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Tag Archives: Ndns
Clarion West Write-a-Thon Begins NOW!
What’s in the hat box?
Hello friends. It’s that time again. The latest class of the Clarion West writing workshop moved into the house today.
A group of us will be writing at home while they are there and trying to raise money while we do it.
Just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, I wrote a post about my experience at the workshop last year and the year before. If I can think of anything fresh to say about it, I’ll write another one next week weekend.
My main goal for this write-a-thon was to re-work a short story about an NDN casino in space that I whipped up in a weekend in January 2017. I haven’t looked at the draft since.
I got it out this morning and the first 3/4ths are pretty good. It’s a fun idea with fun characters. The last 1/4th is a complete mess that makes no sense and doesn’t flow logically from the beginning. It’s like I passed out under a bridge and when I woke up I was forced to finish the story or face dire consequences so I wrote the ending of a different story.
It’s actually such a mess, I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I’ll poke around with it a little, at least a week or two, but I don’t want to waste a lot of time if I don’t see a way to fix it.
Then I need ideas for new goals:
1 – Finish the kayak story and submit. Completely doable.
2 – Figure out some system for all my bazillion ideas and scraps and research. If this was doable, I think it would be done by now but let’s put it out there.
3 – Do some idea storming and try to do the first draft of a completely new story. Not hot on this idea. I don’t know if I want to do a lot of short story writing at this point.
4 – Go through partial novel manuscript that I abandoned when I started writing romances and see if I can get a working outline. Possibly doable.
5 – TBD
I will report at the end of each week.
If you’re inclined to donate, my page is here.
I usually link to my classmates who are also write-a-thoning but as of this moment, none of them are. (FOR SHAME!) I’ve sent them a guilt trip so I may have some to add next week.
One of our workshop leaders is write-a-thoning and you can donate here: Neile.
Micro-donations are welcome. We love your support.
I included a photo of the elders, my mom and auntie – modeling their hats. They were grand marshals in the Orleans Old Timers Parade last weekend.
Posted in Clarion West, pamily
Tagged Ndns, writing
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Searching for Consciousness
I was going to break my social media ban to tweet these today but a ban is a ban so I am posting here. (Anything that involves opening Twitter is banned. Blogging is fine.)
Item 1 is this article that was in the NYT food section and caused me to almost sprain myself from the full body shudders of WTF?
It’s hard to pull the best quotes when the entire thing is best quotes but here you go:
“…glass orbs containing 2.5 gallons of what is billed as “raw water†— unfiltered, untreated, unsterilized spring water, $36.99 each and $14.99 per refill…”
“He said ‘real water’ should expire after a few months. His does. “It stays most fresh within one lunar cycle of delivery,†he said. “If it sits around too long, it’ll turn green. People don’t even realize that because all their water’s dead, so they never see it turn green.—
And here is an opposite article — a really good one about great progress with Native voting rights, also from the NYT:
“[I]n late December, after a federal judge ruled that San Juan County’s longtime practice of packing Navajo voters into one voting district violated the United States Constitution, the county was ordered to draw new district lines for local elections.”
Posted in doing it wrong
Tagged everyone is stupid, Ndns
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NDN Veterans
Long time readers will remember I used to work for my uncle. I made him a webpage that still exists in its retro glory.
LWW 2 is a Vietnam Veteran.
He was named after his uncle, LeRoy Wayne, who died in WWII (photo above, I don’t know what he’s doing with the plant). I thought I had an article about him bookmarked somewhere but I’m not finding it right now. One time we were clearing the cemetery on Memorial Day and the living LWW said it was unnerving cleaning off a grave with his name on it.
Here it is again, a real statistic: throughout US history Indians serve in the military in greater numbers than any other ethnic group.
Veteran’s Day
These figs have no relation to today’s post.
In Indian Country, it’s well known that Indians serve in the military in greater numbers per capita than any other ethnic group. If you attend a tribal community function, a Color Guard of our veterans will be there.
According to this 2011 Guardian article Why Native Americans Fight and Die for the Same Army That Slew Their Ancestors Indians form 1.7% of the US active duty forces and make up 0.8% of the US Population.
This 2007 Christian Scientist Monitor piece on NDNs in the US Military has a similar statistic. Indian Country Today has written a brief history of NDN military service.
Last of His Tribe
I started this post a couple weeks ago when I learned that Ishi was inducted into the California Hall of Fame. (Along with others including Warren Beatty and Joe Montana – what a weird hall of fame.)
The sentence that stood out for me was, “Ishi means man in the Yahi language and was not his real name. Reportedly, there were no elders left to name him.”
I did not remember hearing this before and thought the world’s saddest story turns out to be even sadder. I haven’t read the book since I was in school. While doing my due diligence on Wikipedia I noticed that this tidbit is in the first paragraph so I probably did already learn this but blocked it out.
It’s a sad, sad story about a man whose entire tribe is wiped out by white people settling in California. Check out this bit from Wikipedia: miners settling in California “put[] pressure on native populations.”
That’s not how I would tell the story but I don’t have time or the heart to revise it right now. I am on my way out the door for a long weekend in California. I’ll be offline until next week.
Do you know why the Indian rain dances always worked? Because the Indians would keep dancing until it rained.
If you ever have the opportunity, go see Sherman Alexie. I’ve been seeing him do readings since I moved here. Twenty years ago it was in a classroom at Clackamas College.
We’ve both come a long way since then.
I have another week or so of the insane busy. Then a return to the amazing content that you’ve come to expect from me. Ahem.
Posted in doing it wrong
Tagged Ndns
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Turkey Day Is Here
In honor of Thanksgiving. Lefty was my great-uncle, my grandfather’s younger brother. I’d like to point out that none of the get-up in that photo is traditional to our tribe. I think Aunt Genie was a Montana Indian so we can cut them a little slack.
Meanwhile, I drank the Kool Aid! I’m spatchcocking.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Put On Your Clothes
Aiee. What a day. I’m glad tomorrow’s a half day. I’m going to try to get a few cooking projects started tonight.
November is Indian Heritage Month or something like that. I was going to write some Indian themed posts and tweet some links but, oops.
Here’s a great URL for buying Native. I’m trying to fight my earring addiction but it won’t hurt if I just look around a bit.
I swear I recently read that the average person spends less than $100 a year on clothes. Does that sound right? I hate buying clothes and I spend at least $100 a year. Even when I was dead broke and shopping at Value Village I think I hit about $100.
Am I so out of touch? I know lots of families are having it really tough right now.
I put on a pair of pants yesterday that I realized I hated. I think I’ve been wearing them at least 5 years but I still feel bad putting them in the giveaway bag.
Big Announcement: RED TAPE Story Collection
I’ve been talking about this forever, but FINALLY! My story collection is out into the world and available for eReaders.
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It’s called: Red Tape Stories from Indian Country.
It’s a collection of nine speculative fiction stories including three that were already published. All the stories have some connection to the people and lands of the Karuk Tribe.
Here’s the Table of Contents and a little bit about the stories.
The Battle of Little Big Science
(previously appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction) This was my Clarion West week #3 story.
Estelle Makes the Casino Run
(previously appeared in Innsmouth Free Press) I wrote this for a contest with my Clarion West classmates.
Social Security
(previously appeared in The Wordstock Ten) This was my submission story for Clarion West.
Field Work
This was my Clarion West week #2 story. Are you seeing a theme here?
The Medicine Woman of Talking Rock
Yup, Clarion West Week #5.
Repercussions
Clarion West Week #6. This was me trying to do something different since you’re supposed to stretch yourself at the workshop.
Trusted Leader
This was my Week #7 story – the first thing I wrote after I left the workshop. The process was gruesome but I like the way it came out after about 5000 drafts.
Fish Killer
This story has nothing to do with Clarion West. I was upset about the dredge mining situation on the Klamath and needed to work it out.
The Casino Gargoyle
This was another submission story I wrote when I misunderstood the application instructions.
All of this can be yours with just a few clicks.
It’s available for Kindle at Amazon or in all other formats at Smashwords.
Special thanks goes to my Clarion West class and instructors. Also giant tower of thank you pies to Douglas Lucas for help with finalizing the manuscript and Eden Robins for the title. (Note to Douglas and Eden, that tower of thank you pies is a figure of speech. Don’t expect an actual tower of pies.)
Build Your Tether
Apparently I was so excited about our first pre-season game at home, I forgot how to use my camera. When I went to download, this was the only photo. I know I took more than that.
But not many. Because it was cold. Above freezing, but just barely. Add that to my list of crazy love for the Timbers. Sitting outside wearing 200 layers and jumping around like the Pillsbury Doughboy in 30-something degrees. 16,500 people came out for a pre-season game. We played San Jose and see that #8? That’s Wondo. He has played for the US National team and he’s Kiowa and my hero.
But I love the Timbers more!
My favorite website is the Awl. About twice a year I go through a thing where I pare down all my Internet activity but the Awl always makes the cut.
Earlier this week they posted this video: http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/bon-iver-towers which they referred to as the new trailer for The Hobbit. And since I’m 1000 years old and don’t know the first thing about Bon Iver. I didn’t get the joke and I very happily clicked the link thinking: OOH! New Hobbit trailer.
Then I watched it unfold and I was thinking: huh, so is that a Hobbit? Oh. But he’s wearing shoes. And he has a fish net? That he’s throwing into his truck?
It’s sad how long it took me to get that it *wasn’t* a new Hobbit trailer. And I’m a regular of the website. D’oh!
The music made me want to stick forks in my ears.
Remember when all the music was Mötlëy Crüë and Dëf Lëppärd? Don’t you wish that would come back?
Meanwhile, Adrienne K took on the video in a whole different context today.
Apparently this video is a tribute to Native American preservation land.
Never heard of Native American preservation land?
No one has. Because there’s no such thing. And “a tribute” meaning what? Adrienne does a great job of breaking it all down.
Meanwhile, I’m going to clean my ears out with some Ratt.
