Monday, Nov. 22, 2004

native american arts daily news, presented by
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Native American Music Awards Finalist Ballots Distributed to All ...
Emediawire (press release) - Ferndale,WA,USA
... of other major national Awards shows, the consistently sold-out Native American Music Awards has ... CNN, CBS This Morning, UPN 9 News, MSG Metro Arts channel, and ...

Mario Martinez Mid-Career Retrospective
Art Daily - USA
... in Tempe and his master's of fine arts degree from ... Indian, New York; "AlieNation" at the American Indian Community ... and in 2001 he received the Native Artist in ...
See all stories on this topic

Another American face of philanthropy is growing in affluence and ...
Houston Chronicle - Houston,TX,USA
... of dollars each year to arts groups, health ... Cuban-American John Fitzgerald directs his philanthropic ... Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and ...

Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art
Art Daily - USA
... illustrated catalogue, as is the incorporation of contemporary Native American views on ... by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a ...

Calls for entry, November 22
Rocky Mountain News - Denver,CO,USA
... Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is accepting applications, through 5 pm Jan. 14 (postmark/hand delivery) for the 2005 Native American Artist Fellowship ...

Restaurants plentiful in the 1930s
Sioux City Journal - Sioux City,IA,USA
... granite headstone with a bronze plaque memorializing the great Native American leader, states ... Performing arts, hands-on activities and food vendors add to the ...

Reservation continues on late chief's path
Trenton Times - Trenton,NJ,USA
... He worked to get scholarships for Native Americans who could not afford ... it a better place." Twice a year, the popular American Indian Arts Festival is ...

 This once a day Google Alert is brought to you by Google.

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Navajo artist Teddy Draper Workshops
Chinle, Arizona (Canyon DeChelly)- Seminars and workshops have limited capacity and usually require enrollment months in advance.

Workshop information for 2005

March 15-19, instructor Elmer Yazzie, "cut yucca brush" watercolor technique.

May 16-20, instructor Teddy Draper, Jr., pastel techniques, insights into art, culture, and connecting to nature.

June 7-11, Indian Jewelry Basics (class limited to 4 students).

June 7-11, instructor Teddy Draper, Jr., pastel techniques, insights into art, culture, and connecting to nature.

Contact Teddy Draper at
dechelly2000@yahoo.com

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Web Sites:
Indigenous Peoples Literature

Essay on the Zuni World View
Excerpt (Complete article is available in PDF)

While both Young and Bunzel agree on the religious importance of the images and the lack of a determinate naming process, they disagree on the role of the individual in interpretation[24] and whether the interpretive process is sensual or rational.  This disparity may be related to the different methodologies involved, for Bunzel worked through an interpreter and sought to evoke images in the use of names, often receiving diverse groupings within clusters while Young relied more so on ostensive definition, perceiving the images as having the power to evoke narrative, using the term “metonymic” to describe the power of images to evoke where ambiguity is present in both meaning and form[25].  The one most notable aspect of Young’s study in regard to the individuating function is the observance that Zuni interpreters “included the entire environmental setting of the rock art in discussions of meaning rather than focusing on the image alone…and not only placed individual images in the context of the whole corpus of rock art figures at the site, but also included other features of the landscaping, such as springs, plants, birds, and so on”[26].

[24] Bunzel,does note that new masks and dances are not uncommon and do allow for aesthetic expression; however, all new dances must be approved by the head priest of the kiva, and the masks must be defined and absorbed by society.  Any new creation is completely integrated. In this is evident that aesthetics can provide for epistemic fulfillment in diachronic development.

[25] Op. cit. Young, 1988: 159.

[26] (Ibid, xvii, italics mine)

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Notices:

Exhibit: Precious Cargo -- Cradle Baskets and Childbirth: California Indian Traditions, opens Nov. 26

In the last couple decades, it has become common to see modern parents carry babies in back packs or slings. It is thought to be good for babies to feel the body warmth and closeness of a parent. Interestingly, this was exactly the approach taken by California Indian groups for many generations. Carrying her infant in a basketry cradleboard allowed the mother to keep the baby close and respond to its needs, while at the same time continuing the cooking and collecting needed to provide the necessities of life for the family. As with many Native American artifacts, the objects of daily use became an art form, reflecting both the Indian aesthetic and the habits and belief systems of the various Indian groups. A new exhibit at the Maidu Interpretive Center in Roseville depicts and explains the many characteristics of Native practices relating to childbirth and childcare. The exhibit shows the varying cradle basket styles, some of which had pointed designs at the bottom, allowing the mother to stand the cradleboard in the ground while she tended to some brief task. Others were designed to be temporarily attached to a tree, letting the baby look around. Some cradleboards kept the infant swaddled tightly, others allowed the baby to be in a sitting position. Some were constructed with hoods to protect and give shade to the baby. Throughout California, mothers and grandmothers made model cradles for their children and grandchildren to play with. It was more than a toy, it was a model for the girl’s future role. The child might also make her own, representing her first attempt at weaving a cradle basket. The cradle design varied from group to group, so an infant was instantly placed in a device that gave it a sense of cultural identity as well as security. While the exhibit displays cradle boards from the Pomo, Chumash, Yurok, Miwok, Washoe, Mojave, and 22 other native groups, it also covers other aspects of birth and childrearing. It explains how the father also changed his lifestyle while awaiting the birth of the child, how he might entrust the child briefly to a fast runner, hoping to transfer that skill to the youngster. Child naming practices are also described in the exhibit, as are the use of ‘touchstones’ and rituals to help women achieve conception. Fertility was believed to be under the control of the supernatural, and spiritual considerations were embedded into childbirth and child raising practices. This unique exhibit, opening November 26, is called Precious Cargo: California Indian Cradle Baskets and Childbirth Traditions. It explores traditional beliefs and practices concerning childbirth and the use of cradle baskets, both historically and today, The traveling exhibit was assembled by the Marin Museum of the American Indian and will be on tour for three years. The Maidu Interpretive Center will have community activities and demonstrations related to the exhibit. The center is at 1960 Johnson Ranch Drive in Roseville. For further information, call the center at 916.774.5934 or 772-4242

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"Honor Your Spirit, Protect The Children"
Winter & Christmas 2004 - Request for Donations
http://www.geocities.com/honoryourspirit/home.html

If you wish to make a difference and help children and elders through the harsh winter months in Montana, please take the time to read our request. On behalf of reliable Northern Cheyenne contacts from Lame Deer, we are once again collecting donations for those in need on the Northern Cheyenne reservation.
There is a large need especially for new and good quality used warm items, as well as toys.
List of useful donations :
- warm clothing such as knitted items for children of all ages from babies to teenagers, and for elders - jeans and T-shirts, all sizes - socks, gloves, boots, hats and scarves - blankets - toys for Christmas
Donations should be sent to the following address:
Honor Your Spirit - Protect the Children
% Sue Buck
PO Box 901
Great Falls, MT 59403-0901 (USA)
Please contact suemontana@mcn.net for mailing information other than regular US Mail service. (Also please include your name and address if you would like for us to acknowledge/confirm receipt of your donations.)
The toys will be distributed during the Christmas give away but the warm clothes and blankets will be distributed right away. During Montana winters, the temperature can drop to 30 or 40 degrees below zero so warm winter clothing and blankets can be lifesaving.
Our goal is to help the children, the elders, the single parent families, or families unable to make ends meet due to the high unemployment rate, the difficult conditions and the extreme poverty on the reservation.The children need all the help and encouragement they can get!
Other items that would also be appreciated: grooming supplies like toothpaste, tooth brushes,soaps and shampoos, combs, hair brushes, hair barrettes, rubber bands or other types of hair or pony tail holders. Last but not least : pampers diapers or pull-ups.
Thank you for being a part of this project and supporting it."
Respectfully,
Manuel Redwoman,
Northern Cheyenne/Lakota/Arapaho
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone for your support !

Haidu Language Project
Did you know that before Christopher Columbus arrived in the new world, the "Indians" in North America spoke over 300 indigenous languages? Today, roughly 20 of these languages have speakers of all ages. Unfortunately, the Haida language of Kasaan, Alaska is not among them.
Currently, only seven Kasaan Haidas speak the Kasaan Haida dialect with varying degrees of fluency--all elders over the age of 75. I know this because my dad grew up in Kasaan, 25 miles from my birthplace of Ketchikan, Alaska. We belong to the Haida tribe. This summer, I urged the Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation (KHHF) to allow me to utilize the foundation's nonprofit status to seek funding and conduct projects that preserve our elders' knowledge.
In September, we created the position of Media Specialist in which I intend to raise money and interview our elders, especially in regards to the Haida language. I will produce, direct, and coordinate a video documentary to raise awareness and archive the language. I plan to make the results available in digital formats on the KHHF website.
If given the chance, I believe people would rally to this cause. We need to get the word out. So, I call on friends like you to get the ball rolling and join "The Grassroots Founders Campaign" Grassroots because the idea is to reach out to many individuals on a personal level; Founders because you will underwrite the beginning of our preservation effort.
Donations received from now until December 31, 2004 will earn the donor a Grassroots Founder designation. I ask for a relatively small gift of 25 to 100 dollars. Donor's names will appear in the KHHF newsletter and donations will be eligible for a tax deduction for this year. Grassroots Founders get special on-screen mention in the documentary.
Please send checks (payable to "KHHF") to:
Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation
600 University Street, Suite 3010
Seattle, WA 98101-1129
Write in the memo area on your check or include a note designating funds for "Media Specialist/Projects".
Very importantly, SPREAD THE WORD. Please pass this on to 5 to 10 friends, or more. You will multiply your donation exponentially and play a vital role in preserving the Haida language for future generations. We appreciate anything you can do to help us preserve our language and heritage.
Sincerely,
Frederick Olsen, Jr.
For more information, email me or go to
http://kavilco.com/pages/
aboutkhhf.html
KHHF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 92-0169568).

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Cayuse History
Cayuse, A Waiilatpuan tribe formerly occupying the territory about the heads of Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Grande Ronde Rivers and from the Blue mountains to Deschutes River in Washington and Oregon. The tribe has always been closely associated with the neighboring Nez Percé and Walla Walla, and was regarded by the early explorers and writers as belonging to the same stock. So far as the available evidence goes, however, they must be considered linguistically independent. The Cayuse have always been noted for their bravery, and owing largely to their constant struggles with the Snake and other tribes, have been numerically weak. According to Gibbs there were few pure-blood Cayuse left in 1851, intermarriage, particularly with the Nez Percé, having been so prevalent that even the language was falling into disuse. In 1855 the Cayuse joined in the treaty by which the Umatilla Reservation was formed, and since that time have resided within its limits. Their number is officially reported as 404 in 1904; but this figure is misleading, as careful inquiry in 1902 failed to discover a single one of pure blood on the reservation and the language is practically extinct. The tribe acquired wide notoriety in the early days of the white settlement of the territory. In 1838 a mission was established among the Cayuse by Marcus Whitman at the site of the present town of Whitman, Walla Walla County, Wash. in 1847 smallpox carried off a large part of the tribe. The Cayuse, believing the missionaries to be the cause, attacked them, murdered Whitman and a number of others. and destroyed the mission. Owing to the confusion in the early accounts it is difficult to differentiate the Cayuse from the Nez Percé and Walla Walla, but there is no reason to suppose that in habits and customs they differed markedly from those tribes. Handbook of American Indians (1906) ~ Frederick W. Hodge
From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories

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Little Bear and the Skin stretched Tight
I will present a story.
Little Bear and his wife lived a long way from the village but even so they would travel to the gatherings and the ceremony's with their personal Skin stretched Tight. The couple were welcomed at the gatherings for at the time they had their own Skin stretched Tight. At ceremony's they played together and their spirits would soar with the spirit of the skin. All that heard it, also had their spirits soar. At the gatherings they would play together or each on their own skin. These things were good. At a time when a large gathering was planned and no Skin stretched Tight could be found, they offered and were accepted. They were glad to be of service many others came and joined them and for four days they had great joy. At the end, when traditionally honor was given to the players of a Skin stretched Tight nothing came they were ignored and the lead of the Skin stretched Tight honored the family of the Skin stretched Tight that he had played with for four days. In later years the speaker for the clan informed the couple that the presents of their Skin stretched Tight was not welcomed at the gathering nor at the fire later. So they went without it. Little Bear asked to play on their Skin stretched Tight but was told that there was no room. And so it sat. Now it is spring once again and before Little Bear or his wife asked to play at the fire after the gathering the speaker for the clan declared that their Skin stretched Tight was not to be seen, but without it they could come and be part of their clan. So they went as to see their friends. Again Little Bear asked to sit on the clans Skin stretched Tight and was told that there was no room for him, and throughout the day room was made for others. Now it is the fall and the request was made and the answer was the same. And it was then that the spirit of the Great Bear arose within Little Bear and it was time for him to make the warriors stand and so the next day Little Bear and his Wife and their Skin stretched Tight arrived at the gathering and set up and called the ancestors in. When again the speaker for the clan informed them that they were not welcome at the clans gathering if they insisted on playing their Skin stretched Tight. And so they left. Now the head of the clan blames the wife for all of the trouble caused when Little Bear answered the Call of the Great Bear and took a Warriors Stand.
Aho!

Climbing Bear