Starting 18 September 2013 in the Powder River Basin, Lummi community members from the House of Tears Carvers will follow the rail route for proposed coal shipments through Cherry Point near Bellingham WA. They will gather people together in a series of ceremonies designed to highlight the risks posed to all of our communities by coal export from the West Coast.
Oren R. Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a member of the Onondoga Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (the Haudenosaunee).
Lyons graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Fine Arts and soon moved to New York City, where he worked for Norcross Greeting Cards. He started as a paste-up artist but later became an art and planning director for Norcross. His background in art has helped him become an accomplished illustrator of books and a …painter.
In 1970, Lyons returned to his ancestral homeland in upstate New York to act as Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan. In this capacity, he is entrusted with keeping alive his people’s traditions, values and history.
Oren Lyons is Associate Professor at SUNY (University at Buffalo), in the Center for the Americas. He teaches courses on Native American history and studies, and advises graduate students. Prof. Lyons also appears at many conferences and meetings, speaking on American Indian topics, human rights, interfaith dialogue, and the environment.
Aside from his work at the University and the Turtle Clan, Lyons is the co-founder of the national American Indian quarterly news magazine Daybreak, of which he has been the publisher since 1987. He also edited the book Exiled In The Land Of The Free: Democracy, The Iroquois and The Constitution (1992) , a major study of the Indian’s impact on American democracy and the United States Constitution.
An essay from Oren Lyons, “Our Mother Earth,” is included in Seeing God Everywhere: Essays on Nature and the Sacred .
Boldt Decision Memoir: A conversation with Billy Frank Jr. and Prof. Richard Whitney
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission chairman Billy Frank Jr. sits down with UW Professor Richard Whitney to reminisce about their involvement with tribal treaty rights and the Boldt decision in the 1970s and 1980s. Whitney was the fisheries technical advisor to federal Judge George Boldt, whose opinion in U.S. v. Washington upheld tribal treaty fishing rights for treaties in Western Washington.
Julian Brave NoiseCat, son of Ed Archie NoiseCat and Alexandra Roddy, is a member of the Canim Lake Band and a descendant of the Lil’Wat Nation of Mt. Currie. His paternal grandparents are Antoinette Archie and the late Ray Peters, and his maternal grandparents are Suzanne Roddy and the late Joe Roddy. He is in his third year at Columbia University where he studies history. This summer he continued learning Secwepemctsín with his kye7e (grandmother), while conducting and writing a research paper on current and historical words for the white man in Secwepemculecw. He loves his family.
Jewell James and the Lummi House of Tears carvers have created a totem pole Kwel’hoy (“We Draw the Line”) and are travelling with it in a journey of blessing across the west. Please join the Lummi Tribe at Kwel’hoy ceremonies for offering prayers of protection for sacred lands, sacred waters, and treaty rights of Native peoples.
photo credit Liz Jones / KUOW
Jewell James is a longtime leader of the Lummi Tribe.
Dennis Banks is a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist, and author. He is an Anishinabe, Ojibwa, born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. In 1968 he co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM), and establishing it to protect the traditional ways of Indian people and to engage in legal cases protecting treaty rights of Natives-such as hunting and fishing, trapping, wild riceing.
Banks earned an Associates of Arts degree at Davis University and taught at Deganawida Quetzecoatl (DQ) University (an all Indian-controlled institution), where he became the first American Indian chancellor.
In 1994, Banks led the four-month Walk for Justice (WFJ) from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco to Washington, DC. The purpose was to bring public awareness to current Native issues. Banks agreed to head the “Bring Peltier Home” campaign in 1996 bringing Native Americans and other supporters together in a national drive for executive clemency for political prisoner Leonard Peltier.
He also had roles in the movies War Party, The Last of the Mohicans, and Thunderheart. A musical tape “Still Strong” featuring Banks’ original work as well as traditional Native American songs was completed in’93 and a musical video with the same name was released in’95.
The images of full blood Cherokee artist, Donald Vann, speak of peace and tranquility of solitude. They speak of yesterday’s tradition and tomorrow’s promise. Through his work, Donald takes the viewer to a place that is as real to him as the tangible world. To see his paintings is to feel the crunch of snow beneath one’s feet, to hear the wind whisper through the aspen trees and to smell the wood smoke and buffalo of hide tipis. It is to know the soft-spoken man behind the paper and paint. Donald Vann
“All my life,” Donald explains, “I have had this desire to paint with images I can express thoughts and feelings I could never put into words. Through my art I am able to transcend the limitations of the spoken word.”
It is more than just his Native American heritage that Donald strives to share. Warriors on horseback, a medicine man greeting the dawn and young maidens gathering wood are only the means of conveying moods that are much more universal. He uses those images to tell how he feels about the unseen forces that influence life. Donald draws his greatest inspiration from the earth, sky, and from the rhythms of nature. His creations have a quality that allow the viewer to share some of the inner facets of the Indian soul. “In our world, there is an unspoken quality, a feeling that touches and flows through everything … all of us as well as all things of the earth. If one listens to these forces, he will find himself painting instinctively with the feeling of his heart about his ancestral beliefs and the way people live today.”
These spiritual elements have been a part of his life for as long as he can remember. “Growing up I was always a loner.” Donald recalls, “I spent a lot of time hunting, but that was really just a way of being by myself out of doors. That is where I felt the most comfortable and in tune with the natural spirits evident in all things.”
When he wasn’t camping with his grandfather or hunting in the woods near his boyhood home outside Stilwell, Oklahoma, Donald remembers painting. “I didn’t fit in too well at school, the one art class I took, I flunked. I always thought education got in the way of learning. I was much more interested in the teachings of the holy man for my clan and in the survival and herb skills my grandparents taught me.”
Combining his love for art and his Cherokee heritage, Donald is able to create moving images that speak of the Indian way of life and capture the hearts of art collectors worldwide. He is recognized for his haunting images of his people’s heritage, especially his portrayal of the Trail of Tears. He was proclaimed “one of the best known Indian artists of the 20th century” by the Cherokee National Historical Society. The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of the American Indian honored him with their top painting award for watercolor medium. He has also won first place ribbons in juried competitions at Oklahoma’s Red Earth Exhibit, Colorado Indian Market and National American Indian Arts Exposition.
More than 50 different editions of his signed and numbered prints are now collectors items. He has taken top honors at shows from Texas to Ohio, and Minnesota to North Carolina. Yet, it is the public’s acceptance is what matters most to Donald.
“Through my images,” Donald says when asked of his success, “I hope people will be inspired to learn more about the customs and values of America’s native people. Our traditions teach many things that can help all people. In today’s fast-paced world, it is too easy to get cut off from one’s heritage and lose sight of the things that are truly important. If I can make people see with their hearts instead of their eyes, then my art has spoken. Then I have succeeded.” http://www.donaldvann.com/
Reclaiming the Sacred and Protecting Xwe’chi’eXen from Coal
The House of Tears carvers of the Lummi community has created a tradition of carving and delivering totem poles to areas struck by disaster or otherwise in need of hope and healing. Now it is Lummi Nation’s own sacred landscape, Xwe’chi’eXen, that needs hope, healing and protection. The most imminent threat to this sacred landscape and to treaty rights associated with Xwe’chi’eXen comes from a proposal to build North America’s largest coal port: the Gateway Pacific Terminal.
THE JOURNEY
The Kwel hoy’ Totem Pole journey, September 15-29, 2013, will start in the Powder River Basin and follow the coal train route through Indian Country, up to Xwe’chi’eXen. The journey will conclude in British Columbia, where the totem pole will be placed in the homeland of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, demonstrating unity with the Canadian First Nations’ position opposing the transport of Tar Sands by pipelines across their territories. There, the totem pole will be met by Tribes and First Nations that have travelled from all direction. The Totem Pole will be placed as a means of reinforcing the message: Kwel hoy.’
The House of Tears Carvers and a team of support people and witnesses will accompany the Totem Pole on its 1,200 mile long journey. At each event, Tribal members, non-Tribal local citizens, elected officials, and the press will be invited to attend.
CONNECTING THE PEOPLES OF THE WEST
One primary goal of the journey is to connect tribal nations along the coal corridor. Tribal Nations innately understand and honor the need to protect sacred landscapes and treaty rights. Uniting the Tribal Nations is important for this particular issue and for Tribal communities that would be affected by coal transport and export.
The proposed coal rail line and port brings very different cultural communities together in a common cause. The proposal has unique ramifications not only for Tribal Nations, but also for communities all along the rail lines and shipping lanes that would be affected by coal export. Communities, commerce, livelihoods, public health, tourism, agriculture, fisheries, air and water safety, natural resources, quality of life would all be adversely impacted. In asking for blessings and strength from communities along the coal transportation corridor, the Kwel hoy’ Totem Pole brings together the Peoples of the West. People of many faiths can stand united in protecting the sacred, and people of many traditions can support honoring treaty rights and the traditional livelihoods they ensure. People from all affected communities can stand against this project.
BACKGROUND
by Jewell James (House of Tears Carvers)
Xwe’chi’eXen (Cherry Point) has deep spiritual and cultural significance to our people. It is a sacred landscape that includes ancient reef-net sites and a 3,500 year-old village site. Our Hereditary Chief of the Lummi Nation tsilixw (Bill James) describes it as the “home of the Ancient Ones.” It was the first site in Washington State to be listed on the Washington Heritage Register and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
If built, the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point (Xwe’chi’eXen) in Washington State would be the largest coal export facility in North America. The mines are connected to the proposed port site by rail lines that run from Wyoming and Montana through Idaho, eastern Washington, along the Columbia River Gorge, and then up the coast of Puget Sound. Bulk cargo carriers would ship the coal through the Salish Sea to Asia.
The project will result in significant, unavoidable, and unacceptable interference with treaty rights and irreversible and irretrievable damage to Lummi spiritual values. As a result, the Lummi Nation in 2012 adopted a formal position to oppose the proposed project. As Lummi Councilman Jay Julius, in opposing the proposed coal port, has said, Kwel hoy’: “We draw the line.” This position was also adopted in 2013 by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians.
DOCUMENTATION/WITNESSES
Witnesses will document and publish (via this blog) photos, writings, sketches, and videos of both the journey and preparation for the journey when culturally appropriate. The blog will feature entries from Lummi Nation members and by people along the journey. Journalists, photographers and a documentary film crew will be invited along for the journey. http://totempolejourney.com
Sukinanik’oy is a Native American word meaning, “to bring back to life” A Spiritual Collective Art Festival Restoring the Cultural Beauty of the Chumash
Mission
Proceeds will go to paying land taxes for recently acquired land given to our local band of Native Americans, with the intent of building a NON PROFIT Community Educational and Cultural and Education Center; a native plant habitat, a tribal library and a place of honor for Native American Veterans
Company Overview
Barbareno/Ventureno band of Mission Indians (BVBMI) Currently accepting donations through CAUSE for paying property taxes acquired with the gifting back of land in Saticoy, CA.
Description
On July 21st, 2012, the FIRST ANNUAL Festival of SUKINANIK’OY, a celebration of bringing Chumash History back to life in Ventura County, will be held at The Pottery Studio, 1804 E. Ojai Avenue, Ojai from 10 am to 8 pm. In fact, Sukinanik’oy is a Native American word meaning, “to bring back to life”. For the Barbareno/Ventureno band of Mission Indians (BVBMI), this is a day of celebrating the first…
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General Information
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE – SUKINANIK’OY 2012
10:00-10:30 AM Opening Ceremony Julie Tumamait/ R. Bejarano
10:30-10:50 AM Ceremonial QiGong with live flute- Beth Leone
11:00-11:50 AM Smitty West /Three Amigos
12:00-12:30 PM J. Tumamait-Stenslie (Chumash stories…)
12:40-1:30 PM Raymond Powers, Shyla RaySunshine,
Chris B. Olds and Tony Shibumi
1:45-2:05 PM Sukinanik’oy speaker; Carol Janelle
2:10-2:30 PM Greg Bressani– Flute Spirit Journey
2:40-3:00 PM Erich Lenk- guitar/ song writer
3:10-3:30PM Dani Ma-guitar/ song writer
3:45-4:35 PM Restless Hillfillies- local female trio
4:45-5:10 PM Judy Piazza / drums
5:15-5:35PM Conner Jones Re-Introducing Native plants
5:45-6:05 PM Alyzabeth Rhiannon Anath (Dance)
6:15-6:40 PM Rafeal Bejarano- didgeridoo
6:45-7:05 PM Jam session-Rafeal Bejarano, Greg Bressani,
Dennis Connor
7:15-7:40 PM Red Hawk – FIRE CEREMONY
Cheif Leonard Squally’s Wake on Friday, September 6th, 2013, 5pm. Nisqually Youth Center.
Salatupki Chief Leonard Squally April 4, 1934 – August 3, 2013 Chief Leonard Squally passed away August 3, 2013 at home. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Kenny, sister Karen, sons Leander and Kelvin, and wife Colleen. He is survived by son Robert, brothers Lewis and Albert, sisters Caroline Byrd and Elizabeth Thomas, and numerous nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren. A wake will be at 5pm on Friday, September 6, 2013. Funeral will be at 10am on Saturday, September 7, 2013 at the Nisqually Youth Center. The family would like to thank Providence St. Peter Hospital and Hospice, The Nisqually Clinic, and the Nisqually Tribe for the care and attention given to Chief Leonard. We would also like to thank family and friends for their support at the end.
Welcome! It is an honor to contribute and give another voice to the “The First Peoples” of our world.
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World Peace and Prayer Day 2013
Encouraging Words from our Elders
"I appreciate your work in giving voice to our peoples. Blessings to you." Grandmother Mona Polacca
Quote of the Month
Yes, our life energy must be a gift for our future. Your life, my life, everybody’s life must follow your given path. So pray or meditate. Follow your inner path and learn just how powerful you are and learn that you are a leader for your people, your family, your children, and the Mother Earth.
-Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Lakota
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