Southeastern Native American Alliance

Vol. 1; No. 4 7 December1995

MEETING SCHEDULE

Next Executive Council Meeting: Thursday, 28 December 1995; to be held
                                 at 1314 Wildwood Lake Road
                                 Cleveland, Tennessee 37311.
Next General Meeting: Thursday, 4 January 1996; place to be announced.
      *                   *                   *                   *

DON'T FORGET THE SOCIAL

A final reminder that our first    1314 WildwoodLake Road, Cleveland,
SENAA social, a pot-luck luncheon,    Tennessee, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
on Saturday, 16 December 1995, at        *            *            *

WILLIAM JOHNSON, III: SENAA's MVP

A great big "Attaboy" goes to     We deeply appreciate the funds he
William Johnson, III,   for   his    so selflessly gave, but William's
generous donation to SENAA.           real gift to this organization was
Every professional sports team    much more profound. As a wise man
has a Most Valuable Player; a team    once said: "A penny given with
member who has contributed most    conviction is more valuable than
to the team's success in one or    a kingdom's riches   given with
more areas of endeavor. SENAA is    contempt."
no sports team, and we're just     William's gift was much more than
getting started, but we already    the proverbial penny, to be sure;
have what this writer considers    and it will be put to good use;
to be the organization's own MVP    but to think William's only gift
(Most   Valuable   Person),    who    to SENAA was the money is to miss
epitomizes what SENAA stands for    the real blessing. The money is
and all we hope it will become.       simply   a tangible token of a
Showing outstanding dedication    greater gift to each of us, the
clearly above and beyond the call    value of which is immeasurable.
of   duty,   William Johnson, III      He worked hard and well for the
presented SENAA with a generous    money he gave. It is this selfless
donation   toward   our    current          (See MVP, page 2)
project.

7 December 1995 SENAA Newsletter 2

MVP (continued from page 1)

act of giving of himself to help    for.
others that is his true gift. With     Our warmest thanks to the Johnson
that, he gave us renewed hope for    family, for rearing   such fine
the future, not only for SENAA and    children as William and his sister
Native American people, but for    Virginia, and for sharing them
the rest of the world, as well.    with SENAA.
Certainly his greatest gift is to      Thanks, William, for your valued
his parents, Bill and Jacqualine    contributions to SENAA. You're an
Johnson, and to his grandparents,    inspiration to us all.
Virginia and William Johnson, Sr.;      May the Creator protect you and
who   have,   without   a   doubt,    bless your life.
received the highest tribute any         *           *          *
parent or grandparent could hope

AUTHOR ALETHEA ADAMS-WELLS
GIVES DONATION AND BEST WISHES TO SENAA

   Ms. Alethea   Adams - Wells, a      Remembering several of us from
comrade-in-arms from the Cleveland    Rattlesnake Springs   and   CITA,
Airport campaign, and author of    Alethea expressed an interest in
of a new book, A Message On the    SENAA and in helping us, saying
Wind, was in Cleveland 4 November    she wanted to receive our news-
at the Rocking W Western Store    letter each month. She ultimately
(where the book is available for    made a very generous $100 donation
$24.95 + local sales tax) for a    to SENAA.
promotional book-signing.               A formal "wa-do," along with
Our Treasurer, J.R. Davis visited    copies of our newsletters, were
with Alethea and bought a copy of    sent to Alethea for her generosity
her book, whereupon he told her    and good will.
about SENAA.                              *            *           *

GHOST DANCE SHIRT FOUND IN SCOTLAND
TO BE RETURNED TO LAKOTA

   In September of 1992, while      "I had completed viewing the
touring Scotland with his wife    artifacts in all but the last
Charlene, John Earl, an attorney    room,"   said   John.   "I walked
of Cherokee descent, discovered a    through the door into the last
Lakota Ghost Dance Shirt on dis-    exhibit room, and at the other end
play at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art    there was a garment in a glass
Gallery and Museum   during   an    case which was set apart from
exhibition entitled "Home of the    other items on display. When I saw
Brave"   celebrating   the   500th    the garment, I immediately became
anniversary of Columbus' discovery    emotional . . . I turned to my
of the Native Americans' world.       wife and said,   'That's a Ghost
   The exhibition displayed arti-    Dance shirt and it should not be
facts from various Native American    here.' At that time, I did not
cultures,   beginning with South    approach the case, but looked at
American contact with the Spanish    other items on display.
and proceeding forward in time to    (See "Ghost Dance Shirt"; page 3)
the late 1800s.

7 December 1995 SENAA Newsletter 3

GHOST DANCE SHIRT
(Continued from page 2)
"Shortly after telling my wife    Association (WKSA).   After much
about the shirt, I heard her gasp.    deliberation, it was decided to
She turned around and said,'You're    officially request repatriation of
right, it is a Ghost Dance Shirt,    the Ghost Dance Shirt through WKSA
and it was taken off the body of a    which consists of descendants of
person who was killed at Wounded    the Lakota victims of the massacre
Knee.'                                and is officially recognized by
"That night I had a dream about a    the Pine Ridge Tribal Council to
man wearing a shirt. His features    speak on their behalf.   With the
were gaunt, his hair was straight    assistance of John Earl and Mario
and cut a little past shoulder    Gonzales, a written request was
length. He did not speak to me,    made by Marie Not-Help-Him, Presi-
but stared at me for the longest    dent of WKSA, for the return of
time. In the morning, I awoke with    the shirt based "upon spiritual
this dream still very vivid in my    grounds and upon the traditions of
memory. I couldn't get the specter    the Sioux People."
of the man out of my thoughts the       At first, the management of
rest of the trip." Soon thereafter    Kelvingrove didn't see things in
John promised to return the Ghost    such an enlightened fashion and
Dance Shirt to the Lakota people.    responded, "After preserving the
The Ghost Dance Shirt is stained    shirt for over a hundred years, we
with the blood of a Lakota man    feel very strongly that this pre-
murdered on 29 December 1890, dur-    servation should be continued so
ing the Massacre at Wounded Knee.    that future generations . . .
It was most likely stripped from    should be able to see the shirt
his frozen body by one of the    and through this experience under-
thirty   government    contractors    stand better the history of the
hired by the U.S. Army to bury the    First Americans and in particular
bodies of the victims in a trench,    the history of the Massacre at
at two dollars per body.   The    Wounded Knee. Our strongest argu-
burial detail removed   numerous    ment for retaining the shirt here
items from the 150-350 massacred    is that the Museum can preform
Lakota   as   "momentos   of   the    this key educational task both for
occasion," and for later sale to    our local citizens on whose behalf
collectors of Indian artifacts.       we own the object and for our
Kelvingrove acquired the shirt    many British and   international
in   1892   from   George Crager,    visitors."
a collector of Native American      There was also pressure put upon
artifacts who was at Wounded Knee    Kelvingrove not to   return the
several days after the massacre.    shirt because "Return of sacred
He   most likely   purchased the    items opens the floodgates, and
shirt from one of the members of    sets a dangerous precedent. Re-
the   burial detail, then later    sponding in such a way to requests
sold the shirt to the museum when    when there is no legal obligation
he was in Glasgow   working with    is creating a problem . . ."
Buffalo Bill's Wild West   Show      "The Curator,   North American
during their   1891-92   European    Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution
Tour.                                 would   unofficially   suggest we
Upon his return home, John Earl    think hard about keeping the shirt
contacted some   Native American    as in 5 or 10 years time, . . .
friends, including Mario Gonzales,    there will be no such shirts, or
former Tribal Attorney   of the    other sacred items, left in the
Oglala Lakota, and was referred to    U.S. museums.
the    Wounded   Knee   Survivors'    (See "Ghost Dance Shirt," page 4)

7 December 1995 SENAA Newsletter 4

GHOST DANCE SHIRT (From page 3):

On 7 April 1995, John Earl,         with the   Glasgow City Council
Mario Gonzales and Marcella LeBeau    (owners   of   the   museum), had
(granddaughter of Chief Rain-In-    officially voted to return the
The-Face and WKSA Red River chap-    shirt to the Lakota people.
ter representative) travelled to      The date of the return has not
Scotland to reinforce the written    yet been determined, nor have any
request   with   a    face-to-face    arrangements    been    confirmed.
request, to demonstrate their com-    However,   the   shirt   will   be
mitment to and the seriousness of    temporarily housed in a museum in
the request, and to continue with    South Dakota   until a memorial
the public relations effort in the    center is constructed at the site
British media.                        of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre.
Nearly three years of academic    There, the shirt will be housed
foot-dragging   and   intellectual    permanently under the auspices of
rationalizations for keeping the    the Lakota People. In addition, a
shirt with the Kelvingrove finally    beaded vest owned by Chief Rain-
proved futile for Director Julian    In-The-Face will be returned. It
Spalding.   With significant pub-    was removed by souvenir hunters
licity in the British media and    from the home after his death in
public pressure rising for the    1905. Other items will remain in
return of the shirt to the Lakota,    the collection of the museum be-
the museum began to realize the    cause they can't be authenticated
public   reactions   nightmare it    and were most likely sold by the
faced.   It also discovered its    Lakota members of Buffalo Bill's
defiant position   was   publicly    Wild West Show   after it went
indefensible in light of today's    bankrupt during their   European
cultural sensitivities and desire    Tour.
for   returning   the   ill-gotten      In 1992, one hundred years after
artifacts    to   their   rightful    being sold to Kelvingrove, the
owners.   The museum has finally    Ghost Dance Shirt was 'discovered'
shifted   its   position    toward    by John Earl, and will finally be
fulfilling its moral obligation to    returned to its rightful owners --
preserve today's living cultures    the descendants of victims of the
and strengthening the heritage of    Wounded Knee massacre   and the
the Lakota people.                    Lakota People.
On 2 September, John received      No NACOG funds were expended on
a   phone   call from Mrs. Iian    this project. All expenses -- as
Sinclair, a teacher in Scotland    well as time -- were donated by
who, along with Suzie MacNeil of    John.
TV station ABU-Telle, serve as the      John Earl has served as the Vice
official WKSA liaisons in Britain    Chairperson of the Native American
and    coordinate    the    public    Center of Georgia since 19 August
relations   effort   there.   Iian    1993, and can be reached at his
called to inform John that the    law office in Woodstock.
management of Kelvingrove, along        *           *          *

[Paraphrased from The Cherokee One Feather; 1 November 1995 edition.]

7 December 1995 SENAA Newsletter 5

OUR NATIVE TONGUE

NOTICE: Last month's column had a typographical error in one example
        listed under "Do you want. . ."
        The phrase, "Se-lu tsa-du-li," was incorrectly translated "Do
        you want bean bread?" The correct translation is "Do you want
        corn?" My apologies for having beans for brains when I made the
        error, and for any confusion it may have caused. I promise to
        to do better in the future.    -- Al

Syllabary     Tsa-La-Gi            Pronunciation            English
              A-ni                 Ah-nee          Prefix for a group of
                                                   people

E-qwa Ay-gwah Big

U-s-ti Oo-stee Little

E-do-da Ay-doe-dah Father

E-tsi (E.) Ay-see
(W.) Ay-jee Mother

E-lo-hi (E.) Ay-low-hee
E-lo-hi-no (W.) Ay-low-hee-no Earth

Ga-lv-lo-li (E.) Gah-luh-low-lee
Ga-lv-lo-i (W.) Gah-luh-low'--ee Sky

Ka-lv-gv-i Kah-luh-guh-ee East

Tsu-ga-na-wv-i Soo-gah-nah-wuh-ee South

Wu-de-li-gv-i Woo-day-lee-guh-ee West

Tsu-yv-tlv-i Soo-yuh-tlv-ee North

* * * * *

NEW EASTERN CHEROKEE LEADER PROMISES
TRIBAL GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

[Cherokee Advocate; Nov. 1995]

Immediately   after her inaugu-      Dugan appeared to be making good
ration on 3 October, the first    on her campaign pledge to hold
female chief of the   Cherokee,    tribal government accountable to
N.C., Eastern Band of Cherokees,    the Cherokee People.   "It is time
Joyce Dugan, scheduled a grand    that the government is given back
council meeting for 5 October.        to the people," she said after
   A    grand   council    is   an    being sworn in before a crowd of
opportunity   for   all   enrolled    more than 3,000.
members of the tribe to let the      Critics   of   the   old tribal
tribal council know how they want    government    have   said   tribal
the tribal government to be run.      (See "Tribal Government," page 6)

7 December 1995 SENAA Newsletter 6

TRIBAL GOVERNMENT (from page 5)
leaders have avoided calling a    out of office in September.
grand council because they feared      "We have just come through a sad
what the people might say. "No     time in our history," said Dugan.
elected official owns the govern-    "But rather than dwelling on that
ment,"   said Vice Chief Gerard    time, let us use it as a lesson
Parker.   "The government is owned    for the future."
by the people."                         Dugan said   she   would   make
Former chief Jonathan Taylor,    regular addresses on the tribe's
who led the tribe for eight years,    cable access channel and work to
operated a political machine run    improve the tribal newspaper.
on patronage and favors which led
to him being impeached and forced          *          *          *

CHRISTMAS FOR EASTERN BAND TSA-LA-GI CHILDREN

SENAA members and friends who    Please specify on packages whether
wish to donate new toys to be    the gift is for a boy or girl, and
distributed among   Eastern Band    the age group it is intended for.
Tsa-La-Gi children at Christmas     We appreciate your thoughtfulness
are asked to bring them to the    and generosity.
social on Saturday, 16 December.          *          *          *

CHIEF SEATHL'S LETTER

In 1852, when the United States    the juices in the meadow, the body
Government inquired about buying    heat of the pony, and man, all
his tribe's lands to accomodate    belong to the same family.
white settlers, Chief Seathl, of      "The shining water that moves in
the Duwamish   tribe   wrote the    the streams and rivers is not just
following letter in reply:            water,   but the blood of   our
"The President   in Washington    ancestors. If we sell you our land
sends word that he wishes to buy    you must remember   that it is
our land. But how can you buy or    sacred.   Each ghostly reflection
sell the sky? The land? The idea    in the clear waters of the lakes
is strange to us.   If we do not    tells of events and memories in
own the freshness of the air and    the life of my people. The water's
the sparkle of the water, how can    murmur is the voice of my father's
you buy them?                         father.
"Every part of this earth is      "The rivers are our brothers.
sacred to my people. Every shining    They quench our thirst. They carry
pine needle, every sandy shore,    our canoes and feed our children.
every mist in the dark woods,    So you must give to the rivers the
every   meadow,    every   humming    kindness you   would   give   any
insect. All are holy in the memory    brother.
and experience of my people.            "If we   sell you   our land,
"We know the sap which courses    remember that the air is precious
through the trees as we know the    to us, that the air shares its
blood that courses through our    spirit   with   all the life it
veins. We are part of the earth    supports. The wind that gave our
and it is part of us. The perfumed    grandfather his first breath also
flowers are our sisters. The bear,    receives his last sigh.   The wind
the deer, the great eagle, these    also gives our children the spirit
are our brothers. The rocky crests    (See "Seathl's Letter," page 7)

7 December 1995 SENAA Newsletter 7

SEATHL'S LETTER (from page 6)

of life.   So if we sell you our    thicket be? Gone! Where will the
land, you must keep it apart and    eagle be? Gone! And what is it to
sacred, as a place where man can    say goodbye to the swift pony and
go to taste the wind that is    the hunt?   The end of living and
sweetened by the meadow flowers.      the beginning of survival.
"Will you teach your children       "When the last Red Man   has
what we have taught our children?    vanished with his wilderness and
That the earth is our mother? What    his memory is only the shadow of a
befalls the earth befalls all the    cloud moving across the prairie,
sons of the earth.                    will these shores and   forests
"This we know: the earth does    still be here?   Will there be any
not belong to man, man belongs to    of the spirit of my people left?
the earth.     All   things   are      "We love this earth as a newborn
connected   like the blood that    loves its mother's heartbeat. So,
unites us all.   Man did not weave    if we sell you our land, love it
the web of life, he is merely a    as we have loved it. Care for it
strand in it. Whatever he does to    as we have cared for it.   Hold in
the web, he does to himself.          your mind the memory of the land
"One thing we know: our god is    as it is when you receive it.
also your god.    The earth is    Preserve the land for all children
precious to him and to harm the    and love it, as God loves us all.
earth is to heap contempt on its      "As we are part of the land, you
Creator.                              too are part of the land.   This
"Your destiny is a mystery to    earth is precious to us.   It is
us.   What will happen when the    also precious to you.   One thing
buffalo are all slaughtered?   The    we know: there is only one God.
wild horses tamed?    What will    No man, be he Red Man or White
happen when the secret corners of    Man, can be apart. We are brothers
the forest are heavy with the    after all."
scent of many men and the view of          -- Chief Seathl; Duwamish
the ripe hills   is blotted by
talking wires?   Where will the         *           *           *

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, PAM & LYNN TRIPLETT

Charter   members   Pam & Lynn    is   also   a   minister.   Native
Triplett   are celebrating their    American flute music played in the
first   wedding   anniversary   on    background during the ceremony.
10 December 1995.                       To celebrate their anniversary,
Dressed in their NARF uniforms,    they plan to return to Gatlinburg.
Pam & Lynn were married in a      Congratulations, Pam & Lynn, and
chapel at Gatlinburg, Tennessee,            HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.
by the uniformed police chief, who          *           *          *

CONGRATULATIONS, BRIAN & KELLY DAVIS

Charter members Brian Davis and    Georgia.
Kelly Sparkman   were married on      CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST WISHES,
Friday evening, 1 December, at    Brian & Kelly, from your brothers
The Wedding Chapel, in Ringgold,    and sisters at SENAA.
7 December 1995              SENAA Newsletter                          8