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The Indian Wars Never Ended
Reaching out to a younger audience than its normal group of supporters, the Native American Rights Fund of Boulder, Colorado has created a dynamic audio and video public service announcement now running on its Web site, as part of its campaign on the theme “The Indian Wars Never Ended.”

The music was produced and performed by the Pawnee/Seminole hip-hop group Culture Shock Camp, led by Marcus “Quese IMC” Frejo and his brother Brian “DJ Shock B” Frejo. Its drums, synthesizer, Native-language chants and English lyrics produce a catchy and effective message linking NARF’s legal battles of today with Indian warriors of the 19th century who fought to preserve their lands and ways. The band will also release a CD this year to benefit NARF and promote the legal-eagle group at concerts.

While at the site, one can also order T-shirts created for NARF by Bunky Echo Hawk (Pawnee/Yakama) and Ryan Red Corn (Osage) and other goods, and sign up to become a modern-day warrior for NARF. Details: moderndaywarrior.org

Urban Natives Unite
It’s no secret that American Indians and Alaska Natives who live in urban areas outnumber Natives who live within reservations and in Native villages by a two-to-one ratio. And now, urban Indians are quietly letting their collective voice be heard.

A three-year-old organization called the National Urban Indian Family Coalition (NUIFC) is seeking to empower this so-called sleeping giant. NUIFC, based in Seattle, is a national network of urban Indian organizations aiming to strengthen Indian families and to bring positive change for urban Indians by reinforcing cultural identity through partnerships with tribal governments and other institutions.

It is a natural extension of tribal sovereignty, according to leaders who recently met at the American Indian Center of Chicago to discuss how urban Indians can combine their economic and political influence to enhance the quality of life for all Native people.

“We are developing strategies to partner with tribes to invest their dollars and political clout in urban areas. This is a natural expansion of Indian sovereignty into urban areas—tribes partnering with their urban brothers and sisters,” said Syd Beane, Native American Team Leader at the Center for Community Change in Minneapolis.

Three prominent Indian organizations—the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center, NUIFC and the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development—have formed a partnership to conduct a multi-year comprehensive research project called “Revealing an Invisible Population: Urban Indian Communities and Families.” It is aimed at providing a current snapshot of the socioeconomic status, well-being and overall experiences of urban Indians.

“Our (NUIFC) long-term goal is to help in ways to improve the capacity and services provided by urban Indian centers and organizations,” said NUIFC Coordinator Janeen Comenote (Quinault). Details: nuifc.org
—Harlan McKosato (Sac & Fox)

Tribal Princess at an Historic Juncture
On Feb. 15, 2007, some 400 years after their ancestors aided the suffering Pilgrims, the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts was formally recognized by the federal government as a sovereign Indian nation. Coinciding with this historic designation was the selection of Madas W. Pocknett to serve as the reigning Mashpee Wampanoag Pow Wow Princess.

Pocknett feels especially honored to be serving as the tribe’s princess at this crucial time. Keeping the cultural fires burning, educating other cultures about her ancient and enduring heritage, and serving as a role model for young people are her three working goals.

“This experience has changed my life, because finally my little-kid dream has come true,” she says. “But beyond that, I’ll strive to be the best role model I can be for the youth and to teach them the traditional ways. I’ll try my hardest to be a liaison between the tribe and the youth.”

Pocknett’s official travels this year will take her to more than 15 powwows across the country. In April, she proudly represented her tribe at the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow in Albuquerque, and she will do so again at her tribe’s powwow, held annually on the first weekend of July.

The daughter of Shelly and David Pocknett is 17, a senior at Sturgis Charter Public School. She has been accepted at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke to study nursing.

The Mashpee Wampanoag’s ancient homeland extended in a 50-mile radius from Cape Cod in Massachusetts north along the Atlantic Ocean to just below Boston and west to Providence, Rhode Island. Wampanoag means “People of the First Light” or “People of the Dawn.” Details: mashpeewampanoagtribe.com
—Kathy Sharp Frisbee

music notes
CDs pour into our office at an increasing pace. Here’s a look at of some of the best contemporary work. First out of the gate in a planned four-part series of works by the band Sacred Earth, each exploring the moods and metaphysical attributes associated with the cardinal directions, is the enchanting Wind of the West (Makoché). Leading the vocals is well-known musician Bill Miller (Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican). Other Native musicians appearing on this CD, which was produced by the accomplished Peter Kater, include Kevin Locke (Lakota/Anishinaabe), Rita Coolidge, Joseph FireCrow and Arvel Bird (Paiute)… The popular reggae band Native Roots, led by vocalist Shkeme Garcia (Santa Ana Pueblo) and keyboardist John Williams (Dakota), has finally released a new CD, Celebrate (SOAR), a make-ya-wanna-dance collection of a dozen tunes that undercuts its fun pace with some pointed lyrics… Arguably Indian Country’s best-known musician, the prolific flautist R. Carlos Nakai has not one but two new albums out on Canyon Records. Voyagers is a duo effort with classical cellist Udi Bar-David that melds Jewish and Navajo/Ute music traditions. Reconnections finds Nakai teaming up with Randy Wood (Cree), Cliff Sarde and William Eaton, exploring electronica forms woven together with Nakai’s masterful flute work… Art Napoleon (Cree) has an easygoing, toe-tapping album out, Miyoskamin (pacificmusic.net), featuring acoustic guitar, fiddle and lyrics in Cree and English… While it’s tame by today’s standards, hip-hop artist Shadowyze (Muskogee Creek/Cherokee) has released a self-titled CD with one rather raunchy song, “Lil’ Mama,” a more playful tune titled “Boom Boom” with less-explicit lyrics and killer female backing vocals, and one fine track addressing Native issues, “Bumpy Roadz.” Check it out at shadowyze.net… Someone else really making huge waves in the music industry is Yellow Thunder Woman (Ponca), lead singer and lyricist for the Bastard Fairies (thebastardfairies.com), whose debut album Memento Mori is doing quite well… Also just out is a double-disc album, Silence Is A Weapon (blackfire.net), from the young Navajo punk and thrash rockers Blackfire, which comes with two 12-page booklets… Robert Mirabal (Taos Pueblo) is back on track with his new In the Blood (starroadrecords.com), a group of favorite and new love songs and tribal-tinged rockers in Tewa and English.

shards
For the first time in some 500 years, the Maya of the Caribbean coast of Mexico will recreate a sea voyage on July 1 and 2 between the harbor of Xcaret, the island of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, reenacting both the hazardous crossing in five hand-carved canoes and ancient ceremonies associated with the journey. Details: xcaret.com

Multimedia art and fashion maestro Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) wowed a crowd of more than 400 at a fashion show of his latest works at the upscale Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on a rainy night in March. Garments of leather, plastics and fibers in his new “Le Sauvage Primitif” line were modeled by a bevy of beauties, male and female. The show kicked off with the impressive violinist (and dancer) Quetzal Guerrero (Juaneneo Mission/Yaqui/Cambiva) playing with the eclectic rock band Cascabel.

The Morris K. Udall Foundation of the University of Arizona is sending a group of its alumni on a seven-week public-service tour of America in a biodiesel-fueled vehicle this summer. Traveling in the world’s first “green certified” motor coach, the young adults in the Legacy Tour will work on environmental, educational and cultural-preservation projects, including building campgrounds with the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde in Oregon on July 25 and work with the United Houma Nation in Louisiana on July 6. The tour, which will visit 32 locations, kicked off in Washington, D.C. on June 12 and ends in Tucson on Aug. 4. Details: udall.gov

The American Indian College Fund has received five-year, $17.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment to be used for a wide range of initiatives, from faculty-enrichment and student-retention programs to adding fellowships and developing honors programs. Details: collegefund.org

For the first time in six years, the Federal Communications Commission is dishing out FM radio licenses for full-power, noncommercial, educational radio stations. Native communities are being encouraged to apply by the deadline of Oct. 12. Details: nativepublicmedia.org
The recent opening of the One Moon Art Gallery in Esquimalt on Vancouver Island to showcase the paintings and prints of Darlene Gait (Coast Salish) was accompanied by the raising of a totem pole carved by Doug La Fortune (Coast Salish). Details: darlenegait.com
At long last, Chief Illiniwek, the mascot of the University of Illinois sports programs, has been axed. In February, the university officially retired the 80-year-old mascot that encouraged white students to decorate in buckskin, feathers and paint and ape American Indian dances during football and basketball games.

Bruce Bernstein will serve as the acting director of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, the organizers of the annual Santa Fe Indian Market, until the organization can find a replacement for David Cloutier.

passages
Anita Tsosie (Navajo) was shot and killed on April 9 in her home near Cortez, Colorado. She was 48 and the mother of two children, ages 21 and 14. A week later, her estranged husband was found dead of an apparent suicide. The well-known and much-loved weaver (see profile in our Sept./Oct. 2005 issue), who took the Best of Show award at the 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, was also a master at natural dyeing techniques. A memorial fund has been established for her children’s education: account number 4879028969, Vectra Bank, 350 W. Montezuma, Cortez, CO 81321.
Details: 505/716-3529

Role model, cultural carrier, singer, master storyteller and teacher Nellie Two Bulls (Oglala Lakota) died on Feb. 18 at age 81. She taught at Red Cloud School for some 20 years, sat on the boards of the Journey Museum in Rapid City, South Dakota and KILI radio station, and was a member of the Oglala Sioux tribal council. She received many high awards and honors over the years, and her passing will leave a void in the Lakota community.

honoring
Metalsmith and jeweler Shane Hendren (Navajo) has been named Artist of the Year by the Indian Arts & Crafts Association for his stunning abilities in mixing disparate metals in single works and mastery of a Japanese laminate technique called mokume-gane, as seen in his reversible necklace “Sacred Circles.” Other major awards went to Charlene Sanchez Reano (San Felipe Pueblo) for lapidary work, to Caroline Carpio (Isleta Pueblo) for a bronze pot, and to Mary Lou Big Day (Crow) for a beaded buckskin cradleboard.

Glass artist and printmaker Marvin Oliver (Quinault/Isleta Pueblo) has been chosen as the lead artist for the 2007 Santa Fe Indian Market. His career (see July/Aug. 2006 issue) spans more than 40 years and includes monumental-scale works.

Six grants ranging from $2,500 to $6,875 have been awarded to American Indian musical artists in the inaugural round of grant making of the First Nations Composer Initiative, a program of the American Composers Forum, with support of the Ford Foundation. Recipients are: Whitney Rencounter (Dakota), who will lead formation of a Dakota/Lakota youth drum group; Dawn Avery (Mohawk), who will oversee composition of three solo or small ensemble pieces for the cello; Chenoa Egawa (Lummi), who will research song keepers and compose, arrange and record rarely heard Coast Salish music; Wade Fernandez (Menominee), who will professionally re-master, release and promote his sixth CD, 4 The People; Joy Harjo (Muskogee/Creek), who will record a demo CD of new music blending traditional Muskogee music with other genres; and George Quincy (Choctaw), who will record a new four-movement work for orchestra and Native flute commissioned by James Pellerite. Applications are pending for the next round of grants. Details: fnci.org

Jennifer Kreisberg (Tuscarora), one member of the Ulali trio, has won a Genie Award from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television for achievement in music for her song “Have Hope,” which she composed and performed for the 2006 film Unnatural & Accidental. The song will be included in her forthcoming solo album.

Tohni Laverdure (Little Shell Chippewa Tribe) was selected as a participant in the Youth Leadership Institute of the American Legacy Foundation for training in public health issues related to smoking. The senior at Great Falls High School in Montana was one of 11 students picked nationwide.

Leela Gilday (Dene) walked away with the 2007 Aboriginal Recording of the Year Award for her CD Sedze at the recent Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammy event). Born and raised in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, the Vancouver resident mixes her powerful soul-style voice with Native elements and profound lyrics.

Inuit throat singers Lois Suluk-Locke and Karen Panigoniak of Arviat, Nunavut, Canada will be performing at the Festival of World Cultures in Dublin, Ireland in late August. They are the first throat singers to perform in the Emerald Isle, and will appear through the efforts of the Native talent agency Bronitsky & Associates.

Kade L. Twist (Cherokee) has been presented the 2007 First Book Award for Poetry by the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas for his narrative book-length poem Amazing Grace. It is a contemporary retelling of the Cherokee myth of the hunter and the buzzard. Twist is also a visual artist and journalist.

Film producer Chad Burris (Chickasaw) has been awarded a Mark Silverman Fellowship for New Producers from the Sundance Institute for pre-production on his upcoming project The Left-Handed Path, written and to be directed by Blackhorse Lowe (Diné).

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