Project: Moccasins for Native Troops Serving in all ports of call overseas.
The National Native Veterans Association of Oklahoma has taken on "Project Moccasins" for our Native Troops Overseas.
It is a Native Tradition that when a Warrior went into battle he would wear new moccasins. The new moccasins were to bring him home safely from battle or to ease his transition into the next life. With the number of Native American Troops currently stationed in Harm’s Way in Iraq and Afghanistan, the NNAVA has undertaken to send a new pair of moccasins to each of our Native Troops deployed.
Each pair of moccasins is hand made in the traditional way, wrapped in red flannel, and then shipped to the addresses of our deployed Troops. The cost to make and ship each pair of moccasin is only $21.00, due to the number of volunteers who are donating their time and money to this project.
Help us recognize the valor, sacrifice, and courage of our Native American Troops by donating to Project Moccasin. Please mail you contributions to the
Project Moccasin Fund, in care of the National Native American Veterans Association at P O Box 891973, Oklahoma City, OK. 73189-1973.
If you know of a native american man or woman serving overseas or have served and has returned, please send me an email of the name and contact information, if known so we can send them an application.
Thank you ~
Two Native Male Soldiers have a special request while in Iraq:
A Ponca/Otoe/Kaw male soldier requests beaded necklaces & dream catchers
A Blackfoot male soldier requests Pow Wow Cd's as he misses hearing it in Iraq.
If you would like to help these two male native soldiers fulfill their requests, hit me back at my e-mail.
Thank you :)
Lynch calls Piestewa 'hero' at House hearing Wednesday, April 25, 2007 Filed Under: National
Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch hailed Lori Piestewa, the Hopi woman who died in Iraq, as a true hero during a House Oversight Government Reform Committee hearing on Tuesday.
Lynch and Piestewa became best friends while serving in the same unit. They came under fire in southern Iraq but the Army's account of the incident turned out to be inaccurate and misleading.
"My parent’s home in Wirt County [in West Virginia] was under siege of the media all repeating the story of the little girl Rambo from the hills who went down fighting," she said. "It was not true."
Lynch said she never engaged in any gunfire despite media accounts that portrayed her as a hero. She said the true story ignored the contributions of Piestewa, the first Native woman to die during combat.
"My hero is my friend Lori who died in Iraq but set an example for a generation of Hopi and Native American women and little girls everywhere about the important contributions just one soldier can make in the fight for freedom," Lynch said.
Lynch said she doesn't know which government officials spread the false stories or why they did so. She also blamed the media for running the information without getting all of the facts.
In celebration of Black History Month, the IPCC is pleased to host an exhibition in conjunction with the Buffalo Soldiers Society of New Mexico in our North Gallery.
Come in and learn about an important part of New Mexican history. This exhibit will run through the month of February.
Also, join us on Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 10:30am for a special presentation by the Buffalo Soldiers Society of New Mexico. This event will be held in the Chaco III room.
All events/exhibitions free with price of admission. Adults: $6.00 Students with ID: $1.00 NM Residents: $4.00
All Native American tribal members have FREE admission.
GALLUP — Like all good stories, the story of the Navajo Code Talkers is interesting enough to be told over and over by a variety of storytellers.
The most recent storytellers — a Gallup filmmaker, his educator wife, and a group of local middle school pupils — have produced a professional, half-hour documentary DVD that is set to make its public debut on Feb. 12. The film is shaped around the memories of three Navajo Code Talkers: Dr. Roy Hawthorne, Frank Thompson, and Bill Toledo.
“This is focused on them, letting them tell their story,” said Theo Bremer-Bennett, a local graphic designer, musician, filmmaker, and owner of the Glyph Engine design firm.
Bremer-Bennett, who has produced one other documentary, was assisted by his wife, Carol, the principal of Rehoboth Middle School, and her middle school pupils.
The couple talked about the film project during a recent interview. According to Carol Bremer-Bennett, the DVD project was funded though a $19,000 grant, “Keeping the Code Alive,” that her school received from the First Nations Development Institute. The grant had three components, all of which were centered on preserving history and language related to the Navajo Code Talkers.
For the first component, she explained, Rehoboth teachers developed a curriculum to teach the original 200 Navajo words of the World War II code to all Rehoboth pupils in grades K-8. The grant funded prizes and awards for the program so top achieving pupils could win limited edition Code Talker Pendleton blankets or replicas of the Code Talker Gold Medals.
The grant’s second component involved the middle school library, which is named the Navajo Code Talkers Communication Center and which contains a small, museum-quality exhibit about the Navajo Nation’s famed WWII-era Marines. Since its completion, the center has attracted a number of visitors, Bremer-Bennett explained, who visit the center to learn more about the Code Talkers.
Under the grant program, middle school pupils developed a logo and a brochure for the Communications Center, educational activities about codes were developed to teach younger children, students were trained to be docents and tour guides for the center, and pupils made models of WWII military vehicles.
Bremer-Bennett said the third component of the grant — the documentary film — will help fill in a missing piece for the Communications Center. Although the center’s exhibit contains a historic timeline, a Code Talker’s uniform, and WWII guns and military artifacts, she explained, it doesn’t have a “moving piece” that can tell the story.
However, producing a professional quality documentary film is not something most schools have the expertise to do. But Bremer-Bennett needed to look no further than her own family. Husband Theo was in the process of working on his first documentary, “Yezelalem Minch: The Everlasting Spring,” a film about an Ethiopian program that helps care for and educate children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS.
Local Code Talker historian Zonnie Gorman was enlisted to help, communications teacher Aleke Morris taught pupils interviewing and filming techniques, Theo Bremer-Bennett offered workshops in digital editing, and Navajo Code Talkers were invited to attend a 2006 Thanksgiving potluck gathering and interview session at the school.
Although he was familiar with the story of the Code Talkers, Theo Bremer-Bennett said the interviewing process helped him understand the story in a fresh way.
“It was extraordinary for me to actually hear it from their mouths,” he said. Historians now recognize the Navajo soldiers’ contributions were unusually valuable, he added, but during their actual military service, the men thought they were just ordinary Marines.
After filming concluded, a student crew helped catalog hours and hours of video, and Bremer-Bennett began the long process of shaping the story by editing the local video and combining it with historical photos and film footage.
Pupil Michael Oliver was brought in to provide narration, and Bremer-Bennett added his own original soundtrack.
“I had the idea of drums, particularly the Navajo drum,” he said, explaining that he paired the sound of the Navajo drum with a military snare drum, a Native American flute, and Navajo chanting to produce a blending of military and Native sounds.
Carol Bremer-Bennett is pleased with the grant project’s end result and its creative process. In particular, she believes the documentary will be a showcase piece for her school’s Navajo Code Talkers Communications Center, and she believes her pupils learned a great deal from working on various aspects of the project.
“I think there was a renewed respect for the Code Talkers,” she said. Pupils grasped the idea that with the passing of each veteran, she added, more stories are being lost — stories that will never be retold if not saved and recorded.
The public is invited to attend the premiere screening of the Navajo Code Talkers documentary at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 12 at the new Rehoboth Church. It will be shown as part of a Rehoboth Middle School program.
Copies of the documentary will eventually be available for purchase at a nominal fee to cover the DVD copying costs.
Pawnee soldier seriously injured in Iraq bombing “We are praying for him”
Sam Lewin 4/19/2006
An American Indian soldier originally from Oklahoma has been seriously injured in an Easter Sunday bomb attack in Iraq.
Pvt. Joshua P. Stein is now recovering in Germany following the assault on his unit by insurgents using an Improvised Explosive Device. Stein, a member of the Pawnee Nation, suffered two broken arms, burns and other injuries in the attack. Doctors have amputated both of his legs above the knee.
The explosion occurred while Stein was piloting a tank. Even though severely hurt, Stein was able to maneuver the tank to safety after the explosion and spare the lives of his fellow soldiers.
Stein’s mother is Sandy Kaulaity of Perkins, Oklahoma. He is the grandson of Yvonne and Hershall Kaulaity. Stein’s aunt, Carol Kaulaity, said her sister has flown to Germany to be at her son’s bedside.
“Joshua is a spirited boy,” Carol told the Native American Times. “Sandy said he’s still himself after everything that has happened to him. He’s joking and making everyone laugh. They asked him to wiggle his fingers and he flipped them off. That’s the type of spirited guy he is.”
Stein serves in the Army’s Echo Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment. He had been stationed at Fort Hood and was dispatched to Iraq last fall. After living in Perkins for a stint as a youngster he moved to stay with his father, who has a home overseas.
Stein has a wife and a two-year-old daughter. His wife is pregnant and expecting another child in August. She has joined her mother-in-law in Germany.
Carol Kaulaity said her sister reported that upon waking, the first thing Stein asked was “did the other guys make it through?” He was informed that they did.
Stein now faces intense physical therapy. He will soon be transferred stateside for further medical treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
“It hurts because we know what happened and we are praying for him,” said Carol Kaulaity. “My sister said he knows that people prayed for him.”
Native American Group honors fallen soldier from Arkadelphia
By Donna Hilton
Members of the Tennessee Native American Veteran's Association recently honored Pvt. Landon Giles, an Arkadelphia native who was killed Feb. 26 while serving in the Army in Iraq.
Tim Ford, vice president of the organization, presented Giles' mother, Kim, with several framed certificates and items honoring Giles' service to his country.
The ceremony, Ford said, was "a Native American ceremony used to honor warriors."
Landon Giles was part Cherokee on his father's side, Kim Giles said.
Ford also honored Kim Giles for her efforts to honor Landon and support his comrades by establishing the KIA Foundation. KIA, which stands for Keeping It Alive, was chosen deliberately, she said.
KIA means killed in action in military language, she said. "This is a way to keep Landon's spirit, and the spirit of others who have been killed in the war, alive."
The KIA Foundation will raise funds to support soldiers fighting in Iraq and their families. Some of the money will be used to send "care packages" to soldiers.
"Those packages are very important for the health and welfare of the soldiers," Kim Giles said.
Funds will also be used to establish a scholarship honoring Landon Giles at Arkadelphia High School next year, she said.
For more information on the KIA Foundation, contact Candace Hanks at 870-464-7405.
Tohono O'odham Nation soldier killed in Iraq Tuesday, August 16, 2005
A soldier from the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona was killed on Sunday in Iraq. Pfc. Seferino Reyna, an Army combat engineer and father of two, died when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb. He was 20 years old. Reyna is the 21st American Indian or Alaska Native to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, The Arizona Daily Star reported, citing figures from the Pentagon.
Prayers for the family....
Marine lived, died for Corps
By Ken Raymond The Oklahoman
APACHE - Today’s powwow at Apache High School will be far more solemn than originally planned.
As Mariah Carey’s “Hero” plays on the sound system, girls from the Native American Club will sign the lyrics in traditional sign language. Then a Pendleton blanket will be carried through the room, never touching the floor, and donations for a grieving family will be placed on it.
The song, the signing, the money, the ritual - none of it was supposed to happen. But as news of a tragedy raced through the community Wednesday, the lighthearted powwow, which had been planned for weeks, took a more serious turn.
Marine Cpl. Joshua J. “Josh” Ware, 21, who attended the school until his senior year, perished Wednesday in an ambush in Iraq.
A hometown hero had fallen.
Proud to serve
By all accounts, Ware couldn’t have been much prouder of his country or his Corps.
A spokesman for Ware’s family said Ware graduated from Roland High School in May 2003, then enlisted in the Marines on May 27 - just two days after his birthday.
In March 2004, he was stationed in Iraq as a member of Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Serving in the infantry, Ware fought in the second battle of Fallujah.
“It will probably go down in Marine Corps history as one of their biggest battles ever, maybe even the biggest in Iraq,” said family friend Lenny Asepermy, who served in Vietnam. “He was a grunt, an infantryman, so you know he was in the thick of things.”
Ware returned home in October 2004, then went on a training trip in July, Asepermy said. Ware went back to Iraq last month as a member of Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division (Marine Expeditionary Force), stationed at Camp Fallujah.
Wednesday, Ware and others had just entered a farmhouse when an explosion went off, Asepermy said. At least one Marine was injured or killed, and when others tried to recover him, rebels inside the house attacked with guns and grenades.
Several Marines and rebels were killed, Asepermy said, citing a conversation he and Ware’s mother had with military officials Thursday.
The Defense Department would not confirm details Thursday.
Family reeling
About 4 p.m. Wednesday, Ware’s family learned the terrible news.
The tragedy struck a family already reeling from a recent family emergency. Last week, friends said, Ware’s stepfather suffered a stroke, and Ware’s mother, Alicia Momaday, was left with the dual responsibilities of visiting her husband at a Lawton hospital and tending to three school-age children.
“The family’s really, really having a hard time,” said Donna Watts, who leads the Native American Club, which counted Ware among its members a few years ago. “The mom has been going back and forth, and then this happened yesterday. The family is just devastated.”
Ware’s sister, Randi Momaday, 16, was notified of her brother’s death by her basketball coach during practice.
“Naturally, she’s having a hard time with it,” Watts said.
His brothers, Dustin Ware, 23, Sky Momaday, 13, and Daniel Momaday, 6, also are stunned by Ware’s death, Asepermy said.
“The mother is just beside herself,” he said.
Karen Rodenberg, Apache principal, said counselors and teachers are trying to ease the loss for all the students, especially those who knew Ware or went to school with his siblings.
“You hear about the war every day,” Rodenberg said, “and you hear about the soldiers, but it doesn’t really affect you until it happens to someone in your community.”
That’s why the powwow plans were changed.
“There will be some honor there for that boy,” Rodenberg promised. “It will be a positive thing.”.
Native American war hero might finally get Medal of Honor
By Staff Reports
Published: April 24, 2007
Woodrow Wilson Keeble, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribal member who fought valiantly in World War II and the Korean War but died in 1982 without the full credit his fellow soldiers say he deserved, could finally get the Medal of Honor.
He would become the first Sioux Indian to receive the military's highest accolade.
Keeble saved fellow soldiers' lives during the Korean War, a conflict in which Keeble himself was wounded. He won four Purple Hearts and the Army's second-highest commendation, the Distinguished Service Cross, but the Medal of Honor escaped him because of bureaucratic technicalities.
In October 1951, near Kumsong, North Korea, all of the officers of Keeble’s company were either wounded or killed in combat.
Keeble voluntarily led three platoons in three successful assaults, according to military records. He was severely wounded with at least five separate injuries to his chest, both arms and both legs.
Military officials have said that the soldiers in Master Sergeant Keeble’s company submitted recommendations for the Medal of Honor decades ago, but they were lost. By the time lawmakers took up the matter in 2002, the military said the window had closed on awarding the medal.
But a measure championed by all four senators from South Dakota and North Dakota would make it clear that President Bush has the authority to give final approval for Keeble's honor.
Former prisoner of war Jessica Lynch hailed Lori Piestewa, the Hopi woman who died in Iraq, as a true hero during a House Oversight Government Reform Committee hearing on Tuesday. 
Spc. Clifton Yazzie Tribute Book
A soldier from the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona was killed on Sunday in Iraq. Pfc. Seferino Reyna, an Army combat engineer and father of two, died when his vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb. He was 20 years old. Reyna is the 21st American Indian or Alaska Native to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, The Arizona Daily Star reported, citing figures from the Pentagon.