Turtle Talk: Possibly the Headline News for all things Native?!?

In looking through the online resources, the site that I found drawn to was Turtle Talk (http://turtletalk.wordpress.com).   I saw the headline that a Canadian Official actually "dared" to use the word "genocide" while talking about what happened Native Americans. To be more accurate, he apparently only "dared" to use the word while referring to an attempted genocide, but still it's nice to see that Canada at least has some people willing to call something what it was. Which is more than one can say for other nations, such as Turkey and what they did to the Armenians.  They still argue over using the word "genocide".  People need to realize that words do have power. I think that is something that recent generations largely fail to recognize.  It's sometimes important to listen to what someone is saying, in general, however I've found that listening to the actual words they are using while conveying their message gives you much more insight to where their thoughts are (or are not).

A Little Good Knowledge Is Better Than A Lot of Hooey

One online source that caught my attention is the US General Services Administration (GSA) Tribal Consultation site. It presents federal policies implemented through executive orders by Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush concerning tribal sovereignty and sacred sites, and federal historic preservation laws specific to Native Americans (Tribal Consultation). This government site paints a positive picture of federal interactions with Native American tribes trying to reclaim their heritage, govern themselves and practice their beliefs. There is no mention of the current or past issues that represent the government in a negative manner. 

I believe the resources selected for this course present a broad overview of the type and variety of information that is readily available to the general public. In general, each site’s visual presentation matches the content being represented; the material is accurate, up to date and easily understood. Other sites may have similar but outdated content that is less-easily digested and thus are not suitable for an academic setting. The GSA site provides an easily read and understood synopsis of the executive orders and laws, such as the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) (Tribal Consultation), and provides links to the referenced policies to allow greater knowledge to be obtained. It is mostly facts with little fluff, just what you want in a research setting.

I have been made aware of the connections that Native Americans and tribal units have formed to one another. I previously saw each tribe or reservation as its own entity separate and apart from others like it. The United South & Eastern Tribes site (United) showcases 27 tribes working together to protect and advance tribal sovereignty and provide assistance to member tribes in those efforts. They do not stand alone.

References:

Tribal Consultation with the Federal Government: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/105007. Retrieved May 21, 2015.

United South & Eastern Tribes: http://www.usetinc.org/about-uset/member-tribes/. Retrieved May 21, 2015.

Indian Culture Vacation Destinations

As I have done research online for the assignments of this course I have been impressed by the amount of information available online that has been placed there by the tribes themselves. The websites are vibrant, showing the pride the different tribes have in their culture and giving all of us the opportunity to learn more about it. The voice for my reflexive scholarly project, Waioskasit, is from the Menominee tribe of Wisconsin. The tribe’s website provides a considerable amount of information, especially given the small size of the tribe.

The web resources for module 2 further reinforced the fact that the culture of Native Americans is gaining in importance and there is desire among non-native people to learn more about the people who occupied this land before they did. Two resources stand out to me but for different reasons, the Seneca Art and Culture Center and The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum.

Both of these facilities are under construction and have been financed by contributions from the general public. As a resident of Central New York for over 30 years I had no idea that the Seneca Art and Cultural Center even existed and is just an hour away. It opens this summer and will tell the story of the Seneca and Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) contributions to art, culture and society for more than 2,000 years to the present day.

The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, OK will create an awareness and understanding for all people of the Oklahoma American Indian cultures and heritage. This is a large facility that is scheduled to open in 2017 where visitors can experience one-of-a-kind exhibits, participate in hands-on educational programs and hear first-hand accounts of tribal culture and history. This facility is designed to be a major tourist attraction for Oklahoma and is fully supported by state and local governments.

These centers are but two of many that are bringing Native American culture and history into the mainstream of American tourism and offer a great opportunity to immerse non-natives to it. By making the experience fun and exciting these and other facilities in the United States and Canada will become vacation destinations for many people and will help to spread awareness and understanding of native culture and history. I look forward to visiting these sites with my family as part of our vacation travels and hope others will too.

The Land Was Their Dictionary

                                The Land was Their Dictionary

 

The source I chose to review was the radio piece entitled “In one Life journey, The Modern History of the Cree”. This is a spoken account by Tom Jolly.

Tom was raised in the Bush, where he and his parents brought only some essentials (flour, sugar, tea, etc), and everything else they needed was provided by the land. This way of life was his foundation, as he states “The land was their dictionary”. As Tom got older, he attended residential schools where he was the victim of multiple types of abuse.  Tom saw a different way of life in the suburbs, and the cities. Growing up, he had first hand comparisons of the different lifestyles that were possible.  Tom went from a very traditional Cree lifestyle to experiencing modern culture. The abuse and experiences along the way brought him back to his traditional Cree upbringing.

His strong words “The land was their dictionary”, suggest that, although having fewer connections, they were the most valuable ones.  The connections of the land and few necessities made for deeper and meaningful relations among people and nature. Once Tom started to integrate into the more modern lifestyle, he was exposed to negative experiences, abuse, and ultimately poor connections to others, and possible losing such a strong connection with nature. 

I found this source to be personally meaningful. It reminded me of how I often feel when I am too integrated into society. When we spend too much energy on meaningless connections, and less energy on the most valuable ones; we are not fully developing ourselves. Then we go back out into society with our underdeveloped selves and share only a part of what we could be offering to the world.

Tom came full circle, from living in the Bush, suburbs and cities, and back to his Cree community.

 

 

Source Reviewed: 

http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/archive.php?id=10278

Tribal Consultation

For some reason, unbeknown to me, I am loving everything I am reading this semester. I find it so interesting to learn all these "things" that were hushed up by our government and history teachers over the years. One thing however, that has not been hushed up, just not specifically shouted, is the political relationship that the natives have with the US government. Reading Tribal Consultation was a real eye opener. 

Apparently, "The United States has a unique legal and political relationship with Indian tribes and a special relationship with Alaska Native entities as provided in the Constitution of the United States, treaties, and federal statutes.  These relationships extend to the federal government’s historic preservation activities, mandating that federal consultation with Native American tribes be meaningful, in good faith, and entered into on a government-to-government basis. (http://www.gsa.gov)."

While we all know that there are laws about American Government and Indian reservations, and Indians having the rights to govern and rule Indian land, apparently there is more! Firstly, I did not know that peace was originally sought in 1906. "Preservation and protection of Native American historic resources, at least archeological resources, dates back to at least the Antiquities Act of 1906, usually seen as the first federal historic preservation law in the United States (http://www.gsa.gov)." Super cool, that while so much pressure to assimilate was occurring, the US was trying to at least on a grander scheme of things, try and make somewhat peace. 

I find it interesting and cruel as well that the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990, basically stated that the US government,  museums and anything that had Native American artifacts, lands, bodies etc, had to return everything to Native American property. We never really think that things like this were happening 25 years ago, but really they were. As I mentioned in my discussion, cruelty really is still happening between whites and Native Americans, even if it may be subconsciously. Just the fact that there needs to be an Act to return artifacts to the proper owners proves  it. 


Sources:

Tribal Consultation- http://www.gsa.gov

National Museum of the American Indian

While scrolling through our online sources, the one that stood out to me was The National Museum of the American Indian. I immediately clicked to visit the site and watched the short one minute video describing the museum and how it is geared towards children as well as teachers.  I noticed immediately that there is a NY location, and before even clicking on the link, I thought " I must visit this place". I don't know what it is about museums any museums really, but I love them! It's always so interesting to discover and learn new things. 

In regard to the museum in general, there are 2 location, one as mentioned in NY and the other in Washington DC. The museum has one of the most extensive collections of Native American arts and artifacts in the world—approximately 266,000 catalog records (825,000 items) representing over 12,000 years of history and more than 1,200 indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. The museums have tons of pictures, ranging from the 1860's until present day. "There is a  Media Archive (approximately 12,000 items) including film and audiovisual collections such as wax cylinders, phonograph discs, 16mm and 35mm motion picture film, magnetic media of many varieties, and optical and digital media recorded from the late 1800s through the present; and the Paper Archive (approximately 1500 linear feet) comprised of records dating from the 1860s to the present that preserve the documentary history of the NMAI, its predecessor, the Museum of the American Indian (MAI), Heye Foundation, and their collections, as well as other documentary and archival materials" (http://nmai.si.edu/explore/collections/).

Just scrolling through the online collection was amazing, I can't even fathom the experience in person!The pieces ranged from a Ute shoulder bag from the 1860/1870's to a women's dress from the Sioux tribe dating back to 1865, even a duck bill from the year 100AD! These pieces I chose to look at were from the Great Basin area which is what chose to write about in Module 2, as I did not have a specific person, rather a very large topic; alcohol. I really am excited about this museum as I find all this stuff incredible and I cannot wait to go visit, take it all in and implement it into what I have learned so far, and what I will learn.

Sources:
http://nmai.si.edu/explore/collections/

Jake Thomas Learning Center/ Honor

 

 

  I chose to review the online cultural based resource of the Jake Thomas Learning Center.  The center is located in Wilsonville, Ontario; Canada.  This center is an important tool aiding in the preservation and promotion of traditional Haudenosaunee ways.

             The center was founded by Jacob Thomas, Hadajigre:ta’ (Descending Cloud), a Cayuga Chief.  Jacob Thomas’ list of accomplishments is incredible. He was an interpreter and advocate of Iroquoian culture and language, longhouse speaker authority on the Great Law of Peace, and Assistant Professor with the Department of Native Studies at Trent University. This long list of notable achievements led to Jacob Thomas’ recognition as a well respected leader.

            Jacob Thomas dedicated his entire life to public awareness of Native contributions to society. One most notable contribution that he developed awareness of is the message of environmental consciousness through Ganohonyonk.  His dedication and advocacy led the Learning Center to acquire a collection of over 90,000 hand written documents in the languages of Onondaga, Cayuga and Mohawk.  Among these documents are great law recitals, condolence ceremonies, and the Thanksgiving Address.

            The center also offers an extensive library collection of native resources and workshops on beading and corn husk moccasins. In order to teach and preserve the Iroquoian language, Thomas also developed a Language Development Program.           After searching around the Jake Thomas Learning Center online resource website, it was apparent that his work to preserve the culture is continuing even after his death in 1998.

 I was left reminded of another online source that I was introduced to during this module. From the page entitled “Reflections” from the online source “In the Light of Reverence” the words of Waubishmaa’ingan (white wolf) have left a deep impact on me.  He wrote “To honor is to voice what is in one's body and heart and mind to gift to another or others—it is to express simply and clearly and directly what is most beautiful and meaningful in our living, it is to make the soul manifest in the world, through the performance of meaning and beauty, through truly naming in language and song our passage ….”

These words of Waubishmaa’ingan’s hold true and I believe apply to Jacob Thomas. His work, dedication, and advocacy for history have not only honored the past, but the future generations as well.

 

http://www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/inspiredby.php

http://jakethomaslearningcentre.ca/contact.html