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KU News: KU First Nations Student Association Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival set for April 8

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From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

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2023 KU First Nations Student Association (FNSA) Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival set for April 8
LAWRENCE — The First Nations Student Association Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival is a daylong, family-friendly event that welcomes KU, Lawrence and the surrounding communities to participate, share experiences, make connections and learn more about the traditions, culture, history and contemporary topics relating to the Indigenous peoples of North America. The festival is April 8, with additional activities planned April 5-7.

KU Libraries announce 2023 Textbook Hero
LAWRENCE — Ljudmila Bilkić, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies at the University of Kansas, is KU Libraries’ 2023 Textbook Hero, selected for making learning fun, fresh, culturally relevant and affordable using Open Educational Resources (OER).

Full stories below.

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Contact: Laura Kingston, [email protected]
2023 KU First Nations Student Association (FNSA) Powwow and Indigenous Cultures Festival set for April 8
LAWRENCE — For decades, the University of Kansas First Nations Student Association (FNSA) has hosted the Annual KU FNSA Powwow. The event celebrates the diversity of Native American cultures in the community through dancing, singing and honoring the traditions of Indigenous ancestors.
This legacy of enriching the local community through Native American traditions and cultural heritage expanded in 2017 with the establishment of the Indigenous Cultures Festival (ICF) through a partnership between FNSA and the Lied Center of Kansas.
The 2023 FNSA Powwow & ICF will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. April 8 at the Lied Center.
New this year, the committee is proud to share the addition of Gourd Dancing to welcome and honor elite military combat warriors through Tribal songs and dances. Gourd Dancing will take place on the Powwow grounds at 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
To learn more about the historical and contemporary traditions of Gourd Dancing and powwows, guests can attend “Powwow 101” at 11 a.m. and “Gourd Dancing 101” at 1 p.m.
This daylong, family-friendly event will welcome the KU, Lawrence and surrounding communities to participate, share experiences, make connections and learn more about the traditions, culture, history and contemporary topics relating to the Indigenous peoples of North America.
The day includes a full schedule of interactive experiences, educational workshops and children’s activities focused on Indigenous cultures and history, including:
1. Indigenous children’s language & literacy activities
2. Indigenous books with Ponak’azo
3. Educational presentations by Cornel Pewewardy, The Indigenous Arts Initiative, FNSA students and Jancita Warrington.
4. Community mural painting
Activities offered during the 2023 KU FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival will be held both outside and inside the Lied Center. Attendees planning on staying throughout the powwow are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
Regional Native American artists and artisans will have items for sale in accordance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990. Leading the food vendors is Raven’s Table and Redcloud’s Rock Chalkin Tacos and other Indigenous food from the Great Lakes area, invited friends of the festival, longtime vendor Peaches’ Frybread and popular local vendor Monteau’s Indian Tacos. Additional Indigenous-inspired food will be available for purchase throughout the day. During the event, adult-size and youth-size T-shirts will be for sale.
In addition to the all-day event April 8, there will be several in-person and virtual events leading up to the powwow and festival, including:
1. April 5, 7 p.m.: Film screening of “Beans” (2020), which tells the true story of the 78-day standoff between two Mohawk communities and government forces in 1990 Quebec, directed by Tracey Deer, at Haskell Indian Nations University auditorium.
2. April 6, 4 p.m.: Public talk by Cornel Pewewardy, vice chairman of the Comanche Nation, professor of practice in the School of Education at Kansas State University, professor emeritus in Indigenous Nations studies at Portland State University and former KU assistant professor in teaching and leadership and the Global Indigenous Nations Studies Program, at the Jayhawk Welcome Center.
3. April 7, 7:30 p.m.: The Lied Center of Kansas presents Bone Hill — The Concert, featuring Martha Redbone. Bone Hill – The Concert is inspired by Redbone’s life and stories of the women from whom she descends. The lives of the Bone family members are shared through songs that span a variety of American music — from traditional Cherokee songs and lullabies to bluegrass, blues, gospel, jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. Tickets are available through the Lied Center.

Activities on April 8 are free and open to the public. It is recommended guests bring cash to purchase from vendors. For full and up-to-date details on the Annual FNSA Powwow & Indigenous Cultures Festival, please visit fnsapowwow.ku.edu or connect with the Facebook event.

For more information, contact Laura Kingston at [email protected].

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Contact: Kevin McCarty, KU Libraries, 785-864-6428, [email protected], @KULibraries
KU Libraries announce 2023 Textbook Hero
LAWRENCE — Ljudmila Bilkić’s Intermediate German II class redefines traditional norms. In her classroom, upbeat Spotify tunes provide a prelude to the “Foto des Tages.” The photo of the day — a manatee napping on its back — is a nod to subtropical regions instead of arboreal forests. The class banter shifts to the treachery of a newly deposited layer of ice on campus, shared opinions of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade and finally talk of a roommate’s unfortunate night out, which prompts a review of a variety of related medical and informal descriptive terms.
Bilkić, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Slavic, German & Eurasian Studies, is KU Libraries’ 2023 Textbook Hero selection for making learning fun, fresh, culturally relevant and affordable using Open Educational Resources (OER). More specifically she’s being recognized for her efforts to convert the class materials for four 100- and 200-level courses over the past two years — completing an overhaul of the entire German-language sequence after 300- and 400-level courses were converted in recent years.

Bilkić has used an OER grant provided by KU Libraries and coordinated with the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communications & Copyright on the transformational work. The KU OER Grant Initiative supports the adoption, adaptation and creation of OER by KU instructors and encourages their use at KU to positively influen ce students. Instructors may apply for up to $5,000 to implement OER in their courses.
Bilkić said the grant has since provided freedom, comfort and accessibility in pushing a progressive approach to intercultural relations between students and the languages they’re learning. Some previously used materials in the German language proficiency sequence were outdated in their approach to language learning, despite being just a few years old, and Bilkić saw an opportunity to overhaul the current curriculum using the OER grant.
“We’re teaching German, but it’s not just German; it’s many things: how you walk through life expressing yourself, how you prepare yourself to talk in front of a camera, how to improve upon your own intercultural understanding,” Bilkić said. “There are so many other nuances to this. Having the opportunity to craft the OER, the flexibility has been incredible.”
Additionally, the cost of German language books has increased significantly in the past decade, following the trend of class materials in general, Bilkić said. The OER grant funding provides free resources that help students worry less about the cost of material and rather focus on learning.
“Every generation of students has a complex set of circumstances with which they’re working, whether it be studying, working from home, working two different jobs, having to pay for school,” Bilkić said. “So, the access to knowledge should be the least painful thing.”
In 2019 KU Libraries launched Textbook Heroes to recognize faculty, staff, students and allies at KU who have taken extraordinary initiative to increase access to and affordability of required course materials by implementing and advocating for OER and other low- and no-cost course materials. Textbook Heroes are announced in the spring semester.
“The study of German is more accessible and relevant at KU thanks to the tremendous efforts of Ljudmila Bilkić, this year’s worthy recipient of the Textbook Hero award,” said Josh Bolick, head of the Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communications & Copyright. “Thanks to previous efforts, most upper-division undergraduate German language courses were using low-cost materials, but the introductory core courses were costly. Dr. Bilkić saw an opportunity to eliminate costs for students and give instructors more control over the content and utilized the OER grant to flip those courses over a two-year period. It was our honor to assist with this project and recognize her great work.”
For information about Open Educational Resources grants, contact Heather Mac Bean, Open Education Librarian, at [email protected] or [email protected].

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KU News Service
1450 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence KS 66045
Phone: 785-864-3256
Fax: 785-864-3339
[email protected]
http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

Wheat Scoop: Good things come to those who bake: Celebrate Bake and Take Month This March with Kansas Wheat

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Guest Columnist
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Kansas Wheat

Contact: Marsha Boswell, [email protected]

For audio version, visit kswheat.com.

Spring is in the air, and so is the smell of freshly baked treats delivered by home bakers taking part in Bake and Take Month this March. Kansas Wheat encourages all to join in this tradition as a way to reconnect with others.

“The long-standing tradition of Bake and Take Month is a great way to spend time with our children and neighbors as well as give back to those in need,” said Cindy Falk, nutrition educator of Kansas Wheat. “Whichever way you are able to observe Bake and Take Month this March, don your apron, take out your favorite recipe and use this time to celebrate our relationships with our friends, our families and our communities.”

The premise of Bake and Take Month is simple — bake something and share it with a neighbor, friend or relative. Add even more meaning to the month by delivering them with a handwritten note or staying for an in-person conversation.

“You never know the positive impact you may have on those around you simply by sharing a smile and a care package,” Falk said. “This piece of Kansas heritage stretches back more than 50 years and is as powerful now as it was when it started.”

Bake and Take Month started with Bake and Take Day in 1970 as a community service project of the Kansas Wheathearts in Sumner County. The Kansas Wheathearts, an auxiliary organization of the Kansas Association of Wheat Growers, set out to share baked goods with family members, friends, neighbors and others, generating community goodwill. The idea of a community member sharing a favorite recipe with someone special was so successful that the Kansas Wheathearts created a national Bake and Take Day celebration in 1973, celebrated on the fourth Saturday in March. Although the Kansas Wheathearts disbanded in 2001, Kansas Wheat continues to support this tradition.

“Bake and Take Day may have started as a promotion to educate consumers about the importance of home baking and the nutritional value of wheat foods,” Falk said. “Today, it’s a chance to break out the oven mitts and create memories together while spreading cheer and goodwill.”

No matter whether you are looking for a way to get the kids off their screens during Spring Break, prepping for a March Madness watch party or just want to bring a smile to someone’s face, good things are sure to come to those who bake.

For recipes and more ideas for Bake and Take Month, visit https://eatwheat.org/. For specific ways to include children in this activity, check out https://eatwheat.org/learn/cooking-kids-kitchen/.

“Getting kids in the kitchen has many benefits,” wrote registered dietician Jill Ladd on the EatWheat site. “Not only are children more likely to consume foods that they help prepare but inviting them into the kitchen from a young age can instill a love for cooking and help teach them fundamental life skills.”

Need even more inspiration? Check out the National Festival of Breads at http://festivalofbreads.com/. Falk and her team are busy testing out entries in the Kansas Wheat Test Kitchen for the virtual contest, so stay tuned for even more tasty announcements and recipes to come.

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Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat

 

Carryout Sacks, Bags, Boxes

By
Frank Buchman
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What happened to the brown grocery store carryout sacks?
Children today don’t have a clue what brown paper sacks are. The only thing they know are the plastic bags filled with whatever the purchase is.
Back in the day, there were at least a half dozen sizes of brown paper sacks. Size of the purchase determined which sack was used.
When there were many items, of course, a large sack was required. Sometimes several of the largest sized brown paper sacks were required. Fewer items purchased, smaller the sack.
Uncertain or can’t remember how sacks were identified for size, maybe they weren’t, just big enough to carry the contents.
Nowadays, plastic bags seem to all be the same size, and sometimes a dozen or more are needed for large purchases. If the items are heavy, like a gallon of milk, two or three plastic bags are used together for increased strength.
Certain wholesale grocery items, such as five- and ten-pounds sugar or flour, came in larger heavier paper sacks. Those extra strength, often multi-colored, sacks were retained for use to carry more items purchased. They worked best for carrying heavier items, big cans, milk, sugar, flour, potatoes.
Canned merchandise typically arrived from the wholesale warehouse in cardboard boxes with wide variation of sizes and shapes. The boxes were stored away several packed together with another and worked especially well for carrying out large heavy items.
Recycling has become a common modern-day term for reusing a variety of different items. It’s far from a new philosophy as paper sacks and cardboard boxes have been reused or “recycled” for decades. Some folks keep their plastic bags and reuse them nowadays.
If there was liquid seepage in a paper sack, it became weak, often unusable, while plastic bags don’t have that problem.
After being used several times sacks, bags, and boxes sometimes have value for further recycling to make new carryout containers.
More often they go in the trash and are hauled to the county dump. In previous decades and possibly today in some cases, the trash was burned, now often against certain environmental regulations.
So, the alternative is to bury trash, which doesn’t seem logical based on decay time and land contamination.
Reminded of Genesis 43:23: Peace be to you; He has given you treasure in your sacks.”
+++ALLELUIA+++
XVII–11–3-12-2023

Spring is in the Air…or is that a Vulture I See?

By
Steve Gilliland
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Anytime now, those tremendous black birds we see soaring on the warm thermal updrafts of spring and summer, commonly known as “buzzards,” will again arrive in Kansas from their warm winter South American digs. Those winged mammoths are in fact Turkey Vultures, and along with tulips, daffodils and Red-Winged Blackbirds are one of the most reliable and predictable signs that spring is at least around the corner.

Hinckley, Ohio has an annual festival celebrating the return of turkey vultures to their skies, where they have arrived precisely on March 15 since at least 1957. The first Sunday after their arrival at Hinckley is celebrated as Buzzard Sunday. Buzzard Sunday was cancelled in 2021 because of Covid, and I will never forget the irony of a virus cancelling an event centered around a huge carnivorous bird that eats dead and possibly diseased flesh like we eat birthday cake.

The flight of a Turkey Vulture is as hypnotic and graceful as its appearance is gruesome. They truly have a face only a mother vulture could love! The red featherless head and neck that makes them appear so hideous, also earns them their name, as they do resemble a wild turkey in that regard. Now this subject matter will possibly bring me all the notoriety of being crowned the Spring Toad Queen, but I’ve always liked the underdog, and I feel vultures get a bum rap, not to mention their importance in our environment.

Turkey Vultures are natures “garbage collectors.” In fact, their scientific name literally means “cleanser.” The vast majority of a vulture’s diet is carrion; flattened, smeared across the highway, baked in the sun road kill! Bird watchers give them the abbreviated name of TV, (short for Turkey Vulture) so their meals become TV Dinners! I found through research, that vultures do eat a surprising amount of vegetation, probably to get that “sun-ripened road kill” taste out of their beaks! They posses something most birds do not; a sense of smell. This combined with excellent eyesight, allows them to spot food from a great distance. I believe God designed everything for its purpose, and these fellows are certainly engineered for their job. They are immense, and can be as tall as 32 inches with a wingspan of 6 feet. A featherless head and neck facilitates cleanup after spending hours with it buried in some carcass. A specialized beak is built for tearing apart tough, rubbery flesh. Its claws are like a chicken’s; built not for grasping and ripping, but for hopping and walking. Like owls, vultures regurgitate pellets of indigestible bones and flesh. Powerful enzymes in their digestive systems destroy any bacteria they ingest. Experts believe these enzymes could possibly even sterilize and render harmless remains of an animal killed by anthrax or mad cow disease. A vulture’s main means of defense is also quite a nasty one. They possess the revolting ability to vomit, almost at will, when scared or cornered. (I can think of NO good reason to corner a turkey vulture anyway.)

Nesting is not a priority for Turkey Vultures. In fact, they don’t’ build one. Two eggs are usually laid in a rocky crevice, an old abandoned building, or some other camouflaged spot on the ground. For a few years we watched a pair that laid their eggs and hatched their young in an old granary amidst the ruins of a tumble-down old shed. The “nest” was a slightly wallowed-out spot in the dust on the floor of the old granary, and was surrounded by an old cowboy boot and dirt & filth that had collected there over the years. While never privileged to watch the young learn to fly, we knew they did, because we arrived a time or two to find them perched on the old windmill nearby. So captivated were we by their effortless soaring that Joyce then-and-there proclaimed them to be her favorite bird.

Vultures from northern states spend winters as far south as South America. According to my research, their migratory patterns vary, and no one seems certain exactly where our Kansas vultures head when the snow flies. So, the next time you spot some of these behemoths nimbly floating on the wind, stop and watch them for a while. Try to get past their grisly appearance, and quietly thank then for picking up our garbage.

Steve may be contacted by email at [email protected]

NO GOOD TIME FOR HICCUPS (Wishing for a cure or prevention for hiccups.)

By
Sandy Pugh
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When I was in high school I started having hiccups about 30 minutes before lunch and nothing would stop them until I ate something. I could never stop them with drinking water………even with the suggestion that if I bent over and tried to drink it upside down. That only got the floor and my shoes wet because I spilled most of it, and that made me mad which made the hiccups worse.
Some of the kids in the class would try to scare them out of me and all that did was make them worse and louder. So they finally gave up on that because all that did was get the whole class in an uproar and make me mad and the hiccups didn’t get any better.
I remember when I was around babies in our family that the first thing the mother would do was to get a spoon full of sugar and give it to the baby and it usually worked. I am not sure what the science is behind that but it did stop the hiccups for the baby.
I have found that for me a piece of chocolate will work and stop them immediately, probably the sugar content if the theory of a spoon full of sugar works on babies. I guess a piece of chocolate would have enough sugar in it to stop them in adults.
A friend told me that she always holds her breath and counts to 25 and that will stop hers. I haven’t tried that yet but will the next time I have them. But if that doesn’t work there is always my stand by cure for them. I always have some chocolate around the house so when the sweet tooth kicks in and always for my hiccups.
Okay…. the hiccups started while I was writing the last paragraph. I tried holding my breath and counting to 25. Other than turning blue in the face, the second I took a breath they were back. So that doesn’t work for me. Off to get a milk chocolate chip or two and get them stopped again.
I have a Hiatal hernia and that can also cause hiccups to occur. But they are not the run of the mill hiccups. They are louder and harder and last longer than regular hiccups. But so far the chocolate helps to settle them down when the medication I take doesn’t manage to keep them away.
Surprisingly a sip or two of a carbonated drink, my dink of choice is coke, and I always have a coke at hand to sip on during the day and that seems to help me. My cures might not help other people but they sure work or me.
Sure wish they would come up with some thing that would keep them away. It sure is annoying having them especially because these hiccups are never quiet. One thing that does work pretty well is laying flat on the bed. I never have them at night so the position must have something to do with it.
But I don’t always have time to go and lay down flat on the bed or I may not be at home so that cure is out most of the time. But I have a little insulated mug that I keep coke in all day and it has a lid that closes on top so if we go somewhere I can take it along. Plus a lot of restaurants don’t have coke and I don’t like the other cola choice so I always have it with me. So my cure is usually with me.
But I sure wish I could find a cure or prevention for these hiccups so I didn’t have to deal with them because there is no good time for hiccups no matter where you are. To contact Sandy: [email protected].

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