News from Indian Country
Page 10
Abenaki corn returned to tribe
WELLS RIVER, Vt. (AP)—
They’ve been called the “origi­
nal Vermonters.”
They are a tribe that was here
well before the first settlers.
And in the next few genera­
tions the last vestiges of their
tribe could become extinct.
There are some within the
tribe who have been working to
preserve their ways and tradi­
tions and earlier this month, a
little more hope was granted.
At the Old School House in
Wells River, the Koasek Abenaki
tribe accepted the return of the
corn seeds of their ancestors
and took another step toward
acquiring the schoolhouse for
their planned Koasek Cultural
Academy. Plans for the acad­
emy—which comes under their
nonprofit White Pine Associa­
tion—include cultural exchange
programs, historic preservation
and language preservation.
“We only have a few left who
can speak the original language,”
said, chief‘Nancy Lyons. “I ex­
pect it will be extinct in the next
generation, maybe two, if we
don’t start preserving it now.”
Lyons is leading the way to
secure money through grants,
donations and fundraisers to buy
the building from Charlie and
Sarah Calley of Newbury, who
said the building is being used
for office space and apartments.
Negotiations are taking place
now, the Calleys said.
“We can’t imagine better
stewards for this building,” said
Sarah Galley during a short cer­
emony in front of the school-
house Wednesday afternoon.
The big focus recently how­
ever was the return of the
Abenaki com seeds, which have
been out of the hands of the
original people for about 300
years. Though it may seem like
a small gesture on behalf of the
Calleys, it meant a lot to the
tribal members who gathered at
the school to receive the gift.
“This is the first time in 300
years our com has come home
to us,” Lyons said.
As customary after receiving
a gift, Lyons said, the Abenaki
would give a gift in return. She
then presented the Calleys with
an Indian sage;—an item used
for prayer— a small Abenaki
basket and a T-shirt bearing the
name of the Koasek Abenaki.
Centuries before the arrival
of English settlers in the 1760s,
the native Abenaki people grew
com on the fields of the oxbows
of the Connecticut River in
Newbury, Vt., and Haverhill,
N.H;, according to historical in­
formation gathered by Charlie
and Sarah Calley. When settlers
arrived, they obtained com seeds
from die Indians and continued
growing it, always saving enough
seed for next year’s planting
The process of planting this
com, which only grows about
waist high and produces one
four-inch ear per stalk, was
passed down through the gen­
erations of the settlers and even­
tually came to the family of the
late Carroll Greene.
The Calleys met Greene in
1973. Greene, who had grown
up in Newbury, grew the corn
exclusively. He eventually gave
the Calleys several ears of dried
seed corn and asked them to
keep the process going. Every
spring since 1973, the Galleys
said, they have planted the seed,
thinning and weeding the rows
and enjoying the corn, which
comes early, usually in July. The
Calleys said the com withstands
drought very well, thrives in a
wet summer and never gets dis­
eased.
The Koasek Abenaki plan to
redistribute the seeds and start
replenishing the com. Lyons said
there are even a few members
in their tribe interested in grow­
ing the corn themselves.
The location of the Old
School House for the tribe’s
Koasek Cultural Academy is
ideal because it’s the location of
what was, historically, the cen­
ter o f commerce for the
Abenaki tribe, said Lyons.
She said the academy will
have many aspects to it, not just
for the preservation of Abenaki
history, but also for the commu­
nity. Plans include a health and
healing center that will offer li­
censed clinical and social work­
ers who are schooled in alcohol,
drug and HIV prevention.
There are plans for a traditional
arts and crafts workshop where
Abenaki citizens and others can
learn traditional crafts from
master craftsmen of the
Abenaki Nation and elsewhere.
School becoming known for innovative programs
POWHATTAN, Kan.
(AP)—For Candace Wishkeno,
school was always more than
academics. It was a second
home, where-teachers became
mentors and cultivators of her
Indian culture and classmates
turned into lifelong friends.
Wishkeno’s mother worked
in the business office at the
Kickapoo Nation School, where
she learned howto add and Sub­
tract, read chapter books and
write in cursive in its elementary
school. Twelve years later, in
1986, she graduated from its
high school, picking up her di­
ploma alongside the seven other
students in her class.
Since then, Wishkeno has
seen her daughter graduate and
her son complete kindergarten
at Kickapoo Nation School.
And, her loyalty to the K-12
Former casino
opponent now
supporter
PROVIDENCE, R.I.
(AP) — A business owner
previously opposed to a
proposed casino in West
Warwick will now manage
a tourism center inside the
casino if it is built.
Providence restaurant
owner Robert Burke last
week joined Las Vegas-
based Harrah’s Entertain­
ment, who has partnered
with the Narragansett In­
dian Tribe, to push for the
casino. Voters will decide
in November whether to
amend the state constitu­
tion to allow for the ca­
sino to be built in Rhode
Island.
Casino advocates are
proposing a tourism cen­
ter inside the casino to pro­
mote othçr Rhode Island
destinations. The “Gate­
way Center” would pro­
vide information on local
restaurants, hotels and
other tourist attractions in
the state. Burke agreed
Wednesday to manage the
center. “Under the guid­
ance of Bob B,urke the
Gateway Center will ensure
that our state’s small busi­
nesses and hospitality indus­
try grows, prospers and cre­
ates jobs,” Chief Sachem
Matthew Thomas said.
t
1
l
school has deepened after serv­
ing seven to eight years on its
board of education.
“It’s our tribal school and I
try to support it,” she said. “It’s
like an extended family environ­
ment.”
Kickapoo Nation School is
the only tribal school in Kansas.
It’s listed on the Kansas Depart­
ment of Education’s roster as
an accredited nonpublic school.
“Because of the funding situ«
ation, we are different from a
unified school district,” superin­
tendent Ken Tarrant said “The
money is contractual. ... We’re
not funded through the tax base
like public schools.”
Kickapoo Nation School—
on the south edge o f this
Brown County town of about
90 people—receives funding
through federal programs based
on the number of Indian stu­
dents with CDIB cards enrolled
during a designated count week,
according to the school’s Web
site.
CDIB cards verify a student’s
degree of Indian blood.
Mary Livingston, who has
been principal at the school for
a year, said students typically
come from four tribes—
Kickapoo, Sac and Fbx, Iowa
and Potawatomi—but students
from other tribes and non-In­
dian students are welcome, too.
The school doesn’t receive
funding for non-Indian students,
the Web site states. So, while
Indian students attend free of
charge, tuition fees are assessed
for non-Indians—$100 a semes­
ter for an individual student or
$200 a semester per family.
Livingston said buses pick up
students from as far away as
Topeka and White Cloud and
transport them to the school.
Eighty students were enrolled at
the school in 2005-06. Staff,
including 14 certified teachers,
topped out at 35.
While Kickapoo N ation
School doesn’t have the money
to issue laptops to each student
or install PowerPoint equipment
in classrooms like some wealthier
Kansas tiistrict^, die s'cntiol has
garnered a réputation for at least
two of its programs—Family
and Child Education, and bilin­
gual education.
Family and Child Education,
or FACE” has been imple­
mented in 38 schools across the
country, with Kickapoo Nation
School being designated as the
top program for 2005.
Tewa storyteller remembered by hundreds
OHKAY OWINGEH, N.M.
(AP)—Several hundred people
turned out to pay their respects
to Tewa storyteller and linguist
Esther Martinez.
“I’m 99 percent sure she
would say, ‘Do not grieve. This
is a sad day but believe in our
ways-—that the spirit lives on,”
pueblo Gov. Joe Garcia said
Wednesday in his eulogy. -
Martinez, 94, was killed Sat­
urday night when the pickup
truck she was in was hit head-
on in Española by a truck driven
by Jaime Martinez Gonzalez.
Police found an empty te­
quila bottle on the floor of
Gonzalez’s truck; he has been
charged with vehicular homi­
cide.
Martinez had just returned to
New Mexico from a National
Endowment for the Arts cel­
ebration in Washington, D.C.,
where she accepted a National
Heritage Fellowship.
She was honored for her sto­
ries and life’s work preserving
her native Tewa language and
traditions.
Before going to Washington,
Garcia said Martinez made two
visits: one to the Rev. Terry
Brennan, who gave her the sac­
raments, and one to the pueblo
council to ask for a blessing.
“She said, ‘It’s not about me,
it’s for our people,”’ Garcia said.
“She said, This is for all Indi­
ans in our country.’”.
Garcia said Martinez “ener­
gized the entire community” by
preserving the Tewa language.
Martinez taught her native
language at schools in Ohkay
Owingeh, formerly known as
San Juan Pueblo.
She also helped translate the
New Testament of the Bible into
Tewa arid compiled Tewa dic­
tionaries for various pueblos,
which have distinct dialects p f
the language.
On Wednesday, the bells of
St. John the Baptist Catholic
Church rang 53 times before a
chorus pf chanting and drum­
ming outside drowned out the
chiming.
Two lines of men in black
shirts and jeans carried
Martinez’s body, wrapped in a
Pendleton blanket and tied to a
rough wPoden pallet, into the
church.
A procession of hundreds of
people followed the pallbearers
through the pueblo’s streets as
they carried Martinez’s body to
the cemetery.
Brennan told those gathered
at the service: “She may have
been 94, but she was about 16
in her heart. She loved life.”
Meskwaki ‘code talkers’ honored
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _
Eight Meskwakis may soon re­
ceive congressional gold medals
for helping the United States
track enemy forces during
World War II.
The U.S. Senate last Wednes­
day passed a measure that would
allow Congress to honor all
American Indians who served as
“code talkers” during the 20th
century, said Sen. Chuck
Grassley, R-Iowa. The bill needs
approval from the House and
President Bush.
“The Meskwakis were in­
tensely involved in Worid War
II, and it only makes sense that
they get the recognition that they
have long deserved,” said
Grassley, who co-sponsored the
measure when it was first intro-
(
duced last year: “ Native Ameri­
cans from all across the coun­
try made sacrifices and they
should not be forgotten.”
The Meskwakis, whose settle­
ment is based in Tama County,
were among those from 18
tribes who used their language
as. a secret code during World
WarH.
Spilyay Tymoo
September 28, 2006
Court rules in favor
of Osage royalty claims
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A federal court has ruled
that the federal government failed to provide the Osage
Nation with all of the money it was due for oil leases on
tribal land.
The tribe planned a news conference to discuss the deci­
sion, filed Thursday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
The ruling could clear the way for the tribe to collect a
major settlement.
“We’re talking a considerable amount of money. It’s huge,”
said Rex Hackler, a spokesman for the tribe.
The tribe, .based in Pawhuska in northeast Oklahoma, is
in the process of calculating how much money it is owned.
OPI unveils Indian
education materials
HELENA (AP) - Superin­
tendent of Public Instruction
Linda McCulloch unveiled new
Indian Education for All class­
room materials Thursday.
Indian Education for All is a
law that mandates Montana
schools teach all students about
its American Indian tribes and
reservations. The mandate was
written into the Montana Con­
stitution in 1972, but this year
is the first that the state has
committed substantial money to
the directive.
School districts are receiving
anywhere between $100 and
$10,000 or more from the state,
depending on how many stu­
dents are enrolled. The schools
started receiving that money on
Aug. 25.
The materials include videos,
curriculum guides and model
lesson plans that are available
for free to teachers on an Of­
fice of Public Instruction Web
site.
The office is also suggesting
additional materials pr activities
tjie districts could spend money
on to teach students about the
tribes and reservations.
Because school districts have
local control over their budgets,
OPI cannot mandate thé districts
spend the money in a particular
way, but can make suggestions.
“Schools were coming to us
saying they have this money, but
didn’t know what to spend it on,”
said Tara Jensen, a spokes­
woman for OPI. “This gives
them some ideas.”
Three videos produced by
the University of Montana Re­
gional Learning Project, in col­
laboration with OPI Indian Edu­
cation Division, are now avail­
able to teachers. DVDs of
those videos were mailed to
schools earlier this week, Jensen
said.
More resources will become
available as schools continue to
implement Indian Education for
All curriculum.
OPI collaborated with Fish,
Wildlife and Parks to create 25
model lesson plans for K-12
teachers that feature a Montana
state park. The lesson plans can
be used in classrooms or
adapted to the park itself. This
gives teachers the opportunity
to localize Indian education in
thfsir ^pnjmunities by, going ,to
the park nearest to them, Jensen
said.
Another new resource is a K-
12 language arts, science and so­
cial studies curriculum guide
developed by Sandra Fox, an
Indian education expert.
Bead artist leaves legacy
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP)—
Juneau lost more than a
world-renowned bead artist
when Emma Frances Marks,
93, died Sept. 18.
“She was the face to the
Tlingit people. She was the
face of the culture,” said
Rosita Worl, president of the
Sealaska Heritage Institute.
“She represented the best of
the Tlingit people.”
“She was the matriarch,
well-known and well-versed
in the culture,” said her son
Paul Marks, one of the fam­
ily members at her side when
she died at Maries Trail, the
family homesite on Douglas
Island.
The Alaska State Museum
in Juneau has nine of Marks’
works in its collection, said
registrar Donna Baron. One,
a pair of earrings, is on loan
to New York’s American
Museum of National History
for its traveling exhibition of
Native American Jewelry.
The museum held a show
displaying more of her work
in 1988.
Her son-in-law, Richard
Dauenhauer, said her work
was given to international dig­
nitaries, including Bishop
Desmond Tutu.
“What she went through
in her lifetime was just in­
credible,” Dauenhauer said.
“She was born into a Tlingit-
speaking world, and now it
almost doesn’t exist. All of
these ways o f life that
people survived with for
thousands of years are now
obsolete.”
Emma Marks, whose
Tlihgit name was Seigeigei,
was born in Yakutat in 1913.
A Raven of the Sockeye clan
and the Alsek River Canoe
Prow House, she grew up on
Dry Bay and on the Italio
River, still a remote area,
Dauenhauer said.
She married Willie Marks
and moved to Juneau in
1926. She and Willie Marks
had 16 children. She outlived
eight of them, as well as her
husband. Marks learned
beading and skin showing as
a child, according to^
Dauenhauer.
The family was so tradi­
tional, he said, that the
members lived on a boat,
the New Annie, still speak­
ing Tlingit at home after
m ost other families had
abandoned it.
Before failing eyesight and
strength prevented her from
continuing her art near the
end of her life, her awards
included the Alaska
Governor’s Award for the
Arts in 1989.
- Marks was more than an
artist, said Patricia Wolf,
chief executive officer of the
Anchorage Museum of His­
tory and A rt
“She is one of the best
known and m ost skilled
Tlingit bead artists, Wolf
said. “She was very willing to
share her knowledge.”