ANCIENT INDIAN COOKING

Arapahoe Nation


In the spring of the year, when the leaves turn green, the Arapahoe Nation gathers by the sea. In the fall, when the harvest moon is low in the sky and the leaves turn red, the Arapahoe Nation gathers by the thousands at the place called Kanata. It is the time to bring new blood into the Arapahoe Nation, so they come. The Neuse and the Cherokee, the Red Hawk and the Running Wolves, the Cree, the Lumbee and the Chipewa gather to participate in the ceremony of the new blood.
The little braves are but five or six years old. Many have come to achieve their first feather. They earn them by walking for miles or reciting the tribal aims or camping under the stars in the chill of the Fall night. All during the day, before the ceremony of the new blood, little braves and their fathers join in tribal games. The play ring toss and running games, games of sticks and balls and obstacle courses. None of the little braves know what is in store for them during the ceremony of the new blood. They only know that, as the sun sinks low on the horizon, the time draws nigh.
Before the ceremony, the individual tribes gather around the cooking fires. There are no squaws to prepare the meal. The little braves and their fathers must cook the meat and prepare the potatoes themselves. A large pot of boiling rosin cooks the potatoes slowly, ever so slowly. Anticipation builds for the meal as it builds for the ceremony. When all is prepared, the Indian tribe stands around tables made of logs and eats hungrily as they speak of the dayis adventures. Sated by rich food and the dayis activities, the little braves and their fathers prepare for the ceremony. Ceremonial vests and headbands with feathers are made ready. Just as the sun slips below the horizon, the Nation moves to the gathering place by the lake called Teer.
Twelve beats of the ceremonial drum call the Nation to the gathering place. The older little braves, in their third year of gathering, light the path for the little braves of the new blood. The torches are raised high and the ceremonial drum beats slowly, as an ancient heartbeat. The Great Chief of the Arapahoe Nation leads the new blood down to the waters edge and the site of the gathering. Total silence is mandated by the Chief as tens of hundreds of little braves move to their places. When all are gathered in, the torch bearers form a large circle of fire around the little braves. The ceremony is ready to begin.
A lone warrior glides silently across the lake called Teer. His singular torch lights the water as he makes his way toward the gathered tribes. His canoe noses the shore and he brings his torch to the Chief who raises his hands and eyes to the Great Spirit. The Chief lowers the torch to the pillar of wood and calls down fire from the Great Spirit. The mystical union of man's small flame and the Great Spirit's fire consummate in a roar of thunder as fire leaps, ten... twenty... thirty feet into the air! The wide-eyed little braves draw close to their fathers as the ceremony continues...
It is not the 1800's, it is 1994. The Y Indian Guide Program was begun in 1926 and continues in Raleigh, North Carolina with the largest program of its type in the nation. The Arapahoe Nation is over two thousand strong, fathers and sons and daughters. The basic goal of the program is to bring fathers and sons and daughters together.We earn feathers, go on outings and do crafts, all as one big wonderful excuse to be together as father and child. "Pals Forever"/ "Friends Always" are our slogans; "How! How!" is our greeting.
Bright eyes of a six year old "little brave" and those of his "big brave" father are aglow with the reflection of the ceremonial fire as they look into each others eyes and exchange these words, " I will try to be patient.", whispers the little brave; "I will try not to be selfish.", whispers the father. They consummate the promises with a warm hug and begin a journey together. Their paths will be individual and separate, but they cross, as well as diverge, as the journey progresses. Both father and son will soon grow out of the Indian Guide program. They will not soon forget their adventures together; nor that warm hug.

For Lee Crocker ( Running Cheetah) and Joseph Crocker (Swift Fox)
From Night Owl

Close-up shots of brightly colored Hawaiian Red Ti Plant.

Scientific Name: cordyline fruticosa (Linnaeus) or Cordyline terminalis
Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Asparagales
Family: Laxmanniaceae, Agavaceae
Genus: Cordyline
Common name: Ti plant, Hawaiian good-luck-plant, false palm, keulenlilie, Croto, red tree of kings.

Ti plant is an evergreen tropical perennial growing up to 7' tall.
This plant has a particular intense leaf color, green, orange, pink to red fluorescent.
Ti plant is a fast grower, with inconspicuous small scented yellowish to red flowers that mature into red berries.
In Hawaii it has medicinal applications and is used for lung infections and asthma; other applications
are pom poms for Polynesian dancers, thatching, rain coats, food wrapping, and hula skirts .
The Hawaiians used the root to make a beverage of low alcoholic content. After Cook's time,
British sailors taught them how to make a more potent drink (okolehao).
It is also the most sacred of all Hawaiian plants.
In ancient Hawaii the plant was thought to have great spiritual power; only kahuna (high priests) and ali?i (chiefs)
were able to wear leaves around their necks during certain ritual activities.

It is native to tropical southeastern Asia, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia, northeastern Australia, the Indian Ocean,
and parts of Polynesia. It is not native to either Hawaii or New Zealand but was introduced to both by
Polynesian settlers.

Cordylines are known to the tropical world by many names and are crowned as "King of tropical foliage".