By Linda Braden Albert, The Daily Times, Originally published: March 28. 2010

Children and their parents enjoyed the celebration in honor of the Historic Sam Houston School House, and had a wonderful time learning about Sam Houston, American Indian history, and culture. Members of the Cherokee and Navajo tribes performed. The festivities included Indian storytelling, native American dances, flute playing, tomahawk throwing, and singing. It was a fund raiser for the school house.

An enjoyable article.

Tags: American Indian history, celebration, cherokee, dances, festival, flute playing, Navajo, Sam Houston School House, tomahawk

I’ve always been fascinated by the very colorful totem poles of the Indian tribes located in the Pacific Northwest. Tribes such as the Tlingit, Haida, and especially the Kwakiutl are famous for their majestic totems. Early missionaries thought totems were religious symbols and deities for worship, so the indigenous people were forced to burn their totems. Today, totem poles are used to tell stories about a tribes’ heritage.

I found a very interesting and informative site which features several artists who create totem poles today. There are photos demonstrating step by step details on how a totem was built at the Haida village of Skidegate, Haida Gwaii.

Enjoy.

Update (5/19/10)

There have been inquiries as to where pieces of this beautiful art work can be bought. Here are several sites. Please be careful and check thoroughly  before buying anything, as  we at  Talking Feather  can not guarantee the legitimacy of the sites.

The first choice: The Path Gallery, lists artist Wayne Edenshaw, who assisted with the carving at Skidegate.

http://www.pathgallery.com/itoolkit.asp?pg=products&specific=joppjpq8

http://www.spiritsofthewestcoast.com/gallery/haida-art.asp

http://www.freespiritgallery.ca/

Tags: Art, colorful, Culture, Haida Gwaii, Kwakiutl, majestic poles, Skidegate, Tingit, totem poles

Written by PR Newswire

Friday, 12 March 2010, Native American Times

Richard B. Williams, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund stated, “We are thrilled that President Obama has chosen to publicly acknowledge the work the American Indian College Fund is doing in Indian Country by sharing $125,000 of his prestigious Nobel Peace Prize award with us…”

The AICF provides financial support for American Indian students attending Tribal colleges throughout the Nation. This is a generous contribution from President Obama, and one that is well deserved.

Good article.

Tags: American Indian College Fund, Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama

By MURRAY EVANS ,   Native News/Daily Headlines in Indian Country

This is very distressing news for the Cherokee and other tribes. For those of you who might not know her, the following is a brief excerpt from her auto biography Mankiller: A Chief and Her People

Wilma Mankiller held the prestigious position as the first female Chief of The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma for ten years from 1985-1995. As leader of the Cherokee people she represented the second largest tribe in the United States, the largest being the Navajo Nation. In the beginning, many Cherokee people were opposed to the idea of having a female as a leader, and as a result of this opposition Mankiller suffered many obstacles during her campaign. Negative responses included such things as death threats and slashed tires. She overcame these hardships and won the election, and more importantly the respect of the Cherokee people. She’s made a very positive impression on young people, especially on females. Wilma Mankiller succeeded in her most important goal which was to bring self-sufficiency to the Cherokee Nation.

Our good thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. Mankiller and her family.

Tags: Chief Wilma Mankiller, death, leader, The Cherokee Nation

by Frederick White, Ph.D,  
News From Indian Country

Hi All,

An interesting article that discusses how historically Indigenous languages have changed from being the first means of communication among tribal members, to the current situation where the tribal languages are becoming endangered or extinct. One constant factor is that English is becoming the preferred language.

Preferring English has many ramifications. Parents decide to not teach children Indigenous language for many reasons, including the psychological battering of assimilation.

For this reason, many adults choose to speak only English to their children because they do not want their children to suffer as they did for knowing their Indigenous language.

Dr. White also offers suggestions on how to reverse this shift, and teach children to respect and learn the language of their culture. Very encouraging!

Tags: assimilation, Culture, Frederick White, indigenous languages