Kudo’s to Polly’s granddaughter!
I am an author known as ”vehoae,” (aka, Shirl Yancey) well-known for a fervent dedication to non-revisionist history, and researching & writing based upon primary documents only. My pseudonym, vehoae, was specifically selected for two reasons. First, to show honor to the Northern Cheyenne Nation (in Montana). Secondly, I did not want there to be any mistaken impression that I am an enrolled member of an indigenous nation — “vehoae” is Cheyenne for “white woman.”
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Polly’s granddaughter
I hope some day to have the pleasure of meeting this lovely woman, for whom I hold a great deal of regard. She writes as “Polly’s granddaughter,” and is a genealogist specializing on the nation in which she is enrolled - the Cherokee Nation. Below, is Twila Barnes’ bio from her website :
“I am the wife of a career soldier and the mother of four. I am registered with the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and, like my ancestors, have always been proud of my Cherokee heritage. I have been studying Cherokee history and genealogy for a long time and I am interested in anything Cherokee, whether it involves the historical Cherokee Nation or the Cherokee people of today. I have been fortunate to have been mentored in Cherokee history and genealogical methods by David Cornsilk and the late Jerri Chasteen and I hope to pass on what I have learned to others. I adhere to the Standards for Sound Genealogical Practices and believe one should only claim what they can prove through solid historical documentation.”
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In addition to research & writing, I am a member of the Oklahoma Genealogical Society. As my peers and friends know, my heart and affection have always been with and for North America’s indigenous people.
Most of you have seen media reports about a white, Massachusetts politician (Elizabeth Warren) who, over the past several years, has portrayed herself as an indigenous person, as a Cherokee. Twila’s interview with The Howie Carr Show showed great strength, resolve, and love for her heritage Nation, as did her 16 May 2012 open letter to Elizabeth Warren.
Twila, you are a credit to both of your nations – the Cherokee Nation and the Republic of the USA, as well as to the worldwide community of genealogists. Kudo’s!
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If you are not familiar with this matter, below are just a few of the numerous news reports:
‘Fauxcahontas’ Plot Thickens: Fordham Law Review Called Elizabeth Warren Harvard Law‘s ’First Woman of Color’ (The Blaze, 16 May 2012)
“Not My Tribe: Cherokee writer denounces Elizabeth Warren” (The Washington Free Beacon, 17 May 2012)
“Elizabeth Warren’s Cherokee Heritage: Making everyone look bad” (Boston Daily, 17 May 2012)
Lifting my friend up high!
Sandy Tharp-Thee
My life was blessed a few years ago (and every day since) when, at a seminar, I sat down next to a lovely, dark-haired Cherokee woman named Sandy Tharp-Thee. In the time since that first meeting, a professional and personal relationship has grown between us.
The Native American Indian community has in its midst, in the person of Sandy Tharp-Thee, an individual whose work and accomplishments will be celebrated for decades to come. It is wonderful that she has now received well deserved recognition from the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, & Museums (ATALM). ATALM has awarded Sandy the 2012 Library Institutional Excellence Award!
Sandy is known by all her associates and friends as an exceptionally humble individual. Her pride is always directed toward the accomplishments of those she works tirelessly to assist, and toward the multitude of tribal and non-tribal people who have supported her work for many years. Now, however, it is Sandy’s long overdue turn to be recognized for her remarkable accomplishments.
ATALM’s determinations justifying the Library Institutional Excellence Award to Sandy: “Library Institutional Excellence, which recognizes an indigenous library that profoundly demonstrates outstanding service to its community, is awarded to the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma in Perkins, Oklahoma, its library director, Sandy Tharp-Thee, and Iowa Tribe Business Committee, Janice Rowe-Kurak,Chairman. In three short years, the library has evolved from an organization with no budget and no viable programs to a well-funded organization that is considered an “essential service.” The library now sponsors programs such as “Standing Together,” a culturally relevant collection representing all Oklahoma tribes; a dedicated webpage that engages the community in library programs; a weekly Storytime reading program in partnership with the Four Winds Child Development Center; a reading promotion program in partnership with Sonic Corporation; Summer Outreach activities that include working with Oklahoma Department of Libraries to encourage reading, gardening, art and fishing for the eagles, part of the Iowa Tribe eagle rehabilation program, a Writer’s Group, “Writers in the Wind”, that meets monthly to work on projects; Author Visit Programs with noted Native and Non-Native authors; a First Book program and Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Ready to Read and Early Literacy program, that helps children establish personal home libraries; a Starting Points program that pays for testing fees and provides training to help individuals obtain GEDs, literacy, education, career and employment opportunities. Community Outreach program targeted to the special needs of homebound elders; a One Car-One Student program where salavaged cars are recycled to pay for testing fees for GED students; an early literacy program known as “Fun in a Sack” that features kits with books, puzzles videos, and other learning tools; Working with the Iowa Tribe Cultural Preservation and Recreation to create “Living Books” recording history for future Iowa generations. Partnership with the Oklahoma Historical Society to digitize older tribal newspapers. Partnering with Iowa Tribe Bison Program, creating traveling education exhibition for outreach to schools and community. The library works closely with the JOM program assisting with tutoring of children and shares online, education, employment and career resources with five public libraries and one school library. Sandy is a member of American Indian Library Association, ALA, OLA, serves on the Oklahoma Library Tribal Committee and serves on the Oklahoma Literacy Coalition, Board of Directors representing the Iowa Tribe.”
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Learning about buffalo
Reading to toddlers and Victoria Diane
Reading to children visiting Iowa Tribal Library
Reading to toddlers
Sandy's latest project for Four Winds Child Dev. Center at Iowa Nation
Agenda 21, Segregation, Reservations
Earlier this month, Navi Pillay, the United Nation’s Human Rights Chief, called for a United Nations investigation on the death of a Black 17-year-old young man in Sanford, Florida. If you missed that news item, here is a link to one of the numerous media reports:
I am not aware – yet – of the United Nations or Congress or the President calling for investigation(s) into thousands of assaults and murders of non-Blacks. Hundreds have taken place in California, Baltimore (MD), Chicago, Washington D.C., etc., just within the last four months. The latest incident involves Matthew Owens in Alabama, who was beaten by a mob of Blacks declaring it was payback for Trayvon Williams. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/justice-for-trayvon-alabama-man-in-critical-condition-after-mob-beating/
Today, a friend brought to my attention yet another United Nations investigation. This one involves indigenous people living in the Republic of the United States of America (USA). One of the several news articles about this latest investigation is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/22/un-investigate-us-native-americans?newsfeed=true
Untold numbers of us are sadly aware of the work by globalization strategists since the 1800′s. The strategists’ efforts have ratcheted up – particularly within the USA during the past two decades, and with full support by all political parties and with our tax dollars. That work includes the United Nations’ Agenda 21. Equally unsettling has been this Republic’s relinquishment to the United Nations oversight of our National Parks, as well as USA military troops, wearing United Nations insignia.
Do I want the inexcusable, sickening situations on Indian reservations eliminated in this country, as well as the rest of the Western Hemisphere? Absolutely. My writing and presentations do nothing, if not clarify my stand on this matter. But, I want to see each country appropriately tending to its business, straightening out its messes, through legal methods dictated by their countries’ national constitutions. Canada has been doing so with regard to its disastrous actions in the area of Indian education. In the USA, the recent Cobell lawsuit settlement was a step in the right direction for the government to account for some of the monies stolen from indigenous people.
I do not want our our indigenous people, or any other citizen of the USA, to be unaware of the segregation plans of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 and by other international globalization strategists. As Jewish people in the 1900′s were segregated into “ghettos,” the segregated communities being planned for the USA by the United Nations’ Agenda 21 are pleasantly referred to as “star communities.” Several other countries have also signed on to help incorporate Agenda 21, including China and Russia. Mainstream media reported last year on the “self sustaining cities” being built in China where millions of unsuspecting citizens will be re-planted. Similar reports emerged in 2010 about Russia’s twenty planned areas for the relocation of many of its 141 million citizens. This news article is self-explanatory: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8137816/Russia-considers-biggest-population-redistribution-since-Stalin.html
Yes, the situation for many indigenous people who continue living on Indian reservations in the USA and elsewhere in the Western Hesmisphere is terrible. It is inexcusable that we in the USA have permitted out-of-control spending by politicians in Congress and the government, leaving us with a current national debt of $16 Trillion! Meanwhile, we funnel millions of tax dollars to countries who use the money more as welfare, rather than building up of their economic status, health care programs, etc. And millions more dollars are sent to organizations and countries who support terrorism – such as Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood who were given $1.5 Billion of our tax dollars this month. Perhaps I’m being too tough, since the State Department has announced that the USA’s war on terrorism is over. What? http://newsok.com/obamas-war-on-terror-just-beginning/article/feed/374242
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The debt we owe to this country’s indigenous people can never be fully repaid. But, as Helen Hunt Jackson told Congress in 1885, each generation must do as much as it can to help this country’s indigenous people. Helen reminded Congress, “There is but one hope of righting this wrong. It lies in appeal to the heart and the conscience of the American people.” The Cobell law suit settlement was a start. Mitigation of the awful circumstances on Indian reservations is yet another matter which cries out for swift rectification.
But not by the United Nations which is working toward Agenda 21 goals for leading countries like ours. Become aware of Agenda 21: http://habitat.igc.org/agenda21/
Be this as it may …..
Caleb Blood Smith
Caleb Blood Smith, a career politician, was appointed by Abraham Lincoln in March 1861 as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.
Later that same year, in his November Annual Report to President Lincoln, Secretary Smith wrote the following concerning the Apache and Pueblo nations:
“… as the Indians occupied that territory of both nations prior to the advent of the European race upon this continent, it seems clear that they held lands in the Territory of Mexico and the United States by precisely the same tenure. Be this as it may, the necessity that the Indians of this [southern] superintendency shall be concentrated upon suitable reservations is imperative. The rapid spread of our [white] population has reached this as well as our other Territories … the Indians in large and imposing numbers are in their midst … a constant source of irritation and vexation to the whites … To cure all these evils; to foster and protect our own settlements; to secure the ultimate perpetuity of the Territory, and a speedy development of its resources … [i.e. gold] … but one course is, in my judgement, left, and that is the concentration of the Indians upon ample reservations suitable for their permanent and happy homes, and to be sacredly held for that purpose.”
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Source: Caleb Blood Smith, Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior to President Abraham Lincoln, 27 November 1861, CIS U.S. Serial Set 1117, Microfiche #1117, 37th Congress, 2nd Session, Senate Ex. Doc. v.1, n.1., pp 633-637.
Two does not equal one
John Quincy Adams
On 22 July 1823, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, wrote the following to Henry Middleton, U.S. Extraordinary & Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia:
“… Adams, reiterated European intentions with respect to lands they invaded and took from the native residents:
‘It never has been admitted, by the various European nations which have formed settlements in this hemisphere, that the occupation of an island gave any claim whatever to territorial possessions on the continent to which it was adjoining. The recognized principle has rather been the reverse; as, by the law of nature, islands must rather be considered as appurtenant to continents, than continents to islands.’
From the same chapter in Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia:
Columbus’ first recorded stop was on a Caribbean island which he named Hispaniola (Haiti) and where he devastated the resident Taino Nation. Given his contractual agreement with Spain proclaiming him Governor, Vice-Roy, and Admiral of all lands he discovered, Columbus would have been less than receptive to recognizing the Tainos as rightful landholders. No less significant was the fact that future recognition and benefits were stipulated for his heirs in perpetuity. Columbus did not foresee any problem in achieving those personal payoffs as the Tainos did not have or use weapons such as swords: ‘With fifty men, we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want’; ‘They are the most timid people in the world, so that only the [my] men … could destroy the whole region …’
Charters and contracts directed removal of all impediments, particularly indigenous people encountered during the invasions, and confiscation of their lands. Individuals implementing the strategists’ directives were authorized to mete out whatever punishment and justice they deemed necessary in order to keep their morally and ethnically superior settlements undisturbed by Indian ‘irritants.’ As the distance between most European countries and the Western Hemisphere prohibited prompt communication, it was imperative that only individuals with the same rapacious nature as the strategists be selected to carry out the invasions. Substantial prestige and wealth had been promised to the implementers; so substantial, in fact, that conscience-free dedication by the invaders to their contractual obligations was fairly guaranteed.
In the same way that others would boldly promote the theory of manifest destiny three centuries later, Columbus invoked the Christian religion and Holy Trinity as the basis for his invasions of the Caribbean and Central America, all of which included acts of premeditated hostilities, massacres, enslavement, and seizure of the residents’ lands and other property.
… he [Columbus] was finally expelled from the Caribbean in 1500 after Governor Francisco de Bodadilla arrested him and his brother, Bartholomew, sending them back to Spain shackled in chains.
After later being denied re-entry to the port of Hispaniola, Columbus and Bartholomew relocated their activities to Panama, Central America. Still working with inaccurate maps and distances, the brothers believed they had actually landed on the Malay Peninsula (Asia). In 1504 they returned to Spain with a ship full of gold and other treasures taken from The Nations.
Those attempting to defend their families and lands against invaders were slaughtered, imprisoned, executed, or taken as slaves — the invaders officially characterizing the native residents’ defensive efforts as outrageous and degrading. On the other hand, the invaders saw their own aggression as appropriate since recipient Indians were considered heathens, even inhuman.”
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Note: The above excerpts are found in Chapter One, pages 7 – 9, of Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia. Text source reference nos. 19-31 for the above-quoted material are stipulated in the Chapter End Notes on pages 169-170.
My inspirers ….
The Nations have always been of great interest to me (not the “Indians” of Hollywood design). The culture, spirituality, and heritage of North America’s indigenous people have had the center of my attention for as long as I can remember.
Helen Hunt Jackson
Deep inspiration for my studies and writing came from the work and pen of Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885). Helen’s writing ability touched the genres of prose, history-based fiction, nonfiction, and articles. But her specific nonfiction work which drew me in was Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government’s Dealings With Some of the Indian Tribes (1881). With that masterpiece, Helen detailed the government’s destructive impact on The Nations.
Mari Sandoz
Mari Sandoz (1896-1966) wrote Cheyenne Autumn, history-based fiction, in 1953. Her book touched my heart unlike any other secular book I’ve read. It also inspired Hollywood Director John Ford’s 1953 film, “Cheyenne Autumn,” starring Richard Widmark.
The best feeling is ….
After retirement from a long career, I discovered that (for me) the best feeling was not having to get up and go to work when I was sick.
Now, as an author, there are many “best feelings.” After a book is published, seeing it placed on bookshelves of libraries and bookstores is definitely one of those good feelings. Here are some of my favorite views:
Oklahoma Department of Libraries in Oklahoma City
Asst. Manager Tori Hoornstra placing copies on shelf at Hastings in Stillwater, OK
And there is one more occasion which, for me, will always be the most precious in the process of getting this book ready for publishing. That moment was when my dear friend, Liz, took this photograph of me and my little girl, Victoria Diane, for our official publicity photo:
vehoae and Victoria Diane
Dr. Harry Gilleland assesses the real savages
Dr. Harry Gilleland was one of the main editors on my book, Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia, published January this year. He is also a well-known author and poet. His latest novel, Aldric & Anneliese, set in Europe during the late sixth century, is an adventurous and suspenseful read.
But for the moment, I want to draw your attention to a new poem published by Dr. Gilleland. I was honored to learn that my book, Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia, and its cover, provided some of the inspiration for “Who Were the Savages?” Dr. Gilleland’s poem renders dramatic images of non-revisionist history — “The old warrior chief sits atop his magnificant stallion on a high hill overlooking the green valley below through which a wagon train …”
Please click here to read the rest of this moving testament to history.
Who’s the barbarian?
Columbus Delano
The Secretary of the Department of the Interior, from 1870 to 1875, was Columbus Delano. A native of Shoreham, Vermont, he practiced law before entering politics in 1844.
In 1869, President Ulysses Grant hired Delano as the Commissioner of Internal Revenue. In November 1870, Grant reassigned him to the position of Secretary, Department of the Interior. Scandal at DOI precipitated Delano’s departure five years later.
During Delano’s second year at Interior, his annual departmental report to President Grant included observations on progress being made to civilize indigenous people. Among those observations were the following:
“We are assuming, and I think with propriety, that our civilization ought to take the place of their barbarous habits. We therefore claim the right to control the soil which they occupy, and we assume that it is our duty to coerce them, if necessary, into the adoption and practice of our habits and customs.”
(Source: Report of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Columbus Delano, 31 October 1872, House Executive Document 1(42-3), Part 5, being Part of the Message and Documents at the Beginning of the third Session of the Forty-Second Congress, vol. 1, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1872, pp 1-9, Oklahoma Dept. of Libraries.)
