Arts & Entertainment Archives - Page 44 of 109

Video: Colorful Easter Carpet Breaks Guinness Book of World Records

Associated PressA worker helps create the sawdust carpet in Guatemala City, Guatemala on Thursday — Associated Press
A worker helps create the sawdust carpet in Guatemala City, Guatemala on Thursday

Indian Country Today Media Network

For 2000 meters or 6,600 feet, the world’s longest sawdust carpet spreads down the main avenue in Guatemala City, Guatemala’s historic center.

In preparation for Easter, thousands of Guatemalan Catholics constructed the carpet over the course of seven hours and began working on it early Thursday morning, The Global Press said. They used 120,000 pounds of sawdust to create what’s considered a piece of temporary art.

“Thanks to all who have made possible the longest sawdust carpet in the world,” said Archbishop Oscar Vian, who joined a procession in which youth volunteers carrying two images of Jesus passed over the multi-colored surface.

This is the second time that the city has united to create the multi-colored carpet which is made of sawdust, vegetables, flowers, tree bark and other natural elements.

“At a moment when Guatemalans unite and take on a common objective, we can demonstrate great things,” Victor Martinez, member of Guatemala City’s municipal council, told The Global Press.

The city broke it’s own Guinness Book of World Records title for the world’s longest sawdust carpet. Last year, the city created its first record-breaking carpet as an initiative to invite Pope Francis to visit. But, the pope has not yet confirmed if he will come.

Watch some of the volunteers construct the carpet in the video from Mail Online below.

Native Arts and Artists Day at The Burke Museum, April 19th

Breast Cancer Awareness Basket, by Pat Courtney Gold. Photo by Bill Bachhuber, Portland, OR. — Breast Cancer Awareness Basket, by Pat Courtney Gold.
Photo by Bill Bachhuber, Portland, OR.

Burke Museum

Info from Burke Museum website

Sat., Apr. 19, 2014 | 9:59 am – 3:59 pm
Included with museum admission; FREE for Burke members or with UW ID

Join the Burke Museum for a celebration of Northwest Native art. Watch demonstrations and examine the incredible artwork of local Native American artists, who are experts in mediums such as weaving, basketry, and beadwork. Take part in hands-on art activities for kids and adults. Also attend talks about supporting indigenous artists and various basket and weaving techniques of Northwest Native Peoples.

Activities throughout the day include:

Cedar basketry and cordage demonstrations with Theresa Parker (Makah/Lummi)
Columbia River Wasco basketry demonstrations with Pat Courtney Gold (Wasco/Warm Springs)
Beadwork and twined sally bag demonstrations with Rodney Cawston (Colville)
Yarn spinning and Salish twill demonstrations with Heather Johnson-Jock (Jamestown S’Klallam)
Cedar basketry weaving demonstrations with Bill James (Lummi)
Try weaving on looms, learn about natural dyes and raw materials used in weaving
Kids can make a paper version of a Plateau Style beaded bag to take home

Talks:

12:30 pm: Introduction to Northwest Baskets with Pat Courtney Gold
Renowned NW weaver Pat Courtney Gold leads us through a richly illustrated introduction of the 12,000 year history of NW basket weavers, the materials and techniques they use, and the unique baskets that they create.
2 pm: Resources for Indigenous Artists with Anna Hoover (Unungan)
Anna Hoover’s Anchorage-based non-profit, First Light Alaska, has drawn inspiration from The Banff Centre, Longhouse at Evergreen State College, Kinggait Studios, Maori bi-annual Artist Gatherings, and many other programs. She will discuss how these programs and her own are adapting to the ever-changing needs of the thriving indigenous arts community.

Admission:

General	$10
Senior	$8
Students (with ID)	$7.50
Youth (5 & up)	$7.50

FREE to Burke members, children ages 4 and under, and UW staff/faculty/students with UW ID.

Free Admission on First Thursdays
*Group tours may not be scheduled on these days.

Check out our special admission discounts and promotions!

Location:

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

17 ave Northeast and Northeast 45th St

Seattle, WA 98105

Contact:(All phone numbers Area Code 206)

(24-hour recorded information) 543-5590

Reception
543-7907

Burke Museum Café
543-9854

Education & Group Tours
543-5591

Membership
616-6057

Giving
543-9539

Museum Shop
685-0909

Public Programs
616-6473

Public Relations
543-9762

Native American Art Festival, April 17

S’Klallam Tribe Unveils Skatepark Made Possible by Sheckler Foundation’s Be the Change Initiative

Source: Master Plan Communications, Inc.

SEATTLE, WA–(Marketwired – Apr 14, 2014) – Yesterday the S’Klallam Tribe in Washington State, joined by pro skateboarders Ryan Sheckler and David Reyes, unveiled their new skatepark with a ceremony and tribal feast for hundreds of Native Americans. This is the first skatepark on the reservation, and it was made possible by the Sheckler Foundation’s first-ever “Be the Change” project. The youth of the S’Klallam Tribe submitted their cause for a new skatepark and received the most votes for their plans to build a much-needed skatepark and basketball court in their community. See the festivities of this historic event for yourself on video here: http://youtu.be/o_UnBYiOaj0

The demo by Ryan Sheckler (pictured above) and David Reyes was a highlight of the event.

Pro Skateboarder and Founder of the Sheckler Foundation, Ryan Sheckler says, “I am so blessed and stoked to skate alongside these kids and to be here for the grand opening of the skatepark. It’s unreal and rewarding to see how the community came together to ‘Be the Change’ and create a skatepark for the kids of the tribe.”

Left to right: The Sheckler Foundation’s Angelique Zaki, Kaitlyn from the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Ryan Sheckler and Sheckler Foundation CEO Gretchen Sheckler-Hachee.

The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe was the Sheckler Foundation’s first “Be the Change” recipient in 2012 and the first phase of building the skatepark took off on August 27, 2012. After a year and a half of hard work the project is complete. This skatepark was built as a plaza with features for everyone from beginners to lifelong skateboarders. True to the S’Klallam roots the skatepark includes a mural by Native American artist, Louie Gong.

Quite a few kids from the S’Klallam community wanted a chance to meet Ryan and get an autograph during the festivities.

For additional info on The Sheckler Foundation check out shecklerfoundation.org; follow facebook.com/shecklerfoundation, LinkedIn, @SheckFoundation on Twitter and @ShecklerFoundation on Instagram.

About The Sheckler Foundation:
Founded in 2008, The Sheckler Foundation was created as an avenue for Ryan Sheckler, his family, friends and business associates to give back to the community and industry that they are so grateful for. Fueled by the desire to contribute to the many causes that directly benefit and enrich the lives of children and injured action sports athletes, The Sheckler Foundation will produce fundraising events, passion projects and web-based initiatives to raise capital and awareness. Our ultimate goal is to empower our community to “Be the Change!”

Arigon Starr Talks About Her Super Universe

By Toyacoyah Brown on March 5, 2014 powwows.com

You may remember we posted a story about Laguna Woman, a new character that was going to be featured in the Super Indian comics by Arigon Starr. Ms. Starr took some time out from her busy schedule to tell us how Super Indian started and what inspires her with all her projects.

One thing I would really like to promote is that “Super Indian” is more than a weekly webcomic. It started life as a comedy radio series in 2007, thanks to the Native Radio Theater Project and Native Voices at the Autry. The show was broadcast nationally through the Native Voice One radio network and American Indian Radio on Satellite. There were only ten five-minute episodes produced — but I had WAY more stories. That’s when I decided to do the comic book.

Because I finally had enough material, I released “Super Indian Volume One” in May 2012. The 64-page full-color book features “Super Indian” issues #2, 3 & 4, plus extras like features on Jim Thorpe and Maria Tall Chief (“Real Super Indians”). The book is available through Amazon, the Super Indian Comics Website (Paypal), plus for all digital devices (Kindle, Nook, etc.) from Amazon and ComiXology.

“Super Indian” led me to Lee Francis IV and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. During a writing conference in Cherokee, NC, we joking talked about the old “Comics Code Authority” that used to police the comic book world back in the 60′s & 70′s. We thought, “Wouldn’t it be funny to have a logo that vetted Native American comic book stories? That way, people would know that the stories and art came from actual Native writers and artists.” That idea became the Indigenous Narratives Collective, which now has a bunch of Native comic book writers and artists from all over Indian Country involved. Our first group comic, “INC’s Universe #0″ had contributors Roy Boney, Michael Sheyahshe, Beth Dillon, Ryan Huna Smith, Theo Tso, myself — plus an introduction from comedian Charlie Hill. Charlie is a big fan of comic books and loves “Super Indian.”

Also — some folks might already know me from my music. I’m the artist behind the song, “Junior Frybread,” which was “Song of the Year” at the Native American Music Awards in 2002. Believe me, I STILL perform that song at every gig. I’ve released four music CDs since 1997. I’ve also had the pleasure of singing at Gathering of Nations (when they used to do shows in Pit), a bunch of colleges, universities, museums and in England and Australia.

I’m also a produced playwright and actor. My one-woman comedy with music, “The Red Road” was featured at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City and Washington, DC, the Gilcrease in Tulsa, the Youth Theater Festival in Adelaide, Australia after making a debut at the Autry National Center. I had a lot of fun working with the folks at Native Voices at the Autry and starred in many of their Equity Productions.

Believe me — with all of those activities, there is never a dull moment around here. I’ve got at least three more comic book projects in the works that I’m juggling right now. The Indigenous Narratives Collective will be releasing the first volume of “Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers,” which tell stories from all the tribes that participated in the military program. I’m writing about the Choctaw Code Talkers of World War I — and there will be other stories from Native writers & artists in the book. I’m also developing “The Saga of Henry Starr,” which is based on Robert J. Conley’s novel of a real Oklahoma outlaw. Yes, Henry is one of my ancestors….we have a lot of outlaws in my family! Mr. Conley is a renowned Cherokee historian and professor who’s written hundreds of westerns and novels based on Cherokee history.

As for Laguna Woman, she’s set to figure prominently in Issue #6 of “Super Indian.” Working with Shayai Lucero was a real treat. I had met her years ago when she was Miss Indian World and we kept in touch. FYI, Lee Francis IV from INC and Wordcraft is the son of legendary writer Lee Francis III. Lee III started Wordcraft over 25 years ago as an non-profit organization to help mentor Native writers. The Francis family is also from Laguna Pueblo and I really wanted to honor the work that Lee and his father have done for the community. That’s why Laguna Woman, aka Phoebe Francis, has that name. It was important to Shayai, Lee and me to make sure that Laguna Woman was not a stereotypical super-hero.

“Super Indian” will continue to keep the humor coming, plus the social commentary. I’m sure folks who look in at Pow-Wows.com know all about “blood quantum” and can see the humor in a vampire who wants to become a full-blood Indian by biting full-blood Indians. How else do you get a CDIB card these days? AAAY!

Hope that helps! This might actually be a good guest blog, ennit? AAAY!

Arigon

P.s. I’m a tribally enrolled with the Kicakpoo Tribe of Oklahoma. I’m Buffalo and Uskas Clan and my Indian name is Makedeothecua. My mom is an enrolled Muscogee Creek. Her mom was Cherokee and Seneca. When I grow up, I want to be a Pow-Wow announcer. AAAY!

Make sure you check out Super Indian on their website and follow on their Facebook page.

Up Where She Belongs: Buffy Sainte-Marie Making First Album in 6 Years

Christie Goodwin'I don't think about calendars, deadlines or styles,' says Sainte-Marie. 'I just play and sing whatever I dream up.' — Christie Goodwin
‘I don’t think about calendars, deadlines or styles,’ says Sainte-Marie. ‘I just play and sing whatever I dream up.’

David P. Ball, Indian Country Today Media Network

Canadian-born Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is a living legend, famous for such Indigenous anthems as “Universal Soldier” and “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.” But few know that Sainte-Marie led the earliest charge into electronic music at the same time she was being celebrated worldwide as a “folk” artist. She’s now preparing to make her first album since the award-winning 2008 relase Running For the Drum. Speaking from her current home in Hawaii, Sainte-Marie gave ICTMN the lowdown on the directon she’ll be heading with her new music. This is the second of a three-part series; for the first, which focused on her thoughts about the environment, see Buffy Sainte-Marie on Tar Sands: “You’ve Got to Take This Seriously”.Do you know when your new album is due to come out? Is there a title?We haven’t decided. I just spent three weeks out on the road in Nashville, Toronto and L.A. auditioning producers, so I have not yet made my choices. I don’t know if I’ll work with several producers or just one. But I’m sure excited about the music. We’re choosing from about 30 different songs. It’s going to be fun. It’ll be done when it’s done!

Your last album, of course, got a Juno as well as an Aboriginal People’s Choice Award (and around that time you were inducted into the Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Fame) — in many ways, it was a departure from your other work in the immediacy of it.You think so? The songs, as always, were very diverse. I wasn’t worried about trying to make them all the same. Some of those songs I had in the can for a long time, and some were things I’d written over the years. I’d take something I’d written in my notebook in 1970 and I’ll add a second verse in 1980 and I’ll finish it last week. That’s always how it is for me – I have a kind of helicopter vision of life itself. I don’t think about calendars, deadlines or styles. I just play and sing whatever I dream up. Writing for me is just really, really natural. It’s the same as it was when I was a little kid. I hope I’m getting better though!

There’s an immediacy to your sound that really speaks to today. But you’ve always had that along the way. A lot of people were a little bit surprised hearing me with electronic sounds, but that’s because they maybe hadn’t heard about me for a while – so it might have been new to them, but it wasn’t new to me. In 1965, I made the first-ever electronic quadraphonic (four-channel) vocal album, Illuminations.

Is there anything about your new album people should look out for, in terms of style or subjects you’re addressing? Any surprises? It depends. Most people don’t listen to me, so they’re always surprised! (Laughs) Especially if they think I’m a folk singer. But people who have been listening all along will be surprised, because the whole world continues to grow. And that includes me and you. So it will be different. “The Uranium War” is one song, another is “Look at the Facts,” “Your Link with Life” is another. There’ll be some remixes… It’s a really interesting album. There’s some love songs on it, and some Aboriginal things, but mostly it’s just solid songs that are good to dance to or fun to listen to, or whatever.

One of your most famous songs, ‘Up Where We Belong,’ has really been turned into a love anthem. But it has such a special meaning for many Indigenous people, who can read it in a completely different way from non-Indigenous people. What are your thoughts on that? It’s a beautiful love song, but from the perspective of history suddenly it gives you a chill down your spine. I’m glad that it got to be the main theme for the film An Officer and a Gentleman, that’s about the military. Because sometimes people are surprised to see how many veterans come to my concerts, and to find out that soldiers in Vietnam were carving “Universal Soldier” into their bunk beds. If you think pacifists and military people hate each other, it’s not true. That’s just not accurate at all. The fact that “Up Where We Belong” – a love song that does have a real double-entendre meaning – was heard by so many people who don’t ordinarily come to hear me — how good is that? We always have to remain open to the fact that audiences are going to interpret your songs personally for themselves. I think that’s the true power of songs. It’s wonderful… Music has always been a powerful medium, and now with the Internet it can reach so many more people.

To keep up with Buffy Sainte-Marie, follow her on Twitter @buffystemarie and at facebook.com/BuffySainteMarie.

2014 Allen/Quilceda Watershed Earth Day Celebration, April 12

Tribal college poetry slam

By Monica Brown, Tulalip News

The tribal college poetry slam event in March of 2014, features a large collection of talented Native American poets speaking on different subjects from family to government. The video lasts and hour and a half with round two starting at the 58:00 mark. Among the poets is Jennifer Cordova-James of Northwest Indian College.

The 2014 tribal college poetry slam is a Tribal College Journal (TJC) and American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) event.

The AIHEC founded in 1972, represents 37 Tribal colleges and their mission is “to support the work of the tribal colleges and universities and the national movement for tribal self-determination.”

Supported by the AIHEC, is the TJC’s and states they are a “culture-based publication addresses subjects important to the future of American Indian and Alaska Native communities utilizing both journalistic and scholarly articles and has become a forum for college staff, faculty, administrators, and students to discuss their needs, successes, and evolving missions.”

Peter Matthiessen (1927-2014): Leonard Peltier and In the Spirit of Crazy Horse

by Colin Penter

April 7th, 2014 The Stringer Independent News

‘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.

In 1969 Matthiessen also wrote a book length profile of Ceser Chavez the legendary union organizer for farm workers in the US. The book was titled Escape if You Can: Cesar Chavez and the New American Revolution.

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.”

Category: Arts & Entertainment