Cass Lake, MN

ODENAH Market year 2

misspie46 — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:59:30 +0000

The Odenah Market, the “Indian Village” officially opens on Thursday May 21, at 11 am with a grounds renewal ceremony and a small feast. On Friday Saturday, Sunday and Monday the market will be open and the Indian Artisans and craft people will be there to show their wares and visit with the Public.

All native artists and crafters are invited to set up at the village ,free of charge. Also people who have fresh produce are also welcome to set up when ever they want. The Market place is there and can be used 7 dys a week but we would like to target the weekends and holidays . Its first come first served for the arbors that are up. bring your own tables and chairs. Canopys are also welcome.

Plans are in the works for new signs and more work on the grounds.

We have started Indian School and some of the classes will be held at the market place and we will post the syllabus on the e-democracy group , this blog and in the Cass lake Times So come on out and visit the Odenah Market place.

Wild rice, maple sugar cakes, hand made 90 pound bows with arrows and a quiver, canoes, birch-bark work . bead work. quilts, Native artists with prints and originals. You name it and the native market will either have it or know where to get it.Located on Hi-way 2 west of Cass lake right next to Chucky’s Chicken so if you get hungry shopping you can stop in and see Larry and Marilyn and try the chicken or an Indian Taco.

They have graciously donated the space for the Odenah Market. Some day I will blog about the the birth of the village and trying to find a home for it. I haven’t done that yet because I wanted sometime to pass ,so i could try to be a little diplomatic when I write about it but its pretty hard to be objective and diplomatic when people aren’t honest with you. But never mind all that for now, the important thing is that the Odenah Market has a home and we are grateful to Larry and Marilyn for that.

SEE you at the Market

Making the Odenah Market

katnorton — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:15:51 +0000

Here are the pictures of the making of the Odenah Market, Cass Lake’s new Indian Village:

First we have to cut poles and trim them so they look like poles not trees

Then we load the poles and transport them to the building site.

Next comes the task of bending the poles and tying them.

Then, we all get inside the completed lodge and say “Commodity cheese” for the camera!

This is a picture of some of the arbors we built. The village is a work in progress. We plan on building some more small wigwams (or lodges) and another big lodge.

Indian Village Talent Show and Poetry Slam Update

misspie46 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:58:07 +0000

Odenah, The Indian Market………..is what we have named the Indian Village. We have a large wigwam up and a smaller wigwam and 5 arbors and over the weekend we had vendors at the market. As soon as we can we will post the photos we have of the building of the market.

We have been blessed with the help of the youth works youth who are here in town doing work projects for the summer. Each week a new group of kids come and they are just amazed and excited to be building wigwams. For some it may well be the high light of their whole summer. for us its a pleasure working with and sharing knowledge with them.We do some story telling and teaching with them.Its a win win situation for everyone. Some one asked where our kids were and why they aren’t out there and I said well about 500 years ago ………………..and you know how the story goes. Actually I want to keep a positive out look here but along the way of the village we have learned somethings and one of these days I will blog about it and what we have learned.Meanwhile enjoy the pictures of the village and check back for pictures of the talent show and poetry slam.

The weather didn’t cooperate but the show went on and we had some class acts. But mainly we had fun and if there was ever a community who deserved to have some fun it is this community.

All this went on as a part of the big RIB FEST celebration the town does. Well, we choose to believe it was a part of the rib fest , after all they did put us on the schedule. And thats about as much collorboration that the Horizons Group has seen with any agenda item we have tried to implement. So success at last I would say. and just wait until next year. Meanwhile, I signed on As agent to “Candace and The BAD to the BONE Boys” So if any of you need a class act of song and dance to entertain you contact me and we will hook you up.

These young people were wonderful and it made all the work worth it watching them preform.

The poetry slam workshop was a sucess i would say. and we are getting ready ,maybe next year we will have a team going to the nationals in Chicago………..In fact we could send two teams One from the city and one from the rez. Oh the opportunity for youth out there. Unfortunately it all requires committed adults to make this work and sometimes around here it would appear that all the adults have already been committed or close to being there. Oh wait wrong kind of committment………………..anyway we are looking for more people to help with community projects. Pass the word.

Cass Lake Idol and Talent Show Flyer

katnorton — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:09:41 +0000

CASS LAKE IDOL and TALENT SHOW

Wants to know - what’s your talent -

Dancing? Singing? Magic? Ventriloquism? Making people laugh ‘til they cry?

Do you play an instrument - clarinet, trombone, kazoo, flute, hand drum?

Can you impersonate others? Twirl a baton? Whistle?

WANNA MAKE YOUR TALENT KNOWN?PARTICIPATE IN DA FUNNEST TALENT SHOW THAT’S EVER HIT
THE QUIET SHORES OF CASS LAKE?

BE KNOWN WHEREVER YOU GO - BE AN IDOL?

JUST WANNA WATCH THE FUN?

CASS LAKE IDOL and TALENT SHOW

James Allen, M.C.

Is looking for YOU.

When: July 19, 2008, 2:00-5:30 p.m. during the Rib Fest Celebration

Where: Cass Lake Community Family Center, 310 2^nd St. NE 335-7837

A Family Fun Event

Registration forms are available at the Cass Lake Municipal Center and the Cass Lake Community Family Center. Deadline for registration is July 10, 2008.

New Ribfest Activity - A Family Fun Event

katnorton — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:19:02 +0000

In our meetings with the community, bringing back the Cass Lake Days was one of the desires discussed by the Talking Circle members. Stories abounded of the fun and feeling of community spirit the festival engendered. What the final outcome of talks with the City Council and the City’s Chamber of Commerce was a melding of the Cass Lake Days with the Cass Lake Rib Fest. And two of the events that were deemed do-able in the short time available are the Cass Lake Idol and Talent Show (one event) and a Slam Poetry Contest.

I was put in charge of organizing the talent show. My first thought was to get people on board with me that had some inkling of an idea of how to run a talent show. Nadine Chase sits on the Cass Lake Community Family Center and had regaled Sharon Mitchell and me with tales of other talent shows she’d participated in, so I called her to pick her brain and get some ideas for the event. Having seen Jim Allen perform, I asked him to M.C. the event and I knew he had equipment we could utilize.

Sharon and I had already decided that we would use the Cass Lake Community Family Center as the site for the event. Tom Blackbird, the director, was all for it. He was with Nadine and me for the first organizational meeting held back in May. Then, we had to have a meeting with the city council so that they could approve barricading the streets around the family center. When that was achieved, I began work on the flyer for the show.

One of the ladies that completed the Leadership Plenty Training has been invaluable. Her name is Amanda Burnette. She has volunteered her time and transportation in hanging flyers and wants to be involved in other projects such as building the Indian Village. As time goes by, more and more people are expressing an interest in what the Cass Lake Horizons is up to in this community, and more important, they want to get involved. After all, this is one of the things Cass Lake Horizons is all about: getting the community involved.

Cass Lake Indian Village tidbit and visitor

misspie46 — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:28:47 +0000

While talking with our coordinator , we shared a story about the grounds blessing with her and she suggested we post it on the blog . So here it is.

Rushing around to meet the spiritual leader at 8am the morning of the blessing, I did not have time to get all the food prepared for the dish we were going to offer to the spirits. Being as how we are building this village on land owned by Indian restaurant entrepreneurs, I called Marilyn and said could you please cook me a breakfast and we will use some of it for the spirit plate. so when I got there i went into the restaurant and removed small portions for the spirit plate.I added berries , maple sugar cakes. Marilyn asked what to do with the rest of the plate and I said just keep it and we will have the spiritual leader come in and eat when he is done.

When we finished we invited him into the restaurant and told him he could have breakfast but one of us should eat the plate that was made that I had taken the food off for the dish. He said we should all eat some of that food . So there we were six big Indians sitting in this restaurant all eating out of one dish. Now I never once thought about how that would look to other people and the owners really didn’t think anything of it either. I mean the waitress brought us six forks and the one dish. so there we were all taking bites of eggs sausage and potatoes and cutting off little pieces of toast. visiting and laughing and just having a good time . Then a man stopped by the table and offered to buy us something to eat, we politely declined. Then another person came by and pressed $10.00 in my hand and said you can get another breakfast or something. I was so engrossed with the plans for the village that I didn’t give it much thought until later………………OH duh……what a sight we must have been, sitting there all eating out of one dish. dressed in our best going to cut poles in a swamp clothes.

well those of you on the rez and nearby might get a chuckle out of that and the update for the village is the weather, childrens mental health {my other life commitment} and ceremony and pow wow has just brought everthing to a slow crawl but I assure you we will be finishing this all up before the 4th of July.

Actually the village had a visitor who is really excited about the idea . My old friend Sam English is here doing a bill board with the Youth Divison for their second hand smoke campaign. We told him the spirit plate story. He laughed so hard. We got to talking about the village and the potential and he was all excited and said hes going to Hannaville Michigan but will be back here the 4th of July for the pow wow. So he wants to see what we have done by then….so i said how about a little reception for you at the village, we will grill a little walleye, fluff up some wild rice, make you some bannock with maple butter and lots of fresh fruit. If you are really good we will do some rabbit soup with dumplings.and blueberry rubarbarb cobbler. He says we are on . actually he was never raised here so being born and raised in the southwest Im sure he would like that cusine as well maybe even perfer it so I will throw in some enchiladas and and rice and beans and can’t forget the glacamole chips and salsa.

well gotta run ……..check back for the pictures , coming soon ……..maybe we will even get one of Sam at the village.

Cass Lake Indian Village

misspie46 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:59:11 +0000

The Cass lake Indian Village is becoming a reality. Today we had the ground blessing { a cultural equivalent to a ground breaking but with so much more meaning to us and explanation to all our relatives as to what we are doing there}. We will be building a large lodge and two smaller lodges as soon as the weather permits.

We had scheduled today to be the day to start building the village but the thunder birds and big winds had other plans. We are not complaining about the rain. the past two years has been so dry that berries, plants and animals had a hard time living. Not to mention the farmers and and the forest fires that start under drought conditions. So we are grateful for the rain but we felt it be best if we weren’t out cutting poles in a tamarack swamp today. we have rescheduled the building of the village for the next nice day so with in the week I hope we will have pictures and a progress report to blog.

The Indian Village was one of the projects we picked for the community and laying the foundation { so to speak} has been a long and tedious process. Working through all the layers of the bureaucracy and trying to partnering with various organizations to do this has been unfruitful. We selected a site and for 2 months operated under the assumption the city owned the property we were going to build on and everyone who we talked to about it told us that it was a good idea and went to the city council to get the action needed to solidify the project we were told that we had to get approval from a local museum board who has a building adjacent to the property. So upon contacting the museum board we were told “good idea, maybe next year” . We were given suggestion to build it across the road on Indian land, where “they always do things anyway”. I responded with “yes we should just go across the road and stay there”. Which has been a big factor in trying to accomplish anything in this town. Any way ,after a big runaround we found out neither the city nor the museum board owned this property , Min-dot does and they will not give approval for the village, citing a high risk intersection of highway 2 and 371. I actually think its more like the hi risk intersection of the “R” word and Reality, but what do I know?? I do know that the “R” word is alive and well in this town and the people who deny it are deluded and contribute to the problems, but those of you who are native know what I am saying. Those that aren’t are most likely saying “what is this about? or that kind of talk contributes to the issue. Oh well I’m just reporting what I am seeing through my Indian eyes.

Cass lake is a city located on the Leech Lake Indian reservation. and Highway 2 has been the dividing point between the city and the reservation. The Indians that did live in town lived mostly across the rail road tracks on what we now know to be a Superfund site. {That is a whole different story in its self}.

Mean while a business owner heard of our plans and invited us to build on Highway 2 next to their restaurant. So if you are ever in the area stop and see Marilyn and Larry Glass at Chucky’s Chicken. You can”t miss it , it will be the only restaurant in town with its own Indian Village and if its during the summer months we hope to have local artisans there selling their wares or actually making their crafts. We hope to have educational programs and are advertising …….Have your next naming ceremony or wedding in a WIGWAM. We hope this to be a gathering place for people to use. Already we have been contacted by a person looking for a site to do a men’s group. Endless possibilities there. Educational programming and hopefully some stimulation for the economy by supporting the local artists maybe even planning an Indian Market a couple times a year.

Also more to come , after we finish the start of the village we have great plans for winter time activities so check back for updates on the village and plans for the fall and winter.

Also because I have an” I live here and I am not going away attitude” our other project will be ripening here soon but I am saving that blog for the Kat to write about so stay tuned…………………and then theres the issue of we have a nice little building on mainstreet that is the seniors citzen center that is only open a few hours a week. so stay tuned as we continue to partner with the town folks and have fun in the process. What am I saying??? Im a town folk too and a city proerty owner even. A tax payer too! hummn I just forget sometime!!

Good Afternoon From the Cass Lake Family Center

mastincila — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:05:08 +0000

The familiy center is in the later days of the annual March Food Drive. We have been gifted a great deal of food and cash from the community. This will be a great benefit in the coming year.
the family center invitesd all of Cass Lake to stop in and say hello. Let’s talk about what you would like to see the center to become.

Thom Blackbird
Director

A Christmas Story The Windigo Comes to Cass lake

misspie46 — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 04:57:05 +0000

The Windigo Came to Cass lake

The Windigo came roaring into Cass lake 12 days before Christmas. He looked around and brought his blanket of woe and spread it out over the Cass lake Family center.. His arrival was announced when the voice on the other end of the phone told Thom that there would be no toys for the families that had signed up at the Cass lake Family Center. Thom said “oh no! That can not be.” But the voice assured him , indeed, it was. The toy donation was down this year and the program that gives the toys had thought that the little family center was part of another program on the reservation that already received their toys.

Tom wearily hung up the phone .and said to the staff “there will be no toys for our families” It was a moment before anyone said anything as the sad news sank in. “What are we going to do?” ” One hundred and twenty-five families with 400 children and no toys for Christmas.” Our Families depend on this extra help. Most of the children will have nothing for Christmas . “Its too late to get the families signed up for toys elsewhere.” ” What are we going to do??” is what the staff was saying.

Thom Blackbird recently became the director at the Cass lake Bena Family and Community Center. He had moved here from Alaska. That meant Thom was not familiar with resources or known to a lot of people. This kind of news would be hard to get and give for someone who had this job for a while. Thom and his small staff set about letting the families know. Not all the families had phones so some would have to be told in person. No one wanted to bring this new s to the people but they had to be told.

Bad News Travels Fast.

When Thom called one lady she asked Thom if she could try and help. She said “They say its not what you know, but who you know and in my lifetime I’ve met a lot of people. Let me see what I can do”. This lady knew that she would need a lot of help, so she went out and talked to Grandma Rabbit Choker. Grandma Rabbit Choker was an old lady living out in the woods. A lot of people in the area don’t even know her and certainly Thom had never heard of her.

The woman took Grandma Rabbit Choker some Tobacco and a few little gifts and said “the people need your help”. It is always said that the elders are waiting to be asked and grandma took the tobacco and gifts and told the woman to go home and send as many smoke signals to everyone she could and let them know. She told the woman that the Windigo was in Cass Lake and that only man kind and love would defeat him ,Compassion and kindness would kill the Windigo and that mankind was good and the people must have faith that good will come of this. The woman went home and did what she was told.

Grandma Rabbit Choker went into her house , turned on her computer and emailed everyone in her address book. She told of the Windigo or his relative who had come to steal the children’s Christmas. And said HELP! Now Grandma was old but she had heard about these computers and went to town one day and bought one. Her grand children taught her how to email. She was always amazed that one could send smoke signals to a lot of people at the same time and you did not need to chop all that wood. But when Grandma sent out the email she put her own phone number down instead of The Family Center. It was a mistake she found out about the next day.

Help is Coming.

The lady called Thom the next day and said help will come and told him what Grandma said. “Have faith , that some good will come of this”. Meanwhile the Windigo was hanging out at the family center. He would go out to the food shelve and munch on anything he could find. He went down to the post office and hung out , making sure that people heard of his work here and there would be no toys at the little family center. He could not have been happier. And many of the people who heard the news would have liked to help but this was a very poor community. Lots of people with no jobs and families with no place to live. It got cold and he went back to the family center. Thom was on the phone with Grandma Rabbit Choker who told Thom that a lady named Sue called { that’s when Grandma realized the mistake she made} and she wanted to help and she was sending $250.00 and another lady named Carolie called and said I will help. Carolie got her her husband Bob to help too. Bob Collins helped put the word out all over Minnesota. They also sent a check. Grandma felt good as she knew both Sue and Carolie and how hard they work for families and children.

The next day Public television called . Grandma told them come to the family center. Grandma was beginning to hear from a lot of people. By Friday night there had been $2,500 raised for toys. Granma did a Little dance and told Thom again “Have faith the Windigo is going down.

Mean while two people came to town , they came to do a workshop for people in the community. The business they run is called Access Philanthropy . They left after writing a check for $500. And rescheduling the workshop. When they left the Windigo was lurking around out side and I believe the Windigo was starting to realize this was not going to be easy. The people in the family center were laughing and say maybe we will have Christmas and they were so happy and grateful that it made the Windigo sick. So he went up to the Indian Hospital and they gave him some pink stuff for his tummy and told him come back if you get worse. He had to wait a long time before he saw the doctor. But what he saw and heard there made him feel better. Sick children and unhappy people always made the windigo happy.

8 days before Christmas

The Windigo was still in Cass lake. Thom

was still worried. The family center could get some toys but would not fill the need. Meanwhile Grandma Rabbit Choker heard from a hometown Gal by the name of Val. Val had taken a request for toys to the board meeting of the Two feathers Foundation and they had just approved $4,ooo for toys for the Family Center. Val had been told about this from Joanne who had gotten Grandmas email. Gosh Grandma Rabbit choker loved those Gals.!! That Val is a home town Hero .One who the people can be proud of. , When the Windigo heard Thom getting the news he just layed down in the middle of the street and was throwing a fit. Flopping around and hollering. Meanwhile a man named Will was driving by, now Will came to the family center at times. He enjoyed visiting the people that came there and he helped out there when he could. So he was driving by, wondering why people were there so late and looking at the cars so he didn’t see the Windigo flopping around in the middle of the road and ran right over him with his big ol truck. Oh the windigo was up set all battered and bruised. Little did he know the worst was yet to come. He decided to find a place to hide and rest up.

Grandma was so happy there would be toys. On Tuesday 6 days before Christmas Joanne called gramdma with more good news an individual had heard about the little family center and he was sending $5ooo for toys for Christmas . When grandma heard that she called Thom and Thom told the staff at the center and all the people who came in and the happiness spread . The Windigo was so mad he huffed and puffed and hissed and spit. Everyone was so happy that the Windigo couldn’t stand it. And he blew him self into millions of little pieces and blew away in the wind. It was said later that the Windigo actually made the air bad for people to breathe in places around the state.

This is a true story and if you don’t believe it you can just ask Thom. Grandma was right Man kind is good, and Windigos are no matches for the people when they come together.

Merry Christmas to all, and Blessings to all who gave.

Forward

Comming soon…A Christmas Story

misspie46 — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:37:22 +0000

Watch the blog for the new Christmas Story of how the or one of his relatives were run out of Cass Lake after they tried to steal Christmas from 400 waiting children.