Pages

Monday, November 30, 2009

NPR True Story about J.C. High Eagle (Cherokee)

NPR True Story about J.C. High Eagle an engineer for Apollo missions at NASA

The Eagle Soars / Jay O’Callahan

stream Real Player
download MP3

At the age of five, J.C. High Eagle had a vision – he would someday help Americans travel to the moon. Against great odds, the Oklahoma Cherokee Indian’s vision came true and J.C. High Eagle became an engineer for Apollo missions at NASA, the nation’s space agency. Renowned storyteller Jay O’Callahan tells the story of J.C. High Eagle. It’s part of Jay’s larger work, commissioned by NASA for its 50th anniversary, called Forged in the Stars. (15:35)

http://www.loe.org/shows/shows.htm?programID=09-P13-00048#feature6

The Eagle Soars

YOUNG: It’s Living on Earth, I’m Jeff Young.

CURWOOD: And I’m Steve Curwood.

[Apollo 11 lift off]

CURWOOD: When NASA – the National Aeronautics and Space Administration – was preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary, it handed storyteller Jay O’Callahan a mission: write a love letter to the space agency. Well, it took 18 months, 30 books, 40 interviews, a course in Astronomy, and a thousand pages of emails and transcription. But now Jay has come up with what might be the most researched love letter ever, which he calls “Forged in the Stars.” Jay O’Callahan joins me now in our studio. Hi, Jay.

O’CALLAHAN: Hi Steve!

CURWOOD: So, what got you interested in space exploration to begin with?

O’CALLAHAN: I’ve grown up with it, as has much of my generation. But I also lost a deep interest like much of my generation. And when I got the commission, and began to take this course in astronomy so I can see, I can see Saturn. I talked to a professor at Harvard. He said, ‘I’m so excited we can see the rings of Saturn as clearly as the grooves in a record.’ Well, it kind of let me expand and realize we as a human race are expanding, and we haven’t caught up with it. I’m so intrigued that when Armstrong and Aldrin went around the earth after landing on the moon people would run up, and they would never say, ‘You did it,’ –’We did it! We did it!’ The sense of this is humanity’s achievement and perhaps it can help pull us together.

CURWOOD: You get the commission, how do you go about doing the research for this story?

O’CALLAHAN: NASA was very helpful. My boss, Ed Hoffman – we went down to Houston together and interviews were set up. A lot of interviews with very different people: people responsible for food, people responsible for the chairs the astronauts sit in, for engineering; so a lot of interviews. And then, we’re going off to Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and I thought, ‘This is going to be boring.’ These people were responsible for robots – unmanned space, they were fascinating, they were passionate! It was one of the things that struck me, these people were passionate. Almost every person said, ‘I love working here, I’m so lucky to have this job, I dreamed about this as a kid!’ So that passion, I think helped me become passionate about their work and wanting to tell their story.

CURWOOD: Well, I understand you’re now going to perform an excerpt from “Forged in the Stars” for us. What are we going to hear?

O’CALLAHAN: You’re going to hear about a young man, who had a vision. And I love that he had a vision because for thousands of years it’s been this vision of maybe we could go there, maybe we could go to the moon, maybe beyond. And this is a five-year-old boy who has a vision and you’ll see in the story he’s encouraged. He’s not written off – go out and play. He’s listened to, and he pursues the vision.

In 1948, in a working-class neighborhood in Oklahoma City, a five-year-old boy ran into the kitchen, he said, ‘Mom, I heard a voice.’
‘A voice?’
‘Yes, it was coming from way up by the sun, it said I was going to have something to do with getting people to the Moon!’
And she said, ‘That’s a vision.’ And she said that because they were Cherokee, Osage. She said, ‘You’re going to have to work for the vision.’ Working meant being good at mathematics and physics.
His name was J. C. High Eagle–that was his Cherokee name. His name in the white world was Jerry Elliot. He did well in high school.
Then, J.C. High Eagle, 1961, went to the University of Oklahoma, 18, excited – physics, mathematics! And, he found a lot of students didn’t want him there.
‘What’s the Indian kid doin’ here?’
A lot of professors didn’t want him.
‘You’re a fine young man, but see nature hands out gifts indiscriminately, and your people don’t have, well, the mental wherewithal to be engineers, scientists. You’re wasting your time.’
He was hurt, but he had the vision and he stayed with it. He did very well. In 1966, J.C. High Eagle decided to go to graduate school – physics, mathematics! But, there was no money. Stepfather had died, his mother was working.
So, this young man, J.C. High Eagle went down – this is Norman, Oklahoma – to the police station.
‘I want to be a policeman.’ They gave him a test. He scored as high as anyone has ever scored. He became a full-time policeman and a deputy sheriff. That meant he could take two courses a semester. Nine o’clock, ten o’clock was Electrical Engineering. He wore his uniform with a loaded gun to class. But, it was Oklahoma.
One day, his mother called and said, ‘There’s a telegram.’
‘Open it, Mom.’
‘It’s from the army – you have to report for your draft physical.’ He passed. She called again.
‘Another telegram for you.’
‘Open it.’
‘You’ve got to report to boot camp in 15 days –Vietnam. Ca—call your grandfather.’ J.C. called his grandfather – wise old man. Called him at his wheat farm.
‘Granddad, J.C. I’m going to boot camp in 15 days.’
‘They won’t take you.’
‘Oh, no. I got the piece of paper.’
‘I don’t believe in paper. They won’t take you. Had a hard time getting the calf born last night. [Laughs] I had to hitch the tractor up!’
‘Granddad, I’m going to boot camp.’
‘They won’t take you. Let me tell you about last night! [Laughs]‘ His granddad went on and on, J.C. was furious. Hung up, called his mom:
‘He didn’t listen to me, said they wouldn’t take me. Went on and on about a calf.’
‘He’s my – my father. I’m with him.’ J.C. was furious; the two people he trusted didn’t listen to him! 15 days, 14, 13,12, 11, 10. On the tenth day, there was an angry drunk. He got a backpack, they arrested the drunk, and the drunk said to J.C. High Eagle, ‘Arrest me, I will kill you.’ They arrested him.

Jay O’Callahan (Beverly Hall Photography)


They found out the drunk had been released from Macalister after serving 30 years for killing a man. The drunk paid his fine, he was off.
Nine days, eight days. On the eighth day a letter came to the police station. The drunk was going to get J.C. High Eagle. So, J.C. is looking over his shoulder.
Seven days, six days. The sixth day he finished class, 11 o’clock, Electrical Engineering – walked down the corridor, several students are waiting outside the Dean’s office. And there on the bulletin board – NASA interviewing today!
J.C. got in line, said to the student, ‘What do you got?’
‘You got to have a NASA application, a government application, and your resume. They won’t talk to you if you don’t.’ There’s no time to get that. The line melts down, J.C. steps in. The NASA man is packing his briefcase.
He looks at this cop, ‘What can I do for you, officer?’
‘I want to put people on the moon.’ He looks at this cop.
‘I’m working my way through graduate school.’
‘Well, listen; I got a plane to catch. Write down your phone number there, your name. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.’ The NASA man is off. Five days, four days. His mother calls.
‘J.C., a man, Bernie Goodwin, from NASA, he said he talked to you. You ought to call him right now. Here’s the phone number.’
He calls, ‘Mr. Goodwin, J.C. High Eagle.’
‘You’re a bright young man. I checked on your record, you’re brilliant. You got fire, we need people like you. In fact, we want you to work for us. Monday morning, Manned Space Center, Houston.’
‘I can’t.’
‘Why? The draft?’
‘Yes, sir, the draft.’
‘Well, you’re a policeman; you know possession is nine tenths of the law. You come, we possess you. Who runs the draft there?’
‘We have a colonel.’
‘Well, we have a general. Our general will talk to your colonel. Monday morning, Manned Space Center.’
‘Yes, sir!’ J.C. High Eagle, tells his mother.
She says, ‘Call your grandfather.’ He calls his grandfather.
‘Granddad –’
‘I told you they wouldn’t take you.’ J.C. High Eagle gets his guitar, borrows his mom’s car and he heads to Houston. And he’s thinking, ‘Granddad must have negotiated a different fate for me with the Creator.’
Nine o’clock monday morning he is hired as an engineer at NASA.
A few weeks go by. Chris Craft, who becomes the famed flight director, comes over with a big cigar and says to J.C., ‘How do you like it here, son?’
‘I love it! I love the responsibility, but one thing, sir…’
‘What’s that?’
‘I’m used to reading books to learn what I should – what should I read?’
‘Son, we don’t read books here, we write them.’
Soon enough, J.C. High Eagle is writing the Aegena Systems Handbook. J.C. High Eagle is an engineer in Flight Control Center for all the Apollo missions, for astronauts landing on the moon. He has achieved his vision. And there’s a coda. Apollo 13 is about to lift off, and J.C. High Eagle gets another paper. This is for jury duty in Houston. He goes down to Houston. Nobody gets out of jury duty with Judge Singleton.
There’s a pregnant woman saying, ‘Your honor, I’m pregnant.’
‘The baby will wait. And what’s your excuse?’
‘It’s not an excuse, your honor. I’m the lead – the lead retrofire officer for Apollo 13.
‘What’s a retrofire officer?’
‘I calculate the reentry of the command module. If it’s too steep, they burn up. If it’s too shallow, they flip off, they do not come back.’
‘I don’t usually make exceptions. I’ll make an exception in this case if you do me a favor.’
‘Yes, sir?’
‘Bring them back alive.’
‘Yes, sir!’
Apollo 13 lifts off. It goes up and up, it’s two hundred thousand miles up. All is fine. J.C. High Eagle finishes his shift at Flight Control Center, goes out, gets in his car, turns on the radio. There’s been an accident in space.
Turns the car around, runs into Flight Control Center. Men are running around, some men are crying, something very serious has happened. They’re not sure what.
And somebody says, ‘They’ve got to abort.’
‘No!’ said J.C. ‘No! Don’t abort!’ He’s afraid the engine may be damaged. And if they do a u-turn in the command module, he’s afraid the engine won’t get them back.
He says, ‘No, you’ve got to slingshot them around the moon! Use the gravity of the moon to help slingshot them back to the earth.’
J.C. High Eagle helps get people to the moon and helps them get back to Earth. He’s achieved his vision.

[MUSIC]

CURWOOD: Wow, Jay, that was great! I never heard of J.C. High Eagle before. What was he like when you interviewed him?

O’CALLAHAN: He was very warm and looked very young to me. Of course, he was in his early-20s when he was hired, and he worked 40 years as an engineer there. He was very warm. He was cleaning out his mother’s house in Oklahoma City – she had died. And we had a wonderful time together. He told me this story that I’ve told you as we were driving downtown. Then we got back, I said, ‘I’d better record this. Tell this again, J.C.!’ And every since, I’ve been emailing about this detail, that detail. And just recently he told me how hard it was at the University when people didn’t want him. So, we’ve become old friends.

CURWOOD: So, how did doing the background research for this story, and putting it together, change your views about space exploration?

O’CALLAHAN: Changed my views in a number of ways. February 14th, 1990, Voyager II was beyond Pluto and took a photo of our solar system. And in that solar system, Earth is a speck. And I was fascinated that we are so small and so precious.
And I, like many of the astronauts, was struck by the fact that we can see Earth from a distance. And perhaps, if that sinks down deep into all of us, we’ll begin to realize it’s finite, it’s precious. And we’ve got to – we’ve got act to take care of it. So, that was a huge change. Another one was the beauty – the beauty of the solar system. I feel very close to Europa – it’s a moon of Jupiter. And Europa has a crust of ice, but there may be a salt sea, maybe life.
Now, that’s so fascinating to me. That this adventure’s produced surprises, scientists were not aware of these surprises. So, the beauty. And finally, the fact that we are – we are reaching out into the universe. It’s never happened.
In the last 50 years we have reached, and at this moment as we speak, the Voyagers are close to leaving the solar system, going into interstellar space.

CURWOOD: I understand you’ve taken your storytelling about NASA, you call it “Forged in the Stars” – you’ve taken it on the road, and recently your performed it for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. You’ve been out to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. And you have another performance coming up in December at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. What’s been the response to your show?

O’CALLAHAN: The most exciting response was Jet Propulsion Laboratory because it was the first official. And there was standing room only, and they listened well. And I finished, and then they stood up. They stood up applauding.
I got to talk to some of them and said, ‘You listened so well.’
And one woman said, ‘Listen, I’ve been here 30 years, and of course, we listen well, we’re intelligent. And when something captures us, we listen well, and you told our story.’
And that – that meant the world to me, that’s what I want to do. These people are proud of their work, and NASA is not greeted by this culture the way it was in the 60’s. And yet, the work goes on and they’re proud of what they’re doing.

CURWOOD: Jay O’Callahan’s a storyteller based in Massachusetts. His new work is a love letter to NASA, “Forged in the Stars”. Thanks for joining us, Jay.

O’CALLAHAN: Thank you so much, I’ve loved it Steve.

[MUSIC]

CURWOOD: And you can hear a live studio performance of “Forged in the Stars” – right here on this public radio station, the last week in December.

[MUSIC: Various: Llewellyn "Peace" from Reiki (New World Music 1999); NASA "Voice OF Earth" from NASA Voyager Space Sounds (NASA 2009); Various Artists: "Us And Them" from Vitamin Piano Series Plays Pink Floyd (Vitamin records 2005)]

CURWOOD: And here’s preview of Jay O’Callahan’s story.

O’CALLAHAN: There are two Voyagers – headed out into space. They are ten billion miles away; they’re carrying a record, a golden record with music of the Earth and 55 ‘hellos’. So, in a sense the Voyagers going out saying, ‘Bonjour! Ni hao! Ciao! Hello, hello, we want to say hello! We want to say hello to you!’
The Berlin Wall falls, the Voyagers continue: ‘Hello, hello!’ Nelson Mandela released from prison after 27 years, the Voyagers sail on: ‘Hello, hello, we want to say hello!’ And the Voyagers are sailing on at this moment.

CURWOOD: And you can hear Jay O’Callahan’s live broadcast performance of “Forged in the Stars” – his love letter to NASA, right here on Living on Earth, the last week in December.

[Reverb, vibration sounds]

YOUNG: We make touchdown this week to the Earth’s vibrations.

[Big explosion]

YOUNG: This subterranean recording – captured by a global network of digital seismographs – is sped up 10,000 times to put it in the range of human hearing. Our vantage point is a thousand miles below the North Pole….with bubbles, chirps and pops of earthquakes and aftershocks. This planetary music comes to us courtesy of seismologist and sound artist John Bullitt and his CD “Earth Sound.”

[Bubbles, vibrations, explosions]

YOUNG: Living on Earth is produced by the World Media Foundation. Our crew includes Bobby Bascomb, Eileen Bolinsky, Bruce Gellerman, Ingrid Lobet, Helen Palmer, Jessica Ilyse Smith, Ike Sriskanderajah, and Mitra Taj, with help from Sarah Calkins, Marilyn Govoni and Sammy Souza.

CURWOOD: Special thanks today to Dana Chisholm. Our interns are Quincy Campbell and Nirja Parekh. Jeff Turton is our technical director. Alison Lirish Dean composed our themes. You can find us anytime at LOE dot org. I’m Steve Curwood.

YOUNG: And I’m Jeff Young. Thanks for listening.

–>--> –>Related link:
Storyteller Jay O’Callahan’s website

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Buffalohair Flyingman’s Can of Worms





Flyingman’s Can of Worms



Posted in America’s with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 21, 2009 by buffalohair

Have We Forgotten

Tribal politics aside the situation in Concho is a very human crisis. On one side there is a tribal governor who consistently ignored many of his own constituents. On the other side are the elderly who took a major hit by Darrel Flyingman over the course of his tenure. In the case of my village the elderly were left to fend for themselves since funding for their only hot meal a day stopped. Other types of aid were also canceled with little or no notice as well. I personally know this for a fact since I was supporting some of my people in the interim on the assumption assistance would eventually come to my relations. I also funded meals for my elders with the same assumption. The only response to our needy from Flyingman was the sound of Gary Owen echoing across the grasslands.

Eventually the proverbial well went dry as the economy assisted in draining my finances. Sadly no assistance ever came to my relations. Homes that were scheduled for repair were simply stopped. Tarps remained on roofs to keep the rain and snow out during the harsh Oklahoma winters. I’ve witnessed with my own eyes as my family struggled to find the basics to feed our nieces and nephews while trying to make ends meet. I would do all I could to ease the suffering but the magnitude of neglect my people had to endure was overwhelming and beyond my financial capability. I still felt guilty for not being able to contribute more especially when I look into the faces those chubby cheek babies.

Why did these human beings have to endure such ambivalence while others lived in the lap of luxury? How could anyone be so callous as to simply ignore people from their own tribe? At the very least the US Cavalry gave the people flour and grease to weather the winter months. It boggles the imagination to think that someone could be so cruel to their own people. The politics behind such tyranny simply does not fit into this equation for we all are descendants of survivors of genocide. But what is most striking about this event is the over riding fact the US government has encroached on the sovereignty of this nation. Flyingman managed to side with outsiders in an attempt to regain control so he could finish robbing the coffers of the tribe. In a correction to the previous news report it was not the US Supreme Court Justice who granted Flyingman access to tribal funds and business. It was other usual government entities who willfully ignored the will and the traditions of the people by their obvious support of Flyingman. Is Flyingman a traitor to his people? That is up to the folks back in Oklahoma to decide but it is obvious he chose to use the power of the US Government to force his will on these humble people at the expense of tribal sovereignty. Invoking the powers of the federal government over tribal law can be viewed as treason in many opinions. My relations call him Veho.

The issue that needs addressing is this nation’s sovereignty as well as the sovereignty of all tribes. Flyingman opened up a can of worms with his total disregard for the will of his people. Are we to expect the feds to march into any rez when there is an election that booted a corrupt politician? Frankly the USA has shown itself to be poor stewards of the ballot box with the Iraq’s hopelessly corrupt politicians which the US backed. President Zelaya of Honduras was ousted from power with little more than an impotent condemnation. It should be noted he was a favorite of the Indigenous people over industrialists who robbed land from the natives and murdered their chiefs. Burma is another classic failure of the US to recognize the duly elected officials in the case of Daw Aung Suu Kyi. Now this beleaguered nation is about to have another election regardless of the fact the people voted for democracy overwhelmingly. The US simply became an enabler of a corrupt military dictator (Gen. Than Shwe) who continues to murder the ethnic minorities within his nation. Gen. Than Shwe is Asia’s version of Gen. George Armstrong Custer for his soldiers rape and murder ethnics at their leisure while the free world looks on. Dare I mention that these villagers are being murdered for the natural resources that lay on their tribal land? To the joy of international corporations I might add. Sounds familiar eh.

With a multitude of articles promoting a new policy dealing with the Indigenous population of America I fear that ultimately sovereignty will be on the chopping block in the near future. Just so you know, with the arrival of the new world order we all will loose our sovereignty regardless of treaties and national boundaries. Under the guidelines of these economic unions that are popping up around the world there is a clause that allows any nation or industry to go into sovereign soil and glean natural resources. The European Union and our NAFTA are to the benefit of international corporations not the nations who subscribe to this global initiative. The Indigenous populations are of absolutely no concern. Globalization is colonization and as we all know the Indigenous populations of the America’s were colonized hundreds of years ago. We are told that we must forgive the history of the past and to move forward but it is hard to forgive when we are still under siege.

Flyingman is only a microcosm of the cancer that is raging around the America’s and the world. Traditional people are placed in a position of ridicule in some cases while others are simply overlooked and live in abject poverty. Tribal officials drive around in Town Cars and Navigators while their electorates scrounge for spare change to buy Duct Tape. Those are the lucky ones since throughout Central and South America tribal people are murdered if they stand in the way of corrupt politicians. Africa is another holocaust in motion. It’s a pandemic of greed that has changed the landscape not only in Indian Country but around the world. And if for one second you believe that world politics is of no concern to Indian Country you are sorely mistaken. The culture of greed is a global initiative and we as Indigenous people and our sovereignty are on the chopping block.

Your Devil’s Advocate

Buffalohair



MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME WITH MY SENIORSAug 25, '07 3:51 PM
by little_running_deer for everyone
Carlos aka Buffalohair
MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME WITH MY SENIORS
MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME WITH MY SENIORS August 04, 2007 8:53 AM

MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME WITH MY SENIORS

As many of you know, I hale from a little village called Hammon Oklahoma. It’s also called “The Red Moon Agency” a sub-agency of the Darlington Agency, and named after Chief Red Moon. My people are very traditional in every sense of the word. We call this “The Last Stronghold” for we are still under attack in many ways.. It’s the dark side of tribal existence and I know other fellow Native’s know what I’m talking about, it’s our sad secret.

But there are innocent victims of this war of attrition and ambivalence and that’s the 40 or so senior citizens of my village. Well, to cut to the chase, I’ve been personally paying for all my seniors’ meals for the last 6 months. I adopted all the elderly of my village. So they are all my grandmothers and grandfathers. Somehow in the matrix of politics our center has been without funding and my elders have gone without their daily meals. In most cases these elderly people only get one hot meal a day since our village is so impoverished.

I only discovered this situation when my aunt, who is on a walker, was making her way to another relatives home one day. I asked my aunty why she was “strolling” down the street. She would not tell me at first but then she broke down and told me. You have to realize these elderly people are a very proud people. In fact, they are the direct descendants of the survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre, conducted by Chivington and ultimately the Washita Massacre conducted by Custer who was sent to finish us off. Sadly Chief Black Kettle was finally killed and so were most of my ancestors.

My aunt was ashamed to tell me that they have not received hot meals for months. And that all our elderly were going from house to house getting meals. That was for the fortunate ones who were not invalid and bed ridden. I could not understand why she was ashamed to tell me though. So to retain their dignity, I adopted all our seniors and have been paying out of pocket for the last 6 months. Well, I’ve tapped into my production development funds now and I simply can’t afford to pay much more, so I need your help.

Since the Senior Center in Hammon is a multi-racial one. I’ve decided to adopt the non-Natives who depend on these hot meals as well. Why?? That’s a no brainer eh. The non-Natives are the descendants of the good White folks at Fort Supply and other places who hide my people from Custer’s troops who were scouring the countryside executing the stragglers. Remember “knits make lice” and Custer cutting out babies from the mothers womb? It was a most brutal part of history that does not seem to make all the history books. Custer also executed White people who harbored any Natives, another piece of dark history. It might not be a big disaster but to us, “It’s our Holocaust”. If it were not for these beautiful White folks who truly were heroes in our eyes, we would not be here. So I must honor them and their ancestors as well.

I’ve contacted the City Manager of Hammon, Shirley Walker, a very nice and caring non-Native woman. I told her of my plan to generate funding for the Senior Center in our village since this is in her jurisdiction. She told me she has the tax info for others who would adopt our elderly, the “502. Whatever”

So if you can, give me a hand with this situation.

I named the fund after my family:


WHITE EAGLE-BULLCOMING UP SENIORS FUND
BOX 218
HAMMON, OKLAHOMA
73650

ATTENTION:
SHIRLEY WALKER, City Manager


580.473.2281

Just tell Shirley you heard about it from “That Big Injun Dude”
Believe me, she will know who you're talking about since I champion many other causes for my people.

It’s not a big village but it’s all I have and to us it’s a catastrophe of cataclysmic proportions. We love and honor our seniors and basically, our village is very impoverished. And well, my people look to me for solutions and this is what I came up with. I just don’t have enough money to pull it off anymore or I would not ask you in the first place. Maybe after I win an Oscar I’ll have the dough-ray-me, but for now its commode cheese and green beans for this film maker.



Buffalohair
_________________
Creativity is the byproduct of a fertile mind

Friday, November 20, 2009

Annual Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island, November 26th 2009

Annual Thanksgiving Sunrise Gathering on Alcatraz Island, November 26th 2009

Posted in America's with tags , , , , on November 20, 2009 by buffalohair

Buffalohair Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes in the Grips of Tyranny

Cheyenne Arapaho Tribes in the Grips of Tyranny

Posted in America's with tags , , , , , , , on November 20, 2009 by buffalohair


Nothing like getting a call from home only to discover that corruption has taken a nasty toll on your elders. That is what happened with me the other day when my cousin called and described what I thought to be the most reprehensible act of government meddling in tribal affairs. Imagine having an election where clearly a person was voted out of office only to discover the Supreme Court has decided to side with the looser. In this case the person was hopelessly corrupt, Darryl Flyingman of the Southern Cheyenne Arapaho Nation.

I know first hand about all the lack of care for my elders for this person canceled hot meals for the elderly as well as other critical aid for my clan as well as our village. This was the case across our rez as this person played favorites at the expense of our elderly and the suffering. I personally was paying for meals for my elders since the tribal government had ignored my village on more than one occasion. My other cousin with a big family was constantly denied aid and assistance for his kids forcing him to scrounge to survive. But on our own rez? Flyingman along with his select crew always pointed aid in the other direction. It was unbelievable that my cuz would be forced to come up with proof he was a tribal member by people he was blood related to. This was nothing more than an excuse not to give him aid.

What really torques my shorts is the fact this Flyingman refused to relinquish his position as chief even though the tribe voted him out of office. My elders went down to Concho Oklahoma to complain when they were forced to turn around at Cherokee. It is unclear if they were forced off the tribal bus or that they were told to turn around. The news is just breaking as of this writing and I was just informed that Dennis Banks, Russell Means and the Crazy Dog Society from Lame Deer were heading down later this morning in a show of solidarity for our plight. With CNN heading down as well I hope the issue of sovereignty is addressed since I believe the Supreme Court over stepped its authority. And if they get away with this they will pull the same crappola on other reservations.

One thing is for certain, there will be a peaceful demonstration held at Concho today (Nov 20) and the world wide press will be there to cover this event. Senior citizens from my village will be there so I can only pray they will not be ruffed up by this corrupt and morally bankrupt politician and his goons. Hopefully with the press there things will not go violent hurting my elders. But what was the Supreme Court thinking anyway? With what authority did they have to cancel legal election results from a sovereign nation? Truly this is an abuse of the bench and should raise some major questions about the ethics of the court. It’s been long since rumored that Flyingman had this federal judge in his pocket for quite some time.

Is this change we can depend on or more of the same old crappola from the non Native community? Why is it that the government would rather do business with corrupt and shady criminals rather than the traditional folks in the first place? This is more common than not in Indian Country and maybe this will offer more focus on the plight of us and other tribal nations across the US. Canada shares in this travesty as well I might add. The have’s continue to have while the have not’s continue to live in abject poverty. The outside world makes nice with examples from people who have all the loot saying all is well in Indian Country when in actuality it is not. There is greed and abject poverty on many nations and it is perpetrated by corrupt officials such as Flyingman. At least this dark secret of tribal life is out in the open now. But to be fair, not all tribes suffer this kind of corruption and there are honest and moral chiefs who actually do the bidding of their respective nations. Sadly this is not the case on my rez though.

With regard to “Turkey Day” my cousin had a more appropriate title for the coming holiday, he simply calls it, “Dog Day” since we will theoretically eat dog again for the holiday season since tribal funds were squandered leaving our village with only the dogs on the streets to munch on. Thanks Giving? Forget about it since what do we have to be thankful for? A US Government who sides with corruption? Oh boy. In any event I will have a blow by blow accounting from my people later on today. Hopefully peace will rein on my rez but truthfully I fear things will get much worse before they get any better. Hey Obama, how about fighting for human rights here in Oklahoma?

Your Devil’s Advocate

Buffalohair

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Want Native news in N. California? Tanka friend Sal Camarill

Tanka



Tanka Bar


Nov 19, 2009 5:10 PM

Want Native news in N. California? Tanka friend Sal Camarill

http://www.myspace.com/salcamarillo1











Sal Camarillio, 68 years old from Rialto California. He has strong family values. His kids and his grand kids come first. He is a moderator for the yahoo group ncanativeeventsandnews. There he post news and events for the Northern California Region. Sal also has a facebook and my space he manages. His hobbies are watching sports. His football team is the Oakland Raiders. He also enjoys collage football and High School Football.

His favorite Tanka Bar is the Hot and Spicy. He said he tried buffalo steaks and Burgers but he can't wait to try our buffalo hot dog "Tanka Dog"


More about Sal

My Space Link
http://www.myspace.com/salcamarillo1

Yahoo Group ncanativeeventsandnews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ncanativeeventsandne
ws/



Copy and paste links into address bar, as you know MySpace will call these spam! Or usually do:)


Face Book
Sal Camarillio

Email
sal.camarillo@yahoo.com

Link to his story on our Tanka Bar web site
http://lnk.ms/34s4y

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Buffalohair: Simple Choice

Simple Choice

Posted in Reflets Sombres with tags , , , on November 1, 2009 by buffalohair

Picture 299

The time of change is oh so grand

Fore it will spread throughout this land

From trees to seas, and all that stand

Even that of common man

Will hark and beat of not what’s wrong

But drum our Earth’s most happy song


Oh man of greed and man of gold

Hearken forth, this story told

Since times of past, from men of wise

Our Mother Earth is too of guise

She lay in wait, through times of grate

And witnessed mans unhappy state


Our Father Sky in poised askance

In equal pall of mans advance

Will make askew, this path of strife

And beckon forth a happy life

But man must face his chosen do

And right his wrong or stay un-new


The rhythmic beat from drummers hand

Will echo forth throughout the land

The happy songs will fill our heart

We’ll dance for joy with life’s new start.


Buffalohair