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

By Rob Capriccioso

Story Published: Jan 29, 2010,  Indian Country Today

Just in case anyone missed the following article…

According to the article, Pathways Out of Poverty training grants will be distributed to help workers in disadvantaged American Indian communities, by providing them with

” …recruitment and referral services; basic skills, work-readiness and occupational skills training; supportive services to help overcome barriers to employment; and other services at easily accessible times and locations…”

The article offers information on where to go online for a list of the grants and of the project descriptions.

I strongly urge everyone to check out the information.

Tags: employment, grants, jobs, Labor, Pathways Out of Poverty, skills, training, work

By Susan Montoya Bryan The Associated Press / January 13, 2010, The Christian Science Monitor

The small village of Jemez Pueblo, located in New Mexico, is on the verge of becoming very rich, and not by installing a gambling casino.

The village is negotiating a deal to use tribal lands for building  a solar plant, that will house a large number of solar panels. According to James Roger Madalena, the representative for Jemez Pueblo in the state Legislature,

“We don’t have any revenue coming in except for a little convenience store,…It’s very critical that we become innovative, creative, that we come up with something that will last generations without having a devastating impact on the environment.”

Utilizing natural energy as a means of producing revenue might be an alternative to gambling casinos for many tribes. Millions of dollars are spent on green energy production in this country, and this is the first step towards including  American Indian tribes in this development.

Everyone should read this article.

Tags: Jemez Pueblo, money, natural energy, New Mexico, solar panels, solar power

Written by LeeAnn Dreadfulwater, Tuesday, 06 October 2009 12:58 Cherokee Nation Communication, Native American Times

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. —  Liana Marquis of Richardson, Texas  has donated 4 Apple laptop computers to the Cherokee Nation Education Corporation (CNEC) to be used by the students at Northeastern State University. The computers are to be used specifically for the Cherokee Education Language degree program at Northeastern State. Marquis is a private citizen who has made several past contributions to the Cherokee Nation.

The biggest advantage for a Cherokee language learner is that every Apple computer sold since 2002 already has the Cherokee language font installed on it. Hopefully all Native languages will be installed on computers. This is a plus for Apple.

Definitely read this article.

Tags: Apple computers, Cherokee language, CNEC, Northeastern State University