We here at Talking Feather have the pleasure of presenting   artist,  and  author Austen Brauker, a member of the Ottawa Indian Tribe located in Manistee, Michigan, and a very accomplished and multi-talented  individual! Austen attended Central Michigan University (CMU) and he has won numerous art awards. Austen describes himself and his accomplishments in the following:

Stained Glass Eagle by Austen Brauker

“My name is Austen Brauker and  I am a member of the Ottawa tribe from Manistee, Michigan. I recently won Best Horror Script at the Love Unlimited International Film Festival, and have received positive script coverage from Coverage Ink and Creative World. I have several scripts already written and several in process, as well as two fiction novels, one of which has been self-published. I also write monthly articles for a local newspaper.  Two of my theatrical plays have been produced at a local college, and my screenplay “White Buffalo” has been picked up by a film production company for development (Wild Horse Films).

Madonna and Child 1 by Austen Brauker

I am also an accomplished visual artist (winner of several national contests including the NCAI Indian Congress art for 2011) and a musician  (Four original CD’s of home studio produced music) and have much work posted online at different art, music and writing sites,  and also art in numerous galleries and murals painted in several public locations.  I play and write both traditional and contemporary musical forms.

Three Bison 1 by Austen Brauker

I hunt elk, bear, deer and spear salmon, and have worked as the herd manager of a large buffalo preserve. I attended CMU for psychology and West Shore for criminal justice. I write federal grants and small business proposals and have owned several art related businesses.

I currently work as a Peacemaker/Probation Officer for the tribal court of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. I live in Onekama, Michigan and I am married to my beautiful wife, Victoria.

Sophie Oct 2010 072 by Austen Brauker

Austen has also contributed two wonderful stories: Coming Clean and Dreaming Bodies

We appreciate Austen’s contributions to Talking Feather, and encourage everyone to enjoy his art, read his stories, and definitely visit his website to learn more about his positive work. Kudos to Austen Brauker for being a positive role-model!

Visit Austen Brauker’s website.  Please note that all art and stories belong to Mr. Brauker. Interested parties may contact Austen: abrauker@lrboi.com

See the  New Additions: Talking Feather Art Gallery!

Tags: Austen Brauker, Stained Glass, Talking Feather, Talking Stick

Talking Feather, 3/25/11

For those of you who have been using the lesson plans on this site, we’ve added new material to the original lessons for the Zuni Tribe ( Part I) .

New additions for Zuni Part I: Exercise 1 Vocabulary Practice: new vocabulary words (5-12) have been added; in exercise 2, Questions for Comprehension and Reflection, there are additional questions (4-7). Exercise 4 Research Activities contains 2 new items of interest for students to research. For Zuni Part II An interesting New Myth has been added, entitled The Spirit Wife. Included are Vocabulary exercises (inference), Recalling The Content and Questions for Reflection and Discussion. We know that you and your students will enjoy working with this new material!

*Teachers’ Guide and Answer Key: provides suggestions, and answers for Zuni I and II.

* New material is constantly posted to this site- for updates subscribe to the Talking Feather Feed!

Post Comments and ideas Here

Fun: visit ESLVoices!

Tags: Talking Feather, Talking Stick, teachers' Guide and Answer key, Zuni lesson plans

Sherman Alexie is a Spokane/Coeur d’Alene Indian, and he grew up on the Spokane Reservation located in Wellpinit, WA. Due to brain surgery at six months-old (he was diagnosed as hydrocephalic at birth) he was not expected to live. But he survived to become one of the most prolific American Indian authors of this era.

Prior to writing novels, Sherman studied poetry at Washington State University. Shortly after graduating, and receiving his second fellowship, two of his poetry collections were published, The Business of Fancydancing and I Would Steal Horses.

He has also written a number of best selling novels. One of my favorites is The Lone Ranger and Tonto Have A Fist Fight In Heaven. The book has 22 short stories that are interconnected  and follow the lives of Victor Joseph and Thomas Builds-the-Fire, two American Indians who live on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

The following is an excerpt from one short story entitled Indian Education; First Grade, which is a series of short vignettes, each describing grades 1 through 12 in Victor’s education. This is the first one;

” My hair was too short and my U.S. Government glasses were horn-rimmed, ugly, and all that first winter in school, the other Indian boys chased me from one corner of the playground to the other…They stole my glasses and threw them over my head, around my outstretched hands, just beyond my reach, until someone tripped me and sent me falling again, face down in the snow. I was always falling down; my Indian name was Junior Falls Down. Sometimes it was Bloody Nose or Steal-His-Lunch. Once it was Cries-Like-a-White-Boy, even though none of us had seen a white boy cry.”

Great book by a great author!

For more information about Alexie and for a list of his works: Here

Tags: novels. poetry, Sherman Alexie, Spokane/Coeur d' Alene Indians, the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Writer

NPR, April 7, 2010

Wilma Mankiller former tribal Chief of  The Cherokee Nation  died on Tuesday, at the age of 64.  A memorial for  Chief Mankiller will be held outside the Cherokee Nation Cultural Grounds in Tahlequah, Ok. It is expected that thousands will attend the service. Details

NPR presents an excerpt from a 1993 interview with Wilma Mankiller. It is an opportunity for everyone to listen to this extraordinary woman discuss the high points and the low points of her life.

She  also discusses the history of her name, a brief background of her life growing up with her family, and why she decided to go into politics. She also talks about her near death encounter, and what she learned from the experience.

Another tribute to Wilma Mankiller:

Wilma Mankiller’s Trail of Triumph- By Paul Chaat Smith, April 8, 2010,  CNN

She will be remembered with love…

-Talking Feather-

Tags: Cherokee Nation, Chief, NPR interview, Oklahoma, Tahlequah, Wilma Mankiller

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

Osiyo:
At this time of holidays and the New Year we here at Talking-Feather wanted  to send a special message to you. The following prayer is from the Navajo, and can be found in many places, one of which is the Museum at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, for the Anasazi.  Some say that reading the words bring  peace and calm. We find this to be true.
May your holidays be Happy and your New Year Prosperous!   
The Staff of Talking-Feather

Chaco Canyon, NM-photo: Philip Greenspan

Walking in Beauty:  Closing Prayer from the Navajo Way Blessing Ceremony

In beauty I walk

With beauty before me I walk

With beauty behind me I walk

With beauty above me I walk

With beauty around me I walk

It has become beauty again

Hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shitsijí’ hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shikéédéé hózhóogo naasháa doo
Shideigi hózhóogo naasháa doo
T’áá altso shinaagóó hózhóogo naasháa doo
Hózhó náhásdlíí’
Hózhó náhásdlíí’
Hózhó náhásdlíí’
Hózhó náhásdlíí’

Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me

I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.

I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.

I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.

I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.

I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.

In beauty all day long may I walk.

Through the returning seasons, may I walk.

On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.

With dew about my feet, may I walk.

With beauty before me may I walk.

With beauty behind me may I walk.

With beauty below me may I walk.

With beauty above me may I walk.

With beauty all around me may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.

My words will be beautiful…

 

Tags: Anasazi, calm, Chaco Canyon, museum, New Mexico, peace, Walk in Beauty

The following excerpt is from the novel Ceremony written by Leslie Marmon Silko, and is one of  the most popular of her works. The theme is the connection between preservation of Native cultural tradition and the survival of the community.

The protagonist Tayo who is of mixed ancestry, is returning home to his reservation after being held as a prisoner by the Japanese army during WWII. Tayo, realizes that in order to survive, (spiritually and physically) he must search his Indian traditions to find his true self.

Ceremony

I will tell you something about stories,

[he said]

They aren’t just for entertainment.

Don’t be fooled

They are all we have, you see,

all we have to fight off illness and death.

You don’t have anything

if you don’t have the stories.

Their evil is mighty

but it can’t stand up to our stories.

So they try to destroy the stories

let the stories be confused or forgotten

They would like that

They would be happy

Because we would be defenseless then.

Leslie Marmon Silko, an accomplished Native American contemporary writer, was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1948. She has a mix of Laguna Pueblo,  Mexican, and White ancestry. Silko grew up at the Pueblo of Laguna, located in west central New Mexico. She attended a Catholic school in Albuquerque, commuting from Laguna. In 1969 she received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of New Mexico.  She later taught creative writing and a course in oral tradition for the English department at the University.

Silko reveals that living in Laguna society as a mixed blood from a prominent family caused her a lot of pain. It meant being different from, and not fully accepted by either the full blooded Native Americans or white people. Silko, despite her pain, was able to overcome the lack of acceptance and identify with the Laguna culture. Despite her keen awareness of the equivocal position of mixed-bloods in Laguna society, she considers herself Laguna. As she puts it, “I am of mixed-breed ancestry, but what I know is Laguna”.

Read about a real  ceremony  at  Spirit Mountain

Complete Biography for Silko

Analysis of Ceremony

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

This is a wonderful book for advanced students, however the teacher  may still have to explain certain terms. In the meantime, here are  a few questions based on the excerpt  that may be used as a pre-view to reading the book.

Have students review any unknown vocabulary, then answer the following.

1. analyze the first 5 lines and discuss their meaning.

2. When Tayo states “their evil is mighty, but it can’t stand up to our stories “who is the “Their” he is referring to?

3. In relation to your own culture, are traditional stories important to you? To your people? Explain why or why not.

Tags: Albuquerque New Mexico, Ceremony, Japanese army, Laguna Pueblo, Leslie Marmon Silko, Mexican, native culture, Spirit Mountain, Tayo, University of New Mexico, WWII