History

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The Ghost Dance

Published November 15, 2022 by tindertender

On this day, November 12th, 1890, an indigenous movement giving hope to the peoples in their loss and grief, was met with fear and violent suppression by the US government and it’s armed forces.

The Ghost Dance is, and was, a spiritual movement that came about in the late 1880s when conditions were in grave despair on Indian reservations with sickness, starvation and death ever present, Native Americans needed something to give them hope.

  • the Ghost Dance song:
    “The whole world is coming,
    A nation is coming, a nation is coming,
    The eagle has brought the message to the tribe, The father says so, the father says so.
    Over the whole earth they are coming,
    The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming, The crow has brought the message to the tribe, The father says so, the father says so.”
    “When the Sun died, I went up to Heaven and saw God [Creator] and all the people who had died a long time ago. God [Creator] told me to come back and tell my people they must be good and love one another, and not fight, or steal or lie. He gave me this dance to give to my people.”
    ~ Wovoka. HISTORIC AUDIO RECORDING, click on link below to hear. https://archive.org/embed/CollectedWorksOfJamesMooney

The Ghost Dance was an answer to the subjugation of Native Americans by the U.S. government. It was an attempt to revitalize traditional culture and to find a way to face increasing poverty, hunger, and disease, all representing the reservation life of the Native Americans in the late nineteenth century.
The Ghost Dance originated among the Paiute Indians around 1870. However, the tide of the movement came in 1889 with a Paiute shaman Wovoka (Jack Wilson). Wovoka had a vision during a sun eclipse in 1889.

While many European Americans were alarmed by the Ghost Dance and saw it as a militant and warlike movement, it was quite the opposite — an emergence of a peaceful resistance movement based on Indian beliefs. It was also a movement of desperation, as existing treaties had been violated and Indians in the West were forced onto reservations. For the Plains Indians, this was a period of starvation as the buffalo were slaughtered, destroying their way of life and main source of food. From an Indian point of view, Europeans were not only destroying the way of life of Indian peoples, but destroying the natural resources of the plains to an extent that would make it impossible for anyone to live there. European Americans often saw the Ghost Dance as irrational. From an Indian point of view, what was being done to them and their way of life was irrational.

James Mooney wrote a book about the Ghost Dance, hoping it would help to counter newspaper articles about it that were inaccurate and promoted prejudice toward the Indians. His research was first published as part of a report in 1890, then enlarged as a book in 1896. The press encouraged popular belief that the dance was dangerous and possibly a prelude to an Indian uprising. Mooney emphatically explained that it was peaceful. In his introduction he describes several fieldwork trips between 1890-1894 that “occupied twenty-two months, involving nearly 32,000 miles of travel, and more or less time spent with about twenty tribes.” As a participant/observer he sang and danced with the Arapaho and Cheyenne, consulted with participants in the new religion, and also took photographs. One reason for the excitement about the Ghost Dance among ethnographers at that time was that the researchers of American Indians were seeing the emergence of a new religion developing in a surprisingly short time and crossing culture and language barriers. This was an extremely rare event. The new movement spread throughout the Native camps in the West, giving Native people much needed hope.

White settlers reacted differently to the “new religion”. Some traveled to the reservations to observe the dancing, others feared the possibility of an Indian uprising. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) eventually banned the Ghost Dance, because the government believed it was a precursor to renewed Native American militancy and violent rebellion. One of the goals of the agency was to convert the Natives to Christianity. The agency did not recognize the Ghost Dance, misunderstanding and ignorance were part of the BIA decision.

Wovoka’s message clearly promoted pacifism. However, spreading rumors of Indian treachery ignited fear and panic with non natives. On November 12th, 1890, president Benjamin Harrison ordered the military to take control over Lakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota.

On December 29, 1890, 300 Lakota men, women and children were killed in an event that came to be known as the Massacre of Wounded Knee. What started as a peaceful movement in 1889, was brutally ended a year later by the U.S. military.

Spotted Tail – Warrior, Chief and Negotiator

Published November 15, 2022 by tindertender

Spotted Tail (Siŋt Glesk, birth name T’at’aŋka Napca “Jumping Buffalo”; born c. 1823 – died August 5, 1881) was a Brul Lakota tribal chief. He was known as “The Orphan Negotiator.”

Although a great warrior in his youth, and having taken part in the Grattan massacre, he declined to participate in Red Cloud’s War. He had become convinced of the futility of opposing the white incursions into his homeland; he became a statesman, speaking for peace and defending the rights of his tribe.

He made several trips to Washington, D.C. in the 1870s to represent his people, and was noted for his interest in bringing education to the Sioux.

Sitting Bull

Published November 14, 2022 by tindertender

Sitting Bull was the first man to become chief of the entire Lakota Sioux nation.

Sitting Bull was born around 1831 into the Hunkpapa people, a Lakota Sioux tribe that roamed the Great Plains in what is now the Dakotas. He was initially called “Jumping Badger” by his family, but earned the boyhood nickname “Slow” for his quiet and deliberate demeanor. The future chief killed his first buffalo when he was just 10 years old. At 14, he joined a Hunkpapa raiding party and distinguished himself by knocking a Crow warrior from his horse with a tomahawk. In celebration of the boy’s bravery, his father relinquished his own name and transferred it to his son. From then on, Slow became known as Tatanka-Iyotanka, or “Sitting Bull.”

Sitting Bull was renowned for his skill in close quarters fighting and collected several red feathers representing wounds sustained in battle. As word of his exploits spread, his fellow warriors took to yelling, “Sitting Bull, I am he!” to intimidate their enemies during combat. The most stunning display of his courage came in 1872, when the Sioux clashed with the U.S. Army during a campaign to block construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. As a symbol of his contempt for the soldiers, the middle-aged chief strolled out into the open and took a seat in front of their lines. Inviting several others to join him, he proceeded to have a long, leisurely smoke from his tobacco pipe, all the while ignoring the hail of bullets whizzing by his head. Upon finishing his pipe, Siting Bull carefully cleaned it and then walked off, still seemingly oblivious to the gunfire around him. His nephew White Bull would later call the act of defiance “the bravest deed possible.”

The Lost Book of Enki

Published November 13, 2022 by tindertender

Click to access the%20lost%20book%20of%20enki.pdf

Lucy Nicolar

Published November 11, 2022 by tindertender

Lucy Nicolar was born June 22, 1882, on Indian Island, Maine, the daughter of Joseph Nicolar and Elizabeth Joseph. Every summer, her family traveled to the resort town of Kennebunkport to sell baskets. Lucy and her sister performed in Indian dress for the tourists. In her late teens she started performing at public events such as sportsman’s shows.

During those performances, she came to the attention of a Harvard administrator who hired her as his assistant. He took her into his household and gave her musical and educational opportunities in Boston and New York. In 1905, she married a doctor and moved to Washington, D.C. Eight years later they divorced, and Lucy moved to Chicago to study music.

Lucy Nicolar also toured as part of the Redpath Chatauqua Bureau, then the Keith vaudeville circuit. She married a lawyer who became her manager. He took all her money and fled to Mexico after the stock market crashed in 1929.

When vaudeville died, she returned to the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation with her husband Bruce Poolaw, a Kiowa entertainer from Oklahoma. They opened a gift shop — a teepee 24 feet in diameter — called it Poolaw’s Indian TeePee and sold traditional Indian crafts. They also continued to entertain locally.

Lucy and her sister Florence campaigned to improve life for their people on the reservation,. Their land stretched along the Penobscot River from Indian Island near Old Town to East Millinocket.

The sisters raised the educational standards for Penobscot children by gaining access to the public schools. And they persuaded the state to build a bridge to the island.

liberty-pole-old-town

Postcard of Indian Island before the bridge
Lucy and Florence also demanded the right to vote for their people. When the state extended suffrage to the Penobscots in 1955, Lucy Nicolar cast the first ballot.

The Old Town Enterprise reported “The princess has done much for the uplift of her people during her public career, both locally and nationally.”
Lucy Nicolar died at Indian Island on March 27, 1969, at the age of 87.

Chief John Smith

Published November 11, 2022 by tindertender

Chief John Smith[a] (likely born between 1822 and 1826, though allegedly as early as 1784; died February 6, 1922) was an Ojibwe (Chippewa) Indian who lived in the area of Cass Lake, Minnesota.

In 1920, two years before his death, he appeared as the main feature in a motion picture exhibition that toured the US, featuring aged Native Americans.
At the ripe age of 137, White Wolf a.k.a. Chief John Smith is considered the oldest Native American to have ever lived, 1785–1922.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune obituary says Ga-Be-Nah-Gewn-Wonce (variously known as Kay-bah-nung-we-way, Sloughing Flesh, Wrinkled Meat or plain old — well, really old — John Smith) was reputed to be 137 years old when he died. Whatever his precise age, his well-lined face indicates a man who led a long and full life.

Cherokee Medicine Man – Ayunini (Swimmer)

Published November 11, 2022 by tindertender

Swimmer (1835-March, 1899), Cherokee traditionalist and storyteller, was born in the Cherokee country of southwestern North Carolina. His Cherokee name, Ayunini, meaning “swimmer”, was trained by the masters of his tribe to be a medicine man, a doctor, and the keeper of tradition, he never learned to speak English but instead maintained his Native culture and heritage throughout his life. In fact, as it was intended he should be, he became the conservator of the history and traditions of his people.

As a youth he learned the Cherokee Syllabary from the elders of his tribe and began early to keep a notebook in which he recorded the sacred rights as well as the facts and stories of his people. He also made note of their ways of doing things and identified plants, roots, and barks whose use had proven useful or effective in one way or another.

During the Civil War Swimmer enlisted on 9 Apr. 1862 and served as second sergeant of the Cherokee Company A, Sixty-ninth North Carolina Confederate Regiment in Colonel William Thomas’s legion.

Cherokee Medicine Man, Ayunini (Swimmer)
Didanvwisgi (He Heals Them) 1888

FRYBREAD RECIPES FROM VARIOUS TRIBES!

Published November 4, 2022 by tindertender

Old Fashioned
4 cups flour
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup warm water
Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add in the shortening and water. Add only enough water to make dough stick together. Knead dough until smooth, make into fist-sized balls. Cover them with a towel for 10 minutes then pat them out into circles about the size of a pancake. Fry in hot cooking oil in cast iron skillet until brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels, serve with jam.

Traditional
1 pkg. dry yeast
3 cups warm water
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
6 cups flour
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup cornmeal
Dissolve yeast in warm water then add salt and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes covered with a towel. Add flour and oil to liquid mixture. Mix and put on floured bread board and knead until mixture is smooth. Put dough in a greased bowl, cover with towel and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours. Remove from bowl and put on bread board, knead in the 1/2 cornmeal. Make dough into 2 balls rolling each into 12 inch circles 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 2 inch squares and drop into hot cooking oil. (Works best with cast iron skillet.) Fry 5 to 6 pieces at a time for only a few moments. Drain on paper towel and sprinkle with white powdered sugar.

Blackfeet
4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. powdered milk
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
11/2 cups warm water
Oil for frying
Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly. Add water. Knead until soft, then set aside for one hour. Shape into small balls. Flatten each ball into a circle with or rolling pin or by hand. Fry in a skillet half-full of oil until golden brown on both sides.

Cherokee
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk
Mix ingredients adding more flour if necessary to make a stiff dough. Roll out the dough on a floured board till very thin. Cut into strips 2 X 3 inches and drop in hot cooking oil. Brown on both sides. Serve hot with honey.

Chickasaw
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/2 cup warm milk
Stir first three ingredients then stir in the beaten egg. Add milk to make the dough soft. Roll it out on floured bread board, knead lightly. Roll dough out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into strips 2 X 3 inches and slit the center. Drop into hot cooking oil and brown on both sides. Serve hot.

Pumpkin Fry Bread
Add the following to the ingredients shown above to make Pumpkin Fry Bread
2 cups fresh pumpkin or 1-16oz. can pumpkin
1 tbsp. milk or water
3/4 cups brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Drop into hot cooking oil and brown on both sides. Serve hot with butter or powdered sugar.

Creek
2 cups flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
Sift flour,salt and baking powder then add milk and more flour to make dough stiff. Roll out onto floured bread board and cut into 4 X 4 squares with a slit in the center. Fry in hot cooking oil until golden brown. Drain on plate with paper towels.

Navajo #1
1 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 C powdered milk
1/4 t salt
warm water
Combine the ingredients and slowly add enough warm water to form dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough until it is smooth soft and not sticky. Cover and let rest 1 hour. Shape into small balls and pat into flat circles about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Set aside.
In skillet, heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil. Brown dough circles on each side and drain on paper towels.
Serve with chile beans and your favorite taco toppings for “Navajo Tacos.”

Navajo #2
3 cups unbleached flour, sifted
1/2 cup dry powdered milk
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup warm water or milk
2 quarts oil for deep frying
Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and knead until smooth and soft, but not sticky. Depending on the altitude and humidity, you may need to adjust the liquid or the flour, so go slowly and balance accordingly. Be careful not to overwork the dough, or it will become tough and chewy. Brush a tablespoon of oil over the finished dough and allow it to rest 20 minutes to 2 hours in a bowl covered with a damp cloth. After the dough has rested, heat the oil in a broad, deep frying pan or kettle until it reaches a low boil (375º). Pull off egg-sized balls of dough and quickly roll, pull, and path them out into large, plate-sized rounds. They should be thin in the middle and about 1/4 inch thick at the edges. Carefully ease each piece of flattened dough into the hot, boiling oil, one at a time. Using a long-handled cooking fork or tongs, turn the dough one time. Allow about 2 minutes cooking time per side. When golden brown, lift from oil, shake gently to remove bulk of oil, and place on layered brown paper or paper towels to finish draining.
Serve hot with honey, jelly, fine powdered sugar, wojape, or various meat toppings.
Hint:
The magic is in frying the bread quickly! The hotter the oil, the less time it takes to cook. The less time it takes to cook, the lighter the texture and lower the fat content.

Osage
4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp and a half baking powder
1 tablespoon melted shortening
2 cups warm milk
Shortening for deep frying
Sift flour, salt and baking powder into bowl. Stir in shortening and milk. Knead the dough into a ball. Roll out dough on lightly floured board. Cut into diamond shapes and slice a slit in the center.
Heat shortening in deep fryer to 370 degrees. Fry 2 or 3 at a time until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Seminole
2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk gradually making sure the dough is stiff. Put on floured bread board and pat it out with your hands until it is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into strips with a slit in the center. Fry in hot oil until both sides are golden brown.

American Moonshiners

Published October 28, 2022 by tindertender

American moonshiners were in desperate need of avoiding cops during the Prohibition era (1920-1933), and thus, these heifer-heels were born. They’d use these puppies to look like cows when traipsing through fields or across other terrain that might leave footprints for the authorities to track.

These shoes bring a whole new perspective to “hoofin’ it.”

Cherokee Women and Their Important Roles

Published October 26, 2022 by tindertender

Women in the Cherokee society were equal to men. They could earn the title of War Women and sit in councils as equals. This privilege led an Irishman named Adair who traded with the Cherokee from 1736-1743 to accuse the Cherokee of having a “petticoat government”.

Clan kinship followed the mother’s side of the family. The children grew up in the mother’s house, and it was the duty of an uncle on the mother’s side to teach the boys how to hunt, fish, and perform certain tribal duties.

The women owned the houses and their furnishings. Marriages were carefully negotiated, but if a woman decided to divorce her spouse, she simply placed his belongings outside the house.

Cherokee women also worked hard. They cared for the children, cooked, tended the house, tanned skins, wove baskets, and cultivated the fields. Men helped with some household chores like sewing, but they spent most of their time hunting.

Cherokee girls learned by example how to be warriors and healers. They learned to weave baskets, tell stories, trade, and dance. They became mothers and wives, and learned their heritage.

The Cherokee learned to adapt, and the women were the core of the Cherokee.

Photo : ~ Cherokee mixed Native American actress, Faye Warren.

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