American Indian PGA golfer will ‘talk to the land’

Notah Begay III, the only American Indian golfer on the PGA tour, is tapping his roots as he builds an $8.5 million course on a reservation in Kansas: He said the tribal land must be asked “what it wants you to do.”

The 18-hole Firekeeper Golf Course – Begay’s first signature course – will cover 240 acres near the Prairie Band Potawatomi Casino and Resort on a reservation near Mayetta. Named for the Prairie Band, known as the “keepers of the sacred fire,” Begay said the course should be ready to open next summer.

Begay, a member of the Navajo Nation, said the needs of the land come first.

“You say a prayer, talk to the land and ask it what it wants you to do,” he said Monday in announcing the project. “We incorporate into it the natural design of the land. We didn’t want to add things that weren’t naturally there or needed.”

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Guatemala indians

Highland Maya of Guatemala have one of the most colorfully dresses in the Americas. While traditional native dress has disappeared in many parts of the world, Guatemala remains a place where a high percentage of the indigenous people still proudly wear their traditional dress.

Moreover, in Guatemala, Maya dresses is village-specific or language-group related. Thus, with dozens of Indian towns and villages, and 21 different Mayan ethnolinguistic groups represented, the variety of indigenous costume is truly dazzling.

Aborigenes more likely to be jailed in Australia

Aborigines are 13 times more likely to be jailed than other Australians and the government must step up efforts to tackle drug and alcohol abuse fuelling crime in indigenous communities, researchers said today.

Almost a quarter of all prisoners are indigenous even though Aborigines make up just 2 percent of the population, according to a report by the Australian National Council on Drugs.

“The figures are appalling,” Gino Vumbaca, the council’s executive director, said in a telephone interview. “Every family in indigenous communities knows somebody who has been to prison or is in prison.”

Aborigines remain the poorest and most disadvantaged group in Australian society, more than 200 years after Europeans settled the nation in 1788. Their life expectancy is 17 years less than other Australians and they are three times more likely to experience coronary problems, according to the Australian Medical Association.

An Ashaninka indigenous woman cooked in the main road linking the central jungle to Lima.

Ashaninkas and Machiguengas, indigenous peoples of Peru, protested against the government’s plans to open large parts of the Amazon for drilling, logging and dam building.

Going Native

They are rough, hairy forest barbarians who hunt deer and catch salmon with primitive tools. They speak an alien tongue that no one even knows how to write. When one of their women get married, they make them tattoo their lips.

Though extreme, this is the view many “pure” Japanese hold of their cousins to the north—the Ainu.
Japan’s native peoples may have once conformed to this stereotype, but don’t be surprised if one of your colleagues, neighbors—or even the besuited, clean-shaven gent lining up every morning for the 8:39 express to Shibuya—is of Ainu descent.

The majority of Ainu remain in Hokkaido—a 2006 government survey put their numbers on Japan’s northern island at 23,782—and estimates in greater Tokyo range from 2,500 to 10,000. The true figure, however, could be much higher, as many Ainu lack the self-assurance to acknowledge their identity.

“The thing that hurt most about being Ainu was the self-loathing—I was negative about myself and thought I was ugly,” says Mina Sakai, the leader of the Ainu Rebels, a dynamic music ensemble of young Ainu performers.

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ammph:girls from the hill tribes of Vietnam (via PIXistenz)

Kwadahi Dancers Dance in Europe

Brightly colored regalia. High energy movements. Storytelling from a rich heritage.

A group of young Amarillo performers will take the pageantry of Native American dance to Europe this summer.

The Kwahadi Dancers will tour Ireland, Scotland and Britain for 17 performances during the 23-day trip, which is scheduled to begin July 19.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for these kids,” said John Madden, associate adviser with the Kwahadi Dancers. “They will get to share their knowledge of Native American culture with people across the globe.”

Happy Fourth of July