Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Ancient Aliens 2009 1/10

Part 1 of 10 of the Ancient Aliens A history channel show. These are great companion videos to our new novel "The Point of Origin"

Friday, July 23, 2010



2012, is it the end? what will happen? This is a video with good information on the large number of cultures who point to Dec 21 2012.
Aa a member of the Citizen Potawatomi tribe, I feel it is important to help pass on it's history and traditions. May first novel concentrated on the Hopi tribe and its creation prophecy. One of the novels I'm working on at the moment will move to my own tribe. The following was taken from my tribes official site.

Potawatomi History

Overview

The Potawatomi are among the wave of Algonquian-speaking people who occupied the Great Lakes region from prehistoric times through the early 1800’s. Oral traditions explain that the ancient Potawatomi people were once part of an immense group that had traveled down the eastern shores of North America along the Atlantic Ocean. This large group, the Chippewa (Ojibwa), Ottawa (Odawa), and the Potawatomi all constituted a single tribe where they later split at Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada and went their separate ways. Through early historic records, it has been confirmed that the Potawatomi were living in Michigan and had established an autonomous tribal identify at least 500 years ago.

Scholars have debated the origin and translation of the word “Potawatomi” for many years. Nevertheless, the Potawatomi people firmly believe that the Chippewa applied the term to them, meaning “people of the place of the fire” since they retained the original council fire once shared by all three tribes. Today, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation refers to themselves as the Nishnabec or the “True People.”

During the mid 1650’s, French traders visited the tribe and found them growing corn, gathering wild rice, and harvesting an abundant supply of fish and waterfowl from the western waters of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. The Potawatomi had recently relocated from southern Michigan just after the eruption of the Beaver Wars in the 1640’s. Actual first contact between Europeans and the Potawatomi was established in 1634 by a French trader named Jean Nicolet at a place that is now called Red Bank, on the Door Peninsula, along the western shore of Lake Michigan.

At the height of the Fur Trading Era that spanned an entire century, the Potawatomi controlled a tribal estate that encompassed Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and a small portion of Ohio or over 5 million acres. This was accomplished through long standing leadership and savvy business skills. The Potawatomi were simply not satisfied with trapping furs. Instead, they entered into a rivalry with the Ottawa for a share in the role as middleman for trade into the Green Bay area. Using their entrepreneurial skills, they began to hire other local tribesman to collect and trap the furs that they once procured. In turn, they would sell or trade the furs to the French, thus expanding their tribal control and estate over a vast area.

Lifestyle

By the 1700’s, the Potawatomi were well known to the French on the St. Lawrence River. It is clear that the Potawatomi adapted to their wilderness environment. They mainly traveled Lake Michigan and its tributaries rather than traveling over the land on horseback. Canoes were made from birch-bark and hollowed out logs and could range in length from family-size up to 50 feet to carry several warriors. The lakes and streams around the southern tip of Lake Michigan were full of fish. Much of the fishing was done from pine dugouts or birch-bark canoes. These vessels also were used to hunt the flocks of waterfowl that migrated through the bay region in the autumn. In surrounding forests and nearby prairies, the Potawatomi hunted deer, bears, buffalo, and smaller game. During the winters, many Potawatomi families left the larger villages to establish small hunting camps in unpopulated areas. The vegetables in their diet were relieved with fish and game.

The Potawatomi exercised horticulture, gathering, hunting, and fishing. From the gardens surrounding the villages, the Potawatomi women cultivated such crops as beans, squash, pumpkin, onions, and tobacco. They also raised an abundance of corn, which was traded to the French, the Chippewa, and other northern tribes. Wild rice was harvested along shores in addition to nuts, roots, and berries.

Many of the animals that the Potawatomi killed for food also furnished skins for clothing. Deerskin was fashioned into shirts, leggings, and moccasins for men and into loose dresses and moccasins for women. In the winter, both deerskin and buffalo clothing was worn and decorated with dyed porcupine quills or shells and glass beads. As the Potawatomi traded with the French, they replaced their traditional deerskin clothing with cotton shirts and leggings and with dresses of brightly colored materials. Potawatomi women wore distinctive large collars or shawls lined in silver brooches over their dresses. They also wore long skirts covered in ribbonwork. Men wore fur turbans made from animal fur rather than long headdresses of feathers. On special occasions men would wear feathers in a turban and bearclaw necklaces around their necks. Both men and women wore moccasins with large flaps over the shoe. The flap would always be beaded with flower designs.

One of the major social events in the spring was the tapping of the Maple trees for their sugar. Villages would come together after long winters to trade and conduct naming and marriage ceremonies. People, young and old, would dress in their finest regalia to dance and celebrate. Men would play drums made of stretched animal hides over bent poles or hollowed out logs partially filled with water and covered in hides. The Potawatomi had rattles made from wood and deer hooves. Men would also play flutes both made from wood and from animal bones. Children would make Maple sugar cones from different shapes of birch-bark containers. In fact, the Potawatomi used sugar to flavor food rather than salt.

Potawatomi lived in birch bark wigwams that were dome-shaped. In the summer they would cover them in woven reed mats. Cedar was used to cover the floor and to provide a fresh scent. The mats were easily detached so they could carry them when moving. Inside the wigwam was sleeping mats, extra clothing, storage containers, vessels, and cooking utensils. Potawatomi women made baskets and bags from the bark of such trees as the white cedar. Other storage containers were made of elm and hickory bark or of animal skins. Prior to French contact, Potawatomi women used mussel shells and wood spoons and ladles. By the end of the 1700’s, the Potawatomi used common trade items such as iron kettles and metal utensils for cooking.

Potawatomi men usually shaved their heads except for a scalp lock. When going to war, warriors adorned themselves with red and black paint. Men painted their faces and bodies for these occasions. Men also used wooden war clubs for hand to hand combat. When hunting, they relied on bows and arrows, fish nets, and fish spears.

Removal

By 1800, tribal villages were displaced by white settlements and pushed farther and farther to the outskirts of the Potawatomi tribal estate. It was during the Removal Period of the 1830’s that the Mission Band (today known as the Citizen Band) of Potawatomi were forced to leave their homelands in the Wabash River Valley of Indiana. From Indiana, the Mission Band was forced to march across four states (over 660 miles) to a new reserve in Kansas. Of the 850 Potawatomi people forced to move, more than 40 died along the way. The event is known in Potawatomi history as the “Potawatomi Trail of Death (September-November 1838.)”

Between 1838 and 1861, the Mission Potawatomi lived on a small reserve with the Prairie Potawatomi in Kansas. The Prairie Potawatomi had ventured west onto the Great Plains at a much earlier period than the Mission Band, interacted with the Sioux, and adapted different lifeways. Both cultural groups exhibited very different ceremonial and subsistence strategies, yet were forced to share the land. Seeking a better opportunity for its people, the Mission Potawatomi leaders chose to take small farms rather than live together with the Prairie Potawatomi. Shortly thereafter, and not fully understanding the tax system, most of the new individual allotments of land passed out of Mission Band ownership and into that of white settlers and traders. In 1867, Mission Potawatomi members signed a treaty selling their Kansas lands in order to purchase lands in Indian Territory with the proceeds. To reinforce the new land purchase and learning from their Kansas experience, tribal members took U.S. citizenship. From that time on, they became know as the “Citizen Potawatomi.”

Citizen Potawatomi

By the early 1870’s, most of the Citizen Potawatomi had resettled in Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma, forming several communities near present-day Shawnee. In 1890, the Citizen Potawatomi participated, unwillingly, in the allotment process implemented through the Dawes Act of 1887. With this Act, the Citizen Potawatomi people were forced to accept individual allotments again. In the Land Run of 1891, the remainder of the Potawatomi reservation in Oklahoma was opened up to “white” settlement. It is estimated that 275,000 acres or half of the 900 square mile reservation was simply given away by the government to settlers.

Over time, many tribal members followed the pattern of other Oklahomans during the “dust bowl” era and migrated to California, as well as Washington, Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon, where they formed congenial, loose-knit communities. Today, these communities are well established and have expanded to Kansas and Texas. In 1985, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation formally established eight Citizen Potawatomi Nation Regional Tribal Council centers to provide outreach to tribal members and to hold at least one regional council meeting with the tribal leadership annually.

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of great success for the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. In fact, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is the largest of the eight federally recognized Potawatomi tribes and the ninth largest tribe in the United States. Under sound leadership and a tribal membership of over 26,000, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has experienced growth in administration, tribal enterprises, and its community outreach programs. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation owns one of Oklahoma’s largest grocery stores, First National Bank and Trust of Shawnee with three additional branches, FireLake Golf Course and Restaurant, Firelake Entertainment Center, Firelake Grand Casino, and the Cultural Heritage Center which houses the Nation's Museum, Archives, Library, Tribal Heritage Project, Long Room Event Center, Veterans' Wall of Honor, Firelake Gifts, and Tribal Rolls. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation has a Health and Wellness Center, a Child Development facility with over 250 children at the complex everyday, and an Employment and Training Center.

for more go information go to
http://www.potawatomi.org/

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Elif Shafak: The politics of fiction | Video on TED.com

Elif Shafak: The politics of fiction | Video on TED.com




This was a great video, as an author I can relate. Fiction can spark questions and break down walls.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Seventh Sign of the Hopi Prophecy, the Gulf Oil Spill

The Hopi prophecy speaks of a purification period that may end in the destruction of the human race. This is a prophecy that allows an out, or a way for the human race to escape its destiny. For the last 60 years Hopi elders have been trying to warn the people but all too often the warnings fall on deaf ears. Thomas Banyakya, a Hopi elder spoke at the United Nations in 1992 and laid out the prophecy for the world. Eighteen years later, every second, we inch closer to the December 21, 2012 date that many believe will be the end of the world as we know it.
At first glance this seems absurd, but after studding the Hopi Prophecy and its signs it is increasingly difficult to brush them aside. The seventh sign in particular seems to point to the BP Gulf Oil spill that is currently turning our seas black. It states that “you will hear of the sea’s turning black and many living things dying because of it.”
The following is a transcript from White Feather, of the Bear Clan, Hopi Tribe and is a good overview of the Hopi Prophecy signs.
"These are the Signs that great destruction is here: The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle people in other lands -- those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as the white man has made in the deserts not far from here. Those who stay and live in the places of the Hopi shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon, very soon afterward, Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in our hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World."
The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin. This the elders everywhere know. The Signs over many years have been fulfilled, and so few are left.
First Sign: We were told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana -- men who took the land that was not theirs and who struck their enemies with thunder.
Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices.
Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns will overrun the land in large numbers.
Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron.
Fifth Sign: The land shall be crisscrossed by a giant spider's web.
Sixth Sign: The land shall be crisscrossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun.
Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it.
Eighth Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like our people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn our ways and wisdom.
Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of the Hopi people will cease.
"These are the Signs that great destruction is coming. The world shall rock to and fro. The white man will battle against other people in other lands -- with those who possessed the first light of wisdom. There will be many columns of smoke and fire such as White Feather has seen the white man make in the deserts not far from here. Only those which come will cause disease and a great dying.
"Many of my people, understanding the prophecies, shall be safe. Those who stay and live in the places of my people also shall be safe. Then there will be much to rebuild. And soon -- very soon afterward -- Pahana will return. He shall bring with him the dawn of the Fifth World. He shall plant the seeds of his wisdom in their hearts. Even now the seeds are being planted. These shall smooth the way to the Emergence into the Fifth World.”
This is only the tip of the ice berg, and in many interpretations the Hopi say that we can still stop the coming storm or at least prepare to ride it out. What is their solution? One very simple word, balance. Balance is a condition where the human mind understands the delicate web that is life and how to exist within that web without destroying it. This view is not just relegated to the Hopi; it is echoed though out the world in many cultures and religions. Despite this understanding by so many, the world seems to be on a collision course of epic proportions. Come December 21 2012, the world may witness a shift that hasn’t been seen since the days of Noah.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Official release of "The Point of Origin"

Duke and Nancy Kell Announce the Release of Their New Novel, The Point of Origin.

a new fiction novel By Duke and Nancy Kell, questions nearly all of what modern society is built on.

During troubling times, tremendous stories have been spawned. Duke and Nancy Kell, watched their life savings disappear when the housing bubble burst in Southern California. A fresh start on the Big Island of Hawaii and a mountain of determination, led to the writing of their first novel. Released on the Fourth of July, The Point of Origin, afforded the Kell's the opportunity to author a story that embodied these troubling times. Their belief in the enduring human spirit, isn’t just evident in their book, it’s in their journey.

Part of their quest has led them to the understanding, that there is a need now, more than ever, for global change. This shift may require us to look outside of the box, as suggested by Albert Einstein, “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

The book asserts that the answers to most of our questions have always been there, but our failure to connect the dots could mean the destruction of the human race. Archaeologist Tiffany Gerardo, and lab assistant Brian Brady, find themselves entangled in a dangerous web. Guided by the Hopi's prophecy, and weaving through the foundation of what they thought they knew, they must find the truth.

If your publication would be interested in a full-length article on this subject, please contact Duke Kell at thepointoforigin@hotmail.com

It is available from Two Ton Productions at www.thepointoforigin.webs.com or P.O. Box 390133, Keauhou, HI 96739, for $14.95, plus $5.40 postage and handling.

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