The real problem for museums and anthropologists may be that it will become easier for tribes to retrieve ancestral remains.
"On October 16, 2007, the Department of the Interior published draft regulations that would destroy the use of cultural affiliation as the principle for repatriation decisions, which is at the core of NAGPRA and supported by seventeen years of hard work and effort by tribes, archaeologists, and museum personnel, and replace it with an undefined notion of "cultural relationship".
DNA Kits: Secrets of Your Past or Scientific Scam?
"Anyone with a spare $100 to $900 can buy a "DNA ancestry kit." Self-collection of DNA requires only a quick swab of the inside of the mouth to gather cheek cells. Mail that smear back and the company will then compare your DNA to various other samples.
But claims that this analysis will tell you much about where you came from are downright fraudulent, anthropologist Deborah Bolnick of the University of Texas at Austin and 14 co-authors recently reported."
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Rattle progress [pics click to enlarge]:
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Native resources, stories and stuff:
Newest Tim Giago article. Three Courageous Native Women Newspaper Publishers.
Indigenous Thoughts by Bob Haozous.
"Borders and barriers that separate cultures, races, and religions have been an important influence on my artwork production throughout my career. A nationwide GSA competition conducted by the General Services Administration chose the artwork 'Otay Mesa Crossing' which in 1996 was sited along the Mexican border south of San Diego.
The commercial truck crossing of Otay was the perfect opportunity for me to address the welcome and resistance represented by the separation line between America and Mexico. I chose a theme based on an ancient fertility symbol, a reclining Kokopelli playing a flute. Surrounding this figure are airplanes, border traffic, a Mexican eagle and an Aztec scribe recording the transition between indigenous thought and western thought that all native people are facing."
Tribal Knowledge Gathering April 16-17, 2008.
"This gathering represents a unique Montana-Indian guided opportunity to create formal dialogue among researchers and tribal knowledge keepers regarding Tribal Knowledge Guardianship. The conference will take place on the University of Montana Campus during the week of the 40th Annual Kyi-Yo Pow Wow festivities."
International Indian Treaty Council
"The International Indian Treaty Council (IITC) is an organization of Indigenous Peoples from North, Central, South America and the Pacific working for the Sovereignty and Self Determination of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition and protection of Indigenous Rights, Treaties, Traditional Cultures and Sacred Lands."
United Native Americans - Myspace page.
"United Native Americans, Inc. (or U.N.A.) was formed in 1968 in San Francisco, California to promote the General Welfare of Native Americans. U.N.A was founded by Indians for Indians and is controlled by Indians. U.N.A. has been Labeled a "Militant" organization because of it's Aggressive Stand it has taken and because of the slogan it stresses--"INDIAN POWER", which is defined as Self-Determination, the Right to Run your Own Affairs and to Direct your Own Destiny, which is something Indian People Definitely Need. U.N.A is Definitely an Action Organization and if this means "Militant" then we are Militants."
Another Native blog, Native Notion.
Native American stories, crafts and lore.
"A place for learning and doing.... arts and crafts, storytelling, powwowing, cooking, leather, beads, dancing, sweatlodge, teaching, sharing, camping, hunting and fishing, environmental awareness, cultural awareness, Native American media, some Native humour, and preserving the Old Ways."
Native American Tube A Native-based 'youtube'-like site.
A directory of 'Native' artists, at NativeOnline.Com
Residential school survivors gouged?
"Northern stores are acting as a bank of last resort for in remote communities looking for ways to cash $250 million in cheques.
But there's a price to pay for the service on reserves where there are no banks: Northern is taking a 1.5 per cent cut of each cheque...
Northern stores are processing the cheques for a fee of 1.5 per cent, offering $2,500 cash and the option of credit cards, debit cards or store credits..."
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Norval Morrisseau updates:
New Democratic Party statement, on the death of Norval Morrisseau.
Government of Canada Statement: Passing of Norval Morrisseau
National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient -Norval Morrisseau- Remembered.
Death notice at the New York Times.
"Saturated with startling, often contrasting colors, such paintings appear to vibrate under the viewer's gaze," said the National Gallery of Canada, which organized a retrospective of Mr. Morrisseau's work in 2006, the first solo show for a native artist in the institution’s history. It is now on view in Lower Manhattan through Jan. 20 at the George Gustav Heye Center, part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Of a 2001 New York show at the Drawing Center of Mr. Morrisseau's drawings, made on sheets of paper towels while he was in jail in Canada in the late 1960s, Holland Cotter of The New York Times wrote: "The results aren’t ingratiating or beautiful. Like visionary work in many cultures, they're aggressive, sometimes violent, as much about fearfulness as about transcendence."
Artist remembered as 'great shaman'.
"Painters pledge to honour legacy of `Picasso of the North' by starting a native art school in his memory.
...In a small auditorium in downtown Toronto, native elder Vern Harper and others who knew Morrisseau from his days as an artist living hand-to-mouth on the streets of Toronto spoke of the man heralded as "the Picasso of the North" as a spirited individual, well loved by all who knew him..."
Relatives quarrel over Ojibwa artist's remains.
"Norval Morrisseau was controversial as an artist, husband, father and friend during his 76-year lifespan, and he's proving to be just as controversial in death as a family feud has broken out over what to do with his remains."
A Message From the Honourable David C. Onley Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on the Death of Norval Morrisseau.
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2 comments:
Thanks for sharing these links about Norval Morrisseau.
PS - The rattle looks excellent, and I totally dig the coral bead earrings.
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