"I have attended dinners among white people. Their ways are not
our ways.
"We eat in silence, quietly smoke a pipe, and depart. Thus is our
host honored.
"This is not the way of the white man. After his food has been eaten,
one is expected to say foolish things. Then the host feels honored."
__ Four Guns, Oglala
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
| Indian Pledge of Allegiance | The Indian Pledge of Alleg-
| | iance was first presented
| I pledge allegiance to my Tribe,| on 2 December '93 during the
| to the democratic principles | opening address of the Nat-
| of the Republic | ional Congress of American
| and to the individual freedoms | Indian Tribal-States Relat-
| borrowed from the Iroquois and | ions Panel in Reno, NV. NCAI
| Choctaw Confederacies, | plans distribution of the
| as incorporated in the United | Indian Pledge to all Indian
| States Constitution, | Nations.
| so that my forefathers |
| shall not have died in vain | Walk in Beauty! Night Owl
+- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -+
O'siyo Brothers and Sisters!
Much of the second half of this issue is devoted to the meeting between
President Clinton and many Native American leaders. History and the
wisdom of the people will determine if the talks have been good. For
now it is enough to know of the meeting and the things we have been told
of it.
There will be more next issue. More from the Whitehouse and more news
from around Turtle Island such as the Navajo/Hopi dispute and Oregon's
arrests of northwestern salmon fishers. There simply was not enough
room in an already overflowing issue to include all the news the people
need to read.
Mitaquye Oyasin! Night Owl
------------------ clip here for news feature -- 8< -----------
--------- "RE: Momaday Receives Gibson Award" ---------
Date: Apr-25-94 20:18:14
From: John StarWolf
Subj: MOMADAY RECEIVES GIBSON AWARD
FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference
N. Scott Momaday was awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement
Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book "The Ancient Child".
Momaday was honored during the 5th Annual Oklahoma book Awards on March
5, 1994 at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Center. The Oklahoma
Book Awards are for books written by Oklahomans, or about Oklahoma.
The Gibson Award signifies excellence in a body of literary work by an
Oklahoman. Momaday was present to receive the award.
Entertainment was provided by Nancy Tsoodle, a Kiowa-Cherokee, from
Stillwater. She did a dramatic presentation on Momaday's poem " The Gourd
Dancer". She interpreted the poem in sign language.
Momaday was born in Lawton, Oklahoma. He teaches at the University of
Arizona in Tucson in the Department of English. Momaday won the Pulitzer
Price for fiction in 1969. He continues to write, not only about Kiowa
culture, but other areas of literature.
--- VFIDO 6.10.05
Origin: CYBERZONE (1:147/59)
--------- "RE: Indian Chief's Grave May Slow Connector" ---------
Date: Thu, 5 May 94 08:00 -0500
From: JANS Janet Smith (Evening Star) <Invisible Band>
Subj: Indian Chief's Grave May Slow Connector
GE Electronic Mail
Charles O. Thurmond, an archaeologist and historian for
the Dahlonega-based Georgia Tribe of the Eastern Cherokee
claims a proposed bridge on an already-controversial stretch
of a $20 million road project in Cobb County Georgia will
disturb the grave of a Cherokee chief.
Cobb County transportation officials have responded to his
request for a "complete rundown" of the site with a map and
a letter requesting he review it. They have indicated
a willingness to work with Thurmond if he determines that
proximity of the planned bridge will indeed impact the grave.
Inquiries by reporters from the Marietta Daily Journal to the
local library revealed no direct reference to a Chief Nickajack
in books available there, although there are statements that
Nickajack is among several place names in Cobb County (there
is a Nickajack Road and a Nickajack Creek very close to the road
site) that were named for Cherokees known to have been in
that area prior to the "Trail of Tears" relocation of Cherokees
in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to Oklahoma.
--------- "RE: Ways of a Singer" ---------
Date: Apr-24-94 02:33:30
From: Richard Villegas
Subj: Borrowed Ceremonies
Greeting
-> The original post was on Natives doing the dances of other native
As to the dances, at the pow wow here last nov. we did an interview with
the main drum. That was a family, grandfather, father and grandchildren.
Three generations at the drum there, and they were the main drum (there
were three other drums there also).
This topic came up, and I will paraphrase what the grandfather's
comments were. Later on, I will transcribe the entire interview for
everyone (it will be awhile).
the conversation basically followed these lines....
interviewer:
I noticed many dancers from various nations here today, and that you
played many different songs for the dancers. Would you please tell us,
is it common to sing songs from other nations and do the dancers all
dance different dances from the various nations?
grandfather:
To sing at the drum, a person must know many songs. hundreds and
hundreds of songs. But there is something many people don't know about,
I will tell you some of these things now.
There are certain songs that are for powwows, for the dancers, and they
come from different nations. A singer meeds to know all these tunes
because the dancers come from many nations and you never know if the
caller will want your drum to play a song for the dancers from another
nation. So, you have to know them all, it takes years and years to learn
them, we begin when we are very young kids.
You see my son is here, and children also are here at the drum too.
Someday, they may learn them, they are doing that now. Sometimes they
sing, sometimes they only play the drum. Sometimes they listen and
learn. They grow up with it and our family does this, so they will learn
it someday because they travel with us too.
But there are some songs that should not be song at the pow wows, and
some should not be song at all, except by the particular nation and at
certain times and places. Sometimes a drum will record songs and it's ok
to listen to them, but they are not supposed to be played by other
drums. We know this, so we enjoy them, but we don't play those songs.
They should not be played by "us".
Then there are the dancers... they come from many nations, and they all
have their own dances. Some dances are only social dances and anybody
can do them, but many are only for those people from that nation, we
don't do their dances, and they don't do ours.
Some people do this, but they shouldn't do it, that's not the correct
way to do it, but they do it anyway. that's not right, and we don't do
that. We will play some of the songs for them to dance, but we have our
own dances.
We enjoy it and that's how we share, but we do it our own way, and some
things we don't do at the pow wows. Some things we would never do, those
are not our dances. Some dances you do, and some you don't. It's the
same way with songs too. But people hear them on a tape and they copy
them.
But they don't know how to do it right. They don't know the language and
so they copy it, but they don't know what it means because they don't
speak it correctly. That's why it takes years to learn how to do it
right.
You can copy things, but it wont be right, and we can tell the
difference even if they don't know that we see that. That's a
problem, but it happens sometimes.
We have made recording and people can listen to them, but they are not
supposed to play them, that's not correct. It happens, but it's not
right, they should just listen.
If they want to play them, then they should take the time to learn what
the words are and all that, it takes a long time to do that.
interviewer:
So there are songs you play and some that you don't, and that is the
same for the dances?
grandfather:
Yes, that's right.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
That is a paraphrase, NOT a quote. However... I was there, I heard this
interview. That is the drift of it. Sometime in the future, I will
transcribe it and post it and then you will have quotes.
But this is basically what this elder had to say about the topic. I hope
it gives you some insight about it from the perspective of a family
who's life is very close to the drum, the songs, the powwows, and the
dances. Many of the singers are also dancers, and this was an interview
with a family of both singers and dancers.
I hope this is some help for you to understand something about the
singing and dancing and all that.
Take care
>>>-------> Two Braids <-------<<<
--- WM v3.10/93-0832
Origin: Turtle Island (512) 458-9311 Austin TX (1:382/900)
--------- "RE: Kiowa Tribal Chairman Speaks" ---------
Date: Apr-29-94 20:43:06
From: John StarWolf
Subj: KIOWA TRIBAL CHAIRMAN SPEAKS!
FidoNet Indian Affairs Conference
Kiowa Tribal Chairman HERSHCELL ACE SAHMAUNT was elected by the Kiowa
people on his platform to dedicate his administration to rebuild the
non-functioning Kiowa Business Committee and to restore honesty to all
governmental functions, including the Kiowa Comanche Apache Land Use
Committee; to establish the authority of the committees to develop
guidelines and accountability regulations for their operation.
"The Kiowa Tribe can become a vibrant honest self government and true
economic development will be pursued, says Sahmaunt.
"Our tribe has suffered from restrictive legislation of a racist nature
all built upon the concept of manifest destiny and the eventual termination
of the government's obligation without having first lived up to those treaty
obligations to the Indians that are still in effect. We, as a people, will
no longer stand still for that."
"The Kiowa people have never been able to keep pace with the whiteman's
economy having been held subjected to the racist paternalism of the Bureaus
of the Department of the Interior. This is not a matter of labels. This is a
matter of attempting to end a governmental cold-war of genocide against the
Kiowa tribe and its members. The land sanctions and economic sanctions will
no longer be tolerated without a fight. The State of Oklahoma should review
their history and limits of their constitutional authority before they
proceed further the Kiowa Indians rights to true economic development and
governmental development."
"Kiowa Indians have special rights to "share in all tribal and other
property" reserved to them as a proviso of their United States citizenship
and Act of June 2, 1924, codified at Eight U.S. Code, Section 1401(b), and
those Indian rights, rights non-Indian citizens cannot have, can not be
denied to the Kiowa citizens in Oklahoma. Such rights, at least since 1924,
when all citizens are protected property rights under the federal
constitution. The old prejudice must give way to tribal priorities,
immunities, and constitutional guarantees."
"Our rights within our reservation boundaries far exceed any dream of
the average non-Indian citizen in Western-Oklahoma. Before any one of them
let their bias and prejudices show, they should realize the Kiowa Indians
have not asserted their land and water rights to hurt them and that in many
respects, the entire history of Oklahoma, from the lottery give away of our
lands by power of government, to the sate and their white inhabitants, is
nothing short of unconstitutional racism. We, as Kiowa Indians, with
retained rights, can and will put a stop to all further governmental
policies that are directed at our tribe which are founded upon the concepts
of manifest destiny and ignorant genocidal racial prejudices. We will no
longer allow non-Indian citizens to use the color of state laws - or federal
"regulatory" acts to work unconstitutional restrictive racist concepts upon
us."
"We fully intend to exploit the law for the benefit of our people and
will do so in the limits of our sovereign rights to peacefully proceed.
Facades and false positions of ascendency will no longer be tolerated."
"Our tribal jurisdictions will be protected and protected to the limits
of our jurisdictions. Our intent is to protect our retained rights for the
benefit of our people and our descendants yet to come. We must have every
equal opportunity for economic development, on a government to government
basis, and that does not depend upon whether you white people, as an
invading conqueror or otherwise, might or might not like it. Our tribal
future depends upon economic development under our self-determined guide-
lines. Not upon someones state whims or a federal bureaucrats prejudices or
their whims or stupidity."
AH-HO CHAIRMAN, THE TRUTH WELL TOLD!
KIOWAS MEAN BUSINE$$
--- VFIDO 6.10.05
Origin: CYBERZONE (1:147/59)
--------- "RE: Conferences and Powwows - offline" ---------
Date: Thu, 5 May 94 08:00 -0500
From: JANS Janet Smith (Evening Star) <Invisible Band>
Subj: Upcoming conferences and powwows not previously posted
to Mailing Lists NATCHAT or NATIVE-L
GE Electronic Mail
=Powwows=
Folks, Powwow season is in full swing. Below is a list of only
=some= of the powwows listed in _News From Indian Country_.
May 11-13 4th Cherokee County Indian Festival
Canton, GA
Info: 404-735-6275
May 13-15 Glica: The Spring Planting Festival
Lowell, MA
Info: 508-453-7182
May 13-15 8th New Jersey American Indian Festival
Old Bridge, NJ
Info: 908-525-0066
May 13-14 Heritage Festival, Occaneechi State Park
Clarksville, VA
Info: 919-732-8512
May 13-14 3rd Dilkon NAC
Dilkon, AZ
Info: 602-686-6258
May 13-15 Buffalo Feast
St. Ignatius, Montana
Info: 406-745-2951
May 13-15 Lumbee Spring
Lumberton, NC
Info: 910-521-8602
May 14-15 San Diego Indian Cultural
San Diego, CA
Info: 619-281-5964
May 14-15 7th Mankato State University
Mankato, MN
Info: 507-389-6300
Send notices of forthcoming powwows, conferences and gatherings to:
jans@genie.geis.com
gars@netcom.com
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ all items below this line have already been distributed by our
brother, Gary Trujillo, via the NATIVE-L or NATCHAT mailing lists.