‘Cover Stories’ Archives
Nowa Cumig: Dennis Banks 1937-2017
By Laura Waterman Wittstock A tribute to a life well-lived should not start with a quarrel with the New York Times, but this instance is an exception. On October 30th the New York Times called the Ojibwe patriot a militant as he had been labeled so many times before during his lifetime. The newspaper, in its apparent omniscient wisdom said he “achieved few real improvements in the daily lives of Native Americans, who live on reservations and in major cities and lag behind most fellow citizens in jobs, housing and education.” The article went on to describe the 1973 police encounter in Custer, SD. Later demonstrations in 1999 led by Tom Poor Bear in nearby White Clay, NE led to discontinuation of alcohol sales, having a major effect on the nearby Pine Ridge Reservation. The area had the highest per capita alcohol sales in the US. To be sure, “D.J.” as he was known to many, exhibited real anger and frustration at the conditions Indian people were forced to [...]
“As the Crow Flies” and the Phillips Community
By Harvey Winje In Native American folklore, the intelligence of crows is usually portrayed as the most important characteristic of crows. Seeing a crow was and is still considered good luck by many Native American tribes. “As the crow flies” refers to the shortest distance between two points because the common belief is that crows fly a straight course. Actually, crows are excellent flyers that do not usually fly in a straight line but zigzag and perform aerial acrobatics seemingly for the joy of it. Crows can often be seen circling above their nests on a winter”'s afternoon. Scientists say crows, like humans, pay close attention to people”'s faces and are able to remember threatening or caring faces and react to them differently. Words and phrases may be misused, be inaccurate or concepts can be oversimplified. The same thing can occur when using a single story to describe a person, culture, or community. Phillips Community and its people are often labeled [...]
Frances Fairbanks: 1929 ”“ 2017
BY LAURA WATERMAN WITTSTOCK An all-night beginning of the mahjon for Frances Fairbanks took place on November 8th at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. This was a place she knew intimately, because she worked there for nearly all of the Center”'s 43-year history. She was one of a kind, having worked her way up through the operational and leadership ladder through talent, resolve, and a deep understanding of the community she served. She was a member of the Red Lake Nation and often spoke of her life there. When giving advice to others she would talk about her young life at Red Lake and she would relate the advice her father would give her from time to time. She found this advice useful, not just in its content, but also in that it was something to be remembered, considered, and applied to different situations from time to time. She was unique in two ways: she was a natural leader who had little formal training but who used well what she had learned at Red Lake; and she [...]
