Elder's Meditation of the Day January 12

Elder's Meditation of the Day January 12
"The first thing that we want you to understand is that spirit has no color or race to it. It doesn't matter whether your skin is white, black, red, brown - whatever. No one out there is any better than you, and you are no better than anyone else out there."
--John Peters (Slow Turtle), WAMPANOAG
We are all created to be of equal worth. We may be different sizes, different heights, different ages, different colors, we may have different beliefs and be of different cultures. In the unseen world, we are all spirit formed into different shapes and colors but we are all worthy. For example, you can have water, you can have steam, or you can have ice. Which of these is not made up of H2O?

My Creator, today, let me see equal worthiness in all people.

Elder's Meditation of the Day January 11

Elder's Meditation of the Day January 11
"Race and language makes no difference; the barriers are gone when persons can come together on high spiritual levels."
--Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE
Not only are race and language barriers overcome by spirituality, but all things are overcome by spirituality. Inside every human being is the spirit. When we see people, we can choose to look at their outside or we can choose to look at their inside. Spirituality resides inside of others, we must be able to look at our own inside. If we see spirituality inside ourselves, we will see spirituality inside others. The saying is, "what you sees is what you gets."

My Creator, let me see all my brothers and sisters through the spiritual eye.

9 Great Places to Experience American and Native Culture Hans Tammemagi 1/11/14

North America is full of fascinating locales, rich in history, nature and visual beauty. So get out and explore this vast land and see how a mix of Native and American culture can be found in almost every region.

To help you plan your 2014 travels, here is a list that represents just a small fraction of many great places.

Anchorage, Alaska

Experience the midnight sun and the northern lights while exploring Alaska’s history and culture. Visit the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center.

Surrounded by wild, dramatic nature including glaciers, Anchorage is close to hiking trails, ski areas and national parks. You can hike the popular Tony Knowles Coastal Trail or cast a line for salmon at Ship Creek.

Take a trip to Denali (Mt. McKinley) National Park and gaze in awe at the highest mountain in North America. You may see moose and grizzly bears.

Black Hills, South Dakota

The Lakota Sioux named this area of western South Dakota as Paha Sapa or Black Hills because a thick forest of pine and spruce trees covers the slopes.

The Black Hills in South Dakota (Associated Press)

Set amongst the sky piercing granite peaks is Mt. Rushmore, an American icon, with the Avenue of Flags leading to the enormous carving of four presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln.

Nearby is the partially completed Crazy Horse Memorial, which shows that Natives also have important heroes. When completeit will be the largest mountain carvingin the world.

The Black Hills offer hiking, rock climbing and spelunking.

Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill, Manitoba, on the western rim of Hudson Bay is a nature-watching wonderland, and the stars are polar bears. In late fall, these mighty carnivores gather along the coast before moving onto the ice to catch seals.

Two caribou herds numbering almost 800,000 animals migrate each fall and spring in a thundering mass. And in the summer, the river estuary is dotted with 3000 Beluga whales, so gentle you can swim amongst them.

This year, the Eskimo Museum, which provides insight into the Inuit way of life, celebrates its 70th year.

At night,northern lights danceoverhead in shimmering curtains of green light. The British-built Fort Prince of Wales and its rusting cannons lie in lonely isolation.

Everglades, Florida

The Everglades in south Florida, an enormous tropical wetland, includes cypress swamps, estuarine mangrove forests, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rockland and marine environment.

The Seminole adapted to the area absorbing previous Native inhabitants. Their culture, and much information about the Everglades, can be viewed at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Museum.

The northern lights in Churchill, Manitoba show curtains of green light (PollarBearAlley.com)

In the 1987, UNESCO recognized the area as a globally significant wetland, spurring restoration from too many canals and farming.

Today, the Everglades National Park protects 1.5 million acres and offers insight to this unusual watery world and its vast array of birds and animals including alligators, flamingos and cottonmouth snakes.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

The Grand Canyon, one of the world’s top natural wonders, is glorious in early morning or late afternoon when shafts of light cast velvety shadows and highlight the pastel ramparts.

Far below the canyon is the Colorado River that, like a surgeon’s scalpel, has sliced an incision 1 mile deep, revealing over two billion years of planetary history.

The canyon has amazing ecological diversity. The rim, 7,200 feet above sea level, is a cool pinyon-juniper woodland. A descent passes through different biozones to reach the canyon bottom, a blazing Sonoran desert. Remains of 800-year Anasazi life are present.

Haida Gwaii

Just south of Alaska’s panhandle, off British Columbia’s coast, lies a mystical place called Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands).

The archipelago teems with whales, salmon, seals, sea lions, marine birds and such unique flora and fauna it is often called the Galapagos of the North.

The Haida First Nation flourished here, their history going back 10,000 years. Sadly, they were almost wiped out. Decaying totems in the forest in five locations are sad testaments to the past. The park at the southern end of the islands was nominated one of the best national parks in North America byNational Geographic. Also visit the superb Haida Heritage Centre, which opened in 2009.

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Monterey, California

Monterey Bay has a rich marine environment, best enjoyed at the world-class Monterey Bay Aquarium or by kayaking in the bay. The self-guidingPath of History passes Spanish-era buildings from the days when the city was California’s capital under both Spanish and Mexican rule.

The Carmel Mission is beautiful, serene and a popular pilgrimage site. North of Monterey, vast sand dunes and golden beaches attract sun-worshippers and surfers.

At Point Lobos State Park, to the south, the coast is wild and untamed. There are also wineries, whale watching, the Steinbeck Museum and superb golf courses.

The Monterey Museum of the American Indian is located in the Pacific House in the Monterey State Historic Park. On the upstairs floor of the House, there’s a display treasure trove of Indian artifacts from tribes as diverse as the Aleutians of Alaska to the Plains Indians of Kansas.

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a funky, green city with great restaurants, numerous food carts, farmers markets, super tram transportation, the most breweries per capita in the world and a spate of urban wineries.

The farmers market in Portland. Oregon (Hans Tammemagi)

It also features Powell’s, the world’s largest bookstore; the Classical Chinese Gardens, a sanctuary of tranquil beauty; and a gloriously re-developed and walkable downtown (and no sales tax).

A wonderland surrounds the city including: the snow-capped Mount Hood with hiking and skiing; Multnomah Falls, where torrents of water tumble twice the height of Niagara Falls.

The Tamastslikt Museum in nearby Pendleton, Oregon is the only museum on the Oregon Trial that tells the story of western expansion from a tribal point of view.

Sedona, Arizona

In selecting Sedona as America’s most beautiful place in 2009,USA Weekend said: Sedona “looks like nowhere else...The area’s telegenic canyons, wind-shaped buttes and dramatic sandstone towers embody the rugged character of the west...People come for inspiration and renewal.”

Much of Sedona’s charm arises from a vibrant artists’ community. Sedona also has a reputation as a spiritual Mecca and vortexes of energy are said to flow from the distinctive red hills.

At nearby Palatki Ruins, dwellings set into the side of a sheer red cliff were once the home of the Sinagua, who lived here from about 1100 to 1300. Archaeologists discovered that a volcano desecrated that area nearly 1,000 years ago.

A by-product of the volcano was the hornito, which were cones of splattered lava built up around holes atop crusted-over tubes of flowing lava. The Sinagua people would place corn on the lip of a hornito. The corn would then be covered with lava, which made “corn rocks.”

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/01/11/9-great-places-experience-american-and-native-culture-153067

Dancing for Snow Miracle Is Last Hope for Olympic Heritage Games

ICTMN Staff

1/10/14

Organizers of the Olympic Heritage Celebration need a miracle. Their 2014 games are in jeopardy unless it snows hard and fast.

“Two years ago, we had no snow,” said Heidi Doyle, executive director of the Sierra State Parks Foundation, one of the program sponsors. “The night after the Eagle Wings danced, I believe after all that positive energy, we got unpredicted snow,” she said in a news release.

Doyle hopes that the Eagle Wings Dancers can perform a miracle this year, as there’s been sparser than usual snowfall in and around Tahoe, California.

“It worked for Walt Disney back in 1960, we hope it will work for us in 2014,” said

Doyle in a press release. Doyle was referring to the year that Squaw Valley, California was chosen to host the Winter Olympic Games. In 1960, the organizers, including Walt Disney, were nervous because the world was about to watch the games in a place that was having an unusually dry winter season. There was barely any snowfall.

Disney, who was chairman of the Pageantry Committee, planned the opening ceremony.He brought in tribal dancers to coaxthe snow to fall, and after the snow dance was performed, the weather changed. More than 12 feet of snow fell and the games went on as planned. Doyle hopes that the Eagle Wings Dancers can perform a bit of magic for the third time. 

The Eagle Wings formed in 2006 to keep the Native American song a dance alive. The songs and dances they perform are more than 1,000 years old and indigenous to the Paiute, Shoshone, and Washoe tribes.

“Our motto is ‘dancing in the steps of our ancestors,’” said Lois Kane, the director of the dance troupe in a news release. “We believe it is the spirit of the Old Ones that lead and guide us.” The Eagle Wing Dancers will perform in the opening ceremonies and dance in front of the iconic Tower of Nations at the park entrance of the park.

The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Heritage Celebration begin on January 11 at the Sugar Pine Point State Park in Tacoma, California. It’s a week-long series of skiing and historic commemorations that honor the Olympic games. The programs focus on the North Tahoe Olympic cultural history, as well as recreational events to promote the spirit of fair play and fitness.

Former Olympic athletes are also scheduled to attend, including Pete Wilson, a 1960 Bronze medal winner and Joseph William Tyler, who was a member of the 1980 U.S. bobsled team. Dignitaries will be on hand to light the caldron and tour the trails at the state park where the Olympic events took place 64 years ago.

“We encourage the community to join us as we honor our Olympic Heritage and dance for snow,” Doyle said.

Read more athttp://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/01/10/dancing-snow-miracle-last-hope-olympic-heritage-games-153057

*God bless and keep sharing the Good News !!! ~ C4C

~ In life’s journey, a true friend and companion is one of God’s sweetest gifts. May we share many more trails!

*God bless and keep sharing the Good News !!! ~ C4C

Red Lobster Biscuits

With the news yesterday of Red Lobster closing or selling their restaurants you might want to Share this recipe so you will have it on your timeline for later!!Garlic Cheese Biscuits Cheese garlic biscuits like those served at a certain famous seafood restaurant. Ingredients Original recipe makes 1 dozen 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 5 tablespoons butter 1 cup milk 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese For the Topping:2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, divided½ teaspoon garlic powder1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley (or ¼ teaspoon dried) Directions Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of flour mixture. Add the milk and cheddar cheese; stir to combine. Drop batter by spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. While the biscuits are in the oven, stir together the 2 tablespoons melted butter, garlic powder and parsley. Remove the biscuits from the oven and immediately brush with the topping mixture. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container or zip-top back at room temperature for up to 3 days.