A blessed and Happy New Year to all my faithful old friends and all my valued new friends, cherished all. May 2009 bring you and yours all that is in your heart. Wakan Tanan Kici Un.

It has been just a little over a year that I have had the invaluable joy of being the Native American Editor at BellaOnline. I have met many people who have become friends and I will hold them in my heart forever. Thank you, each and everyone, for being faithful subscribers of my newsletter and for joining me in my forum with your wisdom, conversations and sharing of stories, legends and knowledge. You have brought great joy into my life.

For the last few nights I have been enjoying the sight of the planet Venus. It has been so bright and beautiful with it's brilliant glow. Venus is sometimes called the evening star and the morning star. In some Native American traditions, Venus represents the Savior during His ministry. In April of 2001, this Bright Morning Star was resurrected precisely on Easter morning. This rare occurrence will not happen again for a little less than fifteen hundred years from now. It is such a joy to me to ponder upon Venus and to go back in time to imagine all the history, culture and Peoples this glorious star has shown upon over eons of time.

Tonight, New Year's Eve, we will be able to see a spectacular celestial sight. Venus will be visible hanging out just below a thin crescent of Grandmother Moon in the southwestern sky. You will be able to see this just after sunset. Shortly after, Mercury and Jupiter will begin hugging the south to southwestern horizon, very close to each other. Mercury, although much fainter that Jupiter, can be found just to the left of Jupiter, which is very bright and easy to find. But, you must look for them just after the sun sets, for they will set an hour after Grandfather Sun.
*******

From around the Nation:

Barack Obama has chosen Senator Ken Salazar (D - Colorado) as his nominee for Secretary of the Department of the Interior. This department oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians. These two agencies have the most impact on reservations. You can read the full story here: http://www.indianz.com/News/2008/012475.asp

One of my aims is to help reawaken the Native American languages. To see such beautiful and meaningful languages disappear would be tragic. An excellent article on this issue written by Tim Giago can be read at

http://www.indianz.com/News/2008/012512.asp
*******

On This Day In History:

December 31, 1880: Major Ilges will hold a council with Crow King at Poplar Agency.

Kangi Yatapi, known as Crow King, was a leading war chief of the Hunkpapas at the Little Bighorn in 1876 - he led his group of warriors in from the south to attack Custer and the Seventh Cavalry.. He escaped to Canada but returned to the United States some months earlier than most of Sitting Bull's band.
*******

Until next time, my friends, may your heart and moccasins follow happy paths.
Walk in Peace and Beauty.
Phyllis
*******

Here's the latest article from the Native American site at BellaOnline.com.

Blessed New Year To All My Friends
A Cherokee Greeting, An Abenaki Legend and a Prayer of Thanks.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art22146.asp

Please visit nativeamerican.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Native American.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Native American located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=140

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Phyllis Doyle Burns, Native American Editor
http://nativeamerican.bellaonline.com

One of hundreds of sites at BellaOnline.com