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More News from Indian Country
Pdge 9 Spily^y Tymoo November 2, 2011
Traditional Indian game gets new life
GLENPOOL, Okla. (AP) -
T w elve-year-o ld D erek H ill
rolled a round disc made of
Oklahoma sandstone down a
well-worn path while two other
sixth-graders threw wooden
poles trying to hit the rolling
stone.
Whoever hit the stone got a
point, he said. Caleb Bigpond,
12, who is Muscogee Creek and
Pawnee, stood at the other end
to roll the stone back.
“It’s fun,” said Hill, who is
Muscogee Creek and Euchee.
“Every time I throw the pole, it
feels like I keep getting better
at it.”
The students were playing a
variation of a historic American
Indian game called chunkey (or
tchung-kee). Traditionally, play
ers try to get their poles or
spears as close as possible to
where the stone stops rolling.
Once the favorite pastime of
many tribes, including Chero-
kees, Choctaws and Chickasaws,
the centuries-old game has be
come a lo st art, said K risti
Collington, director of Indian
Education for Glenpool Public
Schools.
“I have only seen one stone
for sale in my life,” Collington
said. “They are extremely hard
and time-consuming to make.”
The chunkey stones are tra
ditionally made of hard stone
hand-sculpted into a disc shape
about five to seven inches in
diameter. The polished stone has
depressions on each side. Even
centuries ago, chunkey stones
were cherished and typically each
village had only one.
After the class used rolls of
masking tape and unsharpened
pencils to teach students about
the gam e, C reek elder Ben
Yahola loaned his chunkey set
so students could see a real
stone. But he felt the school
needed its own set.
So Collington set her mind to
getting a real stone and ap
proached EuroCraft, a marble
and granite fabrication company
in Glenpool, to make it. Yahola's
stone was shown to the company
as a template.
“E uro C raft donated the
stone,” Collington said. “I am so
g ratefu l to them because I
maybe had about $200 from my
Indian E ducation budget to
spend.”
Bringing the game back to
life for her students is part of
keeping American Indian culture
alive, she said.
“It’s important for students
to get outside and get a sense
of what it would be like to hunt
for food and get an apprecia
tion for where our food comes
from,” Collington said.
Not only did the game allow
Indian w arriors - who used
spears in the game — to sharpen
their hunting skills, but it was
central to each tribe’s social and
cultural growth, she said.
“The game was so important
that many high-class warriors
would even be buried with a
chunkey stone,” said Collington,
who is Cherokee. “I’ve heard of
instances where warriors would
bet their wives. We (Indians)
have always gambled.”
In Glenpool schools, 34 per
cent o f its stud en t body is
American Indian, she said.
“ (E u ro C ra ft’s d o n atio n )
helps us accomplish our goals
in the program, which are to
prom ote cultural aw areness
and providing an opportunity
to students to learn about lan
guage, history and customs that
they may not otherwise have,”
Collington said.
Final home game
'¿lot bull
Study shows Navajo
dunes on the move
FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP)
— A decade-long federal study
says that a drier climate on the
Navajo Nation is causing sand
dunes to grow and move, po
tentially threatening grazing,
roads and buildings.
The study by a U.S. Geologi
cal Survey geologist found that
sand dunes are growing fast and
m oving m ore, including old
dunes that p rev io u sly w ere
stable. More than a third of the
27,000-square-mile reservation
is covered by sand dunes and
sand sheets, and it has experi
enced v aryin g degrees o f
drought for the past 15 years.
G eologist M argaret Hiza
Redsteer called the Navajo Na
tion — specifically the southwest
ern portion in Arizona — “just
on the edge of being habitable.”
Her work also noted the vul
nerability of indigenous people
who rely heavily on the land.
“The annual moisture here
has historically been just enough
to get by,” she said in a state
ment. “When there is even a
small change, there is a huge
effect.”
Some of the sand dunes are
moving at a rate of 115 feet per
year, the report found. Faster
migration of active sand dunes
and the reactivation of previ
ously im m o bile dunes can
threaten housing, roads and the
health of residents.
The study will yield data on
diminished vegetation cover and
the increasingly arid environ
ment, which threatens livestock,
grazing, infrastructure and live
lihoods on the reservation. The
areas that call for the most alarm
are the lands near the Colorado
Plateau, located near Flagstaff,
Ariz., and surrounding the Hopi
reservation.
Redsteer found that besides
growth and new movement in
existing dunes, new dunes were
increasing in number. The new
dunes form downwind from riv
ers and washes, largely from dry,
wind-blown river sediment. For
instance, the dune field outside
Flagstaff, has grown by 70 per
cent since 1995, when the most
recent drought gripped the Na
tion.
The dunes are moving north
east at speeds as high as 157
feet per year in 2009, which was
unusually dry and windy.
Sand storms and dune move
ment also occurred in the north
ern and eastern parts o f the
Navajo Nation in New Mexico.
The wind direction, however,
was very different.
Wind blows predominantly
northeast in Arizona, while it
blows south in New Mexico, said
Sam McCown, a meteorologist
for the National Climatic Data
Center.
If the trend continues, some
officials warn that much of the
Navajo Nation will become un
inhabitable.
“The Navajo Nation is in
tended to be a p erm an en t
ho m elan d for the N avajo
people,” John Leeper, director
of the Navajo Water Manage
ment Branch, said in a state
ment. “However, much of that
homeland may be in jeopardy if
these trends cannot be success
fully mitigated.”
Geologists and Navajo offi
cials are trying to use Redsteer's
work to find solutions, includ
ing placing barriers in dunes to
stabilize them and planting seeds
in the sand to encourage veg
etation.
Cherokee Nation changes
rules for workers
Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay
The Mitchell Family - Lori, Robinson “Gorky”, Rodney, Cyrille, and Arthur (from left) - gathers after the MHS football game
to congratulate and celebrate a victory in the Buffalo Dome.
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP)
— An executive order by the new
principal chief of the Cherokee
Nation allows tribe employees
to discuss their em ploym ent
with members of the Cherokee
legislative branch.
The Tulsa World reported
that Principal Chief Bill John
Baker signed the order so work
ers can speak openly about their
duties with their council repre
sentatives.
The order overturns a policy
that was in force for six years,
prohibiting the tribe's more than
8,200 employees from discuss
ing employment issues with any
o f the 17 m em bers o f the
Cherokee Tribal Council.
Baker took office earlier in
October after four months of
election disputes that resulted in
a second vote being called.
Ex-Okla. tribal leader indicted for embezzlement
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _
A federal grand jury has indicted
the form er president o f the
Tonkawa Tribe on 17 counts for
allegedly conspiring with two
others to embezzle more than
$500,000 from the tribe, federal
prosecutors said Monday.
Anthony E. Street, 47, faces
one count of conspiracy and 16
counts of embezzlement from
an Indian tribal organization.
Street appeared in court in Okla
homa City on Monday and a
trial date was set for December.
Street, Vice President Gor
don Warrior and Secretary-Trea
surer Dawena Pappan are ac
cused of writing more than 300
checks to themselves from the
tribe's general fund for personal
use from April 2005 to April
2008. Street and Warrior served
in office until elections in 2008
and Pappan resigned that year,
prosecutors said
The three took care of daily
operations as members of the
c-----------------
: h
The next Spilyay deadline
is Friday, Nov. 10. Thank
tribe's business committee, in
clu d in g
am ong
other
responsibiities, ensuring that pro
ceeds from the tribe's casinos
were spent on legitimate tribal
expenses under established pro
cedures, the indictment read.
In August 2007, Street, War
rior and Pappan approved large
pay increases for their work on
the business committee, the in-
dictment alleged. Street's wages
increased from $25.66 an hour
to $62.50 per hour, resulting in
an annual salary of $130,000.
Street, Warrior and Pappan
also were accused of approv
ing blank voucher requests with
no explanation for why there
were taking money from the
general fund.
Street and Warrior remained
in office until 2008, when tribal
elections were held. Pappan re
signed in June of that year, and
a new business committee was
chosen, prosecutors said.
Court records didn't indicate
if Street had retained an attor
ney to represent him. Prosecu
tors listed him as a resident of
Ponca City, but a telephone list
ing for him couldn't be found.
Bone found in Columbia at Kennewick
K EN N EW ICK , Wash.
(AP) — A jaw bone found in
the C olum bia R iver at
Kennewick is believed to be
the very old remains of an
American Indian.
The Corps of Engineers
plans to deliver the bone to the
C onfederated Tribes o f the
Umatilla Reservation.
The bone with six teeth was
found in late O ctober by a
cleanup crew on the bank of
the river near a Columbia Park
boat launch.
Police called the Benton
County coroner who sent pho
tos to a state anthropologist.
O fficials determ ined there
was no crime or missing per
son involved.
Mich. Indian community mourns traffic deaths
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP)
— Southeastern Michigan’s In
dian community is reeling from
the loss of four men killed in a
traffic crash.
All four are affiliated with the
Detroit-area’s Telugu commu
nity. Those in the group have
ties to the State of Andhra in
India and speak the Telugu lan
guage
The state police say the four
were hit head-on in their SUV
by a wrong-way driver on Michi
gan-10 in Southfield.
Forum addresses N ative
Americans dropout rate
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -
About 20 people gathered for a
forum in Rapid City last week
to address the problem of Na
tive American high school drop
out rates.
Much of the discussion cen
tered on stories of bullying and
harassment experienced by Na
tive American students and their
parents. But officials and par
ents also talked about the need
for collaboration.
Jim Bradford, a South Da
kota legislator, says teachers
need to take the time to famil
iarize themselves with their stu
dents' home lives, and parents
need to get involved in their
children's education.
School board member Suzan
Nolan says schools have work
to do, but part of the solution
also is to highlight the accom
plishm ents o f high-achieving
Native students.
The ongoing forum will meet
the fourth F rid ay o f each
month.
Events celebrating Native life
CARBONDALE, 111. (AP) -
Southern Illinois University is
hosting events to celebrate Na
tive American culture and life.
The festivities for N ative
American Heritage Month at
the Carbondale campus have
started and run through next
month.
They include traditional Az-
tec dancing, performances by
traditional drum groups, a har
vest dinner, film discussions and
political lectures.
Many of the events are free.
On Tuesday, the traditional drug
and dance group called "Iron
Necklace" will perform on cam
pus.
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