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by Mike Sigov
The Blade (Toledo, OH)
8-30-99
The sound of tom-toms reverberated in the Maumee air yesterday, calling to mind the time when Native American tribes still dwelled in northwest Ohio.
More than 200 people from all over the United States and Canada -- including about two dozen Native Americans -- were at Side Cut Metropark's Siegert Lake Area to commemorate the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers with "A Day of Remembrance and Healing."
"I think the Indian culture is really interesting and fascinating. We don't get a lot of exposure to their heritage, day-to-day," said Glenna Frey, a registered nurse from Whitehouse who was accompanied by her daughter Amanda, 7; son, Sawyer, 5, and his friend, Jazz Clake, 5.
"So we decided to come out to just see the type of clothes, the type of music, and to learn a little more about their culture," Ms. Frey said.
Giving people a chance to experience Native American culture was one of the reasons that Marlys Rambeau, a Cheyenne River Sioux and a Cleveland graphic designer, was there with her children.
Clad in traditional Native American dress, Ms. Rambeau, her daughters, Alyssa, 13; Brianna, 11, and Hilary, 7, and son Lindsay, 15, who was the event's official lead male dancer, led most of the event's dances.
Most importantly, Ms. Rambeau said, "this way we keep in touch with our culture."
The two-hour event, which featured music, dancing, drums, and readings, was sponsored by the American Indian Intertribal Association.
Joyce Mahaney, president of the association, said the event was meant "to honor the warriors, in memory of our ancestors that fought for the land in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, 1794.
"It's an answer to all the celebrations and ceremonies that the U.S. military have, you know, for [its] victories, or what we call the theft of Indian land," Ms. Mahaney said. "But we want people to remember that this was all the Native American land here. And we want people to remember that many Indian nations fought in this battle to try to save the land."
However, Leroy Malaterre, chairman of the American Indian Council of Indiana, a Chippewa who was conducting the event, said he saw the event as an opportunity to honor "not only the Indian people but all the people that fought to save our country."
"[But] my hope would be -- with the new millennium coming up -- that in the next hundred years there would be no more [new] veterans of foreign wars," he said.
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