Two singers of traditional Karuk songs discuss how they learned Karuk traditions, language, songs, and dances; their performance experiences; and their thoughts on cultural revitalization and maintenance, and on cultural property and its exploitation. (SV)

Eurocentric intelligence is restricted to rational, linear, competitive, and hierarchical thinking. Indigenous intelligence encompasses the body, mind, heart, and experience in total responsiveness and total relationship to the whole environment, which includes the seven generations past and future. Implementation of major changes to indigenous…

The U.S. education system promotes the values of the people who are dominant--Whites, males, Christians. The measurement of the success of oppressors is in the extent to which they can persuade others to think like them. The task for Native Americans in the new millennium is to shake off this internalized oppression and reclaim their true…

Native Americans must stop giving allegiance and attention to this other way (the Christian, westernized way) that has destroyed them. Native Americans have to reach their people in such a way that their traditional life is the first thing. They have to learn their traditional teachings well enough so that when they pass them on, their children…

Legal gaming operations are permitting various Indian nations to build strong economies and well-managed tribal governments that fund education and social services as first priorities. Experiences of the Wisconsin Oneida and Mashantucket Pequot (Connecticut) demonstrate that when access to resources and markets is not prevented, Indians have a…

In the United States and Canada, the number of radio stations operated by Native Americans has greatly increased in recent years, as have the amount of programming in native languages and the number of native language instructional programs. Such programming can play a role in maintaining vigorous native languages and revitalizing endangered…

Describes the Master-Apprentice Language Learning Program, which seeks to save endangered Native Californian languages by pairing speakers and nonspeakers and providing the pairs with materials, technical support, and personal support. Briefly discusses the history of American Indian genocide and language extinction in California. Includes…

In November 2001, elders, youth, educators, culture bearers, and community members came together to speak from within their own experiences about the critical issues and challenges facing Native people in the 21st century and to envision the positive thinking required for future generations. This proceedings documents 34 oral presentations and…

The author describes the difficulties of achieving his life-long dream of going to an Ivy League college, and how his Shawnee grandfather advised him to acquire the white man's skills and bring them back to his people. He advises young Native Americans to choose the more difficult, yet honorable path of serving their own people. (TD)

John Trudell, Indian activist orator and poet, discusses the "Spirit Eater," authoritarian systems that siphon off human energy to fuel a materialistic, technological reality. This illusion has dominated European cultures for thousands of years but contrasts sharply with indigenous knowledge and spirituality. He also discusses protecting…

Profiles Noeli Pocaterra, a Venezuelan Wayuu woman, and her roles as community leader, activist in the struggle for indigenous rights, newly elected president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples, and University of Zulia faculty member. Discusses community work, international networking, her views on cultural and language maintenance, and…

Kake Tribal Corporation's purchase of a seafood cold storage facility in southeast Alaska is an example of the growing economic clout of Alaska's tribal corporations. However, many claim that the pro-development forces of corporations are weakening the subsistence economy and culture of Alaska Natives. Conflicts involve Native hunting and fishing…

Describes the effects on indigenous communities of Bolivia's recent Popular Participation Laws, which relocated political and financial decision making to the municipal level; community efforts toward cultural maintenance and nonformal agricultural education; the activism of indigenous university students; and the dual discrimination suffered by…

Being a Native teacher of Native studies is an honor--non-Native students want to learn about Natives, Native students have their culture validated, and sharing Native history with non-Native neighbors builds friendships. Many Native troubles stem from colonization, but Natives should not take their frustrations out on each other but should…

Mainstream media spreads misperceptions that American Indian gaming benefits just a few, is not well regulated, and encourages criminal activity. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act mandates that gaming revenues fund tribal government programs; now that they have their own revenue, tribes are enthusiastically funding educational programs to maintain…