https://www.facebook.com/122102357834007161/

Indigenous Voices Past, 701 B Forest Point Circle, Charlotte, NC (2025)

09/10/2025

When the European first came here, Columbus, we could drink out of any river. If the Europeans had lived the Indian way when they came we'd still be drinking out of the water. Cause the water is sacred. The air is sacred.Our DNA is made of the same DNA as the tree. The tree breathes what we exhale. When the tree exhales we need what the tree exhales, so we have a common destiny with the tree… We are all from the Earth. And when the Earth & atmosphere is corrupted, then it will create its own reaction. Our mother is reacting…"
~Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman
"The world has become a market, and its this market we have to deal with, this idea of boundless and endless resources. When you say resources you are talking about our relatives, talking about our family. Fish are not a resource, they are our family and require respect…
The structure of the world itself, it functions on natural law, and the natural law is a powerful regenerative process. Its a process of regeneration that continues and grows and is endless. Its absolutely endless if everyone agrees to the law and follows the law. But if you challenge the law, and you think you are going to change the law, then you are bound to failure…"
~John Trudell.

09/09/2025

Elizabeth Thunder Bird Haile (1898-1987) was a famous tribal leader of the Shinnecock Tribe. She was born and raised on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Long Island, New York.She was the daughter of a Shinnecock tribal leader, and was raised with a strong sense of preserving and protecting the tribe's traditions. She became a researcher on the history and culture of the Shinnecock Tribe, and was known for her work in preserving and revitalizing the tribe's language and traditions.
She was one of the founders of the Shinnecock Museum and Cultural Center on the tribal land, which showcases the history and culture of the Shinnecock people, as well as the tribe's efforts in protecting their land and resources.
In addition, she was a social activist, fighting for the rights of her tribe and other marginalized communities. She helped to promote educational and healthcare programs within her community.
Elizabeth Thunder Bird Haile made significant contributions to the Shinnecock Tribe throughout her life, and is honored as a great researcher and social activist of the local community." S"Elizabeth Thunder Bird Haile (1898-1987) was a famous tribal leader of the Shinnecock Tribe. She was born and raised on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Long Island, New York.
She was the daughter of a Shinnecock tribal leader, and was raised with a strong sense of preserving and protecting the tribe's traditions. She became a researcher on the history and culture of the Shinnecock Tribe, and was known for her work in preserving and revitalizing the tribe's language and traditions.
She was one of the founders of the Shinnecock Museum and Cultural Center on the tribal land, which showcases the history and culture of the Shinnecock people, as well as the tribe's efforts in protecting their land and resources.
Elizabeth Thunder Bird Haile made significant contributions to the Shinnecock Tribe throughout her life, and is honored as a great researcher and social activist of the local community.

09/09/2025

Isabelle Perico Enjady.Chiricahua Apache.
photo ca. 1890

09/08/2025

It's not every day a person gets to seea Lakota buffalo hide teepee ( tipi) dating
from the 1850's.
Thanks Oklahoma Historical Society.

09/08/2025

There's been a lot that has gone through my mind these past days. Mainly memories of my son and the life we had together with our family. In the early 90's I was married to a woman from the Red Bear Tiyospaye (Sitting Bull Tiospaye, families), from that marriage I had Joey and Cole (Coco). When Coco was about 6 months old, his mom left. Although they never saw much of her, I'm glad their Red Bear cousin, uncles and aunties stayed relevant in their lives, one of their cousin Jake Red Bear stayed with us and helped me raise the boys, Jake was my nephew by marriage, but he became my little brother into our family, Joey and Coco looked at him like their uncle. Jake's mom would always say, where's my pretty boy, I would say hey he's a boy he can't be pretty, she would say well he is pretty, and yes, he was a beautiful child as well.When Coco was about 3 years old, I met my wife Joni Uses Many (Red Bull/Crazy Horse Tiospaye). She helped me raise them and adopted them as her own, bringing them into her Tiospaye as well. On myside of the family, Mother's side, I come from the Roach/Cheyenne Woman (survivor of Wounded Knee Massacre), Makes Room Tiospaye. Henry Makes Room was a Mnicoujou Chief and Good Elk Woman who also comes from chiefs as well, Blue Cloud/One Horn. My father's side, we come from Chief Brings Plenty Tiospaye, our grandfather was a whip man for the Oglala Tokala Warrior Society, his youngest brother was Chief Low Dog. Three of their brothers were killed at the Little Big Horn Battle, when our families were attacked. Coco, he was a sundancer, a society member of the Sungmanitu Tanka Okolakiciye Wolf Warrior Society. It takes a life time to make a warrior, so to lose our warriors is so hard for our families. He waa a Wolf that brings plenty for the people, I heard an elder say this.
During this time, we lived in Eagle Butte, the boys started boxing, Joey was 9 and Coco was 6. Coco has over 75 registered boxing bouts as an amateur boxer, loved his fighting style inside fighter, when the Mexican crowds watched him box, they would always get loud they didn't know him, but boxing fans love good fighters, no matter who they are. He was a warrior, inside and out, he was so polite and thoughtful you would have never known, he was a true champion. We created a boxing club for our youth back home, who were struggling with rez life and named it Wolves Den Boxing Club. We made many relations since. My son always wanted to promote Wolves Den because it helped so many, that's how he was, always wanting to help people around him.
He loved to dance, sing, joke, make people laugh. He loved his heritage, his way of life, his people. It's hard to be here, I felt guilty for him being so far away from home, but being here around his uncle Moe, friends and Haskell family, that he made here, I know he wasn't alone, he was happy and felt safe around them. He recently landed a big audition that would springboard his acting career, on Monday, April 1st he was supposed to be starting and internship with a local legislator, his role with 1923, he had interviews setup with elders regarding the Wounded Knee Massacre, on a paper he was doing. Last time I spoke to him, he was working on some documents for college. Now my baby boy is gone, he doesn't deserve this, he has only good intentions for anyone around him, no matter who they are or how they are. All the stories shared by his classmates, instructors, co-workers, friends and family in the area, my son was a light for many.
We found my son, now we have to find out what happened and hold people responsible for what happened. Please pray for Justice for Coco, pray for strength for his mom, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends, this has been the hardest place for me to be and feel completely broken and angry, just isn't how the world should be, only time a parent buries a child is in war. We believe a child should never make the journey before the parent, that's what makes this so hard.
Bliheciya.. Love You Son Cole Brings Plenty Forever..
(One of his friends here at Haskell made this and gave it to the family, Coco was loved because he loved all around him so much, she called it Cole's Light)
Joseph Brings Plenty Sr.

09/07/2025

I want to reiterate, remember... that it was not a discovery, perhaps a rediscovery, because when Christopher Columbus with his usual flowing hair, dreamy eyes, and undoubtedly smelly feet, landed on the island of Hispaniola, there was a population, those who would later be called Dominicans, and they had been there for about 20 - 30 thousand years. They had crossed the Bering Strait along with all the others who would later be called Indians.So on the evening of October 12th, at least as far as I'm concerned, I will stand with the Indians and remember with them what they consider the day of the greatest national mourning."
Fabrizio De André.

09/07/2025

Cherokee PrayerGa lu lo hi gi ni du da
Sky our grandfather
Nu da wa gi ni li si
Moon our grandmother
E lo hi gi ne tse
Earth our Mother
Ga li e li ga
I am thankful
Si gi ni gé yu
We love each other
O sa li he li ga
We are grateful.

09/06/2025

Oglala Lakota Chief American Horse. Early 1900s.

09/06/2025

The Apache.The "Apachue" (enemies) were called so by the zuni of the peoples of adobe, the Apache recognize themselves as "Diné", "The people". They are divided into seven tribes: Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Kiowa, Lipan, Mescalero, Coyotero and Navajo.They all speak dialects of a common language, of Atapascan roots that confirm their origin in the north of the continent, and their way of life was based on gathering, hunting and pillage. They worship as sacred animals the cougar and the coyote, the eagle and the falcon, the bison and the bear. The Apache were able to survive in the scarcity of the desert, crossing it at full speed and stealth.They stood out in the art of war for their ambushes, with their bows and arrows, which sometimes filled with ponzona of insects and reptiles, and they were not afraid to go into the fight hand to hand armed with spears and even knives. Their ferocity that sometimes scratched in brutality not only won them the respect and fear of their neighbors, men as warped as the Lakota and the Mohavians, would also make them one of the greatest threats of the desert border to the Spanish, and afterwards to Mexicans and Americans.

09/05/2025

"Crowfoot stood and watched as the white man spread many one dollar bills on the ground.“This is what the white man trades with; this is his buffalo robe. Just as you trade skins, we trade with these pieces of paper.”When the white chief had laid all his money on the ground and shown how much he would give if the Indians would sign a treaty, Crowfoot took a handful of clay, made a ball out of it and put it on the fire.It did not crack.
Then he said to the white man, Now put your money on the fire and see if it will last as long as the clay.
The white man said, No….my money will burn because it is made of paper.
With an amused gleam in his eyes the old chief said, Oh, your money is not as good as our land, is it?
The wind will blow it away; the fire will burn it; water will rot it. But nothing will destroy our land.
You don’t make a very good trade.
Then with a smile, Crowfoot picked up a handful of sand from the river bank, handed it to the white man and said, You count the grains of sand in that while I count the money you give for the land.
The white man said, I would not live long enough to count this, but you can count the money in a few minutes.
Very well, said the wise Crowfoot, our land is more valuable than your money. It will last forever.
It will not perish as long as the sun shines and the water flows, and through all the years it will give life to men and animals, and therefore we cannot sell the land.
It was put there by the Great Spirit and we cannot sell it because it does not really belong to us.
You can count your money and burn it with a nod of a buffalo’s head, but only the Great Spirit can count the grains of sand and the blades of grass on these plains.
As a present we will give you anything you can take with you, but we cannot give you the land.”
Chief Crowfoot : Blackfoot Confederacy

09/05/2025

The Texas Quote of the Day is one of the best true-life cowboy quotes you'll ever read:"From 1874 to 1877 I was taking care of my father's cattle, and after a while the neighbors began putting cattle with me, paying me a dollar fifty a head for six months. I herded them in the daytime and penned them at night, and for the first time in my life, I could rustle a little cash. In 1875 I made twenty-nine dollars that way, and my brother Harry and I had one hell of a time. We bought a bottle of whisky, shot out the lights on the street corners, and run our horses through the streets of Lincoln whooping and yelling like Cheyenne Indians on the warpath. We'd have gone to jail for sure if some of Gus Walker's trail men had not been with us. They got the blame, as everything was laid to the Texas men, but they left next day for Texas and so it all blew over. This was my first experience standing up to the bar buying drinks for the boys, and I sure felt big.That summer, I remember, Ace Harmon, who was one of John T. Lytle's trail bosses and a god to me, said: "In a year or two Teddy will be a real cowboy." And I growed three inches and gained ten pounds that night....From the time I was fourteen and staying out with the cattle most all the time, I got to be more and more independent. The boys took turns staying out there with me, but Lincoln was only twelve miles from camp, and when we had a little money, one of us would slip off to town on his pony, leaving the other one on herd. We'd hang around the saloons, listening to those men and getting filled up with talk about gunfights and killings. One time I remember I was in a saloon, and I heard a fellow talking about the Yankees. He said: "I was coming down the road and I met a damn blue-bellied abolitionist, and I paunched [shot] him. And he laid there in the brush and belched like a beef for three days, and then he died in fits. The b*stard!"
He told that before a whole crowd of men. I don't know that he ever done it. But that was the way he talked to get a fight. Those early-day Texans was full of that stuff. Most of them that came up with the trail herds, being from Texas and Southerners to start with, was on the side of the South, and oh, but they were bitter. That was how a lot of them got killed, because they were filled full of the old dope about the war and they wouldn't let an abolitionist arrest them. The marshals in those cow towns on the trail were usually Northern men, and the Southerners wouldn't go back to Texas and hear people say: "He's a hell of a fellow. He let a Yankee lock him up." Down home one Texas Ranger could arrest the lot of them, but up North you'd have to kill them first.
I couldn't even guess how many was killed that way on the trail. There was several killed at every one of those shipping points in Kansas, but you get different people telling the same story over and over again and the number is bound to be exaggerated. Besides, not all that were killed were cowboys; a lot of saloon men and tinhorn gamblers bit the dust. While I saw several shooting scrapes in saloons and sporting houses, I never saw a man shot dead, though some died afterwards.
But in the 1870s, they were a hard bunch, and I believe it was partly on account of what they came from. Down in Texas in the early days, every man had to have his six-shooter always ready, every house kept a shotgun loaded with buckshot, because they were always looking for a raid by Mexicans or Comanche Indians. What is more, I guess half the people in Texas in the seventies had moved out there on the frontier from the Southern states and from the rebel armies, and was the type that did not want any restraints."
----- Teddy Blue Abbott, "We Pointed them North: Recollections of a Cowpuncher," 1939. Teddy Blue rode the trail from South Texas to shipping points in Kansas and Montana three different times. It's apparent from reading Lonesome Dove that Larry McMurtry was VERY familiar with Teddy Blue's book, which was written in Teddy Blue's plain-spoken vernacular. It's a very entertaining read. This photo of Teddy Blue was taken in 1910.

09/04/2025

Little Horse. Oglala. 1899. Photo by Heyn Photography.

Indigenous Voices Past

09/10/2025

09/09/2025

09/09/2025

09/08/2025

09/08/2025

09/07/2025

09/07/2025

09/06/2025

09/06/2025

09/05/2025

09/05/2025

09/04/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category