Sobriety Pow Wow a Portland Tradition - ICTMN.com

Sobriety Pow Wow a Portland Tradition - ICTMN.com:

or the 26th year in a row, possibly the largest party in Portland on New Year’s eve was held at the Oregon Convention Center, where thousands of American Indians, and their friends, poured in to close out the year in style—without alcohol.

The Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA) of the Northwest threw their New Year’s Eve Sobriety Pow Wow, with more than 4,000 people attending. Bill Graves, writing for The Oregonian, spoke to Jackie Mercer, the chief executive officer of NARA, which provides drug and alcohol treatment, as well as other health care and social services, to American Indians in the Portland area.

“NARA has had a tremendous impact working with the community in creating a clean and sober community, and you can see it and feel it when you come to the powwow,” Mercer told The Oregonian. “If you want to measure the success of NARA, come to the powwow.”

The event, which was free, began in stages, starting at 1 pm and going until midnight. There was pow wow dancing, jewelry, clothing, soap, sage, bitterroot and smoke salmon on sale from vendors, with the constant heartbeat of seven drum circles throughout. The flags during the Grand Entry were presented by members of the Northwest Indian Veterans Association.

Now that’s how you bring in the new year.

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/07/native-american-rehabilitation-associations-new-years-eve-sobriety-pow-wow-70744 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/07/native-american-rehabilitation-associations-new-years-eve-sobriety-pow-wow-70744#ixzz1iwCtAlQc

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or the 26th year in a row, possibly the largest party in Portland on New Year’s eve was held at the Oregon Convention Center, where thousands of American Indians, and their friends, poured in to close out the year in style—without alcohol.

The Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA) of the Northwest threw their New Year’s Eve Sobriety Pow Wow, with more than 4,000 people attending. Bill Graves, writing for The Oregonian, spoke to Jackie Mercer, the chief executive officer of NARA, which provides drug and alcohol treatment, as well as other health care and social services, to American Indians in the Portland area.

“NARA has had a tremendous impact working with the community in creating a clean and sober community, and you can see it and feel it when you come to the powwow,” Mercer told The Oregonian. “If you want to measure the success of NARA, come to the powwow.”

The event, which was free, began in stages, starting at 1 pm and going until midnight. There was pow wow dancing, jewelry, clothing, soap, sage, bitterroot and smoke salmon on sale from vendors, with the constant heartbeat of seven drum circles throughout. The flags during the Grand Entry were presented by members of the Northwest Indian Veterans Association.

Now that’s how you bring in the new year.

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/07/native-american-rehabilitation-associations-new-years-eve-sobriety-pow-wow-70744 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/07/native-american-rehabilitation-associations-new-years-eve-sobriety-pow-wow-70744#ixzz1iwCtAlQc

Native American lore abounds in Connecticut

It was the custom of the Mattabassett tribe to hold powwows in the meadows of Portland along the Connecticut River.

During these events, the Indians boasted of war path bravery and sometimes, the bragging bordered on disrespect for high-ranking chiefs and medicine men.

At one powwow, a young warrior event insulted the gods. Boasters had been told by the elders that excessive boasting might result in being abducted by the great Evil Spirit (the devil), but the young brave scoffed at the notion.

The Native Americans believed the Evil Spirit lived in a deep hole in the nearby river. When this young brave boasted, the spirit bounded from the hole, like a geyser, seized the brave and sucked him back into the deep hole, leaving behind a footprint on a rock from which the spirit had jumped.

The brave was never seen again, and the footprint, hooved like a goat’s, is still there today. It is known as Devil’s Rock.

Native Americans believed that Alexander’s Lake in Killingly was created when waters rose from the earth and engulfed members of a rival tribe, except for an old squaw. She sat on a single rocky peak that now forms what is known as Loon Island in the lake.

Visitors to an almost six-mile-long roadway in Killingworth called Roast Meat Hill Road sometimes wonder about its unusual name.

One explanation involves old Deacon Daniel Avery leading his oxen up a steep hill in the late 1800s, when a sudden lightning bolt, seemingly out of nowhere, struck his loaded hay wagon. The deacon was not able to free his animals from the fire, and they roasted where they stood, giving the road its name.

Another explanation says there was a site on the road where an annual Native American barbecue took place long before the white settlers arrived. Those settlers found the remains of a camp once owned by Hammonassets filled with discarded animal bones.

A well-known legend among the Mohegan-Pequot tribes concerns Chahnameed the Glutton. He and another man had a dispute over which one could consume the most food, resulting in a challenge.

Before the contest, the crafty Chahnameed secretly fastened a bag under his coat near his throat so he easily could pour food into it.

The contest began with a barrel of soup. Only Chahnameed knew that just one man was eating in the contest. Finally, Chahnameed’s rival gave up the fight.

To further his ruse, Chahnameed pulled out a knife and stabbed the bag where his stomach was. The other man did the same thing and died.

Many such tales of the area exist and are still told.

Read more: Historically Speaking: Native American lore abounds in our state - Norwich, CT - The Bulletin http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x915103836/Historically-Speaking-Native-American-lore-abounds-in-our-state#ixzz1iw9cFWxR

Native American lore abounds in Connecticut

It was the custom of the Mattabassett tribe to hold powwows in the meadows of Portland along the Connecticut River.

During these events, the Indians boasted of war path bravery and sometimes, the bragging bordered on disrespect for high-ranking chiefs and medicine men.

At one powwow, a young warrior event insulted the gods. Boasters had been told by the elders that excessive boasting might result in being abducted by the great Evil Spirit (the devil), but the young brave scoffed at the notion.

The Native Americans believed the Evil Spirit lived in a deep hole in the nearby river. When this young brave boasted, the spirit bounded from the hole, like a geyser, seized the brave and sucked him back into the deep hole, leaving behind a footprint on a rock from which the spirit had jumped.

The brave was never seen again, and the footprint, hooved like a goat’s, is still there today. It is known as Devil’s Rock.

Native Americans believed that Alexander’s Lake in Killingly was created when waters rose from the earth and engulfed members of a rival tribe, except for an old squaw. She sat on a single rocky peak that now forms what is known as Loon Island in the lake.

Visitors to an almost six-mile-long roadway in Killingworth called Roast Meat Hill Road sometimes wonder about its unusual name.

One explanation involves old Deacon Daniel Avery leading his oxen up a steep hill in the late 1800s, when a sudden lightning bolt, seemingly out of nowhere, struck his loaded hay wagon. The deacon was not able to free his animals from the fire, and they roasted where they stood, giving the road its name.

Another explanation says there was a site on the road where an annual Native American barbecue took place long before the white settlers arrived. Those settlers found the remains of a camp once owned by Hammonassets filled with discarded animal bones.

A well-known legend among the Mohegan-Pequot tribes concerns Chahnameed the Glutton. He and another man had a dispute over which one could consume the most food, resulting in a challenge.

Before the contest, the crafty Chahnameed secretly fastened a bag under his coat near his throat so he easily could pour food into it.

The contest began with a barrel of soup. Only Chahnameed knew that just one man was eating in the contest. Finally, Chahnameed’s rival gave up the fight.

To further his ruse, Chahnameed pulled out a knife and stabbed the bag where his stomach was. The other man did the same thing and died.

Many such tales of the area exist and are still told.

Read more: Historically Speaking: Native American lore abounds in our state - Norwich, CT - The Bulletin http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/x915103836/Historically-Speaking-Native-American-lore-abounds-in-our-state#ixzz1iw9cFWxR

Sunset at Crazy Horse Memorial

Sunset at Crazy Horse Memorial


Miss Indian Rodeo 2012 Kelsey Knight of Eagle Butte, SD made her first official visit to Crazy Horse Memorial since winning the crown at the INFR in Las Vegas Nov. 11.


















Storyteller-historian Harry Burk of Hermosa, SD discussed "The Battle of the Greasy Grass"
(the Battle of the Little Bighorn)  The Crazy Horse Memorial

Tsimshian Mask

Tsimshian mask sells for $150K at auction
Source:  Postmedia News

 An elaborately carved aboriginal mask, believed to have been used in coming-of-age rituals among the Tsimshian people of the B.C. coast, has been sold at a Paris auction of historic native art for nearly $150,000.
The exquisite object was part of a major collection of artifacts amassed by Bernard Bottet, a well-known French enthusiast for indigenous artwork who began acquiring treasures from around the world in the 1920s.

While the specific history of the Canadian mask was not immediately available, native art curators at Christie's auction house called it a "perfect" representation of Tsimshian style: "forehead tilted from eyebrows, sharp orbits, pyramidal cheeks, wide mouth with the fine lips, aquiline nose, round nostrils and finely sculptured ears."

The mask, which drew a top bid of $148,000 at Tuesday's auction in Paris, was expected to sell for about $100,000.

The Tsimshian First Nation is centred in the Skeena River region, near Prince Rupert.

The nation's masterful carvings, typically shaped from red cedar, are renowned among collectors of native art and frequently fetch stunning prices.

In 2006, a Tsimshian shaman's mask from a controversial collection of B.C. artifacts acquired by a 19th-century Christian missionary sold at a Sotheby's auction in New York for more than $2 million.

B.C. native leaders had argued at the time of the 2006 sale that the objects -- which they described as being "as significant to Canadian heritage as the Group of Seven" -- were acquired improperly by Dundas and should have been returned to the Tsimshian people.

The mask sold on Tuesday would have been on display "during complex ceremonies where a group of supernatural entities called naxnox was performing," Christie's stated in its sale catalogue.

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

A FEW FACTS

History refers to Lakota people as the Sioux (derived from a French word meaning "snake"). Yet, the people refer to themselves as the Lakota Nation. (The word Lakota comes from a word meaning "friend"). The Lakota Nation consisted of great leaders such as Red Cloud, Big Foot, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, American Horse, etc. The people who presently live on the reservation are a wonderful people. They have a beautiful culture filled with respect and generosity. Yet, they have been forced to live on land that is not conducive to farming, ranching or industry. (There is a reason that much of this area is referred to as the "Badlands".)

Thus, their plight: The following are a few facts about the reservation today.

By the Numbers
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is 2.8 million acres, making it the second-largest reservation in the United States, larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The reservation is located in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border.
There are nine Native American tribes located in South Dakota: Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Flandreau-Santee Sioux, Lower Brule Sioux, Oglala Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Standing Rock Sioux and Yankton Sioux.
The Pine Ridge Reservation is tribally governed by an elected President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and 18 tribal council members.

Populations
The population of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is one of the most difficult statistics to confirm. United States Census Report counts put the Pine Ridge Reservation resident population at 15,521. However, a 2005 study conducted by Colorado State University and accepted by the Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates the resident population to be approximately 28,787. Jim Berg, Executive Director for Oglala Sioux Lakota Housing, states that “the real number is closer to 40,000.”

Lakota Language and Culture
It is estimated that there are 6000 fluent speakers of the Lakota language today, according to The University of California-Los Angeles Language Materials Project. The study found the language is in severe danger of becoming extinct.  In the early 1990s, about half of the population of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation could speak the Lakota language. Today, that number has fallen to less than one-quarter on the Pine Ridge, and is as low as 4 percent on other Lakota reservations.
Because the average fluent speaker is nearly 65 years old, it is estimated that the vast majority of current fluent speakers are first-language speakers. The rate of teaching second-language speakers is falling drastically behind.
Red Cloud’s curriculum development project for the Lakota language is an effort to reverse these trends, and has strong potential to do so through the ability to share the materials widely with technology.

Economic Realities
80 percent of residents are unemployed.
49 percent of residents live below the Federal poverty line.
61 percent of residents below the age of 18 live below the poverty line.
The Pine Ridge Reservation is located in Shannon County, where its per-capita income makes it the second poorest county in the United States, at $6,286.
If the Oglala Sioux Tribe were to equally disperse revenues from the Prairie Wind Casino to all enrolled tribal members, each resident would receive $.15 per month.

Health and Well-being Realities
The infant mortality rate is 5 times higher than the United States national average.
More than 4.5 million cans of beers are sold annually in White Clay, Nebraska, just over the border from the Pine Ridge Reservation. This amounts to more than 12,500 cans of beer a day. The reservation, itself, is dry.
Obesity, diabetes, and heart disease occur in epidemic proportions on the Pine Ridge.
Native Americans’ rate of amputations related to diabetes is 3 to 4 times higher than among the general United States population.
Death rates due to diabetes among Native Americans are 3 times higher than among the general United States population.
Unhealthy diets and lack of exercise are two main contributing factors behind these high numbers, despite the fact that in the early history of the Lakota, diabetes was virtually unknown.
Life expectancy on the Pine Ridge Reservation is the lowest anywhere in the western hemisphere, except for Haiti. A recent study found the life expectancy for men is 48 years, for women it is 52 years on the Reservation.

Shannon County Residents
Shannon County has the highest population rate of Native Americans in the United States, and the lowest percentage of Caucasians.
About 70 percent of residents have attained a high school diploma, while 12.1 percent have attained a bachelor’s degree.
On the reservation, 13 percent of residents lack complete plumbing facilities, while 9.2 percent lack complete kitchen facilities. Also, 22.8 percent lack phone service.
Shannon County has the interesting distinction of having the highest percentage of Democratic votes for President in the 2004 election of any county in the United States.
Youth Risk Behavior
A report from the South Dakota Office of Comprehensive School Health indicates that among South

Dakota high school students:
67 percent had intercourse at least once in their life.
88 percent used alcohol during their life.
31 percent seriously considered attempting suicide.
15 percent attempted suicide in the last 12 months.
90 percent tried cigarette smoking.
80 percent tried marijuana.

Charitable Giving
Of all the foundation dollars infused every year to worthy causes, less than 1 percent of all philanthropic money goes to Native American causes, concerns and organizations.
In 2008, South Dakota ranked fourth lowest in terms of money received from grants when compared to other states. North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming received fewer. In terms of total number of grants, South Dakota received the second fewest when compared with all other states. South Dakota received 127 whereas North Dakota received 112 grants in 2008.
During the recession of 2001, South Dakota recorded easily the lowest level of charitable giving as a percent of income, at 0.4 percent. Just one year earlier South Dakota posted 1.8 percent of income earmarked for charities. South Dakota had a significantly larger decrease in percent of income donated to charities during this 2001 recession than other states, a decrease of 78 percent.

College Debt
According to a news release by the Rapid City Journal in November 2008, South Dakotans rank 1st in the amount of average college debt owed upon completion of college.