Calvin C. Pohawpatchoko Jr., a member of the Comanche Nation, is a Ph.D. candidate in an interdisciplinary program in technology, media and society at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He supports insourcing call or data centers that can be based at a distance from their customers (compared to outsourcing to India, the Philippines, or other places).

The idea is not without drawbacks—for cost-conscious business leaders, services abroad might still be cheaper in terms of educated workers commanding relatively low wages in unregulated working conditions, but in America’s job-starved economy insourced call or data centers might provide social capital.

Call centers involve employees who seem to belong to a computer firm, for example, as they respond to questions from callers, but generally they are employees of the call center. Data centers, sometimes combined with call centers, store data for others, as in digitizing data for states and the transportation industry as part of a growing global field.

Pohawpatchoko says educated workers are a critical component for reservation-based business, so ventures near tribal colleges or universities might be a place to start. He notes that in South America, for example, “it’s the role of universities” to create economic skills and economic stability in the area.

One challenge for Indian America is that more than 50 percent of Native American students drop out of school before they graduate, 20 percent may go to college but only half graduate, so “we may be left with 10 percent actually graduating from college,” he notes.

Other hurdles include elected tribal councils that may change every two years or so, sovereignty issues that could discourage outside investment, and lack of funds for needed infrastructure, he said.

Some reservations have already taken the plunge into call and data systems, a field which Powhawpatchoko, who worked as an employee of Electronic Data Systems has watched with interest.

Cayuse Technologies, owned by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, offers such services as digital document processing, software development and a call center to governmental and commercial clients.

The tribally owned firm in northeastern Oregon was initiated “to diversify the local economy and to create living wage jobs that allow people of the Umatilla Reservation and surrounding rural communities the opportunity to live and work on or near the Umatilla Reservation and their homes,” reads the Cayuse website.

There are other data or call center enterprises in Indian country, one of them Lakota Technologies Inc., in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, where jobs are scarce. The firm has 10 to 15 tribal members as employees, primarily in data conversion work and it is “an opportunity for our people economically,” said Candace Le Beaux, operations supervisor.

An umbrella organization of seven tribes and several Native nonprofits, the Intertribal Information Technology Co. LLC, was formed primarily to meet Department of Defense needs for advanced digital formats and through its Native American Document Conversion Program “has created employment for as many as 500 people in Native communities [including Eagle Butte] typically suffering 50 percent or greater unemployment.”

Pohawpatchko lauds these and other ventures: “We haven’t really grasped the idea of sovereignty itself—we still have the mindset of trying to catch up. We should always be looking forward and seeing what could be done.”

Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/02/01/native-proposes-reservation-business-95163 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/02/01/native-proposes-reservation-business-95163#ixzz1lNVrhC00

What does Groundhog Day have to do with Native American language and history? And how did Punxsutawney Phil, the now famous groundhog millions look to for weather predictions, end up in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania?

Let’s start at the beginning.

Groundhog Day, at its most basic, is an astronomical holiday. February 2nd falls midway between the December solstice and March equinox.

“Solstices, equinoxes and seasonal midways called cross quarters were vital to ancient people for regulating their calendars and knowing when to plant, when to harvest, when to stay, when to move,” says an article about the seasons on Archaeoastronomy.com. As illustrated in the image to the left, the equinoxes and solstices are separated by 90-degree angles. The cross quarters bisect those and served as Celtic boundaries for the four seasons—Beltaine, Lughnasad, Samain and Imbolc.

Imbolc corresponds to Groundhog Day and the beginning of spring and gave way to Candlemas, its church-approved name, when clergy in Europe would bless and distribute candles marking the end of winter. People also looked to a hedgehog for its shadowy prediction.

An old English song goes like this:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,

Come, Winter, have another flight;

If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,

Go Winter, and come not again.

So it goes today. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it’s an omen for six more weeks of bad weather. But if the day is cloudy and he doesn’t see his shadow, it’s time for spring.

But how did Punxsutawney become Groundhog Day central? The first Europeans to settle in Pennsylvania were the Germans early in the 18th century. They found an abundance of groundhogs in the area. The creatures weren’t the hedgehogs they were used to back home, but they figured the groundhog would do.

The earliest observance of Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney was 1886 reported The Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper. The celebration moved to Gobbler’s Knob—where it’s still held—in 1887, the same year the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club was formed.

The club named Phil its furry prognosticator back in 1887, and then declared his immortality. Every summer the group feeds Phil a “magic elixir of life,” which members say extends Phil’s life by seven years.

Phil even got a movie out of his fame. In 1993, Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell starred in Groundhog Day, which wasn’t actually filmed in Punxsutawney, but in Woodstock, Illinios.

Image from YouTube user SacerdosMagnus2001

Punxsutawney is in the hills of the Appalachian Plateau and takes its name from past inhabitants. The name itself comes from the Native American word ponki for sand fly. Indians called the place Ponsutenink, “the town of the ponkis.” The area was a campsite used by Native Americans halfway between the Allegheny and Susquehanna rivers. Ponsutenink was on the Shamokin Path, the earliest known trail to the east. At various times the area was inhabited by Shawnee, Delaware, Seneca and Iroquois.

The groundhog even has Native roots. The burrowing rodent is also called a woodchuck, which according to the Cornell Chronicle, Natives once used as hides for the soles of moccasins. Even the word woodchuck has Native origins. Many sources say it came from the Algonquian word wuchak, which English colonists turned into woodchuck. The World English Dictionary says it came from the Narragansett word for woodchuck ockqutchaun and the Cree word for fisher, a member of the weasel family, otcheck.

According to Native-Langauges.org, “the Wabanaki tribes of New England and the Canadian Maritimes have a mythological woodchuck character, named Grandmother Woodchuck, who is the adoptive grandmother of their culture hero Glooskap. She is usually depicted as a wise elder whose patience and wisdom teaches lessons to the good-hearted but often impetuous Glooskap.”

Watch Phil’s prediction via live webcast starting at 6 a.m. online at VisitPA.com.

See last year’s prediction:

Punxsutawney Phil’s Inner Circle:

Groundhog Day movie trailer:

View the original article here

Native American History RV Vacation

For an RV camping vacation that’s a history lesson, as well, consider exploring Native American historical sites.  The suggestions below represent just a few of the hundreds of places you can learn about the role of Native Americans in our nation’s history.

Native American History RV Vacation – Four Corners Itinerary

Where the borders of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet, you’ll find a treasure trove of Native American history. In the Four Corners area you can visit Mesa Verde, Hovenweep National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument and Monument Valley.

Mesa Verde, in southwestern Colorado, is the site of ancient cliff dwellings and spectacular scenery. Winding roads lead to the canyon rim throughout this National Park. You will find numerous lookout points offering amazing glimpses of the cliff dwellings where ancient Puebloans lived for more than seven hundred years

North and west of Mesa Verde, along the Utah/Colorado border, you’ll find Hovenweep National Monument. The ruins of six prehistoric Pueblo dwellings dot the canyons of Hovenweep, with towers rising far above canyon walls.

Continue your Native American History RV vacation with a stop in Monument Valley in northeastern Arizona. You’ll probably remember the sandstone buttes and towers from hundreds of Westerns filmed there. Native American guides who live within the valley will lead you off the main trails to sites that mark the legacy of their ancestors.

Your final leg of a Four Corners RV camping trip should definitely include Canyon de Chelly near the Arizona/New Mexico border. The Canyon, completely located on Navajo tribal land, offers an entire vacation’s worth of historical treasures. The windswept canyons and buttes of Canyon de Chelly are home to more than two thousand archaeological sites.

Native American History RV Vacation – Northern Itinerary

When you’re ready for another round of Native American history, plan some RV camping in the Badlands and Black Hills of the north central U.S. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana lets visitors relive the battle that claimed the lives of most of the 7th Cavalry Division under Lt. Col George Armstrong Custer in 1876. Here in the place Sitting Bull and several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors were victorious, you’ll find breathtaking scenery and plenty of Native American artifacts to explore.

The Black Hills of South Dakota are home to the Crazy Horse Memorial, where sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began creating his enormous tribute to the Lakota chief in 1948. Come watch as progress on the colossal sculpture continues, and stay to visit the Native American Cultural Center and Indian Museum of North America.

Finish your RV camping trip to find Native American history with a stop at the Wounded Knee Museum in Wall, South Dakota. About fifty miles from the actual site of the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, the Museum tells the story of the tragic deaths of almost 300 Lakota Sioux at Pine Ridge.

As you travel the Badlands and Black Hills, there are plenty of well-equipped RV campgrounds to serve you. Why not learn more on your next vacation about the major contribution Native Americans have made to our history? Turn your motorhome into a rolling classroom and get ready to be inspired!

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We love this great teaching approach for learning about Native American History from David Freeburg. His website ‘Epic Epoch’ is a place full of great teaching ideas. David describes himself as someone ‘who enjoys his experience in the classroom teaching his students how to use the web, social media, Interactive White Boards with student response systems, and other hardware though he loathes dead batteries and forgotten passwords.’ He’s clearly someone who fits into our way of thinking of how new technologies can support learning in schools. Check out his brilliant blog post below:

Every year I try to fit in a Native American unit into my eighth grade U.S. History curriculum. If I were to follow the prepared curriculum out of our mammoth sized textbooks, this would probably never happen. But, I think it’s important to recognize the uniqueness of Native American history and culture alongside the expansion if the United States history, so I make time for it.

Previous years I’ve tried to allow students to work to their strengths and create a final assessment for me that not only demonstrates their understanding and comprehension of the material, but affords them the opportunity to stretch themselves creatively. Students have turned in dioramas, movies, created songs, written reports, and other types of projects, all on a specific tribe they research. While it was very interesting to see what the students came up with, I felt they were placing more emphasis on the finished product, and not as much on the learning objectives. A sort of teaching to the diorama, if you will.

Out with the old
This year I was intent to reverse that trend, by limiting the projects students would do in favor of having them spend more time on research, analysis, and application. Rather than allow students to choose anything they wished, I narrowed the focus and required each group (3 or 4) of students to:
Research a Native American tribe.
Summarize their information in the form of a Google Doc they create and edit together.
Apply that information to a Google Map they create.

Step 1
Students started out by first researching a specific Native American tribe they were assigned at random. There was a pool of about 20 different tribes I gathered ahead of time to ensure enough quality information could be found by each group. Their research packet was split into three categories: Geography, Society/Culture, and Economy/Resources.

Step 2
After they had done their research and filled out their packet, they had to choose one of the aforementioned categories and summarize their research in paragraph form on a shared Google Doc. Since all of the groups information was on one Google Doc, it became incredibly easy for me to give them feedback in the form of comments, and, it allowed them to peer edit each others work.

Step 3
With their research analyzed and summarized in paragraph form, they could now easily create their Google Map. I created a rubric for students to follow, and also provided some simple instructions on how to get started. What was surprising was how quickly most students picked it up. After reading through the directions, the majority of students would shoo me away and finish the map on their own. Each group had to insert Placemarks of the three categories, insert relevant pictures that would help explain their paragraph, draw the area the tribe lived in and, for extra credit, they could insert a YouTube video about their tribe.

In with the new
So..did it work?
Compared to years past, this project was much more successful at having students meet learning objectives. Not only did they have fun and use their creative energy to create a Google Map, but after giving them a reflective final assessment, it was clear to me that they had a better grasp not only on their tribe, but on the histories and cultures of Native American tribes across the U.S. during the 19th century. If you’ve ever thought about using Google Maps with your students, I highly recommend you dive right in and try it out. Especially, if your district uses Google Apps for Education, as mine does.

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With more than 500 different Native American tribes living today in the United States, faculty and administrators at UConn have been working in recent years to raise the profile of Native American Studies as an academic discipline and provide students greater opportunity to explore their interests in this area.

Connecticut is home to five tribal nations: Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Schaghticoke, Eastern Pequot, and Paugusset. Hundreds of other indigenous peoples reside throughout the Americas.

Despite this vast, enduring diversity in Native culture, “many people think of Native American Studies as a very parochial pursuit,” says anthropology professor Kevin McBride, director of Native American Studies. “I don’t think people appreciate how integrative it is.”

Exploring Native American Studies is by no means limited to the historical study of a single tribe from the distant past. In establishing a Native American Studies curriculum, UConn has incorporated courses ranging across disciplines such as anthropology, English, geography, political science, and philosophy. And there are ongoing discussions about adding and adapting courses.

“UConn has recognized how important it is to be truly multidisciplinary,” says McBride. “We cannot understand anything about Native people without understanding African American history, Colonial history, environmental history, law, or politics.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – First Lady Michelle Obama and a group of American Indian children planted traditional crops in the White House kitchen garden as part of her ‘Let’s move!’ initiative to fight child obesity and promote a healthier lifestyle in young Americans, the White House said Friday.

The event took place just one week after the launch of Let’s Move! in Indian Country (LMIC), and as part of the regular seasonal harvest, they planted crops known as the ‘three sisters,’ which are corn, beans and squash.

Studies have shown that this traditional Native American planting technique grows crops in a mutually beneficial manner: the corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles; the beans provide the soil with nitrogen that the other plants use; and the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the sunlight and preventing weeds.

“Today’s a big day for us in the garden because it’s the first time we’re going to use native seeds of corn, beans and squash in the way they’ve been planted for thousands of years,” the First Lady said.

“We’re all pretty excited to continue this tradition. This is another example of a fun, easy way that we all can work together to be healthier. And that’s what we’re trying to accomplish with Let’s Move!”

The Cherokee White Eagle corn, Rattlesnake pole beans, and Seminole squash seeds used in the White House planting came from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

In addition, Michelle Obama and the children also harvested crops in the garden, including lettuces, rhubarb, chard, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas, turnips, broccoli and herbs – some of which will be used in Tuesday’s State Dinner in honor of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

These crops were originally planted in March by the First lady and children from Harriet Tubman and Bancroft Elementary Schools.

In 2009, American Indian or Alaska Native children aged 2 to 4 had a higher prevalence of obesity (20.7 percent) than any other racial or ethnic group, the White House said, adding that in Indian Country, 1 in 3 children are overweight or obese before their 5th birthday.

Furthermore, a national survey of American Indian and Alaska Native high school students from urban and suburban areas found that 18.9 percent are obese.

LMIC brings together federal agencies, communities, nonprofits, corporate partners, schools and tribes to focus on four areas: early childhood development, healthy learning communities, physical activity and increasing access to affordable, healthy foods.

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Native American dance sticks allow the user to become more involved in the ceremony. The dance stick helps the dancer to focus their thoughts and energy to help make the dance a success. Dance is a way the Indians use to communicate a myriad of things. Some dances are for healing, while others may be strictly for celebration. Dance sticks add a visual as well as a spiritual meaning to any ceremony, and are treasured tribal items.

Nearly all Native American tribes crafted dance sticks. Not only were the sticks made and decorated for each tribe, but dance sticks were made for specific purposes. Dance sticks are generally made of a length of wood with a section of antler on one or both ends. Prayers that are being sent to the Great Spirit are represented by particular feathers used. Representative of a tribe or individual, the colors used for a dance stick are chosen carefully.

Although Indian dance sticks were used for war dances, there was another very important purpose. These sticks were used to bring honor to a much loved departed horse. Not even death could sever the bond between the Native American and his horse. An additional decoration was added when the dance stick was prepared for a special tribute to a beloved horse. To make sure that the prayers of the warrior were directed to the horse, hair from the horse’s tail or mane was used to embellish the stick.

The healing ceremony is still a vital part of Native American tribal life. A shaman or medicine man will often use a dance stick in order to better direct the healing energies.

Used for meditation as well as dancing, the Native American dance stick can be enjoyed by anyone. These beautifully decorated dance sticks will also add a natural touch to any room’s decor. The bright colors and detailed decorations will make these dance sticks a treasured addition to the home. A dance stick will go perfectly with country decor as well as Southwest style decorating. A display of dance sticks can cheer and brighten a cabin or vacation home. When used for decorating purposes, a dance stick can bring a touch of color and interest to most settings.

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Native American drums are without a doubt the most used Native instruments among American Indians and non Native American people alike. Drums for many generations have certainly been at the center of Native lifestyle, forming what has become the channel of religion and spirituality as well as special days where a pow wow drum is at the center.

Indian leaders in North America history have all used drums in various ways to communicate with a higher power known to most as the Great Spirit. To Native people, Indian drums are much more than just decorations or interesting musical instruments. American Indian drums are thought to speak to the drummer. Native drums being made in a circle represent the earth and life. The most well known being hoop drums and shaman drums which are Indian hand drums used in many personal healing and religious ceremonies as well as public ceremonies such as a Native American powwow.

The hide of the animal that is placed over the ring brings with it unique characteristics of the spirit of the animal and brings a sense of life to the drum when played. Many people think of striking a drum to make a sound, but to Native American drummers and those involved in modern drumming groups and drum circles, the desire is to draw out the sound. The beating drum is compared to the beating of a human heart and is said to represent the heart beat of the earth which is a belief that is classic Native American. Drums in this way become the channel to connect one’s spirit with that of the earth and the Great Spirit through out the history of Native Americans.

Native American Indian drums have a beautiful culture and because they are so important they are used in not only music but art and dance as well. Adding decoration to a drum becomes a very personal job to the owner. The Indian drummer becomes an artist and communicates impressions of his inner feelings and beliefs in his Indian art. Some American Indian tribes use animals to personalize their drums and others use geometric patterns and everything in between. In some tribal Indian cultures the drummer will place some item of personal value inside the drum to permanently join himself with his hand drum.

The different Native American images that the artwork on the drums depict is usually painted with natural earth colors taken from nature. Some are dull and others are bright coming from flowers, roots, berries, bark or herbs that are boiled to release their unique earth tones. Other Native American drums are decorated with iron oxide which is a naturally occurring red rock that can be easily crushed. When mixed with water, it produces a rich orange red dye that is much like paint and is indicative if the surrounding hillsides and rock formations like those of the beautiful Arizona red rock canyons. The region of Sedona is thought to be a special place with spiritual energy like the energy created by American Indian drums.

The direction of Native American Education except for those Indian boarding schools that have tried to stamp out Native culture has always involved the sharing of beliefs through music, songs, stories and legends. It is in harmony with these means of learning that the communication and cultural importance has been found in the use of drums. If you are interested in the spiritual aspects of life as pertain to Indian beliefs, you would get a lot out of having and playing Native American drums.

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Once the sun sets, dreams begin to drift through the air. Both good and bad dreams circulate like moths. The Native American dream catcher is meant to help assure that only good dreams will reach the sleeper. Hung near the head of the bed, the dream catcher will be ready, throughout the night to intercept nightmares. According to belief, bad dreams will become entangled in the dream catcher, while good dreams will drift through.

Native American dream catchers are usually made of a circle or hoop of willow enclosing woven sinew strands. Good dreams filter down to the sleeper through the means of feathers and beads which hang from the base of the willow hoop. Sometimes household items are also hung from the bottom of the dream catcher, anything that might prove to be beneficial. Many people believe that the webbing will trap bad dreams and nightmares. The light of the rising sun would cause these bad dreams to disappear.

The woven netting in the center of the dream catcher hoop mirrors a spider’s web. Many dream catchers are made in such a way that the interior looks just like the web of a spider. Where the netting is attached, traditional Native American dream catchers often have eight points. This demonstrates the eight legs of the spider spinner. Sometimes, a feather is placed in the center of this webbing to signify air.

The art of the Indian dream catcher began with the Ojibwa, or Chippewa, tribes. This is a very old practice and was originally meant to protect infants and very young children. The night can be a frightening time for any child, and bad dreams can easily disturb a youngster’s sleep. Just knowing that a dream catcher was hanging overhead would offer comfort to the drowsy child.

Native American dream catchers soon spread far beyond the Ojibwa, and were adopted by the other nations. For generations, Indian children, as well as adults, have been protected from bad dreams by dream catchers. This interesting item and the growth and interest in Native American culture has made the dream catcher popular. You can now buy Native American dream catchers for your home or bedroom. Authentically made dream catchers will add a touch of Native American life to your home.

Dream catchers made by Native Americans will use traditional materials and be created with the proper spirit. Sometimes, they are even used in windows to add beauty to the home. A dream catcher above every bed in the house can add a measure of comfort and security to the entire family.

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The Maine Indian Tribal State Commission plans to propose legislation that would ban American Indian nicknames, mascots and imagery from schools in Maine, and is seeking the support of the Maine Human Rights Commission in its effort.

Tribal commission chair Jaimie Bissonette Lewey describes the effort as a “civil rights and human rights struggle with schools in the southern part of the state,” and told the Bangor Daily News this week that the legislation would be written and sponsored by Wayne T. Mitchell, a nonvoting member of the Maine Legislature representing the Penobscot Nation.

The proposal seeks to eliminate the use of such nicknames as Redskins, Warriors and Braves, and identifies eight schools in the state that still use such Indian-related nicknames, including Nokomis (Warriors) of Newport, Skowhegan (Indians) and Southern Aroostook (Warriors) of Dyer Brook high schools in eastern Maine as well as Sanford (Redskins), Wiscasset (Redskins) and Wells (Warriors) high schools and Strong (Indians) Elementary School in western Maine.

If members of the state’s American Indian communities find these names offensive — and I’d certainly agree with Redskins, though it’s ironic that it also remains the nickname of the NFL team in our nation’s capital — then certainly one option is to eliminate them, as this latest Indian-based initiative seeks.

But in some cases there still may be room for compromise with both cultural and educational benefits for all sides.

One of the eight schools named, the Beatrice Rafferty School on the Passamaquoddy Reservation at Pleasant Point between Perry and Eastport, calls its teams the Indians but is not being targeted by the proposed legislation, Lewey said, because the Indian mascot and imagery are not used in an offensive way.

So rather than just taking a clear-cut approach to the rest of the schools, allow them the option of following the Rafferty School’s lead and work with tribal members to make whatever changes to their mascots and imagery are needed so the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission and others won’t find them offensive while continuing to promote the local Indian history and culture that led to the naming of such schools as Nokomis and such communities as Skowhegan.

My guess is that those schools and communities might find working toward such a compromise not worth the hassle of continuing to be targeted as politically incorrect or uncaring, but it seems here not a bad alternative — particularly when even the proposed legislation is sought to be applied somewhat selectively and subjectively.

But addressing offensive elements of the school mascot issue while seeking to help preserve the visibility of Maine’s Indian culture might be a valuable learning experience for everyone in the long run.

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