Post by blackcrowheart on Sept 10, 2006 20:54:43 GMT -5
Honoring a Spiritual Balance Tuesday, September 05, 2006
www.freelancenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=193789
<http://www.freelancenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=193789> For
California Indians and Native peoples all over the world, Indian Canyon
provides a refuge for ceremony, healing and cultural rediscovery.
"We have many ceremonies that take place here," said Ann Marie Sayers, a
Mutsun Ohlone and tribal chairwoman of the Indian Canyon Nation. "Indian
Canyon is the only federally recognized Indian territory for 350 miles
along coastal California."
Indian Canyon is located west of Hollister down a dirt path off Cienega
Road. On Saturday, it had one of its larger events, an Ohlone community
gathering. Ohlone people from all over the region and the country came
to Indian Canyon to undertake an Honoring the Elders ceremony as well as
the traditional Ohlone Dance and the Bear Dance ceremonies.
"Understanding the wisdom of the elders and honoring that is very
important in our society," Sayers said. "It allows people to stay on
track because when one is unbalanced or misguided, they know the elders
will always be there to share the wisdom with them that allows them to
get back on track again."
In the ceremony, the elders were first honored with gifts and songs.
Then the youth, age 12 and younger, were honored with gifts and shook
each elder's hand.
"It was very beautiful," Sayers said. "It wasn't planned; it's just the
way it unfolded."
Sayers explained that it is important for the youth to know that the
elders' wisdom can help them with their troubles.
"The youth know they only need to ask and the elders will share that
wisdom," she said.
One of the elders honored in the ceremony was Ruth Orta, who has spent
the last 20 years learning about her Ohlone heritage. The Ohlone are the
native inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Area. Orta grew up in the
Newark/Fremont area.
"I knew nothing about my culture when I was a child. I just knew I was
an Indian," Orta said. " I didn't know anything about the way our people
lived."
Orta said her mother was raised in Mission San Jose at the Dominican
Convent and Orphanage, so their knowledge of their culture was limited.
"All we knew is that we were Indians from the area and to be proud of
who we were," Orta said. "So we were."
It wasn't until later in life that Orta began to rediscover her Indian
heritage.
"I was 50-something years old when I started to learn, and my mom wasn't
here for me to tell her that I'm learning," said Orta. "So everything I
do now is to honor my mom."
Orta and her family are involved in the Ohlone Intern program at the
Coyote Hills Regional Park, where they are learning about their
heritage.
"We're learning our culture, learning how they lived and what they did,"
Orta said. "I do the acorn soup, which I am learning from the elders
that know how to do it."
For Orta, being and elder and coming to Indian Canyon is important in
passing on the Ohlone traditions to her children.
"When something like this happens it's really an honor. It's an honor to
be here and to be an elder," Orta said. "To share it with the kids
nowadays and to keep it going is what we're all about."
As well as honoring the elders, another important tradition kept alive
Saturday evening was the Bear Dance, an ancient healing ceremony that is
held annually at Indian Canyon.
"The preparation for the bears - what they go through - is quite
incredible," Sayers said. "Usually they go up in the hills for four days
for the Vision Quest. They're praying for their ancestors to help with
healing of peoples that need healing. It's just an extraordinary,
powerful Bear Dance."
The ceremonial dance begins after dark and continues through the night.
Dancers wear bear skins and dance as bears around a sacred fire and give
blessings to those present and to the world.
"I came to the Bear Dance last year," Peter Montelonga of Georgia said.
"I believe in their medicine now. I didn't think it would have any
effect on me, but the dance proved me wrong."
Montelonga, also an elder, became involved with Indian Canyon when he
found out that he was of Native American descent.
"I told them if the good Lord was willing I would come back and that's
where I am right now," he said.
Community events like the Honoring of Elders and the Bear Dance help to
preserve the culture and tradition of a people whose roots have been
torn from beneath them.
"This is all about community and cultural revitalization for people who
have suffered tremendously from genocide and ethnocide. This is a
healing place for that to occur," San Francisco University professor
Philip Klasky said. "Tonight a very special event, the Bear Dance, is
again a continuation of the healing process."
Klasky is with San Francisco University's American Indian Studies
department, which works with Sayers and Indian Canyon. Klasky said that
while community events like the one on Saturday are a part of the
healing process for Native peoples, there is still progress to be made
in educating the public about those indigenous to this country.
"There are 562 recognized tribes, but they are not recognized. They are
not recognized by the public, they are not recognized in education and
they are not recognized in the media," he said. "Often in the media what
we see are negative stereotypes, and that has not only a negative effect
on the population as a whole because ignorance is dangerous, it has a
negative effect on native people who are alive and well and struggling
to this day because of the history of this country's relationship to
them."
The desire for recognition is apparent in the elders' Words of Wisdom,
which are oral histories on display in Indian Canyon's information
office. They echo a common message: "We are still here."
www.freelancenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=193789
<http://www.freelancenews.com/news/contentview.asp?c=193789> For
California Indians and Native peoples all over the world, Indian Canyon
provides a refuge for ceremony, healing and cultural rediscovery.
"We have many ceremonies that take place here," said Ann Marie Sayers, a
Mutsun Ohlone and tribal chairwoman of the Indian Canyon Nation. "Indian
Canyon is the only federally recognized Indian territory for 350 miles
along coastal California."
Indian Canyon is located west of Hollister down a dirt path off Cienega
Road. On Saturday, it had one of its larger events, an Ohlone community
gathering. Ohlone people from all over the region and the country came
to Indian Canyon to undertake an Honoring the Elders ceremony as well as
the traditional Ohlone Dance and the Bear Dance ceremonies.
"Understanding the wisdom of the elders and honoring that is very
important in our society," Sayers said. "It allows people to stay on
track because when one is unbalanced or misguided, they know the elders
will always be there to share the wisdom with them that allows them to
get back on track again."
In the ceremony, the elders were first honored with gifts and songs.
Then the youth, age 12 and younger, were honored with gifts and shook
each elder's hand.
"It was very beautiful," Sayers said. "It wasn't planned; it's just the
way it unfolded."
Sayers explained that it is important for the youth to know that the
elders' wisdom can help them with their troubles.
"The youth know they only need to ask and the elders will share that
wisdom," she said.
One of the elders honored in the ceremony was Ruth Orta, who has spent
the last 20 years learning about her Ohlone heritage. The Ohlone are the
native inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Area. Orta grew up in the
Newark/Fremont area.
"I knew nothing about my culture when I was a child. I just knew I was
an Indian," Orta said. " I didn't know anything about the way our people
lived."
Orta said her mother was raised in Mission San Jose at the Dominican
Convent and Orphanage, so their knowledge of their culture was limited.
"All we knew is that we were Indians from the area and to be proud of
who we were," Orta said. "So we were."
It wasn't until later in life that Orta began to rediscover her Indian
heritage.
"I was 50-something years old when I started to learn, and my mom wasn't
here for me to tell her that I'm learning," said Orta. "So everything I
do now is to honor my mom."
Orta and her family are involved in the Ohlone Intern program at the
Coyote Hills Regional Park, where they are learning about their
heritage.
"We're learning our culture, learning how they lived and what they did,"
Orta said. "I do the acorn soup, which I am learning from the elders
that know how to do it."
For Orta, being and elder and coming to Indian Canyon is important in
passing on the Ohlone traditions to her children.
"When something like this happens it's really an honor. It's an honor to
be here and to be an elder," Orta said. "To share it with the kids
nowadays and to keep it going is what we're all about."
As well as honoring the elders, another important tradition kept alive
Saturday evening was the Bear Dance, an ancient healing ceremony that is
held annually at Indian Canyon.
"The preparation for the bears - what they go through - is quite
incredible," Sayers said. "Usually they go up in the hills for four days
for the Vision Quest. They're praying for their ancestors to help with
healing of peoples that need healing. It's just an extraordinary,
powerful Bear Dance."
The ceremonial dance begins after dark and continues through the night.
Dancers wear bear skins and dance as bears around a sacred fire and give
blessings to those present and to the world.
"I came to the Bear Dance last year," Peter Montelonga of Georgia said.
"I believe in their medicine now. I didn't think it would have any
effect on me, but the dance proved me wrong."
Montelonga, also an elder, became involved with Indian Canyon when he
found out that he was of Native American descent.
"I told them if the good Lord was willing I would come back and that's
where I am right now," he said.
Community events like the Honoring of Elders and the Bear Dance help to
preserve the culture and tradition of a people whose roots have been
torn from beneath them.
"This is all about community and cultural revitalization for people who
have suffered tremendously from genocide and ethnocide. This is a
healing place for that to occur," San Francisco University professor
Philip Klasky said. "Tonight a very special event, the Bear Dance, is
again a continuation of the healing process."
Klasky is with San Francisco University's American Indian Studies
department, which works with Sayers and Indian Canyon. Klasky said that
while community events like the one on Saturday are a part of the
healing process for Native peoples, there is still progress to be made
in educating the public about those indigenous to this country.
"There are 562 recognized tribes, but they are not recognized. They are
not recognized by the public, they are not recognized in education and
they are not recognized in the media," he said. "Often in the media what
we see are negative stereotypes, and that has not only a negative effect
on the population as a whole because ignorance is dangerous, it has a
negative effect on native people who are alive and well and struggling
to this day because of the history of this country's relationship to
them."
The desire for recognition is apparent in the elders' Words of Wisdom,
which are oral histories on display in Indian Canyon's information
office. They echo a common message: "We are still here."