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Manataka - Preserving The Past Today For Tomorrow
January Issue Page 1 of 3
Manataka wishes a joyous new year for all our beautiful and brave readers, members and supporters
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Manataka American Indian Council Volume XIII Issue 01 January 2009
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Manataka - Preserving The Past Today For Tomorrow
January Issue Page 1 of 3
Manataka wishes a joyous new year for all our beautiful and brave readers, members and supporters
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"the Elders say that if you want something good, you have
to suffer for it." --Chuck Ross, Lakota
People sometimes have a misconception of sacrifice. This is a
strong word for Indian people. On the other side of sacrifice is
another whole world. During sacrifice, our beliefs are tested.
We may all have good beliefs but if you test a good belief, then you get
real beliefs. Real beliefs make new people; real beliefs make new self
images. Real beliefs allow determination and desires and faith to come
true. Good is always available to us but we often can't bring it within
until we let go of the old ways. We let go of the old ways by
suffering. Suffering is only letting go of things that don't work
anymore. On the other side of suffering is a new world.
Creator, help me to let go of old ways.
Let my old thoughts and beliefs be abandoned.
Every change is preceded by struggle.
Help me go through the struggle today.
WANNA BECOME A MEMBER OF MANATAKA?
TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO JOIN!
UPCOMING EVENTS
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Web Page Creator - Microsoft Front Page Layouts The Manataka American Indian Council needs a volunteer to construct web pages at home. Must have Microsoft 'Front Page' program. manataka@sbcglobal.net |
 2009 AMERICAN INDIAN CALENDAR$14.95 + s/h2009 Calendar. Stunning artwork by Cherokee Artists. Months and days in the Cherokee language. Important historical dates and ceremonies marked. Model: CAL-01. Shipping Weight: 1 lb. 18 units in stock.
GET YOURS BEFORE THEY ARE ALL GONE! |
Maggie's
SOAP NUTS
THE SOAP THAT GROWS ON TREESTM
A Great NEW Gift IDEA for the Holidays
Maggie's Soap Nuts are the only laundry soap that grows on trees! Truly effective, 100% natural and safe for your most sensitive skin. Soap Nuts are the dried fruit of the Chinese Soapberry tree. They contain saponin, a natural cleaner used for thousands of years to clean clothes, just like the plants used by American Indians for washing.
Put a few Soap Nuts into a small cotton sack (included) and drop it in your washing machine. Your clothes will come out clean, vibrant, and soft. Replace your laboratory detergents and softeners with the soap made from nature. Your skin, clothes, family and your planet will thank you.
A Call to Young Warriors, to all Young People
Lakota Spiritual Leader and Head Man, David Swallow, Speaks to Lakota Youth
by David Swallow, Lakota Spiritual Leader and a Headman of the Lakota Nation
Edited and Published by Stephanie M. Schwartz,
Member, Native American Journalists Association (NAJA)
© December 27, 2008 Porcupine, South Dakota
Photo by Leslye Abbey © September, 2008 Porcupine, South Dakota
American Indians today suffer from many problems of the modern world. Alcohol and drug abuse, early pregnancies, gangs, and psychological disorders are everywhere on the Reservations. However, a lot of the development of these issues can be historically traced back to World War II or shortly before.
The 1924 Indian Citizenship Act created a special kind of dual citizenship which made American Indians into citizens of the United States (for the first time) as well as citizens of their own sovereign nations. Finally, Indians could vote. But also, for the first time, they could be drafted into the military.
The young Lakota Warriors looked at the military as a way to prove themselves as warriors. They believed it was an honorable extension of the traditional warrior ways.
So, young American Indians went off to World War II. After 100 years of forced boarding schools which resulted in generations of young Indians losing their sense of identity, family and traditions, the military became like the family they had never been allowed to have. They were grouped into companies which lived together and fought together and bonded with each other as a unit, as a family.
When the young warriors came home, they often became lost. With their military family no longer existing, gangs began to form to take their place. An example is the Hell’s Angels, the famous motorcycle gang, which was started in the late 1940’s. It is commonly believed to have been founded by ex-members of famous military fighting units of the same name.
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Perfume Affects the Environment
Synthetic fragrances found in perfume, personal care and household cleaning products negatively impacts the environment
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1216/p17s02-sten.html
The downstream dangers of your perfume
By Robert C. Cowen, Christian Science Monitor
That morning trip to the bathroom - to brush your teeth, wash your hair, and
put on perfume or cologne - may not be as benign as you think.
Every day, those chemicals wash down the drain. While they are not
themselves poisonous, they may affect biological processes in unexpected
ways. Now, Stanford University biologists have the mussels to prove it.
Welcome to the new science of ecotoxicology in which scientists try to
understand how the synthetic chemicals we're pouring into our environment
affect the way earthly life goes about its business.
Recent research about musk fragrances and mussels illustrates this point.
When gills from live mussels were exposed to water with low concentrations
of six commercial musks, they were not poisoned, point out postdoctoral
fellow Till Luckenbach and Prof. David Epel of Stanford. That was expected.
But after two hours, the researchers washed the gills and put them in
musk-free water that also contained a red dye. Cells in the gill tissue took
up the dye. That was not expected.
GRANDMOTHER WAYNONAHA TWO WORLDS SPEAKS
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Sky Bundles
When
we are born we are connected to our mothers by the birth cord. At birth the
cord is saved and dried for us to carry all of our lives. When we are
babies it is kept on our cradle boards in a small beaded bag. Many of these
are shaped like turtles and other animals or creatures. This is to fool the
spirits that may wish to take a child back to the spirit world. The placenta
is buried under a tree, or in these times, many plant a new tree and place
the placenta under the tree. This connects us to a growing and strong life
here on this Earth. The tree it is said to hold strength for the child as
long as he or she lives.
When I go home I seek out my tree to see if it still is alive, I make a
offering of tobacco and corn meal in honor of my relations.
The connection to the spirit world is through our invisible birth cords.
Just as we connect to the physical things here on Earth, we also have a
connection to Creator or the Great Mystery.
As we walk here we gather and build our Earth Bundles. These bundles may
contain many things that have meaning or are a sources of strength to us.
When we are living we use these bundles to pray with for healing and
spiritual guidance. When we pass from this world onto the next we must leave
the bundle behind.
It is important that you have some one here to hold that bundle and continue
the work you started. This bundle then is your connection on Earth when you
return to the Great Mystery.
No offense intended for any individuals or tribes.
GRANDMOTHER MOMFEATHER ERICKSON SPEAKS
Happy
Holidays from Momfeather
May
this beautiful season be shared with all those you love and appreciate. Life
is such a precious gift to all of us and we feel that you have given us a
special gift this past year. Today is our day to share love and the joy of
thanksgiving. We are grateful because you have helped in some way to make
our souls bloom. Sometimes you do not even have catch your breath before
you think of more things to say to people who have made your life so
special.
We thank the Creator for the beauty that has been shared… Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things and some of them not so perfect, but that is what makes up our beautiful not so perfect world. We thank you for being our shadow in the darkest hour, our pillow to rest our head and the ones who have made us smile. You have shared our story without us ever saying a word.
Our friends and family are hugs from above and the hands that have touched our hearts. We are thankful for you who have kept our inner fires glowing. Be blessed this beautiful season
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GRANDFATHER
SEVEN HAWK EYES SPEAKS
This is a question that I have been asked many times. I wondered since the time I was seven years of age, “Am I a good person that others will follow or am I the type that has to be shown what to do.
For years and years during my growing to manhood I was never the type of person who would take charge and get things done. As I reached pinnacle of my life I was told by an old wise man to take the lead in a situation. I seemed to make all the right choices and the people who depended on me were pleased with the results. After spending a lot of years teaching others the things that took many years for me to learn I got a sense of accomplishment.
Being a leader does not come without responsibilities, I spend a lot of time researching prior to giving an answer to questions I am asked. I was told by another wise man to ‘Chew The Bread’ before answering questions. This chewing process would take some time and I would have a lot of time to think about what my answer should be.
Thank You Yonv! Now that I have lived most of the life afforded me by our Creator, I feel that I have been a good leader and other Elders have told me this. I wish the best for all the people and I have no hostilities for those who have wronged me in one way or another, I just cast these things aside and they get lost in the wind as it were. Most people who are mistreated in one way or another seem to take it very personally and sometimes get sidetracked from the ‘Good Red Road’ and get lost in the sea of mankind never to be heard from or seen again. What a shame that some uneducated persons hurt others and do it on purpose.
As we enter this new year of 2009 it is my wish that everyone stop and review their lives and see if there is anything they can change to make others happy and take the lead by giving of themselves. You will find that there is more joy in giving then there is in receiving. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not a ‘Bible Thumper’ as some call it when you read the bible. It would not hurt anyone to look it over there is a load of knowledge contained within it’s pages. I ask the Creator to bless you all and to be patient when we fall short of being a good person. I have been blessed in so many ways and I want others to have this wonderful feeling.
~Hawk With Seven Eyes.
Daniel Hawk With Seven Eyes Hoffman is a founding member of the Taylorville Black Horse Powwow, Inc,' a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable and educational organization. He has given presentations at schools in Central Illinois area on the history, culture and religious beliefs of the Native American people for over 27 years. Hawk and members of his group present dance demonstrations for children who along with their teachers are invited to dance. Hawk believes children are the future.
By Gram Selma Palmer, Ocali Nation
Thank you Creator
I am one of the Creator's many creations. I am as insignificant as the little mouse in many ways. The world is a mess, the economy is a mess, the war is a disaster, and many of us are living from day to day, robbing Peter to pay Paul -- not even knowing Peter and Paul.
Thanksgiving to the Native Americans is a day of mourning, a day of massive bloodshed, a day of a thousands of tears. And yet, we have abundance to be thankful. Not just the harvest, not just the bounty of food that is available in this country, but also for the friendship that binds us together.
Friendship makes us want to break bread together. For the spirituality that we share as a people. For the joy that sharing our lives bring to each of us. Whether that be the good, the trouble or the bad. We still share it with love and understanding. The joy of hyper-children and their laughter. Their innocence and their honesty. May you be blessed enjoy the world. You are not alone , but you are one of many joined in spiritual ties of eternity.
Hugs,
Gram Selma
GRANDMOTHER MAGDALA DEL CONSUELO RAMERIZ SPEAKS
Higher Understanding
Magdala Del Consuelo Ramirez, Mayan Priestess
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Magdala Rameriz |
Beautiful Ones,
Did you see the night sky in early December? Was so beautiful The crescent moon with Venus and Jupiter, …the triad… time of the reunion…. Within the self.
The time of Ascension has begun, the time of awakening into a higher consciousness has begun.
For long time we have been speaking about the new world, and the way of the new world is about relationship, the way people relate with the environment, relate with each other…the way you relate within yourself.
People are passing through very heavy moments of truth. Now is a time when people need to put on what they know, for the hologram is broken, is falling apart, is expired, the identity, what we think that we were, based on background, based on relationships, based on an hologram that we created in ourselves, it is now broken…
This is the time when we are reaching ourselves, and learn how to relate within the self in a higher understanding.
Attachment is the clue … there is a place that you want to have it the way you always have it, based on pass experiences, through pass emotions, or a dynamic of the families created based on a perspective of separation, an identity, a roll given to you by a system, a roll given to you as a pass emotions, ….all that is gone, and here is what the struggles resides… the sensation is nothing to hold on…
Mattaponi
and Pamunkey
tribes keep fish in river, food on table
On Cold Winter Nights Snuggle Up with These Great Indian Movies
Indian Appointments to the Transition Team
President-Elect Barack Obama has appointed six Native Americans to his transition team. One of them, Keith Harper (Cherokee), was an attorney who represented Elouise Cobell in her lawsuit against the federal government. In her suit, Cobell (Blackfeet) accused the government of mismanaging $176 billion in Indian trust assets. The other Native Americans on Obama's transition team are Yvette Roubideau (Rosebud Sioux), John Echohawk (Pawnee), Robert Anderson (Chippewa), Mary C. Smith (Cherokee), and Mary McNeil (Winnebago). These Native appointments are auspicious for Indian Country. If they translate into real Indian leadership, they could lead to greater attention for issues like Indian health, tribal justice, and land rights.
Daschle an Advocate for Indian Health Care
Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, Obama's pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, has been a strong supporter of Indian health care. As a senator from South Dakota, he cosponsored legislation that authorized the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. Daschle's website once stated, "Although both treaty and statute 'guarantee' Indians access to health care, Congress has grossly underfunded the Indian Health Service for decades, so much so that patients are routinely denied care that most of us would take for granted and, in many cases, consider essential." Clearly, Daschle is very familiar with Native American issues, and FCNL hopes to see him carry this awareness forward into his new position.
Economic Stimulus for Native Americans
ndians, like all underserved Americans, are being hit the hardest in these tough financial times. Native American advocates are working to ensure that Obama's promised economic stimulus package addresses their community's needs. Meanwhile, several senators are seeking to increase the financial resources for Indian Country in the budget for fiscal year 2010. Obama's budget proposal is due to Congress the first week of February. Sens. John Thune (SD), Jon Kyl (AZ), Jon Tester (MT), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Pete Domenici (NM), Tim Johnson (SD), and Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Byron Dorgan (ND) signed a letter to President George W. Bush requesting $400 million to address the tremendous lack of resources for tribal justice, health care, and water projects. They plan on sending a similar letter to Obama.
Source: Friends Committee on National Legislation Native American Legislative Updates
TEACHING ABOUT AMERICAN INDIANS
Teaching Resources for Educators
Here are resources if you've ever wanted classroom-teaching activities on
American Indians beyond the Thanksgiving holiday or the history of American
Indian Education or best teaching practices addressing American Indian learners.
Resources include books, magazines, articles, bibliographies, maps, etc.
Although often times there is overlap, these resources are organized in four
categories:
Teaching About American Indians
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy for American Indian Learners
Researching American Indian Education
Other Resources
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
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©2008 ManatakaTM American Indian Council. The word "Manataka" is a registered trademark exclusively owned by the Manataka American Indian Council. Use of this trademark without the expressed written permission of MAIC is prohibited and violators will be prosecuted. 15 U.S.C. Section 1051(a), (b). The Smoke Signal News is copyrighted in its entirety and no reproduction, republishing, copying, or distribution is permitted without the expressed written permission of MAIC is strictly prohibited and violations will be prosecuted.
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