Native American travels across U.S. photographing citizens of tribal nations

Courtesy Matika WilburJenni Parker, right, and granddaughter Sharlyse Parker of the Northern Cheyenne tribe pose in Lame Deer, Mont., in August.
Courtesy Matika Wilbur
Jenni Parker, right, and granddaughter Sharlyse Parker of the Northern Cheyenne tribe pose in Lame Deer, Mont., in August.

By Simon Moya-Smith, Staff Writer, NBC News

She sleeps on couches, dines with strangers and lives out of her car. Still, Matika Wilbur does it for the art and for the people.

Wilbur is Native American. Invariably strapped to her arm is a camera, and other than a few provisions and clothing, she owns little else. Last year she sold everything in her Seattle apartment, packed a few essentials into her car and then hit the road.

Since then, she’s been embarking on her most recent project, “Project 562.”

The plan is to photograph citizens of each federally recognized tribe, Wilbur said. Sometimes she’ll journey to an isolated reservation, other times she’ll meet some of the 70 percent of Native Americans living in urban settings. Yet she hopes that when her project is complete it will serve to educate the nation and “shift the collective conscious” toward recognizing its indigenous communities.

To date, Wilbur has photographed citizens of 159 tribes.

In 2010, when Wilbur first conceptualized the campaign, there were 562 federally recognized tribes in the U.S., hence the name. Since then, the U.S. government has added four more nations to the list.

Courtesy Matika WilburNative American activist and poet John Trudell, left, and Son Coup of the Santee Sioux Nation pose for a photo in San Francisco, Calif., in July. 

 

The project all began three years ago when Wilbur photographed her elders from both of her tribes, the Swinomish and Tulalip. She soon decided it was not enough to photograph only her people. After raising $35,000 through Kickstarter.com, an online funding platform, she had enough to realize her project and zip across the country capturing the faces of this nation’s first peoples.

Wilbur said her project is aimed toward debunking the bevy of erroneous stereotypes surrounding Native American culture and society and to reiterate the continual presence of Native Americans.

“We are still here,” she said. “We remain.”

One of those stereotypes is the image of Indians clad in feathers, nearly naked running across the prairie, whooping it up like what’s oft portrayed in western cinema. Also the caricature image of Indians as mascots.

With that in mind, Wilbur said the project is meant to drive conversations about the ubiquitous appropriation of Native American culture and to discuss how U.S. citizens can evolve beyond the co-opting of indigenous images and traditions.

“I hope to educate these audiences that it’s not OK to dress up like an Indian on Halloween,” she said. “I’m not a Halloween costume. I hope to encourage a new conversation of sharing and to help us move beyond the stereotypes.”

Wilbur added that she hopes her photos — her craft — will display the “beauty of (Native) people and to introduce some of our leaders to a massive audience.”

Wilbur, 29, operates on a modest budget and relies heavily on the “generosity and kindness” of the people she meets when travelling throughout Indian country. Many of her photo subjects will host her overnight and provide her with meals.

Courtesy Matika WilburAnna Cook of the Swinomish and Hualapai tribes poses for a photo in Swinomish, Wash., earlier this month. 

 

“I come in a good way. I bring gifts. I interact with their children well. I behave myself. I walk the red road,” she said. “People believe in my project because they, too, have been affected by the stereotypical image and they want to see it change.”

In between shoots, or maybe over dinner, Wilbur will tape record her subjects as they impart their wisdom and life stories. She plans to transfer the files to an application, which will coincide the corresponding photos in a future exhibition.

In the last year, Wilbur has slept in her two-seater Honda only once or twice but, following a new fundraiser in January, she hopes to get a van to sleep in on those long nights out on the open road.

Wilbur said that the fact that there are newly recognized tribes is indicative of the progress Native Americans are making today and that she plans to photograph the four tribes as well as various others who haven’t been recognized by the federal government.

Currently, Native Americans make up 1.6 percent of the entire U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census.

On Oct. 31, President Barack Obama proclaimed November 2013 as Native American Heritage Month and designated Nov. 29, 2013 as Native American Heritage Day.

Wilbur’s previous work has been showcased across the U.S. and internationally at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada and the Fine Arts Museum of Nantes in France.

In May 2014, the Tacoma Art Museum in Washington will host an exhibition of Wilbur’s collection of photos. In the meantime, she says she’ll continue her project and “let it flow as the spirit moves it.”

Shop for Native American holiday gifts at Tulalip

By  Monica  Brown,  Tulalip  News writer.

TULALIP, Wa- Tulalip’s  annual  Native  Bazaar  is  happening  this weekend, Nov 23rd  and 24th, and December 7th and 8th.  The bazaar is a great place to  buy  handmade gifts  for friends and  family and offers everything from cedar woven items art, carvings and drums, to jewelry, clothing and food.

The bazaar is open 9:00am – 4:00pm and is located  at  the Don Hatch Jr Youth Center, 6700 Totem Beach Rd, Tulalip. I-5 exit 199, follow the signs.

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Among the many native themed crafts is a line of clothing that has been tailored to show off native America designs.
Among the many native themed crafts is a line of clothing that has been tailored to show off native America designs.

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Chickasaw Nation receives Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Award

Source: Chickasaw Nation

The Chickasaw Nation received top honors at the Keep Oklahoma Beautiful (KOB) awards ceremony Nov. 19 in Oklahoma City at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The tribe received an Environmental Excellence Award in the tribal government category for partnerships with Chickasha, Ardmore and Ada for disposing of household hazardous waste.

“The Chickasaw Nation was selected as a finalist because of the hard work and dedication of the Environmental Services Department and continued support from administration,” said John Ellis, executive officer of construction and support services.

“This project was our contribution in keeping our communities clean and safe from environmental hazards which includes a partnership with local communities.  Environmental Services is a relatively small department and to be recognized by Keep Oklahoma Beautiful is an honor,” he added.

During the ceremony, KOB honored finalists and announced the winners of the Environmental Excellence Competition. More than 500 guests attended this sold-out event.

KOB shows appreciation of the work of numerous groups and individuals. From elementary-aged children to government programs, the awards banquet was a celebration of excellence happening all over the state in every capacity.

Also presented at the ceremony were winners of five Keep Oklahoma Beautiful Board of Directors awards. Individual recipients included Gov. Mary Fallin, Norma Lynne Paschall, Ardmore Beautification Council, and Buzz McDonald, representing Warren Caterpillar.

Paschall received a Lifetime Achievement Award for her many years of work with the Ardmore Beautification Council. Before her retirement earlier this year, she was instrumental in the success of the household hazardous waste collection held in Ardmore in partnership with the Chickasaw Nation.

“It was wonderful working with the Chickasaw Nation,” Paschall said. “(It is) so efficient and it was impressive how many people came out and supported the collection program. It was the first household hazardous waste event in Ardmore and we hope it will be held again.”

Two organizations received Board of Directors awards as well. Winners included Serve Moore, an organization made up of local churches and community groups combining efforts to assist residents impacted by the May tornadoes, and the Apache Corporation for helping Tulsa area non-profits convert vehicles to compressed natural gas.

 

About Keep Oklahoma Beautiful

According to web based Linkedin, Keep Oklahoma Beautiful is a statewide non-profit located in Oklahoma City. Its mission is to encourage, facilitate and recognize efforts to improve Oklahoma’s aesthetic, environmental and sustainable quality of life. Founded in 1965, KOB has transformed throughout the years, changing with the times while always working to achieve its mission.

The culmination of each year’s work is the annual statewide awards competition, leading to the annual awards recognition banquet. Well attended and greatly anticipated, the late autumn event recognizes the best of the environmental best in Oklahoma.

As a state affiliate of Keep America Beautiful, KOB organizes the annual Great American Cleanup in Oklahoma. KOB provides materials and tools for communities and volunteers. Startup cash grants are available for qualifying KOB network organizations.

 

‘Nava-Hos’ Frat Party Sparks Outrage

 source: facebook.com/CaliforniaPolytechnic
source: facebook.com/CaliforniaPolytechnic

Source: Indian Country Today Media Network

An off-campus fraternity party at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo has drawn sharp criticism for its theme of “Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos.”

According to Mustang News, Cal-Poly’s student newspaper, the fraternity alleged to have been responsible for the event is Phi Sigma Kappa. Neighbors reported 17 to 100 guests, many of them young women dressed as sexualized Indian maidens. When Natives on the Cal-Poly faculty got wind of the incident, they brought it to the student affairs office.

The party will be discussed at a forum today, November 22, at Cal-Poly’s Chumash Auditorium.

Dr. Jennifer Rose Denetdale, Navajo, is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico and serves on the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission. Contacted by ICTMN, she released the following statement:

The theme “Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos” for a frat-sorority party by students at Cal Poly directly references Navajos, whose name for themselves is Diné, and parodies U.S.-Navajo colonial relations. In 1863, the Indian fighter Kit Carson received orders from James H. Carleton, governor and commander of New Mexico Territory, to destroy the Navajo people.  Kit Carson’s scorch and burn campaign against the Navajo people literally left the Navajo homeland burning as thousands of Navajo refugees, who were reduced to starvation and poverty, were herded into American forts and then forced to march to the Bosque Redondo reservation at Fort Sumner, New Mexico.  For four years over eight thousand Navajo prisoners of the U.S. lived under genocidal conditions. Many did not survive. The Navajo prisoners lived in ditches in the ground and had little material means to ward off the blistering winters of the plains or the scorching heat of the summers.  They were given inedible rations that were essentially starvation diets; many died from bouts of diseases and just sheer loneliness and broken hearts.  In addition to constantly being on guard for slave raiders who stole the women and children, the Navajo women and girls were subjected to sexual assaults and rapes by both the American soldiers and the slave raiders.  Gerald Thompson, author of The Army and the Navajo, indicates that the Indian agent at the Bosque Redondo dutifully reported that only two newborns had survived the first winter at the prison camp in 1863.

To invoke “Colonial Bros,” then, is to refer to one of the most darkest moments in  American history and certainly for the Navajo people, it is a reference to one of the most brutal, humiliating, and devastating experiences  under American colonialism. To refer to the scantily clad women who came as “Nava-Hos” is to not only diminish the Navajo people as whole, because the term connotes “whore” and “prostitute” and suggests that Navajo women were sexually available to the white soldiers; it says that  it is not possible to rape or sexually assault Navajo women, because they are inherently rapable.  “Colonial Bros and Nava-Hos” is also a slander on Navajo women who have survived rape and sexual assault that was a part of conquest. 

Native peoples, and in this particular case, the Diné, are constantly subjected to racism, discrimination and hate every day, and yet these racist and hateful antics of Cal-Poly students are condoned by the University.  Until we all speak up and condemn such language and behavior and hold the culprits responsible, there will be no justice.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/11/22/outrage-over-nava-hos-frat-party-cal-poly-san-luis-obispo-152384

Richie Incognito, Redskins and Racism in the NFL

By Gyasi Ross, Huffington Post Blog

“Once upon a time, a woman was picking up firewood. She came upon a poisonous snake frozen in the snow. She took the snake home and nursed it back to health. One day the snake bit her on the cheek. As she lay dying, she asked the snake, “Why have you done this to me?” And the snake answered, “Look, bitch, you knew I was a snake.” -Russell Means, Natural Born Killers

Irritatingly, the “Richie Incongito Is a Bully” and the “Richie Incognito Said the Word ‘Nigger'” storyline has been dominating the ESPN Sportscenter episodes recently. Just as my Seahawks get good enough to command serious national attention, some idiot who is considered an “honorary black man” by many of his fellow Miami Dolphins teammates simultaneously has 1) Shannon Sharpe crying like an infant; 2) white liberals judging this white man as if he were the first and only white man that has ever said this word; and 3) black folks upset.

I’m just mad that they’re not talking about the Seahawks. They are that good, y’all.

But since we’re on the topic, let me explain something — EVERY single person that is crucifying, judging or distancing themselves from Richie Incognito is a freakin’ hypocrite. Shannon Sharpe, with your self-righteous boo-hooing, you are a freakin’ hypocrite. In fact, every single NFL fan that acts like Richie Incognito saying the word “nigger” and bullying a teammate is the worst assault on polite society since Chad Ochocinco, you need to quit lying to yourselves.

To paraphrase the great Russell Means in the great Oliver Stone flick, Natural Born Killers, “Bitch, you knew Richie Incognito was a snake.”

“Bullying” is to football what “football” is to football.

First, let’s address these stupid “bullying” allegations. OK, news flash guys, football is bullying; let’s not romanticize the game and pretend that sportsmanship is a vital part of the game. In fact, that IS the game — to be the better bully than the other guy. From Dick Butkus (Hall of Fame, eye gouger) to Bill Romanowski (future Hall of Famer, spits in his teammates face, kicks opponents) to Jack Tatum (would have been Hall of Famer if he didn’t paralyze a player in a preseason game, kicked opponents) — DIRTY, bullying players have been CELEBRATED and coveted on NFL teams. Look at Ndamukong Suh — he’s as dirty as George W. Bush’s drug test in college, but because of his talent level, teams will always find a way to keep him on a team.

Incognito’s (and every other NFL player’s) job is to be a bully. The NFL is about bullying; for the NFL or anybody associated with the NFL to feign shock at Incognito for being a bully, you’re full of feces. Like Natural Born Killers, you’re blaming for being a snake in a snakepit.

How to address that? Stop rewarding snake-ism; change the snakepit. Which leads to the next point:

Racial Slurs Are Part of Everyday Culture

Richie Incognito, a white man, said the word “nigger.” That’s bad. Shannon Sharpe gave an impassioned, emotive performance about why the notion of Richie Incognito, a white man, saying the word “nigger” was so offensive. He said:

“[Y]ou allow this, in an open locker room to take place, is unacceptable. I’m so disappointed. I just hope that someone was misquoted. I hope I’m wrong and they didn’t allow Incognito to say this racially charged word in a locker room and go unchecked. I’m embarrassed. If he said that to Jonathan Martin, he didn’t only say it to him, he’s talking to you too. Because if you’re black, you know what that word means.”

Yet last year, the Washington Redskins brought in Shannon Sharpe to give a motivational talk to the Redskins players. That’s cool, although the strategy hasn’t seemed to really work that well on the field for the Redskins. Still, it’s odd that neither Shannon Sharpe, or really any of the NFL folks that decry Incognito’s racial slurs, have bothered to point that Sharpe and every other NFL announcer speaks a racial slur every single week — Redskins.

So the argument goes, Richie Incognito saying (and texting) the word “nigger” shouldn’t bother Sharpe. After all, Richie Incognito, according to teammates, was an “honorary black man.” That gave him permission to use the word as he saw fit, or that’s the way he saw it. Obviously these black men in the Miami Dolphins locker room weren’t offended by his use, and so that made it OK, right?

No? Of course not; it’s never OK for a person who isn’t black to use the word “nigger.”

But we also must concede that in the NFL, folks are conditioned to see that sort of behavior as OK. See, Shannon Sharpe and other black NFL announcers don’t seem to get it; they perpetuate this snakepit/racist culture that allows epithets to be used and then excused. The roots of the NFL, just like the roots of this very nation, are racist and firmly entrenched in overt and covert racism. That isn’t Shannon Sharpe’s (or other black players/coaches/announcers associated with the NFL) fault. YET, Shannon Sharpe, and all other black NFL announcers and players and coaches who allows and abets and doesn’t question the use of racial slurs other than “nigger” co-signs the very environment that allows Richie Incognito and Riley Cooper and whoever else to use that ugly word so flippantly.

Shannon Sharpe and Michael Strahan and James Brown and ever NFL player/coach/announcer who takes exception to non-black players using the word “nigger” should be disgusted and refuse to address the Washington Redskins — a racial epithet — as the “Washington Redskins” because that is the cornerstone of the racist culture that permeates the NFL. Shannon Sharpe, if he wants his outrage to be taken seriously, must not take the blood money that the Redskins give him — hush money for racial epithets.

It’s that quiet acquiescence on behalf of black folks associated with the NFL, like Sharpe, that makes rich white powerholders like Daniel Snyder say, “Well damn, they don’t really care about racial equality. They just want to get paid. Come talk to our team named after a racial epithet so you can lose your moral high ground to ever feign racial outrage.”

In conclusion, the culture of the NFL can change in regards to both bullying and the use of racial epithets. Yet, that only happens if folks like Shannon Sharpe give more than lip service to these causes. The NFL will never be able to selectively ban racial epithets — it’s kinda all or nothing when you’re trying to change a culture. So if the purpose is to change that culture, let’s go. Until that time, it’s just a bunch of a hypocritical hot air.

 

Gyasi Ross is a member of the Blackfeet Indian Nation and also comes from the Suquamish Nation. Both are his homelands. He continues to live on the lovely Suquamish Reservation — contrary to Rick Reilly’s assertion, no white liberals influenced his writing of this article. He is a father, an author, a lawyer, and a warrior. He has a new book, How To Say I Love You in Indian, available for pre-order. (Pre-order today!!). His Twitter handle is @BigIndianGyasi. He is a Seahawks fan and sees the Redskins as an inferior team, but readily acknowledges RGIII’s potential greatness (and hopes Alfred Morris does well because Morris is on his fantasy football team).

 

Follow Gyasi Ross on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigIndianGyasi

IRS proposes rule to address fishing rights income

Source: Indianz.com

Attorneys discuss a proposed Internal Revenue Service regulation that would address income earned from tribal members who exercise their fishing rights:

On November 15, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service published a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) along with proposed regulations regarding the treatment of certain income derived from Indian fishing rights-related activity when it is contributed to a qualified retirement plan such as a 401(k) or other employer-sponsored pension plan. The notice can be viewed at https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/11/15/2013-27331/treatment-of-income-from-indian-fishing-rights-related-activity-as-compensation. The proposed regulations clear one of the current hurdles to including employees of an Indian fishing rights operation in a typical employer-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k) plan. Unlike most types of employee compensation, Indian fishing rights-related income is exempt from both income and employment taxes under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 7873(a)(1) and (a)(2). Therefore, Indian fishing rights-related income is not included in a taxpayer’s gross income. The IRS has traditionally taken the position that in order to make a contribution to an individual retirement account (IRA) or a 401(k) plan, an individual must have “compensation” that is included in gross income. The proposed regulations clarify that payments received by Indian tribe members as remuneration for services they perform in fishing rights-related activities will not be excluded from the definition of “compensation” for purposes of IRC Section 415 and underlying regulations, merely because such payments are not subject to income or employment taxes. Consequently, the proposed regulations allow employees receiving such payments to participate in and contribute to a retirement plan qualified under IRC Section 401(a).

Get the Story:
Kathleen M. Nilles, Ariadna Alvarez and Robert B. Bersell: IRS Proposes New Rules On Indian Fishing Rights Income For Retirement Plans (Mondaq.com 11/20)
Username: indianz@indianz.com. Password: indianz Federal Register Notice:

 

Treatment of Income From Indian Fishing Rights-Related Activity as Compensation (November 15, 2013)

Arizona State Women’s Basketball to Honor No. 21 Jersey of Hall of Famer Ryneldi Becenti on Dec. 21

Ryneldi Becenti. Photo via ASU Athletics
Ryneldi Becenti. Photo via ASU Athletics

Courtesy: Sun Devil Athletics; Source: NDNSports.com

TEMPE, Ariz. – Ryneldi Becenti, a member of the Arizona State University Sports Hall of Fame who twice earned honorable mention All-America notice as a member of the Sun Devil women’s basketball team, will have her No. 21 jersey honored and displayed from the rafters of Wells Fargo Arena on Sat., Dec. 21 when the Sun Devils host the University of Miami, Sun Devil head coach Charli Turner Thorne announced on Monday.

“As we started to evaluate the stars of our distinguished past, it quickly became apparent that no player was more celebrated or had more of an impact – both in her community and within our own Sun Devil community – than Ryneldi Becenti,” said Turner Thorne. “While already in our Hall of Fame for her achievements as a student-athlete, we felt a program-specific tribute like this was fitting for a special individual whose influence went beyond the basketball court.

“The incredible work ethic and desire that led her to our program galvanized the Native American community. Her outstanding contributions as a Sun Devil enhanced her legendary status and remain an inspiration for many. I am so proud to be announcing that we will be hanging Ryneldi Becenti’s No. 21 jersey from the rafters of Wells Fargo Arena on Dec. 21. We hope all our fans and basketball enthusiasts alike will mark the date in their calendars to come out and help us pay tribute to this Sun Devil icon.”

Becenti was a two-time honorable mention All-America honoree while also becoming one of only three Sun Devils (at the time) to earn All-Pac-10 first-team honors twice in a career.

Following two successful seasons at Scottsdale Community College, Becenti joined ASU where her outstanding all-around play was pivotal in helping the Sun Devils earn a NCAA Tournament berth in 1992, the program’s first tournament invite since 1983.

By the conclusion of her two-year Sun Devil career, Becenti would accumulate 396 career assists, which at the time represented the second-highest career total in program history. Her career average of 7.1 assists per game remains a Pac-12 record to this day, while her 17-assist outing vs. Marquette in 1992 still sits atop the team’s list for most assists in a single game. With 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in a Jan. 25, 1992, game against Oregon State, Becenti became the first player in school history to record a triple-double and was the lone player in the NCAA – men or women – to record the feat that season.

Becenti’s enormous popularity in the community and the Navajo Nation received national acclaim in March 1993, when she was featured in a Sports Illustrated article written by award-winning journalist Gary Smith.

As a member the 1993 USA team at the World University Games, Becenti became the first Native American female to earn a medal at the event. She would also go on to earn the distinction of becoming the first Native American to play in the WNBA as a member of the hometown Phoenix Mercury.

In 1996, she became the first woman inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame adding to her list of enshrinements, which includes the Scottsdale Community College Hall of Fame, Arizona State University Hall of Fame and the Arizona High School Sports Hall of Fame.

A native of Fort Defiance, Ariz., Becenti earned high school All-America honors playing for Window Rock High School. Her stellar play continued at Scottsdale Community College where she earned junior college All-American recognition.

Woman With Eagle Feather: The Photo ‘Heard’ Round the World

Courtesy Ossie Michelin, APTN National NewsAboriginal Peoples Televison Network reporter Ossie Michelin snapped the above photo on a three-year-old iPhone but did not see what he had shot until his producers told him it had been shared more than 160,000 times.
Courtesy Ossie Michelin, APTN National News
Aboriginal Peoples Televison Network reporter Ossie Michelin snapped the above photo on a three-year-old iPhone but did not see what he had shot until his producers told him it had been shared more than 160,000 times.

By Vincent Schilling, ICTMN

The scene was chaotic: heavily armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) pouring into an encampment of sleeping protesters, leading dogs and carrying assault rifles. Amid burning police cars, pepper-spray-spewing hoses and barking police dogs, 28-year-old Amanda Polchies dropped to her knees, brandishing the only “weapon” she had: an eagle feather. Holding it aloft, she began to pray.

RELATED: Mi’kmaq Anti-Fracking Protest Brings Women to the Front Lines to Fight for Water

Poster by Greg Deal
Poster by Greg Deal

 

 

The image is emblazoned in people’s minds as a symbol not just of the Mi’kmaq protest against potential fracking near Elsipogtog First Nation in New Brunswick, Canada, but also of what has been happening to Natives since Europeans first stepped onto Turtle Island’s shores. Since APTN reporter Ossie Michelin snapped and posted the photo, the image has morphed into poster art, memes and other incarnations.

RELATED: Behind the Front Lines of the Elsipogtog Battle Over Fracking

Michelin had no idea his image would come to represent the Elsipogtog protest movement, let alone much more. In an interview on Native Trailblazers Radio, Michelin spoke of his spur-of-the-moment shot taken with a three-year-old iPhone, and the bond it formed between photographer and subject.

Did you have any idea the picture you took would become viral and help inspire the Elsipogtog social media movement online?

I had no idea. I was tweeting as many pictures as I could during my coverage because I was promoting live hits for the APTN Network. There were times I thought, ‘The world needs to see this right now.’ The picture was one of many I was sharing that day.

My producer called me and said, ‘Ossie, that picture has been shared over 160,000 times in the past four hours.’ I said, ‘What? The picture I took? Which picture?’ I took that picture on my three-year-old iPhone4 and I had to go back and look through my pictures. I saw it and only then did it really sink in.

Those were some volatile times during the moments you were taking those photographs.

The RCMP made over 30 arrests before the raid on October 17. People were running all over the place.  We did not know what was happening. I didn’t realize how many people were paying attention to this. All I knew was two feet in front of me and 20 feet behind me; I did not know what was going on in the world that day because we were completely cut off, with police lines on either side of us.

Part of my healing process was I got to meet Amanda Polchies, the woman in the photograph.

 

How was it when you two met?

I was afraid it was going to be awkward, and I was afraid she was going to be mad at me. But we met and we clicked. We did a ceremony together and her father did a pipe ceremony with me to help me get rid of the nightmares. I have been sleeping a lot better ever since.

Do you talk to her now?

Since that time Amanda has adopted me into her family. She is a sister from another mister, and I am a brother from another mother. She gave me some stuff from her culture; I am going to give her some from mine, and every time I see her I give her a big hug.

We are bonded for life. We both say that picture will probably outlive us both.

 

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com//2013/11/21/woman-eagle-feather-photo-heard-round-world-152357

Shirt worn by George Armstrong Custer up for auction in Maine

George Armstrong Custer signed shirt. Photo from Saco River Auction
George Armstrong Custer signed shirt. Photo from Saco River Auction

Source: Indianz.com

A shirt belonging to George Armstrong Custer is up for auction this Saturday. The shirt was authenticated by the Custer Battlefield Museum in Montana, according to the Saco River Auction. The estimated price is $1,000 to $1,500.

Also up for auction are artifacts that are said to be from the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where Custer and the 7th Calvary were defeated by Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho forces in June 1876.

Get the Story:
Earliest known recording of black vocal group in the US to hit auction block this weekend (AP 11/20)