Native Traditions

Native American Intertribal Powwow Held in Vermont

July 6, 2003

Source: Boston Globe

On July 6, 2003 the Boston Globe reported that the Shelburne museum in Shelburne, Vermont "is hosting its fourth Native American Intertribal Powwow, two days of infectious drumming, dancing, and chanting by US and Canadian tribal communities in a re-creation of a New England ritual that pre-dates European colonization by hundreds and possibly thousands of years."

Fulbright Scholars Study Religious Diversity in Utah

July 6, 2003

Source: The Associated Press

http://www.harktheherald.com/article.php?sid=88751

On July 6, 2003 The Associated Press reported that "17 Fulbright scholars from countries such as Bangladesh and Brazil, Cameroon, the Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Slovakia and Spain, have come here to see U.S. religious diversity firsthand... They arrived in Utah on Saturday... It seems an odd place to study diversity, given the fact that this state has a dominant religious majority in...

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Sweat Lodges on the Grounds of St. Luke Presbyterian Church

July 5, 2003

Source: Star Tribune

http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3968276.html

On July 5, 2003 the Star Tribune reported that "through the trees, a small patch of blue sky lit the sacred grounds, where two empty sweat lodges stood... A mixture of smells lingered in the air -- cedar, sage and sweet grass. The grounds were prepared for the sacred drum to beat and the singing to begin. The body had to be purified before the men entered the lodges and the doors closed... For a...

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Pow-Wow Held in Canton, Mass

June 29, 2003

Source: The Boston Globe

On June 29, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that the Order for the Preservation of Indian Culture sponsored a Pow-Wow at Prowse Farm. "Hundreds attended the two-day event in Canton, [Massachussetts]."

Native American Student Returns to Class; Was Suspended for Wearing Religious Headband

June 10, 2003

Source: Indian Country Today

http://www.indiancountry.com/article/1054215410

On June 10, 2003 Indian Country Today reported that "Aroniakeha Elijah, 17, a junior at Salmon River High School, returned to regular classes May 15 after being suspended for violating the school district's 'no bandana rule.' Elijah was completely segregated from his peers at the school for wearing a red headband as part of his traditional Haudenoshaunee rite of passage, but school officials...

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Native Americans Seek Control over Spiritual Ceremonies

May 24, 2003

Source: Lincoln Journal Star

http://www.journalstar.com/native.php?story_id=46671

On May 24, 2003 the Lincoln Journal Star reported that "crossing of boundaries has kindled a new sense of urgency among Native people seeking to regain control of their ceremonies. Spiritual leaders are meeting today at the sacred site of Bear Butte in South Dakota in an attempt to stem what they see as the exploitation of Native ceremonies... Reports abound of abuses that include...

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Native American Fishweir Recreated on Boston Common

May 20, 2003

Source: The Boston Globe

On May 20, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "a replica of an ancient Native American fishweir curved along the grass on the Boston Common Friday. The display will remain through Thursday... It's... central Boston's only historical marker devoted exclusively to the Native Americans who lived here for 12,000 years before the arrival of English pioneers... Earl Cash Jr., medicine man for the Mashpee tribe of the Wampanoags... helped dedicate [the monument] with a tribal ceremony."

Decline in Reports of Ethnic Harassment in Orange County, CA

May 16, 2003

Source: Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/la-me-relations16may16,0,739026.story

On May 16, 2003 the Los Angeles Times reported that "Orange County authorities recorded a steep decline in reports of alleged ethnic harassment, reversing last year's post-9/11 surge in anti-Arab bigotry, according to a report by the Orange County Human Relations Commission released Thursday... In the last year, according to the report, 124 people said they were targeted by...

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Iroquois Student Returns to School after Settling Headband Issue

May 16, 2003

Source: The Becket Fund

http://www.becketfund.org/litigate/Aroniakeha.html

On May 16, 2003 The Becket Fund reported that "halfway into his junior year at Salmon River Central School near Plattsburgh in upstate New York, Aroniakeha (Iroquois for 'In the Sky') Elijah donned a red headband signifying a rite of passage within his traditional Iroquois religion. Elijah, whose grandfather is a tribal chief, regarded wearing the headband as a religious duty... School officials...

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Interfaith Ohio Group Continues to Pray for Peace

May 11, 2003

Source: The Columbus Dispatch

On May 11, 2003 The Columbus Dispatch reported that "about 150 adults and children of different faiths gathered in the basement of Trinity Episcopal Church yesterday afternoon to pray, enjoy music and affirm their commitment to peace... 'Peace is more than just an end to war,' said Joe Keehner of the Grassroots Congress, speaking during the Ohio Peace Rally... One of the most troubling issues, they said, is the continued U.S. presence in Iraq... Gilly Running, a Lakota-Sioux medicine man who led a native prayer yesterday...

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Danza Azteca and Indigenous Mexican Traditions

April 27, 2003

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/April/27/style/stories/01style.htm

On April 27, 2003 the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that "it’s Tuesday night in the E.A. Hall Middle School Cafeteria, regular rehearsal night for the Watsonville Danza Azteca group, White Hawk Dancers... But for [Ana] Esquivel, a Watsonville High sophomore, the biweekly rehearsals of Danza Azteca — indigenous Mexican dance — has...

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New England's Native American Community Launches Campaign to Make Deer Isle, MA, Off-limits to Dogs

April 27, 2003

Source: The Boston Globe

On April 27, 2003 The Boston Globe reported that "Native American groups want to ban dogs from the park on Deer Island, the site of a concentration camp for Indians during King Philips War and later a prison... [Sam] Sapiel... a leader of New England's Muhheconnew Confederacy... and other tribal leaders suspect that the remains of thousands of Indians could be buried there, and they say that dogs relieving themselves and digging in the dirt are desecrating what could be sacred burial grounds."

Quechan Tribal Sacred Area Now Protected by California Law

April 14, 2003

Source: Indian Country Today

http://www.indiancountry.com/article/1050332327

On April 14, 2003 Indian Country Today reported that "California Gov. Gray Davis signed Senate Bill 22 into law, which is aimed to protect a Quechan tribal sacred area from a proposed nearby open pit gold mine... Tougher questions abound in other areas considered sacred to other California tribes. For example last year somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 salmon died on the Klamath River,...

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