‘Whatever the nature and degree of his participation at Oglala, the ruthless persecution of Leonard Peltier had less to do with his own actions than with underlying issues of history, racism, and economics, in particular Indian sovereignty claims and growing opposition to massive energy development on treaty lands and dwindling reservations.’
Peter Matthiessen
Author, writer, environmentalist and political activist Peter Matthiessen has died, aged 86, after a short illness. Pieces written is his memory are here, here, here, here and here.
Matthiessen is best known for his fiction work, his writings on the natural world and his writing and activism on environmental causes.
However, it is his non-fiction books that I value the most. These include In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, which chronicles the story of Native Indian political activist Leonard Peltier and the FBI and US Government’s war on the American Indian Movement and his book about the legendary farm worker, union organizer and activist Ceser Chavez.
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse is one of the finest examples of a book that exposed historical and political injustice and gave force to a political campaign that continues to this day.
In In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Matthiessen documents the massive number of crimes committed against Native American people and the genocidal nature of the US authorities in their destruction of Native cultures and people. He documents a long string of historical injustices, ranging from mass slaughter to the takeover and reapportionment of sacred or Native lands, including the forced appropriation of Indian lands for mining use.
The key figure in Matthiessen’s book is Leonard Peltier, who has spent 37 years in American prisons for the alleged murder of 2 FBI agents on the the Pine Ridge Indian Reserve in South Dakota in 1975.
Peltier, an Ojibwa-Lakota from Turtle Mountain, North Dakota, was one of the three young Indians involved in a shoot-out with the FBI at Oglala on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation in June 1975, which resulted in the death of 3 men, including 2 FBI agents and an Indian. Pelteir and 3 others were later charged with the murder of the two FBI agents.
Peltier and two of the young Indian men indicted were members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) a group fiercely opposed to the sale of Reservation land and mining rights to non-Indian interests.
Mathiessen shows how the fire fight was the result of a planned military assault on the Reservation by FBI agents and local Police, working in conjunction with an Indian para-military group (The GOONS), who were linked to Indian tribal figures keen to sell Indian land to white corporate interests wanting to exploit its mineral wealth.
Those same Indian leaders, with the support of Federal authorities, had armed the GOONS (Guardians of the Oglala Nation), who had been terrorizing Indians on the reservation who opposed the sell off. In the 2 years leading up to the shoot out, the GOONS reign of terror had resulted in between 200-300 deaths.
Matthiessen’s book documents how Peltier’s conviction and subsequent life imprisonment were based on Government fraud and misconduct and highly disputed evidence.
Matthiessen’s book was so controversial its publication was delayed for decades due to legal challenges by the US authorities and the FBI, which cost Matthiessen and his publisher $2 million in legal fees.
Matthiesson continued to write about Chavez, quoting him in this profile article:
When we are really honest with ourselves, we must admit that our lives are all that really belongs to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us be men.”
Editor’s note: This version expands a comment in the 20th paragraph to clarify how the skatepark and the art will be a mechanism for sharing S’Klallam culture.
LITTLE BOSTON — It was almost midday at the Port Gamble S’Klallam skatepark, and Louie Gong and Josh Wisniewski were preparing to put some final touches on the art sprayed onto the cement.
The two were discussing the collaboration that resulted in a skatepark that was more than a place for people to skateboard. Then, the sound of wings overhead as an eagle flew above, almost directly over a Coast Salish painting of an eagle.
Maybe the eagle was a sign. “Or not, maybe. Maybe [it] just is,” said Wisniewski, the Tribe’s archeologist and cultural anthropologist.
The Tribe will celebrate the official opening of the skatepark in April. It’s a project that started in 2012, after the project was chosen as the best skatepark project — from hundreds of submissions — via social media through the Sheckler Foundation.
The foundation, founded by professional skateboarder Ryan Sheckler, assists projects that benefit and enrich the lives of children and injured athletes. It was the foundation’s first project.
The Tribe provided the site for the project, near the Teekalet neighborhood. The site was selected by the S’Klallams Working and Giving (SWAG) youth group.
After the site was selected, Angelique Zaki of the foundation visited Little Boston to help plan the skatepark’s development. She connected the Tribe’s planning department with Grindline Skateparks, a skatepark developer in Seattle which has built more than 120 parks — from Okinawa, Japan, to Orcas Island to Oxford, Miss. Grindline donated its design services, Zaki said.
Other project partners: Map Ltd., construction and civil engineers of Silverdale, surveying services; Krazan & Associates of Poulsbo, soils testing; and Coho Concrete of Kingston, concrete laying.
Gong said he received a grant through the Evergreen Longhouse to help with costs, mainly travel between his home and the Port Gamble S’Klallam reservation.
The skatepark has become more than just another place to skate. It reflects the Tribe’s youth and culture.
“The artwork here in the park is really meant to reflect the people and interest of who the park belongs to,” Gong said.
Gong, an artist of Nooksack and Chinese ancestry, was one of the driving forces behind the skatepark art. Gong produces Coast Salish art in various forms — among them shoes, skateboard decks and home decor — for his company, Eighth Generation. He was contacted by Wisniewski and invited to participate.
Gong worked with SWAG on what art they would like to see at the park. He took that info back to his office in Seattle and made mockups of the designs and potential color templates on his computer.
Gong and S’Klallam youth then used high-end spray paint, with stencils and masking tape at times, to piece together the art.
The art project was mostly completed within March. The result is a colorful and cultural skating experience.
Breaking barriers
When a non-tribal member steps onto the skatepark they will see an eagle, orca, canoe, and two phrases written in S’Klallam: “It becomes new,” and “We are Noo-Kayet S’Klallam.” “It becomes new” is the closest language equivalent to “Be the Change,” the Sheckler Foundation’s campaign.
It’s almost like a stamp. “You walk into that park, and the first thing you see is ‘Port Gamble S’Klallam,’ ” Wisniewski said.
The artwork was a way to reflect the youth — not only as S’Klallam, but as the people who brought the skatepark into the community, he said. And that’s not being done in an exclusionary way, but as a way to show respect for the youths’ hard work.
“People have perceptions of Native people and communities,” Wisniewski said. “This park is something that kids who are Tribal members can invite their off-reservation friends to come visit. In doing so and sharing the park and the art, they will be able to share their community, culture and language. That is how the park and skateboarding will break down barriers.”
Already a lot of interest in park
The skatepark is technically open to the S’Klallam community and guests. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t growing interest in the park from outside of the community.
As boxes of spray paint cans and stencils were being pulled out of a supply shed so a few more artistic features could be added to the park, two men pulled into the adjacent parking lot. They wanted to know when the park would be open. Because painting was going on, they were turned away.
Apparently, interested skaters have become common at the park, which hasn’t officially opened.
Wisniewski said skateboarding is growing in popularity within Native American communities. A “cultural event,” he called it.
The skatepark will also give S’Klallam youth another recreational opportunity. Other than the skatepark, there is a playground, gym and basketball court. There is not a lot of recreation for older kids in Little Boston, Wisniewski said.
“If you don’t have a place for kids to do stuff, they won’t do it,” he said.
When finished, the S’Klallam skatepark will be one of four skateparks in the area. Other skateparks are located in Kingston, at Raab Park in Poulsbo, and at Clear Creek Park in Silverdale.
Neighbors Helping Neighbors Concert at Tulalip Resort Casino
WHO: Tulalip Resort Casino, country music star Chance McKinney, with Ron Stubbs as the opening act
WHAT:
A live concert to raise Oso Landslide Relief funds, with a goal of a sell-out event
$20 entry charge at the door, with 100% of the admission proceeds benefiting the Oso community
Each attendee will receive a drawing ticket to win an autographed guitar by Chance McKinney
The total donation will become part of an account set up by Union Bank of Edmonds and Cascade Valley Hospital. Proceeds will be used to assist the victims and their families. Additional donations may be made at the event
WHY: A large landslide destroying a sizable part of the Oso community, covering nearly a square mile with mud and debris, as well as claiming at least 27 lives“It’s not often we’re called upon to help neighbors in such dire need, but when the opportunity arises, nobody can say the Pacific Northwest isn’t up for the challenge!” says Chance McKinney.
Tulalip COO and President Ken Kettler concurs, “Our goal is to deliver funds directly back to the Oso community, where the need is epic and every dollar helps chip away at the sheer magnitude.”
Canadian Inuit have embarked on a unique form of protest against the decision by host Ellen DeGeneres to highlight an anti seal-hunting charity on Oscars night. DeGeneres’ Hollywood megastar “selfie” became the most retweeted snap of all time earlier this month, in the process raising $1.5m for the Humane Society of the United States, which campaigns against the seal hunt.
Ellen DeGeneres takes a selfie with stars at the Oscars 2014. Photograph: Ellen DeGeneres/AP
Now members of Canada’s indigenous population have hit back with their own version, the “sealfie”.
Inuit have begun to post pictures of themselves dressed in sealskin clothing, Canoe.ca reported. The move aims to highlight the cultural and financial benefits of a practice they see as a sustainable, ethical choice.
“The meat feeds families, which is important to an area where many households have identified that they face issues of food insecurity,” said Sandi Vincent, who posted her own “sealfie” on Thursday. “In Inuit culture, it is believed seals and other animals have souls and offer themselves to you. Humanely and with gratitude we accepted this gift,” she said, recalling her first seal hunt at age 15. “My uncle placed some snow in the seal’s mouth when it was dead, so its soul would not be thirsty. If there is one word to describe seal-hunting, I would suggest ‘respectful’.”
DeGeneres’ website says Canadian seal-hunting hunt is “one of the most atrocious and inhumane acts against animals allowed by any government”.
The $1.5m (£900,000) donation came about after Korean firm Samsung promised to donate $1 to a charity of the Oscars host’s choice each time her celebrity-loaded selfie was retweeted.
Tiyanna Bueno, daughter of Malory Simpson and Jesse Bueno, learns to play slehal. Andrew Gobin/Tulalip News
By Andrew Gobin, Tulalip News
Tulalip – Tulalip Youth Services hosts a culture night every Monday at 5:30 p.m. The evening often features lessons on traditional arts and crafts and always includes time for singing and dancing. Some nights, like March 24th, the cultural specialists, Tenika Fryberg and Taylor Henry, prepare an evening of culture and community through games and other presentation. On the 24th, they presented the traditional slehal game.
Slehal, translated as bone game or also referred to as stick game, is a traditional game that is played throughout the Salishan area, from Northern Oregon up to Haida Gwaii and as far east as Browning Montana. The goal is to win all of the stick by finding the unmarked bone, much like the children’s game ‘pick a hand.’ The number of sticks varies between seven and eleven, but the goal remains the same.
Bone Games mean many things for Salish peoples. There are origin stories about men playing against the animals to determine who will rule the world. This embodies two specific aspects of slehal, gambling and dispute settlement. Historically, slehal was a means to settle disputes. Whoever won the game, won the argument. Traditionally, slehal was a gamble, and still is today with many tournaments for prize money up to $10,000 cash.
Culture night is a chance to enjoy these aspects of our culture, coming together as a community to teach all people about our traditions. It is a place to learn the songs and the dances, and, like this week, the communal traditions.
Culture Night is held every Monday in the portable across from the old tribal center, now the youth center, at 6700 Totem Beach Rd. For more information contact Taylor Henry at (360) 716-4916.
Andrew Gobin is a reporter with the See-Yaht-Sub, a publication of the Tulalip Tribes Communications Department. Email: agobin@tulaliptribes-nsn.gov Phone: (360) 716.4188
There’s trouble in Neverland. Warner Brothers have cast the very fine actress Rooney Mara (she of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as Tiger Lily in a new Peter Pan reboot. In this film, by the way, Peter Pan will fight, not against Captain Hook, but Blackbeard, which seems to me pretty bizarre. But leave that to one side. It is the casting of Mara that has caused consternation. Hundreds of people have taken to Twitter to complain about Hollywood’s continued “whitewashing” of characters, and failure to cast actors from ethnic minorities. One said: “Come on. You couldn’t find a Native American actress to play Tiger Lily?”
The complainers are right. This is a rare moment when there is a clear chance to cast a Native American actress, and Hollywood is riding roughshod over sensibilities.
It’s tempting to say we do things rather more sensitively over here. And certainly on the stage, much has been achieved in the long journey towards colour-blind casting. But let’s not get too self-congratulatory. Delivering the annual Bafta television lecture in London this week, Lenny Henry called for new legislation to reverse the “appalling” percentage of black and Asian people in the creative industries.
The actor and comedian said the number of black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) people working in the UK television industry had fallen by 30.9 per cent between 2006 and 2012. They now make up just 5.4 per cent of the broadcasting workforce. His proposal is for ring-fencing money for Bame shows. To qualify for the money, 50 per cent of production staff and of on-screen talent must be Bame.
Henry went on to make the very good point that in BBC1’s Luther, the detective played by Idris Elba “has no black friends…you never see Luther with black people, what’s going on?”
He makes a more questionable point when he mentions ITV’s Broadchurch and says that you “rarely see a black face” in high-end British dramas and comedies. Broadchurch was set in a Dorset seaside resort, so the casting was probably pretty realistic.
But the central point is correct. Strides that have been made towards colour-blind casting, or at the very least positive discrimination on stage and screen, are faltering. If the BBC can decree, with justification, that there must always be a woman on a comedy panel-show, then I see no reason why it can’t make decrees about percentages of black and ethnic minority people being employed in broadcasting, both on- and off-screen. It need not be the exact percentage that Lenny Henry suggests, but positive, visible action is needed. As for the new Tiger Lily, the solution is much more straightforward. Rooney Mara should withdraw.
In this photo taken on March 10, 2014, Brad Hamlett owner of the Wrangler Gallery in Great Falls holds a painting by David Humphreys Miller. Hamlett’s gallery is selling the Humphreys collection which includes 122 framed pieces, hundreds of photographs and negatives along with artifacts and notes of interviews Humphreys did with his subjects. (AP Photo/The Great Falls Tribune, Larry Beckner) NO SALES LARRY BECKNER — AP
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A collection of paintings, photos and sketches depicting some of the last pre-reservation Native Americans, including survivors of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, could sell for more this weekend than any of the other individual works during Western Art Week.
The Wrangler Gallery, located at 316 Central Ave., is seeking a buyer for the 122-piece David Humphreys Miller collection. Gallery owner Brad Hamlett says it is worth $3.8 million, according to an independent appraiser who looked at it recently.
It’s on display at the gallery throughout Western Art Week. The collection is owned by a family friend of the Millers who’s a representative with the Solomon Family Trust.
“This collection belongs in a museum where the public can access it and study it,” Hamlett said. “It’s also a very interactive exhibit. Native people come in to see it, and they may see members of their family who never had a photo taken of them, but they will remember them and start talking about their memories.”
Included in the collection are more than 50 sketches of the survivors from the Battle of the Little Big Horn and exclusive photos from the various Hollywood westerns Miller worked on with the Sioux Natives he brought to appear in the films. He would then collect the money given to the Natives and make sure they were given their fair shares once they returned to the reservation.
Some of the films Miller worked on as adviser include “Cheyenne Autumn” and “How the West was Won.” He worked on 25 films in total, bringing authentic Natives to play Indians in the films.
Miller, of Ohio, was 16 when he came to Montana and the Dakotas in 1935 to interview the surviving warriors who had wiped out the U.S. Army forces led by Gen. George Armstrong Custer in 1876.
He formed a lifelong relationship with the people. Over the course of his life, Miller learned 14 Indian languages, including sign languages, and was adopted into 16 different Indian families.
He also wrote two books about the battles titled “Custer’s Fall: The Indian Side of the Story” and “Ghost Dance.” Both books are on display in the exhibit.
In his artist’s statement, Miller wrote that he began his journey with the goal of finding out what happened from those who survived the battles. He said it was a long task that took many years to complete.
“I recall feeling a considerable sense of urgency when I began my quest. Will Durant has written that ‘no man in a hurry is quite civilized,'” he writes. “I was anything but civilized in my haste to find as many old Indian veterans of Little Big Horn as I could to straighten out history. The Indians almost certainly had never even heard of Durant, yet I found there was no way of hurrying them. The project of seeking them out, persuading them to pose for their portraits and interviewing them about their individual roles in the Custer Fight took a number of years —1935 through 1941 and 1946 through 1955 when the last survivor died.”
In 1972, Miller’s works won the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Beyond the artwork, many of the old black-and-white photos in the collection are one-of-a-kind images.
Hamlett said they’ve recently had the curator from the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman at the gallery looking at the collection. He said the curator told him that just the photographs and negatives were worth $600,000.
Hamlett said the collection also includes several priceless artifacts, including the headdress of John Sitting Bull, the Northern Apache ghost dancer and stepson to the Sioux Chief Sitting Bull.
There also is a rare Ghost Dance Shield, given to Miller as a wedding gift July 4, 1954, by Sam Helper, who survived the Ghost Dance massacre, also known as the Wounded Knee massacre, in December 1890.
All of the artifacts were given to Miller as gifts and cannot be sold, Hamlett said, but will be given to a museum that might look to show the collection.
Some of the more interesting pieces featured in the 95 sketches and 25 oil paintings include:
. Black Elk, subject of the book “Black Elk Speaks,” the Sioux warrior who adopted Miller as his son;
. Chewing Black Bones, the Blackfeet warrior for whom the campground near St. Mary is named;
. Juniper Old Person, father of Earl Old Person, chief of the Blackfeet Nation; and Joseph White Bull, who told Miller that he killed Custer in hand-to-hand combat. The body was identified after the battle by an Indian woman who had been captured by Custer and bore him a son, White Bull told Miller.
Many of the portraits painted by Miller between 1935 and 1941 are of the 70 surviving Indian warriors from the Battle of the Little Bighorn quoted in “Custer’s Fall.”
A portion of the collection was shown at the University of Wyoming in 2012.
Barbara Koostra, director of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture at the University of Montana, said the museum would be interested in acquiring the exhibit but does not have the financial resources to buy it.
“A few years ago our museum made inquiries about this collection in terms of a potential gift. This is due to the fact we have no acquisition funding,” she said. “At that time, there was not a desire to gift the collection and it appears their desire to sell continues. We’d be extremely interested in such a collection coming to our public collection but are not in a financial position to acquire it in terms of a purchase.”
Similarly, the Montana Historical Society has viewed the exhibit but does not have the resources to purchase it, either.
“It’s appears to be a wonderful and important collection but not something that is on our priority list at this time,” Historical Society Director Bruce Whittenberg said.
The owner of the collection, who wished not to be identified, said Miller never sold any of his artwork. She said he saw it as a chance to tell the story of the Native people who survived these historically important battles by hearing it directly from them.
“He had a wonderful life and did what he wanted to do,” she said.
Hamlett said the gallery owner inherited the collection after the Millers died and wishes to sell it to help share Miller’s memory, and the historical importance of his paintings, with the world.
“She was one of (the Millers’) best friends and she had gone to the reservation with them from time to time and she knew how important their personal relationships with the native people were,” Hamlett said. “In fact, Miller actually was buried on the Sioux reservation.”
The Millers especially became close friends with Dewey Beard and his family. Beard was the last living survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the Battle of Wounded Knee. He lost his first wife, his parents and children in the battles.
The collection’s owner said Miller was accepted as a member of the family among people in the tribes he visited such as Beard and others.
Some other interesting aspects of Miller’s life include his work as host of the 1950s TV show “Cavalcade of Books,” in which he interviewed authors and speakers. It was on his show that he interviewed Richard Nixon. He also did portraits of famous Hollywood icons such as Charlton Heston and Milburn Stone.
Miller’s wife, Jan, worked as a researcher on the program “This Is Your Life.” Before meeting Miller, she was a reporter for a daily newspaper in New Orleans. She first met Miller when she interviewed him for a story. They met again a few years later and married shortly thereafter.
More than anything, however, Hamlett said Miller’s curiosity in the Northern Plains culture was by far the most enduring aspect of his life.
“I think he had a sincere interest in history and he wanted to find out what happened, and the only ones who could tell him were the Indians,” Hamlett said. “There’s no other collections like this one, historically or artistically, especially because he used the oral history of these people that would be gone if he hadn’t come along and wrote it down and showed these people through his art.”
Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com
Read more here: http://www.theolympian.com/2014/03/19/3042447/collection-of-native-american.html#storylink=cpy
Tulalip, Washington — Tulalip Resort Casino invites fans to rock to the pulsating sounds of Queen and Boston, on Sunday, May 25. Starting at 8:00pm in the Orca Ballroom, the Resort will host “Rock the Empire,” a tribute style concert with classic music from two of the greatest bands of the 70’s and 80’s. Groupies can sway to the lively beats while sipping on cocktails from the no-host bar.
Queen Nation – Queen Tribute Band
Queen Nation was formed in 2004, and consists of band members: Joe Retta or Gregory Finsley on vocals and keyboards as Freddie Mercury; Mike McManus on guitar as Brian May; Pete Burke on drums as Roger Taylor; and Parker Combs on bass as John Deacon. The group’s mission is to carry on the musical torch and pay homage to the golden age of vintage Queen concerts. Music lovers can jam to ultimate Queen songs such as “Cold Stone Crazy,” “Tie Your Mother Down,” “Somebody to Love,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and more.
Third Stage – Boston Tribute Band
Borrowed Time hails from Seattle and will make their debut as “Third Stage” at Tulalip. They play the greatest hits from the band Boston, filling the show with great renditions and the enthusiasm that is reflective of the band’s personalities. Not a look alike act, but a rocking and melodic band that faithfully recreates the magic of Boston, concert goers will enjoy classics like “A Man I’ll Never Be,” “Something About You,” “Smokin,” and many more. Band members and the characters they play are Arny Bailey as Brad Delp on vocals; Aaron Cheney as guitar wizard Tom Scholz; Bryan Woolley as Fran Sheehan on bass; David Shore on keyboards; Dave Farrell as guitarist Barry Goudreau; and Marc Montagnino as Sib Hashian on drums.
This event is limited to those 21 and over. Tickets go on sale March 28th at the Resort’s Rewards Club desk or Ticketmaster. They are priced at $15 per person in advance or $25 per person at the door.
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About Tulalip Resort Casino
Award winning Tulalip Resort Casino is the most distinctive gaming, dining, meeting, entertainment and shopping destination in Washington State. The AAA Four Diamond resort’s world class amenities have ensured its place on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold and Traveler Top 100 Resorts lists, as well as Preferred Hotel and Resorts membership. The property includes 192,000 square feet of gaming excitement; a luxury hotel featuring 370 guest rooms and suites; 30,000 square feet of premier meeting, convention and wedding space; the full-service T Spa; and 7 dining venues, including the AAA Four Diamond Tulalip Bay Restaurant. It also showcases the intimate Canoes Cabaret and a 3,000-seat amphitheater. Nearby, find the Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve, Cabela’s; and Seattle Premium Outlets, featuring more than 110 name brand retail discount shops. The Resort Casino is conveniently located between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. just off Interstate-5 at Exit 200. It is an enterprise of the Tulalip Tribes. For reservations please call (866) 716-7162.
However, it is his non-fiction books that I value the most. These include In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, which chronicles the story of Native Indian political activist Leonard Peltier and the FBI and US Government’s war on the American Indian Movement and his book about the legendary farm worker, union organizer and activist Ceser Chavez.
