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We enjoyed reading the return address labels which told us where the toys and clothing were coming from... Missouri, Texas, Germany ... so many places most of us in the choir have never been (even many places right here in Colorado). By the way, my students have decided that, "They have cooler clothes in Germany than we have here in the United States." It's no one's fault. Nothing can be done to change it. It is simply a universal truth as seen by a 13-year-old.
My students ask you to picture this scenario for next year:
Every Walmart and Toys-R-Us is filled with adults holding toys and asking the nearest child... "Is this cool?" Most teenagers will happily tell you what's "bad" (meaning good), "lame" (meaning not good), "sexy" (meaning very good), or "messed up" (meaning REALLY NOT good). Some will be outgoing enough to offer to take you through the toy, clothing, or beauty product section and point things out to you.
So, next year, let no adult put off becoming involved in the many toy drives in your area due to lack of knowing "what's cool." I have 80+ middle school choir students who would happily serve you in making your selections. If you are unable to acquire one of mine, find a teenager near you. It will truly be the most memorable shopping trip you've ever taken.
I personally want to thank all my choir students at Vikan Middle School for the many hours of hard work that was put in to sort, inventory, and pack every donated item for this drive. You are truly awesome human beings and I am honored to know you and work with you each day!
Guest Contributing Author:
Grandmother Waynonaha Two Worlds
Native American Elder
Here I Come Walking (In Honor of Those Who Walked Before)
Here I come walking see me Creator in my robe of stars my Grandmothers have sown.
In my robe I carry the history of the many who have walked this way before time.
The stars of my people are here in my robe that wraps this Earthly body you have given.
Each stitch a prayer, each prayer is one for another who has walked this path before me.
I walk in the foot prints of many who have gone on the star road in the time beyond time.
I come walking Grandfather and Grandmother my life here done.
Each step brings me closer to the hoop as my Earth body fades into memory.
See my face Creator I am free of pain and worry I come new and shining.
In all ways I have kept my word to others, my honor and dignity remains.
My Earth Walk a path for the my children to follow with good hearts.
I have given in times of need with generous heart and mind. I have honored my
word and barter with others.
I have honored my elders in the old ways when we lived in harmony.
I stand in my truth with dignity as I walk back to the home of my people.
With hands open in peace I ask to enter the hoop of all creation with dignity.
As I come walking I see the faces of my people standing waiting in the sacred
circle of the spirit life.
My steps seem lighter until I feel no more the touch of Earth beneath my feet,
the path grows smooth and clear as I walk.
I have done my best in this life Creator through the many lessons you have shown.
I have faced all things and learned the lessons that were given.
See my heart and hear me as I sing my song of life. I have come walking.
Mitakuye Oyasin, Waynonaha
Copyright by Waynonaha Two Worlds 2004 All Publication Rights Reserved.
Never cease in the fight for peace, justice, and equality for all people. Be persistent in all that you do and don't allow anyone to sway you from your conscience. Sitting Bull said, "As individual fingers we can easily be broken, but all together we make a mighty fist." The struggle is ours to win or lose.
- Leonard Peltier
from: "Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sundance" by Leonard Peltier
As a middle school teacher, there is one question that I abhor above all others... "What am I gonna get?" What have we done to our children that they must ask us this question? Were we rewarded for doing the right thing? For doing our jobs? For completing tasks that were our own responsibility? For telling the truth? For helping another? For going to work? I was... but the rewards were not something I could hold in my hand. My rewards were things like a feeling of accomplishment, a sense of satisfaction and pride.
If many of us had asked the "What am I gonna get?" question to our parents when we were 12 or 13 years old, they'd have gladly told us what we were gonna get... and it wasn't money or a cutesie sticker or a "go to the head of the line" pass. So when some of my choir students announced that they thought we should become involved in a service project, I gritted my teeth and braced myself for a chorus of "What am I gonna get" questions. But they never came. In fact, the questions were more on the order of "what should we do?" and "who can we help?"
After some debate and discussion, the choir students at Vikan Middle School in Brighton, Colorado decided to join in on the Wambli Ho/He Ska Tokala Toy and Winter Clothing Drive. That very day, some of my choir students started saving their allowances in anticipation of a special trek to Walmart to purchase some new toys they thought the children on Pine Ridge would enjoy.
These kids just keep amazing me over and over. When so many people these days seem to have acquired a negative opinion of adolescents, these kids never even considered the "What am I gonna get" question. And these aren't rich kids. They are young men and women with big hearts and a genuine desire for other kids to have their needs met. Their involvement was based solely on their concern for another's well-being. How many of us can say that routinely about ourselves?
They rolled up their sleeves and jumped into the work of sorting, taking inventory, and packing boxes to be shipped to Pine Ridge.
"Miss G", Paula Gruentzel, and part of the "Crew" with stacks of boxed gifts headed for Pine Ridge
Erin Dwyer and Michelle Goward, hard-working Vikan Middle School choir students who headed the Inventory Team for the gifts sent for the kids of the Pine Ridge Reservation
Click
To See More
Pictures of the Inventorying, Sorting, and Packing by the Great Kids of
Vikan
Middle School Choirs,
Brighton,
Colorado:
Click To See More Pictures of the Inventorying, Sorting, and Packing by the Great Kids of Vikan Middle School Choirs, Brighton, Colorado:
Secretary of the Board, Wambli Ho, Voice of the Eagles
Editor, Wambli Ho News
Wambli Ho Volunteers Stephanie M. Schwartz and Dr. Steven Fry are ready to head for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota from Brighton, Colorado on the day before distribution of the toys and winter clothing to the Porcupine District
Click to see more photos of the Distribution Day:
The morning of December 15, 2003 dawned bright, clear, and bitterly cold on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota. Snow on the ground and roads kept movement slow and careful.
Thanks to Harvey Iron Boy, Wambli Ho had obtained the use of the meeting room in the Porcupine Clinic for distribution of the toys and children's winter clothes. All of the schools were closed due to a flu epidemic throughout the Reservation. Nonetheless, even the flu and snow didn't keep the grandmothers, moms, dads, and children of the Porcupine District from arriving early and patiently standing in line as others moved through the distribution room ahead of them.
It was a wonderful collection of items. Everything from teething rings to art sets to personal grooming kits to dolls and crayons filled the tables to overflowing. Thanks to Dr. Steve Fry, Wambli Ho Board Member, over twenty reconditioned bicycles found happy new homes. And the many items of warm clothing ranged from infant to large teen/adult sizes.
And the best part of the day was the many happy, smiling faces!
Harvey Iron Boy Brings a Touch of the Season
Will it fit?
Click to see more photos of the Distribution Day:
Wambli Ho, Voice of the Eagles
Honors Our Relatives Who Have Walked On....
January 25, 2004: Grandfather Wallace Black Elk
of Denver, Colorado ~ Rosebud and Pine Ridge Lakota Reservations
Beloved Father of Wesley (Julie), Lyle, Marilyn, Marva, Jennifer, Roger, and Sharon
Burial at Evergreen, Colorado
January 8, 2004: Grandfather David Swallow, Sr.
of Porcupine, South Dakota ~ Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Reservation
Beloved Father of David, Jr., Richard, Tim, and Leo Swallow
Burial at Family Cemetary on Family Sundance Land ~ Pine Ridge Reservation
January 6, 2004: Grandmother Lydia Ice
of Wounded Knee, South Dakota ~ Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota Reservation
Beloved Mother of Gerald (Eldina), Bernard, and Norma
Arlo Looking Cloud Trial in the Murder of Anna Mae Aquash
From Barry Bachrach, Attorney for Leonard Peltier
February, 2004
Ladies and Gentleman of the Press,
A major occurrence in Rapid City last week. A trial, if that's what you want to call it. Many of you covered the murder trial of Arlo Looking Cloud. A 10-minute defense? Pretty sensational stuff.
You didn't find what you were witnessing at all strange? I did. I mean, who was on trial?
The majority of the testimony presented had nothing whatsoever to do with Arlo Looking Cloud, but prominent members of the American Indian Movement
(AIM) and my client, Leonard Peltier, in particular. Leonard Peltier or the AIM leadership, I would remind you, are not on trial for the 1975 murder of Annie Mae Aquash. They have not been charged with the crime, either, simply because there is no evidence against them. Only rumor, conjecture, and innuendo.
And that's all you were treated to in that courtroom this week. There was not one iota of proof presented to support many witnesses' "beliefs". And for every witness presented, there are any number of other individuals who could be called to appear and who would tell very different stories - that Annie Mae wasn't afraid of AIM, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); she had stated this to various individuals on numerous occasions; and she had actually put such fears
in writing. In 1975, she said she'd been told by investigators that she would be dead within the year if she didn't cooperate with FBI agents in framing AIM leaders and Leonard Peltier.
How credible are the witnesses in this case? Paid informants, for example, must immediately be called into question, as must others who have long been accused of fabricating evidence in the Peltier case and/or of playing some part in the murder of Ms. Aquash.
Ask yourself, too, what didn't come out at this trial.
During the 1970s, the AIM leadership was targeted by the FBI much like, as we have seen this week, they are targeted now. The Bureau's documented intent was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the AIM organization. The FBI had decided that Native Americans who were committed to uniting all Native Peoples in an effort to uplift their communities and promote cultural pride and sovereignty were "enemies of the State". Fact, not fiction.
Virtually every known AIM leader in the United States was incarcerated in either state or federal prisons since (or even before) the organization's formal emergence in 1968, some repeatedly. After the 1973 siege of Wounded Knee (SD), for example, the FBI caused 542 separate charges to be filed against those it identified as "key AIM leaders". This resulted in only 15 convictions, all on such petty or contrived offenses as "interfering with a federal officer in the performance of his duty". Organization members often languished in jail for months as the cumulative bail required to free them outstripped resource capabilities of AIM and supporting groups. Fact, not fiction.
After Wounded Knee, AIM activities were forbidden on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation by the then Tribal Chairman Dick Wilson. Traditionalists were not allowed to meet or attend traditional ceremonies. Wilson hired vigilantes who called themselves Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs) to enforce his rules. Fact, not fiction.
The three years following Wounded Knee are often referred to as the Pine Ridge "Reign of Terror" because anyone associated with AIM was targeted for violence. Their homes were burned and their cars were run off the road. They were struck by cars, shot in drive-by shootings, and beaten. Between 1973 and 1976, over 60 traditionalists were murdered. Pine Ridge had the highest murder rate in the United States, people! Fact, not fiction.
And now we're supposed to believe, I take it, that the lives of these 60 or more human beings are somehow less significant than that of Anna Mae Aquash? Yes, we want justice for Anna Mae, but what about the many others? Don't they deserve justice, too?
In almost every case of violence, witness accounts indicated GOON responsibility, but nothing was done to stop these bloody events. On the contrary the FBI, the agency responsible for investigating such violence, supplied the GOONs with weaponry and intelligence on AIM. The FBI, in fact, looked the other way as the GOONs committed crime after crime against members as well as supporters of AIM. Fact, not fiction.
Yet, there was no mention of these facts during last week's trial. That means only part of the story was told. A very small part.
The public didn't hear about the shoddy investigation the FBI conducted into the death of Anna Mae Aquash, either. It took them 28 years to bring someone - anyone - to trial? The FBI is better than that. Everybody knows it.
Why did the FBI not find the bullet hole in the back of Anna Mae's head, or the blood on the back of her jacket? These things were immediately discovered by means of an independent autopsy. Fact, not fiction.
Why did the FBI rule the cause of death instead as "exposure"? Fact, not fiction.
Why did the FBI find it necessary to sever Anna Mae's hands, when the agents on the scene - in particular, David Price, who testified this week - should have been able to identify the body of a woman with whom they were well acquainted? Anna Mae's body lay frozen in a gully when found. Winter in South Dakota. The body was too decomposed, they say. "Unidentifiable." Fact, not fiction.
And why then was a photo of Anna Mae's severed hands later used to frighten another Indian woman into signing several false affidavits against Leonard Peltier? Why was Myrtle Poor Bear told that the same would happen to her if she failed to cooperate with the FBI and the federal prosecutors? Fact, not fiction.
On the basis of these fabricated affidavits, a Canadian court was convinced to extradite Peltier to the U.S. for trial. Bob Newbrook, a retired police officer who arrested Peltier in Alberta in 1976 recently stated, "Canada should have learned from the Peltier case that it cannot trust U.S. evidence presented against American Indian activists." Newbrook said he has thoroughly investigated the Peltier and Aquash cases and has come to regret his role. "I'm haunted by the fact that I now think we seized an innocent man, with no valid Canadian arrest warrant, based on false evidence from the U.S.," he said.
Warren Allmand, a former Canadian justice minister, and the judge who later extradited Peltier said they would never have agreed to his extradition had they known affidavits and evidence presented by the U.S. were false.
Despite its carefully contrived image as the nation's premier crime fighting agency, the FBI then as now (and you have only to look at the U.S. Patriot Act to know this is true) functioned primarily as America's political police. This role includes not only the collection of intelligence on the activities of political dissidents and groups, but often counterintelligence operations to thwart those activities. At its most extreme dimension, political dissidents have been eliminated outright or sent to prison for the rest of their lives. These activities are well documented. Fact, not fiction.
Many activists were "neutralized" by intimidation, harassment, discrediting, and a whole assortment of tactics, including "snitch jacketing" where the FBI made the target look like a police informant or a federal agent. This served the dual purposes of isolating and alienating important leaders, as well as increasing the general level of fear and factionalism in the group. Just like the fear described in that courtroom last week. Yet, you heard agents of the FBI, deny there ever
was such a thing as snitch jacketing, didn't you? This and other tactics used by the FBI also are well-documented. Fact, not fiction.
The trial was well-orchestrated - not to convict the man on trial, but to convict AIM activists and prosecute Leonard Peltier all over again (another violation of his constitutional rights, I would argue) in the court of public opinion.
The style and content of the articles being published last week (machine-gun-toting Indians?) focused on Peltier, specifically, who is due for a full parole hearing in 2008. These articles were reminiscent of articles published at the request of particular FBI agents during the campaign in 2001 to convince President Clinton to grant Mr. Peltier's petition for Executive Clemency. This is why Leonard Peltier has filed a civil suit against the FBI, naming former director Louis Freeh, current director Robert S. Mueller, and a dozen or so active and retired agents of the Bureau. Allegations contained in the suit include providing to the media as fact "numerous [...] knowingly false and unsupported accusations [...] against the Plaintiff designed solely to deny him the right to due process both before the [U.S.] Parole Commission and in petitions for Executive Clemency".
Nothing has changed, it seems. The only difference now is that the FBI and federal prosecutors are using a court of law to advance these false and unsupported accusations - when they know and have admitted twice before the appellate bench that they can't prove Peltier's guilt. They believe they're not culpable now because they are only indirectly providing false information to the press.
In our system of justice, trials are open and public. This is, in part, to guard against official misconduct and to ensure that only justice is done. In our mature society, this means that the print and electronic media are the witnesses to due process - the public's eyes and ears, so to speak. This means that you have the responsibility to tell the truth, the whole truth. This means you must remain independent observers and guard against manipulation by the FBI and government prosecutors who fight only to win, not for the sake of justice. Might does not make right, ladies and gentlemen. And the end does not justify the means.
"Alaska is home to the largest remaining population of gray wolves in the United States. Some 7,000 to 9,000 wolves roam the state. But unlike wolves in the lower 48 states, wolves in Alaska are not afforded protection under the Endangered Species Act, and wolf hunting is allowed in most parts of the state. In the past five years, nearly 7,500 wolves were killed through hunting and trapping.
But the greatest threat to Alaska's wolves is due to the overturning of a ban on aerial or same-day land and shoot wolf hunting. Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski signed a bill this summer that re-instates public "land and shoot" and airborne wolf shooting as a part of a renewed effort to conduct more widespread wolf control over huge areas of central Alaska. Hunters in planes will search for wolves, "buzz" the pack, and chase them until the wolves are exhausted. Then a person shoots from the air or lands and shoots the wolves as they flounder in the snow.
It's an inhumane practice"........
Visit the Defenders of Wildlife website for online petition and more information:
In September 2003, Winnfred Janis, President, and Myrna White Face-Young Bear, Vice President, started the Oyate Okcuypi, "People Helping Themselves," Talking Circle for diabetics in the small community of 2000 in Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Talking Circles are held at the Porcupine Clinic. They meet once a month and about 30 people out of the 129 patients with diabetes attend to share their feelings about having diabetes. The Talking Circle gives the people an opportunity to express their fears about "how hard it is to get food and to get gas to go for treatments and appointments".
Many of the single elderly people share how hard it is to buy good nutritious food when the $70 of food stamps runs out the second week of the month. "Sometimes there is no food for me, so I eat fried potatoes or anything. I get sick if I don't eat and what I have to eat makes me sick," one of the women shared.
Ten people, as young as 25 years old, are on dialysis in Porcupine. The 10 chair dialysis clinic in Pine Ridge is full so the Porcupine patients are referred to Valentine, Nebraska (172 miles one way), Rosebud, South Dakota (78 miles one way), or Rapid City, South Dakota (96 miles one way).
One young man shared his experience not having any gas money or anybody that would drive him to Rapid City for his dialysis appointment. "I had to get up early and hitch hike to Rapid City in the below zero cold for my dialysis." An elderly man of 70 years, who is currently in the hospital in Rapid City due to a severe fall, was driving himself to dialysis in Rapid City, 4 times a week. When he gets out to the hospital he will no longer be able to drive himself.
Dialysis patients have 1 to 4 dialysis treatments a week, which last about 4 hours each treatment. After the treatments many of the patients get sick and are very tired. The dialysis patients also need to eat after their dialysis treatment.
The remaining 119 people with diabetes have monthly appointments in either Kyle, SD (28 miles one way from Porcupine) or in Pine Ridge, SD (25 miles one way). Many of them miss appointments and have to reschedule due to a lack of transportation or gas money. One man shared, "by the time I got to the clinic in Kyle my blood sugar was high. I had to go back three days in a row for insulin shots to get my blood sugar good."
Ms. Janis and Ms. White Face-Young Bear have tried to get funding to help the diabetic people in Porcupine for food and gas from the CAP (Community Action Program) office. This has been unsuccessful.
Anybody wanting to help can call
Winnfred Janis at 605-867-6398
or write Winnfred Janis at P.O. Box 311, Porcupine, SD 57772
Or
Myrna White Face-Young Bear at 605-867-2012
or write her at P.O. Box 96, Porcupine, SD 57772
or Fax Mary Young Bear at 605-867-5634, KILI Radio Station, Attention: Mary
Could they be affecting the health of the human race?
There are many Earth Changes occurring at this present time (2004). The winds and ocean currents are shifting. There are droughts, earthquakes, storms that are new to us. How do we adapt and heal?
Many of our Elders as well as young people are crossing to the other side. Can the ones left behind fill the shoes of those passing, and help make the world, as we know it, a better place in which to live? One of my own family members, a teenager, living in a large city in the North-East passed away on Valentines Day from encephalitis.
What are some of the biggest challenges to the health of humans? First of all, our food is now grown with chemicals and pesticides. Many imported as well as local foods are irradiated, all in the name of longer 'shelf' life, feeding the masses, and keeping us healthy. On one hand it is good and, on the other hand, perhaps not so good.
Secondly, our forests and rainforests are being decimated so we can graze more cattle, build more buildings, and perhaps have more farmland. However, less forests mean LESS oxygen for the humans to breathe.
Thirdly, we no longer have to labor in the fields so most of us get less exercise and, therefore, less oxygen for our bodies. Without sufficient oxygen our cells cannot absorb the nutrients they need.
When we get ill we go to the doctor who generally gives us good antibiotics to kill the infections in our bodies. The "wonder" drugs not only kill our infections but also kill most of the good bacteria within our bodies so it is then even harder to recover our health.
Does the health of Mother Earth really affect the health of the human race?
I believe it does. If the earth, water and air have been contaminated with various pesticides and chemicals, then how can the plants be healthy? If the plants are not in optimum health then how can what we eat, either plant or animal, keep us in optimal health?
Our liver, the largest organ of our body, works as our detoxification center. Not only does the liver have to detox the chemicals we ingest from foods or drugs but also the toxins from the air we breathe and those we take in through our skin (from deodorants, soaps, shampoos, conditioners). Plus, the liver is also the detox center for our emotions.
For the emotions to be cleared and to help our liver we need to work with the healers on our planet and do the ceremonies and spiritual work for healing and balance. For our physical bodies we, each, must decide what is the best way to cleanse our livers and digestive tracks. What works for one person may not necessarily work for another. (Healing ceremonies and spiritual work are the same: One ceremony may not be the right ceremony for another person. Therefore we need to look within to determine what is right for each of us.).
Years ago, I heard Maureen Salaman speak on cancer cells. She said a cancer cell is a cell starved for nutrition. This makes perfect sense to me. With all the research into cancer and all the "wonder" drugs for the 'cure of cancer', I have never heard of any study to help restore the health of the cells of our body, which to me would be the foundation of our physical health.
So, if the health of our bodies depends on the health and nutrition of what we consume, how can we, as humans, help restore the Earth back to health by cleaning up our water, air, and land?
I believe it is up to each and every one of us to go within, listen to the Creator (God), and find out what each of us can do to help create the healing of ourselves and Mother Earth. We are ALL responsible for the earth and ourselves.
In my opinion, our survival depends not only on the wisdom of the ancients (past generations) as well as the lessons from nature and science but also the truth from within. We need all three perspectives to find what we need to do in order to walk in balance, both physically and spiritually.
May we all walk with PEACE ON EARTH, with RESPECT FOR ALL LIFE, the EARTH, WATER, AIR, PLANTS, ANIMALS, HUMANS.
Many Blessings, Peace & Joy on your walk,
(Granny) Audrey Link
SECOND ANNUAL PORCUPINE EASTER EGG HUNT AND EASTER DINNER
On April 10, 2004 the Second Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Dinner will be held in Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Last year 100 children attended the hunt and the Janis family donated 1200 colored Easter eggs. Ten plastic eggs with a number inside were also hidden for the children to find and win an Easter basket full of candy and stuffed bunnies and chicks donated by friends.
Only 10% of the children in Porcupine ever get Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny on Easter morning. One of the little girls gave the Easter basket she won to another little girl who was crying because she never had an Easter basket before in her short little life.
One of the mothers last year suggested having an Easter Dinner following the Easter Egg Hunt as many families can not afford a dinner on Easter Sunday.
This year, both the Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Dinner are planned. If you would like to make a donation to this event for the families in Porcupine, SD, please contact:
Sarah Peterson at 605-745-5189
or write her at 510 Jennings, Hot Springs, SD 57747
Or
Winnfred Janis at 605-867-6398
or write her at P.O. Box 311, Porcupine, SD 57772
For Leonard Peltier, for Anna May Aquash and family, for those who did the deed, for those chosen to bear the cost and for all those yet to come, who will be innocent next.
I can't help but think they are happy with me today.
I can't help but think they are telling me in their own way,
showing an unseen trust, in myself and my thoughts.
Perhaps they are as wise, as I have been told.
Perhaps I grow wise myself, as I grow old.
The sun drops lower in the western sky as this day
begins its end.
The winged are singing and humming past my ears,
as I rise to continue my thoughts and prayers.
In joy and with prayer I smile for all of you watching
me through these words.
I thank you for sharing this joyful experience
as it is I hope you will, I hope you have
I¹ll walk with you awhile in thought.....
Washte'....
Wambli Ho,
Voice of the Eagles
A Colorado Non-Profit Organization
To promote healing of the Sacred Hoop
through education, support, and assistance in preserving the traditions, culture, language, and spirituality of Indigenous Native American Peoples, and promoting harmony, peace, and spiritual unity among all nations with the ultimate goal of global peace and healing.
