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November 5, 2011

Senior Focus: Celebrate American Indians

By Kathleen Gest, Local columnist ----

November is National American Indian Heritage Month, selected because it's the end of the harvest season and a time of thanksgiving.

The month helps recognize American Indian accomplishments and urges all Americans to learn more about the heritage, history, art and traditions.

While both "American Indian" and "Native American" are acceptable, individual tribes often have a preference.

"We prefer being called Native Americans," said Al Pedwaydon, a member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and Ottawa and Delaware Indian by birth. "We are the original people ... on this land in North America before anybody else. Each tribe has their own word for their own people. In our tribal language, we are the Anishinaabe (original) people."

The first inhabitants of the Great Lakes area have been traced to right around the time the glaciers receded. Some historians think they may have migrated from Asia or South America, but the Anishinaabe have a different theory.

"They found some bones out west that were much older then the Bering Straits theory," Pedwaydon said. "It's our belief we were put on this part of the earth."

The tribes that roamed the shores of northern Lake Michigan have included the Ojibwe (Chippewa), Huron, Odawa (Ottawa) and Bodowadomi (Potawatomi).

"We have been taught that the Ottawa in this area came from Cross Village, which makes sense because we traveled up and down the shores of Lake Michigan," Pedwaydon said. "The peoples from ... Michigan would canoe to Cross Village and meet around tribal council fires."

As part of their tradition, Native Americans honor their elders and encourage their youth, believing that youth are the future.

"Our Indian heritage is something we are trying to gain back," Pedwaydon said. "It was something that was taken away from us by government-run schools. Historically, they took us away from our families, took us away from our language, took us away from our culture."

To regain their tribal heritage, Pedwaydon emphasizes learning. "Our language and our dance, especially our language -- it's always the main point of any civilization. If you lose your language, you've lost much."

"Every civilization has their moral code and ours is called grandfather teachings -- trust, love, humility, bravery -- it's everyday living that you just take for granted," Pedwaydon said. "We feel it is a blessing to be alive."

Although he grew up in Detroit, Pedwaydon became involved with the Grand Traverse Band -- his tribal heritage from his father's side -- when he retired from Wayne County legal services and moved to Traverse City. He sits on the board of the Grand Traverse Commission on Aging and is a member of the Senior Center Network.

He has resurrected his tribal dancing from more than 40 years ago, wearing an eagle-feathered bustle and roach headdress at tribal pow wows and gatherings.

"The Ottawa Indians have special dances to honor animals (eagle, bear, partridge), man and woman, hunting, a scouting party and war -- a dance that was celebrated after the battle," Pedwaydon said.

Each dance emulates the movements of the animal or event.

Kathleen Bellaw Gest is a local freelance writer. For more about the Traverse City Senior Center, go to www.tcseniorcenter.com.

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