Dear All, I thought this lead article was really important. Please pass it on to anyone that might be interested in keeping native American languages alive.
Best, Hajja Romi --- On Wed, 3/30/11, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: Google Now Supports Cherokee Language In an attempt to preserve the endangered Cherokee language, Google has added it as an interface option. The addition, announced today, means Cherokee speakers can now make it their default language for searches, and help keep the language alive. Google also introduced an on-screen keyboard option. In practice, this means anyone who can read and write Cherokee can look up anything on Google. Users can change their language setting to Cherokee here. Cherokee, an Iroquoian language, did not have a written form until the early 19th century, when it got a syllabary (a set of written symbols to represent syllables) writing system. The Cherokee Nation has about 300,000 members, though only about 20,000 people speak the Cherokee language. ICT: Thinking in Indian, A John Mohawk Reader It is almost cliché, the term of measurement called Seven Generations (the idea that the decisions we make today must be weighed by its effect on the seventh generation to come). Thinking in Indian, A John Mohawk Reader teaches what the phrase actually means. Mohawk, who died in 2006, urged us to ask, “What is the Life Supportive Index (LSI) of an idea, a concept or a technology?” Or, what is the true cost of an action in terms of the LSI? Calculating an LSI requires thinking in centuries; hence the generations. What is the cost of burning coal for power in terms of resource depletion, environmental clean up and future healthcare problems? A Seneca Nation elder, thinker and activist, John Mohawk (Sotsisowah) challenged readers to reset and then reboot their value systems—to consider the obvious that we are trained in school to ignore. Expediency is replaced by patience and common sense, an approach not promoted very much in this technological era. The Guardian: James Cameron plans Avatar 2 training trip to Brazilian rainforest It may not be Pandora, the lush moon of his blockbuster film Avatar, but according to James Cameron, the Brazilian rainforest is the next best thing. Speaking at a sustainability forum last week, the Canadian director said he wanted to bring the cast of the film's forthcoming sequels to South America to learn about "the natives and what real life in the jungle is like.” Cameron added: "Avatar is a film about the rainforest and its indigenous people. Before I start to shoot the two films I want to bring my actors here, so I can better tell this story." The film-maker was in Manaus, Brazil for the second International Forum on Sustainability, which also played host to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Clinton. The ex-California governor and his former Terminator director introduced a number of debates on sustainability. Chicago Tribune: Urban Native Americans feel they have a foot in two worlds Susan Power grew up in a three-room house on a South Dakota reservation, a stone's throw from where Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull was believed to be buried. Power left the reservation in 1942 and moved to Chicago to care for a relative. But she never lost her connection to the stories and the life on the reservation. She said it wasn't until 1961 when she attended a conference organized by noted University of Chicago anthropologist Sol Tax that she got a chance to address something many urban Indians were struggling with: the feeling of having a foot in two worlds and not belonging entirely to either. On Saturday, Power will join other Native Americans from around the country at the University of Chicago to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the conference many considered to be a groundbreaking event. Forbes: Ex-Pres Clinton Criticizes Hydroelectricity in Amazon Former President Bill Clinton said this weekend that he was against building more hydroelectric dams in the Brazilian Amazon, according to Folha de São Paulo, the country’s largest daily. Clinton was speaking at the World Sustainability Forum in Manaus, the largest city in the Brazilian rainforest state of Amazonas. Although he did not call out the latest hydroelectric project, Belo Monte, in his speech, or the one being built by France’s GDF Suez on the Madeira River in the Western Amazon state of Rondonia, he said he had “no patience” for people who said there were on alternatives to building hydroelectric dams. South Sound Indian tribes go from humble beginnings to economic powers A year from now, American Indian tribes from throughout the Puget Sound area will converge on Budd Inlet in Olympia for the culmination of the canoe journey, a weeklong event in which regional tribes assemble to celebrate American Indian culture. They will find ample reasons to celebrate in South Sound, which is home to three growing tribes: the Squaxin Island Tribe of Mason County, which will host the 2012 canoe journey, and two Thurston County tribes, the Nisqually and the Chehalis. All three have transformed themselves in recent years by emphasizing long-term economic development goals – propelled by high-profile casino operations and other business interests. As a result, the tribes are now among the largest employers of tribal members and nonmembers in the two counties. Boston Globe: Hundreds celebrate coin honoring Wampanoag treaty Hundreds of people packed the Plimoth Plantation visitor center yesterday to celebrate a new coin depicting a treaty between the Wampanoag tribe and English settlers at Plymouth Bay that helped shape modern America. But this party was more than a celebration of images pressed into metal. For many, it was long-overdue recognition of the Wampanoag’s contributions to olonial history. The US Mint yesterday unveiled a $1 coin that on its tails side depicts the hands of Governor John Carver and Ousamequin Massasoit of the Wampanoag Nation as they share a ceremonial peace pipe after completing the historic 1621 treaty. NYTimes: Antiques Dealers on TV (Casting Calls Posted) Cable networks are now showing practically nonstop footage of antiques dealers crawling around attics and warehouses and giving high appraisal values to stunned owners. During the last year at least 11 new reality series have documented the business. Victorian buyers of American Indian artifacts took few notes about the artisans’ names and intentions. For researchers now piecing together the back stories, “there’s sometimes zero information in the archives,” said Aaron Glass, an anthropologist at the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture in Manhattan. AP: Archeologist slams contractor for LA excavation An archeologist says the contractor building a garden for a downtown Los Angeles museum on county-owned land mishandled human remains found at the site. Biola University professor Paul E. Langenwalter made his remarks at a meeting of the state Native American Heritage Commission Monday. He says his students were helping Whittier-based Sanberg Group with the excavations after the bones were found in November. But after he saw remains being haphazardly removed and witnessed heavy machines used for delicate excavation work, he sought to dissociate his school from the project. American Indian tribe members believe the 118 sets of bones unearthed at the LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes Mexican-American museum belong to their forebears. 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