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American-Indians-R-Real
Tuesday June 26, 2007
The “Great Horse” of the Pawnee Nation
6/20/2007
By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji)
There is a well-kept graveyard in the rolling, green hills on the outskirts of Pawnee, Oklahoma. There lie the graves of the fallen warriors and women of the Pawnee Nation. In one corner is the headstone of an Indian scout identical to the government issued headstones found in Indian cemeteries across America to honor the scouts who served the U. S. Army during the Indian wars of long ago.
On this beautiful June day fluffy white clouds float slowly over the graveyard and the afternoon sun reflects off of the large tombstone bearing the names of Mary and Charles George Shunatona. He was known as Chief Shunatona to the many friends he made in his 84 years on this earth.
On the back of the tombstone is the family name of the Shunatona clan. It reads, “Great Horse,” and there is a story behind the name. Told to me many years ago by Charles this is how the story goes:
“One day long ago while the warriors were away from camp hunting, only the women, children and a few elders remained in the camp. A young boy spotted enemy warriors approaching and he raced back to the camp to warn them. The only way to safety was to cross the river now swollen and crashing from the melting snow and spring rains. An elderly man told the boy who brought the news of the enemy to get the great horse that stood grazing at the edge of the camp. He then summoned all of the people together and they followed him as he led the horse to the edge of the raging river. In the Otoe language he told the horse to start across the river and he held out his hand to the boy who in turn held out his hand to a woman and so it went until all of the people in the camp were joined together with clasped hands. The elderly man then grasped the tail of the horse as it started to swim across the river and all of the people held hands tightly as the mighty horse pulled them all across the river to safety.”
The elderly Otoe man was the great grandfather of Chief Shunatona and so that is why the name “Great Horse” is etched on the gravestone at Pawnee.
More than 30 years ago I was about to begin hosting a weekly television show on KEVN-TV in Rapid City, S. D. I wanted the show to have an Indian theme song. I knew of only one man that could give me that song and his name was Charles Shunatona. Chief Shunatona was known all across Indian country for his mastery of the flute. I visited him one spring day in Wichita, Kansas. His wonderful daughter Gwen, then an assistant dean at Stanford University in California, was my hostess.
Charles asked me a few questions about my television show, about its format, and then he told me he would have a theme song ready for me by the end of the week. He was true to his word and a couple Sundays later, when my show made its debut, we had taken a Lakota pipe, hung it from the ceiling with black thread against a black background, filled it with tobacco and lit it, touched it gently so that it would appear to be floating in the air with smoke drifting from its bowl, and then came the beautiful tones of an Indian flute enriched by the deep voice of Chief Shunatona telling the story of the flute. In this way my new show, “The First Americans” was introduced to the people of Western South Dakota on December 15, 1976.
All of these memories came back to me as I looked at the headstone of Charles and Mary Shunatona last week. His daughter Gwen was once again my hostess and she delighted in showing me around the campus of the new Pawnee Nation College located on the grounds of the old Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school.
I never cease to be amazed at the outrageous optimism of the Indian people. Through the eyes of Gwen Shunatona, George Howell, the president of the Pawnee Nation, Elizabeth Blackowl, Todd Fuller, president of the Pawnee Nation College, Deb Echo-Hawk, Les Hand, Roberta Gardipe, and Dawna and Charlie Hare, they see a beautiful college campus developing like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of a boarding school that has been closed for 40 years.
The old Pawnee Boarding School was built at the turn of the 20th Century to house and educate the Indian children of the Pawnee, Otoe-Missouria, Kaw, Ponca, Tonkawa and Shawnee. Not only would the children be educated, but they would also cease to be Indians. The BIA policy of “Kill the Indian; save the child” would see to that. The school eventually became known as “Gravy U” by the children in honor of the watery gravy that was served at every meal.
Through my eyes I saw buildings that were ancient and in disrepair. I saw that it would require millions of dollars to restore the buildings (You can see what the campus looks like today by Googling Pawnee Indian School). But I could not help but be uplifted by the unvarnished enthusiasm of Gwen, George Howell, Todd and the other school board members. Gwen returned to the land of her people to pursue this dream and George returned to his homeland from a life as an administrator for the Indian Health Service in order to help make the dreams of his people a reality.
Pawnee Nation College is a dream that, with the help of the American people, can come true. A couple of miles away, beneath a beautiful headstone with the words “Great Horse” carved upon it, Chief Shunatona and his wife Mary, wait, watch and share the optimism and enthusiasm of the people of Pawnee, Oklahoma and today I join them in their shared hopes and dreams that one day there will rise from the ashes of “Gravy U,” a college that will grab the tail of the “Great Horse” and be pulled along the path to safety and success.
© 2007 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc.
(Tim Giago is an Oglala Lakota. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991. His latest book “Children Left Behind, the Dark Legacy of the Indian Missions,” is now available at: order@clearlightbooks.com. The book just won the Bronze Star from the Independent Publishers Awards. He can be reached at najournalists@rushmore.com)
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Native American Television (NATV) Receives Groundbreaking Support from the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
6/22/2007
“It’s been a long time coming. Today it’s a lot closer to becoming a reality. “
Native American Television (NATV), the nationwide, nonprofit multimedia network and training organization providing all-indigenous television programming, has received a groundbreaking endorsement from the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians supporting the network’s $5 million fundraising campaign for 2007.
The Affiliated Tribes, representing 55 Indian nations in six states, passed a resolution at their semi-annual conference on May 24 supporting NATV’s mission to create an Indian voice in television and educate young Native media professionals. The significance of such a public proclamation for the upstart network can’t be underestimated.
“Getting out there and presenting Indians news and an Indian point-of-view is of the utmost importance,” says Ernie Stensgar (Coeur d’Alene), chairman of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians and NATV board member. “Although the concept has been out there, now is the time to present the truth about Indians and what we’re doing in the United States. Another important aspect is getting Indian reporters and news people behind the scenes. And that means from operating the cameras to doing all the technical aspects of all of this.”
With the resolution, the Affiliated Tribes have committed to financially supporting NATV as it moves ever closer to officially launching this year. The network is currently working with partners and independent producers to provide content for its viewers—all Native, all the time, nationwide. These facts, plus their strategically located studio and training facilities based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, will shake the prevailing image most Americans have of Indians, notes NATV Board chairperson Dr. James May (United Keetoowah Band.)
“That’s what NATV is aiming for—an opportunity to get our view out there. I see a real lack of being on equal footing with any other minority group. I see it all over the place,” he says. “The Affiliated Tribes of the Northwest have been really forward thinking on this matter. They’ve asked their tribes to support NATV monetarily and their students to come to Washington to do the training.”
Stensgar concurs. “We challenge our tribal leaders to look at this program and buy off on it and recognize NATV for what it is. This is our chance to stand up and get our word out, to present the Indian voice to America and provide a better understanding of what we’re about. Maybe the American public will look at Indian people in a different light rather than looking at us with feathers.”
Today that concept is a lot closer to being a reality thanks to the unequivocal support of the 55 nations comprising the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians. NATV—all Native, all the time--will soon be available to viewers from Alaska to Alabama, New Hampshire to New Mexico. The perception of Indians in the mass consciousness will never be the same.
And that’s been a long time coming.
Native American Television (NATV) is a not-for-profit organization. To make a donation and learn more about upcoming programming, please visit the NATV website at: www.natv.org
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| Elder's Meditation of the Day - June 26 |
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| "...when faithful human beings or other creatures called upon them for help, they [the Powers of the Four Directions] must send their powers..." |
| --Fools Crow, LAKOTA |
| Each of the four directions has special powers. These powers or Grandfathers are there to help us. The powers are from the East, the South, the West, and the North. To call upon the power we need to stand in the center and face each of the directions and honor all forms of life in each direction. Facing the East we honor all the two legged, four legged, winged ones, plants' nation and the animals. We repeat this prayer in each of the four directions. This allows us to become centered. When we are centered, then we are ready to call the helpers. It is said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears. If we are to be ready, we need to remember to always get quiet first. We do this by honoring and praying to the four directions. |
Grandfathers from the four directions, come to me today with Your powers. Give me Your gifts so I can serve the people | | | |
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Monday June 25, 2007
Consider the mercy of God and His gifts. He enjoined upon you that which shall profit you though He Himself can well dispense with all creatures. Your evil doings can never harm Us, neither can your good works profit Us. We summon you wholly for the sake of God. To this every man of understanding and insight will testify.
Baha'u'llah | | | |
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By BLAKE NICHOLSON | Casper Star Tribune
BISMARCK, N.D. -- Federal officials have finished moving 125 bison among four states to mark the beginning of a new genetics-based approach to managing the animals.
None of the animals were harmed while being moved among wildlife refuges and preserves in North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska and Iowa, officials said.
"We think this operation went very well," said Matt Kales, a regional spokesman in Denver for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "It's a positive and important first step toward establishing a more holistic bison management strategy." | | | |
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