tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82806857140290567752024-03-13T05:22:19.451-07:00Joint Recon Study GroupThe Joint Reconnaissance Study Group is the San Diego-based, combined-service/agency, research-and-activities team in my novels "Mission Into Light" and sequel "Light's Hand." This site contains information of interest to the JRSG.Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-16469175307243191362020-11-13T08:18:00.043-08:002021-02-15T09:00:57.448-08:00Could some UFOs be linked to Native American 'white stone canoe' legends, stories?<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are at least three distinct stories and legends of a “white stone canoe” from Native American tribes of the northeastern and upper Midwest U.S., and southeastern and south-central Canada. There might even be more references in history and literature to a white stone canoe. In fact, one is a well-known children’s story. <br /><br />A stone canoe? That doesn’t sound like it would float very well on the then-pure and pristine lakes, rivers, streams and oceans of ancient North America. <br /><br />But in light of more recent developments, maybe we can discover possible connections – such as U.S. Navy fighter pilots from aircraft carriers at sea encountering objects that they said reminded them of the appearance of a white tic-tac breath candy. <br /><br />The Navy pilots used the tic-tac example to describe fairly large, oval or oblong-shaped objects appearing to have a hard and smooth surface, white in color, with no apparent edges, wings, tails, cockpit or method of propulsion. <br /><br />What does this have to do with ancient American Indian stories and histories? In the old times when these legends originated, the only vehicle or means of transportation they knew was the canoe. That was their transportation technology. They did not use horses or other animals for transport and did not use carts or wagons.<br /><br />WHITE STONE <br /><br />As a result, any object or phenomena that was used and moved as a vehicle would probably be termed a “canoe.” So, if Native Americans encountered something that appeared like a white stone that moved and possibly transported people, it could be called a “white stone canoe” – a “canoe” that looked like a white stone (like a tic-tac). <br /><br />Over the centuries, this might have begun to be perceived and visualized as a conventional Indian canoe but made of white stone instead of the other normal materials used for canoe-building. This might not be an accurate understanding. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Materials that would have been familiar to Native Americans in that era were those found in Nature such as wood and forest materials, byproducts of animals they hunted as well as soil, rocks and stones, including smooth and shaped river stones.<br /><br />So, what are the three stories about? And are there more references out there in history books, oral histories and literature from those eras? <br /><br />1) The well-known children’s story “The White Stone Canoe” is from a tale reportedly originating with the Ojibwe, also known as the Ojibwa or Chippewa who lived in the Great Lakes region. The tale is also associated with the Odawa, Odaawaa or Ottawa, also of the Great Lakes area. <br /><br />In this story, a young woman passes on. The young man who is her husband is heartbroken. His friends tell him to get over it by getting his mind off her passing, maybe going on the warpath with them or meeting other young maidens. <br /><br />But the young man takes another path. He travels a great distance in search of his beloved wife. At long last, he arrives at the home of a strange old man. The old man tells him how to follow an unusual path to a land where he can be with his wife. <br /><br />The young man then follows these directions and arrives at a mysterious lake, where he finds a white stone canoe. In the center of the lake is an island, and on that island shore is his wife, in a white stone canoe. There’s much more to the tale worth reading and thinking about. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">A famous book about the story was written in poem form by James David Edgar, illustrated by W.D. Blatchly and published in 1885. It was titled "The White Stone Canoe: A Legend of the Ottawas" <br /> <br />2) Another well-known Indian story of the eastern Great Lakes area, specifically around Lake Ontario, is that of The Great Peacekeeper named Dekanawida, Deganawida or Tekanawíta. He is believed to have arrived in the upstate New York region sometime in the early 1100s and is said to have been born north of Lake Ontario among the Wendet, also known as the Wyandot or Huron people.<br /><br />As a young man, he went to live with two of the five tribes living south of Lake Ontario, the Mohawk and the Onondaga. From east to west along Lake Ontario were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">There are various accounts of Dekanawida arriving, departing and even transporting other peace chiefs in a white stone canoe.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />At the time, there had been years of war and bloodshed between these tribes and internally within them. Blood atonement and revenge, brutal killing and other dark practices were widespread. <br /><br />Dekanawida, with the help of Hiawatha and a female leader named Jigonsaseh, helped craft peace among these tribes, and formulated concepts for peaceful democracy and unification known as The Great Law of Peace. This led to the alliance known as the Haudenosaunee (“the people of the longhouse”), better known as the Iroquois Confederacy.<br /><br />Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and other founders developed a keen interest in the governmental and societal concepts of the Haudenosaunee. The founders repeatedly met with the Haudenosaunee and it's widely believed that the founders incorporated Haudenosaunee ideas into the U.S. Constitution. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />3) Further east in New England, eastern Canada and Nova Scotia, Native tribes such as the Abenaki of the Wabanaki Confederacy and the Mi'kmaq or MicMac have legends about the Creator sending to Earth a being known as Glooscap (also spelled Gluskabe, Glooskap, Gluskabi, Kluscap or Gluskab). <br /><br />Glooscap helped create the Earth, animals, plants, trees and other life in our world, according to the story. He was said to have arrived on Earth in a white stone canoe, landing in the Nova Scotia area. <br /><br />He brought knowledge and wisdom to the people, such as understanding of good and evil. Glooscap also brought knowledge about fire, fishing nets and canoes, according to Native legend. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">According to an origin story on the website of the Canadian Museum of History (Musee Canadien de l'Histoire), “The Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot and Abenaki of the Atlantic region tell of Glooscap, who made the world habitable for human beings by creating and arranging landforms, giving animals their attributes and eliminating many monsters." </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The website explains, "A very long time ago, our Mother the Earth was only a globe of water. In the Skyworld where the supernatural beings lived, the twins, Glooscap ('good') and Malsm ('weak'), were sent to earth in a large stone canoe.”<br /><br />Another tale on the website of the Maine Memory Network, contributed by the Maine Historical Society, gives this account: “When the Indian storytellers speak of the Old Time, they mean long ago, long before the White Man knew their country, when at first there was only the forest, the sky, and the sea—no living creatures."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">"Then, so legend says, Glooscap came. He came from the Sky in a stone canoe with Malsum, his twin brother... Down out of the sky floated the great stone canoe bearing [Glooscap and Malsum] …" <br /><br />And another version of Wabanaki stories from the Abbe Museum, an associate of The Smithsonian Institute, notes, “The Indians saw him [Glooscap] coming and were amazed at the sight of his canoe. At once they knew that he had greater power than anyone else for he was doing amazing things.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />MORE RESEARCH <br /><br />Are these Native stories in any way connected to eyewitness accounts by U.S. Navy pilots and corresponding radar and sensor returns from Navy ships? What about other types of “unidentified aerial phenomena” or “UAP” as the Navy is now calling unusual, unknown objects and/or phenomena in the skies, or closer to ground-level? <br /><br />Is current advanced scientific and national security research in this area related to ancient Native American legends of North America? <br /><br />The descriptions by Navy pilots of a large, white tic-tac zipping around the ocean skies and around their fighter jets do seem similar to a “white stone.” </span><span style="font-family: arial;">However, there reportedly are also other types of UAP and other unidentified phenomena that don’t seem to fit this description.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />For those interested in Native American lore and possible clues to these mysteries, the Web is full of references to the white stone canoe stories, histories and accounts. <br /><br />One book that might be worth reviewing is “Travels in a Stone Canoe: The Return to the Wisdomkeepers” by authors Harvey Arden and Steve Wall, published in 2012 by Simon & Schuster. <br /><br />The book is described on Amazon: “Travels In A Stone Canoe is a luminous story. Two journalists from National Geographic on assignment in Indian Country cross an invisible boundary between two worlds, two different visions of reality -- and find their lives transformed.”<br /><br />“In a stunning and probing narrative </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> part adventure tale, part reflection and epiphany </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> the authors of Wisdomkeepers embark on a dramatic ‘spirit journey’ into the living wisdom of Native American spiritual elders,” the Amazon description notes. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />“When, nearly twenty years ago, a darkly enigmatic Cherokee herbalist approached Harvey Arden and Steve Wall with the proposition that they join him in a study of the lives, wisdom, and spiritual practices of Native America's fast-disappearing ‘Old Ones,' the veteran writer and photographer found themselves thrust, despite their own hard-nosed skepticism, onto a mystic ‘path of the Wisdomkeepers’." <br /><br />"After receiving 'signs' foretold by the Cherokee, they set off on a journey of spiritual discovery through another world, called Great Turtle Island," the Amazon summary explains.<br /><br />Another related book is “The Stone Canoe: Two Lost Mi'kmaq Texts” by Peter Sanger, illustrated by Alan Syliboy, with translator Elizabeth Paul. The book was published in 2007 by Gaspereau Press of Nova Scotia. <br /><br />Amazon description: “This is a story about two stories and their travels through the written record. The written part begins in the mid-nineteenth century, when Silas T. Rand, a Baptist clergyman from Cornwallis, Nova Scotia, took as his task the translation of the Bible into Mi’kmaq, the language of the indigenous communities in the region.”<br /><br />“In the process of developing his vocabulary, Rand transcribed narratives from Mi’kmaq storytellers, and following his death, 87 of these stories were published in a book called Legends of the Micmacs.” <br /><br />The description explains that, “One of these contains the story of Little Thunder and his journey to find a wife. The other is the story of a woman who survives alone on an island after being abandoned by her husband.” <br /><br />“Both are among the earliest examples of indigenous Canadian literature recorded in their original language; the 1847 transcript being perhaps the earliest. Their publication in The Stone Canoe makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Mi’kmaq storytelling and indigenous Canadian literature,” according to the Amazon summary. <br /><br />As we face current challenges in today’s modern world, in these ancient legends and stories there seem to be clues about unusual goings-on and the nature of Nature. <br /><br />Is it possible that some of these ancient accounts might guide us to paths of understanding that we can follow? And where might those paths lead?</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related articles<span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Nav</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">y Research Project on Intuition,"</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human perception key in hard power, soft power, smart power"</a></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> and </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior"><span style="color: #6fb8dd; text-decoration-line: none;">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</span></a> </span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;">are posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education </i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /> </span><br /></div></div></div></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-62462150040637202872020-09-17T09:49:00.033-07:002020-12-27T05:58:27.753-08:00Wildland firefighter basic training available at community colleges, tech schools, training centers<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;">Basic training to work as a seasonal wildland firefighter consists of an efficient, nationally-standardized combination of classes referred to as the S-130 and S-190 training courses. This training is developed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG). <br /><br />The NWCG coordinates interagency standards for wildland firefighting among federal, state, regional, and tribal agencies and operations throughout the U.S. The NWCG also produces training manuals for the wildland firefighter S-130/S-190 courses. <br /><br />The courses are available at community colleges, vocational training centers, technical schools, high schools offering dual credit, stand-alone wildland firefighter training academies, and various agencies and organizations. Individuals applying for jobs as seasonal wildland firefighters must be at least age 18. <br /><br />It’s tough, dangerous work. In recent fires in the West, some wildland firefighters needed to deploy their emergency shelters, which are far from 100 percent effective. Three firefighters were injured. Rescue helicopter crews have recently plucked wildland firefighters from very dangerous situations. <br /><br />Yet, with overtime and hazardous-duty pay, and sometimes working 12-hour or 24-hour shifts (or longer in emergencies), wildland firefighters can earn substantial pay during the months of the fire season. They can also earn the satisfaction of working together as a team to help save forests, wildlife and domestic animals, homes, communities and human life. <br /><br />TRAINING AND HIRING <br /><br />The S-130/S-190 training for basic wildland firefighting includes four components:<br /><br />- S-130: Firefighter Training<br />- S-190: Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior<br />- I-100: Introduction to the Incident Command System<br />- L-180: Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service <br /><br />Passing a “work capacity test,” known as the “pack test,” is also a related part of the training and requirements. This fitness training and test are meant to simulate basic real-life physical requirements for extended trekking over rough terrain and vigorous work with hand tools, chain saws and other gear. The pack test for wildland firefighters involves:<br /><br />- Completing a 3-mile hike<br />- While carrying a 45-pound pack</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;">- Within 45 minutes<br /><br />When the S-130/S-190 courses and pack test have been successfully completed, the candidate can apply for entry-level wildland firefighter jobs. If hired, the Incident Qualification Card or “red card” can then be issued which authorizes the entry-level wildland firefighter to work on the fire lines and other emergency situations. <br /><br />In addition to the basic S-130/S-190 classes, many other advanced and specialized wildland firefighting training courses are also available through the NWCG. <br /><br />Member agencies of the NWCG include the following: <br /><br />- Bureau of Indian Affairs (U.S. Department of the Interior)<br />- Bureau of Land Management (U.S. Department of the Interior)<br />- Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. Department of the Interior)<br />- Forest Service (U.S. Department of Agriculture)<br />- International Association of Fire Chiefs<br />- Intertribal Timber Council<br />- National Association of State Foresters<br />- National Park Service (U.S. Department of the Interior)<br />- United States Fire Administration (Federal Emergency Management Agency) <br /><br />Jobs for seasonal wildland firefighters can be posted during the late fall and winter between September and December. Some hiring announcements may close in January, though hiring for upcoming fire seasons can continue through March. <br /><br />HAZARDS AND FUTURE NEED <br /><br />For many people, the 2017 Hollywood movie “Only the Brave” about an interagency hotshot crew was a window into the world of wildland firefighting. Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly and Andie MacDowell were some of the actors portraying the Prescott, Arizona, community and a real-life hotshot wildand firefighting team. <br /><br />The movie told the story of the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire incident in central Arizona when 19 of the Granite Mountain Hotshots wildland firefighters of Prescott died, even though they had deployed their emergency shelters as they were about to be overrun by a wall of flames. <br /><br />Interagency hotshot crews consist of 20-22 wildland firefighters who have enhanced training, equipment, experience, capabilities and readiness. According to the NWCG website, there are 68 hotshot crews nationwide, composed of 1,360 firefighters. Much like a small, forward military unit, they can operate in remote wilderness areas for extended periods. <br /><br />Occupational hazards for all wildland firefighters can include breathing wildfire smoke, and sometimes the smoke from buildings, vehicles and other hazardous materials. Fatigue, stress, heat, rugged terrain, accident injuries and burned, falling trees pose additional dangers. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">But for those interested in facing the dangers, challenges and rewards of wildland firefighting, there will likely be a need for more wildland firefighters in the future. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The length of the summer and fall fire season has been gradually expanding. Forecasts predict that this pattern will probably continue, with wildland fires remaining a threat for longer periods each year. <br /><br />The severity of wildland fires has also been increasing, as reflected in the current fires in the West. A record amount of acreage has been burned, as well as many homes and communities. Lives have been lost. <br /><br />These patterns seem to indicate that there will be an increased need for a more-robust force of seasonal wildland firefighters in the years to come.<br /> <br /><br />For more information:</span><div><a href="https://www.nwcg.gov/" style="font-family: arial;">National
Wildfire Coordinating Group</a></div><div><a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/fire/careers" style="font-family: arial;">U.S. Forest Service, Wildland
Fire Careers</a></div><div><br /><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related articles<span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Nav</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">y Research Project on Intuition,"</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human perception key in hard power, soft power, smart power"</a></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> and </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior"><span style="color: #6fb8dd; text-decoration-line: none;">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</span></a> </span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">are posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Educati</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">on Office, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div></div></div></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-38203212780722634732020-09-11T12:47:00.024-07:002020-12-25T07:28:51.630-08:00Athens County, Ohio, was key spot when colonists, Redcoats fought Shawnee in 1774 Battle of Point Pleasant<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>By Steve Hammons <br /></b><br />At the junction of the Ohio River and the Hocking River in southeastern Ohio in 1774, the then-King’s governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, established a forward base as part of “Dunmore’s War” against the Shawnee and other tribes of the region in the months, weeks and days before the American Revolution.<br /><br />In a planned two-pronged attack on the Shawnee in the southern Ohio and Ohio River Valley area, Dunmore’s force of approximately 1,700 men traveled from Fort Dunmore (Pittsburgh) to rendezvous with a Virginia colonial militia force near what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia. (Fort Dunmore was previously known as Fort Pitt, and Fort Duquesne under the French.)<br /><br />But for some reason, including suspicious ones, Dunmore chose to stop short of Point Pleasant, and built a base camp he named Fort Gower, 45 miles up the Ohio River. Dunmore built Fort Gower at the mouth of the Hocking River, originally called the Hockhocking by Native people. That location is now the village of Hockingport in Athens County, Ohio.<br /><br />Dunmore sent a message downriver to militia Col. Andrew Lewis, commander of a force of about 1,000 men who had proceeded toward Point Pleasant. Dunmore told Lewis that he had changed plans and was now going to attack some Shawnee towns deeper in southern Ohio instead of joining forces with Lewis’ militia at Point Pleasant.<br /><br />As the militia force arrived in the Point Pleasant area, without Dunmore joining them, the Shawnee and some Mingo and Lenape (Delaware) allies attacked. Shawnee Chief Cornstalk led between 300 and 500 warriors in a fierce, prolonged and bloody battle – but were defeated by the colonial forces.<br /><br />DIVIDE AND CONQUER<br /><br />Lord Dunmore was John Murray, a Scotsman with the title 4th Earl of Dunmore. He was appointed as colonial governor of New York from 1770 to 1771 and of the Virginia colony in 1771. He advocated for and launched a series of attacks into the Shawnee and other American Indian lands abutting the Ohio River Valley and southern Ohio, known as Dunmore’s War.<br /><br />By 1774, Dunmore was also ruling over restless colonists who were increasingly unhappy with British control. On the western frontier of the Appalachian Mountain Range, settlers and those seeking more land were also starting to resist British governance, laws and taxes.<br /><br />New arrivals to the colonies were heading west, trying to acquire land and a better life. In doing so, they pushed deeper into the lands of the Shawnee, Cherokee and other Native people who had lived there for thousands of years.<br /><br />The Cherokee did not join the Shawnee, Mingo and Delaware warriors at the Battle of Point Pleasant, also called the Battle of Kanawha, even though the original Cherokee land then extended into the far western side of what is now West Virginia. In fact, Cherokee territory extended up to the exact area of Point Pleasant on the Ohio River, also then known as the Ohi yo or Ohiyo.<br /><br />Why didn't Cherokee warriors join the fight? Part of the reason might be that British government agents were active among Indian tribes, trying to manipulate alliances and loyalties – and divide and conquer. <br /><br />The Shawnee and Cherokee also had somewhat different cultures. The Shawnee to the north were patrilineal and the Cherokee to the south had a matrilineal society. Another probable and related reason might have been that Cherokee women had been voluntarily intermarrying with Scottish, Scots-Irish and Anglo newcomers since earlier times of friendly contact. <br /><br />In the Cherokee tradition and culture, these men joined their wives’ matrilineal clans. Children of these marriages were also members of mothers’ and maternal grandmothers’ matrilineal clans.<br /><br />The two tribes' languages also had different roots. The Shawnee spoke an Algonquian-based tongue that was widely used in the north-central regions of North America. The Cherokee spoke a type of Iroquoian language from areas to the north and northeast, such as today's upstate New York.<br /><br />These elements were in play as the Battle of Point Pleasant unfolded. As a result of the defeat of Chief Cornstalk and his warriors, large sections of real estate were surrendered to the victorious forces. This pattern among the Native people had been going on for decades and would continue throughout the 1700s and 1800s.<br /><br />Even as the Battle of Point Pleasant was being fought, the American Revolution was about to begin in earnest. It has been speculated that Dunmore might have been sabotaging and betraying Col. Lewis’ militia force to weaken these imminent American revolutionaries, potentially soon to be disloyal to the King. Did Dunmore also tip off the Shawnee, who ended up attacking first?<br /><br />If Dunmore did get a backchannel message to Cornstalk and his warriors, did he give them accurate information about the strength of the militia force? Cornstalk's estimated 300 to 500 warriors attacked the militia force said to have included about 1,000 men. Was Dunmore trying to weaken both adversaries – rebellious colonial militias as well as the Shawnee and Native tribes in the region?<br /><br />After the battle, many of the militia troops regrouped at the Athens County, Ohio, location of Dunmore’s Fort Gower. There on the mouth of the Hockhocking River, Dunmore forced, or tried to force the militia members to sign a loyalty oath to King and Crown. This loyalty oath is known as the “Fort Gower Resolves.” Many militia troops did not wish to sign such an oath.<br /><br />But the victory at Point Pleasant for Lord Dunmore was short-lived. Before all the militia troops had even returned home from the Dunmore’s War campaigns against the Shawnee, shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord. The American Revolution had begun. And in 1776, Dunmore was forced out of Virginia by the new “Americans.”<br /><br />OHIO RIVER VALLEY<br /><br />Today, the village of Hockingport is one of the many smaller communities and larger towns along the Ohio River, on both the Ohio and West Virginia sides. Upriver, the Ohio flows through western Pennsylvania. And downstream, the great river continues along Ohio's border with Kentucky, Indiana and beyond before joining the Mississippi River at the southern end of Illinois.<br /><br />The Hocking River, once a route Dunmore used to attack Shawnee villages, continues northwest from the Ohio about 27 miles to Athens. The town is the county seat of Athens County. It's also home of Ohio University, chartered in 1787 under the new and fragile U.S. government as part of expansion into the Ohio lands, and founded in 1804.<br /><br />Hockingport is about 27 miles downriver from Marietta, Ohio, which historian David McCullough researched extensively for his best-selling 2019 book “The Pioneers.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">In his book, McCullough focused on the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that claimed "the Ohio Country" and areas north and west for the new U.S. government, as the French and British had done before, and as Spain was doing elsewhere in North America. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The Northwest Ordinance also established guidelines for governing the new territories. Initial planning for the establishment of a school of higher learning in the Ohio Country (later Ohio University in Athens) was also part of the ordinance.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And Hockingport is also 17 miles southwest and downriver from Parkersburg, West Virginia, where the 2019 movie “Dark Waters” explored toxic dumping into streams and waterways of the area. <br /><br />Point Pleasant and the nearby town of Gallipolis, Ohio, are both 45 miles southwest and downriver from Hockingport. In 1966-67, a “UFO flap” occurred around Point Pleasant – one of those situations where odd lights in the sky, and sometimes seemingly-related phenomena, are seen in a particular area in certain time frames. <br /><br />These have happened throughout the U.S. and around the world. The U.S. Navy is now referring to these airborne types of sightings as “unidentified aerial phenomena” or UAP because they seem to be of different types, some solid, some not. <br /><br />The 2002 Hollywood movie "The Mothman Prophecies" was based on a limited representation of the best-selling 1975 book by researcher and writer John Keel about the '66-67 situation around Point Pleasant. The movie told only part of the story.<br /><br />The movie was filmed in the small town of Kittanning on the Allegheny River northeast of Pittsburgh, and in Pittsburgh itself, from where Dunmore launched his assault into those Ohio River Valley lands back in 1774. <br /><br />Kittanning is the name of a former large town of the Lenape or Delaware people located there. Lenape warriors fought alongside Chief Cornstalk at Point Pleasant. The word "Kittanning" refers to "main river," by which they identified the combined Ohio River and Allegheny River in western Pennsylvania as one river. <br /><br />The nearby Kittanning Path was a major east-west Native American trail between that region and the higher Appalachian Mountains, and was later used by European colonists.<br /><br />Many odd, glowing lights around the Point Pleasant region in 1966-67 were seen up and down the Ohio River. And a significant number of such lights were also reported around Point Pleasant's Chief Cornstalk Hunting Grounds, later called the Chief Cornstalk Public Hunting and Fishing Area, and now the 11,772-acre Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area, supervised by the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources. <br /><br />Could Cornstalk and his Shawnee people be looking in on their old homeland from time to time, remembering that terrible battle at Point Pleasant, and the days and years of struggle and sorrow that followed for the Shawnee and other Native people? Are they able to recall happier times in the Ohiyo lands too?<br /><br />Are they, like many Americans today, trying to understand and sort out our complex national history – and discover a more perfect union?<br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background: white;">(Related articles</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> </span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> are </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-37589499479210333822020-08-10T09:32:00.005-07:002021-01-23T06:23:59.875-08:00Native American words around us: States, towns, rivers, lakes, terrain, plants, animals, military<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b><br /><br />More than half of the states in the U.S. are named from Native American words. The names of hundreds of American cities, towns, villages, townships and counties also come from Native languages.<br /><br />Words from American Indian cultures also form the basis for the names of hundreds of lakes, rivers, streams and creeks. Hills, mountains, valleys and other geographical terrain features are also named after Native terminology. Additionally, many elementary, middle and high schools have names related to Indian languages.<br /><br />Parks, wilderness and wildlife areas are also often named from Native American words and references, including national parks and national forests. Many of our words for plants and animals are also based on Indian languages.<br /><br />Are some of these words derogatory in certain ways? Yes. In Phoenix, Arizona, a rugged urban mountain popular with hikers had been called “Squaw Peak” since around 1910. On April 17, 2003, the name was officially changed to “Piestewa Peak” in honor of Lori Piestewa, a U.S. Army soldier killed in Iraq.<br /><br />Piestewa, from the Hopi tribe community in northern Arizona, was the first U.S. female fatality of the Iraq War (but not the last). She was the first female Native American U.S. service member in history to die in combat.<br /><br />ANIMALS, PLANTS, FOODS, DAILY LIFE<br /><br />The U.S. government information service Voice of America (VOA) noted Native American Heritage Month in 2017 with an article, “to acknowledge the histories and cultures of Native people across the U.S., highlighting the challenges they have faced, their sacrifices and their contributions.” The Nov. 17, 2017, article headline was, "Native Americans Gave Places, Animals, Plants Their Names."<br /><br />The VOA writer explained, “When Spanish, English and French explorers, fortune seekers and settlers arrived in the Americas, they encountered plants, animals, places and cultural objects which they had never seen before.”<br /><br />“They borrowed names from the hundreds of different Native tribes and languages they encountered across the continents. Today, those loan words are so thoroughly incorporated into American English and other contemporary languages that many aren’t aware of their origins.”<br /><br />“This month, VOA is highlighting Native American contributions to U.S. language, history and culture.” The VOA article listed s</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ome of the many common words today believed to have North and South American Native origins. It also</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> noted that, “In some cases, word origins are still in dispute.” </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">- Animals: Caribou, chinchilla, chipmunk, coyote, iguana, jaguar, moose, muskrat, opossum, piranha, raccoon, skunk, terrapin and woodchuck.<br /><br />- Plants and foods: Avocado, cashew, cayenne, chocolate, hickory, persimmon, potato, squash, tobacco and tomato.<br /><br />- Daily life: Barbecue, cigar, hammock, kayak, moccasin, parka and poncho<br /><br />According to VOA, the words hurricane, caucus and quinine are also derived from Native words.<br /><br />Other sources of information propose that Native languages are the basis for the words pecan, chili and guacamole. Canoe and toboggan are also believed to have Native language roots. Bayou, sequoia and Quonset hut reportedly are additional words from Native language.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Today, there are increasing efforts underway across the country to revitalize the use of Native languages, teach them to younger people and preserve them for future generations.<br /><br />WARRIOR CULTURES, MODERN CONTROVERSIES<br /><br />According to an April 16, 2018, article on the Military.com website, “Many military members feel a connection between the bold warriors of Native American nations and their own commitment to their missions. They understand the defense of their lands and their honor, against all enemies.” That article was under the headline, "These Meaningful Military Traditions Come From Native American Culture."<br /><br />U.S. Army helicopters have frequently been given tribal names, the article author noted. “Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook, Kiowa, Lakota, Creek, Cayuse, Huron, and Ute. All Native American tribes and currently used Army aircraft.”<br /><br />“There are also several retired aircraft with tribal names. The Iroquois, Choctaw, Seminole, Shawnee, Mohawk, and Mescalero helicopters and planes have been retired between 1967 and 2011,” according to the article.<br /><br />Like the controversies over sports teams' mascot names, these names for military aircraft, Tomahawk missiles and other weapons could also spark mixed reactions, and the Military.com article dug a bit deeper.<br /><br />The article pointed out cultural, sociological and psychological “ties to a warrior culture.” The article quoted veteran Robert Holden, deputy director for the National Congress of American Indians, and member of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. “Warriors have always been in our presence and always will be ... not only in times of conflict, but in times of peace as well," Holden said.</span><span face=""roboto" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #292b2c; font-size: 18px;"> </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />“Appropriation or homage?" the article writer asked. "In recent years, cultural appropriation is a buzzword that seems to be on everyone’s lips. There has been more awareness of how institutions, people, and groups have used racial, cultural, and ethnic stereotypes as an insult or negatively. A prime example is the debate about renaming the Washington Redskins.”<br /><br />The article also asked, “So, why are some references to Native Americans considered derogatory and others, well, just fine? It’s the intent behind the naming.” The article notes cases in the U.S. military, “where a name or an emblem has been used distastefully.”<br /><br />According to the article author, “However, there is also genuine admiration and respect for the tradition of Native American warriors among the US military. We revere the Code Talkers and use the names of brave leaders and nations to denote strength of character and force.”<br /><br />In U.S. military patches and mottos, we often see references to American Indians. For example, the U.S. Army Special Forces shoulder patch is in the shape of an arrowhead. The Army Special Forces crest includes two crossed arrows over a fighting knife or dagger. These are not just military art. They</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> have meaning.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />In the 101st Airborne Division (Army paratroopers), the famous 506th Infantry Regiment uses the Cherokee word “currahee” as their motto. The first episode of the TV mini-series “Band of Brothers” was titled “Currahee.” A book about the WWII invasion of Normandy is titled “Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normandy.”<br /><br />So, what does currahee mean? It is generally interpreted in English as, "We stand alone" or “We stand alone together.”</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background: white;">(Related articles</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> </span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> </span><span style="background: white;">and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> are </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></div></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-78763585220486860002020-07-23T10:38:00.002-07:002020-11-11T06:18:58.515-08:00Film experts, fans celebrate rediscovery of Appalachian story ‘Spring Night Summer Night’<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b><br /><br />An independent film from the mid-1960s has been lovingly resurrected, restored and now, rediscovered by a new wave of fans. “Spring Night Summer Night” has been making the rounds at prestigious film festivals in recent years and is now available via a dual DVD/Blu-ray package from Flicker Alley.<br /><br />Filming began in 1965, directed by Joseph L. “Joe” Anderson, then the head of a tiny film program at Ohio University, Athens, in the Appalachian southeast corner of the state. Ohio U. students were writers, cast and crew, and the film was completed in 1966 for $29,000.<br /><br />The film tells a story of life in a small Appalachian town, and the transition into adulthood of the two main characters, Jessie (Jessica) and Carl. It was filmed in and around Athens, Athens County and neighboring villages, towns and counties.<br /><br />“Spring Night Summer Night,” released in 1967, caught the eye of prominent filmmakers at the time. It premiered at Italy’s Pesaro Film Festival in 1967 was slated for viewing at the 1968 New York Film Festival.<br /><br />However, it was bumped from the festival and replaced by the showing of John Cassavetes’ “Faces.” “Spring Night Summer Night” was finally shown at the festival in 2018.<br /><br />BETTER LATE THAN NEVER</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And on Jan. 10, 2020, “Spring Night Summer Night” was shown at UCLA’s Billy Wilder Theater, billed as the “West Coast Digital Restoration Premiere!” Film restorationists Peter Conheim and Ross Lipman, who were key in the film's rebirth, were present for the event.<br /><br />The UCLA announcement of the showing noted, “Director J.L. Anderson’s remarkable first feature, Spring Night Summer Night has been claiming the attention of a growing number of critics as it has gradually emerged from a decades-long obscurity following screenings, in recent years, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, UCLA and the Rural Route Film Festival. This stunning new 4K restoration promises to bring the film an even wider audience.”<br /><br />Now recognized as an outstanding independent film, the new DVD release includes extras such as alternate and behind-the scenes footage, interviews with the film’s participants, commentary by film experts and a “Bluegrass Trilogy” of three shorts filmed at Ohio University and set to Bluegrass tunes.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">An Oct. 15, 2018, article about the film on the entertainment website IndieWire was titled, “‘Spring Night, Summer Night’: One Film’s Bizarre 50-Year Journey to Its Long-Delayed New York Film Festival Premiere.”</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />The IndieWire article explained that the film’s long road to the 2018 New York Film Festival screening involved many people over the years. These included Conheim, Lipman, and director Nicolas Winding Refn and his cinema preservation activities.<br /><br />Cinematographer Ed Lachman was part of the team that filmed “Spring Night Summer Night” and a student of director Anderson. Lachman told IndieWire, “The film department only existed because of the football department, who owned a film processing machine and 16mm cameras we could use.”<br /><br />Lachman explained, “It was this very open classroom where Joe exposed us to all these films we had never seen before – you really could feel that influence of European films of the time watching that film tonight. Joe made his films with his students.”<br /><br />“He thought we should be out filming in areas around Athens, not unlike the Italians after the war. I worked on his next film after this one, ‘America First.’ It was one of the most exceptional experiences I had and really formulated my interest and approach to filmmaking,” Lachman said.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">STORY IS RELEVANT NOW</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In another article noting the film’s inclusion in the 2018 New York Film Festival, the local newspaper The Athens News featured a Nov. 20, 2018, piece under the headline, “A missed masterpiece – Film world rediscovers long-neglected feature shot in 1965 in rural Athens County and surrounding area.”<br /><br />“The cast were first-time movie actors, with locals as bit players,” according to The Athens News. It recalled, “An article that appeared in the Ohio University student newspaper, The Post, on Nov. 29, 1966, reports on photography for ‘Spring Night Summer Night’ wrapping up. It quotes [script co-writer Franklin] Miller as noting that ‘of the 57 people connected with the film, everyone is, or was, a student at OU’.”</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The Athens News quoted Miller as saying, “As we were writing, a two-year process, we drove all through the remote coal-mining hills of southeastern Ohio, scouting locations and, equally important, listening to speech patterns.”</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The article also reported that UCLA film restorationist Lipman reviewed the film in 2012 and called it “a compelling and beautiful drama.” Lipman said UCLA had acquired the original negative and only remaining print. However, at the time, funding for restoration was not available.<br /><br />But before long, due to widespread appreciation of the film, support was forthcoming to professionally restore it.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />“Spring Night Summer Night” might also be relevant in current national discussions about society, culture, history, economic opportunity and human behavior.<br /><br />The Athens News piece points out that, “Watching it may bring to mind the debate now raging around J.D. Vance’s memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ which decries Appalachia’s supposedly dysfunctional culture, and Elizabeth Catte’s stinging rejoinder, ‘What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia,’ which reminds us that the region’s downtrodden status is more inflicted from without than bred from within – and has often sparked homegrown resistance.”<br /><br />- - -<br /><br />For more information:</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdNdq2by7Ik">“Spring
Night, Summer Night Blu-ray Review + Unboxing,”</a> </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Flicker Alley, on YouTube</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTyN3TtR9fk">“Spring
Night Summer Night (1967) – Trailer,”</a><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Flicker Alley, on YouTube</span><br />
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<span><i><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related articles<span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span></i></span></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Nav</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">y Research Project on Intuition,"</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human perception key in hard power, soft power, smart power"</a></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> and </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior"><span style="color: #6fb8dd; text-decoration-line: none;">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</span></a> </span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">are posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Educati</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">on Office, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-10876409804891694852020-07-15T08:40:00.003-07:002020-11-11T06:19:51.893-08:00Miami U. of Ohio changed name from ‘Redskins’ to ‘RedHawks’ in 1997<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b><br /></b>Miami University of Ohio in Oxford, located in southwestern Ohio near the Indiana state line, changed its mascot name from "Redskins" to "RedHawks" in 1997 after the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma made a name-change request of the university.<br /><br />The university's decision to change the name sparked debate, according Miami University’s Director of Miami Tribe Relations Kara Strass. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In a July 13, 2020, article from ABC9 News in Cincinnati under the headline, “Miami University was decades ahead in dropping Redskins nickname,” Strass was quoted as saying, “I think this was a very controversial decision. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">I don’t think it was one that was made lightly."</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />She noted, “There was a lot of alumni pushback to people who saw Redskins as part of their Miami identity, part of their experience of going to school at Miami, and felt like I think something had been taken away from them. It’s been pretty controversial ever since then.”<br /><br />Miami University was founded in 1809 – not long after many native people, including the Miami, Myaami or Myaamia of southwestern Ohio and Indiana, and the Shawnee of Ohio and Kentucky had been pushed out of the region by force, after much bloodshed and loss of their lands.<br /><br />MYAAMIA CENTER<br /><br />Miami U. is in an area that was an interface between the Miami people to the west and northwest, and the Shawnee tribe who lived to the east in central and southern Ohio and Kentucky, south of the Ohio River, or as it reportedly was called then, the “Ohi yo” or “Ohiyo.”<br /><br />Today, Miami U. is home of the Myaamia Center, begun in 2001 as the Myaamia Project, with wide-ranging activities in partnership with the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. That tribe is the only U.S. government-recognized Miami tribe, though there is also a Miami tribal group in Indiana.<br /><br />According to their webpages on the Miami U. website, “The Center focuses on conducting in-depth research to assist the Miami Tribe’s educational initiatives aimed at the preservation of language and culture.”<br /><br />Additionally, “The Center also emphasizes exposing undergraduate and graduate students at Miami University to tribal efforts in language and cultural revitalization.”</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Also on the Miami U. website, </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"The Myaamia Center is directly supported by both the Tribe and the University. Anyone committed to helping perpetuate Miami language and culture for future generations is welcome to participate."<br /><br />The Myaamia Center describes its mission: “The Center, a Miami Tribe of Oklahoma initiative located within an academic setting, serves the needs of the Myaamia people, Miami University, and partner communities through research, education, and outreach that promote Myaamia language, culture, knowledge, and values.”<br /><br />Relationships that have been established between Miami U. and the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. “Over the years, a thriving and mutually enriching relationship has developed between the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University.”<br /><br />“Each activity, project, class, and visit is one piece of a much broader, continuously developing relationship,” the Myaamia Center webpages explain.<br /><br />PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE<br /><br />The center is involved in research and conferences. “The Myaamia Center's offices explore research on a breadth of topics, from language and education to cultural ecology.”<br /><br />“We present our research regularly at events such as the Myaamiaki Conference. We also make our research available to members of the Miami Tribe community and the public, in many cases as free downloads.”<br /><br />Also from the center’s webpages:<br /><br />- 125 Myaamia students have enrolled at Miami University since 1996.<br /><br />- 89% graduation rate for Myaamia students at Miami University as of 2017.<br /><br />- In 2022, the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma and Miami University will celebrate 50 years of relationship building.<br /><br />According to Cincinnati’s ABC9 News article, “The Miami Tribe formally asked the university to change its nickname and mascot in 1996. A year later, it did – to RedHawks.”<br /><br />Miami U.’s Strass is quoted as saying, “That is a first step, and that there is so much more work to be done, before people truly understand what it means to be a native person, to honor native communities.”<br /><br />The article explained, “At Miami, Strass says without the name change a lot of what’s happening now, like the creation of the Myaamia Center and a program that’s bringing 30 tribal students to attend school there this fall, wouldn’t have been possible.”</span><br />
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University’s Myaamia Center</span></i></a><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related articles </span></span></i></span></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Nav</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">y Research Project on Intuition,"</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human perception key in hard power, soft power, smart power"</a></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> and </span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> </span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">are posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Educati</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">on Office, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-89507195044224483002020-06-05T07:53:00.003-07:002020-11-11T06:20:42.660-08:00Analysis: Research company involved with UFOs opens up about activities<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons </b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">A couple of weeks ago, a small startup company involved in forward-leaning research held an online Q&A session to discuss their activities. The company, To The Stars Academy of Arts and Science (TTSA), gained recent attention for their involvement in research into U.S. Navy encounters with “unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).”<br /><br />One of the company’s advisers, Christopher Mellon, took questions from participants on Twitter. Mellon previously held the position of U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Of the total questions and answers, 25 were later published on TTSA’s website. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><br />For some people, both the questions and answers probably trigger increased curiosity, a closer look and a deeper thoughtfulness about what could be involved.<br /><br />Further analysis of some of the questions and answers might improve our perspectives. And analyzing some points a bit more could also provide some helpful acclimation and orientation, and possible insight.<br /><br />Below are seven of the verbatim Qs and As, or sections of them, with a brief analysis of some aspects that seem relevant.<br /><br />TELLING THE STORY<br /><br />Q #7: Reporter George Knapp [award-winning investigative journalist, KLAS-TV News, CBS8, Las Vegas] has speculated there are other, better funded UAP programs that should come to light. Word is about 4 of them in existence for many decades. Do you feel confident we will learn about more programs in the near future?<br /><br />A: I’m not sure what programs he is referring to but I see no evidence DoD is about to release info about new, undisclosed, classified programs on this topic. We applaud DoD’s recent openness regarding the videos however we would like to see greater transparency going forward. All of us at TTSA would like to see greater government transparency.<br /><br /><b>Analysis: </b>According to many credible reports, during World War II and in the post-war late-1940s and 1950s, the U.S. defense community became aware of seemingly very unusual aerial phenomena. So, there appear to have most likely been seven decades of research into the situation.<br /><br />Many researchers looking into this overall topic claim that there is significant evidence, as well as notable circumstantial indications, pointing to robust U.S. activities in this area.<br /><br />Q #9: How would the team respond to criticism of a small group claiming TTSA is positioning #UAP as a potential threat to create a "defense" narrative around the topic? This seems simply a way to engage those who only respond to something if they think it’s a POTENTIAL threat.<br /><br />A: We were motivated by the lack of support for pilots concerned about threats to (them) from these aircraft, from mid-air collisions, or possibly worse.<br /><br /><b>Analysis:</b> The framing of a narrative (which is basically a story) can be very important. What actually is the true story? Or, are there many sides, elements and perspectives to the story or multiple stories? Narratives and storytelling can be used in various ways, with various degrees of accuracy and completeness.<br /><br />On this particular topic, maybe we still don’t know, understand or comprehend various aspects of the story. Yet, maybe there is enough information somewhere to indicate that the situation is related to a defense threat of some kind.<br /><br />Q #11: Thanks for getting credible mainstream outlets to cover this (NYT, CNN, WaPo, etc.)! My question is does appearing on disinformation programs like Glenn Beck/Hannity do more hurt than good?<br /><br />A: I don’t regard the UAP issue as a partisan topic, and Lue [Luis Elizondo, TTSA director of government services and programs] and I do interviews for all manner of press. I have independently written about my concerns and distaste for excessive partisanship and the problems it poses<br /><br /><b>Analysis: </b>The American free press includes credible and professional news organizations as well as media outlets with lesser credibility. In recent decades the media landscape and ecosystem have changed due to the emergence of the internet, new online media, as well as developments in TV and movies.<br /><br />The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word “disinformation” as the following: “false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth.”<br /><br />INTERNATIONAL, GLOBAL SITUATION<br /><br />Q #12: Has there been any tangible progress on the international stage? What kind of progress, do you believe, has been achieved by other countries in tracking, investigating, and replicating these phenomena? And, lastly, are you seeing positive momentum?<br /><br />A: There is growing international interest. In 2018, for example, the Chinese government-funded an international UAP symposium focused on high tech issues. Lue recently returned from a visit to Latin America that will feature prominently in an upcoming episode of #UNIDENTIFIED [A&E History Channel docu-series “Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation”].<br /><br /><b>Analysis: </b>The global nature of the situation being researched seems significant. With the various international tensions and humanitarian challenges around the world, increased cooperation on this particular topic could be helpful.<br /><br />In an Oct. 13, 2019, article on The Hill website, “3 reasons to investigate the US Navy UFO incidents,” former State Department analyst Marik von Rennenkampff wrote that, “Given the anti-democratic and authoritarian inclinations of some major world powers, it is imperative that such [advanced aerospace] capabilities fall into the ‘right’ (i.e., democratic) hands.” He added, “In the event that such capability exists, mere knowledge thereof should prompt a fundamental shift away from humanity’s baser priorities in favor of loftier, nobler objectives.”<br /><br />Q #13: If @TTSAcademy could only accomplish one goal (in my opinion you've already accomplished a great deal) - What would the most important thing that comes out of all this?<br /><br />A: Great question! If the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life is established, it will prompt the biggest transformation in humanity’s outlook since Copernicus.<br /><br /><b>Analysis: </b>The natural and logical implications of various research in this area do seem to point to very significant possible or probable developments. As Mellon notes, this would result in a transformation for humanity.<br /><br />Our basic understanding of certain aspects of science, spirituality, Nature, the Universe and ourselves could change somewhat significantly.<br /><br />Q #14: Can you address how the understanding/realization of the UAP being a real phenomenon has changed you and other members of TTSA at a personal level?<br /><br />A: Wow, interesting question. I’m proud of what we have achieved in a short period of time but also keenly aware that the ramifications are immense and potentially very concerning. The more concrete the issue becomes the more weighty it becomes.<br /><br /><b>Analysis: </b>Mellon notes that he and his TTSA colleagues are, “also keenly aware that the ramifications are immense and potentially very concerning. The more concrete the issue becomes the more weighty it becomes.”<br /><br />This seemingly will increasingly also be the case for more and more Americans and people around the world.<br /><br />Q #16: In May 2016, Leslie Kean [author, journalist, researcher] asked: "Are you certain there is no government cover-up?" You answered, "It’s impossible to prove the negative, so all I can say is that I never saw any evidence of official interest in UAPs."<br /><br />A: Uncle Sam has a big basement and rummaging around there can turn up all manner of things. However, I think the central problem at the moment is the lack of government interest and effort to get to the bottom of the issue.<br /><br /><b>Analysis: </b>(Same as analysis on question #7 above related to journalist George Knapp) According to many credible reports, during World War II and in the post-war late-1940s and 1950s, the U.S. defense community became aware of seemingly very unusual aerial phenomena. So, there appear to have most likely been seven decades of research into the situation.<br /><br />Many researchers looking into this overall topic claim that there is significant evidence, as well as notable circumstantial indications, pointing to robust U.S. activities in this area.<br /><br />To read the full 25-question Q&A, visit the TTSA site <a href="https://dpo.tothestarsacademy.com/blog/ttsa-talks-featuring-chris-mellon?goal=0_f87397858e-1af562e049-261902477&mc_cid=1af562e049&mc_eid=843400b2d5"><span style="background: white; color: #66b5ff;">here</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background: white;">(Related articles </span></i></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> </span><span style="background: white;">and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></i><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> are </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span><div><div>
<br /></div></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-71720773401685523292020-03-14T16:26:00.002-07:002020-11-11T06:21:35.126-08:00‘Black swan’ events that aren't: Coronavirus, climate emergency, unidentified aerial phenomena<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b><br /><br />A “black swan event” is one that is almost totally unexpected, is high-profile and has very significant impacts. It is viewed in hindsight as if it could have been foreseen and prepared for, even if this is not completely accurate since some events might involve truly random elements.<br /><br />The concept is based on an ancient Latin expression from the second century referring to something that was impossible, as they believed at the time that all swans were white. However, when black swans were discovered by Europeans in 1697, the term came to mean impossible events that turned out to be quite possible after all.<br /><br />A more recent expression related to the black swan concept is the “gray rhino.” This refers to something that, like a black swan situation, has major effects, but is not an outlier and is something that should be expected.<br /><br />The black swan theory is used in forecasting and preparedness of various kinds, including economic prediction, national security threats and global health.<br /><br />Implicit in black swan scenarios is the fact that most situations are not black swans and can be predicted and prepared for with thoughtful forecasting analysis – and often, with common sense, average intelligence and responsible behavior.<br /><br />GRAY RHINO CAN DO DAMAGE<br /><br />In analyzing three current situations facing the human race on Earth, it seems helpful to determine if these are black swan or gray rhino scenarios:<br /><br />1) Coronavirus pandemic<br /><br />2) Climate emergency<br /><br />3) Unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)<br /><br />And we can apply the same analysis to other developments that could occur, such as severe earthquakes on California's San Andreas fault or the Pacific Northwest's Cascadia Subduction Zone fault.<br /><br />In the coronavirus situation, as we know, there have been centuries of human experience with epidemics and pandemics. As a result, in more modern times we have developed medications, treatments, and specific medical and public health prevention measures and interventions.<br /><br />Humans have also developed and deployed biological warfare, using disease as a weapon. This tactic was used against Native Americans during early Indian wars in North America. And, intentional or not, European diseases killed tens of thousands of Native American children, women and men.<br /><br />Emerging disease epidemics or pandemics have happened multiple times in recent decades. Entire U.S. government agencies and numerous professionals are tasked with preparing for and responding to such situations – situations that are basically expected. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In fact, in recent years pandemic disease has routinely been on the list of national security threats facing the U.S. So, the coronavirus is seemingly a gray rhino, not a black swan.<br /><br />Applying some of these same approaches to climate change, we know that many scientific experts have clearly identified scientific data about the causes, trajectory and probable or certain outcomes of climate change.<br /><br />These outcomes have been repeatedly identified as fitting one of the criteria of a black swan situation – major impacts. And, climate change has been identified as a threat to U.S. national security.<br /><br />But, obviously, these outcomes are not unexpected at all. So, when major, catastrophic, environmental tipping points are reached, possibly in the near future, it will not be accurate to say it was a black swan. It will be a huge, dangerous, gray rhino charging right at us, doing serious damage.<br /><br />EXPECT THE EXPECTED<br /><br />A third type of black swan or gray rhino is related to that “tic-tac” UFO or UAP in the news that was encountered by U.S. Navy pilots off the coast of San Diego. Other similar incidents have occurred in recent years involving Navy aviators.<br /><br />A robust number of well-researched news reports, articles, scientific papers, books, documentary films, some Hollywood movies and a few credible TV shows clearly seem to indicate that UAP are real. Recent official statements by the Navy note the same thing.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Additionally, the UAP appear to be of different types, and have been encountered in many locations, time frames and situations around the world by credible people.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">It might be worth keeping in mind that a black swan or gray rhino might not always have to be a harmful situation, though the terms are usually referenced in this context. Something along the lines of a black swan or gray rhino could just denote significant changes, something highly unusual or even </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">even positive developments</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />For example, in the mid-evening hours on March 13, 1997, a large number of witnesses reported a somewhat huge, boomerang-shaped or V-shaped object with large lights underneath cruise over Phoenix, Arizona. It’s a famous case of course, and there are many others.<br /><br />In the so-called “Phoenix lights” incident, the large object reportedly glided slowly and silently at a fairly low altitude right through the middle of the metro Phoenix area. Lots of people outdoors on that pleasant evening saw it. The then-governor of Arizona, Fife Symington, went outside and saw it.<br /><br />So, it seems that a significant UAP incident or development would be considered a gray rhino, not a black swan. Yet, whether a certain scenario is a black swan or a gray rhino, unexpected or expected, their key common denominator is that they both have major impacts.<br /><br />It’s wise to “expect the unexpected.” And, it’s not a bad idea to “expect the expected.”</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><br style="font-family: arial;" /><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related articles<span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Nav</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">y Research Project on Intuition,"</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human perception key in hard power, soft power, smart power"</a></i><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> and </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior"><span style="color: #6fb8dd; text-decoration-line: none;">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</span></a> </span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">are posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Educati</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">on Office, </span></span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-79864643848068988522020-03-02T15:27:00.001-08:002020-11-11T06:22:04.218-08:00National security expert says recent UFOs are ‘threat unmet’<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In a Feb. 18, 2020, article titled “A Threat Unmet” in the magazine of the American Legion military veterans organization, a former U. S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence wrote about “unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)” in close proximity to U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups at sea and related factors.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Christopher Mellon updated readers of American Legion Magazine about specifics of the encounters between Navy pilots and what appeared to be unusual objects performing incredible gravity-transcending maneuvers at fantastic speeds.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He began his article reviewing the groundbreaking Dec. 16, 2017, news report in the New York Times about encounters between Navy jet pilots and very odd objects. Mellon also covered the subsequent development when the spokesman for the deputy chief of naval operations publicly stated that the objects are unidentified aerial phenomena – that is, they are not U.S. craft.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Mellon noted that this statement by the Navy was a step toward more openness about the situation – especially compared to the U.S. Air Force’s Project Sign (1948), Project Grudge (beginning in 1949) and Project Blue Book (1952-1970).</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">At the same time, Mellon states that from his viewpoint, U.S. government national security agencies and Congress don’t seem to be doing enough to investigate and respond to this highly-unusual situation. As to what might have been going on behind the scenes over the decades regarding UFOs, he seems to refrain from commenting on that possible element of U.S. government-related activities.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">NATIONAL SECURITY RESPONSE</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Mellon recalled some of the views of J. Allen Hynek, PhD, the Ohio State University astronomy professor who worked on the Air Force’s Project Blue Book at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Hynek seemed to believe that the Air Force’s public statements about UFOs didn’t completely line up with his investigations and observations, Mellon reminded us.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And as to the more recent Navy UFO encounters, Mellon appeared concerned when he writes that, “No major investigations have been launched. There is no indication the DoD or intelligence community leadership is engaged.”</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He added, “And there is still no process for collecting and integrating pertinent information about UFO/UAPs from the myriad agencies and departments that possess it (NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office, the FBI, the National Security Agency, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, the armed forces and others).”</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> “This paralysis is occurring at a time when the scientific community increasingly recognizes the possibility of humanity encountering probes from spacefaring civilizations,” Mellon said.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Importantly, he also pointed out to readers that, “Though Navy pilots have sounded the alarm – their testimony has appeared in print, online and on national television – there is still no sign that our massive DoD and intelligence bureaucracies, or our Congress, are seeking answers to the UFO/UAP mystery on behalf of military personnel who are potentially at risk from midair collisions if nothing else (one near miss by a Navy fighter has already been reported).”</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">“Pearl Harbor and 9/11 are tragic examples of intelligence failures that could have been avoided,” Mellon wrote. “Our continuing inability to identify the radical aerospace vehicles violating our airspace is an ongoing intelligence failure, one that arguably requires written notification to the House and Senate intelligence committees pursuant to Section 502 of the National Security Act of 1947.”</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Has Mellon given up on an intelligent and reasonable response from Congress and the U.S. government?</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He certainly seems somewhat discouraged when he writes, “While Congress has not received a formal notification regarding this failure, and perhaps never will, it is certainly aware that DoD is unable to identify these aircraft or prevent them from violating U.S. airspace. The question now is whether our leaders will remain passive out of concern for outdated stigmas or act on behalf of our servicemembers and our nation.”</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">To assist Congress and national security leaders on this topic, Mellon makes several suggestions about how to use our defense and intelligence assets to investigate, monitor, analyze, understand and make preparations regarding the apparent situation at hand.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">TAIL WAGS DOG?</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">As a former federal government national security official, Mellon appears to naturally focus on Congress and formal U.S. defense activities. Like other interested people, he seems to want our elected U.S. representatives, senators and other federal officials to show insight, appropriate concern and effective response about a possible dire threat to our country.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Is Mellon likely to be disappointed? He appears hopeful that those individuals currently elected or appointed to the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and others in the federal government will demonstrate intelligent and responsible behavior when it comes to these unusual developments.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Could Mellon be expecting too much from Washington, D.C.? He seems to be advocating for an intelligent and appropriate response to what appears to be a possible significant threat, or at least a highly-unusual development to be concerned about.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Since he is a former U.S. government official, Mellon’s federal government-centric viewpoint is understandable, relevant and important.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">He also seems to be reaching out to a broad scope of American citizens and those in our armed forces and national security services, encouraging us to learn more and become more aware and engaged about these unidentified phenomena that Navy pilots are reporting.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And, of course, it has not just been Navy pilots. Over the years, military pilots from other services, other military personnel, civilian pilots, public safety peace officers and reliable witnesses from all walks of life have reported UFO/UAP incidents in the U.S. and around the world.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In this article and others he’s penned, Mellon is informing us about these significant circumstances worth paying attention to. He’s trying to inform former and retired military members, and their families, friends and associates. He’s talking to all of us – grassroots active duty and reserve component military personnel, public safety first responders, students, and Americans and people around the world.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Maybe we would be wise to listen to him.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i style="background-color: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related article </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> is </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-51283905384435831912020-01-09T09:28:00.015-08:002020-12-06T09:52:07.891-08:00My military draft lottery number was #165 during final Vietnam War years<div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">(Related articles</span></i></span></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;"> <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> are </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span>Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span> </span><span>U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;">My 18th birthday was in the spring of 1970 when I was a senior in high school in southwestern Ohio, where I was born and raised. Shortly after, I received a Vietnam-era “draft card” from the U.S. Selective Service System. My draft status was listed as 1-H, meaning not immediately eligible for draft into the Army.</span></div><div><span><span style="background: white; font-family: arial;"><br />At the time, as a high school kid, I did not fully understand that by the date I received my draft card, tens of thousands of American troops had been killed and severely wounded in the Vietnam War. And more were being killed and wounded daily.<br /><br />That summer, the second year of the draft lottery system was conducted. Like the state gambling lotteries of today, numbers were placed in a large bin and randomly drawn – one number for each of the 365 days in the year that a male baby was born in the year 1952 who turned 18 in 1970.<br /><br />Those babies, now 18-year-old American males, would be available for the military draft for the Vietnam War. My birthday was picked as #165. I was fairly clueless as to what that meant.<br /><br />Those draftees were sent directly to Army basic training, then to advanced infantry training and other preparation, and then often to Vietnam and combat.<br /><br />YOUNG AND DUMB<br /><br />As it turned out, the “Vietnamization” process of the war had started in 1969 – the U.S. pulling out and handing responsibility to the South Vietnamese government and military.<br /><br />The draft was winding down. The Selective Service System never did reach #165 of the 1970 batch of bodies to draft, though many 1970 18-year-olds with lower lottery numbers were drafted and went to Vietnam. The Selective Service System drafted up to #125 for that age group.<br /><br />Americans would be fighting, killing and dying in the Vietnam War for a few years to come before the final withdrawal of combat troops in 1973 (the U.S. embassy was evacuated in 1975 in a chaotic, final pullout.)<br /><br />The final death toll for American military personnel came to more than 58,000. The vast majority were in their twenties. <br /><br />There were also significant numbers of American prisoners of war (POWs), more than 1,600 missing in action (MIA) and more than 150,000 injuries.<br /><br />Vietnam veterans also later suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other behavioral health issues, alcohol and drug abuse, family problems, homelessness, war-related medical issues (war injuries, exposure to Agent Orange herbicide), incarceration and other problems related to their experiences.<br /><br />But in the spring 1970 in my senior year of high school, I did not know about all of these factors in motion.<br /><br />The teenager life of high school, learning to drive, playing football and dating was about to change for me as it had for many before me and after me. I and my peers across the country had now turned 18 and received our draft cards. (And we could now legally buy and drink 3.2 percent "low" beer in Ohio from stores, restaurants and bars.)<br /><br />But there apparently was a very serious war going on – which we were learning was not totally supported and was seemingly believed by many to be a very bad idea overall – even a war crime.<br /><br />We were learning that there had been protests, “disturbances” and riots happening on college campuses for the previous few years because of opposition to the Vietnam War.<br /><br />And that spring, something happened at Kent State University, one of the several medium-size state universities in Ohio. Combat came home when Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on Kent State students protesting the Vietnam War.<br /><br />As student riots spread, the Ohio governor closed state universities early, sending students home and deploying more National Guard as needed to college campuses to accomplish this. No college graduation ceremonies for the universities' Class of 1970.<br /><br />VIETNAM WAR AND DRAFT END<br /><br />By this time I had informed my “draft board” (local committees who made decisions on who to draft) that I was registered for college the following September at Ohio University in Athens, located in the far southeastern Ohio Appalachian region near West Virginia. My draft status was then changed from 1-H to 2-S (student). My draft lottery number of #165 remained the same.<br /><br />This was the context in which I had contact with Army Special Forces Reserve personnel in southwestern Ohio in the spring of 1970, still a high school senior, due to somewhat puzzling circumstances.<br /><br />The next fall I participated in Army Reserve Officers Training Corps in my first year at Ohio University in 1970-71. I also experienced two two-week summer Special Forces Reserve training exercises on either side of that freshman year, summer of ’70 and summer of ’71.<br /><br />There were robust protests against the war at Ohio University. The storage area under the football stadium bleachers used by the ROTC program had been firebombed in previous antiwar riots.<br /><br />Opponents of the Vietnam War were saying that old men in Washington, DC, were sending young men off to war in some kind of sick ritual.<br /><br />People were also saying that lots and lots of money was being made from the Vietnam War and from the blood of our troops and others.<br /><br />Although I don’t remember the more-recent term “chicken hawk” being used, the idea was the same: Many men (and women) who are very brave about sending other people to kill, die and be severely injured, seemingly don’t want to go themselves or send their own sons and daughters. They wave the flag and beat the drums while other young Americans kill, bleed and die.<br /><br />In June 1971 the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War were published. In June 1972 the Watergate break-in burglars were arrested.<br /><br />The draft was ended in January 1973, mid-year of my junior year at Ohio U., related to the drawdown of U.S. troops in Vietnam and the significant opposition to the Vietnam War among Americans and internationally.<br /><br />The final evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Saigon took place April 30, 1975.</span></span></div><div><span><span style="background: white; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-66494438006524640092020-01-07T15:14:00.005-08:002021-01-21T04:57:17.533-08:00‘Force protection’ for our troops is now the responsibility of all Americans<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span></span></span><div><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">(Related articles </span></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #222222;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition">"Navy
Research Project on Intuition"</a></span></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;"> and </span></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human
perception key in hard power, soft power, smart power"</a></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;"> are posted
on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education
Office, </span></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and
Readiness, </span></i><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #333333;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i></div><div><div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The concept of “force protection” for U.S. military personnel and U.S. assets involves a system of analyses, assessments and actions in response to ever-changing threats.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />Multiple force protection levels can flex and fluctuate in response to conventional and unconventional dangers, and from various and changing directions and sources.<br /><br />Readiness and ability to recognize new and emerging threats are key for force protection for our Army soldiers, Marines and other tip-of-the-spear warfighters from the Navy and Air Force.<br /><br />On March 18, 2009, James Mattis, former Marine Corps general and former secretary of defense, addressed the House Armed Services Committee.<br /><br />Mattis was then commander of the U.S. Joint Forces Command. At the time, the Joint Forces Command was one of 10 combatant commands in the U.S. Department of Defense and oversaw a force of 1.16 million active duty, National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, Air Force personnel, Navy personnel and Marines.<br /><br />ADVANCED TRAINING<br /><br />In his address, Mattis said “core competency” is needed in “irregular warfare (IW).” He also referenced "hybrid warfare" which can combine IW and more conventional methods.<br /><br />Mattis said adversaries could use methods of a "hybrid nature that combine any available irregular or conventional mode of attack, using a blend of primitive, traditional and high-tech weapons and tactics."<br /><br />He told committee members, "We must have balanced and versatile joint forces ready to accomplish missions across the full spectrum of military operations – from large-scale, conventional warfare to humanitarian assistance and other forms of 'soft' power."<br /><br />Mattis’ guidance to lawmakers was not hypothetical.<br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Many thousands of American military personnel have been killed and tens of thousands severely injured during the 2003 invasion and subsequent multi-year occupation of Iraq, and in attempts to stabilize Afghanistan. (Civilian deaths from those conflicts are estimated in the high hundreds of thousands, at a minimum.)</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br />American military families have been traumatized by </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">the deaths of and severe injuries</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> to </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers and other loved ones serving in our armed forces.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />In facing the sometimes confusing and changing threats around us, Mattis put forth a key question: "What capabilities are required?" An obvious answer: Education and training of joint personnel, he said. "A trained warrior may perform acceptably in a conventional operation, but irregular and hybrid wars demand highly-educated warriors to prevail," he told the committee.<br /><br />He also told committee members, "Special emphasis must be placed on human, cultural, language, and cognitive skills. A 'cognitive' warrior knows how to acquire knowledge, process information from multiple sources, and make timely, accurate decisions in complex, ethically challenging and ever-changing environments."<br /><br />"So, we must be prepared to think the 'unthinkable,' using our study and imagination to help us defeat the enemy," Mattis told committee members. "We must employ to our advantage the power of both inspiration and intimidation, each in the appropriate measure, to confound our enemies."<br /><br />COMMON OPERATIONAL PICTURE<br /><br />Now, in January 2020, we find ourselves in a situation when the subject of force protection of our military personnel – many in their 20s and 30s, with spouses, young children, parents, siblings and other loved ones – is haunting our souls.<br /><br />Back in 2009, Mattis also told the House Armed Services Committee that he believed current and future national security challenges demand "whole-of-government" approaches. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Essential to a whole-of-government approach for applying all aspects of national and international power is the ability to share information and situational awareness among all partners," he said.<br /><br />When information is appropriately shared, an "interagency common operational picture" is created, Mattis told the committee. Military personnel must communicate with civilian counterparts and create a synergy of effort, Mattis said.<br /><br />As part of preparation for enhanced U.S. force protection, it could be helpful to revisit the concept of “transcendent warfare.” This term was put forth by a former Navy SEAL officer back in 2001 when he was completing graduate-level studies at the Marine Corps War College.<br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The idea of transcendent warfare was related to U.S. defense research in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s </span>into human perception, awareness, consciousness and intuition<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><br /><br />Now, expanding military training and civilian public awareness of transcendent warfare concepts could be helpful in our approaches to force protection for U.S. armed forces personnel.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i style="background-color: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related article </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> is </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i> </span><br /></span>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-92041014810103796992020-01-06T21:41:00.004-08:002020-12-06T09:14:47.039-08:00Was Reagan briefed about UFOs and original ‘Day the Earth Stood Still’ movie?<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons </b><br /><br /><i style="background-color: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related article </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> is </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><br /></i>In the 1951 movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still” actor Michael Rennie played the part of Klaatu, a friendly but firm extraterrestrial with a very serious warning for Earth humans and their leaders.<br /><br />That message: Due to the development of atomic weapons, if the apparently destructive and self-destructive nature and behavior of Earth humans is not corrected, an interplanetary alliance will intervene, and it won’t be pretty – “Earth will be eliminated,” Klaatu tells a prominent physicist (actor Sam Jaffe).<br /><br />In the 2008 version of the movie, actor Keanu Reeves played Klaatu, who again brings his warning to Earth humans. With the help of an astrobiologist tapped by U.S. national security officials (Jennifer Connelly), Klaatu lays out the situation for the leading physicist, this time played by John Cleese.<br /><br />Back in 2006 and 2007 there were online reports making the rounds among people interested in UFOs that Pres. Ronald Reagan’s secret briefing on that topic included information about the 1951 movie.<br /><br />Unsubstantiated claims within alleged “information releases” about UFOs were made via anonymous intermediaries reportedly associated with the U.S. national security community. Many people did not take these reports seriously, though they were thought-provoking.<br /><br />INTERVENTION A LAST RESORT?<br /><br />According to these reports, Reagan received a UFO briefing at Camp David, Maryland, between Friday, March 6 and Sunday, March 8, 1981. Other top advisors to Reagan were also reported to be present.<br /><br />Allegedly, the briefing was presented to Reagan by an intelligence community contract employee. This contract employee reportedly worked within a group of "caretakers" who were said to safeguard records and assets about extraterrestrial visitation to Earth, and their activities on Earth.<br /><br />These claims about a supposed briefing went on to state that Reagan was told about U.S. government activities informing the public about UFOs, including the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" movie.<br /><br />It was claimed that Reagan responded, "I always knew there was some form of cooperation between our government and the motion picture industry. I heard rumors over the years ... even during my acting days."<br /><br />According to the unsubstantiated reports, the briefer allegedly told Reagan, "Well, Mr. President, the first cooperative venture was the movie 'The Day the Earth Stood Still.' That was a cooperative venture with the United States Air Force and the movie industry."<br /><br />Before we completely dismiss these accounts of a special briefing for Reagan in 1981, a story about animator and entertainment-storytelling innovator Walt Disney might be relevant. According to one of the original artists working for Disney, the Air Force approached Walt in 1957 about producing a documentary film. This film would educate and inform the public about extraterrestrial visitation to Earth, according to the Disney artist. Work was reportedly begun on the project, but the Air Force cancelled it.<br /><br />In recent years, the Rendelsham Forest UFO incident at an important U.S. air base in the UK has been a focus of much attention among researchers, the media and the public. In that case, UFOs were observed over a sensitive base and nuclear weapons storage areas there. The deputy base commander had a "close encounter" in the incident, along with other U.S. Air Force personnel.<br /><br />In other incidents, UFOs have been reported around multiple U.S. and Russian nuclear missile facilities. There have even been reports that U.S. and Russian nuclear missile launch systems were remotely tampered with concurrent with observation of nearby UFOs. In an American case, the launch controls were reportedly taken offline by an unknown method. In a Russian incident, controls were allegedly activated to launch status.<br /><br />Should we draw any conclusions about reports of significant numbers of incidents involving UFOs near nuclear weapons and missile locations, and strange interventions on missile launch systems? Does this dovetail in any way with the supposed briefing to Reagan about the 1951 “The Day the Earth Stood Still” film?<br /><br />And are these issues relevant in January 2020 as we face threats of a nuclear attack against or by the U.S.?<br /><br />SAVING EARTH FROM EARTH HUMANS<br /><br />In the 2008 remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” Klaatu tells the astrobiologist (Connelly) that he and his people are “friends to the Earth.” At first, Connelly is greatly relieved, because U.S. officials want to determine if he and the beings he represents are hostile.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Then she comes to understand that Klaatu means that to save the Earth, humankind needs to be eliminated due to its destructive nature.<br /><br />Today, here at ground-level from the Earth human point-of-view, as we look around, some people might conclude we’re not living on a well-run planet. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There is widespread poverty, disease, suffering, injustice and corruption. War and terrorism are also widespread. There is a large scope of killing and destruction. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There is a shortage of human decency and compassion.<br /><br />The planet’s ecosystem and climate are being significantly damaged, possibly beyond repair. Species of animals are becoming extinct, including insects and birds we rely on to pollinate our food crops. Many rivers, lakes and waterways are being further polluted. Seas are warming and acidifying, and the ocean ecosystems and fish supplies could be affected.<br /><br />And what about the view looking down on Planet Earth? Why do these Earth humans act the way they do? Why do they constantly kill and harm each other over the thousands of years they have been around, developing bigger and more terrible weapons? </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Their leaders are often not the best of them, but the worst of them. They allow their children to suffer in homelessness, war zones and many other terrible situations. Is there any hope for Earth humans?<br /><br />Obviously, if left to their own devices, they will destroy themselves and this beautiful little planet that the Creator has given them – this beautiful planet they have already disrespected and damaged. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Then, they will probably seek other planets to disrespect, damage and destroy. Earth humans seem likely to continue to kill and abuse themselves and others amid their greed and lust for power and conquest.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />When we look at the human race on Earth today from this viewpoint, we might understand why Klaatu was deadly serious in his message and mission. Many Earth humans probably agree with Klaatu that the human race on Earth is on a self-destructive path that must be corrected promptly to avoid terrible disaster in the near future.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And if Klaatu has contemporary counterparts, maybe we should expect to hear from them. If some of these counterparts are friendly toward Earth humans, maybe we could use their help.</span><br />
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<i><span style="background: white;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">(Related articles<span style="color: #333333;"> </span></span></span></i></span><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/navy-research-project-intuition"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">"Nav</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">y
Research Project on Intuition,"</span></a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial;"><i><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/human-perception-key-hard-power-soft-power-smart-power">"Human
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Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background: white;">U.S. Department of
Defense.)</span></i><div>
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-18631996056328934342019-12-31T11:33:00.002-08:002020-11-11T06:24:51.398-08:00Theory about 37th parallel and UFOs sparked book, TV shows, film concept<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 2016, a non-fiction book was published titled “The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway.” In the book, writer Ben Mezrich chronicled the explorations and investigations of former El Paso County, Colorado, (Colorado Springs region) reserve deputy sheriff Chuck Zukowski. </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The book was a New York Times bestseller for two months.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Zukowski has been featured in TV shows about UFOs and his theory about the 37th parallel (north). New Line Cinema (Warner Bros.) reportedly has a movie version concept based on Mezrich's book.<br /><br />Mezrich looked at Zukowski’s speculation and theory that there is something about the region around the 37th parallel that seems to be a hot spot for UFO-related and unusual incidents. This includes the 36th parallel region to the south, and 38th to the north. (Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles wide.)</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Because Mezrich is a well-known and prolific writer on a range of topics, the book received fairly widespread attention. Readers who might not normally focus on a UFO-related subject may have found Mezrich's research compelling.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />There is also a unique location where the 37th parallel intersects with the Colorado Plateau and the Four Corners region. Both the plateau and the Four Corners span Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.<br /><br />GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY<br /><br />From west to east, the 37th parallel runs through central California, the southern tip of Nevada, then through the central U.S. where many states abut south-north at the joint state lines of the following:<br /><br />- Arizona and Utah<br />- New Mexico and Colorado<br />- Texas panhandle and Oklahoma<br />- Texas panhandle and Colorado<br />- Texas panhandle and Kansas</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">- Oklahoma and Colorado<br />- Oklahoma and Kansas<br />- Arkansas and Missouri<br />- Tennessee and Kentucky<br />- North Carolina and Virginia<br /><br />In the Four Corners, the Colorado Plateau is a distinct geological and ecological region of the U.S. It is an area of volcanic-related uplift of land in the shape of a rough circle in the Four Corners states.<br /><br />Certain areas on the perimeter of the plateau are known for beautiful red rock mountains and cliffs </span><span face=""calibri" , sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt;">–</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> red due to high content of iron oxide. Sedona, Arizona, and St. George, Utah, are two such areas on the southwest and west edges of the Colorado Plateau, respectively.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Sedona is also famous for being an "uplifting" location (on the 34th parallel) not only for the natural beauty and climate, but also where unusual geomagnetic energies are allegedly emitted from the Earth and then return back to the ground, similar to fountains and vortexes. Some researchers theorize that the high iron oxide, high quartz content and unique underground volcanic structures might be part of these magnetic anomalies.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">So, where do the 37th parallel, the Colorado Plateau and the Four Corners merge? It’s a beautiful area of the American Southwest where thousands of travelers visit every year.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The 37th parallel intersects the Four Corners and the boundary of the Colorado Plateau around Durango and Cortez, Colorado, near the Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and the San Juan National For</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">est <span style="line-height: 115%;">– all major tourist destinations.</span></span><br /><br />The Continental Divide also runs north-south right through the same area. West of the divide, water flows into the Pacific Ocean. East the Continental Divide, water flows to the Atlantic. The divide stretches from Alaska to South America.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Are there any indications of unusual incidents in this region that might support Zukowski’s theories described in Mezrich’s book and on TV shows?</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">AZTEC AND FARMINGTON</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">There have been longstanding stories that a UFO crashed or crash landed near Aztec, NM, just south of Durango, in 1948. Authors Scott and Suzanne Ramsey conducted extensive research on this case for their 2015 book “The Aztec UFO Incident.”</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">According to some of the research, when this object crashed or made a controlled crash landing, several local people were witnesses. Government scientists and U.S. Army personnel reportedly may have flown into Durango, then proceeded by road south to Aztec.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Then, in 1950, 15 miles southwest of Aztec, the people of Farmington, NM, reportedly witnessed three days multiple UFOs flying over the town. This is known as the “Farmington armada” incident because there were “fleets” of objects observed.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The local newspaper interviewed many local citizens and documented their statements about what they observed. Other regional newspapers covered the incident at the time, too. Some witnesses said the objects sometimes were not just cruising along, but doing active maneuvers, swooping and darting around the skies above Farmington.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In more recent years, researchers like Zukowski and others have looked at various incidents in the Four Corners region. Some investigators and analysts say they see possible patterns, like Zukowski’s 37th parallel theories.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And for many people, UFOs remain a weird mystery, born of decades of movies and TV shows, and occasional news accounts of allegedly real incidents.</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">However, beginning in December 2017, news reports emerged about a special Pentagon research unit tasked with investigating and analyzing the situation – the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP). </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Concurrent with that news, the public learned about</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> r</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">ecent U.S. Navy jet pilot encounters with “unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP)” at sea near Navy aircraft carrier strike groups and near the west and east coasts of the U.S.</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> Three videos taken from Navy jets were declassified and released.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">This development made the UFO topic much more real and legitimate for many citizens, journalists and those involved in national security and public safety.<br /><br />As the year 2020 rapidly approaches, maybe we will develop new insights and understanding about the UFO phenomena – in the Four Corners and elsewhere.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background: white;">(Related articles </span></i></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> are </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span><div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-8932590760167369212019-12-12T08:45:00.003-08:002020-11-11T06:25:28.648-08:00UFOs, odd phenomena reported on perimeter of Colorado Plateau<span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b><br /><br />In three areas on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, which spans the four states of the Four Corners region, UFOs and other unusual incidents have been reported over the years and decades.<br /><br />Sedona, Arizona, is one well-known spot, world-famous for the awe-inspiring red rock landscape and towering red cliffs and formations. Located on the southwestern rim of the Colorado Plateau, Sedona is also known for reports of invisible energy fountains and vortexes.<br /><br />Durango, Colorado, and nearby Aztec and Farmington, New Mexico, are located on the eastern border of the Colorado Plateau. According to some reports, a UFO crashed </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">or made a controlled crash landing </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">near Aztec in 1948. </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In 1950, the people of Farmington reported a large number of UFOs over a period of three days. This was well-documented by eyewitnesses and newspaper reports and is known as the “Farmington armada” case.<br /><br />And in the region of the town of Vernal in the Uinta Basin of northern Utah, at the northern or northwestern edge of the Colorado Plateau, a significant number of UFO incidents and multiple other anomalous phenomena have been documented in books and films.<br /><br />EARTH ENERGIES<br /><br />Many people have heard about the Four Corners region of the American Southwest – the area around the intersection of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.<br /><br />Yet, fewer of us may be familiar with the Colorado Plateau, an anomalous uplift of land in a rough circle that underlies the Four Corners area and likewise spans the four states.<br /><br />Volcanic activity underlying the plateau is believed to be responsible for the uplift. Other natural forces have come into play to reveal millions of years of rock layers in places like the Grand Canyon and the beautiful national parks of Utah.<br /><br />In Sedona, 68 miles south of Flagstaff, some researchers have speculated about the magnetic anomalies that have been documented by the U.S. Geological Survey. The rock and soil are red due to high iron oxide content. Also, significant quantities of underground quartz in Sedona as well as unique volcanic-related formations have been looked at in connection with alleged geomagnetic energy fountains and vortexes.<br /><br />The geology of other areas on the perimeter of the Colorado Plateau may have similar features. Some of the rock types, such as ancient volcanic igneous rock, and mineral composition, such as high iron and quartz content, reportedly could be common denominators in Sedona, Durango, Utah’s Uinta region and other areas on the perimeter of the plateau.<br /><br />Could geological and geographic traits of the Colorado Plateau, particularly the perimeter of the plateau, be related in some way with UFOs and a number of other unusual phenomena?<br /><br />What other information about the plateau might inform us further? According to the webpages of the “Celebrating the Colorado Plateau” exhibits at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, “The Colorado Plateau encompasses 130,000 square miles. Elevations range from about 1,200 feet to 12,365 feet. It is home to one million people, including ten Native American tribes and numerous rare species of plants and animals.”<br /><br />The museum’s website asks and answers the question, “How old is the Colorado Plateau?” “There is no simple answer because while the rocks exposed here may be hundreds of millions or even thousands of millions of years old, the Plateau as a distinct landscape feature is much younger. The age of the Colorado Plateau as a discrete geographic province is estimated to be bracketed between 70 and 17 million years.”</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">At Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, the Colorado Plateau Research Station is a "diverse scientific unit" consisting of "state and federal employees focused on the ecology of the Colorado Plateau," according to the NAU website. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Also at NAU, the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit and the Colorado Plateau Biodiversity Center strive to research, understand and document the diverse animal and plant life, geography, geology, climate, hydrology and complex natural dynamics of the plateau. </span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">NATURE’S STORY</span><br /><br /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">East of Sedona, the rugged terrain of the plateau's southern edge, known as the Mogollon Rim, includes huge escarpments that clearly define the perimeter of the Colorado Plateau. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">That is the region where, in 1975, a forest-thinning crew working in Arizona’s Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests reportedly encountered a UFO. The crew’s foreman, Travis Walton, was allegedly taken aboard the UFO craft for several days. This story was the basis of the Hollywood movie “Fire in the Sky.”<br /><br />Just south of the “transition zone” between the plateau’s southern boundary around Sedona and Arizona’s Sonoran Desert is metro Phoenix, site of the famous “Phoenix lights” incident of 1997. In that case, hundreds or thousands of residents spotted an unusual large craft over the city one evening.<br /><br />Not far from the plateau’s perimeter on the southeast is Socorro, New Mexico, the location of a well-known 1964 UFO incident. A Socorro public safety peace officer reported direct observation of a landed craft and of its takeoff. This case was investigated by the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book, based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, southwest Ohio.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">North of Socorro and also on the eastern border of the plateau south of Farmington, Aztec and Durango are the well-known Chaco Canyon ruins. These are the remains of elaborate complexes of stone buildings erected by the ancient people who eventually abandoned the site. About 57 miles west-northwest</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> of Durango are more structures and cliff dwellings at </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Mesa Verde National Park and </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">th</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">e Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">In addition, the Continental Divide runs north-south through the Durango region. The Continental Divide extends from Alaska to South America. On the west side </span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">of the divide, water flows into the Pacific Ocean. On the east side, water flows to the Atlantic.</span><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Southern Colorado's San Luis Valley abuts the east side of the Colorado Plateau east of the Durango area. The San Luis Valley and northern New Mexico across the state line have also been linked to UFO and other unusual occurances.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">And at the northern perimeter of the plateau in the Uinta Basin of northern Utah, decades of highly-unusual phenomena and UFO incidents were examined in a multi-year research project and in an excellent 2005 non-fiction book by award-winning journalist George Knapp and biochemist Colm Kelleher, PhD.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br />In addition to geological and geographic factors, the plateau has a human history and contemporary human make-up that might also be worth exploring. The Museum of Northern Arizona website tells us, “The Colorado Plateau has been continuously inhabited by native people of the Americas for approximately 12,000 years.”<br /><br />“The early people of the Plateau gathered wild plants and hunted game animals. Many took up farming maize, beans, and squash [the "three sisters"] several thousand years ago. Today, the native peoples of the Colorado Plateau include the Hopi, Navajo, Zuni, Hualapai, Havasupai, Ute, Apache, and Southern Paiute. Each tribe has a distinct history, culture, and language.”<br /><br />In several of the cases of UFOs and anomalous phenomena on and around the Colorado Plateau, we do frequently seem to see Native American/American Indian connections and proximity with unusual incidents and phenomena.<br /><br />Could the unique combinations of Earth, Nature and people of the plateau help us understand more about UFOs and other unconventional phenomena? </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">What stories does the Colorado Plateau have to tell us?</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><i><span style="background: white;">(Related articles</span></i></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"> <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> are </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"> </span><div>
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></div>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-16591910649716293432019-11-08T06:41:00.001-08:002020-01-28T07:55:29.324-08:00Robust response needed on US Navy UFO incidents?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More information gathering and coordination of efforts are needed to respond to reports that U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike groups have encountered UFOs at sea, according to a national security professional.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The headline of his article on The Hill website Nov. 2 says a lot: “The Navy acknowledges UFOs — so why aren't they on Washington's radar?” In the article, Christopher Mellon warns that a serious threat has possibly emerged and he urges government leaders, including those in Congress, to begin a robust response promptly.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mellon has held positions in the Department of Defense related to intelligence, security and information activities, and was minority staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He explains in his article that the recently-released video from Navy fighter jets is part of a much bigger story. Mellon writes, “In what could be a precursor to further stunning developments, the U.S. Navy has publicly acknowledged that the advanced aircraft depicted in several recently declassified gun-camera videos are UFOs, or what the Navy prefers to call ‘Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon’ (UAPs).”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mellon plainly states that “bizarre vehicles” have “brazenly operated in restricted U.S. military airspace.” He says we have a situation “with ample warning lights flashing.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">‘UAP’ SITUATIONAL AWARENESS</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Government officials and other leaders need to start taking this situation seriously, Mellon says. He asks, “Is the information too jarring and radical to process? Are U.S. government officials in denial?”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What’s worrying Mellon? He describes the highly unusual characteristics that these unknown objects or phenomena have reportedly demonstrated. “The vehicles observed and recorded by U.S. Navy fighter pilots seem impervious to altitude or the elements; they are able to maneuver above 80,000 feet,” he explained.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“They can hover and then instantly accelerate to supersonic and even hypersonic speeds; they have very low radar cross-sections and use a means of propulsion and control that does not appear to involve combustion, exhaust, rotors, wings or flaps.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mellon lays out the obvious problematic conclusion: “Since the Navy asserts these are not U.S. aircraft, we are confronted by the daunting prospect that a potential adversary of the United States has achieved the ability to render our most sophisticated aircraft and air defense systems obsolete.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although some members of Congress have received briefings on these incidents, the appropriate committees should begin addressing the situation now, Mellon tells us. He notes, “Some congressional oversight committees have asked for and received briefings, but none has held a hearing, either open or closed; none has appropriated funds for collection or analysis; none has even asked for a report or a threat assessment.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And while politicians and officials in Washington remain under-informed about the seriousness of the situation, others are recognizing the potential danger. Mellon says, “I’ve interviewed numerous active-duty and retired military personnel who have encountered these mysterious vehicles. Without exception they express grave concern for their colleagues and near disbelief that our government is not reacting more vigorously.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To put the current situation in context, Mellon compares it to other historical national security tragedies. “Indeed, examination of major US intelligence failures — from Pearl Harbor to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Iraqi WMD — shows that, in each case, we had information that, properly analyzed and acted upon, could have prevented disaster. We’re at a similar place today, with ample warning lights flashing but no effective effort to pool relevant data from the myriad services and agencies that possess it.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING NEEDED</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mellon advocates coordination of current information resources throughout the U.S. government to acquire more understanding of the phenomena – and if a threat to the U.S. exists.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He wrote, “Why are we not analyzing the vast quantities of data already collected by America’s vast sensor networks, already bought and paid for, to see what light that data might shed on the issue? Government paralysis is something we’ve grown accustomed to on domestic matters but, when it affects national security as well, we truly are a nation at risk.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We should be gathering more information, conducting research and investigation, and putting together pieces of the puzzle regarding mysterious, highly-unusual objects and phenomena, Mellon states.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More specifically, he warns that, “The National Reconnaissance Office, Defense Intelligence Agency, CIA, Air Force and Navy, FBI and National Security Agency — there is no place in the U.S. government where all UAP information comes together. In that regard, the present situation is akin to counterterrorism before the establishment of the National Counterterrorism Center.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No need to delay for funding issues, Mellon claims. “Thankfully, new military spending is not required; we simply need to implement an effective strategy for collection and analysis using existing resources,” he writes.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With regard to improved coordination, analysis and use of existing resources, does this include integrating research already conducted over past decades? Common sense tells us that serious investigation of the UFO phenomena by elements of the U.S. government probably began in the 1940s, particularly after World War II.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because of national security and public safety concerns, a significant amount of information has probably already been acquired over the years. Would sharing this data more widely with the defense community, Congress and the American people be helpful or problematic? Or both?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related articles <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> are </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-63357086868798111172019-10-16T14:06:00.001-07:002020-01-28T07:55:37.185-08:00Motives matter on research into UFOs, says former State Dept. analyst<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>By Steve Hammons </b><br /><br />Amid recent news reports and TV shows about UFOs whizzing around U.S. Navy jets and aircraft carrier battle groups off the U.S. west and east coasts, a former national security analyst warns us to be cautious and thoughtful.<br /><br />Acquiring highly-advanced UFO knowledge and technology could be very helpful for humanity – or dangerous, he wrote.<br /><br />In an article published on The Hill website Oct. 13, opinion contributor Marik von Rennenkampff explored the U.S. government’s interests in “unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).” Under the headline “3 reasons to investigate the US Navy UFO incidents,” von Rennenkampff suggests we look within.<br /><br />If humans were to acquire such knowledge, “Given the anti-democratic and authoritarian inclinations of some major world powers, it is imperative that such capabilities fall into the ‘right’ (i.e., democratic) hands,” von Rennenkampff wrote.<br /><br />Certain advanced knowledge and technology should also affect our perspectives, he says. “In the event that such capability exists, mere knowledge thereof should prompt a fundamental shift away from humanity’s baser priorities in favor of loftier, nobler objectives.” <br /><br />URGENT DEVELOPMENTS<br /><br />The article notes that von Rennenkampff was formerly an analyst with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, and with the U.S. Department of Defense.<br /><br />The Navy cases von Rennenkampff references have been in the news and on TV over the past couple of years. One was a 2004 series of incidents off the San Diego and Mexican coast involving an aircraft carrier battle group. The other also involved a carrier battle group off the U.S. east coast in 2014 and 2015.<br /><br />Multiple unusual objects were observed by Navy pilots, sometimes in close proximity, recorded by multiple sensors on Navy jets and tracked by shipboard radar. The UAP appeared to pose potential dangers to Navy pilots from collision and demonstrated very unusual aerospace performance, according to Navy witnesses.<br /><br />What are these UAP? What does it mean? This seems unclear to many people.<br /><br />There are plenty of experts as well as Hollywood movies warning us about the dangers of potential adversaries from “somewhere else.” Yet, von Rennenkampff also suggests we take a look at human nature too – not always a pretty picture.<br /><br />Can government officials and other leaders in the U.S. and around the world handle the potential power of advanced knowledge and technology? Can average Americans and people internationally adjust in healthy ways to significant and surprising discoveries?<br /><br />How much do we need to be concerned about the situation at hand regarding UAP? And how does that phenomena relate to our already-problematic international relations, including urgent military and humanitarian developments in multiple places on Earth.<br /><br />HIGH-PRIORITY INVESTIGATION WARRANTED<br /><br />To help readers get up to speed on these Navy reports, von Rennenkampff addresses some of the immediate and obvious issues involved. He writes, “This raises the possibility that these pilots witnessed technology well beyond the grasp or bounds of science.”<br /><br />And von Rennenkampff noted, “If these accounts are accurate – and sophisticated sensor data indicate that they may be – the capabilities exhibited by these objects represent an astonishing leap forward from the technological status quo. As such, a compelling case can be made to invest in fully investigating these phenomena.”<br /><br />“First, the national security implications of getting to the bottom of these incidents are beyond obvious,” he wrote.<br /><br />“In addition to posing a serious collision risk, determining the nature of the objects – whether benign, easily-explainable phenomena or potentially threatening – is of critical importance. Indeed, by some accounts, such incidents are occurring with increased frequency.”<br /><br />In some of his closing comments, von Rennenkampff again looks at human motivations and human behavior. “Perhaps most importantly, as one of the Navy fighter pilots who reported a close encounter notes, mankind is driven by curiosity. Throughout history the human inclination to explore the unknown has precipitated monumental advances in a short span of time.”<br /><br />Yes, humankind has been driven by curiosity – as well as by a number of less-admirable motives such as greed, power and conquest, to name a few.<br /><br />But von Rennenkampff seems to feel we are up to the challenge, or at least to giving it our best efforts. On this UAP or UFO phenomena, he advises that, “a well-funded and efficiently managed public investigation is not only warranted, it should be prioritized.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related articles <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> are </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-54125836278078284302019-08-08T10:34:00.006-07:002020-10-16T19:30:38.215-07:00Could ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author J.D. Vance have Appalachian Cherokee ancestry?<span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Is it possible that J.D. Vance, author of the controversial, best-selling book "Hillbilly Elegy," could have Cherokee background from his Kentucky ancestors?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">The short answer is “yes.” Many people who have family roots in the southern Appalachian region do have some Cherokee DNA in the family tree. </span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Why? Because in the colonial era before the American Revolution and as the new nation expanded west in the 1700s, there was a very significant degree of intermarriage between Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish newcomers and the Cherokee in the southern Appalachian mountain area.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">During the colonial period, Cherokee territory included parts of what are now Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Early colonial explorers, hunters and trappers, traders and other settlers found that the Cherokee could be friendly. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Because the early Cherokee culture was female-oriented and matrilineal, Cherokee women had much freedom to establish romantic relationships and marriages with Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish men if they chose.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br />The Ron Howard Netflix movie based on the "Hillbilly Elegy" book is now being filmed in Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio. The book and movie tell a story of his upbringing in Middletown and the region of southwest Ohio where many Kentuckians have migrated.</span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">LOOK IN THE MIRROR</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Today, there reportedly may be millions of Americans who primarily self-identify as white, yet also have a Cherokee connection in their lineage. Some families may know about it, some may suspect it and some people might have no idea of this possibility.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Is J.D. Vance one of them?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This connection could be many generations back in the family tree, and with few or no records, clues or even family stories about it. When investigating the possibility of such a link for Americans with a Cherokee connection, what might be some clues?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">As discussed, one indicator could be family history in the southern Appalachian mountain region and areas including and surrounding the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Physical traits could include a somewhat dark skin complexion, dark hair and eyes, the somewhat stereotypical cheekbones and facial features, light beards and body hair in males, lack of baldness in males and somewhat thick, coarse hair.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Recent controversies in the media have featured the “shaming” of Americans who might or do have Cherokee or other American Indian lineage but are not official members of government-approved Native American groups.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This could discourage some people who might suspect a Cherokee link in the family tree from doing research into it.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">But facts are facts.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">According to historians and scholars, in the 1700s and 1800s many mixed-ethnicity children were born in the southern Appalachian region and a unique blend of these cultures flourished.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">These mixed-ethnicity children sometimes adopted the patrilineal Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish names of their fathers and paternal grandfathers. Or, in many cases, there was some blend of Anglo names and Cherokee names, and sometimes in a mix of both English and Cherokee languages.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">As the generations rolled on in the 1700s and 1800s, kids grew up, got married and had their own children. And as the larger U.S. society changed, and many Cherokee were forced west by various pressures and the infamous Trail of Tears (1838-39), these mixed-ethnicity Americans blended into the larger population.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It was probably a good idea to “pass as white” in that region when the Cherokee were rounded up by soldiers, their homes and farms stolen, forced into detention camps and then forced to endure extreme hardships and mass death as they were marched and shipped to Oklahoma – Indian Territory.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">By the time of the Trail of Tears and after, there were many mixed-ethnicity people who were predominantly white and who had adopted Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish names.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And it wasn’t necessarily a good idea to talk about Cherokee grandparents or great-grandparents back then, because there were laws on the books that discriminated against American Indians in significant ways. Anti-Indian laws, bias, attitudes and actions were common and significant.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">CHEROKEE HILLBILLIES</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The epicenter of Cherokee culture today in the old eastern homeland is the area around the Tennessee and North Carolina border. The U.S. government-recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is based there in Cherokee, NC.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Nantahala National Forest surround the Eastern Cherokee lands. The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area (a partner of the National Park Service) in the Blue Ridge Mountains is also nearby. It includes Cherokee heritage events of various kinds including festivals, music, arts and crafts, and museums.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Throughout the entire southern Appalachian region and surrounding states, there reportedly could be tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Americans with Cherokee DNA somewhere in the family tree.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Over the generations, many Kentucky and Appalachian families have migrated along the so-called “hillbilly highway” to the Cincinnati region and the towns north of it, such as Middletown where Vance was raised.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It is a logical conclusion that some of these Appalachian families might or do have Cherokee in the family tree – maybe even J.D. Vance’s family.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And with the tremendous mobility that American society has experienced in recent decades and centuries, people with Cherokee background have spread far and wide – beyond the ancient mountain homeland, beyond Oklahoma Indian Territory, even beyond the borders of the U.S.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The story of the Cherokee is a unique one. It is different from the stories of other American Indian tribes, with the blending of the Cherokee with Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish believed to be far more widespread than that of any other tribe.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Yet, the experience of the Cherokee is also very similar to that of other North American native groups in many respects.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">As we strive for “a more perfect union” in our society now, it might be worthwhile to learn more about the experience of the Cherokee and their ancient southern Appalachian homeland.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And for those American families who just might have Cherokee within them and don’t know about it or are not sure, there are many ways to begin research and investigation to find out more.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">You might be surprised about what you learn.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i style="color: black;">(If you liked this article, please see my other recent ones about the Cherokee on the Joint Recon Study Group and Transcendent TV & Media blogs.)</i></span></span><br />
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related article <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> </span></i><i>is <span style="background: white; color: #333333;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span><span style="background: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><br /></span>
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-63377790162276891252019-02-08T11:26:00.001-08:002020-10-15T08:51:18.338-07:00Story of the Cherokee still emerging today<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In an opinion article published on the Cincinnati Enquirer daily newspaper website Oct. 19, 2018, local retired anthropology professor Sharlotte Neely Donnelly, PhD, shared her insights about the Cherokee.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Donnelly taught at Northern Kentucky University (in the Covington, Kentucky, area of metro Cincinnati), was director of the Native American Studies program there and is the author of “Snowbird Cherokees: People of Persistence” and “Native Nations: The Survival of Fourth World Peoples.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And in an Oct. 1, 2015, article on the website Slate, history professor Gregory D. Smithers, PhD, also shared information and perspectives about the Cherokee.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Smithers is professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University and author of the book "The Cherokee Diaspora: An Indigenous History of Migration, Resettlement, and Identity." </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Both of these experts on Cherokee culture and history have some interesting things to say about some of the controversies we see today.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="color: #222222;">They examine the Cherokee who ended up in "Indian Territory" (Oklahoma) as well as in the ancient homeland region of what is now Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="color: #444444;">Virginia, </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">North Carolina,</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #444444;">South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama</span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">. </span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">RANDOM ACT OF IDENTITY</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In Donnelly’s piece, she explores the evolving legal definitions about who is classified as an American Indian or Native American, or Cherokee, by whom, when, where and why.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">She wrote, “Who is defined as an American Indian and how much Indian blood quantum (blood degree/ancestry) is required vary over time, from nation to nation (the USA and Canada), from government bureau to bureau (Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of the Census), from state to state, and from tribe to tribe.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“In the past, the Cherokees, for example, defined anyone who had a Cherokee mother (and thus membership in one of the seven Cherokee clans) as Cherokee [a matrilineal society], despite blood quantum. Beginning in the 1820s, however, anyone with a Cherokee father was also declared a Cherokee, even though such people were clanless,” Donnelly stated. </span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"> </span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">She also explained some of the bureaucratic inconsistencies. “Some states have no definition of Indianness, while many have less precise definitions than the federal government. Some states, such as South Carolina, with state Indian reservations, are more precise.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“The state of North Carolina has a government agency to deal with those they recognize as Indian. The federal government recognizes only one North Carolina tribe, the Cherokees, as being Indians while the state recognizes many others, including the Lumbee, Waccamaw Siouans and Haliwas,” according to Donnelly.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">She looked at the evolution of these criteria. “In the early 20th century, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina set the minimum blood degree at 1/32 (the equivalent of having one full-blood, great-great-great grandparent) but eventually raised it to 1/16 (the equivalent of having one full-blood, great-great grandparent). When this happened, some Cherokees found they were no longer legally Cherokees.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“The Keetowah Cherokees in Oklahoma set their minimum even higher, at one-fourth (the equivalent of having one full-blood grandparent), while the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma has done away with blood degree altogether and requires only that one establish lineal Cherokee ancestry to those listed on the Dawes Roll of 1899-1906.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">A person could be an official Cherokee tribal member, but not a Cherokee in the eyes of the U.S. government for certain benefits, Donnelly said. “The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) recognizes the various blood degrees required for tribal membership but requires a minimum of one-fourth for things like higher education grants.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“So, for example, someone enrolled in North Carolina’s Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who had a blood quantum of 1/16 to just less than one-fourth would be viewed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as legally Cherokee but not legally Indian.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“Canada used to define Indianness as having a father who was recognized as an Indian (mothers did not count) [the reverse of the Cherokee], but in the 1980s Canada switched to a system of blood quantum,” she wrote.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Regarding DNA tests, Donnelly says, “For most Americans with Native American ancestors, that ancestry is five or more generations back. In fact it can be so far back in a family tree that it does not show up in DNA tests. Also, most ancestry testing companies use only a small sample of Native American groups (often less than half a dozen tribes) as a reference for testing, and all of those sample groups tend to be from South, rather than North, America.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">YESTERDAY AND TODAY</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In Smithers’ article, he also explores the history and evolution of who is identified as an official Cherokee or other tribal member. He wrote, "At the same time that the Cherokee diaspora was expanding across the country, the federal government began adopting a system of ‘blood quantum’ to determine Native American identity."</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"Native Americans were required to prove their Cherokee, or Navajo, or Sioux 'blood' in order to be recognized.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Smithers explained that, “the federal government’s ‘blood quantum’ standards varied over time, helping to explain why recorded Cherokee 'blood quantum' ranged from 'full-blood' to one 2048th.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“The system’s larger aim was to determine who was eligible for land allotments following the government’s decision to terminate Native American self-government at the end of the 19th century,” he wrote.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“By 1934, the year that Franklin Roosevelt’s administration adopted the Indian Reorganization Act, 'blood quantum' became the official measure by which the federal government determined Native American identity.” Smithers said.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The decision-makers on these issues evolved, according to Smithers. “In the ensuing decades, Cherokees, like other Native American groups, sought to define ‘blood’ on their own terms.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“By the mid–20th century, Cherokee and other American Indian activists began joining together to articulate their definitions of American Indian identity and to confront those tens of thousands of Americans who laid claim to being descendants of Native Americans.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Smithers also explores present-day official Cherokees. “Today, the Cherokee Nation, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, and the Eastern Band of Cherokees comprise a combined population of 344,700.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“Cherokee tribal governments provide community members with health services, education, and housing assistance.”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“Most Cherokees live in close-knit communities in eastern Oklahoma or the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina, but a considerable number live throughout North America and in cities such as New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto. Cherokee people are doctors and lawyers, schoolteachers and academics, tradespeople and minimum-wage workers,” he wrote.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Smithers also noted, “The cultural richness, political visibility, and socioeconomic diversity of the Cherokee people have played a considerable role in keeping the tribe’s identity in the historical consciousness of generation after generation of Americans, whether or not they have Cherokee blood.”</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i style="color: black;">(If you liked this article, please see my other recent ones about the Cherokee on the Joint Recon Study Group and Transcendent TV & Media blogs.)</i></span></span><br />
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<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related article
<a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs,
behavior”</a> </span></i><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">is <span style="background: white; color: #333333;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language
and National Security Education Office, </span><span style="background: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of
Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><br />
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Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-18375251514271471762018-10-20T13:43:00.001-07:002019-08-16T10:29:41.154-07:00Americans with Cherokee roots can't rely on government bureaucracies to define them<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">There’s a rumor out there that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are rights that are given to us by a higher Creator, not by governments, government officials and bureaucracies, kings or dictators.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">If this is so, we might be unwise to surrender our personal, family and cultural history to judgments from government officials, politicians and bureaucracies. As a result, this path of independent thinking might make us hesitant to rely on national, state and tribal government officials to tell us who we are and who we are not.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">These kinds of concerns have emerged in recent days regarding the three Cherokee groups recognized by the U.S. government.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Politicians from national and tribal government have attacked Americans who might or definitely do have Cherokee or other Native relatives and ancestors somewhere in the family tree. And Native Americans with a chip on their shoulder (understandably) have voiced righteous indignation about the "hijacking" of their identity and culture. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Journalists, pundits, political operatives, propagandists and well-meaning observers have weighed in too, often with little knowledge of Cherokee and U.S. history. Many or most of these people also likely have little or no direct experience themselves with Cherokee culture, either in the Oklahoma region or in the southern Appalachian Mountain Range, the ancient ancestral homeland.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Many people are not aware of the robust amount of intermixing between Cherokee and Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish newcomers in the Appalachian region in the 1700s.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">So which is it? Does a Great Spirit of some kind give us these truths? Or, do national and tribal politicians, pundits and propagandists tell us who we are?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Do these truths flow from the grassroots up through the lives of generations of our ancestors into who we are? Or are these realities interpreted and defined from the top down, from government officials and others?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">GROUP THERAPY</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In human history and in our contemporary world there are many circumstances where governments, kings and dictators tell people a number of things about themselves.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">They may tell people that they have no right to free speech or a free press, no right to self-government and democracy, no right to honest and ethical government officials, no right to education, no right to cultural identity, no right to human dignity, that their status in society is to be subservient or even that of a slave, or that they are sub-human.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Native Americans, of course, have been on the receiving end of this over the centuries. They are not the only ones.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Today, tribal sovereignty and self-government are important. The long, bloody and dark history of U.S. government and civilian actions against Native people proves that.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">But government bureaucracies of all kinds can have hidden dangers that require constant vigilance, as do government officials and politicians. Surrendering our own judgment, insights and power to governments and government officials can be unhelpful and counterproductive.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Additionally, in organizations and social groups, people are often defined as either in the group or outside of the group."I’m in the good group and you’re not.” “I’m included, you’re not.” Or, “You’re in the bad group and I’m in the good group.” “You are not like me – you are the ‘other.’”</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This seems to be the way of human nature and the human condition.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And this kind of human psychology and behavior probably plays a part in discussions about Cherokee and Native American lineage. Once we recognize this perceptual and behavioral pattern, it might help us see the larger situation more accurately and comprehensively.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">STORYTELLING, AWARENESS, PERCEPTION</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Over the last week, it has been interesting to see so many politicians and political operatives voice such deep concerns about Cherokee and Native American people. Who knew that certain national politicians, political pundits and media propagandists held such heartfelt concerns about the well-being of Cherokee people?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">These politicians and operatives must be the good people I’ve heard about who are fighting for human decency in American and international society, and for justice, truth, freedom of speech and press, a decent way of life for all people, a better world and human progress of all kinds.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Or, could it be that these political operatives are using a number of well-meaning Cherokees, other Native Americans, journalists, observers and those suffering from "white guilt" for larger and darker purposes?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Beware of the “useful idiot” trap. This refers to the manipulation of unsuspecting people to serve clandestine, covert, deceptive and often dark objectives. Sometimes it’s not very covert, but rather obvious, and it does take somewhat of an idiot to not realize it.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In these times of “information warfare” and manipulation here at home and around the world, it’s probably helpful for all of us to develop better skills in awareness and perception. Some people call it “situational awareness” or "situation awareness" – what are all the moving parts going on around us, what’s going to happen next, how should we react or handle it?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This Cherokee issue is just one of many that we need to make good judgments about based on good situational awareness.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It might also be helpful for us to be aware of “weaponized storytelling” or “weaponized narrative.” This method of persuasion is subtle and even unconscious for the reader, viewer and information consumer.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Sometimes we have to be able to see through the BS.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The story of the Cherokee is much deeper and wider in scope than is generally known. And that scope certainly includes the story of the mixing and blending of Cherokee with the early Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish explorers, hunters, settlers and generations of their descendants in the Appalachian region and elsewhere from the 1700s to today.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">To deny this reality denies a crucial part of the Cherokee story, and of the American story.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i style="color: black;">(If you liked this article, please see my other recent ones about the Cherokee on the Joint Recon Study Group and Transcendent TV & Media blogs.)</i></span></span><br />
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Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-80591666455817811582018-10-16T16:18:00.001-07:002020-03-17T12:30:10.721-07:00Does tribal government politician speak for all Americans with Cherokee ancestry?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">By Steve Hammons</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></b><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In response to a national discussion about the history of the Cherokees and the intermixing of Cherokee with European-Americans (notably Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish in the 1700s), the secretary of state of one of the three federally-recognized Cherokee groups issued a public formal statement.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In his statement, Chuck Hoskin, Jr. made some accurate and helpful points. However, a closer look at his comments might provide insight.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Here is Hoskin’s complete statement, with my paragraph breaks for analysis:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">"A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person's ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage."</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">BREAKING IT DOWN</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Let’s take a look at Hoskin’s points one at a time:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">- "A DNA test is useless to determine tribal citizenship. Current DNA tests do not even distinguish whether a person's ancestors were indigenous to North or South America.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Some tribes determine membership by “blood quantum,” percentage of Native heritage and some, like the Cherokee, use historical census rolls. Hoskin is correct that DNA tests are not used to determine legal membership in federally-recognized Native tribes and groups.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, to whom Hoskin was directing his comments, never indicated she felt she was eligible for official tribal membership. She states this was just something passed down in her family that she and other family members found worthwhile.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i>[Update: According to news reports, Warren identified herself as "American Indian" on a Texas Bar Association document.]</i></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">- “Sovereign tribal nations set their own legal requirements for citizenship, and while DNA tests can be used to determine lineage, such as paternity to an individual, it is not evidence for tribal affiliation.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">That is also true. Native tribes and groups set their own rules for who is in and who is out for official membership. Tribal governments as well as the U.S. government and various lawsuits also have been part of determining criteria for membership in various tribes. As noted, these criteria vary among tribes, and have changed and morphed over the years.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">- “Using a DNA test to lay claim to any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely, is inappropriate and wrong. It makes a mockery out of DNA tests and its legitimate uses while also dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Many Americans who suspect Cherokee or other Native American background in their family trees may disagree with Hoskin when he says it is “inappropriate and wrong” for any Americans to use a DNA test to research these issues.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Is it also wrong to study our ancestry and geneaology using public records and other research? Is Hoskin saying that if we conduct such research and it happens to confirm or discover "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">any connection to the Cherokee Nation or any tribal nation, even vaguely" that this is also "inappropriate and wrong," as Hoskins states?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">What about research and DNA tests about our other ethnic and ancestral backgrounds from around the world?<br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It seems unclear why Hoskin states that Americans interested in their heritage who take a DNA test are “making a mockery out of DNA tests,” and “dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven.”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Again, if we do family history research other than DNA tests, is that also "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">dishonoring legitimate tribal governments and their citizens</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, whose ancestors are well documented and whose heritage is proven," as Hoskins states?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">- “Senator Warren is undermining tribal interests with her continued claims of tribal heritage."</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Like tens of thousands of Americans, Warren heard family stories of Cherokee background in the family tree. She valued this possible background, like many people. How this is “undermining tribal interests” also seems unclear.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">FULL-BLOOD CLUB</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In recent years, sometimes with a valid basis, Americans of various ethnicity have looked into Native American heritage in their family backgrounds.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Full-blood and other Native Americans sometimes say these are white “wannabe Indians” who are “appropriating” or "hijacking" Native cultures.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">What exactly gives these “official Indians” the right to tell Americans who may very well have Cherokee and other native DNA within them that they have no right to explore and embrace this genetic background within themselves, their families and their ancestors?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The truth is that many members of the three U.S. government-recognized Cherokee groups have mixed-ethnicity of Cherokee and white, often Scots-Irish.<br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Does a person whose parents were both full Cherokee have more rights and insights than people whose Cherokee lineage is from a great-great-grandmother or a great-great-great-great-grandfather?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The science of DNA has its mysteries and is not fully understood. It apparently does not does not work like a math problem. Biological and other traits we may have inherited from our ancestors do not necessarily work according to mathematical formulas and fractions.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Culturally and socially speaking, of course people raised on reservations and Native nation lands have grown up immersed in Native culture. That goes without saying.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> And many have also lived the related collective trauma, difficulties and viewpoints. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">They've also experienced the sometimes convoluted and questionable politics of Native tribes and leaders over the years – including the significant infighting and fracturing of the Cherokee culture over the decades and centuries.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Does Hoskin have the right to tell millions of Americans with Cherokee ethnic background that they don’t make the grade to join his organization? Yes. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Does he also have the have the right to tell them that they are not worthy of exploring and embracing their Native heritage?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i style="color: black;">(If you liked this article, please see my other recent ones about the Cherokee on the Joint Recon Study Group and Transcendent TV & Media blogs.)</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br style="color: #222222;" /></span>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-87617876377009479312018-10-15T15:48:00.001-07:002020-10-15T08:52:33.786-07:00Many Americans have Cherokee in the family tree<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Many Americans have Cherokee DNA within their genetic makeup.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Some families are aware this, some people have heard rumors or stories from family members and some are totally unaware of it. Did great-great-great-grandma really have a Cherokee parent?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">There may be many more Americans with Cherokee DNA in them than of other tribes. This is because Cherokees began intermixing with Anglo, Scottish and Scots-Irish explorers, hunters and trappers in the Appalachian region at an early phase in American history – much of it in the early- and mid-1700s.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This created a wide dissemination of Cherokee DNA into many American family trees.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Socially and culturally, many of these developments in the 1700s occurred before some of the more widespread efforts at domination, removal and near-genocide of Native American people later on, though these elements were well underway even in colonial times.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">By the time of the infamous forced removal called the Trail of Tears in 1838-39, there were already several generations of mixed-ethnicity families living in the Cherokee mountain regions of what we now call North Carolina, Tennessee and surrounding areas that now include the current states of </span></span></span><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Kentucky, <span style="color: #222222;">West Virginia, </span>Virginia, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. Many had Scottish or Anglo names, lighter skin and prosperous farms.</span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Prior to the Trail of Tears, many Cherokee had headed west to Arkansas and elsewhere. Many were able to avoid detention and removal, and stayed in the Appalachian region where the federally-recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is still located at the Tennessee and North Carolina border.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Because of the mixed ethnicity and, in many cases, Anglo or Scottish names, some of these people could “pass as white." And many may have chosen to do so in order to stay near their home region, or even as they moved west.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">WHO ARE WE?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">As we know, over the decades and centuries, people from many nations and cultures have arrived North America. The mixing of different ethnic groups here has been a fact of life for generations. Many of us can count at least a half-dozen or more different nationalities and ethnic groups in our family background.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And the more this blending has continued with each generation, the more likely that Cherokee or other Indian DNA is within many of today's American families.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Many don’t know about a Cherokee or Native American ancestor because that side of the family sometimes may not have detailed written records. Maybe relatives didn’t want to talk about “the Indian in the family” or the connection was forgotten or overlooked.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Today, some tribes use what is called the “blood quantum” to identify who has enough Indian “blood” in them to be official tribal members. Often, one-sixteenth blood quantum will qualify a person for official tribal membership.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">So, if grandparents, great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents had some significant measure of Indian blood, based in these blood quantum measurements, a person can or cannot be considered a tribal member</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">To say that someone who is one-eighth is more Cherokee or Native American than a person who is one-sixteenth makes us wonder about the validity of looking at this in terms of mathematical fractions and percentages.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Most likely, a certain genetic background does not affect a person strictly by percentages. If you are one-quarter, one-eighth, one-sixteenth, one-thirty-second, one-sixty-fourth, does that mean the genetic history within you, which goes back into the ancient past, is not valid?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The idea of racial “blood” is, of course, outdated. We now know that our genes and our DNA helix are within every cell of our bodies. We are just scratching the surface of learning what is contained within them and how they function. </span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The genetic history of our ancestors is passed down over the centuries. It comes together in a child in certain ways, creating certain physical characteristics, and, we suspect, possibly psychological and personality tendencies.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The DNA within each cell of our bodies might act in ways we do not fully understand. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Does having a great-great-great-grandmother or -grandfather who was Cherokee instead of full-blood parents make you less Cherokee? In some ways, maybe yes. In other ways, this might not be so clear.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In some people, maybe this forgotten or hidden DNA is it is “sleeping.” For others, they may have always felt there was something in them connected to the ancient times in the Americas. They might even have slightly darker skin, a certain facial or body structure or other genetic traits. This background may manifest itself a little or a lot.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">DNA MEMORIES?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Modern research into the nature of DNA has led to discoveries about this material within each cell of our bodies. DNA has important implications for who each one of us is, on many levels.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Once we have identified the various elements of our family tree and our genetic background, and possibly discovered or suspect Cherokee or other Native American connections, what should we make of it?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The DNA within all living things is the blueprint for what each organism becomes, subject to the environmental influences that can also have significant effects. It determines our physical characteristics and even our vulnerabilities to certain diseases.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For humans, recent discoveries about DNA are rapidly changing our views about the importance of this material. DNA may affect us much more significantly than we imagined. And, it may hold keys to further discoveries.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Is it possible that the DNA helix holds some form of important memories of our ancestors? Back in the 1960s, some psychological researchers claimed that there may be keys that unlock our deep DNA, revealing experiences of past generations.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">It has been demonstrated that experiences necessary for survival of a species, even very tiny and simple organisms, are learned and that this knowledge is passed on to subsequent generations genetically.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For humans, with our relatively complex brain, feelings and memories, what other kinds of experiences might be saved in our DNA over the many thousands of years when our ancestors were born, lived, survived and died? Do these influences manifest themselves within us? And how?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Scientists are gradually uncovering the secrets of our DNA. They have mapped much of the DNA helix of not only humans, but other animals and plants. Many human genes remain a mystery and their purpose is unknown.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The idea that deep and ancient memories of our ancestors lie within our own bodies, within our DNA, seems far-fetched. Yet, in the field of genetics research there seems to be so much that is not known that, for an open-minded person, these kinds of theories about deep DNA memories probably cannot be ruled out.</span></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Maybe it is time to consider the depth of our family trees and all of their complex branches and roots throughout time and the development of the human race. Whether Cherokee or other interesting ethnic backgrounds are deep within us, this certainly seems worth exploring.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In this sense, the official and legal definitions of who is Cherokee or part of some other Native American tribe and who is not become less relevant.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">If a child in your family were to ask, “Am I part-Indian?” what would your answer be? Do you know for certain?</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">To find these answers, we can conduct research through DNA tests, genealogy records, by asking older family members and other kinds of investigation.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">We can also listen to the voices of our DNA and our ancient ancestors within us.</span></span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><i style="color: black;">(If you liked this article, please see my other recent ones about the Cherokee on the Joint Recon Study Group and Transcendent TV & Media blogs.)</i></span></span><br />
<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-73823543050305719542018-08-14T20:54:00.002-07:002018-10-02T13:56:44.619-07:00UFOs in the heartland: New movie, ‘Blue Book’ TV series set in southwestern Ohio<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Tucked into the southwestern corner of Ohio, along the borders with Indiana and Kentucky, is a region that is the setting for two new and significant media projects on the subject of UFOs.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">History Channel recently released a trailer on their new drama series “Project Blue Book” about the U.S. Air Force program based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, from 1952 to 1970.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">And Sony Pictures Entertainment has also recently posted a trailer for the new movie “UFO,” also set in southwestern Ohio, this time in the Cincinnati area just south of Dayton. The movie is partially based on the real-life UFO incident at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 6, 2007.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Gillian Anderson of the “X-Files” TV series and movies plays a math professor at the University of Cincinnati. She becomes involved in an investigation of a UFO incident at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Movies and TV shows aside, what about the real Project Blue Book based in southwestern Ohio?</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Shortly after the project began in 1952 a major UFO incident occurred that July in Washington D.C. Multiple UFOs were tracked by radar and witnessed by reliable people on the ground.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Military aircraft were scrambled to intercept the unknown objects, but were unable to do so. Newspapers carried the dramatic story: "'Saucer' Outran Jet, Pilot Reveals," said the Washington Post front-page headline for July 28, 1952.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Interestingly, a Project Blue Book team member was in Washington at the time.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">MANY STORIES TO TELL</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The new History Channel series and the Sony Pictures “UFO” movie are not the first time that Project Blue Book, Wright-Patterson AFB and southwestern Ohio have been the subject of movies and TV shows.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">For example, in 1978 and ’79, the TV series “Project U.F.O.” reportedly used real cases from Project Blue Book as a basis for episode plots. Jack Webb (of the original “Dragnet” TV series) created “Project U.F.O.” which told the story of two Air Force investigators from Project Blue Book as they follow up on a variety of UFO reports.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Again in 1996 and '97, Wright-Patterson AFB’s Project Blue Book was a focus of the TV series “Dark Skies.” Series creators Bryce Zabel and Brent Friedman told the story of a young congressional aide visiting Project Blue Book on a routine task for the congressman he worked for. He soon finds himself entangled with a separate top secret government UFO project.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">But these are not the only connections between Ohio and the UFO phenomena.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">One of the most significant real-life cases occurred in 1973, after Project Blue Book officially ended. It became known as the “Coyne Incident.” On Oct. 18, 1973, four members of the U.S. Army Reserve were in their military chopper flying from Columbus in central Ohio to Cleveland up on Lake Erie.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">The crew included pilot and aircraft commander Capt. Lawrence J. Coyne (a 19-year Army Reserve veteran), co-pilot Lt. Arrigo Jezzi, flight medic Sgt. John Healey and crew chief Specialist 5 Robert Yanacek.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">While en route, a UFO suddenly came into view and flew dangerously close to the helicopter. Coyne, fearing a collision, quickly put the chopper’s controls in the position for a descent. However, the helicopter’s altimeter indicated that it was rising and gaining altitude during this part of the encounter. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Crew members had close-up eyewitness views of the unusual craft. This well-documented case included a formal report from the crew members for the Army Reserve. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">CLOSE OHIO ENCOUNTERS</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></b><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Even Steven Spieliberg’s classic 1977 blockbuster “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” brought us to Ohio in hot pursuit of UFOs.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In opening scenes, Indiana police officers from the Muncie area near the border with Ohio are Code 3 lights-and-sirens chasing multiple UFOs. Power company tech Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is close behind in his power company truck as UFOs, police and Neary blow through a toll booth on the Ohio state line.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This scene reportedly may be based on an April 17, 1966, incident in Portage County, Ohio, when Ohio officers from several public safety agencies pursued a UFO into Pennsylvania.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Yet another case involving Ohio public safety officers took place on Dec. 14, 1994. The so-called "Trumbull County incident" involved officers from multiple regional public safety agencies who chased a large object that reportedly emitted bright lights of various colors intermittently.</span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Police radio transmissions of the incident have provided good documentation of this remarkable case. The Trumbull County incident was subsequently well-portrayed in a TV documentary segment.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Even though several unusual UFO incidents have taken place in Ohio over the years, and Wright-Patterson AFB has been the focus of much research on this topic, it gets even more interesting.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">According to rumors, reports and tales from people who have researched the UFO phenomena, after the alleged July 1947 crash of an unusual craft near Roswell, New Mexico, the remains of the craft were promptly transported to Wright-Patterson AFB.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This makes sense because Wright-Patterson was then and is now home to the Air Force’s center for analysis of foreign aircraft – aircraft of adversaries, “frenemies” and even allies. It would be the logical place to have experts thoroughly examine an unusual craft.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">As the new History Channel series on Project Blue Book and “UFO” movie with Gillian Anderson roll out, more viewers will become somewhat familiar with the region around southwestern Ohio where these stories take place.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">By viewing the UFO phenomena through the lens of southwestern Ohio, we might encounter several mysteries to explore and insights to discover. </span><br style="color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></span>Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-85156047631770029672018-05-02T21:33:00.002-07:002020-01-28T07:03:22.351-08:00Telling the story of UFOs: Journalists face many responsibilities <b style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">By Steve Hammons</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">The recent and ongoing controversy about releases of sensitive information on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), also known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs), seems to raise both new and longstanding fundamental points about freedom of the press and the role of journalism in society.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">This UAP/UFO topic might serve as a unique example about the way we look at the roles of journalism, government and citizens on an issue that could be both important to know about and also require discretion and sensitivity.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Today’s journalists and many other segments of society face continual changes in the evolving economy, technological development, scientific updates and the many other aspects of everyday life. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Journalism in particular is dealing with longstanding ethical and professional guidelines about freedom of the press and responsible reporting. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">These are combined with a changing landscape of Internet technology and certain characteristics of major media companies.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">BALANCING ACT</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">The touchstone of the U.S. Constitution and its provisions outlining freedom of speech and freedom of the press continue to be fundamental reference points. Many of the U.S. Constitution’s other attempts to strengthen human liberty are equally valuable and often equally controversial.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">The task of balancing these freedoms with responsible behavior and common-sense discretion is now front and center in discussions about various current events. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">And, odd as it may seem, the UAP/UFO subject is one of these current challenges.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Just like other sensitive subjects involving national security, some people who have researched the UAP/UFO situation claim that a high level of restriction by governments on information about this topic is interfering with the right of citizens to know what their governments are doing.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">And, the argument extends to the view that human beings at the grassroots of society have a need to know about certain subjects that could affect them, including unusual and unconventional discoveries and developments.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">The counterpoint to this view is that some subjects must be kept secret for the sake of the greater good of maintaining national defense. And, in many cases, international alliances and friendships among nations and societies are also at stake. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">How should the profession and craft of journalism handle these factors? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">When the additional challenges of certain perspectives by media bosses in a time of changing economic dynamics come into play, journalists are now, as they often have been, faced with soul-searching dilemmas.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">REPORTING ON MYSTERIES</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">In the case of unusual and unconventional scientific subjects, additional obstacles for journalism include self-censorship by media management and often by certain elements of scientific communities. These factors may also dovetail with defense-related information restriction for reasons of strategic national and global safety as well as tactical operational security.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Despite statements from people with various viewpoints that decisions about balance between security and freedom of the press are easy, this is probably not always the case.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">As we know, sometimes a “top secret” classification is used to cover up wrongdoing and inappropriate conduct. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">At the same time, other classified situations, including highly compartmented and need-to-know circumstances, might truly require robust information security for a number of legitimate reasons.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">According to some researchers, the UAP/UFO situation falls into a complex category of emerging scientific developments that could significantly change our views of Earth, the Universe, life and the human race. It may be quite complex because the various kinds of unusual flying objects seen over the decades and centuries are probably associated with even more surprising mysteries.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Extraterrestrial visitors, multiple dimensions, space-time anomalies, forgotten histories of human civilization, undiscovered aspects of human DNA, extrasensory perception and other edge-science subjects have all been linked to the UAP/UFO phenomena, both directly and indirectly.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Some researchers indicate this may only be the tip of the iceberg.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Responsible journalism on these kinds of subjects seems to have been somewhat limited to date. But that does not mean today’s journalists are incapable of handling the situation responsibly and professionally.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Understanding various security implications of unconventional situations that could affect the safety of American and global society must be part of journalistic considerations and judgment.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #333333;">Important foundational elements of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights are also factors that are key parts of responsible journalism in days past, now and in the future.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related articles <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> are </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-47459302251669044762016-09-05T18:52:00.006-07:002020-01-28T07:03:50.254-08:00‘Close Encounters’ Wyoming landing zone may hold lessons for us today<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the 1977 movie "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind," with its amazing ending at Devils Tower,
Wyoming, there were references to real situations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For example, the police chase across
the Ohio-Indiana state line early in the film resembled actual incidents in
that region. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And interestingly, Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base is also located near the Ohio-Indiana border in southwestern
Ohio. That base is home to an Air Force foreign technology research center and
closely associated with the alleged "Roswell incident" and subsequent
research. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In "Close Encounters"<i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> </span></i>the clandestine logistics and security operation
at Devils Tower was facilitated by U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets). In
real life, some of their specialties are covert and unconventional operations.
Army Special Forces also works in roles to establish rapport with indigenous
populations and provide training. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But is there more about Devils Tower
that we can learn? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BEAR LODGE <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Native American Indians had a very
different name for the unusual geological formation known as Devils Tower.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To the Lakota and Cheyenne, it was
called “Bear Lodge,” “Grizzly Bear Lodge,” or “Bear Lodge Butte.” The Cheyenne
and Crow also referred to it as “Bear’s House” or “Bear’s Lair.” It was also
called “Bear’s Tipi” by the Cheyenne and Arapaho. To the Kiowa, it was “Tree
Rock.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How did Native American names
associated with a bear lodge become “Devils Tower?” It is believed that an
interpreter in an 1875 expedition in the area misunderstood the Indian words
and translated them as “Bad God’s Tower” which was later changed to “Devil’s
Tower,” and eventually to “Devils Tower” (no apostrophe). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">President Theodore Roosevelt
declared the huge rock formation a U.S. National Monument in 1906. Today, the
entire monument area includes 1,347 acres. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Interesting legends and folklore
about the site may also hold clues about more subtle connections at Devils
Tower or Bear Lodge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Lakota tale reportedly describes
six Lakota girls picking flowers there when they were chased by bears. The
Great Spirit helped the girls by raising the ground under them. The distinctive
vertical striations of the rock were made when the bears tried to climb it but
slid down, leaving huge scratch marks, according to this legend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A Kiowa story is similar. Seven
girls playing were chased by large bears. To escape, the girls climbed a rock
and prayed to the Great Spirit for help. Answering the girls’ prayers, the
Great Spirit caused the rock to rise to the heavens, saving the girls as the
bears tried to climb the rock, leaving their claw marks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the girls reached the uppermost
realms of the sky, they became the star constellation the Pleiades. This star
system is sometimes associated with extraterrestrial visitors in more modern
cases. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is another legend about
several boys escaping a bear, praying to the Creator for help, being raised up
on the rock and escaping back to their village with the help of an eagle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">ALIEN VISITORS<b> </b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When Army Special Forces,
scientists, technicians, defense and intelligence officials, and the mysterious
12-person team infiltrate the Devils Tower or Bear Lodge region in "Close
Encounters," can we make any connections to this Native American Indian
lore? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many Indian tribes have oral
histories about unusual visitors or beings of many kinds. In some legends, the
visitors come from far away in the skies. In others, certain beings are native
to Earth, or live nearby, and are part of the mysteries of Nature and
reality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even now, there are many reports of
mysterious phenomena in Indian Country. And, Native American perspectives can
be helpful to learn about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As we know, there is a troubling
history of conflicts with Native American tribes over centuries as Europeans
landed, conquered, took land, enslaved and destroyed or nearly destroyed native
societies and cultures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the United States was formed
and European colonists became "Americans," regional militias and
federal army troops often did the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For example, in the case of the
Cherokee, their ancient homeland in the Appalachian Mountain region stretched
from Tennessee and North Carolina to Georgia and Alabama. Starting in the
1700s, there was a large degree of intermarriage with Scottish, Scots-Irish and Anglo explorers and settlers, resulting in the millions of Americans today
who have Cherokee DNA within them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But this did not help the Cherokee
when in 1838 men, women, children and the elderly were forced at gunpoint and
bayonet point from their homes and farms into prison camps, their land stolen,
and marched to Oklahoma on the terrible and deadly “Trail of Tears.” Many
mixed-ethnicity Cherokee were reportedly able to avoid this removal by
self-identifying as white. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Their experience parallels the
history of many other tribes in some ways, yet is quite different in other
ways. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today, some researchers advise us to
consider the experience of Native Americans who faced a visitation or invasion
of technologically superior “aliens” from England, France, Spain and elsewhere
in Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Could Earth humans dealing with advanced
beings from elsewhere experience a fate similar to that of Native American
tribes? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maybe we can take another look at
"Close Encounters"<i><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"> </span></i>in light of
the history of Bear Lodge or Devils Tower. That location may serve as a way
to explore the many lessons about connections between American history,
humanity and Nature.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related articles <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> and</span></i></span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/reagans-1987-un-speech-alien-threat-resonates-now" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">“Reagan’s 1987 UN speech on ‘alien threat’ resonates now”</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> are </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span></i><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #505052;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></span></i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8280685714029056775.post-60638782136538681442015-12-28T16:38:00.001-08:002020-01-28T05:58:57.265-08:00Readers review metaphysical-military-intelligence adventure novel ‘Mission Into Light’<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>By Steve Hammons</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i><span style="color: #232629;">The reader reviews below were very gratifying for me as a writer, and I felt it
might be a good idea to share them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #232629;">In
their comments on the Amazon.com pages for my first novel "Mission Into
Light" and the sequel "Light's Hand," these readers seem to have identified some of the storytelling elements I was trying to use and achieve.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Reader reviews on Amazon ...<u1:p></u1:p></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #232629;">Excellent
story from a gifted writer! The book was difficult to put down. I recommend it
highly and am buying a second copy for a gift. It was fast-moving with lots of
action. The short chapters made it easy to read and a lot of fun. The book ties
many relevant and cutting edge topics into an incredibly interesting story. I
particularly liked the scientific and government intelligence issues. Don't
miss this one! </span></span><br />
<em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232629; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;"><b>–Franklin J. Fields, Jr.</b></em><strong style="color: #232629; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #232629;">Very
interesting story. I enjoyed it, but I have to say that if any part or parts of
the story had a basis in what might have actually happened, that would make it
a <em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;">fascinating</em> read that
I would not soon forget and certainly desire more of!!!!!!!! The fact that one
of the characters has a similar background to the author's causes me to suspect
that this story does have its roots in fact but can’t be presented in that way
for reasons only known to the author. Is he framing true information within a
false story because it's the only way acceptable to those who govern the
truth?? I will continue to search for clues to confirm my theory of its fact
based core. His second book is soon to be delivered and I'm very much looking
forward to it. <em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;"><b>–Ralph</b></em> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #232629;">As [Franklin D. Fields, Jr.,
Esq.] Esquire said so much better than I could, this was a great read! I
couldn't put it down. And now I've ordered the next one. And I'm going to see
what else Hammons has to offer. I'm glad I got this book. <em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;"><b>–CB</b></em><strong> </strong></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #232629;">Very
well written. Always something happening. The story flows well and ties in very
well with the [sequel] … Light's Hand. The ending will bring tears of happiness
to your eyes. <strong style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;">–</strong><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;"><b>Don</b></em> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #232629;">This is
pretty spot on to reality and keeps ones interest. I highly recommend it.</span> </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; outline: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #232629;">–Jeanette
Z. Phillips</span></b></em></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #232629;"><br />
</span></i></b><span style="color: #232629;">....................</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>The novels are available worldwide in 6"x9" paperback and e-book from most online booksellers. For more information, visit the books'<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Hammons/e/B00J8YD6GO/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1449011355&sr=1-2-ent">Amazon
site here</a>.</i></span><br />
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><br /></span></i>
<i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">(Related article <a href="http://www.cultureready.org/blog/storytelling-affects-human-biology-beliefs-behavior">“Storytelling affects human biology, beliefs, behavior”</a> </span></i><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">is <span style="background: white; color: #333333;">posted on the CultureReady blog, Defense Language and National Security Education Office, </span><span style="background: white; color: #505052;">Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, </span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;">U.S. Department of Defense.)</span></i><br />
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Steve Hammonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15524833401420858876noreply@blogger.com0