Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Monday, January 27, 2014

Snow day !


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

SEND Acension 2 the World Hoop Dance Championships



The Two Row Times  

There’s this kid I know of, well he’s not a kid actually. More of a young man. His name is Ascension. His mama and I were pregnant at the same time and would often wave miserably at each other as we waddled throughout the hot summer of 2001.

Ascension is a pow wow dancer. He is 12 years old and he has been performing hoop dance since he was only two. He has danced all over the world with his family and the Tribal Vision Dance company. He has shared the stage with many excellent performers, including Nelly Furtado! This year, his parents made the decision to take him to Phoenix, Arizona for the 24th Annual Heard Museum World Championship Hoop Dance Contest on Feb. 8 & 9, 2014.

The thing is, there is no ‘Big Name Company Foundation for Pow Wow Arts’. Nor does the pow wow qualify as a sport, even though the competition is physically intense. Everyone and anyone who travels competitively for pow wow dancing has to fund it on their own. Some people sell tickets and have Indian Taco fundraisers, as is the case with Ascension’s family.

Here’s where my column comes in. Ascension is a fantastic dancer. Not only that, he has a terrific stage presence and is an honest to goodness pure representation of how a young man from Six Nations should behave. In my opinion, he could be a role model. Additionally his parents believe in him so much, they are willing to put life aside for a week to drive him to Phoenix from Six Nations to compete in the World Championships. This is the kind of love and power that decolonization is made of.

Next is where you, my loving readers come in. We posted a message a few weeks ago for our Pay if Forward 2014 campaign in partnership with the Everlasting Tree School and Ascension is the first nominee. It’s gonna cost the family about $3000 to get him there, and we only have a month. Less than actually. His mom is selling beadwork on the side to raise the money to get him to Phoenix and there are some 50/50 tickets for sale as well. But I know with 23,000 copies of the Two Row Times going out every week, combined with our awesome readers on social media we can reach out and help too.
Here is what I propose we do, in two simple steps.
If you support his journey to the championships you can sponsor him.


You can send an email money transaction to tworowpayitforward@gmail.com (Yes, you can do that these days!) If you are in the Six Nations area you can also drop off donations to our storefront counter through Icky’s Tobacconist & Variety at 741 Sour Springs Road.


Tuesday, January 14, 2014

A little about Rachel's Challenge

Each day 160,000 students do not go to school because they are bullied, teased and harassed. By turning the story of a tragic death at Columbine High School into a mission for change, Rachel's Challenge is helping create safer learning environments and making a world-wide impact.
Rachel's Challenge is a series of student empowering programs and strategies that equip students and adults to combat bullying and allay feelings of isolation and despair by creating a culture of kindness and compassion. The programs are based on the writings and life of 17 year-old Rachel Scott who was the first student killed at Columbine High School in 1999. Rachel left a legacy of reaching out to those who were different, who were picked on by others, or who were new at her school. Shortly before her death she wrote,
"I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go."
Rachel's Challenge was started by Rachel's dad and stepmom, Darrell and Sandy Scott when they realized that the writings and drawings Rachel left not only had an impact on her friends and classmates, but also resonated with students around the world. Although Rachel was a typical teenager who even wrote about her "ups and downs," she had a passion and conviction that she would someday change the world. The Scott family knew her story and passion had to be told to inspire others to make their world a better place.
More than 19 million people have been touched by Rachel's message, and they continue the legacy of making a difference in their communities. Each year at least 2 million more people are added to that number. These are just a couple of the results of Rachel's Challenge. In one survey, 78% of students indicated they would definitely intervene in a bullying incident in their school after seeing Rachel's Challenge. In the last 3 years, Rachel’s Challenge has received nearly 500 unsolicited emails from students stating that after hearing Rachel’s story they reached out for help as they were contemplating suicide. Some even state that “Rachel saved their life”.
Rachel's Challenge is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious organization based in Littleton, Colorado.