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TRIBAL MEMBER NEWS NIEA Convention Set for Hawaii by Tiffany Wisdom Aloha-Greetings. I want to tell you about my firsthand experience with our relatives on the island of Hawaii. This past December, I visited Ho nolulu. Hawaii. The National Indian Edu cation Assoc. (NIEA) Board of Direc tors met to plan for the 2007 NIEA Convention on Oct. 25-28 in Hawaii. We started our meeting off on a tradi tional Hawaiian canoe trip. The places we visited between our meetings were Pearl Harbor. USS Mis souri. Polynesian Cultural Center, Bishop Museum. Kamehameha School, and we attended a fund-raising recep tion hosted by Don Ho. During our meeting, we met with various groups from Hawaii that are partnering with NIEA to have a suc cessful convention. The local planning committee, the Native Hawaiian Edu cation Association (www.nhea.net), has done a spectacular job planning for all of the events. There are events for junior high/ high school student strand. Native lan guage revitalization, college/university student symposium, and the tribal lead Tiffany Wisdom poses with a dancer at the Polynesian island of Oahu in December. C ulture Center on the Shell People They Call Us by Selene Rilatos, ©1997 I dance for those who can’t I dance for those who have been here before and for those to come. The prayer song is given, the men move to the rhythm of the music. Then come the women to make the line complete. With each step, each heartbeat, I am one with the spirit. We connect our arms, the men and the women, the line is dancing all in time with the singer, this is unity at its finest. This is the center of the universe, a ceremony of world renewal. It's close to dusk. the women are dressing their hair, putting on their finest shells, laughing and smiling to try and calm the butterflies, like their grandmothers before them. The sacred fires are built outside, as there is one for the men and one for the women. The people are filling up the dance house, waiting patiently for their grandchildren and relatives to dance for them. *The medicine is burned to cleanse the dance house, the people, the future generations. 18 • Siletz News • The dancers are praying with every step, every heartbeat we dance for our ancestors, for the future generations and for the New Year. The dancers’ shadows reflect the spirit of our ancestors, as they are smiling with them, as the fire is burning, wordless prayers are spoken and the abalone shells are glistening all over this land. I dedicate this poem and dance for all my loved ones who are healing and helping with the healing of the family circle, All My Tillicum. For Randall and Levi Nush Te Tillicum June 2007 ers task force. I look forward to the pow-wow. culture night. Hawaiian cul tural field trips, and educational work shops. I encourage everyone to visit www.niea.org for all the events and for more information. I would like to thank our NIEA president, Dr. Verlie Ann Malina- Wright (Native Hawaiian), for her fund- raising efforts that enabled the board to visit Hawaii at no cost. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Wright and all of the hosts in Hawaii for giving us a warm welcome to their Native land and show ing us around Hawaii. Our relatives in Hawaii gave me the feeling of Aloha and 1 know they will welcome you just like family too. Hvm’chi and Aloha Tiffany (Stuart) Wisdom Teacher Candidate, c/o 2008 Haskell Indian Nations University (Lawrence. Kansas) - www.haskell.edu Tribe: Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians - www.ctsi.nsn.us National Indian Education Association- Board of Directors Member - www.niea.org NIEA 38th Annual Call to Convention! Registration and Forms Now Available Online NIEA is now accepting registra tions, workshop proposals, scholarship applications, awards, and board can didate nominees. Please see deadline dates below and visit this link - Cali to Convention www.niea.org/sa/uploads/ whatsnew/15.21 .NIE A_CTC07_ final.pdf - to download all forms. Convention pre-registration dead line: Sept. 28, 2007. Research proposals must be post marked by Aug. 3, 2007. Workshop proposals must be post marked by Aug. 24, 2007. The John C. Rouillard and Alice Tonemah Memorial Scholarship appli cation forms must be postmarked by Sept. 10, 2007. Resolutions must be postmarked by Oct. 10, 2007. Sponsorship Opportunities dead line is Sept. 25, 2007. Official program ads due post marked by Sept. 17, 2007. Reserve your awards banquet table by Sept. 28, 2007. Trade Show - Reserve space now; deadline is Sept. 10, 2007. 2012 convention site bid informa tion due postmarked by July 2, 2007. E HO‘I I KA P1KO ALOHA JUICA 0AA7 Return t0 Cultural Il I CM £ W I HONOLULU Honor and Caring HAWAI I NIEA Host Hotel - Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa. To book online, please use “AAI” code to re ceive NIEA convention rates at www.hiltonhawaiianvillage.com . Check out the Web site for infor mation: www.niea.org or write to/call the National Indian Education Associa tion, 110 Maryland Ave. NE, Suite 104, Washington, D.C. 2(XX)2; 202-544-7290; fax 202-544-7293. Tiffany Wisdom, NIEA Board of Directors member, e-mail tiffany.wisdom@yahoo.com
