Cross Posted at Native American Netroots
Welcome to News from Native American Netroots, a Monday evening series focused on indigenous tribes primarily in the United States and Canada but inclusive of international peoples also.
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This excerpt is 1 of 22 contributions to Native American perspectives on "Indian" identities
There are mornings here when the quiet comes to fill you. You walk the line of lake cautiously not wanting to break the spell of it. There's mist on the water and it drifts upwards off the rock enveloping you and the feeling is not of disappearing from this view but of sinking into it.
Within this stillness you swear you can hear the sounds of drums on distant hills. You close your eyes and in the push of breeze there's the wail and chant of singers and this fusty shoreline holds in it the smell of something ancient, something timeless, eternal, articulate, significant and vast. You only need to breathe it into you to become it.
There's nothing in your experience to match this deliberate taking in. You who have fought so hard to find a place here, for a definition beyond what the skin implies have never encountered such frank acceptance of being. Against the push of land, the sweep of it, you fit easily like another shoot of grass and there's the sense in you that this is what it means to be Indian.
Franken visit part fact-finding, part politics
By Mary Garrigan
PINE RIDGE -- Lakota artist Joe Pulliam thought Sen. Al Franken’s visit to the Oglala Lakota Nation Powwow on Saturday was pure politics, and that was just fine with him.
"I liked him from his ‘Saturday Night Live’ days,&rdsquo; Pulliam, 41, said. "Of course, I think it’s all politics, but it’s sure nice to have him here.&rdsquo;
Franken, D-Minn., visited Pine Ridge at the invitation of Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., who faces Republican challenger Kristi Noem in November. As a member of the Senate’s Indian Affairs Committee, Franken said he was there to help his friend and colleague’s re-election bid but also to gather more knowledge about the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the housing problems that plague the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation’s 45,000 or so residents.
Now That it Made History With Elena Kagan, the Senate Should Do Our Lower Courts Justice
...During this time of celebration, we have concrete evidence of how much progress the country has made and can make. But we cannot lose sight of how much more remains to be achieved. Only 220 of the more than 750 active federal appellate and trial court judges are women, and only 54 among them are women of color. There is only one Asian-American judge among the almost 160 active judges on the federal courts of appeal, and there are no Native American judges anywhere on the federal bench. This great imbalance coincides with a large number of vacancies on the federal courts that need to be filled. But a small, but determined, set of Senators are blocking the confirmation of 21 nominees for seats on the lower federal courts. And of the 21 nominees being blocked, two-thirds are women and/or racial or ethnic minorities.
Historical adobe reopens in San Juan Capistrano after renovation
Nearly everyone’s heard of Mission San Juan Capistrano and its famous swallows that return every year. But within steps of the mission is one of California’s oldest neighborhoods – Los Rios Street. It’s filled with old adobe buildings that date back more than 200 years. Crews have just finished fixing up one of those adobes. And yesterday, American Indians blessed one of the old houses.
They chanted a blessing as the smell of burning sage whiffed through the air. They stood outside the tiny, two-room Montanez adobe, in a garden filled with native plants.
Their American-Indian ancestors built this old house, which now has cacti as tall as ancient trees in the desert-like yard.
Oscar stand-in recounts fallout
Sacheen Littlefeather said she paid a price when she decried Hollywood's stereotyped portrayal of American Indians at the 1973 Oscars.
Littlefeather, who was sent by Marlon Brando to decline his best-actor award for "The Godfather," said her high-profile advocacy put her life at risk and cut her acting career short.
Agriculture Dept. Doles Out $1.2 Billion for 126 Broadband Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released $1.2 billion in grants and loans, supplemented by $117 in matching private funds, directed at 126 new broadband infrastructure projects in rural and underserved areas, in a second round of funding under the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The grants and loans are part of the overall $7.2 billion designated for broadband expansion nationwide, $4.7 billion of which is allocated through the U.S. Commerce Department and $2.5 billion from the Department of Agriculture.
Last month, the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture awarded $795 million for 66 broadband projects spanning all 50 states.
Osage Nation inaugurates Red Eagle as new chief
The Osage Nation has inaugurated a new chief and assistant chief.
John D. Red Eagle was installed as the American Indian tribe's new principal chief and Scott N. BigHorse as the tribe's assistant principal chief during a ceremony Aug. 4 at the tribe's cultural center in Pawhuska. Tribal Supreme Court Justice Charles Lotah administered the oaths of office.
Proposal supports ‘cultural genocide’
Almost 50 years after the termination era ended, a New York state legislator has reintroduced the idea with a recommendation to terminate the Unkechaug Nation.
Sen. Craig M. Johnson, a Democrat who represents Long Island where the Unkechaug and their ancestors have lived since time immemorial, issued the recommendation in a June 11 report called "Executive Refusal: Why the State has Failed to Collect Cigarette Taxes on Native American Reservations.&rdsquo;
Chief Harry Wallace, Unkechaug leader since 1994, said the recommendation is tantamount to advocating "cultural genocide.&rdsquo;
Ancient bison kill site uncovered in Montana
Archaeologists working on the Blackfeet Indian reservation in northwestern Montana say they have uncovered a vast former hunting complex where bison were stampeded over a cliff at least 1,000 years ago.
Researchers say the 9-mile-long area contains a well-preserved "drive line" system used to funnel bison to their deaths, along with bison bones and the remnants of campsites with hundreds of tepee rings.
The site is on a remote plateau overlooking the Two Medicine River. Researchers say it could become one of the largest and most significant Blackfeet heritage sites in the region.
Lacrosse comes back to Fond du Lac Reservation
Organizers of the first ever lacrosse camp at the Fond du Lac Reservation didn’t start with the rules of the game, or a suggested fitness regimen. Instead, they started with a history lesson. The fact that lacrosse was first played by Native Americans – not prep school students – was the core of that discussion.
Professional lacrosse player Travis Hill told the 26 Native American teens, whether they knew it or not, lacrosse is in their blood.
"For Natives, there’s a deeper connection to the game,&rdsquo; said Hill. "We play for different reasons, mainly that it’s ‘The Creator’s Game.’ We play to entertain Him. It’s a medicine game, too. If someone is sick, they’ll call for a game to help them heal.&rdsquo;
Ecuadorian government cracks down on Native leaders
An acrimonious relationship between Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa and Native leaders took a turn for the worse in July when the government charged Delfin Tenesaca, Puruha Kichwa and Marlon Santi, Shaur, the presidents of the country’s largest indigenous organizations, with terrorism and sabotage. The charges were filed following a protest outside a summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas June 25 in the Ecuadorian town of Otavalo.
The summit, which was presided by Presidents Correa, Evo Morales, of Bolivia and Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela, was dedicated to the region’s Native and African-American peoples and was attended by many members of those ethnic groups. However, the government declined to invite representatives of the country’s principal Native organizations – the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) and the Kichwa confederation ECUARUNARI – both of which once supported Correa, but have grown critical of him over the past two years. Their leaders consequently organized a protest outside the summit and attempted to deliver a letter to Morales, but were prevented from entering the summit by the police, which resulted in a shoving match.
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