Online Resources M2, George Washington's Wampum Belt

The story and history of the Wampum is interesting, almost as much as the title of this blog. The original wampum belts still exist and are now held by the Chiefs at Onondaga, New York and Six Nations of the Grand River. The unique belts are are beyond interesting as a visual piece of history. Wampum was much respected by the Iroquois and the Eastern Algonquians. It was made of white and purple quahog or conch shells.

Wampum beads were strung into belts and strings. The Iroquois thought great importance to the power of the individually built beads. Strings of wampum were used to sanction council proceedings, to vouch for the integrity of a speaker, to give responsibility to an office, to celebrate a treaty, or to lessen sorrow. Messages of particular importance were also made into strings and sent by a runner among the Six Nations Iroquois. The Onondagas, traditional Keepers of the Council Fire, were also Keepers of the League wampum’s. After the American Revolution, wampum took on a new meaning with the founding of the teachings of Handsome Lake (which I have picked for my voice) and wampum is used to lend authority and solemnity to religious ceremonies.

I also read that some of these belts are held at the New York State museum, so I will actually have an opportunity to look at these in person. Below is a very interesting belt.

The belt is the sacred agreement between the Six Nations and the original Thirteen Colonies (U.S.). It is the record of a Treaty with George Washington in 1789. The house in the center is the Longhouse of the Six Nations. The two figures on each side of the Longhouse are the Mohawks, the Keepers of the Eastern Door of the Confederacy, and the Seneca’s, the Keepers of the Western Door of the Confederacy. They have joined their hands in friendship, a covenant with the Thirteen Colonies. This is a part of history that doesn’t sound so drab and depressing. Although, obviously this friendship did not last too much longer.

Great law wampum belt reproductions. (n.d.). Retrieved June 21, 2016, from http://www.jakethomaslearningcentre.ca/wampum.html

Online Resources M2

Online Resources M2

There are many online sites that I have found very helpful. Many were stepping-stones to the more detailed information that I was looking for. The first website I have found to be extremely useful is hanksvill.org/NAresources . There are links to Tribe and Nation sites that were extremely valuable my research for understanding “my voice”. While learning more about the culture and history of the Pueblo, I was able to go to the individual tribe sites. The perspective of the tribal sites is true to the culture of the Southwest Indians.

The website for the National Museum of the American Indian for students and educators provided many pieces of useful information for general Native American Culture. The best part of this site was the Index of Resources that separated the Nations and regions for further investigation. The origin of this resource is the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and is updated in 2016 (Educational Resources, 2016). The downloadable PDF of Native People of the Land: The Zuni People a study in Environment, Adaptation, and Agricultural Practices was extremely easy to understand as well as easy to read. This resource was created for the educator of grade levels 6-8.

While looking for more information about the Southwest Indian Nations, Many reputable sites included those from the University of Arizona and the University of Nebraska.

The ability to research specific tribes and nations on websites that were created by the peoples of the region I am exploring is essential. The ability to hear and read the history of the Southwest from other Nations continues to give me a better perspective of Native American history and cultures.

Cultural Resources. (2016). Retrieved June 21, 2016, from http://www.hanksville.org/NAresources/

Education Resources. (2016). Retrieved June 21, 2016, from http://nmai.si.edu/

Czombel M2 Academic Journal Blog Assignment

It being Father’s Day today, I began to think about all the things my father taught my siblings and I, and the stories of my ancestors before he passed away in 2006. He was a great father, very structured and disciplined, an avid reader, and although his highest education was a vocational school for tool and dye making, he never stopped learning. After reviewing the M2 Online Resources, I was drawn to the website related to the Tulalip, their Legends, in particular, Value #4: We work hard and always try to do our best located at http://www.hibulbculturalcenter.org/Legends/Value-4/.  Pictures shared are courtesy of stated website above. 

This online resource allows the Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve to revive, restore, protect, interpret, collect and enhance the history, traditional cultural values and spiritual beliefs of the Tulalip, who are successors to the Snohomish, Snoqualmie and Skykomish tribes, and other tribes and bands signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliott. Per Anton Treuer, this treaty ceded most of the Tulalip land, and consolidated them on their current reservation. Today the tribal population is approximately 4,000, with 2,500 members residing on the 22,000 acre reservation located north of Everett and the Snohomish River and west of Marysville, in the state of Washington. As their title page states “So we can remember”:

             I believe this particular web resource was included because it gives an excellent glimpse of why it is so important to remember and reflect. It started when a group of concerned individuals from the Tulalip community sought advice from their elders on what they felt were the most important teachings The elders decided on seven teachings, and adopted them as their core values for the tribe, noting it is not just in the telling, but the practice of reflecting on and figuring out every part of the teachings, that provide the full measure of what stories continue to bring. Why does it matter? These stories provide “opportunities to consider what works and does not work in community life, and provide wisdom beyond the power of books or the classroom on honorable dealings with each other, on devotion to what is right and good, on hard work, and on happiness” and that the stories provide the pathway to reclaiming heritage.

Value #4 is titled We work hard and always try to do our best. The Story of the Salmon Ceremony, adapted from a story told by Bernie Gobin Kia-Kia, is about a time when the world was not as it is today, where animals could become people, and people could become animals. The legend states that salmon would come to the rivers each year, and offer themselves as food to the people. In return, the people would keep the rivers clean, great the salmon with ceremony, and would put the bones of the eaten salmon back into the water. In time, people became careless, throwing trash into the river, and stopped throwing all the bones back in. The salmon population started to deplete. The people thought, we will starve! Finally, one day, a young man was walking by the shore, asking himself "Why is it that just a few salmon are coming anymore?" Suddenly the water rolled back, and a guide appeared, taking the young man back to the salmon village to have all his questions answered. In essence, the problem was that people were no longer keeping their side of the bargain! They were being lazy with the offerings provided by the salmon people. The young man was returned to his own people after learning the true way, and instructed them about the teachings entrusted to him. Although everything was better for a time, people started to complain. "It is too much trouble to gather up all these bones. Salmon have too many bones. Even if it is only once a year, it is too much trouble." In order to again show his people the way, the young man proceeded to take them back to the river where the salmon were spawning, some completely out of the water, others bruised, cut, gasping for breath, and said “look how hard they are working to keep their side of the agreement”. So, to this day, every year a salmon scout arrives to see if the people have lived up to their side of the agreement.

            How do I see the morale of the story? Honor your agreements, and work together for the best outcome. 

M1 Blog Jounral

Laurie Bacigalupi

Journal Blog

Professor Nesberg

06/2016

Before taking this class and learning the material I have thus far, I did not know much about the Native communities. My views and knowledge have expanded tremendously from just the first two modules. Before this class my knowledge expanded as far as a Disney movie on Native American Indians. I now understand the real story behind Pocahontas, cultural sensitivity and Native communities in the present day.

After reading Treuer, Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask, I learned the real story behind Pocahontas. First, Pocahontas did not marry John Smith rather a planter John Rolfe (treuer p.35). She did however, help John smith escape before he was executed by her tribe. I also was surprised that she was only a teenager at the time.

After watching the assigned videos, I have learned about cultural sensitivity and the importance behind it. With cultural appropriation I think it is important to be aware of this because we do this without understanding its religious and cultural significance and can change its true meaning.

I have learned about how Native communities live in the present day. Oren Lyons talks about Indian rules, taking for example the rules of his community. He was appointed chief by The Great Peace Maker. The Peace maker had set rules estimated about 1000 years ago to the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga and the Seneca. As a chief you council for the welfare of the people, and they should be foremost in your mind (Oren Lyons). In terms of adaption there were conflicts between the 6 nation chiefs and the Politian’s. In 1776 a treaty was formed and peace was made. However as Oren explains, that light went down as time went on. Native communities appreciate Mother Nature and do the best to preserve it in order for the future generations to enjoy it for years to come.

WORKS CITED

Nabokov, Peter, ed. Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations From Prophecy to the Present, 1492-2000. Revised ed. New York: Penguin Group, 1999. Print.

Oren Lyons the Faithkeeper. Prod. Bill Moyers. Moyers, 1991. Film. http://library.esc.edu/login?url=http://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=16071&xtid=6775

Treuer, Anton. Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask. St. Paul: Borealis Books, 2012. Print.

End of Module 1

Module 1 Resources

The resource that I found most helpful and insightful in module 1 is Anton Truer's Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask.  As the title implies it sets out to answer all of the possible questions about Native Americans and also to give a first hand perspective on Native American culture.  The notion of gaining answer from the book are answer when Truer writes in the introduction, "Above all, I want this work to provide a place to get answers."(Truer, 2012)  Truer's book give great insight and really does a great job in answering many of the general questions someone would have about Native Americans.  The book also does a great job in setting the record straight for somethings that many outsiders believe to be fact which in reality aren't.  One of the biggest things that I learned from Truer's book was the use of words like nation, band, and tribe weren't originally used within the Native American communities and were brought upon by the Europeans in their efforts to colonize Indians. (Truer, 2012)

Aside from the readings on Truer, one of the online resources I found that was very insightful was The American Philosophical Society: Native American Images Project.  The website provides a brief overview of different images and findings from Native American history and, is used as a tool to guide the viewer to visit The American Philosophical Society in order to get more in depth knowledge of the items.  This particular resource as well as the readings seems to be put into this course over other resources because they give first hand personal accounts of Native Americans and they also don't set out to show one side of the story.  Each piece of Native American history plays a part in the grand scheme of things and that includes the bad just as much as it does the good.  So far from both the readings and the resources in this module, my outlook on what is considered general knowledge about Native Americans doesn't seem to always hold true to first hand accounts and the history of Native Americans.



Native American Images Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamimages

Truer, A. (2012). Everything you wanted to know about indians but were afraid to ask. Saint Paul, MN: Borealis Books.

"American Indian Biographies- A to Z"

I’m reviewing the web resource “American Indian Biographies – A to Z”. There are 42 Natives from various tribes listed. Selecting a name should theoretically send you to the biography, but many of the links did not work (-for instance, the only link for Pocahontas). If we are to be tribal specific, then it would make more sense for the tribe to be listed after each Native’s name since the list is simply alphabetical. I don’t feel that this is a well-designed site; it appears to not have been updated since 2001. However, even though some were disorganized I did find some interesting information in some of the links I was able to follow.

One that I wanted to share is “A Warrior’s Daughter” by Zitkala-Sa. This is a story about a young Dakota woman named Tusee whose father is a great warrior. The two have a very close relationship. One night he catches his daughter’s lover leaving her teepee and the lover asks the father for his “only daughter”. The father replies that only returning from war with the enemy’s scalp could win his daughter’s hand, so the lover leaves with Dakota men and women to find the enemy. The lover is captured by the enemy and Tusee goes after him. She finds him bound in a mob of people, with his prideful captor dancing and mocking him. She prays to the Great Spirit for strength and lures the captor into the woods; he believes she’s part of his tribe and that she wants to praise him. She slays him there and rescues her lover, thanking the Great Spirit for giving her courage. I particularly enjoyed this story because the main subject is a strong and brave female.

References:

Eduscapes. American Indian Biographies- A to Z. Retrieved 6/12/16 from http://www.42explore2.com/native3.htm.

Zitkala-Sa. A Warrior’s Daughter. Retrieved 6/12/16 from http://web.archive.org/web/20110212153617/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=ZitWarr.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1.

Images of Native Americans

            I started to get frustrated throughout the “images of Native Americans” assignment due to the vagueness and hard to find tribal descriptions in the captions. Although, after going through almost all the painting and pictures I was finally able to make sense of some of the pieces I was looking at. They divide the website into 6 different sections, starting with the Introduction, Portrayals of Native Americans, Nine Millionth Volume, Timeline, Exhibition checklist, and Credits and Colophon. The sections I believe were part of the reason I had a hard time in the beginning; but I was finally able to pick my favorite navigation section; which was the timeline. The fifteen hundreds I thought were going to be the most interesting, due to the fact I was hoping it would be less perversed and more accurate, since it may have been prior to the prejudice of the English. I was wrong.

            One particular piece that sums up the beginning of the end to the Native Americans was the June 26, 1579 ceremony of Sir Francis Drake being crowned with an Indian headdress, "The chief who had arrived from further afield with a guard of about 100 men," presents Drake with the crown. The English explorer assumed that the Indians were surrendering all rights and titles to land and property, in effect becoming subjects to Drake and the English crown”(2006). This shows the miscommunication and misleading perception that was being passed on to the rest of the world. It was definitely the beginning of the end at that point. When it was all said and done, I was happy that I looked through all those illustrations. It gave a different perception to the readings and videos; more of a reality.

Images of Native Americans. (2006). Retrieved June 07, 2016, from http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/Exhibits/nativeamericans/index2.html

Helpful Resources

The book that I have found to be the most helpful so far is Treuer’s Everthing You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Treuer, 2012). The easily understood writing allowed me to quickly reference thoughts and ideas that I was confused about. The most helpful web source for this module was Word & Place, an extensive review of the oral histories and traditions of the Native American. There are detailed discussions regarding each song and poem that explains the history and meaning of each piece. This brought about thoughts that had me reference the other texts in this class to gain a better perspective on the given assignment.

The first few weeks of this course have been difficult for me. The concept of Reflexivity is difficult for the nurse in me. I have been nursing for almost 30 years and have always practiced cultural sensitivity. Cultural sensitivity is accepting everyone for who they are with no thought of one’s own bias or feelings. Please be patient as I explore how and why I feel about the Native American people.

On an exciting note, a family member introduced me to Sly Fox. Sly Fox whose English name is John Oakley, belongs to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in the Algonquin Nation. Sly Fox was generous with his time and extremely patient with my ignorance. He was able to better explain the governance of the Nations and individual tribes so I could understand it better. His older brother, Drifting Goose, is the Grand Chief of the Wampanoag! Sly Fox got his name from his father who named all the children. The naming was not done immediately, but over a period of observation so that the name you were given reflected the your nature and characteristics (Sly Fox). His sister’s name is Wild Flower and twin brother is Slow Turtle. We talked about historical perspectives and how we learned the history of the First Thanksgiving. Sly Fox relates that he regularly goes to schools and works with students regarding the real historical perspective of the American Indian. I can’t wait to share more with him.

Evers, L. (n.d.). Words & Place. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/wordsandplace/

Sly Fox [Telephone interview]. (2016, June 2).

Treuer, A. (2012). Everything you wanted to know about Indians but were afraid to ask. Saint Paul, MN: Borealis Books.

13 Nations

13 Nations

Did America’s Founding Fathers take a page from American Indians when they formulated the United States government?

I’ve recently had the pleasure of watching Bill Moyers interview Oren Lyons the Faithkeeper, chief of the Onondaga of the Six Nations.  My curiosity was piqued about half an hour into the interview, when Lyons spoke about how America’s Founding Fathers were inspired by the union of the Six Nations when they conceived of America’s new government.  He singled out Benjamin Franklin as a particular advocate of adopting Native political ideas of unity.

This was something never mentioned in the history books I read in school.  Was Lyons right?

I decided to investigate this for myself.

Located in upper New York state, the Onondaga are one of the united Six Nations.  The other five are the Cayuga, the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Seneca, and (later) the Tuscarora nations.  With the Tree of Peace as their foundational symbol, Dr. Bruce Johansen has described the Six Nations as “a federal union of five (and later six) Indian nations that had put into practice concepts of popular participation and natural rights that the European savants had thus far only theorized.”

Our famous kite flyer was certainly well aware of the Six Nations’ form of national union and participatory democracy.  Concerned largely with uniting colonial trade management to reduce fraud, numerous American Indian voices urged the colonial leaders to form a federal union of their own during the decades leading up to the American Revolution.

One such voice was published by Franklin’s own printing business in 1744.  Remarkably, this treaty between the Six Nations and British colonial delegates concluded precisely 32 years prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on July 4^th.  The voice in question is that of Chief Canassetego of the Six Nations, who advised the British to form their own union of nations:

Chief Canassetego speaks, 1744

“Our wise forefathers established Union and Amity between the Five Nations.  This has made us formidable; this has given us great Weight and Authority with our neighboring Nations.  We are a powerful Confederacy; and by your observing the same methods, our wise forefathers have taken, you will acquire such Strength and power.  Therefore whatever befalls you, never fall out with one another”

In Ben Franklin’s own writings, we find further evidence that he viewed the Six Nations as a living testament to the practicality of forming a union of the English colonies.  He articulated the following in a personal letter:

Ben Franklin taking notes

“It would be a very strange thing, if Six Nations of ignorant savages should be capable of forming a scheme for such an union, and be able to execute it in such a manner, as that it has subsisted ages, and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like union should be impracticable for ten or a dozen English colonies, to whom it is more necessary and must be more advantageous, and who cannot be supposed to want an equal understanding of their interests.”

Note that his use of the term “ignorant savages” was only meant hyperbolically for effect.  Franklin and perhaps other colonial leaders clearly did not merely admire the American Indian “confederate republics,” the successes of which they cited to convince their own countrymen of the wisdom in forming a similar political union.  But Franklin also sympathized with their people as well.  He actually lost his seat in the Pennsylvania Assembly on account of his defense of American Indians in 1764.

The Founding Fathers have been rightly praised for articulating a Constitution which, for over two centuries, has defined American republican governance.  And the writings of both contemporary and ancient European minds have as well had a deep impact on the Founders, including John Locke and David Hume.

Yet the notion of a republic was unheard of in Europe since the fall of the Roman Republic.  And Rome was not exactly the best example to follow, having fallen first to despotism and then into ruin.  Indeed, democracy was a dirty word to the Founders and their contemporaries, who associated it with mob rule.

Chief Canassatego's words are remembered, 1775

In conclusion, it appears America owes a debt of gratitude to the Six Nations. The words of Chief Canassetego and other American Indian leaders were remembered as the War for Independence drew near. These First Nations inspired our emerging nation with a living proof of concept for participatory governance.  They helped convince the Founders of America that republican governance could actually work.

.

Images courtesy of rat haus.