Local Native American festival receives grant

Temple University’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management announced that the 13th annual Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation Native American Festival near Saltsburg was among 18 community-based festival and arts organizations to receive a grant through the 2011 PA Festival Marketing Training and Grant Program.

The grants range from $3,000 to $5,000 each and are meant exclusively for training festival executives and marketing to potential visitors from outside each organization’s immediate geographic region. Sixteen Pennsylvania counties are represented in the program.

The 2011 PA Festival Marketing Training and Grant Program is a continuation of the training program developed by the Pennsylvania Tourism Office and administered by Temple University.

Dr. Elizabeth H. Barber, associate dean of Temple’s School of Tourism and Hospitality Management ; and Ira L. Rosen, program director for the school’s Event Leadership Executive Certificate Program, obtained a $100,000 grant to support festivals across the state.

“In a time of increased competition for discretionary spending, these grants will enable the festivals to market the visitors who might ordinarily not travel to their events, thereby driving the continued economic impact that these festivals have in their communities,” said Rosen, who has been involved with the program since it started.

The PA Festival Marketing Training and Grant Program enables selected festivals to expand their marketing impact through cooperative marketing efforts and training.

Since the program’s inception, 30 festival executives across Pennsylvania have been trained and certified by both Temple University and the International Festivals & Events Association.

The grants are made possible through the Pennsylvania Tourism Office and the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

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Lenapé Nation organizing healing events

With the world turning its focus inward, toward healing, spirituality, and a connection to Mother Earth, Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation is preparing to launch a series of holistic, culturally based healing sessions.

“It is our common belief that by teaching people that healing begins (and comes) from within, we can continue our mission to educate, while offering a center for people to gather and grow. By offering a cultural healing atmosphere, coupled with a family of spiritual mentors, therapists and specialists, we can help people begin their own healing journey today,” said Pat Selinger, a spokeswoman for the nation.

Thunder Mountain Lenape is a nation of Lenape Indian families by ancestry or adoption currently living in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Thanks a joint venture between Thunder Mountain Lenape and Pat Martello, owner of Martello Hair Care in the Dairy Queen Plaza, Delmont, appointments are being made for shiatsu treatments, energy and cell healing, massage therapy, guided meditation, and stone and gem healing sessions.

Lenape’s family of mentors and professionals include Patricia Star Dancer Selinger, CJ Wisdomkeeper Frank, and Gretchen Schmitt.

“Encompassing over 50 years of combined experience, our staff specializes in techniques from multiple cultures, and includes studies in psychology, dietetics, registered nursing and massage therapy.

To kick off the opening of the Medicine Wheel: a Center for Self Healing, the specialists will be hosting an open house (or open circle), on Feb. 20.

This free event is open to the public and will showcase holistic healing techniques and programs as well as an opportunity to meet the family.

The Medicine Wheel will hold open circles with programs scheduled on the third Sunday of each month and will be open other times by appointment.

For more information, call (724) 639-3488 or e-mail healing@thundermtlenape.org.

 

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Project Stream Awards for 2010-2011 Announced

October 6, 2010 – The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), through its Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) regional partnership with the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance has granted funding to 44 arts groups and individuals in this region. Applicants requesting funding completed Project Stream grant applications earlier this summer. The applications were reviewed and scored by a panel of arts experts.

The PPA Project Stream is a program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency. Through the Project Stream the PCA is a source of funding to groups and individual artists who bring the arts to our fellow Pennsylvanians. This funding comes from a state appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

A grant awards ceremony was held on Wednesday October 6 at 7 PM at the Community Arts Center of Cambria County located in the Westmont section of Johnstown. At this event many of the recipients attended and received their grant checks.

(L-R) Nancy Bollinger & Patricia Selinger - Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation, Jeanne Gleason - PA Council on the Arts & PRAA Board, Becky Catelinet - PRAA Executive Director

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11th Annual Pow Wow

Cherokee descendent Alex Patton, of Millstone Township, Elk County, dances during the Thunder Mountain Lenape' Nation's 11th annual Native American Festival near Saltsburg on August 15, 2009.

Photo by Guy Wathen a staff photographer for the Tribune-Review. The original can be found on his blog.

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Clan Mother helps dedicate whitewater park on Stonycreek River rapids

Nancy Bollinger, wolf clan mother of the Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation, offers tobacco to the four winds during the dedication of the rapids.

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Cultural encounter

In the Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation’s way of thinking, culture is an ongoing process that can only stop with extinction.

This weekend, through its members’ ninth annual Native Festival and Pow Wow, they want to deliver an entertaining and educational reminder that “We are not extinct.”

More than 6,000 visitors, including American Indians from several states, are expected to converge Saturday and Sunday on the festival site near Saltsburg.

Organizers say it will offer a unique look inside the Native culture with activities for all ages, including a hands-on living-history area, American Indian demonstrations, drumming, dancing, singing, children’s experiences, public participation dances, storytelling and more. A festival highlight is the grand entry at noon each day.

American-Indian arts and crafts will be displayed, and American-Indian food will be available.

While there is still work to be done in eliminating the Hollywood stereotypes of American Indians, says Shellie Oros, of Apollo, progress is being made. Events like the festival and powwow are helping.

“The festival is a way of getting a better understanding of who we are, especially for children,” says Oros, who adds that she can trace her bloodline to American Indian heritage, specifically the Cherokee, Cree and Lenni Lenape tribes. She is head female dancer at the festival.

“Some kids are under the impression that we still live in tepees,” she says. “We live normal lives just like everybody else, we have regular jobs like their parents, but our culture and spirituality is still very much alive in our families and our way of life.”

She is heartened when she hears festival-goers say they learned a lot by attending. “A lot of people don’t even realize we are here in this state or this part of the country,” she says. “They automatically think we are all out West and don’t realize native people don’t all live on the reservation.”

Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation is a volunteer-run, nonprofit organization based near Nowrytown in Conemaugh Township, Indiana County. It was formed in 1997 by Lenape descendants and those they adopted into their community.

Festival director Pat Selinger, of Saltsburg, is one of the adoptees. The practice has existed since before the Europeans came to this land and continues today, she says.

“It is as real within the native community as legal adoptions are in the mainstream society,” she explains.

There are three clans or family units within the Lenape: the turtle, wolf and turkey clans. Each clan is headed by a clan mother who is responsible for the care of her clan, almost as a grandmother is to her family. The clan mother also has political responsibilities within the tribe. Selinger has become the “turtle clan mother,” and Oros is the “turkey clan mother.”

“So much of the heritage of the natives in this area has been lost. Recently, there has been a surge of interest as well as information,” Selinger says. “This festival is a great place to begin to connect. So often we hear, ‘I have been told I have a native background, but my family is reluctant to talk about it.’ Or, ‘No one believes me because I do not look like an Indian.’”

The traditional American Indian culture is generous and inclusive, she says. There is respect for honor and tradition. One way that is demonstrated at this festival is with a dance honoring veterans during the grand entry each day.

“Native people have fought in every single war this country has been involved in. Even when they were considered less than normal citizens, they volunteered to serve,” Selinger says. “Even today, many of our men and women, including my sons, are serving.”

American Indians served even in unpopular wars, such as Vietnam, she adds. “The native people always understood the honor and sacrifice of serving, and honored that in the dance,” Selinger says. For many who served in Vietnam, the powwow circle was the first time they were officially welcomed home. But this dance also reaches out to the families, knowing that they are the support for those serving and that they, too, make sacrifices.”

At its heart, what festivals such as Thunder Mountain’s accomplish is to show a pride and a culture that is alive and vibrant, Selinger says.

“This can spark an interest in those who know that they have native ancestry to find out more about that part of their own heritage,” she adds.

By Rex Rutkoski, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH

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Thunder Mountain celebrates traditions

Pat Selinger and Shellie Reed hope this weekend’s Thunder Mountain festival in Indiana County can fight some of the stereotypes linked to American-Indian life.

“A lot of people think we’re all still living on The Rez,” says Reed, using a nickname for the reservations that are homes to many American Indians.

But far from all American Indians live on reservations, she points out, and one of the big purposes of the Thunder Mountain Native American Festival & Pow Wow is illuminate current and traditional settings of American Indians for others who might be unfamiliar with them.

For instance, a Cherokee woman will be there displaying her eBay-like, online sales business.

“It’s something most people don’t expect to see at a pow wow,” she says. “But we want to point out that we are alive and living in the 21st century.”

She says there also will be music, dancing, living history displays and music featuring the work of about 30 vendors and 75 dancers. About 6,000 people are expected at this, the eighth event.

“Our mission is to educate,” she says, “and help to beat the stereotypes.”

One of the biggest parts of both days, however, will be the Grand Entry at noon, she says. That is when all the dancers and participants of the symbolic part of the show will enter the grounds.

Selinger, of Saltsburg, and Reed, of Lower Burrell, both are members of the Thunder Mountan Lenape Nation, the American-Indian group sponsoring the festival.

The Lenape (pronounced: Le-NA-pay) originally were loosely organized bands of hunter-gatherers that later began to lead a largely agricultural life in the lower Hudson Valley, near the Delaware River and near the western Long Island Sound.

They were known as Delaware Indians by Europeans, who ultimately crowded them west into Pennsylvania and as far as Oklahoma. There also are tribes in Colorado, Kansas, New Jersey and Ontario, Canada.

Because the Lenape focused their activities in individual, small communities, she says, they were not as well known at nations such as the Iroquois.

The Lenape were one of the first tribes to enter a treaty with the new United States government during the War for Independence and supplied the army with warriors and scouts in exchange for food and promise of a role in the new government.

Selinger says one of the striking aspects of Lenape life is the strong role women played. They took part in the politics of the tribe and had important roles in life at home.

The three clans this Lenape nation, the Turtle, Turkey and Wolf clans, also appoint a “mother” in a leadership role. Selinger is mother of the Turtle Clan.

Reed, the head female dancer at the event, says one of the main purposes of the festival is “to get people to come out and celebrate with us.”

She likens that celebration to services in churches and points out that bearing elements of Lenape belief is similar to wearing religious items.

“I wear my medicine bag every day and it’s just like wearing a Christian cross,” she says.

Reed says when a festival is a success, it makes visitors want to come back.

“They say they are going back to their people,” she says.

 

by Bob Karlovits
Read more: Thunder Mountain celebrates traditions – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/rss/s_466324.html#ixzz1J9lLwOn2

 

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The Lenape Nation: A Tradition of Caretaking— People and the Environment

When people think of Native Americans, few think about the Lenape Nation here inPennsylvania. Fewer still know the Lenape as environmental educators.

William Penn encountered the Lenape (pronounced Le-nop-a) when he first arrived in Penn’s Woods and it was the Lenape from whom he bought eastern Pennsylvania. The treaty between the Lenape and Penn was said by Voltaire to be, “the only treaty made by the settlers with the Indians that was never sworn to, and the only one that was never broken.”

The Lenape today are organized into three clans wherever they live in the world — the Turtle, Wolf and Turkey—and each is lead by a Clan Mother.

“We’ve always had a cultural view of being caretakers of the earth and caretakers of each other,” said Pat Selinger, Turtle Clan Mother, from Saltsburg, Indiana County. “20 years ago few people identified themselves as having a native heritage, but now more do, although they may not know specifically what they are.”

To educate the public about the culture and philosophy of the Lenape Nation, over 40 volunteers put on educational programs for schools, communities, organizations, colleges and even malls.

“We tailor our programs to the audience, and many want an environmental theme,” said Selinger. “Our tradition is to respect both people and the environment and teaching responsibility for the environment is a part of our heritage.”

The Lenape in Pennsylvania have formed a non-profit educational organization called Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation to help organize programs about their culture and the environment. They put on about 25 programs a year, at least 10 of which are focused on the environment.

“Our approach is very hands-on with arrowheads, pottery and furs,” explained Selinger. “We explain how something is made, how any waste is used. Sometimes this is the first time kids have ever seen things like a real fur.”

“We also teach about farming and the lesson of the Three Sisters that’s also part of our tradition” Selinger said.

The term “Three Sisters” refers to corn, beans, and squash that give a lesson in environmental cooperation. The corn provides a climbing stalk for the beans; the beans provide nitrogen to the soil to nourish the corn; and the squash leaves spread out, preventing competition from unwanted vegetation and shade for corn’s shallow roots.

The “Three Sisters” lesson and the environmental education resources of the Lenape were featured as part of the Earth Day 2003activities by the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education.

Through Thunder Mountain, the Lenape have developed significant educational partnerships with the Westmoreland County Conservation District, St. Vincent College, the Conemaugh Valley Conservancy, Saltsburg School District, the Kiski Basin initiative and other partners.

Prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Lenape had a cultural center located at the Conemaugh Reservoir in WestmorelandCounty, however, after the attacks the Federal Government closed access to the reservoir. They are now trying to acquire a more permanent facility near the site of their annual festival in Saltsburg.

Each year the Lenape Native American Festival is a showcase of their cultural heritage that typically attracts over 6,000 people. This year the Festival is August 20 and 21.

“In Native society, we cannot separate culture from spiritualThunder Mountain Photo Collageity. Everything is sacred, and everything in nature is alive with its own spirit,” said Selinger. “We need to celebrate all of our parts, and take responsibility for treating everything with respect.”

The programs offered by the Lenape are a unique, engaging way to educate groups of any age about respecting the environment and are just one of thousands of environmental education resources available in Pennsylvania.

It is very appropriate to think about the contributions the people of the Lenape Nation have made and continue to make inPennsylvania’s development, since we celebrate Charter Day, the founding of Penn’s Woods by William Penn on March 4.

Thunder Mountain Photo Collage

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Volunteers help area’s Lenape Indians paint vivid story

The Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation has taken its story to the United Nations. Now, it wants to hear the stories of others.

A few years ago, Thunder Mountain created its rhythm totem pole exhibit. Besides being taken to numerous schools in the region to be used as an educational tool, the exhibit was shown at the United Nations in 2001-02.

The American Indian group knew the arbor poles that surround the celebratory dance area at its festival grounds needed to be replaced. Members of the group decided that instead of getting more plain ones, they would paint them in the manner that is unique to their group.

So far, 12 regional groups have signed on to paint an arbor pole, which will become part of Thunder Mountain’s annual festival and powwow near Saltsburg, Indiana County, in August.

As Clan Mother Pat Selinger said, the poles “tell our story.”

Totem poles are historically part of Pacific Northwest Native American history, but the idea worked so well that Thunder Mountain members decided to use the idea to give their nation’s history.

“We used that as a canvas to tell our story,” Selinger said. “It was an empowering project to work on.”

Several groups are working on painting the 6-foot poles: The Saltsburg Senior Citizens Center; the Ronald McDonald House, of Pittsburgh; Bruderhof, of Farmington, Fayette County; the Alle-Kiski Heritage Museum, in Armstrong Township, Indiana County; Burrell Township Library, in Indiana County, and Scenery Hill Manor, in Tarentum, Allegheny County.

Groups from Indiana Borough include ARC, The Common Place coffee house, The Newman Center, Chevy Chase Community Center, the Alice Paul House, and the Unitarian Church.

Two other groups are interested but haven’t committed yet, Selinger said. Aging Services Inc. also is participating.

“It’s the same concept. But instead of telling our story, we’ve invited those groups to tell their story,” Selinger said.

The groups must finish painting their poles by the end of the month so they can be treated for weather resistance. A pole-raising ceremony and picnic will be held July 10.

“I think they’ll be amazed at how human beings read pictures,” Selinger said. “This kind of has them come together and translate their words into pictures.”

Nineteen poles need to be replaced, but one is being reserved. That pole will be dedicated during the festival to veterans, who will be invited to sign the pole. Veterans’ families may sign for them, Selinger said.

Thunder Mountain is a nation of Lenape Indiana families, either by ancestry or adoption, living in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

By: Joyce Shannon, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Read more: Volunteers help area’s Lenape Indians paint vivid story – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_197564.html#ixzz1JSPtMjcy

 

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Organizations tell their stories on totem poles

Posing with their unfinished totem pole are staff, volunteers, and clients of the Alice Paul House. They agreed to tell the story of the shelter through the totem pole for a project headed by the Saltsburg-based Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation.

SALTSBURG–Totem poles are a traditional Native American way of story-telling–but words are replaced by colorful images, designs and symbols.

The Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation, in Nowrytown, near Saltsburg, supports the use of totem poles as a means of relaying a story, and Clan Mother Pat Selinger has taken the tradition to a new level, offering local organizations the opportunity to tell their stories in this non-conventional way.

The Thunder Mountain people were formerly based at Conemaugh Dam, but after Sept. 11 their access to the park was severely curtailed. A plot of land was opened up to them in Nowrytown three years ago; they moved their village, but are continuing to build up their new home.

Included in the village is a dance circle surrounded by poles which will hold a canopy in the hot summer to protect those watching the dancers.

“They’re just holding up the arbor for shade for the people to sit in,” Selinger explained.

This year, the Lenape people decided that the outer poles needed to be replaced. “But we realized that the inner poles were less thick,” said Selinger, noting that the new outer poles were eight inches thick, the inner ones only four inches.

“It wouldn’t match, it would be imbalanced, so we said we’d replace them all.”

They started out with an idea to supplant four of the poles with ones featuring stories of the four directions.

“But someone from a different organization said she would like to help,” Selinger recalled. “So I told her, maybe her organization would be interested in doing their own pole. And that’s how this whole thing started.”

The poles were removed in February–15 of the outer poles will be furnished by these various organizations, with the four directional poles included on the outside, and at a later date, Selinger said, the 19 inner poles may be done later by individual Native American tribes.

Letters were sent out in March, asking if organizations would like to create a pole for the dance circle. Most were local, but a few were scattered in the tri-state area, Selinger said.

“We’re a diverse people,” she remarked. “And we tried to get groups with different backgrounds.”

She added that she tried to choose organizations that would have a large group of people to work on the pole.

Loggers came onto the Thunder Mountain property and harvested poplar wood for the totem poles. The poles were prepped with a white glaze, and shipped off to the organizations who agreed to create the story poles.

The Alice Paul House, ARC of Indiana County, and Scenery Hill Manor were just three of the organizations invited to take part in the project, and each told their story in a completely different way.

The Alice Paul House received its letter in March, requesting the shelter’s participation.

Beth Illig, direct services coordinator, at first put the letter aside, believing the project would too difficult. But she brought it up at the next staff meeting, “to see if anyone was interested,” she said. “And they were.”

She also brought the project to the attention of the support group she runs for victims of domestic violence. “I wanted to see if any of them would be interested in helping, and they were,” Illig said.

“We couldn’t turn down the opportunity,” said Diann Overman, education services coordinator for the shelter. “We didn’t think we could have wasted an opportunity to tell our story.”

Backed with a team of interested people, the shelter scheduled its first planning meeting at the end of March.

Selinger attended the meeting to inform the group on what was needed of them, and to help generate thoughts and how to apply them to the project.

“She is very enthusiastic, and makes you want to be a part of this,” Overman said of Selinger.

Selinger explained that there were no rules except guidelines on what kinds of paint to use that would withstand the elements, and the requirement of a key describing the story the totem pole tells.

Besides that, “It was our pole,” said Overman.

And with Selinger’s coaxing, the group soon had a large slate of concepts with which to work with for their totem pole.

“We had so many ideas, it was hard,” noted Illig.

“We just kind of all threw ideas out,” added Overman.

At first, said Illig, the women had to decide what story they wanted to tell on their totem pole.

“We weren’t sure if we would have enough symbols or ideas to fill an entire pole,” she said. “But once we all got together, we had so many ideas.”

What was notable, Illig said, was that even with all of the ideas on the table, they were all similar, consistent themes.

They settled on telling the story of the Alice Paul House and what it offers to victims of domestic violence.

“It was a lot easier than I thought,” Overman remarked. “When we started painting two weeks ago, we found that it was a lot easier than we thought.”

Ruth Kimmel is a member of Illig’s support group. When she first heard about the project, “I thought it would be a neat idea, not only to tell the story of our shelter, but also to educate people,” she said.

And as one of the shelter’s staff members pointed out, this will not serve as an educational tool for just the Alice Paul House and its fight against domestic violence, but it will also encourage people to learn more about the Indian culture.

“That was one of the reasons why I really wanted to do this project,” noted LuŽne Hulings, a counselor for the shelter, “because of the connection with the Native American people and the Lenape nation. Because we are all connected. They were here before we were, and so much of that culture has been lost to us, and it’s nice for us to be able to reestablish with it.”

After Selinger’s visit, Overman said she was impressed to learn about the powerful role of women in many native cultures. And she liked the idea that the project would involve the shelter as a whole–the staff, volunteers, and the survivors.

“But that’s Native American thought,” added Hulings. “They are not separatists. They believe in doing things together as a whole.”

Overman said Selinger “helped us connect thoughts with symbols, and she shared with us how the Lenape natives had their own women’s movement.

“Within the structure, women hold high positions,” Illig explained. Selinger, for instance, holds the title of clan mother in the Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation.

A second meeting, or “brainstorming session,” as Illig called it, was held in the beginning of April.

“That’s when we came up with the idea of three sections,” Illig said.

Christy Imler, shelter manager, was the artist behind the shelter’s totem pole blue print. Gathering the ideas that the group agreed would tell the Alice Paul House story best, she took the symbols and arranged them on paper to represent how they will appear on the totem pole.

“It’s a transition pole,” she explained. “It shows the healing process from the beginning to the end.”

The story begins at the bottom with a tragedy, represented by fire and a tornado–”Things that we don’t have control of, like abuse,” Imler said.

A chain works its way up the pole, showing the bondage victims of domestic abuse feel and the feeling that there is no escape.

“And this part works with all crime,” Imler suggested. “How it happens and the emotions that you are chained to.”

A snake stares from the bottom of the pole, symbolic of evil, the abuser, and even the system, one survivor pointed out.

Though the snake is being used as a perpetrator, “it also can shed its skin, a symbol of new life in Native American culture,” added Imler.

A stairway also winds its way through the design, with a figure at the foot, preparing to make the long climb to wellness.

The staircase leads into the “nesting period,” and the role the shelter holds in helping piece victims’ lives together after tragedy–a safe environment, a support system, Imler said.

Three large eggs are cradled in a nest, and represent the three “colors” of victims that the shelter deals with: purple is domestic violence; blue, child abuse; and teal, sexual assault.

“The eggs are the victims being nestled, supported by the shelter,” said Imler.

“They are getting what they need to grow.”

The nest, meanwhile, is symbolic of a safe haven, but the fire from the bottom continues to throw its flames upward, following almost to the top, and showing that one can never totally disengage oneself from tragedy.

And though the fire does have a presence throughout the theme of the pole, “it’s never as bad as the initial because now they have strength and tools to carry on,” Imler said.

After the nesting stage, the chain from the bottom of the pole transforms into a chain of hands, supporting one another.

A period of transition follows, showing rain clouds–a sign that though strength is building, survivors should not be discouraged, because every day may bring with it new problems.

“A storm will still pop up, but it won’t be as severe,” said Illig.

“Especially with domestic violence, because the victim still has some contact with the abuser” because of children, court, or other circumstances.

Overman said she would like to incorporate a caterpillar and cocoon on the totem pole, to represent the stages of metamorphosis of victims, “from being closed up and afraid, to a rebirth into society.”

Three birds are perched at the pole’s top: a dove to represent peace; a phoenix, a sign of new life; and an eagle, the symbol of freedom.

The birds were Kimmel’s idea.

“After you leave the first stage and you go on to the shelter, the victim eventually becomes a survivor, and what they received from the shelter is new life, new freedom, and eventually, peace,” she stated.

An advocate of the Alice Paul House, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I’m looking forward to the education this will bring to the community.

“People will look at this pole and understand what victims of abuse go through.

“It’s helped us establish a common ground, whether you’re a counselor or a survivor. We see the same vision, no matter who we are.”

“It’s a process,” added Imler.

“I don’t think people understand the obstacles that victims face and the number of choices they have to make,” Overman commented.

“And we support them in their choices.”

Kimmel provided her own view of the Alice Paul House: “They don’t judge. They respect without questions.”

As perceptible as the shelter’s pole story might be, and even with a key to explain the different symbolism, anyone who studies the pole may see a different story.

“Whoever looks at this pole will be able to interpret it however they want,” said Hulings.

“They’ll be able to step into the shoes of a victim,” added Overman.

“And we all worked together,” Hulings emphasized.

“That amazed me,” noted Overman. “I thought, how are we going to do this? What do we put on the pole? How are we going to paint it?

“But it just came so easy.”

“And we found hidden talent within the group,” hinted Illig.

Though Imler sketched some rough drawings on the pole as a start, a number of different people–from staff to survivors–did the painting.

The Wal-Mart in Blairsville donated painting supplies to the shelter, including the tint used to mix the colors.

And though the project has been a source of fun for those involved, the shelter is not taking its participation for granted.

“We just appreciate being contacted and being given the opportunity to engage in this project,” said Hulings.

“It’s been going so smoothly,” said Imler.

The staff and clients of the ARC of Indiana County, which provides services to those who are mentally challenged, have also been busy preparing their pole for the project.

Like the Alice Paul House, at the end of March, the staff met to determine what design they would paint, that would implement both the history of ARC and its future.

Joanne Taylor, an ARC board member and president of the parent transition group, researched various symbols that could be applied to the group’s cause.

“It’s hard telling a story in pictures, and Joanne was able to find symbols and what they meant,” said Nancy Janicak, vice president of ARC of Indiana County.

“And one of the things we decided to do is the spiral as a theme. Our mission is kind of like the spiral in that it never ends. It never stays in one place.”

They chose a spiral staircase, to represent direction and changes, which will snake up the pole and blossom into vines at the very top.

“And that’s what we do,” Janicak noted.

ARC Executive Director Barbara Telthorster added, “We help young people transition through school to independent living, and we wanted to depict this on the totem pole.”

“We respond to the needs of the community,” Janicak remarked. “That’s our primary focus, is to respond to the needs that are out there.”

As the spiral twines, basic elements of ARC will be implemented along its path. At the top, the staircase explodes into vines, showing how ARC is branching off in different directions, and its partnership with other community-minded organizations.

The totem pole, noted Telthorster, displays just a few of the things that the organization is doing for its clients.

“These are just some of the things that we’re doing, and we’re still growing,” Telthorster pointed out.

Once at the top of the spiral, animal symbols will be stenciled in, “showing some of the things that have meaning to us,” said Janicak.

Frogs represent change and growth; turtles, longevity; owls, wisdom; a raven for dreams–”

All of our kids have dreams,” said Janicak. Also included are a wolf symbolizing protection; a parrot for communication; and a dove, the former symbol of the ARC; a ladybug for good luck; and a lamb representing innocence and youth.

“So that is how we are going to tell our story,” said Janicak.

They also have a stencil of children holding hands, “Because that what we are–a link to support each other,” noted Telthorster.

Selinger called Telthorster requesting the ARC’s participation. “We were really impressed with what they had to say,” she noted.

“We really believe in community involvement, and this is just another aspect. I’m excited about it.”

“I think it was just exciting to able to tell our story to people we wouldn’t normally reach,” she continued. “We do a lot of public speaking, but to put our story into pictures was a challenge.”

“We can write our story–that would be easy,” added Janicak.

The ARC has enlisted staff, volunteers, and clients and their families for the painting process.

“We hope to get as many kids as we can involved,” said Janicak.

“We want it to be a family project,” Telthorster interjected.

Janicak said she is excited that ARC is to become a part of the Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation’s village, and to be included in their culture

“We’re really impressed with being asked to be part of their new dance circle,” said Janicak.

And though work was slow-going at first for the ARC totem pole, Janicak isn’t worried.

“It will come together,” she remarked.

The organizations involved have all been invited to a pole raising party that will be held in July.

The poles will be inserted into cement blocks to keep the wood from rotting, and a plaque relaying each pole’s creator will accompany the key explaining the pole’s design.

“The cement will be pored and the poles will go up–kind of like an old-fashioned barn-raising,” noted Selinger.

She noted that one pole in particular will be dedicated to veterans, and any visiting during the annual festival may sign the pole. Families and friends of deceased veterans will also be encouraged to sign the names of their loved ones.

In August, when the Thunder Mountain Lenape Nation holds its annual festival in Nowrytown, the poles will be unveiled to the public.

“I think it will be interesting to meet with the other organizations and see what they’ve done,” said Illig. “And it’s great to all come together for one cause.”

“I think it’s going to be exciting to see the other poles and see their stories,” Overman said of the other organizations involved.

“It will be nice to see everybody pause and look at each pole and appreciate them,” said Roxie Johnston, shelter manager.

Overman has attended the festival previously with her children, but most of the other pole participants at the Alice Paul House have not yet visited the tribe’s rural site.

“I can’t wait to see it, though,” Illig commented.

Scenery Hill Manor thought of a way to incorporate the old and the young into its totem pole project.

They have decided upon a joint project with Indiana West II ARIN children, who visit the facility twice a month.

“We had them come and place their handprints on the pole, and we will do the same with our residents,” said MaryAnn Simone, director of social services and activities at Scenery Hill.

“It’s kind of an intergenerational project that way.”

The children’s handprints were applied with red and green paint–the colors of Scenery Hill, Simone noted. Now, those of the residents will be added, interspersed with those of the children.

“The residents really had a good time working with the children,” Simone said.

When Selinger approached Scenery Hill about the project, Simone said the decision to participate was easy.

“We thought it would be a good intergenerational activity, and we’re always looking for new ideas for the children and residents to work on together,” she said. “It’s neat to the small handprints intermixed with the big handprints.”

The opportunity to reach a different audience at the Thunder Mountain festival was also an attraction to Scenery Hill, which is finishing renovations to its building and wanting to advertise its new and improved facility.

“We’re working very hard to get our name out in the public,” Simone said.

Other local organizations involved in the totem pole project include: Bruderhof, Alle-Kiski Museum, The Commonplace, Newman Center, Chevy Chase Center, Unitarian Church of Indiana, Area on Aging, Burrell Township Library, and the Ronald McDonald House.

Two grants were used to help finance both the Thunder Mountain Native American Festival, which be held Aug. 21-22, and the arbor pole project. Selinger received grants from both the Indiana County Endowment of the Pittsburgh Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts through the Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance.

All three of these organizations–the Alice Paul House, ARC, and Scenery Hill, were excited to be given the chance to tell their stories in a distinctive and eye-catching way.

“It’s just been a lot of fun,” said Overman.

“It’s a positive thing,” said Kimmel. “And it gives a sense of hope.”

Selinger said of the new arbor, “People coming to the pow-wow won’t expect to see a living art gallery. But that’s exactly what this is.

“It will be as if the community itself is embracing the guests as they come.”

For more information on the Thunder Mountain Native American Festival, visit www.thundermtlenape.org.

By: Gina Delfavero, Blairsville Dispatch

Read more: Organizations tell their stories on totem poles – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/blairsvilledispatch/s_197167.html#ixzz1JSRhfo6F

 

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