News from Indian Country
Page 9
Tribes share culture at gathering
U N IO N T O W N ,
Ky.
(AP)— Several American In
dians came'together tecendy
at Uniontown Indian Day in
Uniontown to share some o f
their beliefs, as well as infor
mation about their culture,
with anyone who took the
time to listen.
T he évent was very much
an in-depth and hands-on
h isto ry le sso n a b o u t the
lifestyle and culture Of the
American Indians.
People could participate in
classes" fo r stick weaving,
beading, making corn husk
d olls, m ed icine bags and
dream catchers.
There wàs also'a lesson in
tepee construction and the art
o f smudging.
M att Cordés, a member
o f the Long Plain First Na
tion o f the Dakota Sioux and
a resident o f Radcliff, Ky.,
mesmerized a group o f chil
dren and adults with his dem
onstration o f tepee construc
tion and the ceremony in
volved in building a home.
“As Indian people, one thing
we havfe in common/with
other nations is that we respect
the land we live on/’ he said.
<eWhen we riâove into,4n area,
we respect the plant fife.”
T h a t’s w hy before çon-
stmcting a tepee, a grass dance
C airo
resid en t
K e ith
was held to stomp down the . Gatewood, who is descended
grass. Cordes said after the In from the Sisseton-Lakota Indi
dians moved oh, the grass would ans who lived in the South, Da
grow upright again. The grass kota area, explained that the idea
was not destroyed to make the behind smudging is to “soak the
home, he said.
whole body with smoke.”
“As we go through our daily ■ The smoke is from burning
lives... we’re always in tune with sage, sweet grass and sometimes
what the Creator has for ùs in cedar.
our lives,” he said. “Every as
Participants are asked to wave
pect o f our lives is spiritual.
the smoke toward their heart and
“As a family begins to put up then up over their heads.
a home— we invite the spirits to
Smudging is performed be
come in and be a part o f our fore, every ceremony, he said. f
home, to bless'the home so good
I f there’s one thing people
things go into the home/’
should understand about Ameri
Here, Cordes sang a song to can Indians, Gatewood said, it’s
bless the home.
that “it’s not what you see on
“There’s a lot o f heart that TV.”
goes into the s o ^ l ^ i t ’s |^yshare
N ot everyone wears buck
our hearts with the Creator as skins and feathers, and medicine
we sing these songs” he said. “In men aren’t sflary, he said.
our culture, we’re, a #ery ceremo^ . But, Gatewood said, “Ameri-
niai people and there arè sOhgs cali Indians have a spirituality
for everything.”
that’s ;b,een around for years.
C orses disqus^ed different We’re a very earth -frien d ly
aspects o f the Ajmericap Indian people. We believe everythingis
cultóre while all the time, build connected. I f you change one
ing a small itépee, .Ohcfe,iit was i tiling, youfchange everything.
finished, a drawing was held for Mother Earth is the support o f
the tepee, which went home with all life. American Indians bdfeyti
a smalfcboy in attendance. L * that everything, the rocks, the
Tepee construction wasn’t the trees, are alive.”;"
only attraction.
“We don’t take anything from
People còuld also experience this earth without giving some
smudging o r the cèrempnj? o f thing back,” Cordes said, in an
cleansing.
interview later.
“Anytime we cut trees for
a tepee, we leave tobacco as
a gift, to' make a trade with
the earth/’ he said. “We pay
Special atten tion and we
don’t waritto disturb the eco
system.”
Veteran’s Day weekend
and Uniontown Indian Day,
an event to r^iseifunds for
A ncestors’ D iy, coincide,
Cordes said.
“With .this bgng Veteran’s-
Day, we’re respecting our
veterans and ancestors for
protecting our lives,” he said»
•
“They’ve prepared this for
us.” *' 1
Cordes said American In
dians endured a tim e o f
W hite washing” when their
culture became almost: ^x^!
tinct through societal preju
dice and Christianity.
H e said Ind ians were,
forced to lose themselves in
the white culture h r face W -:
rious consequences. , -
“Our ancestors had to go
into hiding to preserve our
ceremonies,” he said.“ They
did it in remote places so ho
one would catch them.
) “I consider those ances
tors our (the American In
dians) veterans,” -Cordes
said. “Ancestors and veterans
protect’ our ways o f life.”
Officials search for possible Cherokee artifacts
[ ' CANTON, Ga. (AP)— A com
pany hired by the state Depart
ment o f Transportation has been
searching for artifacts at the site
b f a highway bridge project, an
area believed to once have been
occupied by Cherokee Indians,
j EdwardsfPitman is digging
through an ¿rea o ff Highway 372
just outside Ball Ground, die site
o f a future project to replace a
bridge over the Etowah River and
straighterf'out a curve.
L The research is expected to
gontiftuq for four months, said
Terri Lotti, an archaeologist with
the state transportation Depart
ment. The site is believed to be
part o f the Cherokee Indians’
Long Swamp Village.
There are about six spots at
the site where structures likely
bttcestbod, said Garr«tt Silliman,
a fijeld director with Enwards-Pit-
man. The location o f the struc
tures can be identified through
stalling in the soil caused by the
wood used to build the structures.
Pieces o f pottery and frag
ments o f stone Ipols have been
fpurid there, he said.
.-Items found at the site will be
taken -to a-lab for analysis, cata
logued arid taken to the Uniyér1
sity Of West Georgia.
“We are going to get as much
information from tiie site as we
can/’ Lotti said. “Hopefully, We
will get some good information
that will define their culture and
prehistory.”
- The Long Swamp Village is
one -of theiffeiggesp-American
Indian-villages:’in the county
along with H ickory. Log and
Sixesj said Stefanié, Joyner, ex
ecutive director o f the Chero
kee County Historical Society.
: It 4?o is in the area where the
B attle o f Taliwa, w hich was
fought between the Cherokee and
Creek Indians, is believed to have
happened. T he Cherokee de
feated dick rivals and that led to
the expulsion o f the Creek from
much o f fiord} G eofta.
; “Anything .they discover yvill
help us learn abptit tiie lifestyle,
and their community,” Jpynçr said.
“It is one thing to sày that Indians
lived in Cherokee. If is, another .to
pull up beads that were worn or
instruments that were used by
them. It makes them more real.’/
Spilyay Tyrooo
November- 22, 2 0 0 7
Texas company to
buy Vicksburg's
Horizon casino
V ICK SBU RG , Miss, p »
A Houston, Texas, gaming op
erator has signed an agreement
to buy the Horizon Casino and
Hotel in Vicksburg.
Nevada Gold & Casinos Inc.
signed the pact this week with
Colum bia Sussex Corp. fo r
about $35 million, pending ap
proval and licensing from the
Mississippi Gaming. Commis
sion.
T h e com pany has invest
ments in three Colorado gam
ing facilities and is also working
with several Nativ§. American
tribes to develop casinos ip
Pauma Valley arid lone, Calif.
Robert Sturges, chief execu-
tive’ officer o f Nevada Gold,
sajd papers will be filed with the
Mississippi Gaming Commission
within 30 days.
Also this week, Nevada Gold
said it will sell its 43 percept
membership interest in the Isle
o f C ap ri-B lack Hawk L L C ,
which owns the Isle o f Capri
and Colorado Central Station,
two casino facilities in Black
Hawk, Colo.
, “We want to oyvn and oper
ate qur gaming properties. We
do not want .to be in the posi
tio n where- we are investors
only,” Sturges said.
Sturges .sa id H ie 3 6 ,0 0 0 -
square-foot Horizon casino and
117-room hotel have captured
less o f Vicksburg gaming’s mar
ket share and received little at
tention from Columbia Sussex,
w hich recen tly acquired
Tropicana Casinos and Resorts.
V Colupibia Sussex, a private
company based in Fort Mitchell,
K y, owns hotels or casinos in
31 states, including Lighthouse
Point Casino an<J Jubilee Casino
in Greenville.
Columbia Sussex paid $28.6
million for the Vicksburg casino
and hotel in 2003 and changed
the flame to Horizon.
T h e casin o o pened as
Harrah’s in 1993 as the state’s-
first casino-hotel combination
and as Vicksburg’s second ca
sino.
As Vicksburg’s only down
town casino, Horizon holds po
tential, Spurges said.
“We háVé .been very im
pressed with the city officials
and their willingness to work
together with local businesses...
to give people more reason to
come to downtown Vicksburg,”
Sturges said.
Three other casinos operate
in Vicksburg— the Ameristar,
the R ainbow and D iam ond
Jacks.
Indians mark centennial
with protest march
, OKLAH OM A C ITY (AP)—-
Chanting “no justice, no peace,’*
American Indianjs and their sup
porters marched on the state
Capitol Friday and denounced
the ■1 even ts th at led / td
Oklahoma’s statehood 100 years
earlier. ;
C arrying signs th a t rea'd
“Teach the Truth” and “This is
the Land o f the Red People,’*
about 500 members o f various
O klaho nia-based tribes o b
served Oklahoma’s centennial
by recalling how their aricestors
were forced from their tradi
tional lands primarily in 'the
Southeastern U.S. and marched
to*, what became Oklahoma in
the 19 th century
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