I created a new Facebook page titled…”Who are the Native Americans?”!!

I have decided to start a new Facebook page titled, “Who are the Native Americans?”  I am in the last quarter of my first year as a Master’s of Social Work student.  This first year has inspired me to seek out social justice for Native Americans.  In my research on historical and modern day Native American trauma, I have read article after article on how the Native American population has suffered significant amounts of trauma in the past and in this present day.  I want this page to be an inspiration to Native Americans that read it, as well as, for others that are not Native American to have their question answered as to who we are as Native Americans in this modern day.  If you have Facebook, go to the page and “Like”.  If you are Native American, please share with us who you are as a Native American today and what you are striving to do to help positively change and improve the course of the future of Native America!  Below is the “About” page that I wrote for the Facebook page.  I have also attached a link to the Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/update_security_info.php?wizard=1#!/WhoRtheNativeAmericans

Who are the Native Americans?

The purpose of this page is to answer this question for those that may be wondering who we are as Native Americans.  If you are to read historically about Native Americans, you may learn that we roamed free on this land that we once owned.  You may also learn that we were great in number and lived the only culture which we knew, our own.  We were free to speak our own language, hunt, and roam this land as we pleased.  You may also learn that we sat down at a great feast and ate with the visitors that discovered our land.  At this point in the history books the narration ends here as our historical trauma begins to unfold.  This great land where we roamed free and hunted began to be taken away piece by piece.  We became the hunted ones on our own land and forced to walk on “Long Walks” and the “Trail of Tears”.  We had no choice but to sign broken treaties to give up ownership of the land and be relocated to reservations.  Next, our children were taken from their families and tribes to reformed boarding schools where they were forced to not speak their native language.  Our children were also forbidden to practice their culture and traditional beliefs and stripped of their Native identity.  This was referred to as “Kill the Indian, Save the Man”.  As a result of this trauma that we experienced in the past, we have suffered immensely.  Today, our reality is found only in hidden statistics that are quickly forgotten and ignored.  We have been colonized to reservations.  We live in poverty. We have the highest unemployment rate than any group in the United States.  We suffer from high rates of drug and alcohol abuse.  The teen suicide rate is significantly higher than the national average.  Although we suffer the same ailments as most people, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, we have limited healthcare options to prolong or save our own lives.

Despite all that we have endured in the past and what we may be up against today, many of us are overcoming it all!  If you are Native American, share who are you today and what positive difference are you striving to make to help change and improve the course of the future of Native America?

“I’m so ticked off I’m starting school today…I can’t wait!”

“I’m so ticked off, I’m starting school today…I can’t wait!”  This was an expression that my seven year old twin daughter Sophie expressed the day she was going back to school after Christmas break.  I asked, “What are you ticked off about?”   She responded, “I am ticked off because I am just so excited!”  I quickly realized that she didn’t understand what ticked off meant.  I asked, “Do you know what ticked off means?”  She said, “Excited?”  I responded, “Ticked off means you are mad at something.”  She quickly corrected herself, “No, I am not mad at going to school!  I am excited!”  We had our laughs afterwards.

Today, I start my first day back to graduate school after my month long break after the holiday.  I really enjoyed my first term of graduate school Fall term!  I believe I have found my niche studying Social Work!  My goal is to become a licensed clinical therapist.  The opportunity to learn and gain knowledge is always good!  It makes a huge difference when the subject at hand is interesting.  So, to my classes of  Foundations of Social Work Research and Human Behavior Social Environment: Micro Theory here I come!  In the words of my seven year old daughter, Sophie…I too am so ticked off I am starting school today…I can’t wait!

Book Review: Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance

            In my Social Work Policy class, I had to read an autobiography of a person that has influenced social work policy in the United States. 

            I chose to read, Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance, by Leonard Peltier.  I wanted to read a book that reflected a significant event in modern day Native American history.  I am Navajo Indian and have a passion for learning Native American history and felt that this book would give me a modern day perspective of Native Americans fighting for their civil rights.

            Among the Native American community, Leonard Peltier is considered a civil rights leader, much like Martin Luther King for the African Americans.  He is noted as an activist for Native Americans and his association with the American Indian Movement (AIM).  Prison Writings: My Life is My Sun Dance, is basically as the title states, Leonard Peltier’s writings from Leavenworth Prison inLeavenworth,Kansas.  It’s his personal testimony and perspective of all the events from the time ofWounded Knee in 1973 to his imprisonment in Leavenworth Prison.  He argues his case that he is innocent to this day regarding the deaths of two FBI agents in a shootout at Oglala in June 1975 on the Pine Ridge Reservation inSouth Dakota.

               Leonard Peltier fought for civil rights of Native Americans as a free man.  From his cell, he is still fighting for civil rights of Native Americans.  His incarceration has sparked modern day awareness in how Indian policy has been created to benefit the United States Government from the moment they began colonizing the Native Americans on reservations to this present day.  It also has given awareness to all the treaties that have been broken between the Native Americans and the United States Government, time and time again.  His incarceration has sparked an international outcry from foreign governments calling for clemency and investigations into human rights abuses in theUnited States.

             I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning the personal experience and knowledge of a modern day Native American civil rights activist.

This I believe…”Sense Of Place”

In my Social Justice Social Work class that I am taking this quarter as part of my MSW curriculum, my professor gave my class and I an assignment to listen to three “This I believe” podcasts on NPR.  After listening to our three chosen “I believe” podcasts, our professor asked us to write our own “This I believe” essays.  Here is my essay that I wrote.  I titled my “I believe” essay “Sense of Place”.

I believe, we as human beings all develop a sense of place.  Our sense of place is a place where we feel safe, protected and at peace.  Our sense of place can have strong ties or a sense of loyalty attached to it.  It’s a place that has good or bad memories that have molded us into being the people that we are today.  Our sense of place can be within our own beings, our childhood home or some far away land.

My sense of place is on the Navajo reservation.  It’s a place that smells of sage, has red sandstone cliffs, and has a rich heritage that has endured hardship and forced oppression at the hand of the government.  The Navajo reservation sits between four sacred mountains, one to the north, one to the south, one to the east, and one to the west.  It is believed that whenever a Navajo is within these four sacred mountains he or she is protected.  When the Navajos were forced on the Navajo Long Walk to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, they longed to be within the four sacred mountains and the land that they knew.  The Navajos were imprisoned for four long years at Fort Sumner where many died of disease and lack of food.  Those that survived endured cold Winters with no shelter to keep them warm, as well as, hunger and the threat of being kidnapped by other tribes.

Finally, the Treaty of 1868 was signed and the Navajos were allowed to return to their land between the four sacred mountains.  The spirit of the land was calling them back and they were given that opportunity to return to their sense of place, their safe haven, and their homes.

As a child, I grew up hearing the language, eating the food, and partaking of the rich heritage that my ancestors who survived the Navajo Long Walk gave to me.  Today, I live outside the four sacred mountains, and like my ancestors of the past, on occasion, I too hear the spirit of the land calling me back.  Every so often, I have to return to the Navajo reservation to smell the sage, tread the red dirt, eat the food, and listen to the language,  so my being can be energized, renewed, and filled with the spirit of the land.

This I believe that my sense of place is a sacred place and has deep meaning to me.  I believe we as human beings each have a sense of place that is sacred to only us.  I believe that if we visit our sense of place often, we will not forget who we are and each of us will be able to endure our own long walks in life.

If you want to read or listen to more “This I believe” podcasts click on the link below.  I encourage all to write their own “This I believe” essays for themselves.  It’s an exercise that will make you dig down deep within yourselves.

http://www.npr.org/series/4538138/this-i-believe

Boring Side Yard to Beautiful Cottage Garden Walkway!!

 

Take a look at our side yard that we turned into a cottage garden filled with herbs!  Have you ever wondered what to do with your sideyards?  This side yard of our house was a boring grassed area leading to the backyard.  My wife and I decided to make our boring sideyard of grass into a wonderful cottage garden that was inviting, fun, fragrant, and aesthetically pleasing !

 

 

First, we tore out all the grass, leveled it, put weed mat down, and brought in a 5 way soil over the weed mat.  Next we put three arches.  One at the entrance, one in the middle of the walkway and another one at the end of the walkway.  We planted two very fragrant climbing roses on the first arch.  The middle arch has grapes growing on it.  The third arch at the entrance to the backyard, we planted kiwi.  With kiwi, you have to plant a male and female plant so they can pollinate.  Believe it or not, kiwi grows in the Northwest!  Who would have thunk!  Kiwi?  In the Northwest?!

 

Next we placed quartz stones along the path.  We put sand underneath each stone to level it and make the stones more secure.  After the stones were placed, we filled in the path by planting herbs such as french lavender, pineapple sage, hostas, basil, lovage, rosemary, cumin, and various types of tyme as ground cover.  We also have a container of figs and different types of ornamental plant holders filled with various types of succulents!

This project took us most of the summer to complete.  We wanted our cottage side garden to serve as an herb garden, as well.  In the summer, it will be nice to go outside and pick fresh herbs for cooking!  Right now, it’s in it’s infancy and is already aesthetically pleasing to walk through.  I can’t wait until the arches are fully grown with fragrant climbing roses, grapes, and kiwi!  I am also looking forward to walking  through our garden path and catching the scents of  lavender, sage, basil, cumin, and tyme!

If your looking for a creative way to make your boring side yard functional, inviting and fun, consider making it into a cottage garden filled with herbs!

The Story behind my new Nike Pegasus 28 N7 running shoes!!

Recently, I bought the Nike Pegasus 28 N7.  N7 meaning the seventh generation of Native American wisdom or the impact of our decisions on the seventh generation.  In researching the N7, I like how Nike has taken the approach of building on this wisdom of how our decisions impact the seventh generation.  They are being proactive in bringing sport and good health to Native American communites throughout the United States and Canada.

It has been said that the N7 is designed slightly wider to accomodate Natives Americans with wider feet.  I didn’t think I had wide feet being Navajo, but my new Nike Pegasus 28 N7s are extremely comfortable, so maybe I do have wide feet!  I like the Native design and color choice of the shoe.  As you can see in the pictures there is a Native design inside the shoe, as well as, Native designs on the tongue of the shoe.  Flywire is always great and I like the extra cushioned sole.  My Nike Pegasus N7s are lightweight and will make my run much more enjoyable!

 

I believe what drew me to purchase these shoes is the cause behind it, which is to bring sport and good health to the communities of Native America.  We have been a forgotten people and it’s good to know that Nike is taking initiative to positively influence Native America.

In researching the the N7 series, I came across a website by Nike that talked about a Nike N7 Sport Summit that will be held on October 28-30, 2011.  It will be held at the Nike Headquarters here in Oregon.  It sounds like it will feature a collaboration of interactive forums, industry leaders, and opportunities to grow your organizations to help Native American youth and communities!  Here is a link to the website that that explains a little more about the N7 Sport Summit.

http://niken7.com/n7-event/nike-n7-sport-summit/

Charter Schools

Charter School… What is a charter school?  A publicly funded school established by teachers, parents, or community groups under the terms of a charter with a local or national authority.

All of my children have attended charter schools for elementary school.  When we first came upon the idea to switch to a charter school began when my oldest daughter, Madison was in second grade and we went to her first parent teacher conference.  During the conference, the teacher said Madison was not grasping how to read, but not to worry because 67% of the class are also experiencing the same problem.  We felt as parents, we did all that we could do, such as reading to her 20 minutes a day, going to the library, etc…  After walking out of the parent teacher conference, we were not pleased with what we heard.  This is the moment when my wife and I decided to look into other options because we felt that 67% was unacceptable!  Thus, we came upon Arthur Academy.  We took a tour, got our questions answered, and felt it would be a good fit for our two oldest, Madison and Abigail.  So, immediately following their Christmas break we enrolled them at Arthur Academy.  Within two months, Madison was up to her reading level as a second grader.  Abigail was in kindgergarten and was already beginning to read!  We were so amazed!

The difference was that the charter school introduced a phonetic way of learning how to read rather than just word recognition.  Another plus was the one on one attention they received due to smaller class size!  What I really like about the charter school my kids attend is there’s no holding back.  You can have a first grader in a reading group with second or third graders.  The children advance at their own pace and are not held back because the rest of the class is not at their level of learning.  If the child achieves mastery, they are moved to the next level and are continuely learning!  Charter schools also create a close knit community of parents, teachers and children! 

When Madison and Abigail entered middle school in the public school system, they were more than well prepared to meet the challenges of middle school academically.  Madison is now entering high school taking advanced classes.

Our twins, Ian and Sophie have switched to a new charter school here in the Portland area called Knova.  It features longer school days from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, as well as, a longer school year.  They only get 6 weeks Summer break.  Basically, the school year is year round.  The system of learning is the same as Arthur Academy.

In hind sight, I am glad my wife and I decided to make the switch to have our children attend a charter school.  It has been a good system that works for us!  I have posted photos of the twins last day of school and field day at Knova Charter School.

Flowering Succulents

I enjoy succulents!  Here are some pictures of the succulents on our rock garden wall in front of our house.  Our goal is to cover the whole wall with all types of succulents.  The past few years my wife and I have been picking the offshoots and plugging them in the little nooks and crannies between the rocks.  The little offshoots take hold and before long we have one big one and a lot of little offshoots!

 

 

 

This year to our amazement, some of the succulents flowered!

I really enjoy the flowerlike appearance of succulents, their color variations, and how easy they are to grow and reproduce!

Navajo Taco Recipe

As far back as I can remember, while growing up on the Navajo Reservation, Navajo Tacos have always been the bomb!  I remember my grandmother making the frybread on an open fire pit.  Frybread alone has always been a favorite of mine.  If any of you have never tried a Navajo Taco, your missing out!  The Navajos pride themselves on their frybread.  Most Navajos will say frybread is not frybread without Bluebird flour.  Bluebird flour is a brand of flour made out of Cortez, Colorado.  But, for an urban Native American like me, I have to go with what’s in the local supermarket.

When I was young, I took advantage of my grandmother and mother making the frybread.  It wasn’t until I got married and moved away to the Northwest that I first encountered my hunger for Navajo Frybread, let alone Navajo Tacos!  My wife is Caucasion and therefore, I called my mother and asked her to give the recipe and instructions to my wife, so she can know how to make the frybread.  Much to my surprise, my mother said, “No!”….”What?!”  I responded.  My mother said, “Your wife is not the one that is Navajo, you are the Navajo and therefore, you should be the one that should learn!”   My wife agreed, so I wrote the ingredients/instructions down and made my first attempt at making Navajo Frybread.  My frybread was not best looking frybread at first.  It took me trial and error to understand what consistency of dough worked the best for me.  But, over the years, I have perfected my Navajo Frybread making skills and can call myself an expert frybread maker!  I am thankful to my mother for stopping me in my tracks and getting me to realize that “yes”, I am Navajo and should learn the ways of my people!

My wife and I are a team when we make Navajo Tacos.  She makes the meat topping and gets all the ingredients ready, while I make the frybread.  Sometimes she turns the frybread for me, while I get the dough ready to fry.  Our team approach makes things go faster.  By the way, little hands always try to take pieces of frybread before we even get to the table.  Our children love it!!

My wife and I are all about eating healthy, so we have tweaked our own recipe by using olive oil, ground turkey for the meat topping, fat free sour cream, etc…  I also triple the recipe, especially for a family of six!

One thing about cooking frybread, please be careful with the hot oil.   If you have small children, make sure they do not stand too close to the hot oil…just a safety precaution.  I have many friends that have asked me for my recipe, well here it is!  I hope you enjoy making your Navajo Tacos and tasting a little bit of Navajoland!!  Leave a comment and let me know how it all turned out!   —Matt

Frybread Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 handfulls of powdered milk

warm water

cooking oil or lard

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Once dry ingredients are mixed, begin adding warm water as you are mixing it together with your hand.  Keep adding warm water until dough is soft, pliable and a little sticky.  If you added too much water you can always add  more flour to get it to the right consistency.  Cover dough with a towel, plastic wrap, etc…  Let dough rise for 20 minutes.  Those of you who bake bread, this dough will not rise to the extent of dough that has yeast in it.  Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t rise as much.

While dough is rising, begin heating your oil or lard in a cast iron skillet or pan.  Pour oil to depth of about 1 to 2 inches in skillet/pan.  Once oil is hot, test it with a small piece of dough.  If the dough sizzles, floats on top of the oil and turns a golden color, your oil is hot and ready.

Most Navajos usually slap the dough out making it perfectly round before frying it, therefore eliminating the need for a flat work surface and a rolling pin.  First, take a small piece of dough not quite the size of a tennis ball and not as small as  a golf ball.  Roll it in a ball then mash it down flat.  Take your rolling pin and begin rolling it out flat in a round circle.  Make sure to have some flour on your flat surface to avoid the dough sticking to the flat surface and your rolling pin.  Once the dough is rolled out, you can work the edges a little by stretching it out at the same time maintaining it’s round shape.  It’s okay to have it stretched thin. Then gently place the dough into the hot oil and watch it fry.  Make sure to put a small hole in the dough as it is frying, as it may create a large bubble.  I usually create the hole with my tongs.  You will see what I mean when you initially put the dough in the oil.  Some people use a long fork, but I like to use my BBQ tongs to turn my frybread.  Depending on how hot your oil is, you may have to quickly turn your frybread.  Make sure it is lightly golden, then turn it over.  Check to see if it is down.  Take out frybread making sure to tap off any excess oil, then place on plate and cover it to keep warm.  Next, repeat this process until your dough is gone.

Meat topping:

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey

Pinto beans (You can make the beans yourself or use a can of pinto beans)

Other ingredients can be sauteed onions mixed with your choice of spices, etc…  There is not really a recipe for this part, you basically add what you want to the main ingredients of the ground beef or ground turkey and pinto beans.

Other toppings:

Grated cheese

Lettuce

Tomatoes

Green onions

Avacados

Olives

Sour Cream

Any other topping of your choosing!

Dinner Time:

When building your taco, first place the frybread on the plate, then begin putting the toppings on top to your choosing!  To avoid having to cut the frybread up with a knife, I like to pull the frybread apart in small pieces, then add my toppings.  But, eat it the way you want.  Enjoy!!

Videos of the Lamanite Generation/Living Legends 40th Reunion!!

Here are videos that my wife took of the Lamanite Generation/Living Legends 40th Reunion.   I am posting this for those that attended and those that did not attend.  As you will see, we all had a lot of fun!!  I have listed these videos as unlisted on YouTube.  You can still copy it and paste it if you want a copy for yourself, but anyone that wants it will not be able to find it on YouTube, they will have to get it from my blog.  It’s from our flip video camera, so some shots may not be the best far away…sometimes a little shakey…and you will also get to know the back of some people’s heads really well!  Enjoy!

Here are videos of the luncheon.  As you can see, we get to know the nice lady’s hair on left side of the screen very well!  We met her but I forgot her name.  She was a family member of an alumni.

 

These videos are of the fireside.  This was awesome, powerful and very spiritual!

 

These are videos of the kids workshop.  I only have it of the Polynesian Section because my kids got shy after this and really really wanted to go to the BYU Bookstore!

 

These videos are of the alumni showcase!  Very fun to watch!!  Can you believe all us oldtimers can still dance!!

 

This last video is of the morningside.

 

I hope you all enjoyed watching these videos!!