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.