Ancient Bison Kill Site Uncovered In Montana
Browning Mont. Archaeologists working on the Blackfeet Indian reservation in northwestern Montana say they have uncovered a vast former hunting complex where bison were stampeded over a cliff at least 1,000 years ago.Researchers say the 9-mile-long area contains a well-preserved "drive line" system used to funnel bison to their deaths, along with bison bones and the remnants of campsites with hundreds of tepee rings.The site is on a remote plateau overlooking the Two Medicine River. Researchers say it could become one of the largest and most significant Blackfeet heritage sites in the region. Plains Indians harvested bison hundreds of years ago by stampeding them over cliffs. John Murray, the Blackfeet Tribe's historic preservation officer, say research at the new site will help members better understand their history.
Global Warming And Changing
Part 12
Los Angeles Nears Water Rationing
February 2009
With a recent flurry of winter storms doing little to dampen California's latest drought the nation's biggest public utility voted on Tuesday to impose water rationing in Los Angeles for the first time in nearly two decades.Under the plan adopted in principle by the governing board of the L.A. Department of Water and Power, homes and businesses would pay a penalty rate-nearly double normal prices-for any water they use in excess of a reduced monthly allowance. The five-member board plans to formally vote on details of the measure next month.The rationing scheme is expected to take effect in May unless the City Council acts before then to reject it-a move seen as unlikely since Mayor Antonio Vilaraigosa called for the measure under a water-shortage plan last week. The only other time such penalty pricing was imposed to force conservation in the nation's second biggest city was a rationing put into effect for a year starting in March 1991, at the height of California's last statewide drought. That measure cut citywide water use by 26 percent, DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo said.The DWP board also voted unanimously to restrict lawn sprinkler use to two days a week, as urged by the mayor. Outdoor irrigation for 40 percent of residential water use in the city, DWP officials say.The agency is the largest municipal utility in the United States, supplying water and electricity to some 3.8 million household and businesses in Los Angeles. San Diego and others cities throughout California are weighing similar measures to cope with a water shortage that is adding to the woes of a state beset with rising unemployment, high mortgage foreclosure rates and a budget crisis. The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, one of the state's chief sources of fresh surface water, is far below normal, and reservoirs fed by Sierra runoff are badly depleted as well, due to a statewide drought now in its third year. State water managers have said the current dry spell could prove to be the worst ever in California owing to rising demands from steady population growth. Recent heavy rains, and mountain snowfall have provided a welcome respite from California's driest January on record, but "this latest set of storms did not get us out of the woods by any means." water manager James McDaniel told the DWP board.Complicating matters are federal court restrictions on water that can be pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in northern California, which furnishes much of the state's irrigation and drinking supplies, in order to protect endangered fish species.As a result, state water managers have cut the amount of delta water they provide to irrigation districts and cities around the state to 15 percent of their usual contracted allotment for the year and may curb those deliveries further. Another major source of imported water to Southern California,the Colorado River basin, is emerging from an eight-year drought, but its reservoirs remain low.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Unseed Powers
I know that our people possessed remarkable powers of concentration and abstraction, and I sometime fancy that such nearness to nature as I have described keeps the spirit sensitive to impressions not commonly felt, and in touch with the unseen powers. I am glad for my ancestors who they are and I am grateful for what they taught me.We come into our own when we can see the gifts our ancestors have been for us.
Owl's Original Crafts
Owl's Original Crafts are collectible, authentic, original art in which you can discover the power and freedom of the designs, symbols, and artifacts, and you can capture for the first time in a replica that is hand crafted in the family heritage style.You will get a feel for the transforming role as unbound spirits soar through your home or office.Rare and unusual of long ago is the collection of this day. Picture how dramatic each art piece will look on your wall, on your kitchen table, on your office desk, or on you, from Owl's Original Craft's ancestors. Don't miss any of my collection from the past from Owl's Original Crafts.
START YOUR COLLECTION TODAY!
START YOUR COLLECTION TODAY!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sun Bear 16
July 11-2010
STORY 2
I'd like to tell this story to the children:
When I was a little boy, about once or twice a month, Strange
Horse, Jay, John, Running Deer, Paul, William, Weasel, Vic, and some of the men from the boothills in Missouri gathered their dogs to run foxes, and each man had his own dogs to see who had the best dog in the front, and each man knew the sound of his dogs. They picked a spot in the woods and built a fire; there they turned the dogs loose to chase the fox. They shouted out who is the best dog and who is ahead of the others. One night the dogs were having a hard time finding the fox, when Old Mack, a Walker dog, made a long howl which means the fox trail is cold. Jay said, "Well, that trail is too cold, it will be a while for the dogs to find another fresh fox trail. The men got out the hot dogs and buns to cook on the fire. Weasel went over and got two hot dogs and buns and came over to me and said, "I will cook you a nice hot dog." I went over to a big red oak stump and sat down to wait for him. Weasel came over and sat down beside me, and we ate our hot dogs. Weasel began to take out his flute from his flute bag and began to play his flute slowly. As he went on, then he began to play a litter faster, then he said, "The fox sees the rabbit!" Then Weasel played faster and faster and faster, then he said, "The fox and the rabbit went through the bushes and around the rocks and through the grass and through the bushes again." Weasel played faster and faster and faster, then he began to slow down. Then he said, "The rabbit went in the hole; Weasel played slower and slower and slower and then stopped. Then he said, "Now, Owl, you don't want to be like the rabbit, eventually it will get caught by the fox." Then Weasel said, "Owl, when you go out in the outside world, don't play around with the foxes like the rabbit did, you will get caught!! Stay away from the foxes!!
The moral of this story is: There are people like the foxes who take advantage of other people, or there are people like the foxes who take money from people for their living.
STORY 2
I'd like to tell this story to the children:
When I was a little boy, about once or twice a month, Strange
Horse, Jay, John, Running Deer, Paul, William, Weasel, Vic, and some of the men from the boothills in Missouri gathered their dogs to run foxes, and each man had his own dogs to see who had the best dog in the front, and each man knew the sound of his dogs. They picked a spot in the woods and built a fire; there they turned the dogs loose to chase the fox. They shouted out who is the best dog and who is ahead of the others. One night the dogs were having a hard time finding the fox, when Old Mack, a Walker dog, made a long howl which means the fox trail is cold. Jay said, "Well, that trail is too cold, it will be a while for the dogs to find another fresh fox trail. The men got out the hot dogs and buns to cook on the fire. Weasel went over and got two hot dogs and buns and came over to me and said, "I will cook you a nice hot dog." I went over to a big red oak stump and sat down to wait for him. Weasel came over and sat down beside me, and we ate our hot dogs. Weasel began to take out his flute from his flute bag and began to play his flute slowly. As he went on, then he began to play a litter faster, then he said, "The fox sees the rabbit!" Then Weasel played faster and faster and faster, then he said, "The fox and the rabbit went through the bushes and around the rocks and through the grass and through the bushes again." Weasel played faster and faster and faster, then he began to slow down. Then he said, "The rabbit went in the hole; Weasel played slower and slower and slower and then stopped. Then he said, "Now, Owl, you don't want to be like the rabbit, eventually it will get caught by the fox." Then Weasel said, "Owl, when you go out in the outside world, don't play around with the foxes like the rabbit did, you will get caught!! Stay away from the foxes!!
The moral of this story is: There are people like the foxes who take advantage of other people, or there are people like the foxes who take money from people for their living.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Sun Bear 9 - Global Warming and Changing
Global Warming and Changing
Part 3
Herbal Tea Ingredient Helps Beetle-Plagued Trees.
Grants Pass,Oregon--Would a dose of herbal tea slow the march of beetles killing millions of acres of pine trees across the West?
sort of.
But instead of brewing up a cup,U.S. Forest Service scientists found that sprinkling tiny flakes containing the pheromone verbenone over lodgepole pine forests cut the number of trees attacked by bark beetles by two-thirds.Verbenone is found in rosemary and walnut husks and is approved for use in herbal teas.It also resembles a pheromone the beetles give off to tell one another that their tree is getting crowded,and it would be better to pick another one.Forest Service entomologist Nancy Gillette,lead author on the study,said scientists have known for a decade that when bark beetles smell verbenone they tend to disperse.The problem has been to find a cheap and effective way of distributing it,and Gillette says sprinkling flakes from helicopters is the best way yet.It costs about $110 an acre,compared to $1,000 an acre or more for thinning.
Insecticides are also expensive,and kill lots of beneficial insects.Gillette said she could foresee the technique being used around campgrounds,visitor centers and ski resorts,where it would be desirable to save trees.Andy Stahl,director of Forest
Service Employees for Environmental Ethics,said it would be fruitless to use across large areas,because the beetles infest only mature tress weakened by factors such as drought,and the infestations are part of a natural cycle that replaces lodgepole pine forests every 100 years. "All you are doing is saving(commercially) worthless trees in order that they burn next year," he said.The beetles have killed millions of acres of pine forests,touching every state in the West.Warming temperatures have meant winters no longer get cold enough to routinely kill the insects,so more of them survive to bore into trees,which fight them off by oozing sap.In Colorado alone,a survey found nearly 2 million acres of forests killed by beetles.The biggest outbreak in North America is in British Columbia,where 23 million acres have been killed.
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Part 3
Herbal Tea Ingredient Helps Beetle-Plagued Trees.
Grants Pass,Oregon--Would a dose of herbal tea slow the march of beetles killing millions of acres of pine trees across the West?
sort of.
But instead of brewing up a cup,U.S. Forest Service scientists found that sprinkling tiny flakes containing the pheromone verbenone over lodgepole pine forests cut the number of trees attacked by bark beetles by two-thirds.Verbenone is found in rosemary and walnut husks and is approved for use in herbal teas.It also resembles a pheromone the beetles give off to tell one another that their tree is getting crowded,and it would be better to pick another one.Forest Service entomologist Nancy Gillette,lead author on the study,said scientists have known for a decade that when bark beetles smell verbenone they tend to disperse.The problem has been to find a cheap and effective way of distributing it,and Gillette says sprinkling flakes from helicopters is the best way yet.It costs about $110 an acre,compared to $1,000 an acre or more for thinning.
Insecticides are also expensive,and kill lots of beneficial insects.Gillette said she could foresee the technique being used around campgrounds,visitor centers and ski resorts,where it would be desirable to save trees.Andy Stahl,director of Forest
Service Employees for Environmental Ethics,said it would be fruitless to use across large areas,because the beetles infest only mature tress weakened by factors such as drought,and the infestations are part of a natural cycle that replaces lodgepole pine forests every 100 years. "All you are doing is saving(commercially) worthless trees in order that they burn next year," he said.The beetles have killed millions of acres of pine forests,touching every state in the West.Warming temperatures have meant winters no longer get cold enough to routinely kill the insects,so more of them survive to bore into trees,which fight them off by oozing sap.In Colorado alone,a survey found nearly 2 million acres of forests killed by beetles.The biggest outbreak in North America is in British Columbia,where 23 million acres have been killed.
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Sun Bear 6 - Return of the BUFFALO NATION
In the summer of 1994,on the Heider farm in Wisconsin,a white buffalo calf came into the world.Because Plains Indian people revere white buffalo,the Heider family named their heifer Miracle.Native people came to see Miracle and rejoiced.No pure white calf had been born since 1933.Some saw in her an omen that White Buffalo Woman herself would soon return.Others saw a portent that the prayer of the Lakota Ghost Dance of the 1880s was about to be answered--that the buffalo would return to the great plains.Later another white calf was born May 22,2004, 12 AM Saturday at Flagstaff AZ.The story of this will be sent with the newsletter.Now signs abound that the latter promise is being realized.Almost extinct a century ago,buffalo are making a remarkable comeback.Nearly a quarter million graze today on private ranches,most of them on the Great Plains,and 200,000 more in Canada.Public lands such as national parks are home to about another 25,000.Dave Carter,Executive Director of the National Bison Association,the advocacy for commercial growers,says,"The market for buffalo is strong.Meat sales are up.We need more people producing buffalo." Since about the time Miracle was born,American Indian tribes have also been exerting their own muscle to bring the buffalo back.Their motives run less to profit and more to the physical,emotional and spiritual health of their people.Buffalo have made this continent their home for several hundred thousand years,and two of the original six species are still with us.Once they ranged over all of North America,but they thrived particularly on the Great Plains.The Native people there held them sacred.Buffalo are part of the Lakota(Sioux)creation story,in which the people followed Buffalo out of Wind Cave into this world.Many tribes held ceremonies to honor the buffalo.At the forefront of this movement are members of the InterTribal Bison Collective,consisting of 57 tribes in 19 states.Due to the recent drought,which has made grass scarce,herd numbers are temporarily down,but ITBC Executive Director Jim Stone(Yankton Sioux)estimates that the tribes have 10,000 to 15,000 buffalo.The ITBC provides grants to tribes for all infrastructure required to maintain a herd---including fences,corrals and water---and the buffalo are provided for free by the National Park Service.The tribal herds are put to various uses.Most tribes gave away or sold meat to their members,nine tribes offer hunts,at least eight provide public tours to view the herds,four sell meat to the public,and one teaches hide tanning.Though there are plans to offer bison arts and crafts,none are available yet.Alvah Quinn,the manager of the buffalo herd of the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe,runs what Stone calls a model program.The tribe started raising buffalo in 1992 and now has a carrying capacity of 350 head.DNA testing has demonstrated that the herd is one of eight in the U.S. that is 100 percent buffalo,with no cattle blood.When they get too many buffalo for the available grass,they sell them to tribal members for $350 per animal,far below market price.Quinn says the purpose of creating the herd is to give animals to tribal districts for powwows and other ceremonies,and to give meat to elderly members and those with diabetes.All killing is done in a ceremonial way."The guys won't do it otherwise," Quinn says.Spiritual leaders are on hand to sing the old songs that consecrate the death,and these leaders also encourage the participants in the ceremony to create new songs, "which will be the old songs of tomorrow." Buffalo meat has a small fraction of the fat of beef,is high in protein and is dense with nutrients like iron and essential fatty acids.Stone's experience working with the Yankton tribal herd indicates that a buffalo can be raised to three years old,and be made available to tribal members for about two dollars a pound."It's much better meat than they could get at a supermarket." Stone suggests "marketing buffalo meat not to expensive restaurants,but to the daily plates of tribal people.Our health problems can be solved by what we eat.Once we had a good diet based on natural foods,We need to get back to that." In 1987 professors Frank and Deborah Popper published a paper imagining that the Great Plains might return to a form resembling its past.Manos of GPRC embraces the Poppers' vision wholeheartediy.He seeks to put together enough land to create two separate 1-million acre buffalo ranges in the near future,one around the Pine Ridge(Lakota)Reservation and one in West Texas and New Mexico.Ultimately,over several decades,he hopes to create a 10 to 20 million acre corridor of Great Plains land for buffalo,prairie dogs,and their plant and animal neighbors.A vegan,his goals emphatically omit raising buffalo for consumption.He hopes "to see the buffalo die of old age,"but other Buffalo Commons supporters see the need for limited hunting to keep the herd numbers stable.Beau LeBeau, a Lakota man from Pine Ridge, has helped make a start around Pine Ridge.The tribe is in the process of reacquiring the South Unit of Badlands National Park,and the tribe and the GPRC are trying to buy 4,600 acres on the north side of the park.They also hope to convert some tribal lands now used for cattle ranching(by Anglo ranchers) and secure cooperation of other nearby public lands:the Buffalo Gap National Grassland,the Oglala National Grassland and Fort Robinson State Park.Manos thinks his million acre dream for that area is within reach.What is the future of buffalo on the Great Plains?Frank Popper believes a resurgence is underway."The 19th century was terrible for buffalo,as was most of the 20th.But early in the 21st,the buffalo are coming back and a Buffalo Commons is forming."That can only be good for native people.Two species still populate North America:the plains buffalo and the wood buffalo.Both male and female develop short,curved horns.At the hump the male may be up to two meters tall and weigh up to one ton.The female is about half that size.Life expectancy is 2 to 40 years.In the wild,buffalo cows generally gave birth every other spring,a single red or yellow calf.On modern ranches they bear offsping every year.Historically,buffalo thrived on buffalo grass,a thick-growing turf about eight inches high.Partly because it made excellent sod for pioneer houses,the buffalo grass has mostly disappeared,and the buffalo now feed on various grasses.
Sun Bear 4 June 7 2008
June 21 is Father's Day.There will be 35% off on all products.The sale will start on June 20 through June 27.
The Irish and Cheyenne celebrated Head Man Day (Father's Day).The
women have a very special meal and very nice handmade gifts.When
the Head Man invites a guest and his family to his home,he welcomes him and his wife and children.The wives and children
all get together, and the Head Men get together and have a
family pipe ceremony.This is the day the Head Man shows what he
has accomplished with his family,land,animals,and fowl.He would do little work that day.
I would like to introduce to you someone who teaches the Native American way throughout the world.KENNETH LITTLE HAWK is a Native American musician,storyteller,keynote speaker,recording artist and actor,descending from the Micmac and Mohawk tribes.He is also a member of Metis of Maine.Touring throughout America over the past 20 years,Little Hawk has performed for over 2 million people at many distinguished locations including Lincoln Center in New York,the Kennedy Center in Washington,and the American Museum of Natural History.His voice and authentic flute music can be heard in such award-winning PBS films as "The West" and"lewis and Clark." He has been nominated twice for best Storyteller of the year by the Native American Music Awards for "Wind,Sun and Stars" and "In a good Way." In 1998,he was invited to meet the president at the White House for a special screening of "Lewis & Clark." Little Hawk played flute with other musicians in the East Wing of the White House and all contributers to the film received a beautiful replica of the Jefferson Medal Of Peace.He is a Native American cultural treasure.Little Hawk believes that all humans need to honor,cherish and preserve the earth. He says,"We must work together to mend the global hoop that encompasses all life." He hopes to leave his audiences with the knowledge that they can make choices to live in harmony with one another and the environment.Little Hawk has put out 5 CD's and two new CD's:The Little Tree, and The Little Hawk Show. Little Hawk and his wife started The Little Hawk Show.The Little Hawk Show logo is a Medicine Wheel design that was created for Little Hawk by a Hopi drum maker in 1993 when Little Hawk was performing in the award-winning play,"Black Elk Speaks." You can visit
Little Hawk's Store online to buy T shirts,hats,and CD's.The money and any donations support the Little Hawk Show and are tax deductible. You can go to http://www.kennethlittlehawk.com
The Irish and Cheyenne celebrated Head Man Day (Father's Day).The
women have a very special meal and very nice handmade gifts.When
the Head Man invites a guest and his family to his home,he welcomes him and his wife and children.The wives and children
all get together, and the Head Men get together and have a
family pipe ceremony.This is the day the Head Man shows what he
has accomplished with his family,land,animals,and fowl.He would do little work that day.
I would like to introduce to you someone who teaches the Native American way throughout the world.KENNETH LITTLE HAWK is a Native American musician,storyteller,keynote speaker,recording artist and actor,descending from the Micmac and Mohawk tribes.He is also a member of Metis of Maine.Touring throughout America over the past 20 years,Little Hawk has performed for over 2 million people at many distinguished locations including Lincoln Center in New York,the Kennedy Center in Washington,and the American Museum of Natural History.His voice and authentic flute music can be heard in such award-winning PBS films as "The West" and"lewis and Clark." He has been nominated twice for best Storyteller of the year by the Native American Music Awards for "Wind,Sun and Stars" and "In a good Way." In 1998,he was invited to meet the president at the White House for a special screening of "Lewis & Clark." Little Hawk played flute with other musicians in the East Wing of the White House and all contributers to the film received a beautiful replica of the Jefferson Medal Of Peace.He is a Native American cultural treasure.Little Hawk believes that all humans need to honor,cherish and preserve the earth. He says,"We must work together to mend the global hoop that encompasses all life." He hopes to leave his audiences with the knowledge that they can make choices to live in harmony with one another and the environment.Little Hawk has put out 5 CD's and two new CD's:The Little Tree, and The Little Hawk Show. Little Hawk and his wife started The Little Hawk Show.The Little Hawk Show logo is a Medicine Wheel design that was created for Little Hawk by a Hopi drum maker in 1993 when Little Hawk was performing in the award-winning play,"Black Elk Speaks." You can visit
Little Hawk's Store online to buy T shirts,hats,and CD's.The money and any donations support the Little Hawk Show and are tax deductible. You can go to http://www.kennethlittlehawk.com
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