Turning the tide of assimilation (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Turning the tide of assimilation

© Indian Country Today November 25, 2005. All Rights Reserved
Posted: November 25, 2005
by: Brenda Norrell / Indian Country Today
http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096412003

[photo inset - Click to Enlarge Brenda Norrell Indian Country --
Executive Director of the National Congress of American Indians
Jacqueline Johnson and Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills led the
fitness walk during NCAI's annual convention in Tulsa.]

Speakers urge preservation of languages, promotion of self-worth and
fitness

TULSA, Okla. - During the National Congress of American Indians' 62nd
annual convention, Ryan Wilson, Lakota and president of the National
Indian Education Association, and Red Lake Ojibwe Chairman Floyd
Jourdain Jr., urged Indian country to make children and teenagers a
priority.

 Praising NCAI for its focus on youths, Wilson said Indian young
peoples' self-worth must be defended and bi-cultural and relevant
education must turn the tides of assimilation. He stressed the
importance of creating venues and educational opportunities to preserve
Native languages.

 ''We have a chance here to be the most educated people in America, but
that will not happen without preserving Native languages. These
languages are leaving us at a rate that is staggering.''

 Wilson praised the Akwesasne Freedom School, Cherokee Language
Revitalization Project and the beauty of children in Alaska who speak
their Native languages. In Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico, many students
are fluent in English, Spanish and Jemez.

 Urging the preservation of indigenous languages, Wilson said cowards
ask if an idea is safe, while vanity prompts one to ask if it is
popular. Still others question whether an idea represents politics.

 ''You can't ask if it is safe, if it is popular, or if it is politics;
you can't ask that. We have to ask if it is right.''

 Speaking during NCAI's general assembly, Jourdain said the great
tragedy in March of 2005 devastated the community. Referring to the
shooting deaths of students and adults in Red Lake, he said it is now
time to work hard to empower Indian youths across Indian country.

 ''They are really out there hurting,'' Jourdain said. ''We need to look
at our Native youths and put them in the forefront,'' he said.

 When the crisis occurred, he said, support poured in from across the
nation. But when the counselors, news reporters and everyone else went
home, it was the Indian people who maintained their support.

 ''Young people out there are saying, 'You need to listen to us,'''
Jourdain said. ''Let's put our money where our mouth is and take this
to a new level.''

 Jourdain showed a video of the ''Honor the Youth Spiritual Run,'' which
took place in August. Red Lake youths joined other Native youths,
running from Red Lake in Minnesota to Standing Rock Sioux Nation,
located on both sides of the South Dakota and North Dakota border, a
community with a high number of teen suicides.

 During the youth run, the Women of Nations organization, with the hope
of saving lives, kicked off their toll-free number, (877) 209-1266, for
Natives - especially young people - in need of someone to talk to who
would listen.

 One of the highlights of NCAI's annual convention was the fitness walk,
an opportunity for a brisk morning walk with Olympic gold medalist Billy
Mills, outgoing NCAI President Tex Hall and singer Jana.

 Beneath Tulsa's warm sunny skies, Hall kicked off the fitness walk for
the third annual National Health and Fitness Day, sponsored in
conjunction with Nike Inc. and the IHS.

 Hall spoke of the need for exercise and diet for healthy lives. ''We
are walking the talk and it feels great. Each step is bringing us
closer to our goal.

 ''By eating our traditional food and turning off our televisions, we
can make an example every day.''

 Jana told the crowd, ''We can't exercise and then just eat McDonald's
every day,'' adding that healthy foods taste good. She offered tips for
eating healthy, including drinking lots of water and eating salads,
while staying away from creamy salad dressings and using balsamic
vinegar instead.

 ''If I ate McDonald's every day, I don't think I could raise a leg; I
couldn't dance.''

 Mills, Lakota, told the walkers, ''The signing of our treaties was a
defining moment for the people and the nations.''

 Mills said after capturing the Olympic medal and setting records for
seven of the fastest times ran in the world, he began to have problems.
He knows now those were the symptoms of low blood sugar. But, he said,
at the time the news media blamed his problems on low self-esteem and
poverty.

 During the general assembly, Dr. Charles Grim, a member of the Cherokee
Nation and the director of IHS, spoke to NCAI concerning health and
disease. Grim pointed out that mental health issues are being
recognized more than ever for their role in disease, as evidenced by
teen suicides.

 Further, Grim said recent surveys show that 40 percent of American
Indians and Alaska Natives using IHS are overweight or obese.
Disabilities also afflict American Indians in disproportionate numbers,
with 25 percent of American Indians affected.