Greetings from Northern Nevada.

Summer is coming in full force here and the wildfires of California and Nevada have already reared their threatening heads. Smoke has been hanging over our valley for a few days now. If would be wise to keep the children and elderly inside on smoky days. To help the day go by without a lot of boredom, spend the time letting your children pick a menu for snacks or lunch. Maybe they can even help you. Here is one suggestion:

Bannock Bread with Raisins, Dates, Dried Cranberries, Chopped Nuts, What else can we put in there? Let the kids decide.

4 cups of flour
1/3 cup of sugar
5 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of salt
2/3 cup shortening (like Crisco or you can use lard)
1 ½ cups milk (for a richer bread, you can add 1 or 2 eggs to fulfill the liquid requirement)

Combine dry ingredients and nuts and berries, raisins, etc. With two knives or a pastry blender, cut in the fat. Add the liquid and blend till the dough is soft but not too sticky. Form dough to fit your lightly greased cast iron skillet. Make a few slashes on the top of the loaf. You can cook this on the stove top or in the oven at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. When it is golden brown, remove from oven and let it cool long enough to handle, then cut in wedges. The kids might like to add powdered sugar over the top or you can serve it with smashed fresh berries to drizzle over the wedges.
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My friends at the "Friends of the Oglala Lakota have asked for help for the school children:

Please help the Oglala Lakota children at Pine Ridge School. They need books (new or gently used), coloring books (new), crayons (new). Below is a picture of the Kindergarten children. Budgets do not cover everything these children need so your help will be greatly appreciated. A list of much needed books follow the pictures. 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.

Send your donations to:

Friends of the Oglala Lakota
PO Box 497 (or 194 Boulder Dr.)
Dublin, NH 03444
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And, a request from:
Rob Roberts
Code Talkers Recognition Acts HR4544 and S 2681:

Code Talkers Recognition Act of 2007
To require the issuance of medals to recognize the dedication and valor of Native American code talkers.
www.opencongress.org/bill/1/110-h4544/show

"We are working on honoring these forgotten warriors.But we need support from the public.They need to contact their United States Senators to sign S 2681 and contact their United States House of Representitives to sign HR 4544.We have 144 signatures in the House and we need 290 signatures before we can put it on the floor for vote.In the U.S.Senate we have 45 signatures but we still need to get to 67 signatures before we can put it on the floor for vote.In September 20,2006 we had 79 signatures in the U.S.Senate and it was passed unanamously. So I hope we can get your support on getting these signatures. Thank you "

Please help the Code Talkers receive the recognition they so deserve and are so worthy of. Your help will be appreciated. Thank you. You can read my article on the Code Talkers "Coded In Unwritten Language" at

http://nativeamerican.bellaonline.com
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Till next time, may your heart and moccasins always find a happy path to follow. Blessings and walk in peace and beauty.
Phyllis - Native American Editor
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Here's the latest article from the Native American site at BellaOnline.com.

Ghost Dance From The Messiah
Reviewing the Ghost Dance and the hopes of the Peoples.

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art14064.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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