‘Cover Stories’ Archives
“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 [...]
AUTUMN IN OUR HEARTS
This future leader will be able to walk through the English curtain at will and leave it all behind having learned Objibwe and/or Dakota culture, traditions, and language; and the wholeness of the circle of life. He will understand how important autumn is”¦the timing of the leaves that turn to color ”“ bronze, yellow, orange, red ”“ signal when they choke off the flow of nutrients to their leaves whether winter will be early or late. Photo: Jewell Arcoren BY LAURA WATERMAN WITTSTOCK Before cars, before buildings, before the incessant consumption of natural resources, there was another population that went through the seasons, adjusted to disasters, fell in battle, and buried their dead. In less than 100 years, European settlers managed to wipe out over 90% of the old growth forest in what is now Minnesota. Before the arrival of the French and the Ojibwe, the river along what is now St. Paul, bustled with the canoe and watercraft traffic of the Dakota people and [...]
