Alamo Navajo Community School “Home of the Cougars” Alamo Navajo School Board Basketball Schedule President: 2019-2020 Raymond Apachito Sr. 11/22 Quemado Tournament TBA JH Vice-President: 12/03 Tohajiilee-HOME 4 pm JH 12/5-12/7 Steer Stampede Tournament V John Apachito Jr Magdalena TBA V Members: 12/5-12/7 Rehoboth Boys JV Tournament Steve Guerro Gallup TBA JHB 12/10 Mountainair-AWAY 4 pm JVB, V Charlotte Guerro 12/12-12/14 Mescalero Holiday Classic Mescalero TBA V Fighting for Native Rights 12/17 Mountainair-HOME 4 pm JVB, V 12/19 Reserve-HOME 3 pm JVB, V By: Kenyon Apachito 12/20 Evangel Christian-AWAY 3:30 pm V November is the month that hosts National Native 12/26-12/27 Striking Eagle Tournament American Heritage Month. What better way to celebrate the month than remember our Native Albuquerque TBA V American icons? Most people could easily 01/03 Magdalena JH & JV Tournament TBA recognize Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Manuelito, Crazy 01/04 Quemado -AWAY 11 am JH, JV, V Horse, and also Sacagawea. They each hold their 01/06 Magdalena -HOME 4 pm JH purposes of unique ventures, but do you know 01/09 Reserve-HOME 4 pm JH, JVB about the Native American who emerged from the 01/10 Quemado -HOME 11 am JH, JV, V Oglala Lakota tribe? Born in 1868, he was one of 01/14 Jemez-HOME 5 pm V the many Native American icons to fight for Native 01/16 Tohajiilee-AWAY 4 pm JH rights. 01/16 Walatowa -AWAY 4 pm V His white name was “Luther Standing Bear” and his family name was Óta Kté, which meant 01/18 Pine Hill-AWAY 1 pm JV, V “Plenty Kill”. Luther Standing Bear with his father, 01/21 Estancia-AWAY 4 pm JV, V “Choose your new name,” said the voice of Óta George Standing Bear, at Carlisle 01/23 Magdalena -AWAY 4 pm JH, JV Kté’s white teacher. Perplexed and paranoid, Indian School, in 1890 01/23 NACA -(HOMECOMING) 4 pm V Óta Kté pointed to the name, Luther, which was indicated on the blackboard. 01/25 Reserve-AWAY 11 am JH, JVB, V Regardless of his feelings, he remembered what his father, the Lakota chief, 01/30 Pine Hill-HOME 4 pm JV, V taught him how to follow a code of conduct passed on for generations. This 02/01 Magdalena -AWAY 1 pm JV, V code was to express honor, bravery, and service to one’s people. “I took the 02/06 Menaul-HOME 4 pm JVB, V pointer and used it as if I was about to touch an enemy.” Óta Kté knew that this 02/11 Estancia-HOME 4 pm JV, V task was more important than life itself. And he would always hold his former life in his heart. Being forced to learn English and repeat verses and prayers of 02/13 NACA-AWAY 4 pm V Christianity, Óta Kté had to overcome the military-style discipline; especially 02/18 Magdalena -HOME 4 pm JV,V when a barber forced him to cut his long hair. This action had brought 02/21 Menaul-AWAY 4 pm JVB, V depressing tears to Óta Kté’s eyes. 2/25-2/29 District Tournament TBA After months of attending Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, 3/3-3/7 First Round of State Tournament TBA which is about 1,300 miles away from Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, 3/11-3/14 State Tournament TBA Óta Kté’s birthplace, he mastered the requirements of an intended “civilized” Indian. He mastered English, learned to play the cornet, and worked at a department store in Philadelphia. Attending the boarding school for four years, Óta Kté finally decided to return to Pine Ridge when he was 16. After he returned, he could only remark, “I was caught between two worlds,” which explains how Óta Kté was confused about with which culture he now belonged. Was it his native culture, or an American one? He had trouble remembering his native language and adapting to his original and traditional ways. Óta Kté would then marry twice and had seven children. He served as a principal at his reservation’s school and was set to be announced as the next Lakota chief, like his father, Henry Standing Bear. Instead, he moved away, never to return. Later in 1928, he published a book, My People the Siox, which told Lakota stories and criticized the United States rules against his people. He was able to hit back against the government that took his people’s land. As his reputation became colossus, he became a voice for Native American rights. Fighting for more Native justice, his advocacy also built popular support that led to changing how government policies treated Indigenous people. Until his death in 1939, Óta Kté put his education to good use. Being a man of bravery, honor, and service, he was always a Lakota at heart. Volume 4, Edition 4 Níłch’its’ósí (November) 2019 Page 2 THC is Dangerous for Teens By: Tamika Herrera There are REAL risks to using marijuana! There are more and more states that have made it known that marijuana is not good for teens. Why? It’s because our brains are still developing. A teen’s mind won’t fully develop until our mid-20’s. So, if you are smoking in your teens and you are learning something new, it will affect what you are learning. That means you will forget half of what you had learned. People who start smoking marijuana in their teens may also develop a “marijuana use disorder”. That means you are having an addition to marijuana. Marijuana has a chemical called THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The chemical THC makes teens 4-7 times likely to have a learning disorder. THC can disturb the nerve cells, called neurons, of the brain by changing the Only about 1 in 14 teens say they used marijuana in the past month. So, if you communication between them. When you smoke marijuana, it’s going to be were thinking everyone uses marijuana, dangerous to ride bikes, drive a vehicle, and play sports. The THC also they don’t . presents processing problems with attention, memories, and decision making. Breathing and eating THC can make you go to the emergency room. THC will increase your heart rate, lead to hardcore shaking, and tripping vibes. The word marijuana is a Mexican word and it means “the weed that intoxicates”. It is made from the Indian hemp plant, a spreading green bush. Today, there are many products that believe in the health problems of chemicals in marijuana. Even though marijuana is legal for some adults, its not good for teenagers. So this means you teenagers shouldn’t smoke marijuana. Trouble in Paradise By: Caleb Secatero On the morning of November 8, 2019, 200-foot high flames from the wildfire stretched to the sky. The thick black smoke turned the day into night. For some places, the blazes trans- formed the sky to glowing eerily blood red. The roads that were leading out of Paradise, California were crammed from thousands of people evacuating. Many people got stuck in traffic jams. Others found their escape routes blocked by fallen trees, abandoned vehicles, or a wall of fire. Desperate, some people ran for their lives as the soles of their sneakers Pictured: A California fire illuminates the night. melted on the pavement as they fled. By the time it was over, the fire had killed 85 people and destroyed more than 18,000 buildings. Homes, schools, businesses--they all burned to the ground. Residents are now returning home a year later. Some are going to rebuild, and thousands are thinking about leaving town for good. Wildfires serve a purpose by burning brush from the forest floor to spread nutrients into the soil so that new trees can grow. California is considered to be under very high or extreme threats from wildfires. Many people don’t receive the alert early enough to evacuate so they won’t Administration get trapped. People have decided to live in nature because it Frank Curley, Interim Chief Executive costs less to live than in cities. Many changes have been made Director to work on rebuilding Paradise. The homeowners started to Susan Comiskey, rebuild using materials that are more resistant to fire, such as brick, concrete, and stone. Paradise will be rebuilt stronger Principal/Superintendent and smarter. Barbara Gordon, Counselor There are currently wildfires that are in southern California. The Victor Werner, Dean of Students death toll throughout the state is currently at 87. About 153,000 Phone: 575-854-2635 acres were burned and 18,000 structures were destroyed. Volume 4, Edition 4 Níłch’its’ósí (November) 2019 Page 3 The Mars 2020 Rover Will Search for Fossils and Signs of Ancient Life By: Frances Apachito During February 2021, the Mars 2020 Rover will land on the Red Planet, Mars, as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Pro- gram. It will also touchdown in Jezero Crater, the lake that existed 3.5 billion years ago. Along with the rover Curiosity, which has been exploring Mars for the past five years, the two might find signs of ancient life. The crater is 28 miles wide and once contained a river delta. Researchers discovered the mark of carbonate minerals in the carter’s inner rim. Carbonate is a salt of the anion Mars 2020 rover CO32−, typically formed through reaction with carbon dioxide and is often a product of life.