BISMARCK, N.D. — Students and staff are accustomed to taking part in traditional ceremonies on the campus of United Tribes Technical College. But one held July 7 as part of a cultural awareness series was more notable than most.

It was the Buffalo Ceremony, the ancient rite observed when taking the life of these animals for the benefit of the People. A group of men and women from the Oglala Sioux Tribe demonstrated and taught the ritual and the work involved.

Luka Hodak, the former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) mayor of Saborsko in Karlovac county, has proposed dancing as a means of surviving the recession.

Hodak, a Shaman practitioner who claims he is able to communicate with the spirit world, made the proposal to Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor yesterday (Mon).

In speaking the word for owl, Bud Lane, one of about 10 remaining and fluent Athabaskan speakers, reveals the importance of saving languages.

When spoken aloud, the word, svs-tee-lii-chu, starts out quietly, progresses to a drawn out, almost surreptitious emphasis on the “lii” syllable and finishes quickly. It gives the listener a sense that owls are best spoken about in whispers, lest the speaker draw the attention of one.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A 95-year-old Crow Indian who wore war paint into battle beneath his World War II uniform and later became an acclaimed Native American historian will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom next month.

President Obama will give the nation's highest civilian honor to Joe Medicine Crow and 15 other recipients on Aug. 12. Obama met Medicine Crow during a campaign stop last year, when the then-candidate became an honorary member of the Crow tribe

On land considered sacred, by a lake in the ancient Gatineau Hills, the Seneca shaman known as Ki:ontwogky looked out to see 300 or more souls gathered to reconnect with the spiritual.

It could have been a scene from centuries ago: metre-long ceremonial sticks topped with feathers and real eagle’s heads were borne with care. Sweat lodges steamed under towering trees. >>>