Sunday, August 31, 2008

pre-emptive fascism in twin cities



TheUptake.Org

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St. Paul, Minneapolis raids target RNC protesters. KARE 111 site.

Massive police raids on suspected protestors in Minneapolis. Salon.Com.

The RNC Welcoming Committee
"is an anarchist / anti-authoritarian organizing body preparing for the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota."

Seeds of Peace.
"... Seeds of Peace, Sisters’ Camelot, and Minneapolis Food Not Bombs--with the help of friendly volunteers--will be providing two nutritious meals a day beginning a few days before the RNC and continuing through the convention and a few days into its aftermath..."


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Update, September1: Respected journalist Amy Goodman and two producers of Democracy Now arrested at RNC convention.



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Tuesday, August 26, 2008

first frost warning

"Canada's covert police state: Killing the Indian again".
"... When they approached Kahentinetha she asked them what she was accused of and why was she being arrested. Her humanity was denied and the legal question was ignored. Once again the most damaging aggression came from behind. She was in a cell with her hands cuffed behind her back. The guards who compromised her life stood behind her where they couldn't see her face as they tightened the handcuffs which cut off the blood supply. They ignored her cries of pain as the shock of the heart attack hit her. One man grabbed her pants and told her to bend over. 6 or 7 other officers were entering and leaving the room ensuring that peer pressure remained in effect.

This fed the murderous frenzy. The spell was broke when her brother, Frank Taiotekane Horn, appeared as an outside observer of professional stature. They knew he was a lawyer. Suddenly they were accountable. Before they let him in, they removed the handcuffs, gave her a place to sit and offered her a glass of water. Frank Horn saw her state and immediately called an ambulance..."

As previously posted on Bingorage.

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"Bowhead Whale Sanctuary Protected in Nunavut!"

"New Evidence Debunks 'Stupid' Neanderthal Myth".

Canadian Telco, Telus is cancelling "unlimited accounts" for people who use it too much.

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Echoes of early summer.

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Latest article from Tim Giago.

Spirit on the Mountatin Music Festival / Rock, Rattle & Drum Pow Wow and Spirit on the Mountain Music Festival. August 29 - September 1, 2008, Lenox, Massachusetts.

Interview with, and overview of Southern Arapaho film director, Ava Hamilton.
"... In 1992, Hamilton directed the documentary "Everything Has a Spirit," which deals with issues such as access to and protection of sacred rites, First Amendment protection and the use of peyote in the Native American Church. The film premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival and is her most famous work. Her most recent work was the short documentary "Indians for Indians: A Radio Program," in 2005..."

12th Annual Native American Festival. September 13 and 14, 2008, Ridgefield, CT.

"The Burning Man School of Art: 2008 Art Preview".

Nominees for 10'th Native American Music Awards have been announced.

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I ran acros this interesting video of Sherman Alexie (Wikipedia entry), taken shortly after 9-11.



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Saturday, August 23, 2008

dry, late summer wind

Native press lacks equal access to presidential campaigns

Aboriginals "declare war" on oilsands.

Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper on the High Costs of the Drug War

2008's First Disenfranchised Voters: Injured and Homeless Veterans

Stone Age mass graves reveal green Sahara.

National Geographic video; Crackdown on Peru Indian Protest.
"Amazonian Indians have blocked roads and oil and gas projects in Peru to protest a new law that makes it easier for the government to sell their lands."

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Peyote/gourd stitch cuff bracelet, with smoked black fringe beads.
[Pics click to enlarge]

Broken Vulture Art beadwork. Peyote/gourd stitch cuff bracelet, with smoked black fringe beads.

Broken Vulture Art beadwork. Peyote/gourd stitch cuff bracelet, with smoked black fringe beads.

Broken Vulture Art beadwork. Peyote/gourd stitch cuff bracelet, with smoked black fringe beads.

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Raven Feathers and the Wind

Native American Artist-in-Residence Program, at the Eiteljorg Museum. September 15, 2008 deadline.

Sand Creek Massacre documentary
"The Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian has requested that the award-winning "The Sand Creek Massacre" documentary film beentered in its 14th Native American Film + Video Festival to be held in New York City, March 26—29, 2009."

Exhibit chronicles American Indians in baseball. Fifty years before Jackie Robinson broke into the baseball major leagues, Penobscot Indian Louis Sockalexis was taking racial heat playing for the Cleveland Spiders.
"If the small and big boys of Brooklyn find it a pleasure to shout at me, I have no objections," Sockalexis told the Brooklyn Eagle during his rookie season. "No matter where we play, I go through the same ordeal, and at the present time I am so used to it that at times I forget to smile at my tormentors..."

A study by the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers
"... FINDS NATIVE AMERICANS EXCLUDED FROM REPATRIATION PROCESS; MORE WORK NEEDED ON IMPROVING NAGPRA...
The federal government neither assures compliance with nor enforcement of a federal law enacted to protect American Indian remains and funerary objects and to reunite them with their families and homelands. In some instances, agencies have withheld or changed information about the objects or human remains in their possession, in blatant disregard of the law, according to a new report studying the implementation of the act..."

Check out the Angry Indian, a necessary resource.

Nativa 2008: Our Traditional Native Art Festival.Baja, California.
"Native artists from the Kumiai, Paipai, Cucapå and Kiliwa will exhibit and market handcrafted items, pottery, baskets, jewelry, paintings and more on Sunday, August 31 at. Plaza Ventana al Mar (Giant flagpole on Ensenada’s waterfront) from 11 am to 7 p m."

Powwow TV, video service at powwows.com.

A stunning Native mural replaces decades old eyesore.
"This mural is the Ventura Village neighborhood's effort to eliminate a longstanding eyesore blighting a hidden corner of the neighborhood that has been the taggers' bulletin board for decades... The painting honors the memory of Angie White Bird, a young Bad River tribal member who became a victim of a serial killer very near to the spot where the mural is being
painted..."

Rich Heape films present: "Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School"
"... is a Native American perspective on Indian Boarding Schools. This DVD produced by Rich-Heape Films, Inc. uncovers the dark history of U.S. Government policy which took Indian children from their homes, forced them into boarding schools and enacted a policy of educating them in the ways of Western Society. This DVD gives a voice to the countless Indian children forced through a system designed to strip them of their Native American culture, heritage and traditions."

Archaeologists using computer program to piece together mural and mosaic "jigsaw puzzles".

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Bold jewelry sets family apart from traditional Native art.
"... What has emerged is a body of work in jewelry that is extremely contemporary and has challenged traditional notions of what is Native art. That has made for a bumpy road sometimes. Gaussoin, his brother Wayne Nez Gaussoin, and their mother, Connie Tsosie Gaussoin, are regular exhibitors at Santa Fe Indian Market. But many of their pieces are not eligible for the juried show under the strict guidelines of the market..."

Tsosie-Gaussoin Studio

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"peak metals", new concern.
"An article in New Scientist magazine last year quoted Mr Reller as having said the Earth has 10 years left of indium, which – although only one gram of it is used in a 32-inch liquid-crystal display (LCD) television – is absolutely essential to the screen’s clarity. Indium is also used in the windows of aeroplanes and trains. The metal’s rarity has driven up its price. In 2003, the metal sold for about $60 (Dh220) per kilogram. By 2007, the price had shot up to more than $1,000 per kg..."

Nigerian teacher invents refrigerator that runs without electricity.

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Moonmask, reincarnated

I had previously used this clay model to createa a backpack puppet moonmask for a friend in Kenora and an art event to draw attention to missing Aboriginal women. Sisters in Spirit.


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[Pics click to enlarge.] I won't be using all of this clay, just the face.

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First coat; mostly dry.

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Second coat.

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Slicing the paper (after second (and a half) coat drys) to release it from the clay model.

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Released.

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Stitching the piece back together with staples and papier mache.

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Hitting the paint.

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Current incarnation; will probably change.
I will be making more copies from the clay model, as well.

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Finally!!!
Raving Natives have taken to the digital air and are coming down the intertubes at you. Raving Native Radio is now live. Listen to the first podcast installment, below.



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Friday, August 15, 2008

more stuff, i say

A review of current Arctic ocean national claims.

Skeet-shooting Enceladus,; great pics of Saturn moon.

Cooking helped the brain in early human evolution.

Russia and Georgia engaged in cyberwar.

Robot with a rat brain. Seriously.

A really disgusting story of medical negligence.

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National Call For Art Submissions (Native American and Latina Women).

"Pura Fe was the founding member of the internationally recognised a capella trio Ulali. These pioneers in Native American women's music created a new genre before Pura Fe decided to move into a solo career..."

Former Seattle actress Misty Upham finds a great role in "Frozen River". Frozen River site, at Sony Classics.

Anishinabek News, now online. Not much there, yet, but check out the archives.

Another Native blog, Richard Wagamese, Native Author.
"I am the author of four novels and two memoirs... I'm a former journalist and winner of the National Newspaper Award for Column Writing. I've been fortunate to work extensively in both radio and television documentary."

Jimmy Abeita: Navajo artist made history
by changing genre’s style
.

New exhibit overturns preconceptions.
"Remix (June 7-September 21, 2008)," the current exhibit of the National Museum of the American Indian at the George Gustave Heye Center in lower Manhattan, is a challenging show.
The subtitle is equally challenging, "New Modernities in a Post-Indian World." That's just in case you didn't know what you were in for and might be expecting feathers and beads..."

'Celebration' offers vivid look at Native art, dance in Panhandle.

Native Warrior Exhibit set for first exclusive showing at Royal Scandinavian.

NAPT Producer Profile: John Gregg, Sr.

Rock art marks transformations in traditional Peruvian societies.

Man uploads his collection of rare 78 rpm recordings.

PanTV.
"PanTV is the pioneering Canadian Brazilian webcast that promotes the integration between the English and Portuguese-speaking population in Canada..."

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Friday, August 08, 2008

early august stuff

Media slammed over coverage of natives

OPP forgets lessons of Ipperwash.
"... One of the recommendations of the Ipperwash report (number 11, on page 694 of volume 1) was that "the OPP should ensure the involvement of First Nation police services and the assistance of First Nation mediators when it responds to aboriginal occupations and protests."
The evidence at the preliminary inquiry shows that this was indeed taking place on June 29.
However, the evidence also shows that (OPP Commissioner)Fantino repeatedly undercut such involvement by interrupting negotiations between the people blockading the 401 and First Nations constables with threatening calls to (Shawn) Brant's cellphone.
In particular, Fantino said "Shawn, your whole world is going to come crashing down on you," and "I'm now telling you `Pull the plug or you will suffer grave consequences.'" Fantino had sniper teams nearby as he made those threats, and the OPP was close to moving in.
The point is not simply that a commissioner of the OPP should speak more appropriately. The concern is that an OPP officer speaking like that in such a context could have derailed negotiations entirely, leading to a horrible outcome.
Luckily, Brant and his colleagues continued negotiations with the First Nations officers to a successful conclusion, in spite of Fantino's provocations..."


Ipperwash: in depth, at CBC.

Shawn Brant, at Wikipedia.

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Afghani CTV journalist kidnapped and held for nine months at Bagram airport. Wikipedia entry for Jawed Ahmad.
Washington Post story.
"It provides a convenient place to hold people who you might not want the world to know you are holding," said Tina Monshipour Foster, a lawyer who represents Bagram detainees."

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Boiling Point! Polaris report finds water in First Nations communities a "violation of fundamental human rights".
Neskantaga First Nation is situated 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay in northern Ontario. The community of 282 has been under a boil water advisory since 1995. Polaris asks: "What other community do you know of in Canada that has been on boil water advisory for 13 years? Would this be acceptable for you, your family, friends and colleagues? What does this say about the federal government's fiduciary responsibility to First Nations health and safety?"


My friend, Gene Stoltzfus has a blog called Peace Talk, I am linking to a couple of recent postings, titled Borders and Fences and Paper Plates and Aboriginal Forests.

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EARTH'S BODY: AN ECOPOETRY ANTHOLOGY

Coeditors Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street solicit submissions for
an international anthology of ecopoetry. We are looking for a wide and
varied array of submissions. Our working definition of "ecopoetry"
is
flexible; it includes not only what might be called nature poetry, and
not only poetry that focuses on environmental issues, but also
experimental poetry--poetry that explores language in its relations with
the other-than-human. We welcome work by emerging as well as
established poets. We welcome serious poems, playful poems, poems in
open or traditional forms. Depending on limitations of space, we will
consider not only short poems but also poems of several pages. The
anthology will include only living poets or poets who were alive as of
July 2007, and will include only poems either written in English or
already translated into English; for poems not written in English, both
the original and the translation must be submitted, and if accepted,
both will be published. We will consider work that has been previously
published.

The deadline for submissions is DECEMBER 15, 2008. Please send up to
six poems to BOTH Ann Fisher-Wirth and Laura-Gray Street. You may send
them as email text or by snail mail. If they come as email text, make
sure the spacing and lineation travel accurately. WE WILL NOT OPEN
ATTACHMENTS. Please also include a short bio and a cover letter, and an
SASE for our reply.

Ann Fisher-Wirth
English Department
Bondurant C-135
University of Mississippi
University, MS 38677
afwirth@olemiss.edu

Laura-Gray Street
English Department
2500 Rivermont
Randolph College
Lynchburg, VA 24503
lstreet@randolphcollege.edu

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Using Modern Tools to Learn About Ancient People.
"Professors from the Bourns College of Engineering will bring their data mining and pattern recognition skills. Sang-Hee Lee, an associate professor of anthropology in the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences will provide knowledge of ancient people. Together, they will build a tool to track the spread of cultural artifacts, such as petroglyphs/pictographs (rock art), projectile points (arrowheads), and ceramics."


Native author, Thomas King, is running for a federal seat, as an NDP for Guelph, Ontario, in upcoming election. [Wikipedia entry]

Black Indians Documentary as part of Native Film Series. July 31, 2008. National Center for Preservation of Democracy located at 111 North Central Avenue, L.A., California.

Native Blog, GrannyRantsOn

NARF 7th Annual Visions for the Future Benefit Art Auction.August 22, 2008, Santa Fe, NM .

Isuma.TV. The portal for Indigenous filmmakers.

Young County Native American Heritage: Indian Artifacts Exhibit at the Old Post office Museum and Art Center, Graham, Texas. August 5-21.

Ojibwemowin.
"Join our language society and become language warriors for Ojibwemowin.
Encourage and inspire the people around you to use Ojibwemowin everyday. "


Native American Heritage Festival, Anthony Wayne Recreation Area, Hudson Valley, NY. August 2-3.

Notes from Nuvuk."Archaeological burial recovery project from Barrow Alaska". It looks like the site that these folks are working on is being washed away by the sea. Great pics.

ANDPVA.
"ANDPVA is one of the country’s (Canada) leading Aboriginal arts service organization, representing over 300 of the country’s active artists. This member-driven, not-for-profit organization strives to serve Aboriginal arts through ongoing advocacy, special initiatives and resourceful programming..."

Bedlam Theatre becomes (Minneapolis) Fringe Central. Other stories at TCDaily, by Cyndy Collins

New Oklahoma license plates will have design based on Allan Houser "Sacred Rain Arrow" sculpture imagery.

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Cradleboard makers wanted.

Richard Janulewicz, author of the book titled: “Brave Hearts And Their Cradles – A Pictorial Presentation Of Native American Cradleboards”, is searching for cradle makers to be included in his future biographical book illustrating current Native American cradle makers. If you are aware of a cradle maker that may wish to participate in this project, please have them contact Rich at: naitvecrafts@earthlink.net. He will then provide the details.

Subject: Native Peoples Magazine

Richard Janulewicz, author of the book titled: “Brave Hearts And Their Cradles – A Pictorial Presentation Of Native American Cradleboards”, has an article in the July/August issue of Native Peoples Magazine (Collector Issue) concerning cradleboards and cradle makers. The intent of the article is to bring greater focus to a native craft that is seldom recognized. Six Native American cradle makers are featured.

Mona M Smith
Producer/director/media artist
Allies: media/art
The Ded Unkunpi Projects
4720 32nd Avenue South
Mpls., MN 55406
612.721.8055

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Native blog: NAMAPAHH Multi Media; blog for NAMAPAHH First People's Radio.

Cinéma Prospérité; $35,000 in Prizes Awarded to Top Videos Profiling Entrepreneurs.

Tim Giago articles; Billy Mills, the Pride of the Lakota Nation and Getting Your Ducks in Line Before Election Day.

Drew Hayden Taylor article; We laugh at the dark side.
"... lately, there seems to be, and I could be paranoid, a sort of subversive plot to turn me towards what can be called the Dark Side of the Farce. I've been getting more and more requests to write . . . dare I say the word . . . serious stuff..."

Saving Oneidas' language full-time pursuit.

Non-traditional totem poles.

Short article about Louise Erdrich and her latest book, The Plague of Doves.

Short article about ash splint basketry.

Native Earth Performing Arts.

Native American Minnesota.
"This blog site and related activities are guided by the Sesquicentennial Advisory Committee for Native American Partnering (SACNAP). Our plan: 1. Use web technology/social media during Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial year to chronicle events, capture stories, discuss issues, and profile people — all with the intent to facilitate the “journey of learning and understanding” of the past 150 years of native Minnesotan history. 2. Collaborate with others to create projects and/or host events that would do the same. 3. Explore ways to continue these efforts beyond 2008."

Puerto Rico Archaeological Find Mired In Politics.

Navajos Could Lose Net Access.

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