menominee indian tribe of wisconsin 2005 sturgeon feast - ingrid washinawatok

	Ingrid Washinawatok was born at the St. Joseph’s Indian Hospital in Keshena on July 31, 1960. Her parents are the late Honorable Judge James Washinawatok and Gwendolyn (Dodge) Washinawatok. She has one sister, Regina Washinawatok. Ingrid descends from a lineage of great Menominee Leaders. A few of her ancestors are; Chief Waukechon “Crooked Beak”, Chief Auhkanahpahwaew “Earth Standing”, now known as Kinepoway, Chief Wishecoby and the great “Speaker of the Tribe” Grizzly Bear. Shortly after Ingrid was born, her grandfather Henry Dodge Sr. gave her the Menominee name of Opetaw-Metaehmoh which means Flying Eagle Woman. Ingrid grew up in Chicago and the Menominee Indian Reservation. During her childhood Ingrid was exposed to great leadership by her parents, Gwen and Jim. Her and her sister spent many hours on the road and helped her parents organize events of the non-profit organization D.R.U.M.S. Her father would be placed in history as one of the
organizations unforgettable leaders, and soon after, the Menominee Indian Tribe was restored back to Reservation status. Ingrid was instrumental in getting her father to drop the last name of “White” and to go back to the original family name of Washinawatok. Every summer the girls stayed on the Menominee Indian Reservation, especially with their aunt Mary Jane and uncle Bill Cox. This allowed Ingrid to visit relatives and make many friends. This is where Ingrid’s heart was, on the Menominee Indian Reservation. She loved biking on old logging roads and in the woods. Ingrid loved to walk in the Menominee Forest. She spent many summer days at the family cottage on LaMotte Lake. Ingrid also loved to hunt wild game with her cousins and to swim in the Menominee lakes and rivers. She also played many ball games with her family. While on the reservation Ingrid learned some of the traditional medicines and enjoyed tons of blackberries, sugar with milk. After graduating from High School Ingrid attended the University of Minnesota when she became involved with the American Indian Movement and later the International Indian Treaty Council. Activist Russell Means asked Ingrid to study at the International University in Cuba. While there she learned the Spanish language. This is where she met a young Palestinian, Ali El Issa. They later married in Syria. After Cuba she returned home to live with her sister on the Menominee Indian Reservation. She was there only a short time when the International Treaty Council asked her to run their office in New York City. It was here she and Ali made their home. Soon after, Ingrid and Ali had a son, naming him in Menominee, Maehkiwkasic which means Red Sky. They nurtured their son with the richness of their ancestors. Ingrid once wrote: “On October 12, 1992, the native community of New York had participated in the “Hour of Silence for Mother Earth”. For one hour from 8 to 9 PM, we unlocked the phones and the plugs of all electrical appliances (except for the fridge) and we turned off the lights, spending the rest of the night like this. My family decided to gather around the table for dinner and tell each other stories. With our stories we carried our son in another epoch. My husband and I told stories about our childhood, I decided to narrate the funny ones. I think this will keep alive his bond with the older aunts and uncles whom he met but doesn't’t necessarily have a continuous relationship with. This makes them more alive and present than any sentence like “here this is your old auntie”. Those are his favorite tales. He asks me to narrate them to him in every occasion like this. My husbands who are Palestinian, on the other hand, had chosen funny stories about his youth in Lebanon. Now my son has a link, a thread that connects him to our pasts, which are a part of him. This gives him a real example of who his people were.” Ingrid was co-founder of the Indigenous Women’s Network. Founding the network to assist women of the younger generation through education of the struggles women have encountered historically. In 1982, Ingrid met Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Rigoberta Menchu Tum. Because of Ingrid’s fluency in Spanish language and experience as an international interpreter for the United Nations she served as an Official Translator for the International Indigenous Conference. Ingrid was also a body guard for Rigoberta. Ingrid was recognized as the 1998 Indian Woman of the Year in New York City and selected by the Rockefeller Foundation as an Outstanding Leader in the National Generation Leadership Program. Another highlight in Ingrid’s life was receiving the North Star Foundation Award in 1998. This award memorializes the historical escapes by the African American Slaves who followed the north star to freedom. In 1999, Ingrid journeyed to Columbia, South America. Although her life was shortened, the life Ingrid lead was rich and full. She had a good run and gained respect as a Native American from around the world.. Ali explains, “Ingrid went to Columbia to call attention to the plight of U’wa Indian People. These disregarded indigenous people are suffering the effects of exploration for oil in their traditional territories. In her short but meaningful career, Ingrid went to many places where communities are beset with the terror of violence, starvation and the destruction of their environment.” Ingrid was taken hostage along with two others on February 25 and found dead just across the border of Columbia in Venezuela on March 5, 1999. She was brought home and laid to rest on the banks of the Wolf River at the Menominee Indian Reservation. At a place where her, Ali and Maehkiwkasic were planning to someday return to, next to her sister Regina’s home. Ingrid is survived by her husband Ali, her son Maehkiwkasic, her mother Gwendolyn, her sister Regina, numerous aunts and uncles, nephews, a niece and many cousins. The following are some excerpts of memories by family members: “Ingrid never forgot to ask about her family, one by one. Her family was the most important thing to Ink. Seeing her family, she loved her family including all of her aunts and cousins. She made it a point to stop by and see her aunts and uncles, and always came to see me right up to the very end. Ink went hunting with Bill and Walt a couple of times, she really loved it” “Ingrid loved the lakes a lot. She liked to swim at LaMotte Lake and Legend Lake. The family had lake lots on Legend Lake and Ink always wanted to go to the lakes.” “Ingrid never did senseless things. She always had an important reason behind everything she did, like this: Ink was over to see the family visiting in the house and I was out in the garden weeding. Ingrid came out by me and said, I have something for you I bought. She gave me a barrette made out of a turtle shell. She said, I really have to give this to someone, I can not keep it. I want to give it to you. I said, thank you Ingrid it’s beautiful. She said, do you know that the sea turtles are becoming extinct. They have no more beach area to lay their eggs. Isn’t that so awful!! Ingrid really loved people and animals and the land she was very concerned about all of them.” “Ingrid and Regina, every summer stayed with our family while her parents went on vacation. And every year my mother made all of us kids sit in the front room, my mother would say now Regina and Ingrid are going to perform their ballet dance recital, everyone quite and pay attention. They would come out in their ballet shoes and Too-Too’s and dance. Regina was always a little better dancer than Ingrid and Ingrid admitted it. They were both real good. When they were finished the whole family applauded.” “Ingrid tried to make it home every year for the Menominee Pow-Wow. I remember sitting next to Ink and we were watching her sister Regina fancy shawl dance. She said, Isn’t Gina so graceful, she glides through the air, isn’t she so great, she’s so beautiful, she’s the best dancer I have ever seen. Ingrid always looked up to her sister she loved her so much.” A listing of Opetaw Metaehmoh’s works on behalf of all native people. he Flying Eagle Woman Fund for Peace, Justice and Sovereignty was founded in 2000 to commemorate the work of Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa, a member of the Menominee Nation (1957-1999). Ingrid worked for the International Indian Treaty Council office in New York City, was an active member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace convened by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum and helped to organize the First, Second and Third State of the World Forums. She also served as delegate to the first working session of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations. Ingrid was a founder and co-chair of the Indigenous Women's Network. She was a delegate for the United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights. Ingrid was a prominent leader of the Native American community of New York. She served on the board of directors of the American Indian Community House and was also a founder of the Native American Council of New York City, helping to protect the rights of urban Indians. She was appointed Program Director for the Fund of the Four Directions and became the executive director of the Fund. She was elected Chair of the Board of the Native Americans in Philanthropy. Ingrid selected as a Fellow by the Rockerfeller Foundation Next Generation Leadership Program in 1999 and received the North Star Fund’s Frederick Douglas Award in 1995 for her outstanding contributions to the struggle for political, social and economic justice. Other Awards and Honors: Recognized as the Indian of the Year by the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. Received the Fannie Lou Hammer Award in 1992 for work on behalf of Indigenous Peoples. Received the Key to the City of Scranton Pennsylvania in 1993. Selection Committee for the Letelier Moffit Human Rights Award. Co-Produced the film documentary “Warrior”. Received the Asian Americans for Equality Award for building racial harmony and economic cooperation. Was honored in June 1999 at World Peace Day in Costa Rica. Received the International Women’s Leadership Award for lifetime achievement from the International Cross Cultural Black Women’s Studies Institute. Was honored by the United Nations in Geneva Switzerland on her birthday on July 31, 1999 and in August 1999 by the United Nations in New York City. A Sundance was held in her memory in Pipestone, Minnesota. In February 2000 Ingrid was honored at the Annual American Indian Story-Telling Festival at UW-Madison. Scholarships have been established in Ingrid’s name at New York’s City College, the University of Hawaii, by the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, the Holy Ground School, the City University of New York Medgar Evers College and many other academic institutions. In Panama a Native School has been named after her and she was honored in March 2000 by Kuna Student Youth Movement. The Native American section of the Jose Marti National Library in Havana, Cuba will be named after Ingrid when it opens. Native Americans in Philanthropy established by the Flying Eagle Woman Community based Philanthropy Award in Ingrid’s name in 2000. White Bison, Inc. dedicated its 16 city “Hoop Journey 2002” to Ingrid. Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven Connecticut established the Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa Service Award in 2005. The Flying Eagle Woman Fund’s primary mission is to strengthen the sovereignty of Indigenous peoples by building communities that are self-reliant while at the same time maintaining and reinforcing their traditional cultures and way of life. Conferences, Lectures and Tours In April 2001 the Fund Sponsored the conference “Peace, Justice and Sovereignty in a Globalizing World” in conjunction with City University Graduate Center’s Continuing Education Program. Featured was Anishinabe author, activist, and former vice presidential candidate Winona LaDuke as well as noted philosopher and historian, John Mohawk, Jose Barreiro, former director of Cornell University’s American Indian Program, Tonya Gonnella Frichner, President of the American Indian Law Alliance, and Dean Cycon, the founder of Dean’s Beans, a environmentally and socially conscious coffee company. An in October at City University Graduate Center’s Continuing Education Program a lecture by board member and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Rigoberta Menchu Tum entitled “Truth and Justice” Pillars for Societies in the 21st Century” was standing room only. The Flying Eagle Woman Fund also sponsored a number of events in the Caribbean, such as the conference “Indigenous Legacies of the Caribbean,” in which the fund provided medicine and school supplies to local Caribbean Indigenous Communities as well as the United States where the Fund helped to provide money for transportation on Native Elders to the “Wiping of the Tears, Wounded Knee Memorial Ride.” Also in April 2001, Santee Sioux poet John Trudell and his band Bad Dog embarked on the “Flying Eagle Woman Tour 2001” spreading the word about the Fund. The tour was sponsored with the aid of Renegade Nation Productions and Solidarity Foundation. Scholarships and Grants Scholarships have been given to Native young people in efforts to achieve their dreams. The first Flying Eagle Woman Fund Scholarship was given to a Navajo woman, Teresa Lynch who was attending the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. Other recipients are Crystal Henry, a Mohawk College Student and Caresse Gullo, Eastern Cherokee attending the Culinary Institute. Many grants were provided to Native women to conferences in the Caribbean, Mexico and the United States. The Fund helps to support Indigenous leaders gathering at the United Nations headquarters in New York City for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues held every year in May. The Fund helps provide legal transportation, housing and food for the participants. The Fund aided in the repatriation and burial of the remains of Taino people in the spring of 2002, supported the Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth for their 25th gathering held in Montana in May 2003, and made donations to: Shared Interest, American Indians for Development Indigenous Ambassadors program in Washington D.C., North Star Fund’s Frederick Douglas Award Ceremony. In addition, the Fund has hosted many receptions and gatherings in honor of Ingrid and other Indigenous leaders who visit New York City. Grants, Honors and Donations Received The Flying Eagle Woman Fund has received many grants and donations from such noted Native organizations as American Indians for Opportunity, White Bison, Inc as well as personal documents of noted American Indian Movement member Nilak Butler, a renowned human rights and environmental activist who passed on in 2002. Also documents of Cherokee activist Troy Lang. In 2003, the Flying Eagle Woman Fund received a grant of land in Tompkins County, New York from the Cedar Fund. In 2004 the Flying Eagle Woman Nature Center and retreat was established with a grant from the Ford Foundation. The Center will be a place where native people can get away from the city and appreciate the peaceful life in the woods. The Ingrid Washinawatok El-Issa Library and Research Center is located on West 27th Street in New York City. The collections received so far are in the process of being catalogued. Eventually it will house the finest collection of materials on the 20th century Indian struggle for sovereignty, international recognition, and cultural survival. The Fund is about to receive a large collection of archives, art work, books, and tapes of interviews with some of the most prominent Native American leaders of yesterday and today.
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