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From: "CATHERINE DAVIDS" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 10:45:28 EDT

Subject:  American Indian Students in Macy's Parade


American Indian College Fund students participated in Macy's 73rd       
        Annual Thanksgiving Parade. 

To remember: 
        Thanksgiving was not a legal holiday in the United States until 
Abraham Lincoln "made it so" in order to create patriotism, 
nationalism and support for the Civil War.  The entire "thanksgiving" 
myth is just that....a myth.  Lincoln and his cronies made up the entire 
story.  Lincoln was no "savior" to people of color because on the day 
he signed the Emancipation Proclamation he also approved the largest  
mass-hanging in US history: that of 13 Santee Sioux.  Let us also
please remember that people who live in Central and South America
are also "Americans" but they do not celebrate this holiday...this
holiday is uniquely "United Statesian"  not American.  

What we knew about the Macy's Parade: 
        23 American Indian students (Arapaho, Arikara, Cheyenne, 
Cherokee, Chippewa, Cree Choctaw, Crow, Gros Ventre, Haida, 
Hidatsa, Klamath, Lakota, Sioux, Lummi, Mandan, Menominee, 
Modoc, Mohawk, Navajo, Nez Perce, Omaha, Pueblo and Tlingit) 
representing the American Indian College Fund, traveled to New  
York City to participate in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. 
They were on the "Soaring Spirit Canoe" float...behind a huge marching 
band.  The  Macy's people had the idea to showcase American Indian 
culture.  This was the first time that anybody invited American Indian 
people to participate in the parade and so American Indian people all 
over the United States were excited and many of us sat in front of our 
television sets to see the students and the float...which basically led 
the entire parade.  Monroe Weso, a student at the College of the 
Menominee Nation said, "for all Indian people of this country, it will be 
a wonderful way to help celebrate Thanksgiving in a sacred way.  
Richard Williams (American Indian College Fund) noted that, "Indian 
culture is not a thing of the past...our students will show parade viewers 
that Indians today are making a contribution to America, while using 
education and modern skills to advance our culture into the next 
millennium."   Hugh Big Knife is the top student at Stone Child College 
in Montana.   He speaks the Cree language and is working on two 
degrees.  Big Knife  states, "not only will we be proudly representing 
our own traditional  dance styles, but we'll also celebrate Thanksgiving, 
a uniquely American tradition that we all share." 

Irony 
        The Macy's parade began in 1924, the same year that Congress 
        granted "voting rights" to American Indian people. 

What happened Thursday morning: 
        I turned on the television set to watch the parade.  The entire 
first hour of the parade was a commercial featuring entertainment 
from Broadway shows.  Once in awhile Matt and Katie would break  
away so that Al-The-Weatherman could give a report on the parade's  
progress.  Finally...the big-marching-band reached the Macy's store 
which is located at Herald Square (34th & 7th) which  also serves as the 
official broadcasting site for NBC (which  broadcasts the parade)...this 
is where the NBC honchos (Matt and  Katie) sit.   I'm ready, though.  
I've got a tape in the VCR, the remote is  in my hand, and I'm excited 
because I can sort of see what looks like a  big turkey behind the 
marching band and I'm pretty sure this is  probably the float that the 
American Indian students are on.  Katie and  Matt give about 30-40 
seconds to the marching band...telling where they are from, how many 
members in the band, how they raised  the money to come to New 
York, etc.  And...now here is the float with  the American Indian college 
students...it comes and it goes in the blink  of an eye.  I thought it 
looked beautiful and I could see a few students in  traditional regalia, but 
by the time I hit the "record" button on the  remote...it was all over.  
Matt and Katie then went onto the next  attraction...Millennium 
Snoopy...who got nearly a minute of exposure.  I learned how big 
Snoopy is, how many people were holding Snoopy's guy- wires, how 
many years Snoopy has been appearing in the parade, etc.  I learned 
that Charles Schultz has liver cancer and may not live  into the year 
2000.  I learned all about the Peanuts cartoon strip.  I learned more 
about Snoopy & Peanuts than I ever really wanted to know.   And...I sat 
there, with my chin on the floor, because I learned nothing about the 
American Indian students...hell, I didn't even see any of them except for 
one close up of a young woman and a couple of the guys on  the drum.   

TELEVISION COVERAGE WAS A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT for 
those of us at home anxiously waiting to see the students in this 
historic moment.  The people along the parade route probably had a 
great time seeing the students...lucky them. 

The students deserve our attention and respect.  A friend sent me the  
names of the students and so I hope I have typed the information  
correctly.   Here they are: 

Vonnie Jo Alberts; Fort Berthold Community College 
        New Town, NorthDakota 

David Bigby; Fort Belknap College, Harlem, Montana 

Hugh Big Knife, Stone Child College, Rocky Boy's Agency, Montana 

Robyn French; Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, 
        Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Patricia Jackson, Northwest Indian College, 
        Bellingham, Washington 

Vanessa Kee, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute 
        Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Lisa Lopez, College of the Menominee Nation, 
        Keshena, Wisconsin 

Roger Other Medicine, Little Big Horn College 
        Crow Agency, Montana 

Thomas Parker; Little Priest Tribal College, 
        Winnebago, Nebraska 

Juan Perez, Salish Kootenai College; 
        Pablo, Montana 

Pete Plenty Wounds, Jr., Si Tanka College 
        Eagle Butte, South Dakota 

Tamara Red Tomahawk, Sitting Bull College 
        Fort Yates, North Dakota 

Nonabah Sam; Institute of American Indian Arts, 
        Santa Fe, New Mexico 

Melanie Two Eagle,  Oglala Lakota College,  
        Porcupine, South Dakota 

Sunny Walker; Sitting Bull College, 
        Fort Yates, North Dakota 

Monroe Weso, College of the Menominee Nation 
        Keshena, Wisconsin 

Clarissa Young,  Northwest Indian College, 
        Bellingham, Washington 

Drum Group Singers - Stone Child College 
        Charles Gopher, Jonathan Gopher; Josh Lamere, 
        Marlon Roasting Stick, John Roasting Stick, Jr. 

[NOTE:  The five seconds or so of coverage I saw, it looked like a very large full 
Plains headress, easily mistaken as the camera focused on the next float behind it and 
it disappeared around the corner and off screen.  The announcers did not mention it as 
part of the parade.]

Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine 
of international copyright law.
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