TERRY’S LIFE LESSONS

By Terry Orr

In my early teens, my Dad said about making mistakes, “they are ok, just try to learn from them and keep from making them again”.  Decades later, I still believe that was good advice and have attempted to practice and share it each day of my life.

Growing up in Missouri in the 50’s and early 60’s trusting others was easy –sure there were shady characters – but for the most part – folks were honesty and trustworthy.  I still practice that trait – just a little more cautious with all schemers and crooks (remember – in Washington, DC is full of them).

Teamwork was something learned at a very early age.  The sooner we got our chores and task done for the day – the sooner we could go outside and play.  This was within our home and neighborhood.  Our folks taught us about helping others, especially the elderly and those who really needed help.  Mowing and raking the grass, fall cleanup, snow removal, or anything else that was needed.  We were not paid for these things – just the right thing to do.

Respecting all God’s creatures – even spiders and snakes – as they all have a purpose in the life.  Granny taught us this very early in life.  We would go on trips and learn about people, nature, differences in other locations in America, and how to take care of ourselves.

An important life lesson was recently discovered about three years ago while doing some research for a blog article regarding Native Americans. The Ten Native American Commandments (there are more than one version – but this one truly struck home.)

1. Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.
2. Remain close to the Great Spirit, in all that you do.
3. Show great respect for your fellow beings.
4. Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.
5. Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.
6. Do what you know to be right.
7. Look after the well being of mind and body.
8. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.
9. Be truthful and honest at all times.
10. Take full responsibility for your actions

These are the founding principles my Granny taught me all those years ago and ones that I have attempted to follow.

Life lesson for all of us married guys – remember these great words “If mama isn’t happy – no one it happy.”

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Government taking care of you....

November is Native American Heritage Month

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By Diane Forrest

As I was preparing for this article, I seem to recall someone mentioning there was some Native American blood in my family.  I called my aunt to verify this information.  She had also heard this story, but was not sure about its origin.  She did however inform me that she had belonged to a tribe when she was in college.  They had tribes at Mississippi College, where she attended, instead of Sororities.

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There were officially 562 federally recognized tribes in the United States.  They covered every state in the country.  This means there is a good possibility that you may have some Native American in your ancestry as well.

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I live down the road from the Natchez Indian Village.  Every year they host a Powwow.  This area was once home to the Natchez Indians, and they are no longer in existence.  All that remains is the village, signs of their homes and burial grounds.  My uncle, who is a former history teacher, has become quite interested in the Natchez Indian tribe, and is currently researching more about them.  I love the culture, and history and the stories from their civilization, and when the other tribes come to the village for the powwow, I can hear their drums beating when I sit on the porch.  Each dance they perform has a certain meaning, and each beat of the drum has a different message.

To view the tribes that have settled in your current state, view this site:  http://www.native-languages.org/states.htm

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The list of Native Americans in Mississippi include:

• The Biloxi tribe
• The Chickasaw tribe
• The Choctaw tribe
• The Houma tribe
• The Natchez tribe
• The Ofo tribe
• The Quapaw tribe
• The Tunica tribe

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My aunt suggested that we have some of the Biloxi tribe in our family, however she had no confirmation.  After preparing for this article, it has peaked my curiosity, and I told her I would do some more research in this area.  November is Native American Heritage month, so if your curiosity has been peaked, ask your family members if you have any ties, or check out some online genealogy sites such as ansestry.com and learn about what tribe you could be associated.

Native American Day

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By Terry Orr

The fourth Friday of each September is set aside to celebrate Native Americans.  Last year we focus on some of the background of Native Americans, their Tribes, and a few of the more prominent people.  This year’s article is more about some of the injustices they have had to endure over the past 500 years.

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A curious mind can be dangerous at times and yet others leading to enlightenment.  There has been one question on my mind this month – “How many Native Americans were killed by the US government?”

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Estimates:

Two studies have been conducted that attempt to number the natives killed by the United States. The first of these was sponsored by the United States government, and while official does not stand up to scrutiny and is therefore discounted (generally); this estimate shows between 1 million to 4 million killed. The second study was not sponsored by the US Government but was done from independent researchers. This study estimated populations and population reductions using later census data. Two figures are given, both low and high, at: between 10 million and 114 million Indians as a direct result of US actions. Please note that Nazi Holocaust estimates are between 6 and 11 million; thereby making the Nazi Holocaust the 2nd largest mass murder of a class of people in history.

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REF:

American Holocaust: D. Stannard (Oxford Press, 1992) - "over 100 million killed" "[Christopher] Columbus personally murdered half a million Natives"

For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.

Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness and diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico and Central and South America, then north to Florida, Virginia, and New England, and finally out across the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went, the native people were caught between imported plagues and barbarous atrocities, typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people, he asks, do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians. Digging deeply into ancient European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans and their descendants launched--and in places continue to wage--against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create much controversy, Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today, he adds, and one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

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God, Greed and Genocide: The Holocaust Through the Centuries: Grenke (New Academia Publishing 2006)

What are the similarities between the mass extermination of idolaters in the Old Testament, the burning of witches in the Middle Ages, the extermination of native Americans, the mass killing of the Armenians at the hand of the Turks, the Holo- caust of the European Jews, and the communist eradication of the enemies of the people both in the Soviet Union and Cambodia? Are these to be seen as unique cases, or as the result of a recognizable pattern. The author provides insight into these questions, basing his argument on the latest sources. He maintains that the study of the dynamics that lead to mass destruction may provide a better understanding of the holocaust as a recurrent phenomenon.

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Holocaust: Critical Concepts in Historical Studies: Cesarani, (Routledge 2004)

Since the end of the 1980s the field of Holocaust studies has burgeoned, diversified, and experienced a series of important controversies. Drawing on the best research of the past sixty years, this collection brings together the most significant secondary literature on the Nazi persecution and mass murder of the Jews. Care is taken to set the work in a context of historical breadth and depth.

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So on this day of recognition of the Native Americans Day and in preparation of the Native American Heritage Month in November – please take some time and do a little research and get a better understanding of these great people.  Thank you! [from last year’s article]

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References and Links:

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/native-americans-day

http://kisbyto.blogspot.com/2011/09/native-americans-day-indians.html

http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/nations.html

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aihmnations1.html

http://www.indians.org/articles/native-american-indians.html

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11/24 Celebrating Native American

By Diane Forrest,

When I was growing up in the Mississippi Delta I went to a school that only had grades 1-6.   The last year I attended that school my class was rewarded a field trip to Memphis Tennessee, about 60 miles from home.  While we were there we toured a Chuckalissa Indian Village.  It was during this trip that I was able to see firsthand the lifestyles of one of the country's Native American Tribes.   As we toured the museum we were able to view the home conditions, the tools they used, the clothes, jewelry and pottery they made, and games they played.  We learned about the way they raised their families, ceremonies they shared, and burial techniques for their family and friends.  For the most part I learned that the Indian culture was not that different from any other culture in the world.  Each family member had their own specific job to perform for the good of the tribe.

I’m not sure when the term Native American was first introduced, however, in a 1995 Census Bureau interview, most people preferred to be identified as American Indian, or simply Indian.  There are 562 federally recognized tribes in the U.S.  Of the 2,786,652 Native Americans in the United States, a third occupies 3 states, California, Arizona and Oklahoma.

The American Indian is responsible for many contributions; some of these include the tipi, their home constructed with animal skins and logs.  A whole tribe can be packed and moved in an hour's time.  They also developed the use of adobe in the building of their homes.  They domesticated corn or Maize as they call it, and were the first to drink cocoa.

Field and Ice Hockey are based on the Indian game known as Shinny, and they invented the toy spinning top as well as a form of basketball.

They are extremely proficient in weaving baskets, making jewelry, pottery and blankets.

There are many famous Native Americans, some include:

Sitting Bull, 1831 to 1890Was a Hunkpapa Lakota medicine man and holy man. He is famous in both American and Native American history mostly for his major victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn against Custer, where his ‘premonition’ of defeating them became reality. Even today, his name is synonymous with Native American culture, and he is considered to be one of the most famous Native Americans ever.

Tecumseh 1768-1813

Tecumseh became well known for taking disparate tribes folk and maintaining hold on the land that was rightfully theirs.

Geronimo 1829-1909

Defended his people against the encroachment of the US on their tribal lands for over 25 years.   He staged what was to be the last great Native American uprising, and eventually moved to a reservation often giving permissions to appear at fairs and schools.

Sequoiah 1767-1843

Was a silversmith who invented the Cherokee Syllabry, thus earning him a place on the list of inventors of writing systems as well.

November is Native American Heritage Month.  This is a time to recognize the Native American culture and their contributions as well as the sacrifices they made.

Did you know that Will Rogers was a Native American?  Rogers was born to a well-respected Native American Territory family and learned to ride horses and use a lasso/lariat so well that he was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for throwing three ropes at once—one around the neck of a horse, another around the rider, and a third around all four legs of the horse. He ultimately traveled around the world several times, made 71 films (50 silent and 21 “talkies”), wrote more than 4,000 nationally-syndicated newspaper columns, and became a world-famous figure. He died in a plane crash in 1935.

THE TEN NATIVE AMERICAN COMMANDMENTS

1. Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect.

2. Remain close to the Great Spirit, in all that you do.

3. Show great respect for your fellow beings.

(Especially Respect yourself)

4. Work together for the benefit of all Mankind.

5. Give assistance and kindness wherever needed.

6. Do what you know to be right.

(But be careful not to fall into self-righteousness)

7. Look after the well being of mind and body.

8. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good.

9. Be truthful and honest at all times.

(Especially be truthful and honest with your self)

10. Take full responsibility for your actions

National Dance Day 2011

by Diane Forrest, RN

In Ecclesiastes 3 it states,

" ¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

Being brought up in a Southern Baptist Church, we didn't hear much about this verse. In fact I remember once when the music minister brought in a ballet group it put the whole congregation in a uproar.

Dance is a wonderful thing, with plenty of benefits. Dancers can:

1. become flexible;

2. gain strength;

3. increase endurance; and

4. establish a sense of well being.

Dancing increases the heart and lungs as well as provide for a social and fun atmosphere.

Each culture has their own ritualistic way of dance that has been around since the beginning of time. When I think about tribal dances I recall the scene from The Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner where she dances to capture her man's heart or in the movie Crocodile Dundee when the aborigines men perform their dance around the campfire.

Every Spring our local Indian village hosts a Pow Wow where Native Americans travel from all across the country to join others in traditional dances. This event is open to the public and is a joy to watch the young and old practice the skills passed down from generation after generation.

These days’ people are tuning into Dancing with the stars to watch as some of their favorite personalities learn difficult dance moves to compete for the grand prize, a mirrored ball trophy. This fascination with dance has also prompted several video games that allows people to dance along to their television screen for fun and exercise.

I have never been much of a dancer; I never took dancing as a child because, well as my daddy tells me, I lacked coordination. I couldn't even walk and chew gum at the same time. When I asked my friend if he planned to dance he said "Sure! In my office at home!"

Dancing is great for you, gets the heart pumping and the blood flowing. In the words of the Lee Ann Womack song, "when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance!"

So get up and dance to your favorite tune, enjoy the moment!

Native American Paper Sculptures

Sculptures of Native American made out of paper by Allen and Patty Eckman.

Emails come and go on a wide variety of topics from spam to works of art that puts us at awe.  Recently, I received one of these works of art, this one by Allen and Patty Eckman of Rapid City, South Dakota (http://www.eckmanfineart.com/).  Below are a few samples of their work.  Hope that you enjoy them.

These stunningly detailed sculptures may only be made from paper - but they are being snapped up by art fans for tens of thousands of pounds. The intricate creations depict Native American scenes and took up to 11 months to make using a specially formulated paper.

If you have a few minutes, visit Allen and Patty's website and please let us know what you thought.

Thank you