Vol 8, No. 1 Winter 2005
AIO Honors the Memory of Randy Padilla
Pidamayaye Ye! The Rise of Dakota Wicohan
Maori in Alaska, DC, NYC and Seattle
AMO UPDATE
By Anna Epperson (Choctaw) Communications Manager
The Advancement of Maori Opportunity (AMO) has been very busy with both the newest class of AMO Ambassadors and the alumni. The AMO 2004/05 Class of 24 emerging Maori leaders met for their third gathering in the end of August.
In September, AMO Board members and the 2003 AMO Ambassadors joined AIO in Washington, D.C. for the opening festivities of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The AMO delegation then traveled with AIO on to Seattle, Wash. for the final gathering of AIO’s 2003/04 Class. In November, AMO was joined at home in New Zealand by AIO’s International Program Development Specialist Ron Martinez Looking Elk (Isleta/Taos Pueblos) ‘01/02 for an International Staff Exchange. Ron joined AMO Board Members and Ambassadors in Fiji for the wedding of AMO’s lovable board members Lee-Ann Sperling and Craig Muntz. Congratulations to Lee-Ann and Craig!
The AMO Ambassadors of 2004/05 look forward to at least three more gatherings, including their international gathering with AIO in New Mexico, July 24-August 5.
AMO is heavily involved in the planning and hosting of the 7 th World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education (WIPCE) with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa ( University of New Zealand) in Hamilton, New Zealand, November 27-December 1, 2005. WIPCE is a world renowned gathering of Indigenous educators, researchers and students. This conference will be an opportunity for honouring all previous hui (gatherings) and will also create an occasion for bringing interesting and innovative ideas that evoke inspiration and pride as Indigenous peoples. For more information on this exciting conference, see their webpage: www.wipce2005.com
RANGIMARIE CULTURAL EXCHANGE WITH ALASKA TRIBES AND COMMUNITIES
By Tom Okleasik (Inquiat Eskimo) Class of 2001/02
| This past summer 14 members of Rangimarie from Aotearoa (Land of the Long White Cloud or New Zealand) traveled to nine Alaskan communities ( Juneau, Anchorage, Chickaloon, Eklutna, Kenai, Nome, Teller, Solomon and Nuuk) as honored guests invited by Alaska Native tribes and communities. It was an amazing exchange and growing experience for Alaska Natives to share our homeland, environment and culture with an international Indigenous people. We found so many commonalties in our efforts for retaining our cultures and asserting our Native identities in contemporary terms. |
