Paging Gazhekwe

[gazhekwe]

Guest Commentary

On Card Carrying Indians and Those Indians Who Don't


Warren Petoskey in Native Condition
This is the historical trauma no one wants to talk about. We, as Native people, take it as a badge of honor that we have been issued cards qualifying us as citizens of our respective tribes. My number is 0322. That number registers me with my tribe and with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington DC. Every tribal member in the United States and Canada has an identification number in addition to our driver's license number and our social security number among other numbers.

r

We are better known by our numbers than we are by our names.


I am a card carrying member of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, but the truth is that I was Indian before I was ever issued a card. There was a racist gang of boys in the little town I grew up in who made sure that I was aware of my ethnic Indian origins.


My wife is Choctaw and Cherokee. Her tribal affiliation cannot be proven because the archival records list her ancestors as white, I was going to say that is a questionable coincidence, but it isn't if one is somewhat aware of the diabolical, inhumane plan to exterminate us, if by no other way than to render us racially unidentifiable. Because we cannot provide documentation as to how much Native blood our children have, they are not eligible to be members of my tribe. I can tell you from firsthand accounts it hurts them to think their own tribe will not recognize them.


Now, let me take a little of what I just said back. They are eligible for medical services through funding by the United States government to the Indian Health Service which is a division of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and under the BIA's supervision. That service can only be accessed by producing the number 0322 and a copy of my tribal enrollment card which has a scanning stripe on it just like my credit card does.


My tribe has refused to identify or recognize the conditions which have been intentionally developed to ensure our "eligibility" as tribal people to our treaty rights are denied. My tribe refuses to recognize my children and grandchildren even as citizens of the Waganakising Odawa Nation. This is how legal prejudicial conditions are advanced and how our tribes ingrain these practices into their daily operations as a tribe.


I have often thought of withdrawing my membership in my tribal club association if it were not for daughters who struggle with diabetes and need the medical services to control the disease. Neither can afford the test strips, the medicines, or the continuing need for medical care.


The tribe who so generously allows me to have one of their cards does little to address the conditions that have developed that are intended to end our legal existence and the federal government's obligations by treaty to us. If they are allowed to determine when we will suddenly disappear because of the lack of their standards for blood quantum than we, as tribal members, have done little to establish and protect our origin of sovereignty. Sovereignty was and is not the gift of men, but the gift of the Creator. Somehow we have allowed me to dictate who we are or who we aren't. This is prejudice at its highest effort.


I think of the many tribes the federal government terminated. In essence the federal government was and is saying these tribes no longer exist or have any legal status in the United States or Canada. That is like telling the Creator that they are going to take the lead in saying who is and who isn't! So they have usurped the authority of the Creator and took matters into their own hands.


After five hundred years of threat to our existence in which nearly 100 million of our people were exterminated and we were determined to be less than human, this little crumb from our master's table giving us a card to carry validating us as citizens of our own tribes is an indication of their lack of honor and respect. But we, as a people, have bought into it all and practice that level of oppression on our own people and stick our heads in the sand when other members of our Red Race is determined not to exist.


Can you grasp what I am trying to say here? Our children have been discriminated against, but let me add this: my wife has been discriminated against as well. We, as citizens of the Waganakising Odawa Nation, use to practice a tradition that when someone outside of our tribe married a tribal citizen, they became tribal citizens and were treated as such. My wife, who has cooked my meals, treated my injuries, nursed me when I was sick, kept our home and washed my dirty clothes is also the mother of my children, but yet has no status with my tribe.


We, as a people who have experienced 500 years of invalidation and rejection, are now recognized and given a little validation because we are card carrying members of a tribe.


In closing, I hope I have given the reader of this an idea of how historical trauma has advanced itself in our midst and how our own people promote the assimilation efforts by a non-native, prejudiced, power.


There is only One who qualifies and validates me. He did that at my birth and the impressions He has made in my heart. He did that through who my ancestors were and no foreign agent is going to have any ingress into that consciousness.


For every one of blood who has come up to me and apologized saying you do not think you have enough blood to be called an Indian, I say to you, you are who you were born to be. You can only know this through a relationship with the Creator and voiding all of the foreign invasion into your psyche. Before your own Master you stand or fall and not before any man or court. They might can take our lives if the Creator allows it, but they cannot kill our spirits or our dream, so dream big and allow yourself to be who you are. A card issued by some tribal government under the authorization and approval of the BIA does not quantify or validate who you are.


If the Creator be for us, who can be against us!
Piitassigeh, Odawa/Lakotah


Warren Petoskey is a tribal citizen of the Little Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, based in Harbor Springs, Michigan. He authored "Dancing My Dream," an autobiographic book that depicts overcoming challenges he faced in modern society. He and his wife, Barb, reside in Gaylord, Michigan.
posted March 20, 2013 8:40 am edt

[gazhekwe]

The Journey of Nishiyuu -- ETA Ottawa Monday Morning

Sunday: departure to Chelsea at 10 am [[17.2 km)
Monday: departure to Parliament Hill Ottawa at 7 am [[18.3 km)

[gazhekwe]

Cree warrior, David Kawapit Jr., a 17-year-old teen, came up with the idea to walk from Whapmagoostui to Ottawa in support of the Idle No More movement. So began a walk from an isolated community in Quebec to Ottawa in support of Idle no More. On January 16, 2013, initially seven young men from the James Bay Cree community of Whapmagoostui set off as temperatures sat at about -50 C [[-58 F). They called the walk, “The Journey of Nishiyuu,” which means “The Journey of the People” in Cree.

As the young man walked they were joined quickly by more youth from the Cree and Algonquin communities, including an 11 year old girl, Abby Masty, from Whapmagoostui, the group now includes 200 people.

They have walked 1,600 kilometres [[994 miles). They have been successful in their commitment! David has shown us that we are meant to reach the potential that lives within all of us. It is up to realize that we are meant to shine, we are meant to answer a calling of making a positive difference in this world so that not only will our spirit shine brightly, but we will positively impact the next generations.

[gazhekwe]

Good sign! An eagle soared above the crowd at the opening song on Parliament Hill.



TIME SCENARIO DETAILS
7:00 AM Walkers leave the overnight stay at Chelsea
8:30 AM Walkers reach Hwy 105 and St Joseph Blvd
11:30 AM Ottawa Police close the Portage Bridge for Walker’s entry to Victoria Island
12:00 NOON Sacred fire at Victoria Island lit by Algonquin Firekeeper Peter Decontie
12:00 PM Arrive at Victoria Island for Traditional Menu Please bring own bowls, spoons.
12:30 PM Algonquin Elder Josee Dewache Whiteduck & Welcoming Ceremony The Elder will say when it is okay to take pictures.
1:00 PM Ottawa Police Service officers close northbound traffic at Wellington & Victoria Island off Portage Bridge. Head south/east on Wellington. Crowd and Walkers assemble on Closed Wellington Street
1:45 PM The last person leaves roadway at the Metcalfe gate at Parliament Hill
1:50 PM Chief Gilbert Whiteduck and Algonquin Elder will welcome us to Algonquin on the steps Parliament.
1:55 PM Cree Elder Matthew Natachaquan
2:00 PM
2:05 PM Performers Chisasibi Drummers
Chief Stanley GeorgeWith singers from all Cree Nation communities
2:10 PM David Kawapit 18 yrs old Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:12 PM Geordie Rupert 21 ysrs old Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:14 PM Raymond [[Bajoo) Kawapit 20 yrs Whapmagoostui 1stNation
2:16 PM Stanley George Jr. - 17 yrs Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:18 PM Travis George - 17 yrs old Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:20 PM Jordon Masty - 19 yrs old Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:22 PM Johnny Abraham - 19 yrs old Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:24 PM Isaac Kawapit - The White Wizard Whapmagoostui’s Head Guide
2:26 PM Abby Masty Whapmagoostui First Nation
2:28 PM Mary Tuckatuk Kuujjuarapik Inuit Youth Rep.
2:30 PM Drumming
2:40 PM Philip Rupert - 26 yrs old Chiasasibi - First Nation
2:42 PM Shayna Wesley - Wemindji - First Nation
2:44 PM Alice Gilpin - 21 yrs Eastmain - First Nation
2:46 PM Jenny Ann Blackned – 22 yrs Waskaganish First Nation
2:48 PM Tera Diamond Jolly - Nemaska - First Nation
2:32 PM Benjamin Capissisit – 22 yrs Ouje-Bougamou - First Nation
2:34 PM Darren Loon – 17 yrs old Mistissini - First Nation
2:36 PM Patricia Ottereyes Waswanipi - First Nation
2:38 PM Drumming
2:48 PM Bianca Mapachee Wasa Sibi / Pikogani - First Nation
2:50 PM Steve Papatie Kitsa Sikik - First Nation
2:52 PM Tyranne Ratt [[speaker) / Martin Ratt [[support) Rapid Lake / Maiigan Ajiki 1st Nation
2:54 PM Sokayna Jerome - 14 yrs old Lac Simon - First Nation
2:56 PM Ryder Cote - 12 yrs old Kitigan Zibi - First Nation
2:58 PM Natalie Mathias - 42 yrs old Winneway - First Nation
3:00 PM Announcement school children buses on Wellington westbound No street crossing for safety
3:01 PM Michael Polson Kawawachikmach - First Nation
3:03 PM Edmond Etherington Moose Factory - First Nation
3:05 PM Drumming
3:15 PM National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo
Assembly of First Nations
3:18 PM Matthew Coon-Come, Grand Chief Grand Council of the Crees [[Eeyou Istchee)
3:21 PM Ghislain Picard, Vice-AFN Quebec Regional Chief
3:34 PM Romeo Saganash, NDP MP Abitibi-Temiscamingue
3:37 PM Chief Teresa Spence Attawapiskat First Nation
3:40 PM Elder from Council of Elders Prayer - Cree Elder
3:45 PM News conference for walkers on the Hill
Make room for media for Q & A
5:00 PM Event is over. Permit expires.

Today's crowd!





Hey, David Kawapit, how does it feel to make it to Victoria Island after walking 1600 kilometers? Love that smile!

[gazhekwe]

Groundhogs are out at husband's office in Southfield!

Welcoming Our Grandfathers

Kay Olan [[Ionataie:was) March 27, 2013

This is the time of year when people in the Northeast become excited about the return of warmer weather and longer daylight hours. The robins and the geese are returning from their winter get-away vacation spots down south. Gardeners are looking longingly through seed catalogues and making their selections. Farmers are waiting patiently for the last of the snow to melt, so they can prepare their fields for planting. Female horses, cows and the other four-leggeds are growing larger with new life. The first shoots of crocus and hyacinth are peeking up and winking at us. Sweet water, the sap from the sugar maple, is running and we rejoice in the knowledge that all of the other trees will soon follow and each will wake up in turn. The people are feeling re-energized and hopeful. There is birth, growth and renewal. The cycle of life continues as it should and as was planned.

It is also the season when our Grandfathers, the Thunder Beings, come back to visit us. They will stay with us through late spring, summer and early fall until they leave again for the winter months. When they call to us with their loud, deep, rumbling voices to announce their arrival, we celebrate. We stop everything, look for our sacred Indian tobacco and our pipes [[and other prayer tools) and go outside to welcome them. We smoke our pipes and send our greetings, thankfulness and love to the Grandfathers. We extend to the Grandfathers our most sincere greetings to let them know that we are happy to see them and that we are honored by their desire to visit us. We express our great appreciation to them for they bring the rain that replenishes the water in the rivers, lakes, ponds, streams and oceans. Those waters provide a home for the fish and water animals. The rain that falls bathes and refreshes Mother Earth. The rain and lightning purify the air. The rain revitalizes the plants and trees. The water quenches our thirst, helps the animals to live and the plants to grow. What a wonderful gift. Our grandfathers are so generous.

It is estimated that 60 to 75 percent of the human body consists of water. The human brain consists of 70 percent water. Our blood is made up of 83 percent water. Our lungs are 90 percent water. We can’t exist without water. We need water to aid in blood circulation, respiration and to help produce energy. Under ideal conditions and without too much exertion, a human might survive without water for three to five days. In extreme heat, one person might need to drink a gallon or more of water a day in order to live. Water is essential. Water is life.

It is the Thunder Beings who have been instructed to replenish our water supply. That is why we shouldn’t complain when they come to visit us. We shouldn’t say, “What a miserable day it is because of the weather.” Rather we should feel relieved and grateful that the Grandfather Thunderers have come to see us.

We love our Grandfathers the Thunder Beings for bringing that water to us. But what are we doing with that precious gift of life that they give to us? 70 percent of Mother Earth is covered with water. Ninety-seven percent of our water is salt water. Only 1 percent of the water is drinkable. We have been given a wondrous gift by our relatives, but are we showing our appreciation of that gift or are we wasting it, spoiling it and throwing it away? How are we treating that gift that is so essential to our very existence? How can we even consider hydro-fracking and possibly causing the disruption and destruction of our waters? How is it possible that we would consider risking the loss or contamination of even one drop of water when our very lives depend on it? If we don’t care about ourselves, then why aren’t we considering the quality of life for our children, our nieces, our nephews and our friend’s children? What about the seven generations to come? What will they drink? What will they eat, if there is no clean water for the plants and the animals to drink? What kind of lives will they have, especially considering that there are more and more people every day? Will there be enough food and clean water for them?

When someone gives me a gift, I say, “Thank you.” Then, my friend knows the gift is appreciated. When our Grandfathers bring the rain, we need to remember to say “Thank you.” But we also need to demonstrate our appreciation by wisely using the water that they bring. In so doing, hopefully, our Grandfathers will continue to visit us. We need to honor them and the future generations.
Kay Olan [[Ionataie:was) is a member of the Mohawk, Wolf Clan.

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...fathers-148374

[old guy]

Very nice, and very true. I find it hard to understand why our generation isn't concerned about those to come.

[gazhekwe]

Here is a segment from "Our Fires Still Burn," a one hour documentary produced in Michigan, by Michigan natives. It talks about living for the future generations. It is all our responsibility to our ancestors, who lived for us, and to our future descendants, that we make our world a better place. To do that, we must teach our children our culture as best we can. At 2:00 minutes, see George Martin, long time traditional dancer, often Head Dancer. If you go to a powwow in Michigan, you will see George Martin there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0oURgm3fiA

[gazhekwe]

Neighbors Dispute Police Account of Shooting of Native Man in Seattle

Renee Roman Nose, April 03, 2013

Courtney Lewis lives in what had been until last month a pretty quiet Seattle neighborhood. Lewis’s home is a friendly place, where children in the neighborhood regularly gather to play. She has always been close to Henry Northwind, the Cree man who lives next door with his son, Jack. Over the three years they have lived there, Henry’s son, Jack Keewatinawin, became good friends with her son, Tino Lewis-Sosa. They often played video games together, or tossed a football around in the yard. Jack, who turned 21 in early February, had mental issues, but no one in the neighborhood had ever had a problem with him. Neighbors say the poor boy was “always scared” of the demons and ghosts that haunted him, but was never a threat to his friends and neighbors.

A little before 8 p.m. on the evening of February 26, just as darkness fell, Seattle police answered a report of domestic disturbance by Keewatinawin’s two older brothers, Hawk and Montano Northwind. On the recording of that 911 call, one of them says, “My dad is being killed right now, please! My brother’s schizophrenic and he’s flipping out and he’s got a knife to him!”

Jack Keewatinawin

Officers on the scene confronted Keewatinawin outside his father’s house, on his front lawn; they shot him with Tasers twice in an attempt to subdue him, but he pulled the two probes out of his chest and ran into the front yard of the duplex next door, where the Brubaker family lives. Officers chased him across the shared lawn of the two duplexes, and in a dimly lit area, the police say, one officer slipped and fell, and was lying on his back. At that point, the police report of the incident states, “The suspect withdrew a long piece of metal from his beltline and raised it over his head, and came toward the officer.

“The three officers were forced to fire their weapons to defend themselves, striking the suspect.”

According to Seattle Police Deputy Chief Nick Metz, this all happened very quickly. The police say less than 30 seconds elapsed from when they first approached Keewatinawin to when he was shot. Keewatinawin was shot multiple times. [[Witnesses say they heard between 8 and 11 shots, but the family has not yet received a copy of the coroner’s report, so they don’t know how many times Keewatinawin was hit.) Jack Keewatinawin died moments later, lying in his neighbor’s grassy front yard, close to their driveway, in a large pool of blood.

This was the second controversial shooting of an American Indian in the last two years in Seattle, and comes after the Department of Justice had investigated how that city’s police deal with confrontational situations. In 2010, totem carver John T. Williams was shot on a public street one afternoon after being confronted by a police officer mistook his carving knife to be a lethal weapon. The shooting was ruled unjustified by Seattle’s Police Firearm Review Board, and on April 29, 2011 the city of Seattle agreed to pay copy.5 million to the family of the Native woodcarver. In July, the Department of Justice and the city of Seattle signed an agreement that requires Seattle police to try to de-escalate such confrontations, and decrease their use of force.

Next up, the witnesses...

[gazhekwe]

The killing was witnessed by several neighbors, and most of them have troubling doubts about how the police handled the incident. One calls the shooting “totally unacceptable,” and others suggest that officers should have known Keewatinawin was a schizophrenic, since they’d been called to the house several times over the years when he was off his medication and having problems. Several times over the past three years, police had helped get him into an ambulance for a trip to the hospital. It is not clear if the responding officers were aware of the victim’s mental illness and history.

Henry Northwind, who was trying to calm both the police and his son that night, saw what happened from beginning to tragic end, and insists that the police murdered his son at close-range, in cold-blood.

He says that by the time police arrived in response to the 911 call, his son had calmed down, and that he and Jack were in their front yard. Northwind says he told the police that his son had a knife and a piece of iron.

“He’s calmed down now, you don’t have to kill him,” he says he told them. “Don’t kill him, please!” Henry Northwind was an agonized witness to the horrifying events of that day, and he insists the killing of his son was unjustified. He is a former policeman, and says he is familiar with the proper police protocol for such situations. He says those procedures were not followed.

He says the lead officer pushed him aside and said, “He’s heavily armed.”

“I said, ‘Hey don’t kill my son!’ I was in front of them and Jack was [about five feet behind me]. At that time Jack turned around and ran straight back to the house and, in unison these guys moved … and I’d say there were about 15 cops on the curb ... They all had shotguns and pistols drawn...[Jack] got to the porch and he turned around and two guys got him in the chest with the Tasers and he just ripped them out and took off again…he had thin, thin, really thin jacket and a real thin, super thin t-shirt, I saw [the Tasers] stick to his [chest] and he went like that”—indicating grabbing both Tasers and pulling them out—“and he just tore them away, and uh, you know that’s at least 50 thousand [volts]! [One policeman] said, ‘He just shook it off like somebody just slapped him!’”

At this point, Northwind’s telling of what happened that night diverges radically from the police account. The police report says Keewatinawin ran and one of the officers pursuing him fell at his feet, and appeared to be vulnerable to an attack. Northwind says this is not true. “When Jack ran over here, he slipped—there was no cop that slipped, I swear to God there was no cop, no! Jack was on the ground... and he got up. He was on one leg, he was getting up with his hands, and he went like this”—he throws his arms in the air—”and when he did that, they opened fire on him!

“They said he had something in his hand. There was nothing in his hand, nothing, not a damn thing.

“That last shot, my knees buckled on me and I said, “They killed my son!”

Northwind says a police officer ran up to him and said, “What are you doing over here?” Northwind says he told the policeman, “That’s my son you just murdered.”

Northwind claims that officers then put two guns to his head to keep him from running to his son.

He says that when he told one of the officers, “That’s my son you just murdered!” the officer replied, “Ugh,” and ran to the large group of officers. Moments later Northwind says he heard one policeman say, ‘Hey, found it!’ and another officer respond, “What?” “An iron bar,” came the reply. Northwind says he then heard the first officer say, “Oh, damn, now at least we have a story.”

“Right in front of my fucking face they said that!” Northwind says. “One guy said, ‘That’s the father!’ and the other guy says, “Oh, shit.”

“They were wrong, and they were in fear. I could see the fear in this guy’s eyes. I just gave him a tongue-lashing.” I asked him, “Are you happy? How many more Indians you think you need to kill?

“Finally, I just screamed, ‘They killed my baby boy!’”

The knife Jack Keewatinawin was carrying when he was shot was found the next morning, but not by the police. The father of Courtney Lewis’s boyfriend found it in the Brubaker’s driveway, several yards from where Jack lay dying the night before.

Lewis says that when she and her family and boyfriend heard the commotion next door, they gathered at the windows to see what was going on. When they saw the police lined up across the street, facing them, looking toward the Northwind/Lewis duplex. She says her boyfriend sensed danger and told them all to “get away from the windows and go to the back rooms.”

As she and her children gathered in the back of the house, she called out to him to join them. As he came down the hallway the shooting began. It was over in a moment, Lewis says, and then “We could hear Henry crying out, ‘Stop shooting him! Stop shooting him!’

“I don’t think for a second that Jack was a threat to the police,” she says. “He was like one of the kids. Not for one second did I think he would hurt me or one of my kids.”

Olivia Brubaker, who lives in the duplex in front of which Jack was shot, says “There were fifteen cops in front of my house. My fiancé and I opened the front door to see Jack shot five or six times, bleeding severely, on my lawn. He was crying from all the pain and we heard the words, ‘Help me’ slipping from his lips.”

Olivia’s sister, Alexandra, says, “The cops said he had a weapon, that this weapon was a large metal rod... Those things that they have said are lies. From what I saw, from what other neighbors saw, what his family and friends saw, he had no weapon [on him] and died within minutes on my lawn.”

Several bullets fired by police went into the duplex on the other side of the Brubaker’s, one going through a front window and two through a wall. One neighbor reported that stray bullets hit a neighboring house as the homeowner was lying on the couch—that man says he heard “the bullets go whizzing by his head.”

Police reports state that Keewatinawin had three weapons: an 18-inch piece of rebar, a knife and what has been described as a “sharpened stone” but was actually a teardrop-shaped cephalopod fossil which had been in the Northwind family for years.

Montano Northwind, Jack’s oldest brother, says family members asked to view the police dash-cam videos of the shooting and were told the cameras were not turned on because the incident had occurred during a shift-change.

Olivia Brubaker says that after the shooting she saw and overheard the police arguing with one another, saying, “How could you have done that? This is a big screw-up!”

Friends and neighbors of Henry Northwind also say the police did not interview them to find out what they saw or heard that evening.

Hawk Northwind, another of Jack’s brothers, adds, “The cops weren’t telling the truth, they weren’t. All of the sudden there’s no video camera? Saying there was a shift-change?... That’s bullshit... [They] have been shooting and killing us for five hundred years—when’s it gonna stop?”

At this point there are more questions than answers. The Northwind brothers and their father are questioning why they weren’t allowed to view the body before it was prepared for viewing. They have requested a copy of the coroner’s report, and were told it will take 8-10 weeks to process their request. The family has met with an attorney and is weighing their options as they seek justice for Jack. Montano says his family wants, “Justice for Jack, justice for the mentally ill, justice for the Native community, and justice against police brutality that is going on everywhere, especially in Seattle. I don’t want it to be that way, but it seems especially bad in Seattle and I want it to stop.”

The family also hopes the Seattle police department can be compelled to abide by the recommendations it accepted in that Justice Department settlement.

Their friends and neighbors are also crying out for justice. “The truth must be told and heard about this loss,” Olivia Brubaker says. “Jack must be remembered so something like this never happens again. So no more lives have to be lost like this, so the children of any neighborhood are not scarred mentally. The cops lied about his weapon, about his death, and about the threats he made toward them.

“Justice must be brought upon the cops involved with his death. I hope to encourage others to stand up and let the truth be known.

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...seattle-148519

[gazhekwe]

Near the beginning of time, five Seminole Indian men wanted to visit the sky to see the Great Spirit.

They travelled to the East, walking for about a month. Finally, they arrived at land’s end. They tossed their baggage over the end and they, too, disappeared beyond earth’s edge.

Down, down, down the Indians dropped for a while, before starting upward again toward the sky. For a long time they travelled westward. At last, they came to a lodge where lived an old, old woman.

“Tell me, for whom are you looking?” she asked feebly.

“We are on our way to see the Great Spirit Above,” they replied.

“It is not possible to see him now,” she said. “You must stay here for a while first.”

That night the five Seminole Indian men strolled a little distance from the old woman’s lodge, where they encountered a group of angels robed in white and wearing wings. They were playing a ball game the men recognized as one played by the Seminoles.
Two of the men decided they would like to remain and become angels. The other three preferred to return to earth. Then to their surprise, the Great Spirit appeared and said, “So be it!”

A large cooking pot was placed on the fire. When the water was boiling, the two Seminoles who wished to stay were cooked! When only their bones were left, the Great Spirit removed them from the pot, and put their bones back together again. He then draped them with a white cloth and touched them with his magic wand. The Great Spirit brought the two Seminole men back to life! They wore beautiful white wings and were called men-angels.

“What do you three men wish to do?” asked the Great Spirit.

“If we may, we prefer to return to our Seminole camp on earth,” replied the three Seminoles.

“Gather your baggage together and go to sleep at once,” directed the Great Spirit.

Later, when the three Seminole men opened their eyes, they found themselves safe at home again in their own Indian camp.

“We are happy to return and stay earthbound. We hope never to venture skyward again in search of other mysteries,” they reported to the Chief of the Seminoles.

[gazhekwe]

Inter caetera [["Among other [works]") was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on 4 May 1493, which granted to Spain [[the Crowns of Castile and Aragon) all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands.

We call upon the people of conscience in the Roman Catholic hierarchy to persuade Pope John II to formally revoke the Inter Cetera Bull of May 4, 1493, which will restore our fundamental human rights. That Papal document called for our Nations and Peoples to be subjugated so the Christian Empire and its doctrines would be propagated. The U.S. Supreme Court ruling Johnson v. McIntosh 8 Wheat 543 [[in 1823) adopted the same principle of subjugation expressed in the Inter Cetera Bull. This Papal Bull has been, and continues to be, devastating to our religions, our cultures, and the survival of our populations.

Parliament of World Religions 1994 DECLARATION OF VISION

The Holy See’s Destructive Legacy of Deprimantur

Steven Newcomb April 08, 2013

Pope Francis—Jorge Mario Bergoglio—is 76 years old. He is the first pope from Latin America, the first Jesuit pope, and the first pope of our time not born in Europe. He is from Argentina, a region of the world colonized by the Spanish crown in the early 16th century on the basis of destructive papal documents issued by the Holy See in 1493. Brazil is a region of South America first colonized by the Portuguese crown on the basis of other such papal documents dating back to 1452....

....[Beginning in 1992] We publicized our call upon the pope to formally revoke the Inter Caetera papal bull of 1493 because it called for “barbarous” [[i.e., non-Christian) “nations” to be “depressed” [[deprimantur), meaning subjugated, overthrown, crushed, and dominated. Our originally free and independent nations and peoples have been suffering from the resulting symptoms of depression ever since.

....[Edit -- leaving out the history of the movement addressing the Holy See beginning in 1992, link at the end of story] ...

Now, in 2013, the planet has entered what the Mayan people say is a new Era. Accordingly, we must renew our call upon the Holy See, now occupied by Pope Francis, to explicitly repudiate the paradigm of domination that the Holy See [[commonly known as ‘the Vatican’) set into motion with papal documents issued in 1452, 1455, 1456, 1481, 1493, 1506, and 1514 that called for the Christian invasion of the non-Christian world. The year 2014 will be the 500^thyear since Pope Leo X, in the papal bull “High Devotion” [[Praecelsae Devotionis), “newly grant[ed] everything, all and singular, contained in the aforesaid letters,” and decreed that those documents “ought to be permanently valid.”

Next year, 2014, is also the year when a U.N. General Assembly High Level Plenary Meeting will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, which is the region of the traditional territories of the Algonquin speaking nations, such as the Lenape Nation. Leading up to and on that occasion we will continue to challenge the Holy See’s legacy of Christian Discovery and Domination.

Steven Newcomb [[Shawnee, Lenape) is co-founder and co-director of the Indigenous Law Institute, author of Pagans in the Promised Land: Decoding the Doctrine of Christian Discovery [[Fulcrum, 2008), and the Indigenous and Kumeyaay Research Coordinator for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation in the Kumeyaay territory [[now commonly called "San Diego").

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...cy-deprimantur.

[gazhekwe]

[gazhekwe]

Map Created by Annette S. Lee, William P. Wilson, Carl Gawboy, © 2012
Original Painting by Annette S. Lee & William P. Wilson, © 2012
Based on the Ojibwe star map by Carl Gawboy......Ojibwe Language Consultant: William Wilson

	Ojibwe	Spoken	Related Greek Constellations
ZIIGWAN - SPRING
Curly Tail, Great Panther	Mishi bizhiw		Leo, Hydra
Sweat Lodge	Madoodiswan		Corona
BIBOON - WINTER
Wintermaker	Biboonkeonini		Orion, Canis Minor, Taurus
Giwedinang - NORTH
Loon	Maang		Little Dipper
Fischer	Ojiig		Big Dipper
North Star	Giwedin'anung		Polaris
DAGWAAGIN - FALL
Moose	Mooz		Pegasus
Hole in the Sky	Bugonagiizhig		Pleiades
Sweating Stones	Madoo'asinik		Pleiades
NIIBIN - SUMMER
Crane/Skeleton Bird	Ajiijaak/Bineshi Okanin		Cygnus
Exhausted Bather	Noondeshin Bemaadizid		Hercules
Nanaboujou	Nanaboujou		Scorpio
OTHER
Star	Anung
Star World	Anung aki
Moon	Dibik-giizis [[Night Sun)
Sun	Giizis
Sky	Giizhig
Venus	Ikwe'anung [[Women's Star)
Venus -Evening Star	Ningobi'anung
Venus - Morning Star	Waabun'anung
Ecliptic	Maingan Mikan [[Wolf Trail)
Milky Way	Jiibaykona [[Spirit Path)
Milky Way	Jiibay Ziibi [[River of Souls)
Meteor/shooting star	Gwiingwa
Universe	Gaagige Giizhig [[Forever Sky)		Ishpeming [[the Sky Above)
Aurora Borealis [[Northern Lights)	Jiibayag niimi'idiway [[the Spirits are dancing)		Waawaate
Star Knowledge [[Wisdom)	Anung Nibwakawin
[[Sky) Star map	Giizhig Anung Masinaaigan
East	Waabanong
West	Ningabianong
North	Giwedinang
South	Jawanong

To hear the spoken words, go here, and prepare to run Quicktime: http://web.stcloudstate.edu/aslee/OJIBWEMAP/home.html

Voice Recordings: William Wilson.

[gazhekwe]

Seattle Police Chief John Diaz retired Monday as his department faces a court order involving use of force by officers.

The announcement came after difficult negotiations led the department to enter a court agreement with the federal Justice Department last summer to address concerns that officers were too quick to use force.

[Pam]

Did you see this Gaz? Obit. for Maria Tallchief:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/ar...headlines&_r=0

http://youtu.be/0...WR07F7Y

[gazhekwe]

I didn;t see that particular one. Unfortunately I couldn't get the video to load.

Here is one where she is talking about her husband George Balanchine choreographing the Firebird: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0...WR07F7Y

And here is a bit on Marjorie, her sister. All during the 50s and 60s, we looked to the Tallchief sisters as role models.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0...WR07F7Y

[Jimaz]

I didn;t see that particular one. Unfortunately I couldn't get the video to load.

Here is one where she is talking about her husband George Balanchine choreographing the Firebird: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0...WR07F7Y

And here is a bit on Marjorie, her sister. All during the 50s and 60s, we looked to the Tallchief sisters as role models.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0...WR07F7Y

Link repair of the recurring DetroitYES! "Yankee Underscore Tango" censorbot error: Maria Tallchief in Balanchine's Firebird

[gazhekwe]

Hey, that is pretty good, I picked the same one as Pam did. How do you fix that error, Jimaz?

[Jimaz]

Hey, that is pretty good, I picked the same one as Pam did. How do you fix that error, Jimaz?

The DetroitYES! censorbot replaces offending text in the URL with periods so the link fails. To get around it you just run the URL through http://tinyurl.com/. It gives you a new URL that's very unlikely to contain offending text.

What was censored was just a petty coincidental string of characters in the URL, not your video.

I've been collecting a list of censored words just out of curiosity. There aren't many of them.

I enjoy your thread very much, Gazhekwe. Thank you for what you do.

[gazhekwe]

Thank you, Jimaz!

[gazhekwe]

Navajo Code Talker Albert Smith [[R) Walks On

SENIOR AIRMAN ALEXXIS PONS ABASCAL | USAF

Bill Toledo and Albert Smith, right, Navajo Code Talkers, pose for a photo while visiting Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., Jan. 30 - Feb. 1. These New Mexico natives visited the base to speak to Airmen and raise funds to enable their mission to preserve the code talker history, legacy and language.

ICTMN has learned that Navajo Code Talker Albert Smith has passed away. The news was announced by the Our Navajo Code Talkers Facebook page earlier today. Smith, 89, from Chinle, Arizona, walked on this morning.

Smith along with his Code Talker comrade Bill Toledo recently visited Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico to speak with the Airmen about their experiences in World War II. Read about that by clicking here. To learn more about the Code Talkers, visit their website by clicking here.



Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwor...h-walks-148881

[gazhekwe]

The Return of the Thunder Beings

In the sacred Black Hills, the Lakota ceremonial season begins with the Return of the Thunder Beings [[known as Wakinyan to the Lakota people) and is announced by the presence of thunder, lightening, and rain.

It is believed their return [[which also marks the beginning of Spring) can bring an extraordinary celebration of life – migrating animals and birds reappear, buffalo emerge from their winter camps, hibernating creatures wake, and the plants and flowers began to bloom, but these powerful beings also bring turbulent, destructive storms to the land.

The Power of the Thunder Being
Thunder Beings are said to have the power to give life, but also take it away. They can destroy with the wind, cause flood and drought, or burn with lightening; but at the same time, they can also renew and bring the vital rains and nurture all life on earth.

Thunderbird
The Thunderbird [[one of the physical forms of the Thunder Beings) is said to be an enormous bird-like creature with legendary strength and power. They govern the weather – their voice is thunder and lightening flashes from their eyes.

The legend of Wakinyan Tanka, the Great Thunderbird describes these beings as good spirits, guardians of truth and protectors of men – they are sacred and highly regarded by the Lakota people.

Symbolism
The Thunderbird is often depicted as giant bird-like beings with colossal wings and sharp claws that seem both protective and threatening at the same time.
As they are attributed with the ability to either create or destroy, it is believed this dual nature [[give life, cause death) has made them a very prominent, powerful symbol in Native American art.

http://www.prairieedge.com/tribe-scr...hunder-beings/

[gazhekwe]

First, this is a good time of year to smudge your house to purify it from being closed up all winter.

Smudging A House

One of the most common questions I am asked is, "How do I go about smudging a house?" A typical house clearing is one of the most complicated and lengthy sacred smoke rituals most people will ever engage in. Even though the house smudging ritual is complex, it is a good idea to be prepared to smudge a house whenever you feel that it is necessary to clear negative energy out of your home environment. This type of Sage and Smudge ritual or ceremony is most often done around the time people move into a new home, to clear out any negative energy that may have been a part of the lives of the people who lived there previously.

However, there are other times when a house smudging is a called for, times when a major purification, a Clearing and Healing Sage and Smudge ceremony is needed in the entire residence. This type of spiritual housecleaning ritual is performed to acknowledge that one cycle has ended and to announce a new beginning - a starting point in your energetic, vibrational and spiritual connection to your world. And since your home is the center of your personal world, it is very helpful to carry out a Whole House Smudging Ceremony to clear the entire space and make it ready for the next cycle.

Here are some examples of times when it is helpful to carry out a House Smudging to clear, cleanse, and balance the energy of your entire home:

• When someone new moves into the home to live with current members of the household, bringing their possessions [[possibly their children and/or their pets) into the space.
• Following the completion of a major home improvement project.
• Following a Feng Shui consultation, and after any changes suggested by the Feng Shui Practitioner have been made to the interior [[or exterior) of the home - changes that are meant to shift/improve the energy-flow inside the home.
• Following a divorce or separation, where one party has moved all of their possessions out of the mutual home and into a new home of their own.
• At the time of a major "life-change" for anyone who lives in the home [[such as the birth of a child, a major career change, children leaving home for college or to live on their own, retirement, diagnosis of a chronic illness, etc.)
• Following a serious illness or death of someone [[or a cherished family pet) who has lived in the home.
• Following a natural disaster [[like an earthquake, fire or flood)

Whether you are buying a home, renting a home or moving into a new apartment or condominium, you will want to perform aSage and Smudge Home Clearing ritual at least one time during the first month you are living in the new space, preferably at or around the New Moon. If there is time between when you take possession of your new home, and the time your furniture and belongings are moved into the new home, you may want to do an initial Sage and Smudge ritual to clear negative energy before your furniture and possessions arrive and you start unpacking.

If you are unable to carry out a Complete House Clearing before your furniture and possessions arrive at the new dwelling, or if you don’t unpack everything the first month you are in your new home, you may want to perform an initial Home Smudging Ritual during the first month, and another after everything is unpacked and moved into its new space.

For a variety of detailed Sage and Smudge Room and House Clearing ceremonies, tips, and techniques, orderSage and Smudge: The Ultimate Guide now.

http://www.sageandsmudge.com/smudgea...m#.UXBKUrWG3To

Second, sage is a healer!

One way is to buy sage tea from a health food store or anywhere they sell teas and herbs. You simply boil water... put sage leaves into a cup or pot... kinda break them up a little- use about the same amount as per a regular tea bag-- and steep for a few minutes - But and pour the boiling water in- and let it steep for 3-5 minutes. Then drink like tea. You can use honey as well for taste or for further healing properties.

FOR GARGLING or for GUMS:
oh, simply make into a strong tea. for gargling use a bit more leaves-- and let it steep for about ten minutes. Gargle and swish around your mouth. You can also make enough in a large jar... Can keep in the fridge and take a little bit into a cup and gargle and swish and spit out.

[gazhekwe]

This morning, I woke early, looked out my window and what did I see, a glistening coating of snow twinkling back at me. Well, I sure hope this was the last kiss of winter. Baama pii, Kaabiiboonikan, until next year.

Then, as the morning went on, the sun came out and the snow melted, trickling and tinkling down the rain chains and running through the garden. Out in my front yard, on the remains of the ash roots, Spring Beauties peeked out for the first time. Do you remember the story of the spring beauties? I posted it March 7, 2010, post 301.

In 2010, the Spring Beauties came out April 11, post 336. In 2011, they appeared April 27, post 665. In 2012, they popped up, March 27, a whole month earlier. Their appearance this year is right on schedule.

[gazhekwe]

The Detroit Free Press; Date: Apr 22, 2013; Section: Metro; Page: 4A
Lincoln Park hosts American Indians to honor Chief Pontiac
City marks 250th anniversary of famed council

By Tammy Stables Battaglia Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

American Indians from across the Midwest are expected to gather in Lincoln Park this week to commemorate a gathering of their tribes 250 years ago led by Chief Pontiac. See additional information on the history and events here: http://www.lphistorical.org/

Program schedule here: http://www.lphistorical.org/event_schedule.html

Called to mount a challenge to the Europeans seizing their land, Chief Pontiac's council brought hundreds of American Indians to the banks of the Ecorse River, in what is now Council Point Park, on River Drive, on April 27, 1763. The Lincoln Park Historical Society and Museum, the American Indian Movement of Michigan and others will hold events at the park all this week in commemoration, culminating in a traditional American Indian powwow Saturday-Sunday.

“It was such an important effort on the part of the natives to maintain their homelands,” said Jeff Day, curator of the Lincoln Park Historical Society and Museum. “[[The commemoration) gives us an opportunity to look back and reflect on the past that perhaps was not really thought about over the past couple of centuries.”

Local officials will dedicate a new Michigan historical marker for Pontiac’s Council in a Michigan Division of Natural Resources ceremony at 5 p.m. Saturday.

As part of the celebrations, Chief Pontiac descendant Rudy Pontiac, 72, will talk about his great-grandfather and the current plight of American Indians.

“He did a great thing, you know, unite the tribes and tell his people that they are taking all the land away from us and we won’t have anyplace to go,” Pontiac, who retired from General Motors after working in product development and civil rights, said recently from his home in the Grand Rapids area. “It’s a bad thing that happened to my people.”

Chief Pontiac tried to organize the American Indians to capture the British forts in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley regions and force them out. They successfully seized nine forts, but eventually were overtaken by Europeans and colonial Americans.

“When you go back past the War of Independence, that history is fuzzy for a lot of people,” Day said. “So it helps us to remember. And we’re doing this to honor Pontiac as well because Pontiac’s cause was a good cause — he wanted to protect his brothers.”

The groups also are planning some more lighthearted events as part of the commemoration , like a car show for classic Pontiacs at 5 p.m. Thursday. A concert by American Indian singer-songwriter Bill Miller will take place at 6 p.m. Friday, followed by a twilight showing of American Indian filmmaker Georgina Lightning’s 2008 film “Older than America.”

The free events, partially funded by Chrysler Group, also are being organized by the National American Indian Movement, the National American Indian Movement Grand Governing Council and the City of Lincoln Park. For times and a full schedule of events, visit www.lphistorical.org/event_schedule.html

Contact Tammy Stables Battaglia at 313-949-7291or tbattaglia@freepress.com.



Mike LeBlanc, Bruce Hurd and Gary Ordus install a historic marker for the 250th anniversary of Chief Pontiac’s council, held on the Ecorse River in what’s now Lincoln Park. ROMAIN BLANQUART/DETROIT FREE PRESS

Michigan AIM Pow Wow

Date/Time April 28 - 29, 2013, All Day
Status: Active
Pow Wow Size:Less than 100 dancers
Location Council Point Park in Lincoln Park Michigan

Council Point Park in Lincoln Park, Michigan

Location Map
Council Point Park in Lincoln Park
River Drive - Lincoln Park

Map data ©2013 Google - Terms of Use