Native Spotlight:
Wings of America

Last Month:
Scholar Sherwin Bitsui




   

(Left Photo: Joe Spring for The New York Times)   Chantel Hunt, 16, training for the national cross-country championships near her home on the Navajo reservation.
(Right Photo: Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times)   Dillon Shije, 16, does his distance-running training at dawn and at dusk, after attending school an hour’s drive from his home.

WINGS OF AMERICA
This month we are recognizing another organization, Wings of America, for their twenty year dedication to encouraging Native youth to compete in long distance running and all the benefits that come from that training and self-discipline. Wings of America is a program of The Earth Circle Foundation, Inc. – more information on them can also be found at: www.wingsofamerica.org

Read the New York Times article about Wings of America: www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/sports/othersports/16runners.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin

FRANCES MANUEL
The late Tohono O'odham elder Frances Manuel is a wonderful example of the difference one person can make.    www.azstarnet.com/metro/139073.php










Science Award
Garrett Yazzie, an 8th grader from Pinon, Arizona is one of 40 national science awards and the first Native student to win.   A terrific story.     http://www.azcentral.com/

ALSO an article in School Discovery Magazine: http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral/dysc/finalists /profiles/yazzie_garrett.html

Also written up in ASU news: http://www.poly.asu.edu/news/2005/10/04/


(Click logo to go to AAIP website. www.aaip.com)

This quarter we are recognizing not an individual, but an organization: The Association of American Indian Physicians.
AAIP is dedicated to pursuing excellence in Native American health care by promoting education in the medical disciplines, honoring traditional healing practices, focusing on cross cultural training between western and traditional medicine, and providing assistance to Indian communities.



‘Rezologist' uses comedy and tragedy to confront Native issues
By JODI RAVE - Lee Enterprises - 8/22/04
HELENA — Welcome to Rezology 101, a short course that mixes comedy and tragedy to explain the complexities of life in Indian Country.   It's taught by Chance Rush, a young motivational speaker and self-proclaimed rezologist who has tried to inspire more than 20,000 American Indian youth in the past five years.

This time, he's speaking at conference on race in Montana. He'll make the crowd laugh, he'll stun them silent and, in the end, he'll deliver a message of hope.   ... If he's proven his ability to glide across dirt trails and rubber tracks, he's quickened his step by captivating crowds with his wit while taking on such serious topics as suicide, dead relatives, single parent homes, illiteracy and divorce.

Despite not being able to read until a sophomore in college, Rush has become a master of the spoken word, delivering each syllable in deep, resonant tones.
His message: Everyone has a God-given gift.   Find it and use it for the well-being of everybody.

"I have seen other individuals —trained educators— who have not been able to keep the attention of the audience," said Henrietta Mann, a retired professor and Montana State University special assistant to the president.
"He is confident about his identity and as wise as a grandfather could be. He gave me a great deal of hope in our youth that they too will develop that sense of identity and know that   —just as Chance—   that we live in a different world and that we have to create bridges of understanding between and among cultures."
No matter the subject, his stories share common elements.   Strong women.   The Creator.   His children, Abby, 5, and Caden, 2.

Read the complete article online in The Independent Record, helenair.com online.
Chance Rush's website: www.chancerush.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Gregg McVicar, of Tlingit (Alaska Native) heritage, an award-winning producer, has worked for thirty years in the public radio industry, producing 46 national programs for public radio, including the critically acclaimed 13-part series "The Privacy Project: Personal Privacy in the Information Age." He is also the producer of Earthsongs, which broadcast Native music which you can listen to in realPlayer via AIROS or on your radio at KNBA with Window Media Player.

link: www.airos.org/earthsongs.html

Also, for more information on the history of Native American journalism go to: http://newswatch.sfsu.edu/journal/su2002/050602moments.html


* * * * * * * * * * * * * *



Peter Littlehat, a Navajo Environmental Engineer. In December he received the University of Arizona's Centenial Achievement Graduate Award. Read more: http://ali.opi.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/1/wa /Engineering?wosid=xn52OC6lNekugYrxRQbOLM

The following article appeared in the Arizona Daily Star on Dec. 16, 2002: UA HONORS SIX STUDENTS WITH TOP AWARD

By Inger Sandal
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The UA is honoring several students this week for exceptional achievement, including an engineering student who plans to return home to the Navajo Nation to help the environment and rural families. Peter Littlehat is one of six students who will receive a Centennial Achievement Award, given each winter to recognize achievement of minority or economically disadvantaged students. Littlehat, who said he is humbled by the honor, will receive a master's degree in chemical and environmental engineering in May.

John Herrington, Chickasaw astronaut, is the first American Indian astronaut. A brilliant and talented role model for aspiring Native scientists. For more information on Herrington: www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/herrington.html
For more information on the mission: www.nasa.gov/newsinfo/herrington.html
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Naomi and Peter Emerge as Team to Watch in 2006
For more information: http://indiancountry.com/?1014393652

      Naomi Lang, a member of the Karuk tribe, is the first American Indian woman to compete in the Winter Olympics.

      "I'm so proud," she said Saturday after she and Peter Tchernyshev won their fourth ice dance title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.   "I can't even describe the feelings I have to be the first Native American.  I hope everyone's proud of me."

      Lang is Karuk on her father's side.   She said she is a tribal member and her heritage has been an important part of her life since she was a girl.  You can read more about her at:
www.figureskatersonline.com/lang-tchernyshev/
*Photo by Leah Adams   www.leahadams.com


HOME    TOP


Bahti Indian Arts

TUCSON:   4330 North Campbell, Suite 73,Tucson, Arizona 85718     520 577 0290
SANTA FE:   119 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501     505-983-4542

Indian, Arts, Crafts, jewelry, silver, pottery, Katsinas, Kachinas, Rugs, Blankets, Weaving, Painting, sandcast, Sandpainting, books, Hopi, Apache, Navajo, Zuni,Tohono O'odham, Indian, Arts, Crafts, jewelry, silver, pottery, Katsinas, Kachinas, Rugs, Blankets, Weaving, Painting, sandcast, Sandpainting, books, Hopi, Apache, Navajo, Zuni,Tohono O'odham, Indian, Arts, Crafts, jewelry, silver, pottery, Katsinas, Kachinas, Rugs, Blankets, Weaving, Painting, sandcast, Sandpainting, books, overlay, textiles, concha belts, Northwest Coast, Loloma, Scholder, RC Gorman, baskets