CPN Julie - People of the Place of the Fire

Short: 1. Family members, if you're not enrolled, get enrolled. 2. In the 2020 Census, set yourself of the householder (head of household) and proudly mark the box for American Indian, and select the CPN tribe. 3. If you get something called the American Community Survey, complete it and return it to the Census Bureau. Long: I promised myself I would avoid just posting links to information, and I would do my best to synthesize information from any other site.  But here I go. Importance of Census Our tribal rolls have 35,000 people, but the small-sample American Community Survey only estimates 1,400 members. Huge difference. Make a difference.

What’s not to like about Pow Wow? So much beauty and life.  And fry bread. So here’s a fun five-second time lapse video of Grand Entry And a pic of me and Carly, a CPN sister who lives in Tillamook

I realize my posting pace has slowed, but I have been a bit busy. PowWow at Grand Ronde this weekend, Siletz last weekend, and this week I will be at a retirees gathering Tuesday to Friday with sketchy wi-fi. Observations from Grand Ronde: Saturday evening went very long. Very very long.  Evening sessions are usually 7pm - 10pm.  This one ended about 12:30 in the morning.  (I guess it can be even longer. One woman said she was once at one until 5 in the morning.) There were a lot of important things happening.  For one, the time between afternoon and evening sessions is usually 4pm - 7pm.  The afternoon went a bit long, and the “between-time” was scheduled to used for a women’s all-around competition for two hours.  And went long.  The evening 7pm start ended up being about 8:00.  And there were two dedications and giveaways for individuals who had walked on (passed away).  And there was a very important and moving presentation on Mur...

I’m so excited.  My naming ceremony will be Saturday, September 14, 9am.  Let me know if you’re coming, please. No, I won’t know my name ahead of time. Our District 8 representative, Dave Carney, will perform the ceremony. We get to have a fire in my backyard!  (It may have to be set inside a barbecue.) Robert and Brooke will be my sponsors (explained in the prior post, significant people to me). There may be two or more other people from the area who will receive their names at the same time. We will have some food following the ceremony.   And maybe, maybe, our drum group will play some songs on our beautiful new drum. Cho gmowen.  Keep repeating that for me.  No raining. Dave had sent me a questionnaire to help in coming up with a name. Work/volunteer experiences, good/bad fit; talents; siblings; favorite food, weather, color, animals, flowers, music, time of day; what two books on deserted island. Plus known Potawatomi family history ...

Are you and your birth children in the birth lineage of Richard Pitcher? Are you enrolled in Citizen Potawatomi Nation? If Yes - make sure to proudly mark it on your census form next year. If not, please do it. It’s fairly easy. Find the forms at https://www.potawatomi.org/services/citizenship/  or call them at  (800) 880-9880  and they will get you started. Why enroll? 1) it leaves the door open for your future generations to enroll. If you die before being enrolled, your children and their children cannot be CPN. 2) it makes it easier to learn bits of information about our tribe over time. You can join the CPN Facebook page , the genealogy page , the language page , our District 8 page (you could have been at the class last spring to make your own hand drum).  Read the HowNiKan monthly newsletter (print or on-line). 3) there are some monetary benefits. College tuition assistance. Access to Indian Health Services. Funeral benefit when you “walk on.” 4...

Busy couple of days, Saturday was PowWow at Siletz (near Newport). I was sorry I forgot my really pretty, white feather fan, but here’s a picture at end of day. And here’s a picture of Robert and other veterans carrying Eagle staffs. Go to PowWows! There’s one August 16 - 18 in Grand Ronde!

I hope to have a naming ceremony sometime before October 1 to receive my Native name. Everyone is welcome to attend (at my home) and I will publicize the date as soon as I know. What happens in the ceremony?  I haven’t seen one, but this is directly from our CPN web site: An aspect of traditional Potawatomi culture, the naming ceremony, has reemerged in recent years. Traditionally, Potawatomi believe that when a child is born, the Creator cannot see their face. In order to show the child to the Creator, the tribe would have a ceremony and the child was given a name. Centuries of forced removals and interactions with missionaries curbed the practice, but in an effort to strengthen our tribal bonds, members of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation have conducted several ceremonies in recent years. Before a naming ceremony takes place, an individual seeking to be named must find two sponsors, a man and a woman, who will go through the ceremony with them. The sponsors are like godpare...

Yes, I have done sweat lodge.  Once.  And I plan to attend again. And I recommend it. When I was invited, the message was very respectful, “I want you to know that this is a very protected space, no creepy folks, no nakedness, I know everyone attending and I can vouch for each one.” The space is on Cowlitz tribal land and there is much symbolism in the layout. The structure is a dome wigwam; the number of ribs (five) is symbolic; heavy blankets make the walls; the opening is to the east (the direction of sunrise; the direction of new beginnings); there is an ‘umbilical’ line to the east of the opening that you should not cross because it leads to the fire where the stones — and the stones are the ancestors — are being heated. Since I’ve only been once, I can only describe how this program was run.  I have been told that another type, a “warrior sweat” is a crazy situation where they bring in a ton of stones (like 40) at a time and pour a whole bucket of water on... ...

The three sisters: corn, pole beans, and squash.  A starch, a protein, and vitamins. A pole (corn) for the beans to climb, a provider of nitrogen for the soil (beans), and the squash gives three benefits: 1) a weed suppressant, squash have very large leaves; 2) an insect repellant, spiny stems; 3) water retention, those large leaves shading the soil to reduce evaporation. They all attract pollinators. An Iroquois legend is that corn, bean, and squash were three inseparable sisters given to the people by the Great Spirit. Here’s our Three Sisters area in the garden (August 6): So if you’re looking for natural, chemical-free gardening, go back in time to the three sisters.  Modern farming calls it companion planting. It maintains high yields, promotes healthy soil, suppresses weeds, attracts pollinators, promotes genetic diversity, and requires low water input – all without harmful chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Dewegen: the heartbeat De - heart We - sound Gen - thing I mentioned a couple of posts ago that the drum is sacred.  (Again, we don’t worship the drum...) The drum is the voice, the spirit, the heartbeat of Mother Earth and all our ancestors.  The drum educates us in our songs, heals, honors and celebrates. Our small group of four people who just started playing together traveled to Tillamook recently. One of our CPN elders is at end-of-life; we first played for her daughter (who faces her own health issues), then played just two songs at the elder’s home:  Spirit Bear and a woman’s honor song. Many tribes don’t allow women on the big drum, but they can surround the men and sing. Our tribe has that tradition, but we have talked with the cultural folks in Shawnee and they understand we will generally follow the Pacific NW traditions in our travels. Robert and I just finished making a spirit drum (or PowWow drum); ours is 27” diameter. At different points we ble...

Yesterday was Eagle, so let’s cover Turtle today. https://www.potawatomidictionary.com/Dictionary/Word/4540  Follow the link and hit the audio buttons to hear “mshike” We are Eagle clan, but I was really hoping it would be Turtle.  Turtles have long lives! In the old clan systems, Turtle and Fish clans were responsible for caring for earth and water, making sure natural resources were in harmony with the people. Thirteen moons on the turtle’s back — see them?  Not only that, but the smaller scallops around the edge of the shell number 28 — 28 days in a moon month.

I  want to clarify what I see with the word ‘sacred,’ as used in our stories.  Some people mistakenly think that we worship all things labeled sacred, and that there are multiple gods - not true.  My little granddaughter even asked me, “What about the rain god?”  I don’t know where she got that idea, but I told her we only have Creator, with lots of different words for that concept, like Mnedo (spirit), Shemendo (great spirit), Mamogosnan (father of us all), God.  Sacred, whether Eagle, the four medicines, or others are due the highest respect. We give thanks to them, but we don’t ‘worship’ them, if that distinction makes sense. For example, the drum is sacred; it is blessed with tobacco before being played to welcome the voice and heartbeat of our ancestors. With that in mind, a story about the importance of Eagle (directly from potawatomi.org) Long ago Creator, Mamogosnan (our great father), became angry with mankind because they  did not live i...

I mentioned sweetgrass yesterday as one of the four medicines, so this is a good time to expand on that. During ceremonies, sage is smudged first to cleanse and clear negativity; sweetgrass is smudged to bring positivity. Some say the three braids represent peace, love, and harmony. Dr. Kimmerer related that when we braid sweetgrass, we are braiding Mother Earth’s hair, and we can feel Her love for us, and show our love for Her, much as when a mother braids her child’s hair. Here is another version: SWEETGRASS We  burn sweetgrass, a kindness medicine with a sweet gentle aroma when we light it. 21 strands to make a braid The first 7 strands represent those 7 generations behind us: Our parents Our grandparents 7 generations behind us, who we are and what we are is because of them. They've brushed and made the trails we have been walking up until now; the trails have been destroyed. The time has come to heal and connect with our ancestors. They paid a tremendous price for ...

The medicine wheel represents many concepts but overall represents circles of life and connections. Starting at the top and going clockwise * The four directions: North, East, South, West.   [I’ll just plant a seed here that in some discussions about directions, there are seven, which add above, below, and center] * Stages of life: elders, children, youth, adult  (Yup, I’m elder - older than 55) * Medicines: sweetgrass, tobacco, cedar, sage (used in ceremonies, gifts, cleansing, healing, protection) (Wishkpemishkos, Sema, Kishki, Wabshkebyek). More on smudging another day. * Seasons: winter, spring, summer, fall * Elements: wind, fire, earth, water  East is the direction of new beginnings.  Grand Entry at Pow Wow is through the eastern door and circles clockwise.  The pipe with tobacco (before sweatlodge and other ceremonies) is raised to the east first, then south-west-north, then passed clockwise.  Keywords: wheel...

In Citizen Potawatomi, we are connected to certain families, those that received land allotments with the move from Kansas to Oklahoma.  We are of the La Clair family (also spelled LaClair or LaClaire).  We are EAGLE clan. A story on the importance of Eagle (and the other clans) another day. ”You are here”   ^ Your mother or maybe your grandmother or great-gma (Bette, Judy, Sharon, Susan, Lynda)  ^ Grandpa Dick (Richard Leroy Pitcher, 1914 - 1982) born in Pendleton, Oregon  ^ Bert Royal Pitcher (1893 - 1949) born in Kansas  ^ Ida Louise (DuChene) Pitcher (1876 - 1961) born in Kansas and John Milton Pitcher Ida is the one who shows on your CPN enrollment card  ^ Zoie (La Clair) DeChene (circa 1858 - ??) and Benjamin DeChene or DuChene  ^ Peter Oliver La Claire (circa 1837) and Mary Adelaide (Darveau) La Claire (circa 1841)  ^  Note some of the dates in here may be out of whack! Pierre LaClair (circa...

There are many versions of Sky Woman; this one is relayed by Dr. Kimmerer based on a Chippewa story told to her. She fell like a maple seed, pirouetting on an autumn breeze. A column of light streamed from a hole in the Skyworld, marking her path where only darkness had been before. It took her a long time to fall. In fear, or maybe h ope, she clutched a bundle tightly in her hand .  Hurtling downward, she saw only dark water below. But in that emptiness there were many eyes gazing up at the sudden shaft of light. They saw there a small object, a mere dust mote in the beam. As it grew closer, they could see that it was a woman, arms outstretched, long black hair billowing behind as she spiraled toward them.  The geese nodded at one another and rose together from the water in a wave of goose music. She felt the beat of their wings as they flew beneath to break her fall. Far from the only home she'd ever known, she caught her breath at the warm embrace of so...

During the time the United States was born, our historical families were located in the Great Lakes area, Michigan-Indiana-Illinois from about today’s Detroit south around Lake Michigan.  (If you are interested in much older history, the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa people were at one point one Indian nation,  originally East Coast, into what is now Canada, and bands spread from there. You might also hear the group referred to as Algonquin-speaking, or Ojibwe, but I’m not going into that detail.) Like so many Native Tribes, our people had a Trail of Tears (or Trail of Death), a forced walk in 1838  across Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and finally Kansas, forced by soldiers with rifles riding horseback. We lost 41 people, mostly the very young and the elderly. Beginning in about 1861 with yet another treaty, when Kansas became a state, our band was both pressured to move again (railroads wanted the land) and looked to take control of their destiny after so many govern...

Bozho ndenwemagek (hello all my relations). Last summer I was half-listening to a program on NPR, featuring a guest talking about botany from a Native perspective. But I was fully listening once I heard the guest say, “In my native language, Potawatomi, our names for plants carry animation and also carry the respect our ancestors showed...” Holey moley, out of all the tribes across this continent our was mentioned! And not just Potawatomi, but Citizen Band. So I checked out the electronic book from my library, Braiding Sweetgrass by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. And I have since bought myself a paper copy. If you’re not hooked at the beginning with the story of Sky Woman then perhaps it’s not your path to the knowledge which will sing to you, but I’m sure something else will. I plan to share the Sky Woman story in tomorrow’s post.  And I expect to draw more blog entry ideas from her. Once you find your self curious and open to knowing more, someone will cross your path to help g...

Sometimes you’ll hear a conflict between “more-Indian” folks and “fair-skinned” folks.  Here is the word from our tribal chairman John “Rocky” Barrett ( Keweoge , He Leads Them Home), as reported in the May 2019 issue of our newsletter the Hownikan : “Please remember that tribal membership is determined by descendancy, not the fiction perpetrated by the federal government as ‘blood degree.’ You are a Citizen Potawatomi Indian by federal law and Tribal law.  If you are a descendant of the 45 or so families that formed a new tribe in 1861 in Kansas, you are a Citizen Potawatomi. It is not about your looks. It is about your legal dual citizenship and your heritage under a Tribal government recognized by Congress in over 40 different treaties. The United States only makes treaties with other ‘sovereign nations,’ hence our constitutional status and ability to govern our own people and lands. Your heritage belongs to you. Your Tribe was created to help each other as blood kin. We ...