Spirit of Enterprise: Yurok Woman and Husband Run the Historic Requa Inn in Redwood National Park

 

 Lynn Armitage: November 28, 2012
.

 Jan and Marty Wortman are a Native American couple that are currently running a bed-and-breakfast in California. It is a rather large 10,000-square-foot house on the banks of the Klamath River. The business appears to be doing extremely well and the owner are loving the individuals that come to visit.

.

"What Jan likes most about running the Requa Inn is sharing her tribal heritage and stories with guests, and seeing how happy they are to be there. “Every day you see that excitement in their eyes because it’s so beautiful here. You can’t help but always be in a state of gratitude and abundance,” she said."

.

 I think that they are doing is a wonderful thing. They have made in the economy and are still promoting their values as Native people. This is actually a great achievement and idea in order to pass on the ideas that Native people have. They are making money and are able to support themselves, while helping others learn about their Native culture in a positive light. They are considered to be entrepreneurs with all the success that they have been having. I am interested in what they are doing with the money. It is all good and well to be living good and well, but I wonder if they give back to their local Native community? They currently have 10 Native employees, which counts...I believe? I understand that financial success comes to each individual as their own, but I think that wealth should be spread around a tiny bit. I see no reason as to why not set up charities when or if an individual is wealthy enough. But I guess that is why wealthy people are wealthy...they don't tend to give their money away. Jan and Marty have received their fortune by hard work and dedication. I'm glad that they received the reward of it.

Tribes Reach $9 Million Goal and Purchase Sacred Site of Pe' Sla

 

Vincent Schilling: November 30, 2012

 .

“The historic requisition of Pe’ Sla started today in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the Crow Creek Tribe, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Tribe community gathered in a historic assembly of the United Tribes.

Pe’ Sla is sacred because it is related to the Lakota creation and it is the site for annual ceremonies. It has historically hosted many village gatherings. Black Elk, the Lakota visionary sought his visions at Pe’ Sla. It is the high mountain on a prairie in the heart of the Black Hills.

The land of Pe’ Sla was once protected by the 1868 and 1851 Sioux nation treaties. The United States violated those treaties and took the Black Hills in violation of the fifth amendment of the Constitution. Today the requisition is a historic event for the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people. The tribes will work together to form the Oceti Sakowin Sacred Land Protection Commission to protect Pe’ Sla. We will preserve the sacred site for traditional and cultural ceremonies and keep it in a pristine state for our future generations.

We are grateful to stand together before the creator and to help our people in reclaiming one of our most sacred sites. We are not waiting for the United States to deal with this justly on the Black Hills rights and we ask that now that we are exercising our inherent sovereign authority to protect this most sacred site. We must perpetuate our way of life for future generations.

We thank the members of the public who donated to this cause to create justice for all people and now we are more determined than ever that the United States must provide justice for our people. We thank the Reynolds family for working with us in our requisition of Pe’ Sla as a sacred site for Lakota, Nakota and Dakota people.”

.

 Finally! There has been a break through for Native people. It was unfair that they had to raise the money to buy back the land that they already donated, but still this is a massive achievement. It has taken a few months (since I last blogged about this), but the goal of $9 million dollars has been reached and their sacred site is back for the Native people. The speech above was something I considered to be extremely moving and connection to everyone that was involved in making this effort possible for the people. I can see how this is a victory for the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota people, but why did it take so long and why was it originally out of their power in the first place...I know it was because they donated the land for a nature reserve and then individuals came in and destroyed that idea. The struggle for power and control goes back extremely far, but I am extremely proud of the people that worked so hard in order to get back their sacred site. Activism and movements can cause a large impact on the world and change the way we live. I'm glad that this is a movement that worked out in a powerful way and gave back Native people their empowerment. They stood up to injustice and won! That is amazing. I can't get over how mind blowing that is. There deserves to be recognition for this.

Dartmouth and Indian Health Service Partner to Help Native Americans

 

ICTMN Staff: November 26, 2012

.

"Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) have partnered with the Indian Health Service to promote health and develop leaders in Indian country.....“This is the next step in our commitment to Native Americans and to helping Native communities become healthier and more vibrant,” says Kalina Newmark ’11, senior presidential fellow of global health, IHS relations coordinator at the Dartmouth Center for Health Care Delivery Science, in a Dartmouth press release."

 .

 Finally! This article I feel is one of the first to show some type of activism that isn't completely depressing or crapping on other things that people have down to push stereotypes on Native people. There is finally going to be a change for Native people and it is for the better. It is time that everyone steps up to the plate to help take care of a problem that westerners created. There wouldn't be a need for this, if we never would have come to America, but you can't change history. One can only learn from it and grow and try and make better choices in the next few decades. That doesn't mean that it will happen, but one can hope. No one should be denied access to appropriate healthcare. That isn't a choice. It should be a human right to be healthy and cared for. But Native individuals are not the only one's who don't have healthcare, but they are a little worse off than most. I want there to be a large social movement in which people demand healthcare. I am completely about activism. I want the world to change. I want healthcare to change. I want there to be a socialist healthcare. HEALTHCARE FOR ALL! MONEY SHOULD NOT BE AN ISSUE!

A Recent TV Slur Revives Debate About Sacheen Littlefeather and Her Role in Marlon Brando's Oscar Refusal

Dina Gilio-Whitaker: November 24, 2012
.

"A longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Littlefeather is a highly respected member of the Native American community. She has served as head woman dancer at many pow wows and is known for her work in health-care education in the Native community. In the 1980s she worked with Mother Teresa ministering to AIDS patients in hospice care, leading to her becoming one of the founding board members of the American Indian AIDS Institute of San Francisco. In 1981 she worked for the Kiowa tribe in Oklahoma and wrote a health-related column in the tribal newspaper. She has helped produce numerous Native American films, even sharing an Emmy Award in 1984 for her contribution to PBS’s Dance in America: A Song for Dead Warriors, which featured a ballet based on the life of Richard Oakes, one of the Alcatraz occupation leaders. She is also a co-coordinator of the Kateri Prayer Circle of San Francisco."

.

Littlefeather is a woman with an incredible amount of determination and strength to do what she did in the 1970s. I personally don't think that many women, especially a Native woman, would of had the strength to stand up in front of everyone and declare that Brando could not accept the very generous award because of the treatment of American Indians by the film industry and on television and because of “recent happenings at Wounded Knee." I find it rather impressive that a famous individual is actually paying attention to what is happening to the Native populations in the 1970s, enough so that he was willing to not accept his award, but instead sends up a Native woman. I don't know if I would consider this a cop out on his part? Is it weak that he didn't make the speech against what was happening himself or was he being attention the issue further by having a Native woman deliver the speech. He probably thought it was a better idea to have a Native woman deliver the speech than to have himself do it. It would be considered an attention grabber play, but it didn't work out the way he planned it would. It back fired completely. It destroyed her life. She was black listed from the film industry and had terrible racist articles written about her. The latest racist comment happened only a few months ago on the Jay Leno show. He said that she was not Native and called her a "stripper," because of a photoshoot that happened in Playboy.
.
The fact that she had to defend herself so strongly back then and still so strongly now shows that the opinion of Native people and especially woman haven't changed a whole lot. The article had to give an extreme amount of background (present in the above quote) to prove that she is a very active and important part of the environment. They had to defend her rights to be a Native American and prove that she was important and had something to prove. I find that the most depressing part, that a woman who has done so much for a community can be so easily destroyed by one action and never recover from it. She will never get back her power that she once held before the award show. I feel as thought it is partly Brando's fault for placing her in the situation, but she also took part in it. I don't think either part thought about how it would impact their lives forever. 

Victoria’s Secret Flap: Nothing Says Native American Heritage Month Like White Girls in Headdresses

By Sasha Houston Brown: November 11, 2012

  "I don’t know about you, but I usually spend this time of year parading around in my Navajo Hipster panties, feather headdress (on loan from Karlie Kloss and Gwen Stefani), Manifest Destiny T-Shirt and knee high fringed moccasins made in Taiwan while watching a Redskins game, smoking a pack of American Spirits and eating genetically modified Butter Ball turkey, because I’m just that traditional."

.

 I can understand the author's outrage when it comes to the terrible stereotypes that have come into large light recently with all of the Native American cultural faux pas. First there was the Native American themed parties, then Halloween, then Gwen Stefani, and finally Karlie Kloss. But was it really all of these individual's fault or has society not shown the negative side of portraying this stereotyped ideal of Native Americans? I know that the individuals that have offended the Native public has issued apologies, but is that really enough? To say sorry and move on? Who is going to teach American society about the implications of what they have done? Not only have all of theses people pushed the inaccurate stereotype of Native Americans onto the uneducated public, but they have also told everyone that it is okay to offend if you give an apology, but some how still manage to repeat the same mistake over again. The picture of Karlie Kloss above should be considered extremely offensive not only to the Native public, but also to the American public. Not for just the reason of 'acting/portraying' a Native individual, but for enforcing uneducated, heterosexual, stereotypical garbage at the public. No women in all honesty looks like that individual. She is blessed to have her beauty and body, but what costs did she sacrifice to her health in order to get it? Why does no one seem to care about women anymore? Why is society (America) so desensitized to other cultures or issues happening around it? It is embarrassing to come from a place that has so little understanding of the world around it. A lot of the time I feel it is by choice inflicted by society to not support the educational system, which makes individuals uneducated or unable to seek out higher learning. No one should have the right to destroy someone's culture or their character. When will individuals learn that no one are you making yourself looked down on, but others as well.

.

  "Native women, stripped of their humanity, are still objectified as a sexual fetish or exotic other. In fact, these kind of derogatory stereotypes have become a fixture of both American mythology and pop culture."

Indian Country, Social Media and the Right Response from Gwen Stefani and No Doubt

 

By Vincent Schilling: November 5, 2012

 "Within a few hours of posting their latest video “Lookin Hot”—in which Stefani was dancing suggestively in a series of video montages with cowboys and Indians and was also handcuffed and tied to a wall—social media outlets in Indian country were aflame with comments."

.

 I haven't personally seen the the video that has caused a large up rage in the Native community, but I am currently searching to see what was going on. This quote above gives a small view as to what No Doubt was doing in the video...being handcuffed and tied to a wall? Really? Really No Doubt? Why to abuse and awkwardly hyper-sexualize Native women. I don't understand the background as to why they would choose to display this in a music video, but it just makes me think of rape and violence toward Native women. Being tired up and chained to a wall seems like a pretty large visual statement. People that don't know the background or have never learned anything about Native cultures probably would see nothing wrong with this. More generations now a days are considered a visual culture and there is nothing wrong with seeing women tired up and being abuse, which in and of itself is completely wrong....but using this imagery causes individuals to believe that Native women are wild and need to be trained/tamed. It impacts the public on more than one point and can destroy all the hard work that Native women have worked to achieve.

.

“As a multi-racial band our foundation is built upon both diversity and consideration for other cultures. Our intention with our new video was never to offend, hurt or trivialize Native American people, their culture or their history. Although we consulted with Native American friends and Native American studies experts at the University of California, we realize now that we have offended people. This is of great concern to us and we are removing the video immediately. The music that inspired us when we started the band, and the community of friends, family, and fans that surrounds us was built upon respect, unity and inclusiveness. We sincerely apologize to the Native American community and anyone else offended by this video. Being hurtful to anyone is simply not who we are.”

.

The article goes on to state they he is proud of the way that No Doubt handled the issue that they were faced with (even though they make the issue themselves). The way in which they apologized was incredibly important in order to help bond the band back to the community, but the fact that it happened in the first place should somehow take away from the apology, maybe? No Doubt stated that they talked with individuals that have roots in Native American culture, but does that make it any better? Does saying that you developed an idea and worked with a certain type of people take away from the racist ideals attached to it? It's like individuals say "It's not racist, because I have this type of friend" or "I'm not racist, but..." I understand that pulling the video down probably costs the band a lot of money and wasted a lot of people's time, but did anyone notice that he son was dressed up as a Native individual for Halloween? Does that make it okay to wear people around at a costume in order to collect candy and make fun? It that what cultures have become? Something that is just worn around and laughed at? I guess this can be considered a victory for the Indian Nation, but is it really a victory or have they been silenced again until something else offensive pops up?

.

Native Quilts and Baskets

 

 The trip to the museum was extremely interesting. It was divided into two different parts: Baskets and Quilts. There were so many different types of baskets that came from all over the United States. I believe that my favorite basket was the giant strawberry one. It looked like it was made out of  window blinds. The basket was incredibly large and actually looked like a strawberry. It was red and had a green lid. It was rather amazing to know that someone could make something so large and have it look like what it was suppose to, even through it was made out of such a weird material. The fact that the museum had basket from different moments in time was even more interesting to witness. There were baskets that were newer and ones that came from a long time ago. The baskets that were newer weren't as beautiful as the older baskets where. I understand that they were made the same way and the tradition is there, but they didn't have the usage factor. I think when something is made and actually used it has a stronger sense of pride and well roundedness. There is something about it that takes a new shape and connects you to the past. It is almost like being there. There were a several newer baskets that were beautiful...don't get me wrong, but the feeling just isn't the same. The materials used to make the baskets was amazing that they still had the sweet grass smell. I love the smell of sweet grass. It is so fresh and light. I couldn't believe that the smell lasted for so long without fading away.
After the baskets we went to see some quilts. They were pretty extraordinary. The colors and pattern shapes were breathe taking. There is so much detail work that goes into making a quilt. I had no idea that it took so many hours and so much effort to learn. Even the patterns that were made in the stitching where extremely detailed. I have always wanted to learn how to make a quilt. I feel like it would be a beautiful thing to be able to do. I would love to give them away to family members and friends. It seems like it would be such an amazing gift idea. The only blankets that I know how to do are the knot blankets. They aren't that hard, but they are time intensive. It means a lot of the individual that receives them as well. You have to put kindness, care and happy thoughts into it while you make the blanket so that they can always be comfy and protected. That is an amazing thing to be able to do from someone else that you love and care for. The most interesting quilt was the one that they received from the 1950s or 40s...I believe. It was beautiful and there was a back story to it. It was about the girl that made it. Her father served in the arm as a sharp shooter. The two women talking about the quilt believed that it was originally made to be a gift for another family and by the way it looked they used it well. The stitch work on it was beautiful as well. The detail is really something to be admired. I would love to go back and look are more quilts that are currently there.