Ways to Help Native American People

Partial List - Please Check Back Again

Dear Readers:

If this story of Black Hawk and his people has touched your hearts, the way it has touched ours, please join me in helping these beautiful and loving people reclaim their heritage and preserve their languages, traditions, and culture.  Here are some ways we can help:

First and foremost:

"We must cease to define difference as inferior, and see it instead as simply not the same."  From the book Silent Victims by Barbara Perry

1.  Contact the Sac and Fox Nation, and ask them how you or your organization can help them.

http://www.sacandfoxnation-nsn.gov/contact-us/

2.  Read and learn about Sac & Fox and other Native American history. 

https://sacandfox.biblionix.com/atoz/catalog/ 

If you are not enrolled with the Sac & Fox Nation, you will not be able to borrow books from this library; however, you can use this library catalog to develop a book list.  Then look for these books from other resources, such as, your local library, eBay, book shops, etc.

3.  Attend a Pow Wow or other Native American cultural event.

4.  Treat your Native American brothers and sisters as friends.  Shake their hands.  Talk to them.  Treat them with honor and respect.  But remember, they as a people have been deeply hurt for hundreds of years, so you may have to earn their trust.  Believe me, it is worth the time and effort.

5.  Don't Play Indian.  Native American spirituality is sacred and should be treated with care and reverence.  Participation in a sweat lodge or any other ceremony should never be treated as a form of entertainment.

6.  Regalia.  The correct term for traditional clothing worn by Native Americans is Regalia and shouldn't be thought of or referred to as costumes.  Learn more about Regalia.  It will help you understand more about the origins of The People, so you can treat them with dignity and respect.

7.  Hire a Native American as a Guest Speaker.  Invite a Native American person to speak at your school, club, or community about their history and what they are doing today to preserve their culture and traditions.  Please show respect and do not treat your Native American guest speaker as entertainment, treat them as educators.

If you are looking for entertainment (e.g. Full-dress regalia, drumming, singing, story telling, and dancing) pay the Native American performers as professional entertainers, at the current fair market rate.

8.  Burial Mounds.  Burial mounds are the graves of ancestors and loved ones of the Native American people.  Please show respect with your demeanor and attitude in these sacred locations.  And please, do not walk on top of the mounds.

9. Southwest Indian Foundation. 

Mission Statement

...To our way of thinking, a mere handout destroys a person's dignity and self-initiative.  We believe that true charity must emphasize self-help in order to restore pride and independence.  Southwest Indian Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization that relies solely on private donations.  We receive no federal dollars.  Our primary sources of funding are not huge corporate gifts or impersonal grants.  Instead, they are individuals like you... 

Southwest Indian Foundation assistance is strictly limited to Native Americans - with priority given to the elderly, handicapped, and families with dependent children.  Along with the Navajo people, we also serve the Zuni, Hopi, and other pueblo tribes of the area.

Our services include:  Substantial school grants and individual tuition assistance, homes for battered women and children, home repair and wood stove installation, Christmas food baskets for needy families, alcohol counseling, and emergency assistance in the areas of food, clothing, heating fuel, and temporary shelter.  In addition, a few years ago we launched our Indian Craft Catalog to provide a national outlet for Native Americans to sell their precious handmade goods...The profits from this catalog go directly back to the Native Americans themselves in the form of our many philanthropic programs...

You may visit the Southwest Indian Foundation website at:

http://www.southwestindian.com/

10.  Flandreau Indian School.

       1132 N. Crescent St.
       Flandreau, South Dakota 57028

       800-942-1647
       In South Dakota, 605-997-3773
       Website: http://www.flandreauindianeducation.com/Home.html

11.  Indian Community School.

Mission Statement

With the Values at the heart of our mission, the Indian Community School dedicates itself to provide each child in our care with the best educational opportunities to develop spiritually, morally, emotionally, physically, socially, artistically and intellectually in order to achieve the child's greatest personal and community potential.

Core Values

Core Values are gifts from the Creator that express the Indian philosophy of life through fundamental convictions, collective beliefs and exemplary character. Among the many Core Values given by the Creator, the Indian Community School experience focuses on:

Bravery, Humility, Love, Loyalty, Respect, Truth & Wisdom

Vision Statement

The Indian Community School develops lifelong community leaders who inspire others throughout the Circle of Life. With excellence and commitment, ICS serves urban American Indian students and their families so that each student develops the skills and knowledge to sustain a healthy balance of American Indian culture, academic achievement, and a sense of identity through indigenous teachings and ways of learning.

You may visit the Indian Community School website at:  http://www.ics-milw.org/

12.  College of Menominee Nation.

Keshena Campus N172 Hwy 47/55 PO Box 1179 Keshena, WI  54135 Front Desk: 715-799-5600 Extensions: 715-799-6226 Toll Free: 800-567-2344

Green Bay/Oneida Campus 2733 S. Ridge Road Green Bay, WI  54304 Front Desk: 920-965-0070 Extensions: 715-799-6226 Toll Free: 800-567-2344

Vision and Mission 

The College Of Menominee Nation’s mission is to provide opportunities in higher education to its students. As an institution of higher education chartered by the Menominee people, the college infuses this education with American Indian culture, preparing students for careers and advanced studies in a multi-cultural world. As a land grant institution, the College is committed to research, promoting, perpetuating, and nurturing American Indian Culture, and providing outreach workshops and community service.

13. Support Soaring Eagle Heritage Living Center.

http://www.soaringeagle.org/ 

Our Mission

To Help Cheyenne Elders Carry On Their Cultural Traditions.

Chief Charlie Sitting Man

Soaring Eagle is a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 charity that is not affiliated with any tribe or religion.  The primary goal of Soaring Eagle is to create an Assisted Living facility for the Northern Cheyenne elders.  That dream is becoming a reality with the Heritage Living Center, which needs your continued support to flourish.

Soaring Eagle does not rely on federal "quick fix" projects.  We believe that challenge creates opportunity.

A primary focus of Soaring Eagle are the Forgotten People - Native American elders.  The most important resource to the Northern Cheyenne Tribe are their elderly, those who instill pride in cultural heritage, those who teach traditions to younger generations.  Cheyenne heritage is lost when elders are sent off reservation to nursing homes, sometimes one hundred miles away.
15.  Take a Journey.  Learn the history, and follow the path of a Native American event or People that touches your heart or speaks to your soul.  To honor and remember the spirits of The People whose path you are following, share your story with others, so that we can all benefit from the lessons you learn while traveling your sacred path.

14.  Salish Kootenai College.

 

Mission Statement
The mission of Salish Kootenai College is to provide quality postsecondary educational opportunities for Native Americans, locally and from throughout the United States. The College will promote community and individual development and perpetuate the cultures of the Confederated Tribes of the Flathead Nation.

Vision
The vision of Salish Kootenai College is to foster curricula and vocational certification, and associates and bachelors degree programs that meet the unique needs of the Native American population. While the college encourages diversity, its primary purpose is to serve the needs of Native American People.

Core Themes

The following four themes collectively represent the essential elements of the SKC Mission:

1. Provide Access to Higher Education for American Indians

2. Maintain Quality Education for Workforce or Further Education

3. Perpetuate the Cultures of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Peoples

4. Increase Individual and Community Capacity for Self Reliance and Sustainability

To Make a Donation:  http://vision.skc.edu/donate-now/ 

Website:  http://www.skc.edu/

Great Spirit - Father Creator - God.  Please, help us learn from our and our ancestor's mistakes.  Help us create something good from the harmful events of the past and bring balance to our Mother Earth and her children.  Help us to be better, more loving people.  Help us to treat each other as brothers and sisters.   Thank you Great Spirit for giving us life, for guiding our path, for creating love.  Ah ho.

Return to Table of Contents

(Key Terms: Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, Black Sparrow Hawk, Black Hawk, 1767, Saukenuk, Pyesa, Rock Island, Black Hawk’s Watch Tower, Black Hawk State Historic Site, Hauberg Museum, Sauk, Sac, Meskwaki, Fox, Rock River, Sinnissippi River, Mississippi River, War of 1812, British Band, Great Britain, Treaty of 1804, Treaties, Ceded Land, William Henry Harrison, Quashquame, Keokuk, Fort Armstrong, Samuel Whiteside, Black Hawk War of 1832, Black Hawk Conflict, Scalp, Great Sauk Trail, Black Hawk Trail, Prophetstown, Wabokieshiek, White Cloud, The Winnebago Prophet, Ne-o-po-pe, Dixon’s Ferry, Isaiah Stillman, The Battle of Stillman’s Run, Old Man’s Creek, Sycamore Creek, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Shabbona, Felix St. Vrain, Lake Koshkonong, Fort Koshkonong, Fort Atkinson, Henry Atkinson, Andrew Jackson, Lewis Cass, Winfield Scott, Chief Black Wolf, Henry Dodge, James Henry, White Crow, Rock River Rapids, The Four Lakes, Battle of Wisconsin Heights, Benjamin Franklin Smith, Wisconsin River, Kickapoo River, Soldier’s Grove, Steamboat Warrior, Steamship Warrior, Fort Crawford, Battle of Bad Axe, Bad Axe Massacre, Joseph M. Street, Antoine LeClaire, Native American, Indian, Michigan Territory, Indiana Territory, Louisiana Territory, Osage, Souix, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Ho-Chunk)