ERIC SHARP's Blog – July 2010 Archive (6)

An old man living in Alaska had lost all of his friends and family, and he felt sad to think that he was left alone. He began to wonder whether he should leave and start a new life in another village. But he worried, "If I paddle away to another village and the people there see that I am alone, they may think that I've run away from my own village because I was accused of some disgraceful thing."… Continue

It was first a traveling exhibit of archival photographs. It premiered at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, June 2 to October 31, 1999.

Photographs can speak. They can whisper or shout. They can lie. Many photographs, though, are silent. When individuals, events or other… Continue

Thunder Cloud stood outside his father’s tipi and watched as the village came alive around him. It was a cold crisp morning and the snow that covered the land like a blanket lay deep underfoot. Many of the women of the Hunkpapa village were reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort of their lodges to go and collect firewood from the stockpile at the edge of their winter camp.

Wrapped in his buffalo robe young Thunder Cloud waited outside in the cold for he knew she would appear soon. He… Continue

When the boy was old enough to be given a man's name, Snow Bird called him Braveness because of his courage as a hunter. Many of the girls in the Caddo village wanted to win Braveness as a husband, but he paid little attention to any of them.

One morning he started out for a day of hunting, and while he was walking along looking for wild game, he saw someone ahead of him sitting under a small elm tree. As he approached, he was surprised to find that the person was a young woman, and he… Continue

An Antarctic octopus that spews cold-resistant venom! A giant jellyfish that might have stung up to 100 people! A 40-ton whale that crushes yachts (well, at least one yacht, anyway)! The Web loves weird sea creatures. This past week, there was a lot to love.

Octopus fears no cold

They almost sound like some kind of a cartoon super villain. But not only are they real, they might have something to offer medicine. This past week, researchers discovered four new species… Continue

A totem can be the symbol of a tribe, clan, family or individual. Native American tradition provides that each individual is connected with nine different animals that will accompany each person through life, acting as guides. Different animal guides come in and out of our lives depending on the direction that we are headed and the tasks that need to be completed along our journey.



Native beliefs further explain that a totem animal is one that is with you for life, both in the… Continue