1987-05-12 Char-Koosta News

              VOLUME 16, NUMBER 1_THE MONTH OF THE BITTER ROOT    _MAY 12 and 19, 1987
Indian pride was alive and well this month in Dixon, St. Ignatius
Modern practice says Native American Day is held each year on the last Friday of September. For all practical purposes, though, it appears to have come early this year, at least in Dixon and St. Ignatius.
The St. Ignatius Indian Education Committee hosted a lively, iy2-hour-long pow wow last Wednesday that was attended by elementary students and any junior- and senior-high students who wished to participate by dancing.
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A few miles down the road, the students at Two Eagle River School at the old Dixon Agency spent the same day learning to raise (and take down, as it happens) tepees on day two of the annual Elders Week observance:
In near-perfect 67° weather, a number of tradition-minded elders and others spent all morning instructing students about how to correctly put up three tepees on the football field.
The plan had been to have one tepee raised by a team of experienced raisers as the students watched and took mental notes. Then, the younger people were to form teams and race to set up two other tepees.
As it happened, though, one observance of a raising does not a raiser make. It's harder than it sounds.
Still, one team made up of several girls and a boy were able to get their canvas house up after two tries and with minimal aid from the adults.
They should have won the race, too, except that they forgot to open the "earflaps" until the other team, made up mostly of boys, near the end of its adult-aided third attempt, announced
that it had won instead. As the second team pounded its last stake, the first team was still securing its tepee's second earflap.
The tepee-raising was part of several days' activity that included hunting trips, a canoe race, Native American games, video showings, and a pow wow over the weekend (more coverage next issue).
The mini pow wow up in St. Ignatius was one of a number of JOM-funded activities held throughout the scholastic year.
Businessman Doug Allard acted as emcee, explaining the 'whats' and 'wherefores' of pow wows and Indian dancing to the assembled first-through sixth-graders, many of whom were dressed in interesting imitations of Indian outfits.
Highlights of the afternoon were Bob Woodcock's solo fancy-dance exhibition, an honor dance for faculty and education committee members, and a boys-versus-girls dance contest.
On this last feature, while many of the boys showed a lot of spirit in their (Concludes on the next page)
Upward Bound has 15-plus jobs available
The Upward Bound program, being administered this year by Salish Kootenai College, needs 15-plus people to fill a variety of job positions this year.
The work ranges from cooking to bus-van drivers to various kinds of teaching and culture-presenting.
The list of openings is on this issue's job announcement page.
Please note: The closing date to apply is this Friday, May 22.