Every Tattoo Has a Story

. . . perhaps the story will be told,
. . . perhaps it will remain a mystery
. . . . . . . to all but two

First Americans in the Arts

03-31-2000

Westerly, Suzanne
News From Indian Country

First Americans in the Arts

The eighth Annual First Americans in the Arts Award Ceremony and dinner
took place Saturday evening, February 26, 2000, at the Century Plaza Hotel
in Century City, CA. The elegantly decorated stage and the flickering
candlelit dinner tables created a dreamlike and ethereal quality in the
large room.

The ceremony honored outstanding achievements by Native Americans in film,
television and other performing arts. The charming and entertaining actor,
Wes Studi (Cherokee) who also received two of the evening's awards, hosted

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Blue Indians: John Trudell's latest CD

02-28-2000

Westerly, Suzanne
News From Indian Country

Blue Indians: John Trudell's Latest CD

John Trudell's worlds are his arrows, and they touch deeply. The pain, the
insanity of life and also peace and caring are reflected beautifully in
this newest CD release, Blue Indian. Produced by Jackson Brown, it "is
literally about the technical world as an industrial reservation. This time
everyone plays the part of the Indian with their range of feels and
attitudes," states Trudell. With his usual challenging attitude, Trudell
delves deep into raw human emotion, moves to hot bluesy tunes, to
melancholy, ...

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LaDuke/Nader announce second presidential run: Challenging presidential politics as usual

02-15-2000

Westerly, Suzanne
News From Indian Country

LaDuke/Nader announce second presidential run: Challenging presidential
politics as usual

Many people, I believe are disenfranchised from the voting process. I
believe that people died for the right to vote in this country, and that is
one of the ways to make things right, said Winona LaDuke, an Ojibway
Anishinaabe from the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

In 1996, LaDuke ran with Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader as
his vice presidential running mate. To the joy of many, LaDuke has once
again been asked by Nader to ...

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Jim Thorpe, memories by his daughter Grace Thorpe

02-15-2000

Westerly, Suzanne
News From Indian Country

Field and Track, Football and Baseball great: Grace Thorpe talks about her
dad

Wathahuck (Bright Path) of the Thunder Clan of the Sac and Fox, became an
incredible Olympic Athlete. He was also known as Jim Thorpe. Thorpe is the
only American athlete ever to excel at three major sports; track and field,
football and baseball. The Associated Press voted him "Athlete of the First
Half of the Century" almost fifty years ago.

King Gustav V of Sweden said, "You, Sir, are the greatest athlete in the
world," when he awarded two gold medals to Jim Thorpe ...

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In memory of Jim Thorpe, a song, Bright Path

02-15-2000

Westerly, Suzanne
News From Indian Country

In memory of Jim Thorpe, a song, Bright Path

Last fall, at the native American Music Awards, Jack Gladstone from the
Blackfeet Nation started the evening by singing a beautiful song honoring
Jim Thorpe, the most famous Indian Athlete in U.S. history. While he sang,
a video of Thorpe's life created by ESPN was played on large screens
throughout the auditorium.

Gladstone talked of how he came to be a singer and songwriter. "The focus
of my career is to chronicle the mythology, the legend, the lore and the
history of our peoples. When I was growing ...

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Pow Wow honors battle to save Yavapai lands

01-31-2000

Westerly, Suzanne
News From Indian Country

Pow Wow honors battle to save Yavapai lands

In the Sonoran Desert where majestic saguaro cactus stand is the Fort
McDowell Yavapai community. The Verde River, flowing through Yavapai lands,
is lined with lush trees, homes to bald eagles and blue herons. To the east
stand the tribe's sacred Four Peaks.

The 18th Annual November Pow Wow on Yavapai lands welcomed hundreds of
colorfully dressed dancers from all over North America who moved gracefully
around the ring to the steady drum beats from drum groups; Rio Grande
Singers, from Acoma Pueblo, NM; ...

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or perhaps articles can be found HERE

San Ildefonso vows to close Highway 4

01-12-2000
Indian Country Today (Lakota Times)

San Ildefonso vows to close Highway 4

By Suzanne Westerly
Today correspondent

SANTA FE, N.M. - The Pueblo of San Ildefonso planned to close a 2.5-mile
stretch of State Highway 4 at midnight Dec. 31, when ownership of the road
reverted to the tribe when negotiations over any extension or accommodation
failed.

Fifty years ago an easement (no one can find) was agreed upon with the
Department of Energy's predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, to
provide access to Los Alamos National Laboratories.

Pueblo Gov. Terry Aguilar said that for years, the state "has bullied or
pushed around the tribes. But tribes are coming into their own in ...

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Nammys' Jim Thorpe Sports Award

News From Indian Country
November 6, 1999

By Suzanne Westerly
Albuquerque, NM (NFIC)

The first award given at NAMA was the Jim Thorpe Sports Award, presented to the Iroquois National lacrosse team. The Iroquois are the only Indigenous nation worldwide participating in international sports competition. They continue the Iroquois tradition of excellence in lacrosse.

The award was presented by Grace Thorpe, daughter of Jim Thorpe.

Jim Thorpe, Sac and Fox of the Thunder Clan, is the only American athlete ever to excel at three major sports: track and field, football, and baseball. Wathahuck (Brightpath) was voted "Athlete of the first Half of the Century" by the Associated Press almost fifty years ago.

At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav V of Sweden said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world." when he awarded two gold medals to Jim Thorpe for winning the pentathlon and the decathlon.

Thorpe played in major league baseball, and was a founding father of national football as well as the first President of the American Professional Football Association, presently known as the National Football League.

Thorpe was named America's Greatest All Around Athlete in 1950 by the Associated Press and in 1977 by Sport Magazine. He is in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame; Professional Football Hall of Fame; Helms Professional Football Hall of Fame; National Indian Hall of Fame; and in the Pennsylvania and the Oklahoma Halls of Fame.

Grace Thorpe is spearheading a campaign to declare Jim Thorpe "America's Greatest All-Around Athlete of the Century." Grace travels around the country to Indian ceremonies and environmental gatherings, asking people to sign her two petitions - one declaring her father athlete of the century and another for a ban on nuclear activities on tribal lands.

Grace is the director of the National Environmental Coalition of Native Americans, which fights efforts to dump nuclear waste on Native lands.

(*Grace Thorpe has gone over)