 |
|
||||
 |
|
|
|
Tribal Recognition and IdentityA tribe by any other nameThis is just a quick observation from Tuesday’s presentation by Suzan Shown Harjo, a columnist for Indian Country Today. Her final word of advice – not to refer to an Indian “nation” as a “tribe”—clearly demonstrated the need for better communication between the tribes and the media by raising what I consider a minor distinction born of understandable sensitivities that have developed during the media’s strained relationship with Indian country. Although Harjo said the distinction marked a sign of respect, I see no harm in referring to an Indian nation—on second reference, of course—as a “tribe,” a widely accepted term (which to my knowledge has no derogatory meaning) used to describe the country’s 560-plus federally recognized tribes. Of course, specific first references – as in all cases – should use a tribe’s formal name. That said, I have begun several stories, “Maine’s two largest Indian tribes …,” and have never received negative feedback from the Penobscot Indian Nation, one of four Maine tribes I cover. Nor have I been challenged when referring to the Aroostook Band of Micmac as a “tribe” rather than a “band.” But Harjo’s advice, although I question its premise, will make me ask tribal leaders for their perspective when we next meet. This is not to say I will change what I believe to be the sound journalistic practice of using general terms on second reference. I will, however, explain it. Regrettably, such explanations have not always been so readily offered to Indian country. -- Jeff Tuttle, Bangor (Maine) Daily News Posted on 03.11.05 at 4:11 AM by Victor Merina …And a quick explanation of Maine’s tribal representationThis is just a quick explanation of Maine’s tribal representation system, in case there was any confusion – or interest – arising from Thursday’s morning session about Indian education. Maine is the only state to allow tribes – in this case its two largest tribes – to send representatives to the state legislature. While tribal members have won legislative seats in other states, Maine is the only state to guarantee them a seat by allowing those tribes (whose reservations also lie within legislative districts) to choose what amounts to an extra representative to the State House. Because of issues of proportional representation, those two Indian delegates cannot vote on the House floor. However, they can vote in committee and sponsor legislation. Back to the subject of education, it was a tribal representative who submitted the bill to require the teaching of Indian (specifically Wabanaki) culture and history in all grades K-12. The law took effect in September 2004. However, it might be worth noting that Maine was the last state to allow Indians to vote in state elections. -- Jeff Tuttle, Bangor (Maine) Daily News Posted on 03.11.05 at 4:00 AM by Victor Merina Storytelling through Images, Words
Marmon, who was born on the Laguna reservation in 1925, chronicles the last generation of the Laguna and Acoma tribes living by their traditional ways and values in his book “The Pueblo Imagination.”
The book, published in 2003 by Beacon Press in Boston, features tribal photographs and landscape images with native poetry by Joy Harjo and Simon Ortiz and poetry and prose by Leslie Marmon Silko, the photographer’s daughter. The power of words is enhanced by the images, in both color and black-and-white. The images also stand on their own.
“Storytelling can be told in photographs,” said Marmon who still lives in the Laguna Pueblo.
Posted on 03.10.05 at 4:01 AM by Victor Merina Tips for JournalistsA columnist looks at ‘crash course’ on IndiansColumnist Richard Prince of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education has been listening, taking notes and observing a traveling seminar that he says one Native American leader calls a “crash course on Indian issues.” What can be learned in a week’s worth of seminars and journey into Indian Country? Plenty, he says, in his column on the Maynard Insitute Web site. Posted on 03.10.05 at 3:50 AM by Victor Merina Notes from the RoadTo blog or not to blog?Three days into our cross-country trip and the group is split. Not along lines of native v. nonnative or print v. radio/TV, but blog v. nonblog. Some of the journalists here have this idea that we should maintain standards that don’t lend themselves to blogs. There’s also the argument that blogs go against journalistic training of maintaining objectivity. One reporter pointed out that a flippant blog remark could come back and bite you in the rear. I’ll share two thoughts on the topic. One is that a journalist can reach expert status when she spends years covering a subject. At this point, objectivity is an ideal, but not a reality. I’m human and I won’t pretend not to form opinions. I’ll stand behind them and am not afraid to share them. Second, blogs can be fun. Our tour guide at the National Museum of the American Indian, Phillip Hillaire, a Lummi, at one point said, “Humor is a really important part of our culture. We’ve had it for a long time.” This seminar so far has been interesting and packed with facts, with a certain stress on the importance and urgency of some of the issues in Indian Country. The blog is a way of highlighting the lighter side of things. Don’t all cultures like to laugh and appreciate a look at the lighter side of things? Look at what many people turn to first in the newspaper: the comics. --Jill Ingram, Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times Posted on 03.10.05 at 2:57 AM by Victor Merina |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A partnership of...
 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
© 2005 Western Knight Center. All rights reserved.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From the graceful line of Eagle Dancers to the exquisitely-lined faces of elderly villagers, the images of Pueblo Indians in New Mexico has been captured through the lens of Lee Marmon for more than a half-century.
It’s a long way from his beginnings as a photographer taking pictures of people in the pueblo while delivering groceries in his pickup truck. “That’s how I got some of my best stuff,” he said.
