Tulalip Hibulb Cultural Center Temporary Exhibition
Opens August 10th, 2013 and runs through October 13th, 2013
“Ramp It Up” examines the role of indigenous peoples in skateboarding culture, its roots in ancient Hawaiian surfing and the visionary acheivements of contemporary Native skaters.
Skateboarding combines demanding physical exertion, design, graphic art, filmmaking and music to produce a unique and dynamic culture while illustrating how indigenous people and tribal communities have used skateboarding to express themselves and educate their youth.
Exhibit features
– Rare images and a video of Native skaters
– Contemporary artists
– Native skateboards
– Skate decks and more
“Skate culture is a great lens to learn about both traditional and contemporary Native American culture,” said Betsy Gordon, curator of “Ramp It Up.” “This exhibition not only showcases the Native skater, but also the Native elders, parents, government officials and community activists, who have encouraged their kids to skate.”
Smithsonian Connection
The exhibit was organized by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.
“Ramp It Up: Skateboard Culture in America” was previously on view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York as well as at the National Museum of American Indian in Washington, D.C.
New AmericanIndianNativeJewelry.com focuses on significance and popularity of American Indian native jewelry
“One of the explanations for the resurgence of popularity in American Indian native jewelry is a newfound respect for the spirituality and the power of the underlying cultures.”
Source: PRWeb.com
It’s no secret that American Indian native jewelry has captivated audiences for hundreds of years. These works of art have withstood the test of time and continue to be popular today.
Now, a new website is offering the historic background, educational information and stunning photography to highlight the incredible variety and artistry of the hand-crafted jewelry.
“Many buyers experience a palpable attraction to certain pieces of American Indian native jewelry,” according to AmericanIndianNativeJewelry.com spokesperson Fran Blair. “A long jewelry-making tradition by various tribes and the growing popularity of the art form makes this website a valuable source of information for anyone interested in learning about the diverse array of jewelry available today.”
Ms. Blair says, “While it is true that many people associate American Indian native jewelry with the Navajo of the American Southwest, there is a wider tradition of jewelry-making and a great diversity of materials. We will showcase that diversity on our website,” she adds, “so that we can provide an authoritative source for anyone interested in pursuing information about the art form.”
Jewelry-making, she explains, is not limited to the Southwest, and it certainly encompasses more than the silver and turquoise pieces produced there. Many Southwest tribes historically crafted fine jewelry, as did the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, Plains Indians and Northern tribes as well.
“Because the populations were not isolated, and because trade did occur, just as in other cultures, the lines are sometimes blurred,” she says, “but distinctive styles still exist. There is a recognizable difference between a Hopi turquoise and silver medallion, and a buckle produced by a Zuni artist,” she notes. This is one of the goals of our new website, she says. “We want to explain the differences, highlight the hallmarks, point out the specialties and characterize the expertise of various artists.”
The website also illustrates beadwork and other styles.
American Indian native jewelry making talents are, contrary to some reports, not being lost or diluted in today’s society. In fact, new artists are building on the traditions of their predecessors, reshaping and redefining an art form that has existed for centuries. Even though silverwork may have been introduced to the tribes of the Southwest by Spanish explorers, Native Americans adapted the knowledge and made it very much their own, employing local stones and other materials, using symbols of their own culture, and passing the art to succeeding generations.
“Perhaps,” says Ms. Blair, “one of the explanations for the resurgence of popularity in American Indian native jewelry is a newfound respect for the spirituality and the power of the underlying cultures.”
Sean Ryan / The Herald Warren Lewis, a volunteer from Seattle, strokes Otto, a Belgian draft horse, at the All-Breed Equine Rez-Q center near Marysville during the center’s horse adoption and foster day last month.
By Eric Stevick, The Herald
MARYSVILLE — Many of the lodgers have come a long ways to get here.
They’re refugees towed north and east beginning their journeys along country roads and ribbons of highway in Idaho, Oklahoma and Oregon.
Others are homegrown, uprooted for whatever reason from pastures and farms around Snohomish County and Washington state.
Some are big, some are small. Some are old. Many have been neglected.
All needed a place to stay and they’ve found that spot on an 18-acre spread on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. All-Breed Equine Rez-Q operates on property west of the Tulalip outlet malls and Washington State Patrol district headquarters. The land is owned by the Marysville School District, which leases it to the non-profit horse rescue center.
“We focus on the need, not the breed,” said Dale Squeglia, Rez-Q’s president and executive director, repeating the slogan on her business card. “We don’t pick and choose.”
That much becomes apparent during a tour of the grounds which is now home to thoroughbreds, quarter horses, miniatures, ponies, a pack horse, a retired carriage horse and even a donkey.
Rez-Q is a sanctuary for homeless, abandoned, abused and donated horses. It also tries to help people learn more about being better horse owners.
Some of its horses are placed into foster care and eventually adopted. Equine Rez-Q is careful how it screens potential new owners and caretakers, Squeglia said.
“If the adoptions don’t work out, we will take them back,” she said.
Many of the horses were saved from other rescue operations that could no longer make it financially, said Jeanie Esajian, a California woman who often visits Snohomish County and likes to help out at Rez-Q.
Seven horses were brought from an Oregon farm last year when their owner died and her husband couldn’t care for them.
Two Rez-Q horses have notable bloodlines, said Sharon Peck, a retired teacher who volunteers there. They are great-great-great-grandchildren of Seabiscuit, the undersized, rags-to-riches champion racehorse from the 1930s whose story was told in an Academy Award-nominated film.
Rez-Q hosted an open house and bake sale late last month, giving dozens of people tours while answering questions about adoption, foster care and volunteer opportunities as well as how people can donate to an operation that gets by on a shoestring budget.
“I’m always wheeling and dealing and looking for help,” Squeglia said.
Typically there are between 18 and 22 horses there at any given time.
Many are expected to live out their remaining days on the grounds, including Blacky, a spunky 30-year-old miniature gelding who once was a birthday party pony. Blacky has become the rescue center’s mascot.
“He’s going to be here forever,” Squeglia said.
Over the years, volunteers from their teens to their 70s have helped out. Some initially were looking to fulfill community service requirements from school or brushes with the law; others just love being around horses.
Squeglia said she has seen some young socially awkward volunteers blossom as they gain more knowledge and skills taking care of horses.
“It’s extremely good therapy for any kid with troubles,” Squeglia said.
How to help
All Breed Equine Rez-Q, a horse rescue center west of Marysville, is looking for homes for some of the horses it has taken in. The non-profit organization, 2415 116th St. NE, Marysville, also needs volunteers and donations.
Federal sequestration cut back on funds to the Indian Health Service, and Oregon suffered a copy5 million loss. As a result, many tribal health clinics were forced to reduce their service hours, employees and non-essential care, Jim Roberts of the Northwest-Portland Area Indian Health Board told The Lund Report.
“For some of our tribes … you don’t receive care unless you have a life or limb test of services,” Roberts said.
To expand access to private health insurers, many Indian health providers are looking to Cover Oregon, the state’s marketplace for health insurance, created through the Affordable Care Act.
American Indians are the largest group per capita in Oregon to be uninsured, at 28 percent, The Lund Report states. But they stand to greatly benefit from the Affordable Care Act. Next year, 84 percent of Oregon’s 110,000 American Indians will either qualify for the Oregon Health Plan expansion or subsidies to purchase private insurance through Cover Oregon, if their employers don’t offer them coverage, Roberts told The Lund Report.
So far Cover Oregon has provided $280,000 to the state’s nine tribes to pay administrative staff to promote awareness of the health exchange and the expanded coverage options.
Roberts’ goal is for all Indian healthcare providers to be accepted by all health plans through Cover Oregon to ensure access to Indians and a revenue source for their providers.
“Our Indian people are going to want to continue to see their tribal providers as their primary health providers,” Roberts said.
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People (9 August) was first proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 1994, to be celebrated every year during the first International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (1995 – 2004).
In 2004, the Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade, from 2005 – 2014, with the theme of “A Decade for Action and Dignity.” The focus of this year’s International Day is “Indigenous peoples building alliances: Honouring treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.”
The theme aims to highlight the importance of honouring arrangements between States, their citizens and indigenous peoples that were designed to recognize indigenous peoples’ rights to their lands and establish a framework for living in proximity and entering into economic relationships. Agreements also outline a political vision of different sovereign peoples living together on the same land, according to the principles of friendship, cooperation and peace.
A special event at UN Headquarters in New York will be held on Friday, 9 August, starting at 3pm, featuring the UN Secretary-General, the Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a delegate of Panama, a representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, and an indigenous representative. The event will be webcast live at webtv.un.org.
Also on 9 August, hundreds of indigenous and non-indigenous rowers are scheduled to arrive at Pier 96 at 57th Street in Manhattan at 10am, after having collectively travelled thousands of miles on rivers and horsebacks to honour the first treaty -– the Two Row Wampum -– concluded between Dutch immigrants and the Haudenosaunee (a confederacy of six nations, with capital in the Onondaga nation, in NY State) 400 years ago, in 1613. They will gather with members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at 1:30pm.
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.
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.
WASHINGTON – Here at USDA, we’re on a mission to help all of our nation’s children have the best possible chance at a healthy life. So, we’re very encouraged by some recent news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: the rate of obesity among low income preschool children appears to be declining for the first time in decades.
The declining rates show that our collective efforts are helping to gain ground on childhood obesity, particularly among some of the more vulnerable populations in our country. Low income children are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting the food they need to grow up healthy, which is why USDA’s nutrition programs and resources are so vital.
USDA programs like WIC, with its new, healthier food package offerings, and CACFP, with its increasing emphasis on nutrition and physical activity are making a difference in the lives of millions of children. In addition, educational materials like Healthy Eating for Preschoolers and Nutrition and Wellness Tips for Young Children can help adults get children off to the right start in life.
Our efforts don’t stop there. School aged children are now getting healthier and more nutritious school meals and snacks, thanks to changes implemented under the historic Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Our Team Nutrition initiative provides nutrition education to help schools serve healthier meals and motivate kids to form healthy habits. We’re supporting healthy, local foods in schools through our Farm to School grant program. And we’re improving access to fresh produce and healthy foods for children and families that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
Don’t get me wrong, we still have a long way to go before America’s childhood obesity epidemic is a thing of the past. Far too many, 1 out of every 8 preschoolers are still obese. And, obesity in these early childhood years sets the stage for serious health problems throughout the entire lifespan. But we at USDA are proud of our ongoing efforts to ensure the health of America’s next generation, and we know that these efforts are playing a vital role in turning the tide on early childhood obesity. Learn more about USDA’s efforts to improve child nutrition or visit choosemyplate.gov » for quick, easy nutrition and diet tips for families.
Dr. Janey Thornton is the Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services at the USDA.
If you aren’t in the mood, don’t weave. It shows up in the work.” That’s one of the many things Quileute tribal member Cathy Salazar has learned after 16 years of basket weaving.
“The weave will get too tight or sloppy if you aren’t in the right frame of mind,” said Salazar.
Despite years of weaving, Salazar didn’t fully appreciate the traditional ways of preparing materials for some time because others provided the cedar and grasses ready to use in baskets. “It was all ready to go and Grandma Lillian Pullen or my other instructors would weave the basket bottoms for me to get the basket started,” said Salazar. Lillian was her first teacher and everyone called her “grandma.”
However, there came a time when the raw materials weren’t as easily available, so Salazar went out with a group of tribal members to strip cedar bark and learned all the days of hard work behind preparing it for weaving. “When people look at a basket and grumble about the price, they usually don’t’ understand that the weaving is the fastest part for accomplished basket-makers. The preparation takes the most time,” Salazar said.
Once the cedar bark is stripped from the tree, the outer bark must be separated from the inner bark. Then it is dried indoors to prevent mold. It is either stored or soaked in water if it will be used in the near future.
Salazar chuckles that her sister Anne Walker, who lives in Arizona, can have cedar harvested in May ready to use by July because of Arizona’s hot and dry climate. In the rainforest, “I’m probably not able to use it until November,” she said.
Properly preserved, the weaving materials can be stored for many years. “Some weavers have cedar that was their grandmother’s that they use in baskets,” Salazar said. “When folks are looking at baskets, they always comment they can smell the cedar when they are holding those old-growth baskets. The color is darker, too.”
Salazar’s sister, who is three years older, also pushed her to learn all the aspects of basket weaving. “She just wasn’t going to let me keep having others start baskets for me or fix my problems when I got stuck,” Salazar said, laughing.
Quileute Natural Resources now organizes collection of the cedar bark each year as part of a cooperative agreement with Rayonier. A unit is identified and natural resources employees mark the way to the grove for collection and provide transportation, if necessary. Cedar is also collected and distributed to those who aren’t able to collect it themselves. “I think we had the most requests that I can remember for materials this year,” Salazar said.
Salazar knows the value of the materials and gives prepared cedar to relatives and friends who weave as presents for birthdays and other holidays. “They appreciate it because they know how much work it takes to get it ready. For me, I would trade it ounce for ounce for gold.”
Tulalip, Washington — The “Red Rocker”, Sammy Hagar, will be making a first, much anticipated appearance at the Tulalip Resort Casino Amphitheatre on Thursday, August 15. A multi-platinum, outgoing, bombastic front man of hard rock champions Van Halen, Hagar is a member in good standing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He will be releasing his first solo album in five years on September 24, 2013. Hagar has enlisted three legendary musicians – Toby Keith, Mickey Hart and Taj Mahal – to round out the final three tracks of the album to be titled: “Sammy Hagar and Friends.”Son of a steel worker and onetime professional boxer, Hagar burst on the scene as the lead vocalist of Montrose, whose “Rock Candy” has gone on to become a certified rock classic. After a string of eight solo albums, culminating with the million-sellers “Standing Hampton,” “Three Lock Box” and “V.O.A.,” and hundreds of sold out concert appearances across the country, Hagar joined Van Halen in 1985. He took the band to unprecedented heights, including four consecutive No. 1 albums. Sammy also thrived as a solo artist, with his band the Waboritas, and returned to Van Halen to lead a triumphant 2004 reunion tour. He has played with a succession of genius guitar players, from Ronnie Montrose and Neal Schon, to Eddie Van Halen and Joe Satriani from his current group, Chickenfoot, which also features former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.Following Hagar’s concert, the rest of the summer line-up:
Sunday, August 18: Melissa Etheridge
Rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, winner of an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Double Grammy Winner.Sunday, August 25: Foreigner
This British-American band is one of the world’s best-selling bands of all time. Mick Jones and Lou Gramm were just inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Saturday, September 7: Doobie Brothers & America
The Doobie Brothers have been inducted into the Vocal Hall of Fame with hits like “Listen to the Music”; Grammy winners America has charted No. 1 hits like “A Horse with No Name” and “Sister Golden Hair”.
Tulalip Resort also offers guest room/up close ticket packages. Both reserved seating and general admission concert tickets are available and can be purchased in person at the Tulalip Resort Casino Rewards Club box office located on the casino floor, or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Unless otherwise noted, the doors open at 5pm and concerts start at 7pm for all shows. All concert dates and times are subject to change. Guests must be 21 and over to attend.
Kirk Boxleitner Tanya White, who danced at last year’s Stillaguamish Festival of the River and Pow Wow, has been dancing at pow pows since she was 3 years old.
Kirk Boxleitner, Arlington Times
ARLINGTON — As the Stillaguamish Festival of the River and Pow Wow head into their 24th year on Saturday, Aug. 10, and Sunday, Aug. 11, festival coordinator Tamara Neuffer has promised attendees that they’ll encounter an entirely different map of the grounds to go along with the event’s renewed focus on community education.
“Rather than placing them in separate areas, we’ve reorganized our layout of educational and vendor booths to mimic the Stillaguamish River and its tributaries,” said Neuffer, who also serves as the education and outreach coordinator for the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, which presents the festival and pow wow at the River Meadows County Park, located at 20416 Jordan Rd. in Arlington. “By simulating a journey down the river, we hope to give people a sense of why it’s important to protect this watershed. We’re really stepping up our game to be more interactive and find better ways of reaching out.”
To further engage festival-goers in the event’s educational mission, Neuffer hopes to incentivize it through “passports” that require attendees to receive stamps from each educational booth before they can become eligible for raffle prizes.
“We’ve also increased the size of our kids’ zone, which is now called the ‘Fun Zone’ and sponsored by the Community Health Plan of Washington,” Neuffer said. “We’re teaching kids to get outdoors by showing them all the fun things they can do. We’ve really beefed up the activities for kids and adults alike to make this even more of a family friendly event.”
Neuffer believes that visitors to this year’s pow wow will likewise find it even more inviting than before.
“This year, we’ll have the Yellow Bird Dancers doing hoop-dancing, as well as a Hispanic dance troupe,” Neuffer said. “We’ve installed a roof with lights over the pow wow area, and we’ve even put bleacher seating in the back. I think some people might not have been sure if they were welcome at the pow wows, so hopefully, these steps will make them less tentative about being spectators to that event.”
Just as the festival’s stated mission is to aid people who live and work in the surrounding region in understanding how their actions can help make their environment healthier for people, fish and other wildlife, so too does Neuffer see the potential of the festival and its pow wow to promote cultural awareness and outreach efforts.
“Our musical lineup is what brings a lot of people in, which allows us to educate a lot of people at one time,” Neuffer said, touting the two stages of performers that will be running concurrently on both days. “We want to make learning about the environment and cultural communities fun for them.”
The gates to the River Meadows County Park open at 10 a.m. on both days of the Stillaguamish Festival of the River and Pow Wow. While admission to the event is free, parking is $5 per car until 4 p.m., after which it becomes $10. For more information, log onto http://festivaloftheriver.com.
