Natives Unite (idle no more)

Andre P. Cramblit and Julian Lang, both Karuk Tribal members, beat to the rhythm of Native Self-Determination. Tia Hummingbird Oros Peters of the Zuni Tribe, Executive Director of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, stands far right./Photo courtesy of Mary Jane Risling

By LISA MOREHEAD-NEUNER, TRT Contributing Writer

At any given time during shopping hours, in any given shopping mall in the world, you might be hearing a drum beat these days. Over the sound of teeny tunes, over the sound of ringing cash registers it beckons steadily.

“Oh, yeah,” started the young hairdresser Michelle Sanus, a Cow Creek tribal member, who was at her place of work at the Medford Rogue Valley Mall when the drum began to beat on Sunday, January 5. “My mom was talking about this. She’s a singer and drummer, and she said there was going to be something going on. I forget what she called it…”

Was it “Idle No More?” Yeah, yeah, she thought so.