Well, Spring is quickly leaving us and it is sad to see her go. With hot days and cool nights here in Northern Nevada we can tell summer is on it's way. As usual, Spring did not stay around very long, but we sure enjoyed it with the beautiful blossoms and blooms and the new baby birds and animals waking up to a new world.
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With Summer Solstice coming up on June 21st there will be many celebrations throughout Native American communities. This is when the sun sits highest in the sky, will be the longest day of the year and signifies the beginning of summer. Native Americans have been celebrating this for thousands of years. The Sun Dance is one celebration performed by many tribes.

There will be ceremonial dancing, singing, prayer and visioning. This is a time to celebrate the circle of life and renewal. In ancient times, tribes built stone structures, like the medicine wheel, that indicate where the sun rises and sets on summer solstice. Some of these structures are still in use today.
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Be sure and watch for the moon tonight. It should be spectacular and looking much closer to us, because it will be nearer to the horizon than it usually is.
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Courtesy of the CherokeeLink Newsletter:

The Cherokee Heritage Center has a new exhibition “Phoenix Rising: Celebrating 180 years of Cherokee Journalism”. It will be on view through Aug. 10. And don't forget, that “Under the Cherokee Moon” performances will run on Friday and Saturday evenings until August 16. For more information on any event with the Cherokee Heritage Center please contact them at (918) 456-6007, toll free at (888) 999-6007, or visit the website at: http://www.cherokeeheritage.org

CN honors citizens’ military service: 6/12/2008 8:00:52 AM(C) Cherokee PhoenixThe tribe recently honored 11 citizens for their military service and the sacrifices they made for the CN and the United States. http://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/news.aspx?storyid=2926
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My friends at Pine Ridge School are asking for your help:

Please help the Oglala Lakota children at Pine Ridge School. They need books (new or gently used), coloring books (new), crayons (new). Budgets do not cover everything these children need so your help will be greatly appreciated.
Their special need this week is coloring books and crayons (new).

Books needed to help the children:

For new books - Magic Tree House paperbacks, or any Dr. Seuss hardcover

For gently used - any non-fiction(science, rocks, bugs, fish, stars, environment), Native American, or Dr. Seuss.

These children want to learn and grow but need the tools to do so. Please give what you can.

Send your donations to:

Friends of the Oglala Lakota
PO Box 497 (or 194 Boulder Dr.)
Dublin, NH 03444
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With the hot weather coming up you may not want to do much cooking - now is the time to bring out any preserves you may have put up from last fall. Got any raspberry or blackberry preserves or jams? That sure would taste good right now on some fry bread.
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Till next time - may your moccasins and heart always find happy paths to follow.
Phyllis


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

Wovoka, Native American Messiah
Wovoka was known as the Native American Messiah. Come join me in exploring his dream of salvation.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14030.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

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