|
Special Thanks for Special Support
October 2008 - PBT has been awarded a $2,500 General Support
Grant from
The Arts Council of Northwest Florida
This grant will help pay utilities and other operating expenses for
Native Paths Cultural Heritage and Resource Center
|
|
|
|
Native Paths Blessed Again
By Another Talented & Giving
Friend
The "progress" photos we've been posting on
this page of the development of Native Paths Cultural Heritage &
Resource Center may seem to have been missing something - the
vibrant colors of our Native American heritage. As usual, the result
of lack of funds & able bodies.
Then one day, our good friend, Dr. Stephen
Lott, co-author of the hit play, Siyotanka, came to visit.
Stephen noted the plain walls of the gallery and offered his
services to add the vibrant colors it lacks through a special
hand-applied texturing technique.
And so, Chief Bearheart, Robert and Pat
made preparations and Stephen began to work his magic Halloween
day, finishing on Saturday evening. Here are some views of Stephen's
two days of
painstaking work in progress and the beautiful result.
Native Paths Gallery Takes Shape
Beautifully
 
|
|
Richard
Thornton's Design Selected for Tulsa Creek Memorial
Richard
Thornton,AIA, who provided the splendid drawings and models for
the Bearheart Mobile Museum and the New Native Paths exhibits as
well as educational materials for our website, now has some good
news to report. Richard writes that a design he and Creek
sculptor, Dan Brook, created for a new plaza in downtown Tulsa,
OK honoring the Creek People was selected as the winning
submission by the City of Tulsa.
Richard sent these photos of the models and drawings they
submitted:
Dan will be building bronze sacred fire flames about 20 feet
tall, while Richard is responsible for the construction drawings
of the plaza around it. Part the plaza will be paved with river
stones from Creek communities throughout Alabama, Georgia,
Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. Bronze
plaques will tell the history of the Creek People, and also list
the locations where the paving stones came from. |
News From The
North
Corrie
Hohly has lived many years in the far northern reaches of
Michigan, but her Creek Indian roots are firmly planted in
Northwest Florida. Corrie and her dear Mother, Ada Cooper
Matters, who crossed over just one year ago at the age of
96, have been a huge asset to the work of PBT even at such a
distance. We thank you, Corrie, for this inspiring report
from the UP and for introducing us to your friends of the Ojibwe People.
It was my mother who encouraged me
to get involved with the nearby Keweenaw Bay Indian
Community (KBIC), an Ojibwe reservation. They may not be
Creek, but they are Indians. I began learning their
language in 2005 when I took an introductory class at the
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe Community College. I've continued
studying on my own, practicing Ojibwe whenever I'm around
Ojibwe speakers.
There's a 1960's song with the line
"If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're
with". Since I can't contribute directly to PBT's mission,
I've volunteered support for the language revitalization and
preservation work at KBIC.
Debra Williamson, the tribe's
Language Program Coordinator, started a weekly "Laugh and
Learn" language table last spring as a first step. People
of all ages attend, from grandmothers to grandchildren. We
play language games, laugh a lot, and learn from each other.
I've participated since the beginning. On two
occasions I
served as substitute facilitator for the group when Debbie
was out of town. My latest effort was translating and
leading "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" at a community drum
social.
Recently the tribe received a
3-year grant from the federal Administration for Native
Americans (ANA) funding a Master-Apprentice project. We are
very fortunate to have Earl (Nyholm) Otchingwanigan as
Master Instructor. Earl is the tribe's last fluent
first-speaker. The term "first speaker" means Ojibwe was the
first language he learned growing up; English was a second
language he had to learn. Earl is a former professor of
Ojibwe at Bemidji State University in Minnesota. He is an
enrolled KBIC member and co-author of an Ojibwe dictionary.
Earl will teach/train apprentices
with the eventual goal of certifying them as Ojibwe language
teachers. He will also teach community language classes. I
will work with Debbie (and others) on daycare, head start
and school programs for children.
|
Letters . . .
|
A proud mom and
grandmother look on as
Brittany Todd receives
scholarship to Summer Archaeology Camp
Hi Micco Bearheart and PBT,
Archaeology Camp was a blast!! I learned a lot about Archaeology and
the history that went with the different artifacts that were dug up
by Archaeologist. I also got to go to this one house called the
Berkley house. That house was being dug up by Archaeologists from
UWF looking for artifacts from the kitchen and the Cook's house that
caught on fire and burned down. I also went to the T.T. Wentworth
museum and I looked at all the different artifacts that were dug up
and I found out who left the artifacts. I found out that the Native
Americans, British, French, Spanish, and I think the Portuguese left
behind some artifacts. I did make some crafts and do activities. I
made a clay coil pot and I made art with different layers of soil
with different colors of sand and soil. The activities I did were
fun and they were easy to play. I don't remember the name of the
activities, but I do know that they were really fun to play. Getting
back to the Berkley house, I got to pick up sand an put it into this
big sand sifter which was really fun and sandy. Thank you for
signing me up and paying for me to go. This has been a real fun
experience and I was glad that I got to go.
Sincerely,
Brittany Todd |
|
Fall Community Service Events
September 19 - Micco Bearheart speaker at Naturalization Ceremony
September 20 - Wildlife Sanctuary WILDfest
October 6 - Odum Elementary School, Odum Georgia
Stan Cartwright & Wayne Akins - Program for 140 students & teachers
October 9 - Troy University, Pensacola Branch - Diversity Class
October 25 - Santa Rosa Families Day Out - Milton Community Center 10 - 2
November 7 - Creative Learning Center
November 9 - Zoo Northwest Florida - Gulf Breeze
November 20 - VA Hospital
|
Want to schedule the Bearheart
Mobile Museum for your school or organization?
Contact
Perdido Bay Tribe
for full information |
|
|
|
|
|
The Vision of
ALCASALICA Guides our Path
Native
Paths Cultural Heritage and Resource Center
A Place of our Own
In Jones Swamp Preserve
A serenely peaceful site
at the edge of the vast expanse of Jones Swamp in Southwest Pensacola
was offered to PBT in 2007 by Escambia County and accepted with gratitude.
In the past months, there have been obstacles to overcome, but working
closely will all involved, we have made steady progress toward opening the
long-sought 'place of our own.'
|
 |
|
Native Paths
Cultural Heritage
& Resource Center
This 1,700 sq. ft.
house will serve as PBT's new administrative headquarters for all present
and future projects in service to our community. Renovations and
furnishing are a work in progress, and "Native Paths" will be ready to open
soon.
Native Paths
will also serve as a temporary mini
version of our envisioned Muscogee Creek Cultural Heritage Museum and Learning
Center - including a library and media center.
! Watch
for notice of our Fall 2008 opening and planned activities at Native
Paths.
|
|
Photo Documentation of The Work in Progress
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Story of the Jones Swamp Preserve & PBT's Role
|
|
With
funding support from both private and government agencies,
the 800-acre Jones Swamp Eco-system,
with its rich diversity of wildlife and rare plants, is to become
part of the Northwest Florida Greenway that extends eastward to
Apalachicola, and will be protected for low-impact recreational use
only.
Protection
of Jones swamp is part of Florida’s aggressive move to salvage and
restore the integrity of its rivers, bays and aquifers.
PBT’s place in the
scheme of things will be to serve as low-impact stewards and to
manage this portal to the planned hiking trails in
the Jones Swamp Preserve. |
|
 |
This arrangement with
Escambia county will give PBT the opportunity and the facilities to do all
we have been striving for in service to Indian Heritage people and to our
greater community - and much more. In addition to our Muscogee Creek
Heritage Museum and Learning Center, we also envision such activities as
nature day camps for children, classes to teach NA arts and crafts, soil
and water projects etc. all within the framework of teaching the attitudes
of the ancient Native Americans of the SE toward using and protecting the
natural environment.
Our new home in Jones Swamp will become a
source of pride and service for all Native American peoples of our
community.
Our
surroundings will provide a place for environmental studies and nature
trails planted with indigenous plants that were utilized by Native
peoples. Projects such as these will provide opportunities for high school
and college students, Scouts and other youth groups.
We will continue to
enjoy the support of the NRCS and Three Rivers RC&D in the environmental
projects, and working with other nature oriented organizations, the
possibilities are endless.
|
 |
|
This photo of the
dry land area shows a trail leading into the interior of the swamp
in which grows the only remaining stands of the white-topped pitcher
plant as well as numerous other rare species of wetland plants. The
swamp also teems with wildlife of all kinds.
Escambia County officials have
indicated some exciting plans for developing Jones Swamp. PBT is
proud to be a part of these plans and we look forward to sharing
details as they unfold.
Please return often for
news and updates.
|
PBT members and friends
are working diligently to breathe life into our new
Native Paths Cultural
Heritage and Resource Center
We have seen the vision
of ALCASALICA, the ‘Clay Pot Sitting There.’
We have heeded the wisdom
of the ancients.
We are inspired to give our best to honor our heritage
and rise to the
opportunities presented to us.
|
There is much to do.
PBT will welcome
all the donations of time, talent, skills, equipment, funds and elbow
grease we can find among our members and friends in Pensacola and
around the country. A special need now
are donations of completed quality arts and crafts for sale and natural
raw materials such as deer toes, antler, horse hair, legal feathers,
gourds, snake rattles, gator teeth, semi-precious stones etc. suitable for
creating unique Native American-style crafts to prepare for future classes
and to support our projects. Contact:
perdidobaytribe@comcast.net
|
|
|
|
|
|
