by RoNeisha Mullen | The Flint Journal

FLINT TWP. — Local Native American education programs are seeing declining numbers, a sad statement on families rejecting their heritage, some educators say.

“For so long, Native Americans had been taught to deny their culture because they’d be tormented,” said Jean Keen, a Native American specialist with the Carman-Ainsworth/Westwood Heights program.

“Now, we’re having a hard time getting them to embrace it. They don’t understand the point. Schools spend a lot of time chasing families they know are eligible.”

Such local programs are trying to find more students but that can be difficult in the face of the cultural apathy, not to mention declining Native American numbers.

“A lot of our students don’t know that they are of Native American heritage,” said Sue Diebel, a Carman-Ainsworth teacher who’s part of an advisory group over the program. “Tribes are becoming extinct because the older people are dying and the young people don’t know their culture.”

At least six districts in Genesee County have federally funded Native American education programs, offering free tutoring, after-school activities that focus on culture and awareness, and summer day camp.

The Carman-Ainsworth/Westwood program expects to see a drop of 30 students next school year, from about 525 to 495. That means a loss in cash for the program, which receives about $250 per student.

Keen is looking to reduce the $132,973 annual budget by $7,000.

In order to enroll, parents of students must verify their Indian heritage and youngsters must identify their tribe and family background.

According to the 2000 census, 6,870 people in Genesee County define themselves as at least part Native American. Flint Township was home to 556 of them.

Enrollment also is dropping for the Flint School District’s Native American program, but not necessarily over cultural issues, one official says.

“People are leaving public schools,” said Veda Balla, program officer of Indian Education for Flint. “Also, people of mixed ancestry are only reporting one race, which means we don’t know that they’re Native American because they didn’t report it.”

Balla who’s been with the district since 1992, said she’s had as many as 700 students enrolled in the program at one time. This year there are 311 and next year only 226 are expected.

Balla said she’s pretty good at scaling back, but “worse-case scenario I’d cut my own hours to save money.”

Proponents say those kind of reductions are too bad, given the obvious benefits of the program and one-on-one time that students get.

Antoinette Aubrey, parent member and chairwoman of the Carman/Westwood program, has three children in Westwood, including two in special education. Aubrey said the program helps her children academically.

“If you read something to him, he doesn’t comprehend it,” Aubrey said of her son who attends McMonagle Elementary.

“But if you put it in front of him and show it to him, he understands it better. He’s almost up to his grade because through the tutoring and this program, he gets the help he needs.”

Diebel said the after-school cultural programs can only introduce heritage, not teach it. She said parents should teach their children to embrace their culture.

“If you have even one drop of Native American blood take pride in that because those are the people who were here first,” Diebel said. “You are the ones who can keep what is left of your tribe alive.”

By Travis Coleman Journal staff writer

SIOUX CITY — The proposed creation of a Commission on Native American Affairs is up for a vote in the Iowa House of Representatives after being unanimously approved by the House State Government Committee this week.

The commission aims to work with tribal governments, groups and members in the areas of human rights, access to justice, economic equality and the elimination of discrimination.

Gov. Chet Culver will appoint an 11-person committee with four people representing the land-holding tribes in Iowa: Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.

Of seven other appointed members, at least one must be a tribal member living on a tribal settlement or reservation in Iowa. Five members will serve two-year terms and six will serve four-year terms.

“There are over 115,000 Native Americans in Iowa, and they deserve the same respect and protections that other Iowans enjoy every day,” said Rep. Wes Whitead of Sioux City.

Whitead serves on the State Government Committee and supported the measure. The commission would be under the Department of Human Rights along with the commissions on African Americans, Latino Affairs and Asian and Pacific Islanders.

Appointment of members is set for completion by Sept. 1.

Texas State Technical College Waco
Reporter: Mary Drennon
Email Address: mary.drennon@tstc.edu

WACO) – Colorful costumes, social Native American dance and song and much more will be on tap this spring at Texas State Technical College Waco.

The Native American Student Association of TSTC will host the 2008 Waco Intertribal Powwow from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 8, in the gym of the Murray Watson Jr. Recreation Center on Campus Drive. The event is sponsored by the Four Winds Intertribal Society Inc.

The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Highlights of the event include a traditional Gourd Dance with Head Gourd Dancer Bobby Cazares at noon and again at 5 p.m. Grand Entry will be 1 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. Ray Duncan will serve as Master of Ceremony, with Phil Stucker as Head Man and Rita Deer Sky as Head Lady. Drum group is Lodge Pole Singers and Arena Director is Steve Zavala.

There are no drugs, alcohol, firearms or pets allowed at the event. Spectators are welcome to bring lawn chairs, as seating will be limited.

Vendors or dancers interested in participating in the 2008 Powwow can contact Leah Williams via e-mail at waconasa@tstc.edu or call, toll-free, 800-792-8784, ext. 3622.

For more information, visit the NASA Club Web Site.

By Blaine Kyllo

Propaganda Games was formed three years ago by a group of former Electronic Arts staffers. Within months, it was acquired by Buena Vista Games, now Disney Interactive Studios. In an interview with the Georgia Straight at Propaganda’s Vancouver offices, general manager and vice president Josh Holmes said the company had been working on an original concept for a third-person action game, but scrapped it when it won the right to develop the new Turok video game for Touchstone, a Disney brand.

The first Turok game—1997′s Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for the Nintendo 64—was one of the earliest first-person shooters produced for console gaming systems. Turok first appeared in a 1954 comic book in a story by Gaylord DuBois, who was known for writing outdoor-adventure comics about such characters as Tarzan, Roy Rogers, and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. Turok changed over the years, depending on who was using him and for what purpose, but one thing has remained constant: Turok is a Native American.

“Reimagining is in vogue in entertainment today,” game director Joel Manners told the Straight. He cited Batman Begins and Battlestar Galactica as good examples of how characters have been reinvented. “There are really good stories that need to be retold in a way that is relevant to today,” Manners said. “There’s nothing irrelevant about dinosaurs,” which feature prominently in the new Turok game.

The development team was acutely aware that its protagonist was aboriginal. “It means a lot,” admitted Manners, “and it doesn’t mean anything.” The game, he explained, doesn’t make a point about heritage; it makes a point about heroism. In an effort to avoid clichés and stereotypes, Manners said, they simply treated the characters and the story with respect. “When you justify a character because of their heritage,” he said, “you have to be cautious.

“The fact that Turok is of one heritage or another is not important,” Manners continued. “He’s a hero. The heroism that he is displaying comes from his heritage, but it’s something anyone is capable of.”

Manners said the development group talked about other game genres in early meetings, but never seriously considered them. “The first-person perspective lends an intimacy. Having dinosaurs coming at you is central to the feeling of terror. It’s not as scary when you see creatures jumping on someone else.”

Propaganda, which increased its staff as it developed Turok, now employs about 150 people. Holmes said that in recent months, they’ve been organizing the company into two teams, and they’re already in preproduction on their next two titles, one of which is an action role-playing game. “We’d like to get to a point where we’ve got two games in production and one in concept,” he said. Propaganda won’t get much bigger than 200 employees, though, an optimal size for the studio, according to Holmes.

By Greg Flakus, VoA News

They have been called the Greatest Generation for what they did to stop the Nazis in Europe and the Imperialist Japanese army in Asia and the Pacific. Veterans of World War II are said to be dying at the rate of 1,000 a day. Among those still with us are a few members of Native American Indian tribes, whose unique languages played a crucial role in the war effort. VOA correspondent Greg Flakus sought out one of them in Pine Ridge, South Dakota recently and filed this report about the last of the Lakota Code Talkers

Navajo Code Talkers

September 27, 2007 – Pine Ridge, South Dakota – The language is Lakota, one of three dialects of the people collectively called Sioux, a tribe of hunters and warriors that once roamed all over the northern plains. The language is divided into three dialects – Dakota, Nakota and Lakota – but any person who speaks one dialect can understand the others.

Clarence Wolf Guts is an 83-year-old Lakota warrior whose ability to speak his native language played a role in defeating the Japanese in World War II.

“I helped win the war, I helped, me and my buddies,” he said.

With a surname that many non-Indians in the US military found amusing, Clarence Wolf Guts took his fair share of teasing, but he soon found himself assigned with other Lakota speakers to a special unit. The so-called code talkers would send and receive messages in their language. Similar programs were operated by the U.S. Marines using mainly Navajo speakers. The Japanese were never able to understand the messages.

Clarence Wolf Guts

It was dangerous work, often carried out near the front lines, where Clarence says he saw plenty of combat.

“We got shot at and we did some shooting ourselves. You know it is not easy shooting at another human being,” he said.

Until a couple of years ago most people who knew Clarence Wolf Guts on the Pine Ridge reservation had no idea that he had been a code talker because he seldom spoke about it. Former Pine Ridge neighbor Charles Trimble now directs the Institute of American Indian Studies at the University of South Dakota.

Charles Trimble

“We did not know it,” he said. “I did not know until a couple of years ago when I was reading something. He never talked about it. A lot of times veterans would come home, especially during World War II and you would very seldom, except when two or three got together, hear them talk about that-about the horrible things that happened around them or anything else.”

It would be difficult to form a Lakota code-talker unit today because most of the estimated 8,000 speakers are elderly people and few young Lakotas can speak the language fluently. But the university offers classes in Lakota for both Indian and non-Indian students and Trimble says this helps keep the language alive.

“I think it is important,” he said. “I think it is beautiful and I think it helps a person and, certainly, it keeps the tribe alive, as a tribe.”

Trimble says the story of the Lakota code talkers is an important part of the heritage that binds tribal members together.

“There are benefits to knowing you are an Indian and accepting it, being an Indian and being proud of it and understanding it,” he said.

Clarence Wolf Guts now lives in a retirement home in Pine Ridge. He says seeing the people of his country healthy and happy is the greatest reward he gained from his service in the war.

“When I see people laughing and having a good time I realize why we were over there,” he said. “We done it for the people and if they are happy, then I am the happiest person alive.”

For many years after the war the code talkers were largely forgotten. But after military documents were declassified in the 1990s and a book came out about the Navajo code talkers, historians and news reporters sought out the surviving code talkers. There had been over a 100 of them from 17 tribes. Most of them have passed on now, but a few like Clarence Wolf Guts remain to tell the story of how they used their native tongue to help win a war.

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Science Conference Addresses Importance of Preservation

By Art Chimes, VoA News

San Francisco, CA – February 28, 2007 – There are nearly 7,000 languages on Earth, but experts say about half of them are endangered, meaning only a small and declining number of often elderly people speak the language. Major world and national languages crowd out indigenous ones, and it’s estimated that more languages became extinct in the 20th century than at any other time in history.

For scientists, the loss of a language represents a very real loss of knowledge. And that knowledge could save lives at a time when drug companies search tropical forests for biologically-based medical breakthroughs, and many if not most plant and animal species remain unknown to Western science.

Professor David Harrison of Swarthmore College decries the loss of scientific knowledge when languages die

At last week’s meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, David Harrison of Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania said saving endangered languages could help scientists harness knowledge that might otherwise be lost.

“Vast domains of knowledge about meteorology, mathematics, weather cycles, plant and animal behavior, how to domesticate plants and animals, how to control genetic stocks exists,” Harrison stressed. “It is out there, it is fragile, it is very rapidly eroding.”

Revitalizing a dying language can help heal a community according to Daryl Baldwin, an expert on the Myaamia language and culture that once thrived in the American Midwest

When a language goes, so does culture. The Miami are a native people that once thrived in the American Midwest. Three centuries ago, their Myaamia language was widely spoken. But the language began to die out as the tribe was forced from its ancestral homeland and its members became more assimilated in mainstream America. It was essentially extinct by the 1960s. However, the language had been well documented, and Daryl Baldwin and his Myaamia Project have been working to revitalize both the language and the culture it represents.

“For communities that have been socially disrupted, the language provides an avenue by which they can mend and heal,” said Baldwin, “because embodied in that language is a great deal of information about how we relate to each other and how we relate to our landscape. And so language revitalization has been incredibly enriching. It’s been daunting. Language loss is about social change; language reclamation is also about social change.”

Hawaiian culture thrives but the language is threatened says William Wilson of the University of Hawaii

Revitalizing an endangered language is never easy. In Hawaii, the U.S. state that was an independent monarchy until 1893, the culture is strong, but the language has faced severe challenges, such as a law that prohibited teaching it in schools until two decades ago. William Wilson of the University of Hawaii says it is important to expose young Hawaiians to the language, and the subject now is taught to school children.

“So that’s increasing the numbers of speakers,” Wilson said. “In 1986, when we started, there were less than 50 children in all of Hawaii that could speak Hawaiian fluently. Now we have about 2,000 in our school system. More importantly, there are actually families that speak Hawaiian at home. And so we’ve started infant-toddler programs, where those children can come together before they go to preschool.”

Leanne Hinton of the University of California says 1:1 intensive programs are preserving native languages in her state

On the mainland, California has a tremendous heritage of language diversity, with as many as 100 native languages having been spoken there. Many are now endangered or gone entirely. Leanne Hinton of the University of California says one-on-one intensive programs are helping sustain threatened languages.

“One of them is the master-apprentice language learning program, which pairs the last speakers of native languages with younger members of the tribe who want to learn it. And we teach them the fundamentals of language immersion, and they are supposed to spend 10 or 20 hours a week just living their lives together in the language and without recourse to English,” Hinton explained.

Despite efforts like these, indigenous and other minority languages will continue to be threatened, and many likely will die off. But aggressive programs can help ensure the survival of other languages, along with the knowledge and culture they embody.

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This report originally appeared on VoA News.

NCAI Empowers Native Youth through New Youth Ambassador Leadership Program

Release by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)

In an effort to expand youth leadership in  Indian Country, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) has created the Youth Ambassador Leadership Program (YALP) to acknowledge the strong leadership capabilities and skills present within both Native youth.

“Native youth are collaborating in ways that will benefit all of us in the future and this program will only enhance the way in which they coordinate their efforts to improve the lives of their peers,” said NCAI President Joe Garcia.

The two Ambassadors (male and female) and two Under-Ambassadors (male and female) will serve as spokespersons for the NCAI Youth Commission to raise public awareness about the many important issues impacting American Indians and Alaska Native youth throughout Indian County.

The competition to become YALP Ambassadors included an oration, contemporary dress, extemporaneous question, cultural presentation and debate. Contestants were also judged recommendations and grade point average. The top male and female candidates each receive an academic scholarship for $2,500.

Ambassadors:

Patricia Carter, Nez Perce Tribe, Sophomore at Northwest Indian College studying Native American Studies

“The implementation of this new program is exciting. Our strength is our diversity within the leadership program. We all have various ideas and have the drive and passion to implement new initiatives such as creating a multimedia campaign to fight drug and alcohol abuse and push for stronger possession laws. We can educate other youth about NCAI and Indian Country Initiatives.

Quintin Lopez, Tohono O’odham Nation, senior at Hasan Preparatory and Leadership School

“For the next two years as a representative, I will express my true feelings and those of the youth. They should be heard. I will do more with Native youth and have them be more outspoken about who they are and where they come from.”

Under-Ambassadors:

Marrisa Corpuz, Tlingit-Haida, freshman at the University of Alaska Southeast

“This is a wonderful opportunity for me to reach out to youth on a national level and a personal level. I am very excited to see the issues that we will be dealing with and to assist in creating solutions. I know that I am working with three wonderful Native youth and with the mergence all of our individual strengths we will make a difference and impact on Indian Nations. I can’t wait to get out and hear the voices of the Indian youth of America. I can assure you that we will represent Indian Youth across the nation to the best of our capabilities.”

Nick Stranger, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Senior at Lake Roosevelt High School

“I look forward to this opportunity to learn more about politics and the political process in Indian Country. I’ve always been active in sports so this is something new that I can do. I’m Interested  to learn more about Native issues.”

For more information about YALP, contact Jennifer Rackliff at 202-466-7767.

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Founded in 1944, the National Congress of American Indians is the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization in the country.  NCAI advocates on behalf of more than 250 tribal governments, promoting strong tribal-federal government-to-government policies, and promoting a better understanding among the general public regarding American Indian and Alaska Native governments, people and rights. Learn more at http://www.ncai.org.

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NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY & CULTURE

Thsi page has Native American timelimes, documents, treaties, etc.

It also has information that is important and impacting to Native Americans.

It contains many good links to other Native American themed websites, including Native American art, history and  poetry

check it out here: http://www.teacheroz.com/Native_Americans.htm

Here is a great site with much information, original hard to find documents, great videos and a multilingual mailing list.

Some of the sections of this site I found useful were the complete list of tribes and the listing Native leaders.

Thanks for offering such a great site!

Check them out at http://www.indigenouspeople.net/

“The world is full of stories, and from time to time they permit themselves to be told.”

Native American Ceremonies

Ceremony plays a vital, essential role in Native American religions. Whereas western religions typically consider ceremony the servant of theology, Native American religions barely recognize the distinction between myth and ritual.Often the ritual proves to be established and secure while the myth is vague and unclear. Indian ceremonies grew up within local groups; some elements of Indian ceremonials have been traced back to the Old World. The ceremonies were adapted locally, using both traditional and borrowed elements, to suit local needs. These ceremonies often began as practical actions.

Indians were eager to embrace ceremonies or portions of ceremonies that provided power to conquer the difficulties of life. As these practices developed, they were modified and imbued with additional meanings and purposes.

Apache:

• Ceremonial Dances
  • Rain Dance
  • Good Crop Dance
  • Harvest Dance
  • Spirit Dance

• Life Cycle Rites
  • Na’ii’es - Sunrise Ceremony (Female Puberty Rite)
    • The most important and frequent community ceremony. It normally takes place in the summer months of the year after a girl’s first menstruation.
  • First Steps Rite

Cherokee:

• Ceremonial Dances
  • Stomp Dance

Diegueño Indians (California)

• Ceremonial Dances
  • Awikunchi – A fair weather making ceremonial dance and song.

Lakota:

• The Seven Sacred Rites
  • The Sweat Lodge
  • The Vision Quest
  • Ghost Keeping
  • The Sun Dance
  • Making Relatives
  • Puberty Ceremony
  • Throwing the Ball

CLICK HERE FOR Native American Religions

Gods, Goddesses, Religions & Beliefs of the Native Americans

Native Beliefs share some common tendencies. Religion tends to be closely related to the natural world. The local terrain is elevated with supernatural meaning, and natural objects are imbued with sacred presences. Ceremonial rituals involving these supernatural-natural objects are meant to ensure communal and individual prosperity. These common underlying features unite a diversity of contemporary Native American sects.

CLICK HERE FOR NATIVE CEREMONIES

~ The Last Warrior ~

High on bleak, stony rag,

Unmoving, he sits astride

His ragged coated pony.

Only telltale frozen breaths,

Separate them from

The still, winter black boles

Of ancient leafless trees.

The pony, blown and lame,

Stands with lowered head,

Ears flattened to the sound

Of a distant wolf pack.

The man on his back,

All weapons lost,

Ignores the trickling blood

From savage wounds,

Mingling his war paint.

Eyes burning fiercely

He strains to find

The sign he seeks:

Behind, the sound of enemy

Draws ever closer.

At last, faith rewarded,

He sees far below

In the deep valley,

Arriving at the edge

Of the fast flowing river,

The great she bear

With two gamboling cubs:

To fish the racing salmon,

Drawn relentlessly toward

Their age-old spawning ground.

Silently, the wounded brave

Offers his final prayer

To the eternal clan bear;

Totem and guardian

Of his battle slain tribe.

The enemy, exultant,

Are almost upon him,

Yet he looks not behind:

He sees only the Great Spirit,

Surrounding him kindly

In loving, firm embrace.

While the enemy closes in,

He straightens himself;

His voice rings loud and clear,

Echoing across the land

To the distant cloudless sky.

One last defiant war cry

As he spurs on his pony,

And leaps…

Into the world of his ancestors.

W.J. Bruce

Often, around the fire in the long house of the Iroquois, during the Moon of the Long Nights, this tale is told.

Three Arrows was a boy of the Mohawk tribe. Although he had not yet seen fourteen winters he was already known among the Iroquois for his skill and daring. His arrows sped true to their mark. His name was given him when with three bone-tipped arrows he brought down three flying wild geese from the same flock. He could travel in the forest as softly as the south wind and he was a skillful hunter, but he never killed a bird or animal unless his clan needed food. He was well-versed in woodcraft, fleet of foot, and a clever wrestler. His people said, ‘Soon he will be a chief like his father.’

The sun shone strong in the heart of Three Arrows, because soon he would have to meet the test of strength and endurance through which the boys of his clan attained manhood. He had no fear of the outcome of the dream fast which was so soon to take. (to fast means to go without food or water)

Three Arrow’s father was a great chief and a good man, and the boy’s life had been patterned after that of his father.

When the grass was knee-high, Three Arrows left his village with his father. They climbed to a sacred place in the mountains. They found a narrow cave at the back of a little plateau. Here Three Arrows decided to live for his few days of prayer and vigil. He was not permitted to eat anything during the days and nights of his dream fast. He had no weapons, and his only clothing was a breechclout and moccasins. His father left the boy with the promise that he would visit him each day that the ceremony lasted, at dawn.

Three Arrows prayed to the Great Spirit. He begged that his clan spirit would soon appear in a dream and tell him what his guardian animal or bird was to be. When he knew this, he would adopt that bird or animal as his special guardian for the rest of his life. When the dream came he would be free to return to his people, his dream fast successfully achieved.

For five suns Three Arrows spent his days and nights on the rocky plateau, only climbing down to the little spring for water after each sunset. His heart was filled with a dark cloud because that morning his father had sadly warned him that the next day, the sixth sun, he must return to his village even if no dream had come to him in the night. This meant returning to his people in disgrace without the chance of taking another dream fast.

That night Tree Arrows, weak from hunger and weary from ceaseless watch, cried out to the Great Mystery. ‘O Great Spirit, have pity on him who stands humbly before Thee. Let his clan spirit or a sign from beyond the thunderbird come to him before tomorrow’s sunrise, if it be Thy will.’

As he prayed, the wind suddenly veered from east too north. This cheered Three Arrows because the wind was now the wind of the great bear, and the bear was the totem of his clan. When he entered the cavern he smelled for the first time the unmistakable odour of a bear. This was strong medicine.

He crouched at the opening of the cave, too excited to lie down although his tire body craved rest. As he gazed out into the night he heard the rumble of thunder, saw the lightning flash, and felt the fierce breath of the wind from the north. Suddenly a vision came to him, and a gigantic bear stood beside him in the cave. Then Three Arrows heard it say, ‘Listen well, Mohawk. Your clan spirit has heard your prayer. Tonight you will learn a great mystery which will bring help and gladness to all your people.’

A terrible clash of thunder brought the dazed boy to his feet as the bear disappeared. He looked from the cave just as a streak of lightning flashed across the sky in the form of a blazing arrow. Was this the sign from the thunderbird ?

Suddenly the air was filled with a fearful sound. A shrill shrieking came from the ledge just above the cave. It sounded as though mountain lions fought in the storm; yet Three Arrows felt no fear as he climbed toward the ledge. As his keen eyes grew accustomed to the dim light he saw that the force of the wind was causing two young balsam trees to rub violently against each other. The strange noise was caused by friction, and as he listened and watched fear filled his heart, for, from where the two trees rubbed together a flash of lightning show smoke. Fascinated, he watched until flickers of flames followed the smoke.

Three Arrows had never seen fire of any kind at close range nor had any of his people. He scrambled down to the cave and covered his eyes in dread of this strange magic. Then he smelt bear again and he thought of his vision, his clan spirit, the bear, and its message. This was the mystery which he was to reveal to his people. The blazing arrow in the sky was to be his totem, and his new name – Blazing Arrow.

At daybreak, Blazing Arrow climbed onto the ledge and broke two dried sticks from what remained of one of the balsams. He rubbed them violently together, but nothing happened. ‘The magic is too powerful for me,’ he thought.

Then a picture of his clan and village formed in his mind, and he patiently rubbed the hot sticks together again. His will power took the place of his tired muscles. Soon a little wisp of smoke greeted his renewed efforts, then came a bright spark on one of the stick. Blazing Arrow waved it as he had seen the fiery arrow wave in the night sky. A resinous blister on the stick glowed, then flamed.

Fire had come to the Six Nations!

As Told By Glenn Welker

Long, long ago, the Hopis were greatly troubled by the wind. It blew and blew and blew and blew–all the time. The Hopis planted their crops, but before the seeds could begin to sprout, the wind blew the soil and seeds away. Unhappy and worried, all the people made prayer offerings of many kinds. But they accomplished nothing.

The old men held councils in their kivas. They smoked their pipes prayerfully and asked one another, “Why do the gods turn such strong winds upon us?” After a while, they decided to ask for help from the “Little Fellows” who were the two little War Gods, two of the five grandsons of Spider Woman.

“Why did you ask us to come?” was their first question.

“We need your help,” answered the old men. “Something must be done to the Wind.”

“We will see what we can do for you,” said the Little Fellows. “You stay here and make many more prayer offerings.”

The Hopis make many kinds of prayer offerings–as many as there are prayers, and there are prayers for every occasion in life and death. They are reverently fashioned of various types of feathers, carved and painted sticks, and hand-spun cotton yarn.

The Little Fellows went first to their wise old grandmother, Spider Woman. They asked her to make some sweet cornmeal mush for them to take along on a journey. Of course they knew who the Wind God was and knew that he lived over near Sunset Mountain in the big crack of the black rock.

When Spider Woman had the cornmeal mush ready, the Little Fellows came back to the kiva where the men were holding their council. The prayer offerings were ready and also the ball that the Little Fellows like to take with them wherever they went. They liked to play catch with it.

The men made bows and arrows for them to take on their journey which seemed much like going on a war party. The arrows were tipped with bluebird feathers, thought to be more powerful than any other kinds of feathers.

The two Little Fellows started toward the San Francisco Peaks. The old men went along until they reached the Little Colorado River, and there they sat down and smoked their pipes. The smoking of tobacco among the Hopis, as among many other tribes, is strictly ceremonial. The sacred smoke carried the prayers of the Hopis to their Gods.

Continuing their journey, the two Little Fellows played catch- ball from time to time. On the fourth day they reached the home of the Wind God who lived at the foot of Sunset Crater, in a big crack in the black rock. There he breathed through the crack, as he does to this day. The Little Fellows threw the prayer offerings into the crack and hastily put their old grandmother’s sticky cornmeal mush into and over the crack, and thus sealed the Wind God’s door. Phew–he became very angry, so angry that he blew and blew and blew, but could not get out. The Little Fellows laughed and laughed and then went home, feeling very proud of themselves and of what they had done.

But after a while, the people in the villages began to feel very hot. Every day the weather became hotter and hotter. People came out of their homes and stood on housetops to look toward the San Francisco Peaks, to see if any clouds were coming their way. But they did not see even a wisp of a cloud, and they seemed not to feel a breath of air. They thought they would suffocate.

“We must do something right away,” everyone said or thought. So the men made some more prayer offerings and called the two Little Fellows again. “Please go back to the House of the Wind God at once and tell him that there must be peace between us. Then give him these prayer offerings and let him out. This heat is much worse than the wind.”

The Little Fellows replied, “We will go and see what we can do with the Wind God to make life more comfortable for you.”

After four days, they arrived at the House of Yaponcha–the House of the Wind God. The Little Fellows decided that the wisest thing to do would be to let the Wind God have a small hole open–just enough to let him breathe through but not enough for him to come out of the crack in the black rock.

So they took a little of the cornmeal mush out of the crack. Immediately, a nice cool breeze came out and a small white cloud appeared. It floated over across the desert toward the Hopi villages.

When the Little Fellows reached home, everyone was pleased. The Hopis have been grateful to the Little Fellows ever since. The winds have been perfect–just strong enough to keep the people happy but not strong enough to blow everything away.

Every since then, every year in the windy month of March, the chiefs and the high priests of the three villages on the Second Mesa give prayer offerings to the Wind God, Yaponcha.

Long, long ago, animals and trees talked with each other, but there was no fire at that time.Fox was most clever and he tried to think of a way to create fire for the world. One day, he decided to visit the Geese, te-tl, whose cry he wished to learn how to imitate. They promised to teach him if he would fly with them. So they contrived a way to attach wings to Fox, but cautioned him never to open his eyes while flying.
Whenever the Geese arose in flight, Fox also flew along with them to practice their cry. On one such adventure, darkness descended suddenly as they flew over the village of the fireflies, ko-na- tcic-a. In midflight, the glare from the flickering fireflies caused Fox to forget and he opened his eyes–instantly his wings collapsed! His fall was uncontrollable. He landed within the walled area of the firefly village, where a fire constantly burned in the centre.

Two kind fireflies came to see fallen Fox, who gave each one a necklace of juniper berries, katl-te-i-tse.

Fox hoped to persuade the two fireflies to tell him where he could find a way over the wall to the outside. They led him to a cedar tree, which they explained would bend down upon command and catapult him over the wall if he so desired.
That evening, Fox found the spring where fireflies obtained their water. There also, he discovered coloured earth, which when mixed with water made paint. He decided to give himself a coat of white. Upon returning to the village, Fox suggested to the fireflies, “Let’s have a festival where we can dance and I will produce the music.”

They all agreed that would be fun and helped to gather wood to build up a greater fire. Secretly, Fox tied a piece of cedar bark to his tail. Then he made a drum, probably the first one ever constructed, and beat it vigorously with a stick for the dancing fireflies. Gradually, he moved closer and closer to the fire.

Fox pretended to tire from beating the drum. He gave it to some fireflies who wanted to help make the music. Fox quickly thrust his tail into the fire, lighting the bark, and exclaimed, “It is too warm here for me, I must find a cooler place.”

Straight to the cedar tree Fox ran, calling, “Bend down to me, my cedar tree, bend down!”
Down bent the cedar tree for Fox to catch hold, then up it carried him far over the wall. On and on he ran, with the fireflies in pursuit.
As Fox ran along, brush and wood on either side of his path were ignited from the sparks dropping from the burning bark tied to his tail.

Fox finally tired and gave the burning bark to Hawk, i-tsarl-tsu- i, who carried it to brown Crane, tsi-nes-tso-l. He flew far southward, scattering fire sparks everywhere. This is how fire first spread over the earth.

Fireflies continued chasing Fox all the way to his burrow and declared, “Forever after, Wily Fox, your punishment for stealing our fire will be that you can never make use of it for yourself.”

For the Apache nation, this too was the beginning of fire for them. Soon they learned to use it for cooking their food and to keep themselves warm in cold weather.

Apache, The Story of Creation

In the beginning nothing existed–no earth, no sky, no sun, no moon, only darkness was everywhere.

Suddenly from the darkness emerged a thin disc, one side yellow and the other side white, appearing suspended in midair. Within the disc sat a small bearded man, Creator, the One Who Lives Above. As if waking from a long nap, he rubbed his eyes and face with both hands.

When he looked into the endless darkness, light appeared above. He looked down and it became a sea of light. To the east, he created yellow streaks of dawn. To the west, tints of many colours appeared everywhere. There were also clouds of different colours.

Creator wiped his sweating face and rubbed his hands together, thrusting them downward. Behold! A shining cloud upon which sat a little girl.

“Stand up and tell me where are you going,” said Creator. But she did not reply. He rubbed his eyes again and offered his right hand to the Girl-Without-Parents.

“Where did you come from?” she asked, grasping his hand.

“From the east where it is now light,” he replied, stepping upon her cloud.

“Where is the earth?” she asked.

“Where is the sky?” he asked, and sang, “I am thinking, thinking, thinking what I shall create next.” He sang four times, which was the magic number.

Creator brushed his face with his hands, rubbed them together, then flung them wide open! Before them stood Sun-God. Again Creator rubbed his sweaty brow and from his hands dropped Small- Boy.

All four gods sat in deep thought upon the small cloud.

“What shall we make next?” asked Creator. “This cloud is much too small for us to live upon.”

Then he created Tarantula, Big Dipper, Wind, Lightning-Maker, and some western clouds in which to house Lightning-Rumbler, which he just finished.

Creator sang, “Let us make earth. I am thinking of the earth, earth, earth; I am thinking of the earth,” he sang four times.

All four gods shook hands. In doing so, their sweat mixed together and Creator rubbed his palms, from which fell a small round, brown ball, not much larger than a bean.

Creator kicked it, and it expanded. Girl-Without-Parents kicked the ball, and it enlarged more. Sun-God and Small-Boy took turns giving it hard kicks, and each time the ball expanded. Creator told Wind to go inside the ball and to blow it up.

Tarantula spun a black cord and, attaching it to the ball, crawled away fast to the east, pulling on the cord with all his strength. Tarantula repeated with a blue cord to the south, a yellow cord to the west, and a white cord to the north. With mighty pulls in each direction, the brown ball stretched to immeasurable size–it became the earth! No hills, mountains, or rivers were visible; only smooth, treeless, brown plains appeared.

Creator scratched his chest and rubbed his fingers together and there appeared Hummingbird.

“Fly north, south, east, and west and tell us what you see,” said Creator.

“All is well,” reported Hummingbird upon his return. “The earth is most beautiful, with water on the west side.”

But the earth kept rolling and dancing up and down. So Creator made four giant posts–black, blue, yellow, and white to support the earth. Wind carried the four posts, placing them beneath the four cardinal points of the earth. The earth sat still.

Creator sang, “World is now made and now sits still,” which he repeated four times.

Then he began a song about the sky. None existed, but he thought there should be one. After singing about it four times, twenty- eight people appeared to help make a sky above the earth. Creator chanted about making chiefs for the earth and sky.

He sent Lightning-Maker to encircle the world, and he returned with three uncouth creatures, two girls and a boy found in a turquoise shell. They had no eyes, ears, hair, mouths, noses, or teeth. They had arms and legs, but no fingers or toes.

Sun-God sent for Fly to come and build a sweathouse. Girl- Without-Parents covered it with four heavy clouds. In front of the east doorway she placed a soft, red cloud for a foot-blanket to be used after the sweat.

Four stones were heated by the fire inside the sweathouse. The three uncouth creatures were placed inside. The others sang songs of healing on the outside, until it was time for the sweat to be finished. Out came the three strangers who stood upon the magic red cloud-blanket. Creator then shook his hands toward them, giving each one fingers, toes, mouths, eyes, ears, noses and hair.

Creator named the boy, Sky-Boy, to be chief of the Sky-People. One girl he named Earth-Daughter, to take charge of the earth and its crops. The other girl he named Pollen-Girl, and gave her charge of health care for all Earth-People.

Since the earth was flat and barren, Creator thought it fun to create animals, birds, trees, and a hill. He sent Pigeon to see how the world looked. Four days later, he returned and reported, “All is beautiful around the world. But four days from now, the water on the other side of the earth will rise and cause a mighty flood.”

Creator made a very tall pinon tree. Girl-Without-Parents covered the tree framework with pinon gum, creating a large, tight ball.

In four days, the flood occurred. Creator went up on a cloud, taking his twenty-eight helpers with him. Girl-Without-Parents put the others into the large, hollow ball, closing it tight at the top.

In twelve days, the water receded, leaving the float-ball high on a hilltop. The rushing floodwater changed the plains into mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers. Girl-Without-Parents led the gods out from the float-ball onto the new earth. She took them upon her cloud, drifting upward until they met Creator with his helpers, who had completed their work making the sky during the flood time on earth.

Together the two clouds descended to a valley below. There, Girl- Without-Parents gathered everyone together to listen to Creator.

“I am planning to leave you,” he said. “I wish each of you to do your best toward making a perfect, happy world.

“You, Lightning-Rumbler, shall have charge of clouds and water.

“You, Sky-Boy, look after all Sky-People.

“You, Earth-Daughter, take charge of all crops and Earth-People.

“You, Pollen-Girl, care for their health and guide them.

“You, Girl-Without-Parents, I leave you in charge over all.”

Creator then turned toward Girl-Without-Parents and together they rubbed their legs with their hands and quickly cast them forcefully downward. Immediately between them arose a great pile of wood, over which Creator waved a hand, creating fire.

Great billowy clouds of smoke at once drifted skyward. Into this cloud, Creator disappeared. The other gods followed him in other clouds of smoke, leaving the twenty-eight workers to people the earth.

Sun-God went east to live and travel with the Sun. Girl-Without- Parents departed westward to live on the far horizon. Small-Boy and Pollen-Girl made cloud homes in the south. Big Dipper can still be seen in the northern sky at night, a reliable guide to all.

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Traditional Blackfoot story of How the Buffalo Dance was given to the people.
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When the buffalo first came to be upon the land, they were not friendly to the people. When the hunters tried to coax them over the cliffs for the good of the villages, they were reluctant to offer themselves up. They did not relish being turned into blankets and dried flesh for winter rations. They did not want their hooves and horn to become tools and utinsels nor did they welcome their sinew being used for sewing. “No, no,” they said. We won’t fall into your traps. And we will not fall for your tricks.” So when the hunters guided them towards the abyss, they would always turn aside at the very last moment. With this lack of cooperation, it seemed the villagers would be hungry and cold and ragged all winter long.
Now one of the hunters’ had a daughter who was very proud of her father’s skill with the bow. During the fullness of summer, he always brought her the best of hides to dress, and she in turn would work the deerskins into the softest, whitest of garments for him to wear. Her own dresses were like the down of a snow goose, and the moccasins she made for the children and the grandmothers in the village were the most welcome of gifts.
But now with the hint of snow on the wind, and deer becoming more scarce in the willow breaks, she could see this reluctance on the part of the buffalo families could become a real problem.
Hunter’s Daughter decided she would do something about it.
She went to the base of the cliff and looked up. She began to sing in a low, soft voice, “Oh, buffalo family, come down and visit me. If you come down and feed my relatives in a wedding feast, I will join your family as the bride of your strongest warrior.”
She stopped and listened. She thought she heard the slight rumbling sound of thunder in the distance.
Again she sang, “Oh, buffalo family, come down and visit me. Feed my family in a wedding feast so that I may be a bride.”
The thunder was much louder now. Suddenly the buffalo family began falling from the sky at her feet.
One very large bull landed on top of the others, and walked across the backs of his relatives to stand before Hunter’s Daughter.
“I am here to claim you as my bride,” said Large Buffalo.
“Oh, but now I am afraid to go with you,” said Hunter’s Daughter.
“Ah, but you must,” said Large Buffalo, “For my people have come to provide your people with a wedding feast. As you can see, they have offered themselves up.”
“Yes, but I must run and tell my relatives the good news,” said Hunter’s Daughter. “No,” said Large Buffalo. No word need be sent. You are not getting away so easily.”
And with that said, Large Buffalo lifted her between his horns and carried her off to his village in the rolling grass hills.
The next morning the whole village was out looking for Hunter’s Daughter. When they found the mound of buffalo below the cliff, the father, who was in fact a fine tracker as well as a skilled hunter, looked at his daughter’s footprints in the dust.
“She’s gone off with a buffalo, he said. I shall follow them and bring her back.”
So Hunter walked out upon the plains, with only his bow and arrows as companions. He walked and walked a great distance until he was so tired that he had to sit down to rest beside a buffalo wallow.
Along came Magpie and sat down beside him.
Hunter spoke to Magpie in a respectful tone, “O knowledgeable bird, has my daughter been stolen from me by a buffalo? Have you seen them? Can you tell me where they have gone?”
Magpie replied with understanding, “Yes, I have seen them pass this way. They are resting just over this hill.”
“Well,” said Hunter, would you kindly take my daughter a message for me? Will you tell her I am here just over the hill?”
So Magpie flew to where Large Buffalo lay asleep amidst his relatives in the dry prairie grass. He hopped over to where Hunter’s Daughter was quilling moccasins, as she sat dutifully beside her sleeping husband. “Your father is waiting for you on the other side of the hill,” whispered Magpie to the maiden.
“Oh, this is very dangerous,” she told him. These buffalo are not friendly to us and they might try to hurt my father if he should come this way. Please tell him to wait for me and I will try to slip away to see him.”
Just then her husband, Large Buffalo, awoke and took off his horn. “Go bring me a drink from the wallow just over this hill,” said her husband.
So she took the horn in her hand and walked very casually over the hill.
Her father motioned silently for her to come with him, as he bent into a low crouch in the grass. “No,” she whispered. The buffalo are angry with our people who have killed their people. They will run after us and trample us into the dirt. I will go back and see what I can do to soothe their feelings.”
And so Hunter’s daughter took the horn of water back to her husband who gave a loud snort when he took a drink. The snort turned into a bellow and all of the buffalo got up in alarm. They all put their tails in the air and danced a buffalo dance over the hill, trampling the poor man to pieces who was still waiting for his daughter near the buffalo wallow.
His daughter sat down on the edge of the wallow and broke into tears.
“Why are you crying?” said her buffalo husband.
“You have killed my father and I am a prisoner, besides,” she sobbed.
“Well, what of my people?” her husband replied. We have given our children, our parents and some of our wives up to your relatives in exchange for your presence among us. A deal is a deal.”
But after some consideration of her feelings, Large Buffalo knelt down beside her and said to her, “If you can bring your father back to life again, we will let him take you back home to your people.”
So Hunter’s Daughter started to sing a little song. “Magpie, Magpie help me find some piece of my father which I can mend back whole again.”
Magpie appeared and sat down in front of her with his head cocked to the side.
“Magpie, Magpie, please see what you can find,” she sang softly to the wind which bent the grasses slightly apart. Magpie cocked his head to the side and looked carefully within the layered folds of the grasses as the wind sighed again. Quickly he picked out a piece of her father that had been hidden there, a little bit of bone.
“That will be enough to do the trick,” said Hunter’s Daughter, as she put the bone on the ground and covered it with her blanket.
And then she started to sing a reviving song that had the power to bring injured people back to the land of the living. Quietly she sang the song that her grandmother had taught her. After a few melodious passages, there was a lump under the blanket. She and Magpie looked under the blanket and could see a man, but the man was not breathing. He lay cold as stone. So Hunter’s Daughter continued to sing, a little softer, and a little softer, so as not to startle her father as he began to move. When he stood up, alive and strong, the buffalo people were amazed. They said to Hunter’s Daughter, “Will you sing this song for us after every hunt? We will teach your people the buffalo dance, so that whenever you dance before the hunt, you will be assured a good result. Then you will sing this song for us, and we will all come back to live again.”

Apache: How the Buffalo Were Released on Earth

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In the first days a powerful being named Humpback owned all the buffalo. He kept them in a corral in the mountains north of San Juan, where he lived with his young son. Not one buffalo would Humpback release for the people on earth, nor would he share any meat with those who lived near him.

Coyote decided that something should be done to release the buffalo from Humpback’s corral. He called the people to a council. “Humpback will not give us any buffalo,” Coyote said. “Let us all go over to his corral and make a plan to release them.”

They camped in the mountains near Humpback’s place, and after dark they made a careful inspection of his buffalo enclosure. The stone walls were too high to climb, and the only entrance was through the back door of Humpback’s house.

After four days Coyote summoned the people to another council, and asked them to offer suggestions for releasing the buffalo. “There is no way,” said one man. “To release the buffalo we must go into Humpback’s house, and he is too powerful a being for us to do that.”

“I have a plan,” Coyote said. “For four days we have secretly watched Humpback and his young son go about their daily activities. Have you not observed that the boy does not own a pet of any kind?”

The people did not understand what this had to do with releasing the buffalo, but they knew that Coyote was a great schemer and they waited for him to explain. “I shall change myself into a killdeer,” Coyote said. “In the morning when Humpback’s son goes down to the spring to get water, he will find a killdeer with a broken wing. He will want this bird for a pet and will take it back into the house. Once I am in the house I can fly into the corral, and the cries of a killdeer will frighten the buffalo into a stampede. They will come charging out through Humpback’s house and be released upon the earth.”

The people thought this was a good plan, and the next Morning when Humpback’s son came down the path to the spring he found a killdeer with a crippled wing. As Coyote had foreseen, the boy picked up the bird and carried it into the house.

“Look here,” the boy cried. “This is a very good bird!”

“It is good for nothing!” Humpback shouted. “All the birds and animals and people are rascals and schemers.” Above his fierce nose Humpback wore a blue mask, and through its slits his eyes glittered. His basket headdress was shaped like a cloud and was painted black with a zig-zag streak of yellow to represent lightning. Buffalo horns protruded from the sides.

“It is a very good bird,” the boy repeated.

“Take it back where you found it!” roared Humpback, and his frightened son did as he was told.

As soon as the killdeer was released it returned to where the people were camped and changed back to Coyote. “I have failed,” he said, “but that makes no difference. I will try again in the morning. Perhaps a small animal will be better than a bird.”

The next morning when Humpback’s son went to the spring, he found a small dog there, lapping at the water. The boy picked up the dog at once and hurried back into the house. “Look here!” he cried. “What a nice pet I have.”

“How foolish you are, boy!” Humpback growled. “A dog is good for nothing. I’ll kill it with my club.”

The boy held tight to the dog, and started to run away crying.

“Oh, very well,” Humpback said. “But first let me test that animal to make certain it is a dog. All animals in the world are schemers.” He took a coal of fire from the hearth and brought it closer and closer to the dog’s eyes until it gave three rapid barks. “It is a real dog,” Humpback declared. “You may keep it in the buffalo corral, but not in the house.”

This of course was exactly what Coyote wanted. As soon as darkness fell and Humpback and his son went to sleep, Coyote opened the back door of the house. Then he ran among the buffalo, barking as loud as he could. The buffalo were badly frightened because they had never before heard a dog bark. When Coyote ran nipping at their heels, they stampeded toward Humpback’s house and entered the rear door. The pounding of their hooves awakened Humpback, and although he jumped out of bed and tried to stop them, the buffalo smashed down his front door and escaped.

After the last of the shaggy animals had galloped away, Humpback’s son could not find his small dog. “Where is my pet?” he cried. “Where is my little dog?”

“That was no dog,” Humpback said sadly. “That was Coyote the Trickster. He has turned loose all our buffalo.”

Thus it was that the buffalo were released to scatter over all the earth.