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Have you ever wondered how your brain works? How do brains make sense of the vibrations passing through the ears? How can it translate so many consonants and vowels, stops and starts, and decipher the meaning of in-coming communication? How do brains retrieve what the eyes see? (And how in the world do eyes see?) The brain assigns meaning to shapes, colors, textures, and designs. It perceives nuances in facial expressions and reads another’s eyes to interpret meaning that w...
It has been a little over a year and a half since God made it possible for me to own my first home. I have had lots of learning experiences during this time. In the last few weeks, I noticed that my dryer was not doing its job very well. It was taking forever to dry my clothes and it always felt very hot after it had been on for just a short while. I always cleaned out the lint filter just inside the door but just couldn’t figure out what was keeping my dryer from running effe...
CAPE DORSET, NUNAVUT—World-renowned Inuk artist Kenojuak Ashevak died on January 8, 2013 at her home in Cape Dorset, Nunavut, at age 85. Ashevak is considered a pioneer of Inuit art. Her drawings, prints and sculptures have been bought and displayed around the world. Her work was featured on several Canada Post stamps over the years, including her most famous print,Enchanted Owl. Ashevak was born in 1927 in a camp on Baffin Island and lived the traditional nomadic life on t...
MISSION, SD—The Rosebud IHS Service Unit has achieved designation as a Baby-Friendly® Hospital, which makes it the first hospital to achieve this designation in the Indian Health Service and in the state of South Dakota. This prestigious award is given to facilities that practice the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. Research shows that following the Ten Steps increases exclusive breastfeeding, and this helps to reduce obesity and diabetes in the population. Co...
NUNAVUT, NVT—Readers of Inuktitut can now read the Bible in their own language thanks to the Canadian Bible Society (CBS). The translation office in Kitchener, Ontario, worked with Anglican Church leaders from the Diocese of the Arctic for the past 30 years to produce the Inuktitut Bible. The New Testament translation, started in 1978 and finished in 1991, is now in its fifth printing. The full Bible, including the recently finished Old Testament, was dedicated in Nunavut i...
Jeff DeContie grew up in fear. He was afraid of just about everything. He was afraid of his school, family, girls, and even his own grandmother. He soon learned that the only one he could trust was God. What are you afraid of? If there’s someone you can trust, it’s your Creator. He is interested in you because He loves you. You can have a personal relationship with Him. HERE'S HOW TO ASK HIM INTO YOUR LIFE: • Tell God that you want to accept His way to know true peace and joy. • Tell Him that you know that without His hel...
Fear was a huge part of my childhood and not the healthy fear. I was afraid of school, afraid of what friends might think of me, afraid of my family, my grandmother, my mom and her whole side of the family. I was afraid of everybody and everything, but the Lord it seemed. I was raised as an Algonquin/Mohawk in the Canadian capital city of Ottawa. I stress the urban part of my life because I think this was the biggest difference that separated my brother and me from both reserv...
Frybread and grape Shasta soda—my first communion since moving to the rez. It had been a while. I shared this meal with a group of new friends—Native American Christians from Alaska, Florida, Hawai’i, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, and here in the Navajo nation, to name a few places. And there were a few bilagáanas, and those like me who are neither. We broke frybread together, youth and elders, each handing the elements to our neighbors. Our solemnity was punctuated only b...
“Ouch!” My hand smarted from the stinging hot water as I gazed out the kitchen window. Quickly, I mixed cold water over the amber glass and rinsed the suds away. “Not paying attention to washing dishes,” I chided. Too busy looking into the carefully tended, lush, green lawn of the McKays’ backyard. Small, flowered plants in heavy clusters bordered my neighbor’s fence. Farther out, circular coronets of dahlias and zinnias bloomed in rich gold and reds. Between these festi...
WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) chaired what was likely his last Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing on November 29, 2012. Akaka took over the committee at the start of the 112th Congress in 2011. He was the first Native Hawaiian in the post. “It has been a great honor for me to serve with you as vice chairman on this committee,” said Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming). “You have been a great friend and a great teacher to so many of us who have had the...
QUANTICO, VA—Pride is a natural trait woven into the fabric of Phyllis Hurlock’s life. As a civilian program analyst working for Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC) at Quantico, Hurlock takes pride in her job. She is also a proud member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people headquartered in Shawnee, Oklahoma. If asked, she will answer to Wabnokwe, which is Potawatomi for Eastern Light Woman. Such entreaties are more common in Nov...
OTTAWA, ON—On January 8, 2013, Canada’s Federal Court ruled that 200,000 Métis and 400,000 non-status Indians in Canada are indeed “Indians” under the Constitution Act, and fall under federal jurisdiction. “Today’s decision will mark a new relationship with the government of Canada,” says Betty Ann Lavallée, National Chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. “The recognition of Métis and non-status Indian as Indians under section 91(24) should accord a further level of respect and reconciliation by removing the const...
WASHINGTON, DC—Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin K. Washburn issued a statement on the passing of Chickasaw Nation Ambassador Charles Blackwell. It stated: “Today, Indian Country lost a distinguished leader whose eloquence and diplomacy in promoting self-determination for the Chickasaw Nation and all tribes was legendary. As the Chickasaw Nation’s ambassador to the United States, Charles W. Blackwell personified the nation-to-nation relationship, giving his peopl...
FORT TROTTEN, ND—American Indian male enrollment at tribal colleges and universities has risen 19 percent in the past six years, according to the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. That translates into 5,807 male students out of a total tribal enrollment of some 18,400, according to AIHEC data. “In the settings among indigenous people where you have to consider the cultural significance we serve, it is important to help male members,” says Dr. Elmer Guy, presi...
BILLINGS, MT—The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana will be focusing once again on federal recognition, the new chairman said. The tribe was denied federal recognition by the Bureau of Indian Affairs but is appealing. The tribe is also seeking recognition through an act of Congress. “We’re starting to operate as a tribe once again,” Chairman Gerald Gray, who was just elected to a four-year term, told the Associated Press. The tribe recently opened a cultura...
SWARTZ CREEK MI (ANS)—One of the great Sunday pages of the Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz shows Linus walking outside while it is snowing. He looks up, he catches snowflakes on his hand...and goes wild when he sees that two are identical. He rushes to show them off, but before his sister Lucy, or Charlie Brown, or anyone else, can see them, the snowflakes have melted. Good grief. What would have made that discovery special, of course, is that we are told that no two s...
I am a Cherokee inmate in Ohio. My father and grandparents (now deceased) were members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation from The Qualla Boundary in North Carolina. I read a borrowed copy of Indian Life from my fellow inmate, a Nakota Sioux from the Yankton Reservation, and I am glad I read it! I would like you to know that I read the section entitled “Have You Been Abandoned?” I asked Unelanvhi into my life, and proclaimed the included prayer aloud, for all of my fellow inmates to witness! I would like to tell you...
Due to an error in our mailing process, all the copies of our November-December 2012 issue addressed to Canadian subscribers sat in Canada Post’s processing plant for almost a month. We were unaware of this until we began getting calls from subscribers asking “Where’s my Indian Life?” We checked and were able to resolve the situation. Unfortunately, many did not receive their copy until after Christmas. We are very sorry for this and we’ll work to see that it doesn’t happen again. Thanks for your patience. If you still are w...
Ever thought of what it would have been like to wake up on January 1, 2013 (or any year) and find that everything was different? Not only was it a new year but everything was brand new. Watching the thousands gather on December 31 in New York City’s Times Square, at Niagara Falls, Canada, and thousands of other gathering places around the globe, you’d think that people were expecting exactly such a change to happen. And while it is another year, life hasn’t really changed for most of us. So if nothing really changes come...
TAHLEQUAH, OK—Google just announced that it has added Cherokee as Gmail’s 57th supported language. While Google has continuously expanded its language support for Gmail and its other services, this marks the first time that Google has added a Native American tribal language to its repertoire. Google, of course, isn’t doing this because of the large number of Cherokee-speaking Gmail users who are demanding support for their language. Indeed, the company points toward a 2002...
“...Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.” The Chief Shepherd (Jesus) said “Come to Me, all of you who work and have heavy loads. I will give you rest. Follow My teachings and learn from Me. I am gentle and do not have pride. You will have rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29 NLB)....
TORONTO, ON—On Thursday, November 15, 2012, Tyndale University College & Seminary and the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS) signed a Memorandum of Agreement to offer a Master of Theological Studies—Indigenous Studies. Dr. Terry LeBlanc, Director and CEO of NAIITS and Dr. Gary V. Nelson, President and Vice Chancellor of Tyndale signed the agreement at a public signing ceremony and celebration at Tyndale’s Bayview campus. NAIITS and Tynda...
NEW TOWN, ND—A twelve-year-old born on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota survived a deadly shooting by faking his death as he lay under his slain brother’s body. Christian Schuster told the Rev. Grant Patterson that “he laid there and played dead until the shooter left the house.” The pastor of the Bethel Lutheran Church in New Town said that he spoke with Christian about an hour after the killings. Also killed in the shootings were his grandmother and three o...
On December 19, 2009, the United States apologized to its Native Peoples—but no one heard it. Over 300 million U.S. citizens were apologized for, and don’t know it. Nearly five million Native Americans were apologized to, yet only a handful are aware of it. December 19, 2012 marked the third anniversary of an “Apology to Native Peoples of the United States” signed by President Obama on December 19, 2009. Among the ironies of this apology, is the fact that it was buried...
VICTORIA ISLAND, ON—The Christmas festivities took on an unusual tone with flash mobs, a rail blockade and continued social media campaigns that have swept across Canada and don’t show signs of letting up. Coinciding with this is a hunger strike by Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence whose fast is aimed at gaining a meeting with Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper together with First Nations leaders and a member of the Crown. According to those close to the chief, Spenc...
