The chant begins and the drums follow, dancers enter the circle clad in bright colors, with open honest faces. They circle around once, twice, three times each dancer projecting their own clearly palpable welter of emotions. They exit the circle and the crowd gathers around them, it is a celebration. Welcome to the 12th annual Clarksville Native Cultural Circle Intertribal Powwow.

The Powwow showcases the culture, heritage, and traditions of all Native Americans. This years powwow is being held on October 10th and 11th . Located on Highway 238 in Port Royal, just past Port Royal State Park. The festivities start around 9:00 am on Saturday, and 10:00 am on Sunday. The Grand Entry which officially opens each day begins around Noon.

Everyone is welcome, it does not matter if you are a Native American or not! Being your family out and share in the fellowship that is such a huge part of Native American culture. Let the tranquility of the powwow grounds refresh your spirit.

One of the many traditional dances from the 2008 NCC Intertribal Powwow

NCC 2008 Powwow Head Lady Loretta Howard

The Head lady this year is Jill Smith, the head man is Chris Crosby. Faron Weeks is the Master of Ceremony. Charles Page is serving as the Head Vet. Shawn Longfeather is the arena master. This year’s Powwow Princess is Christa Koontz. The host drum is The White Horse Singers from Alabama. This year the guest drum is Southern Echo which hales from East Tennessee.

Traditional dances are part and parcel to powwows, there will be special children’s and young peoples dances as well. Scheduled performers include the Hui Hawaii O Tenesi Hawaiian Civic Club, a storyteller and flute players. Like all festivals, vendors will be on hand, however Native vendors at powwows offer only authentic Native American jewelry, arts and crafts and clothing. There will also be vendors offering food and beverages for sale. The Host Drum, The White Horse Singers have their first Album available on CD for purchase.

Members of the Hui Hawaii O Tenesi Hawaiian Civic Club perform at the 2008 NCC Powwow

There is a small admission fee: Adults are 5$; Active duty military- with ID, and children, 15 years of age and under, are admitted free; Senior citizens 65 and older pay only $2. there is no charge for parking. Proceeds from the Powwow are used to purchase Native American textbooks which are donated to area school libraries. The NCC is an charitable education non-profit organization. Charitable donations are appreciated, and are tax deductible. Visitors are reminded to wear comfortable shoes, bring a lawn chair and wear sun cover and sunscreen.

NCC Trail of Tears Memorial Walk

Be sure to come out early on Saturday October 10th, and take part in the 3rd Annual NCC trail of Tears Memorial Walk which will begin at 10:00am. The walk remembers the forced removal of the native tribes from their homelands to the Indian Territory in what became the State of Oklahoma. Diary records of the removal mentioned Port Royal, the last stop before leaving Tennessee, as an encampment site where the Cherokee stayed to re-supply, grind corn and rest. Hundreds of Cherokee died during their trip west, and thousands more perished as a consequence of relocation.

Schedule of Events

A small note these times are approximate. Native Americans typically operate on what is jokingly known as “Native American Standard time,” which basically means “it happens, when it happens”.

Saturday

• Gates open – 9 a.m.
• Port Royal Memorial Trail of Tears Walk – 10 a.m.
• Welcome – 12 p.m.
• Grand Entry – 12 p.m.
• Posting the colors and Flag Song
• Demonstrations, dancing, and storytelling
• Retiring of the colors
• Activities end at 6 p.m.
• Dinner for Drums, Dancers, Vendors, and Staff

Sunday

• Gates open – 10 a.m.
• Welcome – 12:30 p.m.
• Grand Entry – 1 p.m.
• Posting the colors and Flag Song
• Demonstrations, dancing, and storytelling
• Retiring of the colors
• Activities end at 5 p.m.

Sponsors are appreciated

The Native Cultural Circle wishes to thank all of their sponsors again this year for their support in the festival booklet. Individuals, organizations and local businesses are encouraged to show their support for this local cultural celebration. Super 8 Motel, Huntco Drive and M.L.K. Pky, just left from I-24 Exit 11, is serving as honorary guest hotel.

For more info, email inquiries to: or .

Visions Metaphysical Boutique is at the corner of Franklin Street and South Third Street

Linda Cain, owner of Visions Metaphysical Boutique

Owner Linda Cain first discovered Clarksville when her husband John was assigned to a tour of duty at the Fort Campbell Army base. She immediately fell in love with downtown Clarksville. After six years her husband was reassigned to Washington DC. When it came time for him to retire in 2001, they knew that Clarksville was the place that they wanted to call home.

The store has received a wonderful reception since it’s opening. It took people awhile to find the store, but now that they know where it is, “I have a nice group of regular clientèle.” Her business received a big boost after attending the Galactic Expo in Nashville, TN, where she was fortunate to meet roughly half a dozen local people who did not know her business had recently opened up in Clarksville.

Visions Metaphysical Boutique is Linda’s first business and she is still learning the ropes. “I am learning as I go. I am getting the hang of it.”

Art at Visions Metaphysical Boutique

The atmosphere in the store helps people to instantly feel at ease. Much of the store’s decor was furnished by Hodgepodge and Betty’s Antiques, both Franklin Street businesses. Another important element is the art which decorates the walls. Most of the items were created by her two employees,  Afton Chandler and Amanda Harrison, but she is considering trying to open up some space on her walls for other local artists.

Vision's Guardian

A wooden Native American Princess is the guardian of Visions, and it looks over the entry to the store. “When I touched it. I felt a connection to it”, and so she knew it was to be her stores guardian.

Linda served as a nurse for 26 years. Based on that experience she knew people need more care than traditional medicine generally is willing or able to provide. She truly believes that her patients need help beyond their physical bodies, many also need help emotionally, mentally, and spiritually as well.

That lead her to Reiki and other forms of holistic healing. Reiki is a form of healing in which energy is channeled through the hands. According to reiki.org:

The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words – Rei which means “God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power” and Ki which is “life force energy”. So Reiki is actually “spiritually guided life force energy.

Reiki infused candles

Besides traditional Reiki sessions, she also offers a variety of Reiki charged items such as handcrafted jewelry and candles. “I infuse it with Reiki energy when I make it” she said. The money candle is one of her hottest items.

Linda also offers angel readings in which spiritual guides use her as a conduit for their wisdom. This sounds like the stories told about the “sleeping prophet” Edgar Cayce, who also lived in this area. “Everybody can talk to angels, but the listening part is harder. That took awhile for me,” she joked. Linda says that anyone can learn the ability to heal, “I always knew that I had gifts, but I did not know what they were or how to use them, until I got older,” she offered. To help people discover their own unique gifts she now offers classes at her store.

Visions Metaphysical Boutique offers readings including intuitive card readings and angel readings. As well as crystals, and healing touch. They have a selection of crystal and geodes, as well as new age books (new and used) and music. The store also offers essential and aroma therapy oils. Sage, cedar, and sweet grass is available for smudging.

Essential oils

But do not go into Visions looking for the occult. “I wanted this place to be light and spiritual. While the store is not religious, I am a Christian. If somebody wants something that is occult or something like that, I can let them know where to go for that. But my guidance is not to have that items of that nature here.”

Even if you do not believe in non-traditional methods of healing, stop by and say “Hello,” you will find Linda and her staff to be friendly, and always willing to talk!

Visions Metaphysical Boutique is located at 101 Franklin Street in Clarksville, TN. You can reach Visions by phone at (931) 378-7576.

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The first type of art is petroglyphs, images carved or incised into rock by prehistoric or neolithic peoples. Dunbar Cave has several drawings of this nature. They are concentric circles that are carved into the rock with a design similar to the pictograph shown at the right. These carvings are found along the cave tour but are very difficult to see.

The second type of cave art is Pictograms or pictographs, images produced by adding pigments of coloring to the cave wall.  The pictographs in Dunbar Cave were drawn with the carbonized charcoal on the ends of the river cane torches that the early visitors used to light their path.

The third type of cave art is what is known as a mud glyph. Mud glyphs are images traced into wet clay on cave ceilings, walls, or floors using fingers or sharp tools, and since things inside a cave do not change unless tampered with, the mud glyphs, as well as the other Indian art works, are well over 500 years old.

The mud glyph that was discovered in Dunbar cave was drawn with three fingers and formed a box with cross marks through the middle. This type of design is something that Professor Simek is familiar with in his study of the Mississippian Era Indians. The mud glyph was found in a crawl space which Park staff member David Britton identified as an area used in the past by bears as a place to hibernate during the winter.

Also found nearby is proof of neolithic visits, stoke marks which were created when the visitors cleaned off the tips of their river cane torches.

Dr. Simek plans to conduct more research on Dunbar Cave and its early inhabitants later on in the year. Dunbar Cave Park Manager announced that the cave is closed to both the public and cave staff except for the cave tours. Cave tours begin again on March 8 and 9, 22 and 23 by reservation only. Both pictographs and petrogyphs can be viewed during the cave tour. With the renewed interest these and future discoveries will likely generate it is advisable to call and make reservations well in advance for the 20 people maximum cave tours by calling (931) 648-5526.

Devilstep Hollow Cave is another culturally significant Tennessee cave with Native American art. In order to protect the cave and it’s art the State of Tennessee has closed that cave to public access.  See a video at: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080225/VIDEO08/80226001

Photographs of Dunbar Cave and the Neolithic art

Congress passed the Indian Health Care Improvement Act in 1976 to address health disparities between Native Americans and the rest of the populace. Since 1992, when the act was last reauthorized, the U.S. health care delivery system has been revolutionized, while the Indian health care system has not.

This bill lays the foundation for program change, including shifts from acute care to prevention and the provision of mental health services for children. It addresses health crises such as diabetes, youth suicide, and drug addiction that have escalated among native peoples in the past 15 years. It facilitates greater input to program operation from the local tribal level and enhances recruitment and retention of health professionals in facilities serving native populations.

As a candidate for the US Senate I believe it is vitally important that the United States consider major health care initiatives to improve the quality of life for all Americans. I also believe it is important that the Senate take steps to honor the health care needs of the first Americans by passing the Indian Health Care Improvement Reauthorization Bill.

About the Indian health care improvement act

Issue

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), Public Law 94-437, expired on September 30, 2000, and was extended through 2001 in anticipation that Congress would consider the reauthorization proposals pending in Congress. Since 2001, the Congress has held hearings on the reauthorization proposals. While there have been various versions of the bill considered by the Congress since that time, the work on reauthorization of the IHCIA has not been completed.

Background

The IHCIA is considered to be the cornerstone legal authority for the provision of health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives. This authority builds upon the Snyder Act of 1921, which is the basic and first legislative authority for Congress to appropriate funds specifically for health care provided by the IHS. The IHCIA of 1976 was enacted into law based upon findings that the health status of Indians ranked far below that of the general population. The Act declared that it was this Nation’s policy to elevate the health status of the Indian population to a level at parity with the general U.S. population. Since its first passage in 1976, the Act has been reauthorized four times.

Situation

During late 1998 and 1999, the IHS actively consulted with Indian country on amendments to the existing Act to provide tribal and urban Indian health programs with the programmatic and administrative capabilities to provide high quality health care to their constituents. A National Steering Committee (NSC) on the reauthorization of the IHCIA was established in the summer of 1999 to review the recommendations received during the consultation process, to reconcile differences in the recommendations from the various areas of Indian country, and then to complete a legislative draft that reflected the final recommendations. In October of 1999, the NSC forwarded their legislative proposal to the leadership of the Executive and Legislative Branches, as well as to tribal governments and urban Indian health programs. The House Committee on Resources and the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs both introduced legislation almost identical to the NSC draft. Both chambers have held hearings on the reauthorization proposals since 2000 and both reported the reauthorization bills out of committee on September 22, 2004. During the second session of the 108th Congress, the IHS and the Department worked with the congressional committees to resolve areas of concern with the pending legislative proposals. Time ran out before a bill could be finalized that would address the Department’s concerns. A reauthorization proposal, S. 1057, was reintroduced in the Senate in the 109th Congress and was favorably reported with amendments by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on October 27, 2005. The IHS and Department have been working with the Senate committee staff in order to ascertain the impact of the bill and to develop an Administration position on the proposal.

Options/Plans

By the end of the 109th Congress, the IHS and the Department had testified at 11 hearings on the reauthorization of the IHCIA. Work will continue on Senate reauthorization bill in the 110th Congress. It is anticipated that re-introduction of a bill will occur in the in the 110th Congress. Tribal governments and urban Indian health program leaders will continue to push for passage of the reauthorization legislation.

For Additional information

For referral to the appropriate spokesperson, contact the IHS Public Affairs Staff at 301-443-3593.

The event, which attracted hundreds of visitors, is a celebration of Native American culture and of the Cherokee people who marched through this area, banished from the Georgia landscape that was their home and heritage.

Having spent part of the day Saturday at the Trail of Tears PowWow in Christian County, Clarksville Online Author Debbie Boen, a naturalist and artist, wrote:

“As I listened to the drumming and watched the the dances I felt grounded, connected to the earth.  There’s no way to intellectually explain why that it so, but it’s a feeling of going home, really going home. I looked around at all the different kinds of people visiting the PowWow and knew that they were feeling that way too (and they can’t explain it either).

“I bought Frybread there.   The Taco style gave me a huge piece of Frybread with hamburger, beans, cheese and more on top.  Frybread is also a great dessert, plain, sprinklied with just a bit of powdered sugar.

“I was also looking for a herbal remedy, female balance tea, the only thing I’ve found that solves hot flashes.  So I worked my way through vendors selling books, jewelry, clothing and tee shirts, bumper stickers, toys, drums, marvelous dreamcatchers and other ‘goodies” like the skunk skin I bought.

“Why buy a skunk skin? An Indian versed in knowledge about the animal kingdom would tell you that the furry little animal has a reputation that contains a great deal of power. Due to its distinctive behavior, humans give this tiny, smelly animal wide berth. The key word here is respect, as evidenced in this quote:

‘Skunk teaches me that by walking my talk and by respecting myself, I will create a position of strength and honored reputation.’

– Jamie Sams & David Carson, Medicine Cards

“There is an area in my life in which I am working on this kind of energy, and coincidentally, so is my family. I have been so attracted to the beauty and the colors of the skunk lately and we have seen three of them on our property.  I take that as receiving a message from skunk medicine.  After I saw the skunk pelt at PowWow, I walked around the entire place (it’s laid out in a circle) , and I returned to buy it, to remind myself of what skunk represents and what I can learn from it.

“Even if you aren’t looking for hot flash tea or a skunk pelt, there’s a lot to shop for, and to simply enjoy, at the PowWow.”

The PowWow is a way to recreate and revisit an earlier time and way of life in American history, a glimpse of a culture to which we owe so much. Here’s a bit of history that shaped today’s events:

In 1828, the Georgia Cherokee were a settled people, and had assimilated many European customs. They were farmers, ranchers, merchants, with their governance and systems in place. They had their own alphabet, “The Talking Leaves,” created by Sequoyah. But as the population of northern Georgia soared with new white settlers, many attracted by rumors of gold littered along the landscape, the Cherokee were slowly forced off their land.

The Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed into law by then President Andrew Jackson, was rejected on Supreme Court appeal. By 1838, the displacement of the Cherokee was well underway, culminating  with the forced march from Georgia through Tennessee and Kentucky to lands in Oklahoma, with an estimated 4,000 Cherokee souls lost along the way. Their culture was all but eradicated from the Georgia landscape at that time.

On this weekend, the heritage and culture of the Cherokee and all Native America people is honored and given new life and respect through the Trail of Tears festival, giving people of all ages a glimpse of history and the value of native culture.

Tribal dancing, storytelling, Indian arts and more filled the park grounds in Christian County, and a little bit of rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of those participating in this amazing event.

If you miss this weekend’s PowWow, there will be another in our area at Port Royal, on the weekend of October 12th.
http://www.trailoftears.org/

Sunday’s schedule is:

1 p.m. Grand Entry, Intertribal

Youth Contests children & adults, fancy/traditional costumes, shawl, jingle

2:15 p.m. Drum Contest

2:30 p.m. Storytelling by Grady Jones, costuming contests

4 p.m. Indian Flute Music with Tommy Wildcat

4:30 p.m. Intertribal contest/women & men, golden age

5 p.m. Intertribal

5:30 p.m. Hoop Dancer Daniel Tramper

6 p.m. Awards Presentation

6:30 p.m. Retire Colors

~~ PowWow photos by Debbie Boen~~

“Hope” is a unique and powerful film with a message of peace for the future. Combining animation, archival footage and live action, in a multi-layered non-linear story, the film brings the viewer on a fascinating journey through human existence. ‘Hope’ is shaped around the knowledge and ideas of Willy Whitefeather, a man in his sixties of Cherokee ancestry, a storyteller, healer, survivalist and an individual of wisdom and heart.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We are seeing wars, genocide, diseases, climate change such as global warming, and potential earth changes which have been foretold by many seers and indigenous peoples. This is that story in animated visuals and soundtrack that will shake you to your roots. We must shift to this path, without hesitation.

Using traditions and stories from Native American and world cultures, Whitefeather combines dreams, images and reminiscences from our collective memory to send a message of hope for the future. Now is the time to reconnect with Spirit, to recognize the effects of our actions, to evaluate the underlying causes of suffering and to reshape our life and our world into a more harmonious one.

The animated scenes are in styles reminiscent of Pueblo pottery design, Sioux painted hides, Petroglyph drawings and Hopi mural paintings. The sound track is similarly layered with the sounds of a beating heart, breathing, wooden flutes, drums, rattles, a traditional Cherokee lullaby and original music. “Hope” urges us to change course and follow a path of wisdom, responsibility, beauty, simplicity and gentleness, so that one day we too can know Hope.

This film was created by Willy Whitefeather, directed by Catherine Margerin, and produced by Mary Mathaisell & Luna Media.

Originally broadcast on New Mexico PBS channel, KNME-TV, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In 2004, a centuries old dispute between the Navajo Nation and New Mexico over the water of the San Juan River Basin finally came to an end. In the final agreement, the Navajo Nation maintained just 56% of their San Juan water rights in exchange for a massive infrastructure project to bring running water to parts of the reservation that have gone without for centuries. In turn, the agreement provides the much-needed water reserves for New Mexico to continue to develop into the 21st century.

Now in 2007 this historic water settlement will go before the halls of Congress for final approval. But will it pass?

“The Water Haulers” features profiles of Navajos struggling to prosper in their dry ancestral lands, expert explanation of these pressing water rights issues, and interviews with policymakers throughout the Southwest. This documentary explores the challenges facing a culture when the basic human right of access to water is unobtainable.

* Text on this page taken from the Google Video listing for this documentary.