The Native Blog

My Right Knee...

My right knee has been hurting real bad for a few weeks! I finally forced myself to go to the VA (I served a year of combat and was wounded in action in Vietnam.) They took x-rays of my knee and said they would call me! I go home and wait for their call and two days later they send me a letter saying the x-rays of my knee were normal...

So all those nights I got up in the middle of the night and almost fell over from the pain, all those times I drove the car for only about a half hour and got out and started limping in pain, all those times I was on the computer and got up and almost fell over from the pain...well that was all in my head! Wow! I was really worried there for awhile!

Back from the Gathering...

Back from the Gathering. Northern Wisconsin is sure some beautiful country. We seen an eagle landing in a tree on the way to the gathering and a young eagle scavenging on the side of the road on the way home. We were at the gathering Saturday and Sunday. It was great seeing family members and all the Potawatomi from the different bands. I got a photo album up on my right side bar with about 15-20 photos. Larry Cole from Plano, Texas was also at the gathering and he took a ton of photos, so there will be more photos in the photo album in the next few days!

Next year's gathering will be at Walpole Island up in Canada!

The Poll

I read Leslie's article and I totally agreed with bringing up the motion 'A Tribal Council Accountability Program' at the next General Council Meeting in October! And I agree with the comment left by Mark too, I too would send some money to Leslie to cover her travel expenses to come to that meeting ...!
I put up a poll in my right side bar and it is called 'Should there be a motion by the general council to make the tribal council come to work?' I will have that poll up for a couple of weeks. You get only one vote while the poll is up!

*I have been getting some vicious emails about my poll, if you want to defend people that make $60,000 a year and never show up for work, then put it in the comment section so everyone can see your reasons...!

$5.00 an Article

I enjoyed reading the article Gary Mitchell submitted yesterday to my blog. It was an excellent article about our young people going to the all-Indian basketball tournament out in Phoenix.

Awhile back I was reading an article in some on line newspaper and the columnist wrote about how newspapers are laying off journalists and now a lot of community events are never covered. He suggested paying people out in the community five dollars for every article they submit and that gets published on their blog part of their newspaper. It gives people a chance to work on their writing and gives readers a chance to know what is going on in the community.

And that is what I am going to do with this blog from now on, anyone that submits an article about some Potawatomi EVENT, like the general council meeting, the gathering, a basketball tournament, or some other Potawatomi EVENT on or off the rez will get five dollars from I when I put it on my blog. (Also any article about Prairie Band Potawatomi Politics and the article makes onto my new category 'The Native Blog Reader Contribution') I know a lot of EVENTS never get covered and some of us Potawatomi off the rez would like to know about those EVENTS.

All I ask due to space on my blog that the article be not the length of a 'War and Peace' novel and when you submit it, put in the header part of the email 'submit article' so I can know what it is 'cos I get bombed on some days with tons of bulk mail and I never read them!

On the Powwow Trail

Yesterday afternoon I went with my wife to the Prairie Island Powwow near Welch, Minnesota. As soon as we turned the corner in the powwow grounds, we saw Litefoot: the well known Native American rapper with his stand. I can see why he is such a success with his music and businesses. Litefoot talked to people and let everyone take pictures with him. I took one with him, but our camera isn't working right and the photo didn't come out. Such is life on the rez!

Irene Bedard and Deni had a stand there too. I asked her to take a picture with me which is down below! My wife said she isn't into having her picture taken with movie stars, but I am! I saw only one Prairie Band Potawatomi tribal member there and that was Clifford Hubbard. He has lived down in Kansas City for quite a number of years now. We had a good time visiting with people we knew, visiting the casino and the stands.

 

Memorial

I get updates every now and then about my old infantry company in Vietnam and this is the latest one about our buddies killed in action on this date! There is a book that covers this battle by Keith W. Nolan and is called Ripcord: Screaming Eagles under Siege, Vietnam 1970. I was there when all seven were killed in action! I struggled with guilt from the time I left Vietnam. I went on to marry the woman I loved the most and raised two sons. And these guys never had that chance!

DELTA RAIDERS
CO D 2/501 INF
101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION

RAIDERS KILLED IN ACTION
DEADLIEST DAY
JULY 14. 1970

GUIMOND, PAUL GERALD
BORN 5/31/49 KIA 7/14/70
AGE: 21 YEARS 1 MONTHS 13 DAYS

HEMBREE, JAMES THOMAS JR.
BORN 2/20/44 KIA 7/14/70
AGE: 26 YEARS 4 MONTHS 24 DAYS

JONES, WILLIAM EDWARD
BORN 5/18/46 KIA 7/14/70
   AGE: 24 YEARS 1 MONTH 28 DAYS

KEISTER, JOHN LOY
BORN 5/29/49 KIA 7/14/70
AGE: 21 YEARS 1 MONTHS 15 DAYS

PALM, TERRY ALAN
BORN 1/27/45 KIA 7/14/70
AGE: 25 YEARS 5 MONTHS 17 DAYS

UTTER, KEITH EDWARD
BORN 11/27/48 KIA 7/14/70
AGE: 21 YEARS 7 MONTHS 17 DAYS

SCHNEIDER, GARY LEE
BORN 9/30/49 KIA 7/14/70
AGE: 20 YEARS 9 MONTHS 14 DAYS

The Fourth of July

Have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!

On the Road

Dear Reader....I am currently on the road and have found it hard to update my blog. I have taken a quite a few photos but find it hard to figure out how to upload them on a strange computer. I will be back on Sunday and will post a few then. Also I have found it tough to link to stories I have found interesting. Maybe I should take a computer course on how to use computers while on the road. I will see you later...

Going Out Of Town

I am going to hit the road early tomorrow morning and will be gone for a week! I am going to try to get to a computer and update my blog and approve any comments (I was flooded with advertisements in my comments, so now I am forced to approve them beforehand!)

I will see you later...

Dis-Information in the Tribal Paper!

Yesterday I got my tribal paper delivered by pony express of course, and almost the first article I read was, “Kansas gaming bill may spell budget cuts for PBPN.” The article says that PBPN tribal leaders are concerned that the addition of Kansas Casinos will cause a reduction in the tribe's revenues, and with the up-coming mail-out vote asking tribal members to increase the per-cap from 16% to 48% that could mean an almost 50 percent decrease in the operation budget of the PBP for next year!

Well the reality of it all is that the state of Kansas will take at least three years to build their casinos, so how can that effect next year’s budget? And we would not be increasing the per cap from 16% to 48%, as it is currently at 32%. So let me run that past you again 32% to 48% not 16% to 48%!

And any Potawatomi off the rez that votes against a per cap increase is voting against their own self interests and that of their family! The Potawatomi on the rez get all the new houses, the best health care services, the best elder cares services, the benefits of new roads and bridges….and ask yourself when was the last time you went on a trip and didn‘t have to spend anything (Like a select few on the rez always do!)

So why would a Potawatomi off the rez vote so they can have less for their families just so the Potawatomi on the rez can have more?