Blog Post
Great Listening: Sherman Alexie reading his young adult novel
by annevm
The best part of the AADL Summer Reading Game for me was listening to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie who narrates the BOCD. I love Alexie’s teenage-sounding voice as he assumes the role of his character, 14-year-old Arnold Spirit, a Spokane Indian and the star of this semi-autobiographical novel. Arnold, who was born with water on the brain and is bullied on the reservation, loves to draw and says this about his cartoons: “I think the world is a series of broken dams and floods, and my cartoons are tiny lifeboats.“ When Arnold transfers from the reservation school to the white high school in a nearby town -- that is when I started driving longer routes and hoping for more red lights, so I could hear more of the story on my car CD player before arriving at my destination.
Blog Post
Take Part in Art -- Petroglyphs and Cave Painting
by MariaK
Humanity has been engaged in making art for a long, long time. Some of the oldest surviving art in the world can be found carved or painted onto the rocks near where our ancestors once lived. This month's Art Center display focuses on this ancient and long-lived art form.
Of course, you can come to the downtown library and enjoy our display in person, but there are lots of ways to join in at home:
1. Read all about it -- The library has some great books about rock art. For children, we have Painters of the Caves by Patricia Lauber, describing the Chauvet Cave paintings; Native American Rock Art: Messages From the Past by Yvette LaPierre; and Stories in Stone: Rock Art Pictures by Early Americans by Caroline Arnold. Adults can read up on rock art in African Rock Art: Paintings and Engravings on Stone by David Coulson and World Rock Art by Jean Clottes.
2. Take a hike -- Michigan has its own Native American rock art -- the Sanilac Petroglyphs. This site will be open to the public starting May 20th, but you can get in early by purchasing a Use Permit, if you desire. Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park also includes a one-mile hiking trail, open year round.
3. Make your own -- These days, not many people live next to dramatic cliffs and caves they can paint and carve on, but there are ways for the modern, urban human to get that cave art experience. Scholastic, Incredible Art, HotChalk, Education World and Education.com all provide wonderful mini-lessons and activities that you can do at home with some paper, crayons, chalk, sandpaper and -- the most affordable time machine on the market -- imagination.
Blog Post
Youth Magazine Update -- Take Me Out...
by MariaK
...To the ball game! This month's Youth Magazine Update focuses on America's classic sport, baseball.
Sports Illustrated Kids brings you their 2010 Baseball Preview. This jam-packed issue has overviews of the American League and National League teams, an article on the best defense players, and a feature article on American League MVP Joe Mauer.
Faces Magazine explores Chicago baseball, along with other excellent elements of the Midwest, like the American Bison, the Mississippi River, and the world's largest goose. Also in this issue is "The Legend of the Moccasin Flower" -- an Ojibwe folktale.
If the ball game isn't far enough for you, you could always try outer space! The current issue of Odyssey Magazine is all about space -- with ideas for a moon base, articles on the moons of our solar system, and a short story about life on Saturn's moon, Titan -- can Alan survive a solo flight back to base? Read and find out!
Blog Post
Buffy Sainte-Marie
by celesteh
I decided to take a closer look at the Native American and Canadian folk artist, Buffy Sainte-Marie after reading a recent article about her in the October/November issue of BUST Magazine. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with her music after checking out a copy of The Best of Buffy Sainte-Marie from the library. Favorites include, “He’s a Keeper of the Fire,” “Better to Find Out for Yourself,” “Cod'ine” and a nice cover of Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game.”
Buffy Sainte-Marie’s musical career began in the early 1960s and her signature song might very well be the anthem, “Universal Solder” – a song inspired by the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. (She would later find out that she was blacklisted from radio airwaves because she was so outspoken about the peace movement in the U.S., as well as Native American issues). Later in 1982, Buffy received an Academy Award for her song, “Up Where We Belong”, which was featured in the film An Officer and a Gentleman, and performed by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. And her career has not been limited to just music! She has made several television and film appearances, and in 1975, even joined the cast of Sesame Street. She made television history in one particular episode by breastfeeding her son and explaining it to Big Bird. Buffy Sainte-Marie is also a digital artist and philanthropist, and has operated the non-profit Nihewan Foundation for Native American Education since 1969. What a talented lady!
Blog Post
The Three Fires Confederacy: Native Americans of Michigan
by iralax
Learn about the three historic Native American groups in Michigan: Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Ottawa at a talk by Margaret Noori on Wed., Jan. 6 at the Downtown Library. As we begin the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads 2010, we look at the early residents who speak the Anishinaabe language and formed a unique identity on the beautiful waters of Chigaming and the land of Michigan. What is the impact of their early culture on Michigan today? Where are the federally recognized Indian reservations and how is the language being passed on today?
Join us to learn more about the history of Michigan's Native American cultures at 7 pm on Wednesday, January 6 at the Downtown Library.
Blog Post
Representing Native Americans
by iralax
Stereotypes of Native Americans have evolved over the centuries of European occupation of the Americas. Images linked with this thinking have influenced segments of life such as sports, education, language, film and religion. Why do we persist in viewing Native Americans in such limited terms? Please join us at the Downtown Library (4th floor) on Sat., Nov. 14, 2-4 pm for Representing Native Americans, where a panel of cultural leaders will spark some conversation about this complex issue.
Blog Post
The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian
by cecile
On Feb. 1st, the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian launches its digital showcase to give everyone the opportunity to look into its archives. Eventually, they hope to have their entire collection online.
Assembled at the turn of the twentieth century by wealthy New Yorker George Gustav Heye (1874–1957), the collections are distinguished by thousands of masterworks, including intricate wood and stone carvings and masks from the Northwest Coast of North America; elegantly painted and quilled hides, clothing, and feather bonnets from the North American Plains.
This museum also hosts frequent exhibitions in both New York and Washington, D.C. Perfect excuse for a spring vacation to these great destinations!
Blog Post
Sherman Alexie on DVD
by manz
Native American Author Sherman Alexie’s words, thoughts and poetry read like butter. Among his many books he has written two screenplays based on his books, both dealing with surviving life on the reservation and with struggling interpersonal relationships.
He wrote Smoke Signals based on his novel of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. The film follows two Native American men, Victor and Thomas-Builds-the-Fire, who are cousins that are anything but friends. Growing up together on “the rez” was rough. They had both good times and bad, and eventually those on the reservation could only take so much of Thomas’ stories. An event happens in Victor’s life and he needs help and Thomas steps up to help his cousin in an unforgettable way.
The Business of Fancydancing is based on his poetry and it is wonderful to see how Alexie translates written poetry into visual poetry with plot. Aristotle and Seymour attended college together. Aristotle left and went back to the “the rez” not doing much of anything, while Seymour stayed and later became an accomplished writer. A funeral brings Seymour “home” and he and Aristotle together again for the first time in fifteen years.