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Start of the January 2003 Newsletter
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Greetings,
I hope you are all having a good holiday season, so far. I live a rather
exciting life here in 'America's Finest City.' For my birthday, I went
to work (The TV newsanchors wished me a happy 50th on the air). After
work, I donated some blood (you might all consider doing this, as the
holidays is usually a slow period for blood donations), and had a nice
dinner at a local deli. WOW! What exciting times! :-) I do want to
thank those of you who sent me 'pictures' of a new Lexus. One friend
sent me a picture of a $1 bill as the start of a contribution for a new
vehicle. I, of course, was joking about someone giving me a new car for
my birthday. But, I do appreciate your sense of humor.
We have been getting some rain here in San Diego, thanks to El Nino. It
has been so long since I have seen a good rain, I almost forgot what it
was like. I remember crossing the Mississippi River on a ferry in New
Orleans several years ago. It rained so hard, it was hard to tell where
the sky stopped and the river began. On another occasion, I was at my
childhood home in Houston, Texas. It once rained in the front yard, but
not the backyard, for over 10 minutes. I actually timed it. It is nice
to see the clouds. They should clear up for the Super Bowl later in
January. I will be getting some overtime because of this event. That
will help to pay for Christmas...
=========================
The January 2003 Link of the Month is: "The Interactive ALR: A
Searchable Database of Historic Native American Vocabularies." One of
the most common questions I get is to tell someone the "Indian" name for
something. This website can help you find translations in many different
Indian languages. They are slowly expanding the database, too.
http://www.evolpub.com/ALR/ALRinteractive.html
=========================
This month's treaty is the: TREATY WITH THE DWAMISH, SUQUAMISH, ETC.,
Jan. 22, 1855. | 12 Stat. 927. It covers lots of material and subjects.
Considering the recent judicial decisions regarding the Samish, this
treaty seemed appropriate.
http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/dwa0669.htm
=========================
Movie of the Month:
This movie 'review' is the first of what will probably become a regular
part of the newsletter. I hope to look at many of the movies which
feature American Indians as a significant part of the plot. Please feel
free to offer your own suggestions, or reviews.
My first review is of the movie "Never Cry Wolf." I realize that this
movie may not come readily to mind when you think of 'American Indian
Movies.' It is definitely not Dances With Wolves (even though they both
feature wolves) or Cheyenne Autumn. There are no cavalry charges or
visits to the reservation. But, it does look at societal issues which I
think are interesting and important.
The film version of Never Cry Wolf came out in 1983. It is based on the
1963 book of the same name by Farley Mowat. The book is Mowat's
recollection of his trip into the Canadian artic to investigate the
effect of wolves on the caribou population. The book goes into more
detail than the movie. In the preface to the latest edition of the book,
Mowat says: "We have doomed the wolf not for what it is, but for what we
deliberately and mistakenly perceive it to be--the mythologized epitome
of a savage, ruthless killer--which is, in reality, no more than the
reflected image of ourself."
Filmed near Nome, Alaska, Never Cry Wolf won the National Society of
Film Critics Award for Cinematography. It was nominated for an Academy
Award in the Best Sound category. The PG rated, 105 minute movie's
simple description or tagline was: "They Thought He Couldn't Do the Job.
That's Why They Chose Him." In the movie, the Mowat's character is
called Tyler. Tyler's purpose is to determine how wolves are harming the
caribou population. His research proves that the wolves are actually
helping the herd by culling the sick and old. He also learns that man is
doing more harm than the wolves.
The movie has a small cast. Charles Martin Smith plays Tyler. You may
remember Smith from his other roles in the movies American Graffiti, The
Buddy Holly Story, Starman and The Untouchables. I have always liked
him. Brian Dennehy plays bush pilot-entrepreneur Rosie. Zachary
Ittimanangnaq plays an older Inuit named Ootek. Sampson Jorah plays a
younger Inuit named Mike.
The movie, without being too overt about it, reflects on the clash of
cultures between the Inuit and the non-Indian population. It also looks
at old traditions vs. modern life. Ootek and Mike are not stereotypical
"Eskimos," but real people. It touches their culture without being
mystical about it. The movie, while also being comical, has a nice
"real" feeling to it. We see the difficulties that the younger Inuit (30
years old?+/-) faces in a modern world. We also experience what the old
life was like through Ootek and who I believe is his true-life wife
Martha.
The scenery is phenomenal. From mountain peaks to frozen lakes to rocky
shores to wide open prairies, I love the natural beauty shown in this
marvelous film.
Never Cry Wolf is rated PG. The PG rating comes from a few scenes where
Tyler, who is drying out after a dip into a very cold lake, runs nude
across the prairie when he is surprised by some caribou. This is a
Disney film, so the nudity is only from the rear. While I do not know if
it is intentional, I could see some symbolism on 'naturalism vs.
materialism' in this scene.
The movie has a slower pace to it than is common nowadays. It also
features some beautiful minimalistic music (ala Philip Glass).
I highly recommend this movie for anyone who likes beautiful scenery, a
look at American Indians with a light-touch, a perspective on 'survival
of the fittest', and a cautionary tale on environmentalism.
There is also something to be said about a Disney movie where the lead
character actually eats mice. Mickey must be turning in his grave.
Links for teaching the book: http://www.nt.net/~torino/never.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~samuri5/wolf.html
Link for teaching with the movie:
http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/never-cry-wolf.html
=========================
Here are some links to some interesting websites and news articles I
have come across recently:
Dee Brown, the author of "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" died in the
early part of December. His book was the first look into the Indian side
of history for many people.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/466/3531762.html
Wheel of Misfortune - Indian casinos have fallen far short of benefiting
the wider Native American population. A TIME special investigation
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101021216/story.html
For Time Magazine, Diné rejection of casinos a cultural choice
http://indiancountry.com/?1040915944
For Time Magazine, Sovereignty 101
http://indiancountry.com/?1040673538
NCAI's Hall takes on Indian gaming report
http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2002/12/18/gaming
Shameful report distorts tribal gaming
http://www.okit.com/opinion/2002/novdec/shamefulreport.html
Casino backers press on with talks
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/4761804.htm
McCaleb learned about trust 'on the job'
http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2002/12/23/mccaleb
Guest Opinion: ‘Indian Enron’ case must not be ignored
http://www.montanaforum.com/rednews/2002/12/18/build/tribal/accountop.php?nnn=4
Voter fraud charges in South Dakota prove fraudulent
http://indiancountry.com/?1041004948
Ahenakew remains under siege after anti-Semitic outburst
http://indiancountry.com/?1041006089
Natives pay more for homes, says new Census analysis
http://indiancountry.com/?1041005693
THE EYES OF A CHILD by Michael WalkingStick
http://mytwobeadsworth.com/Eyesofachild.html
Barbara Morgan, former Flathead teacher, to fly in space (Christa
McAuliffe's backup)
http://indiancountry.com/?1040916820
Mushuau Innu move underway
http://indiancountry.com/?1040916199
Court stops Makah whale hunt
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/101002_makah21.shtml
Makah to challenge whale hunt ruling
http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2002/12/23/hunt
Latest News from the Gray Whale Monitoring 2000 Project
http://www.westcoastgraywhale.org/news.htm
Samish lose bid for treaty rights - Judge affirms ruling against tribe,
citing finality in litigation as overriding issue
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/100834_samish20.shtml
Judge won't restore tribe's treaty rights
http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2002/12/20/samish
More heat falling on ‘Las Vegas Nights' law
http://www.theday.com/news/ts-re.asp?NewsUID=7AC17936-C581-4A0D-90EE-ACF41204ACA0
Cave Rock Presidential Page
http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/ltbmu/graphics/pres_actions/commitments/cave_rock/environ.html
Nevada: Land and Resource Management Plan Amendment to Protect Cave Rock
http://www.achp.gov/casearchive/casessum01NV.html
The Forest Service To Prohibit Climbing At Cave Rock, NV
http://www.accessfund.org/programs/programs_news_cave_rock.html
Mille Lacs Indian Museum
http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/mlim/
Tribes accuse DFYS - CARE: Native children in state custody are
separated from culture as well as families, lawsuit says.
http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/2366789p-2420659c.html
United States v. White Mountain Apache Tribe
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/01-1067.pdf
United States v. Navajo Nation
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/01-1375.pdf
Nez Perce Tribe finally will get memorial to two Idaho warriors Carving
to Honor Nez Perce Who Died 200 Years Ago
http://204.228.236.37/News/story.asp?ID=28512
Cherokee to audit tribal enrollment
http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/12_02/12_18_02/fr_cherokee_audit.html
Key Tribal Sovereignty Case Returns
http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2002/12/27/wampanoag_sovereignty.php
Ancient bones found in northern Nevada
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/12/26/30749.php?sp1=&sp2=&sp3=
Relative of Chief Ouray dies at 86
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/news021224_2.htm
Lumbees to seek federal recognition
http://www.fayettevillenc.com/story.php?Template=region&Story=5363207
Saving native tongues
http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=6d7ee3be-e1c2-48fd-bb56-ee572f72ac3e
Indian Songs 101
http://www.reznetnews.org/student/021202_choir/
Was Maya Pyramid Designed to Chirp Like a Bird?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/12/1206_021206_TVMayanTemple.html
Burial mounds at risk
http://www.goedwardsville.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6389720&BRD=2291&PAG=461&dept_id=473648&rfi=6
Anniversary is not celebration, tribes say
http://www.dailyprogress.com/frontpage/MGB281RIQ9D.html
Nevada Indian cave looter hit with $2.5 million civil penalty
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2002/12/13/29925.php?sp1=rgj&sp2=News&sp3=Local+News
MJC club raises American Indian pride, awareness
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/5600012p-6576792c.html
Games Indians Play
http://www.reznetnews.org/culture/021209_games/
Tribes, DOE sign Agreement in Principle - Cultural resources, Tribal
interests will be protected
http://www.shobannews.com/local.html#1
=========================
Here are some random historical events for January:
January 1, 1756: After the attack of the christianized Indian village of
Gnadenhutten, near modern-day Leighton, Pennsylvania on November 24,
1755, by other Indians, British troops are sent in to patrol the area.
Today, 2 groups of DELAWAREs, one led by Chief Tedyuscung, attack the
troops and farms in the area. Twenty soldiers and several settlers are
killed, and the village is burned. The Monrovian Missionaries would
abandon the area. They and many of their Indian converts would move to
Ohio, and establish another village named Gnadenhutten.
January 2, 687: Maya King K'inich Yo'nal Ahk II (Ruler 3) ascends to the
throne in Piedras Negras, Mexico.
January 3, 1786: A Treaty (7 stat. 21) with the Choctaw is signed by
Benjamin Hawkins for the United States. The Choctaw agree to release all
prisoners. They acknowledge the sovereignty of the United States, and no
other country. New boundaries for their lands are delineated. No U.S.
citizens are allowed to settle on Choctaw lands, without Choctaw
permission. Only the U.S. is allowed to regulate trade with the Choctaw.
Signatories: five Great Medal Chiefs, thirteen small Medal Chiefs,
twelve Medal and Gorget Captains. It is signed at Hopewell River.
January 4, 1752: Spanish forces defeat a group of 2,000 Pimas near
Aribaca.
January 5, 1802: According to some sources, William Augustus Bowles,
self-appointed "Director General and Commander-In-Chief of the Muskogee
Nation," leads a force of Seminoles (Miccosukees) warriors against the
Spanish in St. Marks in northern Florida. They give up their attacks and
siege in a little over a week.
January 6, 1542: On the site of what was once the village of T’ho,
Spaniard Francisco de Montejo establishes the town of Mérida, in the
Yucatan of Mexico.
January 7, 1781: The Mission San Pedro Y San Pablo De Bicuner is
established, in modern Imperial County, California, where the Anza Trail
crosses the Colorado River. This is on land claimed by the Quechan
(Yuma) Indians.
January 8, 1865: In Tom Green County, Texas, Captain Cunningham and
members of the Comanche County Company skirmish with the Kickapoo
Indians at the “Battle of Dove Creek.”
January 9, 1790: Spanish and Indian forces under Commanding General Juan
de Ugalde attack a group of 300 Lipan, Lipiyan, and Mescalero Apaches at
what they called the Arroyo de la Soledad. The Spanish soundly defeat
the Apache. The Spaniards name the battlegrounds the “Cañón de Ugalde”
in honor of their commander. Modern Uvalde, Texas gets its name from
this spot.
January 10, 1591: Gaspar Castaño de Sosa is traveling through the Tewa
Pueblo villages. In his journal he notes that he is received well in
Jacona. He mentions that Tewa villages are small, but heavily populated.
Jacona was eventually abandoned a little over 100 years later.
January 11, 1851: As a part of the “Mariposa Indian Wars” in California,
Sheriff James Burney leads a force of settlers against the local
Indians. The battle is a draw.
January 12, 657: Mayan Calakmul leader Yukukun leads an attack against
Tikal (Guatemala).
January 13, 1729: Measels are spreading through “New Spain.” It has
struck the Pima workers at the mission San Ignacio de Caburica. The
priest, Father Campos, baptizes twenty-two Pimas “in periculo mortis”
because they are so close to death. This epidemic kills many Indians.
January 14, 1830: The Senate of the United States passes a resolution
which calls for the government to survey lands west of the Mississippi
and then “parcel out among the Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw
tribes of Indians.” Its intent is for the Indians to move there en
masse.
January 15, 1756: After the Delaware uprising, many settlers move to
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A group of settlers, and some friendly Indians
leave the village in hopes of returning to their farms. A group of
Delaware attack the party, and kill all but one of the settlers, and
many of the Indians.
January 16, 1873: 225 regular army soldiers and 104 California and
Oregon militia approach the Modoc stronghold in the northeaster
California lava beds. They visibly set up around Captain Jack's position
in hopes that the Modocs will not fight in the face of obviously
superior forces. The Modocs consider surrender, but only a few wish to
do so, so all stay.
January 17, 1800: Congress passes “An Act for the Preservation of Peace
with the Indian Tribes.” One of its provisions was: “That if any citizen
or other person residing within the United States, or the territory
thereof, shall send any talk, speech, message or letter to any Indian
nation, tribe, or chief, with an intent to produce a contravention or
infraction of any treaty or other law of the United States, or to
disturb the peace and tranquillity of the United States, he shall
forfeit a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not
exceeding two years.”
January 18, 1870: From a marker in the Fort Buford (North Dakota)
cemetery: “He That Kills His Enemies - Indian Scout- January 18, 1870 -
Died of Wounds ... in a quarrel with a fellow scout on the 5th inst.
received a penetrating (arrow) wound of the pelvis and abdomen. ...
Death occured January 18, 1870. An autopsy could not be obtained owing
to the feelings of the relatives.”
January 19, 1777: A group of Oneida chiefs meet with Colonel Elmore at
Fort Schuyler. The want the army to tell the Mohawks that the great
council fire of the Onondagas as been extinguished.
January 20, 1870: According to some sources, “Buffalo soldier” Troops C,
D, I and K, Ninth Cavalry battle with Indians on Delaware Creek, in the
Guadaloupe Mountains in Texas. Two soldiers are killed.
January 21, 1634: Trader Captain John Stone is killed by Pequots. Stone
is often considered a less than reputable character by both the settlers
and the Indians.
January 22, 1813: British Colonel Henry Proctor, with 600 soldiers, and
600 Indian warriors attack General James Winchester and his 850
soldiers, in Monroe (called Frenchtown, at the time), Michigan.
Winchester's forces are split up on both sides of the Raisin River. When
the British and Indians attacked the forces on the south bank during a
snow storm, they killed almost 100 American. Winchester is taken
prisoner. He surrenders his entire force of almost 500 men, today, even
though his troops on the north side of the river are virtually untouched
by the fighting. Proctor marches his able-bodied captives to Fort
Malden, Ontario, Canada. Leaving sixty-four wounded Americans in
Frenchtown under a limited guard. Angry Indians later attack and kill
most of the wounded. This attack is called the "Raisin River Massacre,”
and it becomes a battle cry of the War of 1812.
January 23, 1837: American forces under Colonel Cawfield surprise a
group of Seminoles under Chief Osuchee (Cooper) a “Ahapopka Lake” in
Florida. The Chief and several warriors are killed in the fighting.
January 24, 1835: The Mexican Governor Figueroa in Monterey, California
writes a letter to the Alcalde of San José. He warns the local ranchers
not to mount punative expeditions against the local Indians. Some
Indians have been raiding ranches to steal the horses. One more than one
occasion, the Mexicans have killed innocent Tulare Indians in their
efforts to punish the thieves.
January 25, 1856: The second half of the Quinault andQuileute treaty (12
stat. 971) is signed at Olympia, Washington. The first half is signed on
July 1, 1855.
January 26, 1836: The “Battle of Hitchity” takes place in Stewart
County, Georgia. Creek warriors on the Chattahoochee River are attacked
by the local militia.
January 27, 1730: After the battle of Fort Rosalie (modern Natchez,
Mississippi), the French are determined to defeat the Natchez Indians. A
French-Canadian named Jean Paul Le Sueur, who has lived with the local
Indians for years, volunteers to recruit Indians from other tribes to
fight the Natchez. With a force of approximately 700 Choctaws, Le Sueur
arrives at the main Natchez village. Le Sueur's fighters force the
Natchez to take refuge in two forts they have constructed. They remain
bottled-up here until the main French force of 200 soldiers arrive in
February. During the fighting, eighty Natchez warriors are killed. Le
Sueur's forces rescue 166 prisoners held by the Natchez.
January 28, 1978: An election for Amendment III to the Constitution for
the Papago (Tohono O’odham) is held . Of the 5,087 people who could
vote, 1,622 pulled the lever for it, 408 against it.
January 29, 695: Maya warriors from Naranjo attack forces from Tikal.
This is as part of a series of attacks on neighboring cities in
Guatemala.
January 30, 1806: Future Principal Chief of the Choctaws, Peter Perkins
Pitchlynn, is born in Mississippi.
January 31, 1833: The Mi’kmaq Waycobah First Nation reserve of
Whycocomagh #2 is established in Nova Scotia, according to the Nova
Scotia Councils.
=========================
That's it for this newsletter. I am sure I have forgotton something, I
usually do.
Have a great month,
Phil
phil-@rocketmail.com
==================================
End of the January 2003 Newsletter
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