Latest news with #Chippewa
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What's the big deal about large roadside attractions? There's a lot to love
The May long weekend marks the official start of summer road trip season and Kyler Zeleny — a fourth-generation sausage-maker in rural Alberta — expects to see a whole lot more tourists rolling up to see a giant Ukrainian kielbasa. The massive meat monument in the town of Mundare, 80 kilometres east of Edmonton, was the brainchild of Zeleny's grandfather, Edward Stawnichy. "The thinking was if we're making sausage and we've got a bunch of Ukrainians here, let's erect a Ukrainian sausage — a kielbasa," says Zeleny, now the assistant manager at Stawnichy's Mundare Sausage. The kielbasa, which went up in April 2001, is 12.8 metres — about 42 feet — tall. The family's charitable foundation is said to have paid $120,000 for the red fibreglass structure that stands in a park not far from the meat processing plant. Zeleny says the larger-than-life link (pun intended) to the 66-year-old family business has helped the company grow. It now has 80 products in more than 300 stores. He's proud of the sausage sculpture. "There's just something about small towns getting behind creating really kitsch ideas as a way to drive people into towns," says Zeleny. WATCH | Dive into the backstory of this substantial sausage sculpture in Alberta: Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, circles the globe weighing and measuring big things. Glenday said Alberta has about 40 claims of the world's largest things, according to the website Large Canadian Roadside Attractions. The rest of the country is dotted with giant structures that include a fiddle, a canoe paddle, a nickel, an axe, a whole bunch of animals and giant food. "It's a really fascinating collection," said the London-based Glenday. IN PHOTOS: Some of Canada's super-sized spectacles: He says roadside attractions grew up alongside North America's car culture and finding these off-the-beaten-path destinations is half the fun. "It's a weird thrill, isn't it, when you're driving and you see something off in the distance and think, 'What is that?'" says Glenday. "It's intriguing and it gets the adrenaline rushing, it's quite exciting." Glenday said Guinness World Records recently certified the world's largest dream catcher. It hangs from a massive wooden frame at the powwow grounds on Rama First Nation, not far from Orillia, Ont. A dream project Its creator, 61-year-old Bob Williams, spent more than a year planning and crafting the structure, which weighs 900 kilograms (1,985 pounds) and is about 13 metres (42-ish feet) in diameter. Williams has been building dream catchers for half his life, but never something on this scale. To be a traditional dream catcher of the Chippewa territory, no metal could be used, said Williams. So it's made of 2,100 metres of rope, 1,500 metres of sinew and flexible trees collected from the bush near his house. "I choose those woods for a reason, because they have a lot of meaning for our culture — ash and willow, we work with them a lot," said Williams. Hoisting the creation into place was a bit like handling "a great big anaconda," he said. "It was scary, I tell you. I didn't realize how flexible the dream catcher was. Lifting it off the ground took, like, 300 people," says Williams. The record for the largest dream catcher was previously held by Lithuania at 10 metres in diameter. But because dream catchers were created in North America by the Ojibwe people, Williams wanted the world's largest to be located in Canada. "I wanted to make that happen in Rama." Darryl Lem hasn't seen the dream catcher yet, but the recent retiree and motorcyclist enthusiast has seen more than a few giant landmarks while travelling the highways. "There's the happy rock in Gladstone, Man., a great big Viking in Winnipeg Beach and the Wawa goose," said the 59-year-old, who's been taking in the big sights over about seven years of touring. "We did Route 66 last year and saw everything from the big muffler man and all sorts of attractions," said Lem. He considers it a bucket list kind of thing. "Who doesn't want to ride a couple thousand kilometres to see the biggest ball of yarn and get an ice cream?"
Miami Herald
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Central Michigan dismisses coach Tony Barbee
Central Michigan fired coach Tony Barbee on Thursday after four seasons. The Chippewas went 14-17 this season and 49-75 in Barbee's four seasons at the helm. Barbee, 53, had one winning season at Central Michigan, going 18-14 during the 2023-24 season. "At this time, I have determined that we need to go in a different direction with the leadership of our men's basketball program," athletic director Amy Folan said in a news release. "I want to thank Tony for his dedication and service during his last four years in Mount Pleasant. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. "I am confident that we will attract a high-caliber candidate pool during our head coaching search. This is a tremendous opportunity, and we know that our community will rally behind our next Chippewa men's basketball coach." Barbee also went 49-75 in a four-season stint at Auburn from 2010-14. Prior to that, Barbee went 82-52 at UTEP from 2006-10, leading the Miners to a 26-7 record and a NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2009-10 campaign. --Field Level Media Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Reuters
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Central Michigan dismisses coach Tony Barbee
April 4 - Central Michigan fired coach Tony Barbee on Thursday after four seasons. The Chippewas went 14-17 this season and 49-75 in Barbee's four seasons at the helm. Barbee, 53, had one winning season at Central Michigan, going 18-14 during the 2023-24 season. "At this time, I have determined that we need to go in a different direction with the leadership of our men's basketball program," athletic director Amy Folan said in a news release. "I want to thank Tony for his dedication and service during his last four years in Mount Pleasant. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. "I am confident that we will attract a high-caliber candidate pool during our head coaching search. This is a tremendous opportunity, and we know that our community will rally behind our next Chippewa men's basketball coach." Barbee also went 49-75 in a four-season stint at Auburn from 2010-14. Prior to that, Barbee went 82-52 at UTEP from 2006-10, leading the Miners to a 26-7 record and a NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2009-10 campaign.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Hello, everybody': Leonard Peltier gets a warrior's welcome
Kevin AbourezkICT BELCOURT, N.D. – An event 49 years in the making erupted inside a casino event center Wednesday on the Turtle Mountain Reservation. As drummers sang, 80-year-old Chippewa and Lakota activist Leonard Peltier walked into a room full of nearly 500 supporters and family members during a welcome home celebration. SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. Led by Native dancers in regalia, he walked past banners that read 'Rise up. Free Leonard Peltier,' 'Enough is enough. Free Leonard Peltier,' and 'Leonard's liberation is our liberation.' And past a teepee draped with a banner that read 'Welcome home Leonard Peltier.' Nick Tilsen, the founder and chief executive of NDN Collective — a Native nonprofit that worked to secure Peltier's release — led Peltier through the crowd as supporters let loose war whoops and held cell phones high in the air to capture the moment. The children of late American Indian Movement activists like Clyde Bellecourt — whose son Little Crow Bellecourt sang at a drum — and Peltier's own children paid homage to the nearly five-decade imprisonment of a man whose plight became synonymous with the fight for Indigenous justice worldwide. Tilsen's own grandfather, Ken Tilsen, defended many of AIM's members who were arrested and jailed following the 1973 siege at Wounded Knee. Peltier was released from federal prison in Sumterville, Florida, on Tuesday, Feb. 18, to make the journey home. Outgoing President Joe Biden issued an order as he was leaving office Jan. 20 to grant clemency to Peltier, who suffered from serious health problems, including diabetes, vision loss, heart problems, an aortic aneurysm and the lingering effects of COVID-19. Until Biden's last-minute action, Peltier had repeatedly been denied parole, pardon, clemency and compassionate release and had seen eight presidents leave office without pardoning him or commuting his release came after decades of grassroots organizing in Indian Country and the presentation of evidence of misconduct and constitutional violations during the prosecution of Peltier's case. Fighting for Indigenous rights After listening to several honoring songs Wednesday, Peltier sat down at a long table facing the crowd, and Tilsen thanked the many Native leaders who fought for Indigenous rights during the tumultuous 1970s. 'That generation stood up against the most powerful government in the world and they instilled that pride back into our people,' he said. 'They instilled that fight back into our people. This effort was successful because we walked on prayer, because we walked in our ceremonies. That was the foundation of this effort.' He promised to continue the work of those Indigenous civil rights leaders who came before him. 'We are on a continuum of 500 years of Indigenous resistance, but today, today is a victory day,' he said. Peltier then stood and took the microphone. Wearing a sheep-skin denim coat and a ribbon shirt, the soft-spoken elder's voice struggled to fill the large room, but in the nearly complete silence he managed to tell his story. 'Hello, everybody,' he said. Shouts of 'we love you!' came back. 'I spent 49 years straight in prison for something I didn't do and was not legally convicted of,' he said Robert Robideau and Darrelle "Dino" Butler — the other two men arrested in the shooting deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams — were exonerated as having simply defended themselves during the shootout on June 26, 1975. Peltier was not convicted of killing the agents, but he served 49 years after being convicted of aiding and abetting in their murder. He said the federal government felt compelled to put its 'full weight' into ensuring his conviction by whatever means necessary. 'I was no more guilty than my co-defendants,' he said. He said his time in prison was difficult and he wasn't sure he would survive. Not long after he was first imprisoned, he was placed in a sensory deprivation cell in which he experienced total darkness and had only a blanket. 'When I first went into prison, they treated me like shit, man,' he said. A parole commission's decision on June 10, 2024, to deny him parole for another 15 more years was like a 'death sentence,' he said. Peltier will face home confinement for his final days, but, he said, 'It's a lot better than living in a cell.' 'They tried all kinds of different things, but I beat them. I beat the bastards,' he said to thunderous applause. Looking around the event center inside the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe's Sky Dancer Casino, he remarked on how well his tribe seemed to be doing. 'When I left, we didn't have a pot to piss in,' he said. 'We had nothing, man.' He thanked those supporters who fought for so many years for his freedom. 'I have a hard time keeping myself from crying,' he said. 'Thank you, thank you very much for showing me this support. 'It was worth it to me, to be able to sacrifice.' 'Dignified, strong' Standing outside the conference room, Nick Tilsen spoke to ICT about his experience in the hours since Peltier's release from prison. 'It's been intense,' he said. 'It's been powerful to be able to see Leonard Peltier being in joy.' He said the details of Peltier's home confinement have yet to be worked out. 'He'll have some restrictions, but he's going to be able to go to ceremony. He's going to be able to go to meetings in his own community. He's going to be able to have a life.' He said it was a logistical challenge to organize Peltier's release and journey home, as well as events related to his homecoming. In all their planning, NDN Collective leaders have focused on Peltier's safety, security and health, Tilsen said. All of the hard work securing Peltier's release, he said, was worth it when he saw him walk out of Coleman Federal Corrections Complex in Florida. 'He walked out dignified, strong,' Tilsen said. 'He shook the hands of the corrections officers and the transition team, and they were happy, too, that he was being released.' He said he and Peltier got into a vehicle, Peltier in the backseat, and 'Come and Get Your Love' by Indigenous rock band Redbone began playing. 'We drove out of Coleman Maximum Security Prison listening to Redbone. And Leonard Peltier is free, dancing in the backseat. It was beautiful.' Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘I've come home': Leonard Peltier returns to North Dakota homelands
Kevin AbourezkICT BELCOURT, N.D. – After 49 years of imprisonment, Chippewa activist Leonard Peltier raised his fist out the window of a white SUV Tuesday as he crossed the border of the Turtle Mountain Reservation and shouted to his supporters and to his family. 'Thank you very much,' he yelled to dozens of people standing on the side of North Dakota Highway 5. 'I'm home. I've come home.' SUPPORT INDIGENOUS JOURNALISM. The 80-year-old landed in Devils Lake, North Dakota, on Tuesday afternoon and was taken in a caravan 90 minutes north to Belcourt,where supporters in more than 80 vehicles waited at the reservation carried signs: 'Miigwech (thank you) Leonard Peltier.' '50 years of resistance.' 'Welcome Leonard.' 'It's about damn time.' 'Welcome home Leonard Peltier.' 'Welcome home cuz.''Welcome home grandpa.'Facing minus-20-degree wind chills, fathers stood by their shivering sons and daughters. Elders stood by their grandchildren, and Two-Spirit people hoisted fabric-covered sang the American Indian Movement anthem on a drum as cars streamed past in both Peltier sat in her vehicle waiting for the caravan to arrive. Leonard Peltier's youngest sister said she organized much of the Tuesday activities, including a community dinner in the evening.'It's a glorious day. It's a historical day,' she said. 'He's coming home.'She said she attended rallies as a child held in support of her brother's freedom. Her brother will face house arrest when he gets home, but those restrictions aren't likely to drain his spirit too much, she said.'Anything's better than where he was,' Sheila Peltier said. 'I'm sure he feels like he's a free man compared to being in prison for nearly 50 years.'Peltier was released from federal prison in Sumterville, Florida, Tuesday to make the journey home. Outgoing President Joe Biden issued an order as he was leaving office Jan. 20 to grant clemency to Peltier, who suffered from several serious health – who was not convicted of murder in the deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams – served 49 years after being convicted of aiding and abetting in the murder of the federal officers. He also received a seven-year sentence for an escape Biden's last-minute action, Peltier had repeatedly been denied parole, pardon, clemency and compassionate release and had seen eight presidents leave office without pardoning him or commuting his release came after decades of grassroots organizing in Indian Country and the presentation of evidence of misconduct and constitutional violations during the prosecution of Peltier's case. Sheila Peltier said her brother endured a grave injustice by being convicted of a crime based on false evidence.'They took his life for nothing. There's no evidence,' she said. 'Somebody had to pay for a crime. He's the one that had to do it I guess.'Earlier Tuesday at the Sky Dancer Casino and Resort, Leonard Peltier's nieces, Brenda Martinez, 62, and Pamela Bravo, 58, paced the halls waiting for their uncle's said it likely will be difficult for prisoner No. 89637-132 to transition to life outside the walls of Coleman Federal Corrections Complex in Florida.'He can now open a fridge. He can turn on a stove, things he has not been able to do for 50 years, that we take for granted,' she said. 'And he can look out his window. He can stand at the door and smell that morning air, things he has not had for more than a lifetime.' She said Biden's decision to grant her uncle clemency was a shock to her and many of her relatives. After confirming the news with her aunt, Sheila Peltier, she began calling other relatives to share the said she had worried something might prevent Leonard Peltier from leaving prison after Jan. 20, especially with Donald Trump becoming president and federal authorities fuming over Biden's decision.'It's been one of the longest months,' she said. Martinez shared fond memories of her uncle taking her and her siblings into Belcourt to buy candy as children.'He was a wonderful uncle,' she said. 'He was very loving to us and that's what we carried.'Said Bravo: 'He's just a strong person, standing up for all the Natives.' His younger brother, Ron Peltier, 70, waited at the casino for his brother after Leonard Peltier's caravan crossed the reservation border on said he never got to know his brother, as Leonard was away at boarding school when he was young and Ron was taken from his family at age 4 and later adopted at age 8. Ron Peltier spent his life in Toledo, Ohio, and today lives with his wife in 2005, he reunited with his brother and began visiting him at U.S. Penitentiary Leavenworth in Kansas, where they spent many hours together.'The thing that strikes me the most about Leonard is the fact that he has not gotten bitter or angry,' he said. 'He didn't give in and give up, and a lot of people would be deflated and defeated. … He's got a good heart.'Greg LeBeau, 44, a staff member at Belcourt Elementary School, grew up in Leonard Peltier's hometown hearing stories about Peltier and decided later to educate himself about the circumstances of his said the past few weeks since Biden's decision have been an 'emotional roller coaster' and he called the decision to grant Peltier clemency an act of justice for all Native people.'It's a historical day, and I'm very proud to be a part of it and be present for it,' he said. 'All I hope for him is that he gets the peace that he's waited for for so long.' Little Crow Bellecourt, 52, executive director of the Indigenous Protector Movement in Minneapolis, said he grew up singing with drum groups at events held to rally support for he heard about the clemency decision, he said he thought of his father, famed AIM leader Clyde Bellecourt, and the many years he fought for Peltier's release.'A lot of his brothers and sisters that he fought with in the movement are in the spirit world now. Gone,' Little Crow Bellecourt said. 'So my hopes are that he can be around family, and he's been the face of Native resistance for many years, my whole life. Gives me hope that we don't give up.'He said the AIM's birth in Minneapolis in 1968 sparked a nationwide movement for Indigenous pride and social justice. He said his father was one of the first Native people in Minneapolis to grow his hair said AIM fought for the people, especially those on the Pine Ridge Reservation who called for the organization's support. Additional celebrations are scheduled for Wednesday.'It's going to be a big day,' he said, choking back tears. 'I can't wait for tonight, to see him, sing some songs. I actually get to sing the Peltier song tonight while he's a free man, and that's awesome.'A community feed for Peltier will take place from noon-4 p.m. Central time Wednesday at the Sky Dancer Casino Event Center in Belcourt. Our stories are worth telling. Our stories are worth sharing. Our stories are worth your support. Contribute today to help ICT carry out its critical mission. Sign up for ICT's free newsletter.
