Carving @ MindSay 
halloween
I am an enrolled member of the Lummi Indian nation that is located in the Pacific Northwest, just off of Bellingham Bay in the beautiful Puget Sound. For generations my family and ancestors have lived near the sound and followed the Salmon, Dungeness Crab, Halibit and other water creatures. The traditions of the Native American have been constantly purged by the ruling social class of America and even though our history includes times when we were forbad to practice our spiritualism, we have survived and the Lummi people have found a strength that has for generations been attacked. We are one of the many treaty indian tribes that have rights that were guarenteed to them by the United States government, and even though they tried to make farmers of us, we have survived and even today fish the waters of the Puget Sound and continue to raise our children with the beliefs and culture that have been passed down by our ancestors.
If you are interested in seeing some native artwork that is done by my thousands of relatives then you would want to go to www.ebuynativeart.com, many of my cousins have been gifted with the ability to carve in the tradition of the Coastal Salish Indians, and pass on these gifts to other family members to keep our spirit alive. I can recall when I met on of my cousins, Jewell James, he was standing next to a rather large log and looked at me with all seriousness and said "there is a bear in here!" I was not sure what he was talking about but a couple of years later I was amazed to see a perfect carved black bear and two cubs that he had carved. If anyone recalls the prayer pole that was taken across country to the park for the families affected by the tragedy of September 11, he and his group were the ones who carved the totem pole and delivered it complete with prayers and blessings for all of the families especially the children who lost parents in the tragedy that fateful day.
We as a nation also were affected by the tragedy of September 11, as our entire tribal council who were divided in half, were on their way to the World Trade Center and also to the Pentagon as the tragedy happened. Thankfully to the Creator he held them in the palm of his hand and kept them safe. It was several days before we actually heard from them to know that they were not included in the lists of missing, and our entire tribe gathered at the Community Building to comfort the families and wait on news as to their whereabouts. We have always had a great faith in the Creator and find peace in being thankful for the gifts and miracles that we have all experienced. Living on a Native American reservation is not an easy task, but for many generations we have continued to survive and raise our families on land the government says is ours. At one time our reservation encompassed the entire region from the Bellingham Bay to the top of Mount Baker. Our tribe owns one of the last natural rainforests in North American as the keepers of the Arleco Ancient Forest region. We also have a salmon hatchery where each year we release thousands of baby salmon into the rivers as they make their way on their three year journey across the pacific ocean to the shores of China and then return to the waters of the Nooksack river to spawn.
Even though the government of the United States would like to have conquered us a century ago that is not the way that things happened. We are a free people and even though we have learned all of the bad from the Indian Agents the government sent in the 1800's, we are starting to find our way out of the quagmyer and push ahead to a future that someday will be plentiful with our traditional values and culture. I am a recognized bead artist for my people and display my wears at traditional gatherings and Pow Wows in the midwest where I live, my family may be thousand of miles away but I am able to keep in contact with them and share good and bad news with them. I was adopted or stolen when I was an infant and was raised by a non-Native famliy and educated in public school. After graduation in 1971, I enlisted in the US Army and served my country until 1976. So I am not only an honorable Native American woman, I am also a honorable Veteran/warrior and also live with my husband in the midwest as a disabled veteran.
My interests today include discovering my land and the remarkable miracles on it and enjoying the peace and quiet of rural country life. We had a small garden last summer and I learned how to can. We are trying to find alternative forms of energy to use on our land and enjoy just being on our own. It has not been easy to grow up as a Native American and believe me prejudice and racism are alive and well in America. I have found that most people see others for the outward appearances instead of recognizing the inner more realistic person.
I promised a little bird that I would post pictures of some carvings of bears that I had done. So here they are.
The first is done from Mesquite Wood.
The second was done in Soap Stone.
Oh, wet pumpkin! (If you can't tell from the last pic, it was hella raining outside.
Face!
I carved Pumpky on Friday. This is what he looked like on the inside.
Doing the dirty work. Good thing that's the fun part! (Reanna braided my purple hair.)
Now the mouth....
I took these last two pictures when I was drunk, and for the sake of enphasizing that fact I decided not to crop them. The first is the ever so beautiful Reanna trying to put a flashlight into the lid of Pumpky so he'd have a light. Yes, she was sober.
And Pumpky with his final face, taken when i was drunk in my room all by myself.
I know it's not till tomorrow, but I wanted to say and early Happy Halloween! later!
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