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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2018)
T he C olumbia P ress November 16, 2018 7 This Week in Aboriginal History Senior Moments by Carl A. Ellis with Emma Edwards Navajo code talker dies in Arizona The incredible heart and brain Famed Nov. 16, 1811: Tecumseh new expedition led by Gen. sources for Indians. Hunger I’m determined to learn something interesting almost every day. Today’s lesson was about the brain. Did you know the average adult brain weighs about 3 pounds, or 2 percent of total body weight? No matter what we read, it seems our “little” 3-pound brain is at the control center of our action. A portion of the brain stem is just above the spinal cord and regulates vital functions, such as heartbeat and breath- ing. The thalamus, located in the central part of the brain, pro- cesses and coordinates sen- sory messages, such as touch, received from the body. Another study showed that the average adult heart is about the size of a clenched fist and weighs about 11 ounces. Bet you just clenched your fist! The heart is a hollow, mus- cular organ in charge of pumping blood throughout the body and to other organs. “If you use an average of 80 beats per minute, your heart beats about 4,800 times per hour. That’s a whop- ping 115,200 times per day. Over the course of a year, your heart would beat about 42,048,000 times.” So, if you’re 80 years old, your heart already has beaten 3.36 billion times. “Heart,” a new book by Sandeep Jauhar, notes that “Each heartbeat generates enough force to circulate blood through approximately 100,000 miles of vessels.” A study by Dr. Joseph Mer- cola shows that the brain is not the sole source of emo- tions. Our hearts and brains work together to produce emo- tions. “When your heart receives signals from the brain via the sympathetic nerves, it pumps faster. And when it receives signals through the para- sympathetic nerves, it slows down,” Mercola writes. I have to study that a bit more before my next Internet shopping spree! I have already learned that if I order something after 10 p.m. it either won’t fit or I don’t really need it. We need to remember that rule No. 6 in Dr. Cherie Car- ter-Scott’s “Rules for Being Human” is “ ‘There’ is no bet- ter than ‘here.’ When your ‘there’ has become a ‘here,’ you will simply obtain anoth- er ‘there’ that will, again, look better.” Closing thoughts: I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I’m doing. Also, I like long walks, es- pecially when people who an- noy me take them. Have a blessed Thanksgiv- ing, realizing that we have so very much to be thankful for in this country and maybe we can start by giving thanks to God for our brains and our hearts. predicted a “light across the sky” would appear on this date and it appeared as pre- dicted, according to some sources. Nov. 17, 2004: Navajo code talker Joe Billison dies in Window Rock, Ariz. During World War II, he transmit- ted messages in his native language, confounding the Japanese. Billison, longtime president of the Code Talk- ers Association, provided the voice for Hasbro’s GI Joe Code Talker figure in 2000. Nov. 18, 1825: The Arika- ra Indians of North Dakota sign a peace treaty with the United States promising not to supply guns, ammunition and other war implements to any nation, tribe or band of Indians who are unfriendly with the U.S. Nov. 19, 1787: White set- tlers have been pouring into the Northwest, which had been laid out in the North- west Ordinance. Violence erupts as indigenous tribes resist the encroachment, which prompts President George Washington’s admin- istration to send armed expe- ditions into the area. The president’s forces at- tempt to negotiate a settle- ment, but the Indians insist on a boundary line the Amer- icans find unacceptable. A Senior lunch menu Monday, Nov. 19: Roasted turkey, cornbread dressing, gravy, green beans, coleslaw, pumpkin pie. Thursday, Nov. 22: The senior lunch program is closed, but Thanksgiving dinner will be provided to all members of the public at the center by Thankful Hearts. The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is $5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more information, call 503-861-3502. Anthony Wayne is dispatched and his army defeats the In- dian confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Nov. 20, 1831: While look- ing for rumored lost silver mines near the old San Sabá Mission in Texas, Jim Bowie and 10 companions encoun- ter 150 Caddo and Waco In- dians. A fight ensues, which be- comes legendary in Texas history. After frontal attacks prove ineffective, Indians set fire to the brush and trees. But this ploy also fails. The Indians retreat after losing 50 warriors to Bowie’s single casualty. Nov. 21, 1850: There are 20 million buffalo on the plains between Montana and Texas, according to govern- ment estimates. But in Cal- ifornia, an influx of miners who have come to find gold have ravaged traditional food forces them to raid mining towns and settlements and miners retaliate by killing or abusing local Indians. The California legislature responds with the Indian Indenture Act, which estab- lished a form of legal slavery by allowing whites to declare Indians vagrants and auc- tioning off their services for up to four months. The law also permits whites to indenture Indian children, with the permission of a par- ent or friend, which led to widespread kidnapping and the sale of “apprentices.” Nov. 22, 1812: Gen. Sam- uel Hopkin’s force destroys Prophetstown along with de- serted Winnebago and Kicka- poo villages along the Tippe- canoe River. The Indians ambush and kill 16 of Hop- kin’s men on Wildcat Creek, northwest of present-day Ko- komo.
