goods!
Toboggan
Snowshoes
Canoe
Kayak
Rubber balls
Food!
Vanilla
Chocolate
Potatoes
Corn
Jerky
Potato chips and popcorn
Tomatoes
Domestic turkeys
Great Northern and Anasazi and other beans
Wild rice
There are more, at least 40% of the foods we eat have native origins.
Medicine!
Digitalis
Aspirin
Wintergreen
Witch Hazel
Nearly 300 Indian medicines are entered in the US Pharmacopeia.
Other things!
Chewing gum
Skids for log rolling
Reciprocating drill
Stone saw
Continuous motion spindle
Universal sign language
Another story from the past
There came a time when the handsome Ojibwe ex-Marine began to miss the woods and folks of home more and more. Coming back to Detroit that summer was so painful. His pretty French Canadian wife told him that, if he could get a good job and we could live in town, she would be willing to move up North so he could be near his family. The next summer, things came together, and we spent a lot of time purging possessions for the move. I gave away my beloved books and dolls to my friends. I still miss some of those books. I was just a little girl, but there was a spirit of adventure about all this that helped soothe the sting of impending change. And remember, I LOVED being up North! I never wanted to come home at all when we were up there. Came the day in early September, the truck was loaded and off we went, with me waving to my friends out the back window. They cried, I didn't. I was too excited. The Brightmoor Chapter was closed, and the UP chapter was waiting to be opened.
This kind of back and forth between "up home" and "work home" is common in the Michigan native experience. Many families went back and forth like this, between Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids and Lansing and back the the Res, as the job markets fluctuated. My mother was insistent that we stay "in town" rather than out on the Res because she wanted us to get the best education possible. Urban herself, she had no faith in a rural school system.
We ended up moving to a part of Sault Ste. Marie known as the Shunk Road district. That was where the city's American Indian population lived. We didn't live right in the middle of the settlement, but out on its edge, sort of between the other part of the Soo and Shunk Road. Our church was Saint Isaac Jogues, an original Jesuit Indian Mission. The pastor was Father Paul Prud'homme, who came to the Soo to work at the mission not long after WWI. He was fluent in French and also spoke English and Anishinaabemowin. He was one of the few remaining speakers left in town at that time. We had opening and closing hymns, unlike other Catholic churches at the time, because Fr. Prud'homme said Indians love to sing together.
I attended Mass there last summer, and the current pastor, John Hascall, had incorporated many Anishinaabe customs in the service. The herbs in the censor were either sage, tobacco, cedar or sweetgrass, and we reached into the smoke to pour it over ourselves. We all turned to offer prayers to the Four Directions. There were prayers in Anishinaabemowin. There was still the same opening and closing hymns.
Menu for the First Thanksgiving
There are many indications that the first Thanksgiving meal was focused on vegetables and grains, with meat served as a side dish. Native feasts are arranged in such a way that the meats are at the end, like dessert. The provider animal spirits are thanked for the sustenance and their sacrifices.
I was prospecting around the 'net for some authentic recipes and found this neat free download, Squanto's Garden, that talks about a view of food production and presentation from those times.
http://www.firstthanksgivinggarden.com/
I'll post some recipes next.
Sobaheg, Corn and Beans Stew
This would likely have been the main dish at the feast. Remember, it was the Wampanoags who shared this feast with the Pilgrims.
Sobaheg made with Turkey, A Wampanoag Recipe
Wampanoag word for stew is Sobaheg. This stew makes use of the supplies they would have had on hand for the first Thanksgiving. It can be made today with, or without turkey.
1⁄2 pound dry beans [[white, red, brown, or spotted kidney-shaped beans)
1⁄2 pound yellow samp or coarse grits
1 pound turkey meat [[legs or breast, with bone and skin)
3 quarts cold water
1⁄4 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
1⁄2 pound winter squash, trimmed and cubed
1⁄2 cup raw sunflower seed meats, pounded to a coarse flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh or dried herbs such as thyme, rosemary, parsley or dill to taste
Combine dried beans, corn, turkey, and water in a large pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, turn down to a very low simmer, and cook for about 2 1⁄2 hours. Stir occasionally to be certain that the bottom is not sticking.
When dried beans are tender, but not mushy, break up turkey meat, removing skin and bones. Add green beans and squash, and simmer very gently until they are tender.
Add sunflower flour, stirring until thoroughly blended. Season to taste.
Anishinaabe Prayer of Thanks - Miigwech
Ngizhemanidoom, sema ngiimiinagoo wiinamaayaanh nangwaa.
Gagwejimin wiizhiwendamaan maanda miijim miinawa zhiwenmishinaang nangwaa.
Miigwech ndinaanaanik gewe wesiinhak, okaanak, bineshiinhak, miinawa giigonhik, kinagwa gwayaa gaabigitnaamwat wiinwa bimaadiziwaan maanpii akiing niinwe wiimaadiziiyaang.
Miigwech ge ndikaadami netawging miinawa maanwaang gaamiizhiyaang wiimiijiyaang wiizongziiyaang nangwaa.
Miigwech ngizhemanidoom miigwech.
****************************
My creator. Tobacco was given to me to pray today.
I ask you in a good way to bless this food and to bless us today.
We say thank you to all those animals, wild and domestic, the birds and the fish. Everyone that gave up his or her lives here upon the earth, so that we can live.
We also say thank you for the vegetables and the fruits that you have given to us, so that we can have strength today.
Thank you, my creator, thank you.
[[Given by Kenny Pheasant)
Who are the Urban Indians?
One thing that affects Indian identity is stereotypic expectations on the part of mainstream society. This primarily impacts those of us who live away from our tribal centers.
We routinely hear, 'but you don't LOOK Indian' from our acquaintances. Or, 'We don't think of you as Indian.' What do they expect? What if they did think of us as Indian? Would it change how they feel about us?
Metropolitan Detroit is home to nearly 40,000 American Indians from more than 40 tribes. Because we don't mostly live in one part of the community, we do not have a population center here. Most of us are not from just one Indian tribe or community, either. We are a diverse population. Yet our identity is important to us, though it is absolutely unrecognized and irrelevant to the mainstream society.
One example is federal records. If you go to give blood, you are interviewed by someone who is filling out a questionnaire as the interview progresses. For me, they never ask how I identify, they just automatically check the "Caucasion" box when it comes to ethnic identity. I have to stop them and correct them every time. Why is it important to the American Red Cross to know ethnicity? Who knows, but they should at least make sure they get the right one. They do keep the data in case a particular kind of blood is needed that might be more available in a particular ethnic group.
For medical records, it is important for certain conditions to be counted correctly. Funding for diabetes treatment, HIV prevention and treatment and for other conditions as well, are allocated to ethnic communities based on these identifications. If we cannot be counted correctly, we will continue to be underfunded in those areas.
Another issue takes place in school situations, although this may be changing. As a student I and after me, my son, frequently had to sit through some ignorant discussions of Indians in history. I recently had one man tell me his kids came home from school in Grand Rapids saying their teacher told them the Aztecs had all disappeared. They were Aztec. I wonder if Michigan's curriculum on Indians has caught up yet. Other states are implementing more comprehensive programs, like Utah and Minnesota.
And of course, everyone thinks we are all rolling in dough because of the casinos. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. While a few tribes do pay per cap, that is a regular stipend to each tribal member from casino proceeds, most do not. Our casinos support our tribal infrastructure, school, health center, roads and utilities, and some elder programs, as well as contributing substantially to the local town and county infrastructure.
Who are we? We live here in Metro Detroit. We also have a home with our people. So, we have a foot in both worlds.
Indian Mascots and Sports Logos
A very interesting viewpoint from the Grand Forks Herald [[North Dakota):
VIEWPOINT: History, colonization permanently sully nickname
Michael Eshkibok - 12/06/2009
GRAND FORKS — Why are Indian sports logos still at UND so hard to get rid of? The best way to explain this is what’s known as the “process of colonization.” Colonization is the conquering of the minds and habits of oppressed people such as American Indians so that they internalize and accept inferiority as an inherent characteristic of themselves.
Decolonization reverses process that by breaking with the ways by which our reality is defined and shaped by the dominant culture and by asserting our understanding of that reality or experience. [[By the way, 99 percent of U.S. Indian tribes have voted against using themselves as Indian sports logos.)
What people need to remember, especially at UND, is that the mascot issue is part of a longer history of Indian oppression and discrimination. Negative images of indigenous people began with the colonial campaigns of violence waged in the Americas by the Spanish and others. The colonizers used criminalization, theft, rape, murder and the determination of how Indians would be defined so they could use the Indians’ land and resources. By defining us as “savage," “evil” and “dirty,” the colonizers rationalized their own fear and hate and made murdering of Indians tolerable, even honorable acts. Not coincidentally, the invaders were able to take away Indian people, land and resources for their own use. Indian identity on reservations has been hurt by the colonization by oppressive European theories and actions.
These codes of behavior still afflict Indian communities and individuals today. American Indians have their own way of healing, and we need to go back to our own culture and traditions. When you colonize a people, you take away their culture, religion and customs. You trivialize them, turn them into meaningless objects or objectify them, so when you say you are honoring them, what you are honoring is the colonization and destruction.
The point is that we are human beings — first. The Washington Redskins' and Atlanta Braves’ fans parade around in mock war paint and headdresses while making “Indian” chants that seep down into the American school systems. Inaccurate images of Indian people not only promote racism and stereotyping but also underscore the perception that we are obsolete, primitive and exotic.
If Americans and UND really want to honor Indians, the next step is clear: They should eliminate racist depictions of Indian people in educational institutions, implement historically accurate information and representations about us and hold schools accountable to teach anti-racism courses because racism is institutionalized. Maybe then we can start seeing one another as human beings — nothing more, nothing less.
Eshkibok, an Ojibwe, is a doctoral student in UND’s communication program.