INALI DANCERS

events and news of the Inali Dancers, an intertribal native dancing, singing, and culture group in western illinois

Friday, March 30, 2007

I'll be back tomorow

Things are kind of quiet for the group, we didn't have practice tonight, no big performances coming up. We're going into the men's prison tomorrow, I think I'll wait till after that to put something up.

Friday, March 23, 2007

not much going on

I just thought I'd put something up. To clarify things about Creve Coure over memorial day weekend, we will be there saturday, and we will decide about sunday then. If we're just singing for ourselves saturday, we probably won't be back sunday.
Had a great practice friday, a lot of people were there. I like to see that.
I'm more than a little disgusted about the things I've been hearing concerning the way vets have been treated lately. There's something really wrong here. In the old days warriors weren't treated this way.
Dinah showed up for tuesday's practice, she must be feeling better.
I hope you all join me in prayer for her.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

new PBS show

I just read about a new PBS show on native culture. It's called Native Pride, and it's a 13 part series, each with a different theme. They cover things like historical overview, treaties and sovereignty, and spirituality. It supposedly debuted in february, but I never saw anything about it. Hopefully a local station will show all of it, and maybe it will be on CD (many PBS shows are). It's hosted by a native, and indians had part of all production. This really sounds great. If anyone saw it or knows anything more, let me know.
Dinah is on a new medicine which is not supposed to be as hard on her hands and feet, lets all wish her well. Her reports have been great.
See you all friday.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

indian or native

This is great, from Russell Means:


I AM AN AMERICAN INDIAN, NOT A NATIVE AMERICAN!
from Russell Means

I abhor the term Native American. It is a generic government term used to describe all the indigenous prisoners of the United States. These are the American Samoans, the Micronesians, the Aleutes, the original Hawaiians and the erroneously termed Eskimos, who are actually Upiks and Inupiats. And, of course, the American Indian.

I prefer the term American Indian because I know its origins. The word Indian is an English bastardization of two Spanish words, En Dio, which correctly translated means in with God. As an added distinction the American Indian is the only ethnic group in the United States with the American before our ethnicity.

At an international conference of Indians from the Americas held in Geneva, Switzerland at the United Nations in 1977 we unanimously decided we would go under the term American Indian. We were enslaved as American Indians, we were colonized as American Indians and we will gain our freedom as American Indians and then we will call ourselves any damn thing we choose.

Finally, I will not allow a government, any government, to define who I am. Besides anyone born in the Western hemisphere is a Native American.







Actually, the term I hear most is INDIN, or INDN. Whatever.

Friday, March 09, 2007

teach the children well

Really slow time. Almost no one showed up for the last friday practice (for good reasons), so we spent the evening just talking. Actually, it was a great time. Don't forget next friday's practice, though. I want to do some singing!

Jerry got a really neat phone call recently. It was from some boy scouts who have a native dance group. They wanted to know if they could come to Creve Coure and dance. They also have a drum, and wanted to know if they could set up even though they only know a few songs. Sound familiar?
I think it's really cool we're getting calls like this. We've come a long way, baby!
Seriously, we need to do all can to teach the right ways. Native culture is being lost so fast it makes my head spin. If we all try to spread these things, maybe things like this won't happen:


George Knapp, Investigative Report

March 1, 2007 10:14 AM

Vandals Desecrate Las Vegas Cultural Site
Also on LasVegasNow.com
Nevada Rock Art

One of the valley's most important cultural sites is under assault by unknown vandals. The place is known as Little Red Rocks and it's home to petroglyphs that date back thousands of years.

Unlike most cultural sites, this one is on private property. The owner has spent a bundle to protect the area but nothing seems to work. Now a new partnership has been formed that is designed to protect what's left.

"At one point we put boulders across Charleston, I mean big boulders, and it took heavy equipment to set them. That wall was breeched in a couple of weeks. And we know that whoever did that had to use heavy equipment," said Howard Hughes executive Tom Warden who says his company has spent more than $1 million dollars trying to protect Little Red Rocks from vandals. Nothing works.

Whether its malice or ignorance, scofflaws and trespassers on this private property have truly outdone themselves in causing as much damage as possible. The graffiti is massive and multicolored. Some is even ironic. We found a burned car in a Native American roasting pit.

The area is peppered with ancient petroglyphs and pictographs which -- hard to believe -- have been specifically targeted by bullets and paint balls.

"In a case like over there with the pictographs, the only way to get that stuff off is to sand blast it," said archaeologist Dr. Alanah Woody of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation, who is part of a joint project with the Hughes Corporation to catalog and save these cultural sites.

"Continuing to burn things in the same spot, eventually that whole surface is just going to come off. And you can see the petroglyphs right under here. All that is engraved, deep, deep wide lines, probably pretty old, five, maybe 4,000 years old even," Dr. Woody said.

She also points out evidence of damage from bullets. "That's a bullet hole." Internet websites invite others to do what is called truck crawling, which destroys the rocks and the archaeological treasures found around them.

"See all the marks here, that's from the undercarriage of their vehicle, gouging out the rock," Dr. Woody points out. The owner has used helicopters to remove burned out cars. They even put up a fence but it was torn down the next day.

A new sign that went up near an access road should be hard to ignore but the crumpled remains of its predecessor speaks volumes.

"The truth is, a lot of it is young people, who just don't know better. They are coming up to party, to build bonfires but that's the kind of activity that -- number one -- education is going to help prevent and -- number 2 -- restricting access," Warden said.



Does this disgust you as much as me?

Thursday, March 01, 2007

we had some cold members

I don't have much to say tonight because, frankly, I can't think of much. Some of our people got caught in the big power outages saturday. I know at least Dinah, Brenda, Jerry, and Ellen were out. Some got it back sunday, but a couple not until at least monday, maybe later. Everyone seems to have found warm places to go.
Ellen's house is fine, so we will have practice there like usual friday. There is a possibility of blowing snow tomorrow, so don't risk your life if it's bad.
We've got the men's prison the last saturday in March, be there by 11:30.
Also, of course, the Creve Coure rendesvous memorial day weekend.
I just learned that the Joliet Junior College powwow is March 10th. That's usually a great powwow. I know the Rainbow singers will be there, and Eagle Ridge usually is, although I haven't heard for sure.
Also, don't forget the Mother's Day powwow at Seven Circles.
I want to pass along that Butch won't have drum teaching March 10th (obviously, they'll be in Joliet).

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