Oklahoma-Occitania

Echanges culturels entre les Occitans de France et les Indiens d'Amérique (USA, Canada) : tribus Osage, Kiowa, Comanche, Cherokee, Pawnee, Choctaw, (Oklahoma), Lakota (Sud Dakota), Innu (Canada), etc.

01 juin 2009

Blaine Shaw...

  Surprises sur Internet

Jean-Claude Drouilhet

Une idée comme ça, juste pour voir : je tape "OK-OC" sur un moteur de recherche ; vroum, vroum... et il me déballe tout un stock de réponses dont - Oh surprise ! - le site du célèbre quotidien le plus lu dans les chaumières occitanes...

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Bon, d'accord, j'ai un peu exagéré là, mais ce qui est vrai c'est le commentaire daté du 2 septembre 2008 sur le blog du NYT d'un ami osage nommé Blaine Shaw qui fit un bref séjour à Montauban et à Paris chez des amis d'OK-OC. Chacun pourra le vérifier en cliquant sur le lien. En fait ils étaient trois : Joe Hall, Rebekah Horsechief et Blaine Shaw.

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Sur le pont Vieux de Montauban : (g-d) Joe Hall, Rebekah Horsechief, Blaine Shaw

Blaine y raconte leur parcours européen, en février 2008, de Barcelone à Amsterdam en passant par Montauban et Paris. De Montauban il a retenu la gastronomie, les sites et monuments, l'hospitalité la réception à l'hôtel de ville. Et il se réjouit de constater que cette histoire d'ancêtres Osages perdus en France et secourus à Montauban voici 180 ans est toujours vivante grâce à de tels prolongements et à ce lien amical qui nous unit désormais

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à la mairie de Montauban

Mais il y a plus encore ! On parle d'OK-OC au Québec. Là c'est de la terre d'Ariège dédiée aux Indiens Innu (Montagnais) qu'il s'agit. On y découvre les hésitations du chef Clifford Moar avant d'accepter ce don de terre et tout le cheminement spirituel qui l'a conduit à le faire. Allez cliquer sur le lien

Voici donc le récit de Blaine Shaw :         

My name is Blaine Shaw. I am 24 years old and a committeman of the Gray Horse village Inlonschka dance. I am a former drumkeeper as well. I heard of the French connection with Montabaun in the early 90’s as a child and was always interested. This past Feb., 2008 I went to Europe with two osage friends, one being a committeman and former drumkeeper as well. We started off in Spain and planned to visit Montabaun on our way through France and into Amsterdam. We were given the contact info for Mr. Jean-Claucde Drouillhet of the OK-OC. We were invited to stay in Montabaun for the better part of a week and were given the best hospitality I have ever seen. Four course meals were provided twice a day as well as tours of places of interest in the region and a small former reception with the mayor on our last day. I must say that as a modern Osage I have been blessed with an opportunity to be a part of the exchange Jean-Claude started back in ‘89. Its nice to be a part a relationship rich in history that began so long ago. They French helped our Osage ancestors back then and have continued that tradition by taking us suprise Osage visitors in with immense hospitality. I will never forget the experience and would like to say that the food and dining were the best I have ever seen.

     -Blaine F. Shaw-

17 septembre 2007

Occitan anthem : "Se Canta"

SE CANTA

1blason_Oc
Dejos ma fenestro i a un aucelon
Tota la nèit canta, canta sa cancon

Chorus
Se canta que cante, canta pas per ièu
Canta per ma mia, qu’es al luènh de ièu

2
Aquelas montanhas que tant nautas son
M’empachan de veire mas amors ont son

3
Nautas son, plan nautas, mas s’abaissaran
E mas amoretas sa reprocharan

4
Baissatz  vos montanhas, planas levatz-vos
Per que posque veire mas amors ont son

TRANSLATION :

1. Below my window, there is a little bird / Singing all night long, just singing his song.
Chorus . Let’s sing what is sung, it doen’t sing for me /It sings for my sweetheart who is far away from me.
2. Those montains which are so high / prevent me from seing my loves where they are.
3. They are so high, but they will lower down / and my loves will come nearer.
4 . Get down you mountains, and you plains get up / so that I can see my loves where they are

« Se Canta » is a very old Occitan song.  It is a song of love and peace and depicts very well the Occitan way of life. It would be considered just like the Occitan anthem. Everybody in Occitania is proud of it.

Enjoy it and learn it if you love it. That way you will be able to sing « Se Canta » each time you meet Occitan people. For them that will be a wonderful gift.
Thank you.

Posté par okoc à 10:00 - Subjects in English - Commentaires [0] - Rétroliens [0] - Permalien [#]
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11 septembre 2007

La croix occitane

THE OCCITAN CROSS

By Bertran de La Farge

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Origin

This cross existed at Toulouse since a long time ago, during the roman occupation as well as during the Wisigoth era. In 419 AD the Wisigoths had chosen Toulouse as Capital of their kingdom

In 1096, just before the beginning of the first Crusade the leader of the “Provençal Army”, Raimon IV, Count of Toulouse and Count of Tripoli, had put this famous cross on his seal. Raimon IV was the first Count of Toulouse to display the Occitan cross which became the Cross of Toulouse. It is both from the Maltese Cross Family and the Templar Cross Family, but it is not a crucifix.

Alphonse-Jourdain, Count of Toulouse, was Raimon IV’s son. He founded the city of Montauban in 1144. His son succeeded him as Count of Toulouse as Raimon V. It seems that he did not use the Occitan cross during their sovereignty.

Raimon VI, Count of Toulouse was Alphonse-Jourdain’s grandson. He was a Hospitable Knight. He displayed the Occitan Cross on his seal during his entire reign and when he died, in 1222, he asked to be buried with his cross in Toulouse, in the House of his Brothers « Knights of Saint-Jean of Jerusalem » (Order of Knighthood of Malta) where he is still lies today

The different meanings of the Occitan Cross

Croix

The Christ is at the center (« Sun of Justice », Saint Luc said) and the twelve balls are the twelve apostles. That is what the catholic priests  believed and said in the XIIth and XIIIth centuries.

It is the Heavenly Jerusalem of  the Apocalypse after Saint Jean, that is to say the mystic union of soul and spirit, the twelve balls symbolize the twelve gates.

The twelve balls could symbolize the twelve houses, or signs, and the yearly zodiacal cycle. This interpretation was adopted for the cross and designed on the ground of the Capitol square.

It could be also the four seasons of three months. Or the four winds, the four directions.

Or the twelve elements of the personality : anxiety, fear of effort, desire to possess, arrogance, hypocrisy, laziness, self-importance, illusion, greed, indecisiveness, regrets, and the 12th element, hope !

The meaning of the colors red and yellow

In fact, the real colors of the Occitan Cross are « Blood and Gold ».

Blood is the soul of Human beings and the gold is the melting gold : the sun, the Great Spirit or God.

In heraldry, on the coat of arms, red is called « Gules » (one of the enamels) and yellow is called « Gold » (one of the metals). The Occitan Cross is read : « Guls with the Golden Cross »

Blood and Gold are the Historic colors of Occitania. They came to Occitania from Catalonia (a country both in France and Spain. Barcelona is the Spanish capitol of Catalonia while Perpignan is the French capitol of Catalonia.)

In the Middle Ages, Spain was invaded by the Arabs. The Spanish people took war against the Arabs in order to free from the colonization. The general of the Catalonian army was Count of Barcelona. His coat of arms was painted in Gold (yellow). His army was seriously defeated, most of his soldiers and knights were either killed or seriously wounded. The Count of Barcelona was also badly wounded and was lying among the other knights.

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The General of the Moslem army was looking for him in order to know if he was really dead. If not he would kill him. The best way to recognize the Count was to find his Golden coat of arms. The Count was covered in his blood. He had the idea to dip his fingers of his right hand  into his blood and to draw four red strips on his coat of arms. As a result, the General of the Moslem army never found him and Count of Barcelona was saved. He was able to escape and built a new army. After that day his coat of arms became « Gold with four Guls-strips ». Later he went into battle with his new coat of arms and liberated his country.

As the Occitan people and the Catalan people are cousin peoples (like the Osage and the Omaha or the Ponca), the Occitan asked for permission to use the Gold and Blood colors for their Occitan flag which they considered to be the colors of Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood. That is why the Occitan Cross is Gold on Blood.

B. d. L. F.

There is no copyright © to ask for make a copy of the Occitan Cross. It belongs to Humanity.


OCCITANIA
Oc ! L’Occitania is :

  • 32 French Departements (county) + 12 Italian valleys + 1 Spanish Valley
  • 190 000 km2
  • 13 Millions Citizens

OC, In the Occitan language

the word « Oc » means YES and the Occitania is the land where the people say « Oc » when it is OK. OK……………?
OC…………….!

03 août 2007

Un message de Lou Brock (Musée Osage Tribal de Pawhuska)

Un reportage de la chaîne KOTV6
au sujet du musée tribal osage de Pawhuska

Nous venons de recevoir de notre excellent ami Lou Brock, secrétaire administratif du musée osage, le message suivant qui nous indique un lien avec un reportage sur les premiers osages bénéfici aires d'une parcelle lors de la loi de morcellement du territoire tribal. Ce sujet a été réalisé récemment par KOTV6, la chaîne de Tulsa qui était venue en reportage à Montauban en 1999.

OTM1
au musée tribal osage de Pawhuska
de g.à d. : Kathryn Red Corn (conservatrice), J-Claude Drouilhet (OK-OC), Lou Brock (secrétaire), Priscilla Iba (musée), Edgard Strigler (OK-OC), Marie-Claude Strigler (OK-OC), Monique Drouilhet (OK-OC).

OTM2
Monique (OK-OC) et James Elsberry (musée tribal osage)


Texte du message de Lou Brock :

=====================================================================


Bonjour, Jean-Claude and Monique:

 

Our local television station, KOTV6, who visited in Montauban, did a wonderful story on our Osage Allottee exhibit with co-curator Priscilla Iba of

Tulsa,Oklahoma, early last month.  You may remember the reporter, Scott Thompson, as he did several interviews in your beautiful city.

The interview was recorded three weeks ago, and only several days after that, he had a car accident that left him very sore for two weeks.  The air bag hit him in the side so hard that he had suffered a broken rib.  He has recovered and is doing very well, as you’ll see in his introduction to the report.

 Here is the link:  http://kotv.com/e-clips/?id=7558
cliquez sur le lien ci-dessus pour voir le reportage de KOTV6

 We are doing well here, after several weeks of rain!  Now, the summer heat feels very good!

 God Bless everyone,
Lou W. Brock, Administrative Secretary

Osage Tribal Museum

02 août 2007

Article publié dans Osage News Newspaper

7/10/07

Press Release

Osage News Newspaper

by John Maker

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On May 20th of this year, Vann Bighorse and John Maker, staff members of the Osage Language program, journeyed to France at the invitation of the Oklahoma-Occitania (OK-OC) Association of France to participate in the Fete des Langues (Celebration of Languages) in Montauban.  The OK-OC Association enjoys a sister-city relationship between Pawhuska and Montauban, thereby promoting a strong cultural relationship.

Their 22-hour journey began in Tulsa with stopovers in Chicago and London before arriving in Montauban. The 10-day visit was tightly packed with exciting events — speeches, school visits, civic meetings, receptions, workshops, and celebrations — beginning in the early morning hours and lasting till the late night hours. Vann and John met the mayor, vice-mayor, and Bishop of Montauban, school children of all ages, citizens of Montauban and Toulouse, Occitans, Gypsies, and people from around the globe who were representing their endangered languages.

The purpose of the trip was to participate in the Forum of Languages, which is a yearly event held in Toulouse, France. This was the first time that the Osage Nation was invited to share their language at the Forum. Participants representing over 100 languages from throughout the world — from Albanese, German, Persian, Tcheque, Tibetain to Chinese and more — hosted booths with displays of their language and culture. Vann and John said that one of the main highlights of the trip was teaching Osage words to French school children in the public schools of France.  The schools visited were in the towns of Lauzerte, Lafrancaise and Montauban.  Vann said, “The children were very attentive and did quite well in their pronunciation of the Osage language.  They were very curious about the Osage culture and asked us many questions about the Osage way of life.”

The local people and members of the OK-OC Association gathered nearly every night to meet, learn, and celebrate.  Monsignor Sarrabere, Bishop of Montauban, hosted one of the first events. John said, “It was a lovely reception with refreshments.  Meeting with the very gracious Monsignor Sarrabere was very exciting, and we presented him with a Pendleton blanket, which he enjoyed receiving.” 

The next big event was “Walking across the Tarn Bridge.”  The Tarn Bridge is the bridge over the Tarn River that the Osages of 1829 walked.  John said, “Although this event appeared to be a new tradition for the OK-OC Association, I felt like I was walking in the foot steps of my ancestors.”

After crossing the bridge and walking to the town hall, vice-mayor Madame Marie-Pierre Pouch of Montaubon hosted a reception in which gifts were exchanged. Madame Pouch presented both Vann and John with gifts along with a beautiful silver medallion. Vann and John honored the officials they had met with some gifts as well. 

Another interesting place they toured with the OK-OC Association was the medieval castle of Carcassonne, which is one of the most famous places in all of France and possibly all of Europe.

The Forum of Languages was the last big event.  The Forum took place in the town square of the beautiful city of Toulouse.  Over 100 countries represented their languages at the various booths displaying their cultural items, such as clothing and food.

When asked to share their most memorable event of the trip, Vann said, “For me, teaching the school children and participating in the Forum of Languages.”

John said, “My answer to that same question is teaching the kids Osage and meeting all the friendly French people.  It was very enjoyable being in a foreign country, sharing our heritage, and learning about their culture.  Both Vann and I felt privileged to represent the language of the Osage Nation at the Forum of Languages in France.  Additionally, it was a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the Osage Nation and the people of France. A big “thank you” goes to the Director of the Osage Language Program, Mr. Mogri Lookout, and the Speaker of the House, Mr. Archie Mason, for making this exchange of cultures possible.  We also thank the Ok-Oc Association members especially Jean Claude and Monique Drouilhet.

24 mars 2007

Vanessa Jennings

  vanessa_Jennings__Kiowa_Vanessa Jennings (Kiowa tribe)



  Just a short note to tell you that there is a fantastic book by Dr. Emil Her Many Horses at the Smithsonian's new National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.    The book is called "Identity by Design - Tradition, Change and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses".  There is also a video clip that goes with that that you can find on the Web. 

 

    I have a Kiowa Battle Dress, women's leggings, belt, pouch set, whip and a full size lance in the exhibit.  I am very proud of being included in the exhibit and the book.  I hope that you will get to see both.  The book is something that can be purchased from any book store, such as Hastings, Barnes and Noble and etc.

Vanessa Jennings

 

Posté par okoc à 09:21 - Subjects in English - Commentaires [0] - Rétroliens [0] - Permalien [#]

06 mars 2007

Celebration of Languages (Fete des Langues)

Toulouse, France - May, 26-27, 2007

All the metics of the World on the Place du Capitole

Our Forum is the first in the world Celebration of Languages (Fete des Langues) that puts into practice (presentation and promotion strategies) as well as uses in theory (Saussure, Benveniste, Meschonnic) cultural equality of all the languages of the World (including dialects, patois, “small” languages as opposed to the “big” ones, as well as the linguistic absurdities imposed by the politics) and thus:

- shatters the ideological foundations of all nationalism, ethnocentrism or racism;

- contributes to the creation of radical philosophy of cultural pluralism which is, as Felix Castan wrote, “the only message that could ever be accepted and applied by all the cultures in the world.”

The credit for having clandestinely forged the message goes to Occitan literature.

It is up to France now to haul the banner up and to make it its policy, both within and outside its borders, as it will never be able to find a greater or more magnanimous one.

Claude Sicre

Toulouse, the 21st of December 2006

Presentation of the Forum of Languages 2001, Toulouse

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    One can understand that the major international problems will not be regulated by nationalisms of the States, nor by the abstracted universalism, which is only internalization, universalization, of the Western models. They will not be solved either by the alliance of the citizens of the world, nebula of phantoms outside of borders, nations, and history, nor by the humanitarism or the well-intentioned (and economicist) anti-mondialism which deny historicities and thus specificities of each human community. Regional nationalisms, or those of the peoples without states but claiming one, are often the only answers, in form of dead ends, which the powers installed leave to the occulted communities. Nationalisms which always pass by claims of a linguistico-cultural nature more or less locked up on a reactive identity-program, facing the aggressions negations, and manipulated by the polical world. It is time to think to what could be, for all the communities, an identity-otherness transforming the relationships between the peoples and transforming these peoples themselves, in a logic of radical democracy and plurality. Only an international reflection, of
inter-communitary nature, on these problems will be able to achieve this goal. During a recent Forum, Henri Meschonnic spoke to us about a necessary Universal Déclaration about the Rights (and perhaps the duties) of Languages and Cultures, having to take its place beside the Universal Declaration of the Humans rights. There is already a Universal Declaration of the Linguistic Rights proposed by 66 NGO in 1996 which had the moral and technical support of the UNESCO. We are launching today the debate on this topic. It’s all the peoples which have to work on it.

    On the basis of the Declaration of the Linguistic Rights referred to above, we will be working on our own contribution, before sending it to all the linguistico-cultural communities of the world, which will have to criticize it, the rewrite it, to enter in discussions between each others (all others) to formulate proposals and counter-proposals. Formidable building site, radically pluralist by nature, extraordinary arena for the most demanding discussion of all because questionning the
very essence of each community and of all of them at the same time. And the most formidable occasion of opening for all. First of all for France and for us because, while speaking to the others about their values, many are the French problems that we will not be able to hide to ourselves anymore !

Posté par okoc à 18:44 - Subjects in English - Commentaires [0] - Rétroliens [0] - Permalien [#]

03 février 2007

OCCITAN CULTURE

occit


 OCCITAN LANGUAGE & CULTURE

When William the Conqueror took possession of England, after the battle of Hastings in 1066, the Counts of Toulouse governed a large area situated between the river Garonne and the Rhône. Then in 1209 there began the tragedy of the so-called Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars whom the Catholic church considered as heretics, a view naturally shared by the French clergy and the King of France, who succeeded finally in incorporating the County of Toulouse into his kingdom.

Good ol’ days…

Nevertheless, a culture was born under the name of “trobar” (from Latin tröpvs,tropare” meaning “to compose texts to be sung”), and between the XIth and XIVth centuries troubadour poets travelled over the whole of Europe. They originated from the south of the river Loire, Guilhem de Peitius (William IX Count of Poitiers) being considered as the first of them (1071-1126). They invented “fin’amor”, a code of courtesy to honour the ladies to whom they dedicated their songs. They had family connections with all the major European counties, especially England, thanks to Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard The Lion-Heart (he composed poems in Occitan himself), both of whom, at various times, ruled over the South-West of France. This is the area that came to be known as Languedoc : “oc country” as Dante Aligheri named it, when he came to visit it around 1300. The difference he established was between two ways of saying “yes”, that is “òc ” in the South, as opposed to the North where they said “oïl ”(modern “oui”). In Toulouse, in 1323, there sprang up an important literary movement referred to as “Consistoire du Gay Savoir” the oldest such organization in Europe. In 1694, it became k known as the “Académie des Jeux-Floraux” because the poets associated with it were awarded prizes of flowers.

Modern times !

In 1539, a royal edict was signed in Villers-Cotterêts by the King of France François I, which stipulated that henceforth French would replace Latin as the official language of France, and as a result Occitan literature lost status while its language survived only as a series of spoken dialects. After the 1789 French Revolution, things did not improve : it was even forbidden to speak Occitan at school ! But in the middle of the XIXth century, a rebirth took place with poets like Jasmin, from Agen, whose songs enjoyed a very wide popularity, and also Frédéric Mistral in Provence who created the Felibrige. This organization, which covered the whole of the South of France, gave new impetus to local felibres (poets) but there was, as yet, no unity and everyone continued working in their own specific area. At the end of the century, a new movement came into being, with Antonin Perbosc at his head. He it was who coined the term Occitania, after studying the works of the Trobadours as well as other Occitan texts, administrative and commercial, dating back to the Middle Ages. New “schools” were founded, for example L’Escolo Carsinolo (The Quercy School) in Montauban, in 1895, or La Cloucado dels Clastres (The Cloisters’ School) in Moissac, where poets from different social origins could meet altogether.

What about now ?

It was not, however, until the end of World War II that any real unity came to exist, and this came about with the creation, in 1944, of the Institut d’Estudis Occitans (Occitan Studies Institute) which developed a unified, single spelling system for Occitan, but one adaptable to regional variations, and promoted the publication of magazines and books in Occitan. It was an effective way of proving that a real Occitan culture existed, a civilization that had to be taken account of, a powerful movement from the “deep South” demanding the right “to live in his own area” (the 1970’s Viure al Païs movement). Today, Occitan is going from strength to strength, thanks to its language and culture being taught in nursery schools (calandretas), in specialized Occitan-French sections), in high-schools and at universities. The Occitan heritage is one which is proud to assert and promote itself.

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How to read modern occitan (similar to medieval times) :

pronounce [o] like in “top” when you read « ò »; pronounce [u] like in “blue” when you read « o »;

pronounce [e] like in “red” when you read « è »; pronounce [b] like in “bob” when you read « v »; pronounce [nye] like in “new” when you read « nh » and [lye] like in “lieu” when you read « lh »;

pronounce [э] slightly like in “poplar” when you read « a » at the end of a word ;

try the Scottish way for “r”, but do not pronounce « n » or « r » when in the end. 

Norbert Sabatié & Ian Short



 

Posté par okoc à 18:06 - Subjects in English - Commentaires [0] - Rétroliens [0] - Permalien [#]

introduction to Occitania

                                                                       
      

> Carcassonne         > Introduction to Occitania

   
      

Occitania         (or Occitany)

   
      

Occitania is the name         of the countries where the Occitan language is spoken, in France, Italy,         and Spain.

      

In all those countries         but Spain, where the local variant of Occitan, the Aranese, is protected         by law, the Occitan language is minorised. There is no compulsory teaching         of the language, which is often taught by non-governmental organisations.         In the past centuries, the inhabitants in the French part of Occitania         were poised to emigrate to the northern France, in the Paris area and         in other places.

      

Occitany or Occitania,         includes 32 départements of Southern France, the Aran valley in Catalonia,         Piemont alpine valleys and the calabrian city of Guardia Piemontese in         Italy.

   
      

the         occitan language 

   
Occitania       is the name given to the Occitan speaking area. That language was and still       is known under many names: roman (in the Middle Ages), language       of oc (used by Dante Alighieri), lenga mondina (from Raimond,       name of the Counts of Tolosa/Toulouse). The names of its dialects are sometimes       used to designate the whole language: provençal, gascon, limousin, auvergnat.              

The Occitan language         is a language of the Romance family, descending from Latin. Due to its         minorised situation it suffers from a huge dialectal fragmentation. Three         big dialectal areas are widely defined: Northern Occitan (Limousin,         Auvergnat, Vivaro-Alpine), Middle Occitan (Languedocian and Provençal),         Gascon. Occitania originates from oc, meaning 'yes', in the so-called         oc-language. Oc gave also its name to the province of Languedoc (litterally         'language of Oc').

      

Transition or interference         areas exist between the Occitan and the neighbouring romance languages:         with the French ; with the Gallo-italic dialects.

      

      

Two Occitan speaking         enclaves remain, Labastida-Clarença, in the Basque country and La Gàrdia         (Guardia Piemontese), in Calabria (Southern Italy). Foreign-speaking enclaves         exist in Occitania: Ligurian ones in Provence (Biòt, Vallauris); French         one in Gascony (Petita Gavacharia de Montsegur).

      

      

The first masterpieces         of the european litterature come mainly from the Trobadors (troubadours).         Knowing their language can help the reading of these texts and the penetration         of their culture. Nowadays Occitan is spoken, above all in France, by         speakers who are often ashamed of speaking their own language because         of french educational system. If you know France you have certainly noticed         that speakers from the South speak French with an "accent". This accent         is caused by the Occitan substratum. If you come to them and show Occitan         is not a contagious disease, it will help our language to recover its         rights in its country. Moreover, because of its roots, Occitan can be         an excellent bridge to those who want to learn Spanish, Catalan, Italian,         French or Portuguese easily. Some claim (and justly!) that it is easier         to shade one's thoughts in Occitan than in any other european language:         Occitan has more than 160,000 words (French: about 40,000).

      

Occitan's closest         language is obviously Catalan. Lots of linguists even consider that Occitan         and Catalan are the same language. Occitan is closer to Catalan, Spanish,         Portuguese and Italian than French.

      

 

   
      

the         occitan symbols

   
      

The Occitan flag is         the Languedoc cross. It was the County of Toulouse emblem before the annexion         by France (1271) and then became the Languedoc province emblem. It is         said it was brought to Occitany by Raimond de Sant Gèli, the Raimond IV         of Toulouse, back from a Crusade in the XIIth century. The twelve terminations         represent the 12 months of the zodiacal wheel. A christian interpretation         of the 12 apostles came later.

      

      

      

The cross represents         Occitania (Occitany). The charge is a 'cross cleché and pometty voided'         - stylized key-handles. This flag is, in fact, the historic banner of         arms of the counts of Toulouse. It can be said to represent Occitania         only in that the counts were the most powerful nobles in the region.

      

So this cross you'll         see everywhere in Carcassonne and a large part of Languedoc is NOT         a "cathar cross" (it never existed), but the Occitan cross.

   
      

 

 

       

You want to get           an idea of what the occitan language look like ?

       

Visit           Carcassonne in the Occitan language - visitatz Carcassona en occitan

       

 

       

                                          

          

Posté par okoc à 15:00 - Subjects in English - Commentaires [0] - Rétroliens [0] - Permalien [#]

02 février 2007

The History of Association Oklahoma-Occitania (OK-OC)

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retour haut de page New France

 In 1534, under the reign of François 1st, Jacques Cartier took possession of Canada. With Samuel Champlain, in 1608 during the reign of Henri IV, the territory became a French colony known as New France. Immediately, a lucrative fur trade began. Indeed, beaver fur and other wild animals were used to make felt which were made for caps that everyone wore in Europe at that time. The natives were hospitable people with the newcomers; they helped them to settle and share with them their knowledge of their country. Thus, the French learned from the Indians the techniques of hunting, trapping and survival in the immense American forests. The first French trappers, who were once called woodland runners or travelers dispersed in the Great Lakes area and came into contact with new tribes.

 The fur traders in their turn incited the Indians to trap more animals in order to satisfy an increasing demand. This trade was practiced in the form of bartering. The French introduced instruments and tools made out of metal such as knives, hatchets, needles, various containers, but also glass beads, fabrics and ribbons. Therefore, the French were now in competition with the English who had also settled in this part of the world. There was a need to find new markets such as China. The idea came to mind to cross the American continent from east to west in order to reach the Pacific Ocean. Only by waterway was it possible to cross the complex lush forest at that time in America.

 

retour haut de page Joliet and Marquette Expedition

 Thus, in 1673, an exploration mission was launched led by a Jesuit, Father Jacques Marquette and another Frenchmen from Canada, Louis Joliet. The expedition was made up of a group of two canoes leaving from Lake Superior. They descended the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi and followed the large river which they hoped would lead them west into the Pacific. During their voyage they took risks by collecting plant samples and especially coming into contact with the new tribes. The descent of the Mississippi continued without any major difficulty but it was a disappointing voyage. The Mississippi River runs hopelessly towards the south! When they arrived at the confluence of the Arkansas River Marquette and Joliet, learned from the Illinois Indians that the Mississippi continues towards southwest.

 The Illinois named the southern region and the western basin of the Mississippi as the country of Wha-Sha-She, a name that Marquette transcribed as Osage. Fearing, that he would enter into Spanish territory and to see his expedition ruined, Marquette decided to return to New France.

 

retour haut de page Louisiana

 Nine years later, in 1682, another Frenchmen, Robert Cavelier de la Salle, completed the Marquette expedition while descending the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico. He really appreciated the discovery of this territory, and dedicated it to the crown of France and gave it the name Louisiana in honor of the Sun King. The Wha-Sha-She (Osage) became, like so many other Indians, subjects to his Majesty Louis XIV, King of France and to the fleet without even knowing it.

 The Louisiana territory stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and, from east to west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, therefore making it an immense colony. It was not easy to control with only a handful of soldiers who were woodland runners, who were more attracted by the charm of the Indians, the wilderness, total freedom and the taste of adventure rather than to serve the king.

 

retour haut de page The Osage

 The Osage are of the Sioux family from the south. They are a part of the Deghiha group which is made up of five tribes: Ponca, Omaha, Osage, Kaw (or Kansas), Quapaw (Arkansas). These tribes belong to the same language family. They have the same traditions and were always allies to each other.

    During the period of the Louisiana, their hunting territory compared to that of the size of France covering today's existing states; Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. They controlled the waterways of the Missouri and Mississippi for trading.

 Physically, the Osage warriors were impressive people, with the average height of two meters (6 feet) or more. They were muscular and well built, their chests were traditionally covered with tattoos, wearing collar necklaces made of bone and bear claws, bracelets made of metal around the arm and wrists, rings and various other objects in the ear lobes. They styled their hair by shaving each side of the head and by leaving one strip of hair in the middle, which descended down the neck. For ceremonies or feastdays, they would accentuate their hair style by wearing a roach made of porcupine needles and tinting it with sharp colors, an eagle feather woven at the top and two other feathers which fell along either side of the face.

 All body hair was carefully plucked out, including facial hairs and eyebrows. Women were also very beautiful, dressed in buckskin dresses dyed with deep colors, set-off by jewelry made of bone or shells.

 The Osage had a diverse economy. The women and children were in charge of agriculture and fruit gathering while hunting was left to the men. Agriculture imposed a sedentary way of life while hunting, especially for buffalo, required a nomadic way of life.

 The Osage were thus, semi nomad people, sharing their time between village life in huts at the edge of running waters, and the two annual hunting seasons, in spring and in autumn. The remainder of their time the hunters continued trapping. Fur trade thus, formed a part of their economy and the tribe ambitiously took care of it by maintaining its monopoly in its influential zone. This explains why there were often wars, fights, punitive raids and other types of acts for the goal to steal horses, or capture women for slaves. The Osage were frightening warriors who knew how to earn respect. The French quickly understood that they could not do without their alliance in this strategically region. They quickly entered their good graces by gift giving and paying respect which would be the only means of maintaining their alleged domination. The trappers flattered the people enormously, especially towards the women, which later many became their wives and they lived in the villages, adopting Osage clothing, habits and customs, integrating themselves into the tribe. They had many children whose descendants still carry today such names as Labadie, Clavier, Robedeaux, Larose, Boulanger.

The Occitans people left many marks of their passage in America: the town of St Louis, founded by Bearnais Baron de Laclede; the town of Detroit, founded by a Tarn-and-Garonnais (an Occitan region) a certain Lamothe-Cadillac (the Cadillac trademark), the Gasconnade river and still more...

 

retour haut de page Bonaparte and Jefferson

 In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte was just a First French Consul but already considered himself as the head of France. He promised himself an incredible destiny, which would need a great deal of money. What to do with this remote colony of the Americas, so difficult to control and so demanding on the soldiers? Talleyrand advised him, to call upon the President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. He was formally the ambassador in Paris during the Revolution and who could hardly believe the unexpected proposal made to him. The Louisiana territory was offered to him on a silver platter for the moderate sum of 15 million dollars! He bought it and thus, double the surface of his country with one strike. The Federate Republic of the founded thirteen American colonies now stretched to the Rocky Mountains. The Plains Indians became American without even knowing it. However, their descendants would have to wait until 1929 to obtain citizenship! The French were no longer masters of this part of the world. The Osage were apart of those who would regret it. As surprising as it may have seemed, a group was formed by the chief: Ki-He-Kah-Shinkah (Little Chief) with a project «to pay a visit to the French within their tribe». This was the beginning of an epic journey!

 

retour haut de page The voyage

 It was now 1827. From that moment on during four years in the village of Kansas at the edge of the Osage River, an affluent of the Missouri River, the Osage stored beaver, fox and bear skins. It was the only currency, which they had to pay for the organized voyage across the "Great Water". The group included a dozen volunteers of men and women determined to do the adventure. They built rafts and loaded them with skins, weapons and luggage and which carried them until the Missouri River. From there, they descended the confluence from the Mississippi until New Orleans and crossed the "Great Stinky Water" to the country of the French. The first part of the voyage went well. Alas, on the lower confluence of the Missouri, just before reaching the Mississippi confluence and the town of Saint Louis, the rafts capsized in the rapids and all the skins were lost. Discouraged and worried by this ill omen the majority of the Osage decided to return to the village. Six of them decided to continue.

 The group was now reduced to but four warriors and two women. Chief Ki-He-Kah-Shinkah (Little Chief) and his wife Gthe-Do'n-Wi'n (Hawk Woman); the warrior Washinka-Sabe (Black Spirit) and his wife Semi-Ho'n-Mi-Ho'n-Ga (Sacred Sun) 19 years old and a relation of Hawk Woman; A-ki-Da-Tonkah (Great-Protector-of-the-Earth) was the spokesman of the village and was called Great-Soldier and finally, the sixth member of the group named Minckchata-hooh (Young Soldier).

 Now here they were in St Louis, which was then just a large village with the two most important confluences in North America. They met a Frenchmen, David Delaunay, wearing a beautiful colonel uniform of the United States army. He already had a hunch that he could make an exhibition of these "savages" in France. It was during the romantisme period: the French author Chateaubriant had just published «Voyage in America» and, in the preceding year, the "Adventures of the Last of Abencerages".

 Delaunay proposed to finance their voyage. The Osage accepted. The group descended the Mississippi River by steamboat and arrived at New Orleans where they embark on a sailing ship: The New England en route for Le Havre. It was at the end of June 1827.

 

retour haut de page The country of the Frenchmen

    On July 27, 1827 at midday, under a radiant sun, the New England ship entered Le Havre harbor. The whole city of forty thousand people was already informed of the imminent arrival of the Indians just the day before. The entire population of Le Havre swarmed to the harbor. There were already people standing on their balconies, on rooftops of houses and even right up to the boats where one could see clusters of people clinging onto the ships. A welcoming triumph!

    On the New England deck, stood the four half-naked warriors of golden smooth brown skin. Their shaved skull mounted with pricked peak of eagle feathers. Their faces were painted in red and with green stripes; on their arms, they wore silver bracelets and beaded necklaces. They stood stoic and well poised underneath the piercing sun holding a spear in one hand, and some of them even had a club in the other, all of them carried bows and arrows. The women were also dressed traditionally: a blouse with sharp colors; a red rap-over skirt with ribbons applied to it, leggings and moccasins. Their long hair, combed carefully, and worn freely down their back. They had a colored down-hairpiece hanging down the side of their faces.

 The extremely cramped crowd, escorted them off the sailing ship and led them into a horse carriage, which brought them to Holland Hotel. Their first visit was with the city mayor who greeted them according to French custom, that anyone who gives an official speech was offered a glass of champagne. Muscat of Rivesaltes were shot that day showing the splendors at «Big Soldier » they probably had a little too much to drink.

 The following days there after were a swirl of entertainment: a ride in a carriage, parade of troops to the citadel, riding the Ferris wheel, sparing, physical sports, banquets, invitations, etc. Women had the pleasure of offering the young Indian ladies costume jewelry and toiletry requisites, which were accepted with joy. But the Indians couldn't stay there forever. Paris was waiting for them!

 In the morning of August 7, strangely dressed in blue frock coats, the Indians embarked on a steamboat the «Duchess of Angouleme» which went up the Seine River. The first stop-over was in Rouen where, once again, forty thousand gawking people were gathered for hours. The August 12th issue of the «Monitor» Journal began to spread the news: «Six Indians create a fury in Rouen.» The crowd besieged the town hall. On August 8th they went to the theater in an open carriage and by custom, sat in the Governor's booth... After the first act the prince rose and spoke in his language a lot of extremely pleasant things undoubtedly the Indians could not understand... The crowd was so curious that during the intermission, they raised the curtain so that the public could have a better look at the Indians. Rouen enjoyed only five days of their presence. On August 13, the Osage went up in the «Vélocifère» a stagecoach heading for Paris.

 

retour haut de page Paris

 Their first outing was their visit with the Baron de Damas, the Foreign Minister, who had invited them for a meal among 40 guests. Two days later, on August 21, they went to the Saint-Cloud Royal Court where they were introduced to Charles X and to the Princes. These official duties were fulfilled. The Indians were the prey of the Parisian public eye... and of the crafty Delaunay. (The ladder had put an ad in the newspapers to finance each outing in order to come and see the Indians. Moreover, the theater directors argued over who would have the privilege of hosting the Osage whose presence, had already been announced beforehand, and that the theater would be completely full whatever the show. Thus they were dragged to the Opera houses of Gaite, Nouveautes, Varietes, l'Odeon, etc. The newspaper "Le Figaro" maliciously printed «the theater directors has just made a debut of six savages for the prosperity of their administration »... )

 In Tivoli, the Osage were the stars of "extraordinary festivals". Their presence were known at the water show at Bercy; the wax museum where they could see their doubles; on a steam boat from Paris to Saint-Cloud; with the military march at Vincennes; and at the King's Garden zoo where they were baffled by the incredible giraffe. A slight madness settled among the Parisians. In cafes, they were serving the "Osage punch", the fashion industry launched "the Osage design" or "the Missourian wool". Fashion was Osage... At the end of October the press stopped writing about the Osage. Shortly there after, Delaunay, who was recognized as a swindler by one of his former victims put him in prison. The Osage who were brought over by Delaunay did not know how they would return to their country. They set off on the roads of France.

 In spring of 1828, they were in Belgium. In Liege, the young Sacred Sun had twins which one of them was adopted by a Liegeois. In January 1, 1829, they were found abandoned and dying of hunger at Friboug-in-Brisgau; they wandered through Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and down to Italy. Finally they separated into two groups, no doubt because of a disagreement on how they would return to their country. One group wanted to find help from Lafayette so they returned to Paris. While the other group counted on Mgr. Louis-Guillaume Dubourg, a former bishop of Louisiana, stationed in St. Louis where he sent the evangelical missionaries to the Plains Indians. The Osage knew him well and many were baptized by him in their tribe. They learned that Mgr. Dubourg had been ordained to the seat at the diocese of Montauban, in southwest of France.

 

retour haut de page Montauban

 Little Chief, Hawk Woman and Big Soldier traveled to south of France. They stopped in Avignon where the Deputy Mayor, Hector de Laurens, made a vote to subsidies their trip and come to their assistance. Winter was early that year. It was in November 1829: the small famished and exhausted group crossed the Old Bridge (Pont Vieux) of Montauban. The Tarn River had been frozen for several days. At the end of the bridge, they turned right and went up Bath Street. Still a few meters to go and they found themselves in front of the gates of Aliès Hall, the Bishop's residence (today known as the Town Hall of Montauban). Louis-Guillaume Dubourg accommodated them in his residence and comforted them. The following day he organized a collection in the diocese, among the nobles and the bourgeois, and the Mayor of Toulouse who was also asked for support. The Montalbanais were generous people: in a few days they reached the sum to finance their voyage back home and would be the end of a nightmare. The Osage embarked on a boat, which descended the Tarn River then, the Garonne River until Bordeaux. Finally "Bayard" brought them back to their country.

 

retour haut de page And the Other Three?

    They had a failed attempt in Paris of September 1829 when the Consul General of the United States, Mr. Barnet, helped by Lafayette lodged them and fed them until they were strong enough to take them to Le Havre Harbor. Just at the moment of their departure all their finances for their trip were seized by the creditors by the debt of their dishonest personal manager Delaunay. The two men caught chicken pocks during their trip back and Sacred Sun returned home alone to her native land with her baby. Upon their return to their village the Osage told their adventures of mishaps. Their two and half years stay had left a deep mark in their spirit, as their story did not die. In fact, the story lives thanks to them and to the oral tradition, which was passed on from generation to generation with such great loyalty. In fact, the story had been written for the first time in the 1929 issue of the Missouri Historical Journal. It was later translated and printed in the French magazine the «Historama» (issue number 40 of June 1987) in an article entitled «Red Skins in Paris» written by Guillaume de Berthier de Sauvigny to which a great part of these accounts were taken.

 

retour haut de page But the Story Doesn't End Here!

 The Indians were a bother to the expansion projects to the west by the Whites. The Osage were moved to a reservation with another tribe of Missouri to Kansas and then finally to Oklahoma. A reservation was allotted to them in north of what was then called "Indian Territory" which is today known as Oklahoma. The territory is the size of the surface of two French departments, but insufficient enough for hunting. Besides the buffalo would soon disappear and... their heart was no longer there. The tribe withered away, and went dormant. Until oil would awake them.

 

retour haut de page The Osage Blanket...

    The Osage blanket is black gold, which soaked the basin of the reservation like a sponge. They already knew the existence of oil but before the beginning of the 20th century, who would have thought at that time that this black and nauseous oil would make an engine run?

 The Automobile boom would change everything. The states of Oklahoma, Texas, and part of Kansas were covered with derricks. On the Osage, reservation, oil wells were among the richest. The Osage lived the greatest economic miracle in their history. Oil companies came to exploit the layer and pay large royalties to the tribe. Officially the tribal count which was given by the Bureau of Indian Affairs was 2229 Osage in 1909. They were allotted shares, each Osage living at that time of distribution; adult or child, including a new born were accredited with shares. It was a time of wealth. Careless tribal members launched into a sumptuous life style, building mansions, buying the most luxurious cars, dressing their wives with fine jewelry. The American newspapers constantly raved about their lavious life style. This caught the attention of adventurers, con artists and swindlers who exploited the Osage's unusual naivete on handling the dollar. The most sinister of these gangsters would go as far as violence such as murders, criminal explosions, voluntary fires which would discourage the victims and to leave the territory where the majority moved towards southern California where they would remain bonded within themselves and to their families back in Oklahoma.

 Other Osage families were more careful and sent their children to the best schools. They would return with a higher education and fill high positions within American companies.

retour haut de page Present Day

 The Osage tribe still exists and there are about sixteen thousands of members of which half approximately still live on the reservation, known today as the Osage County. Its Tribal Council meets regularly in Pawhuska, capital and also headquarters of the Osage county. The Osage people hold various occupations or are unemployed and, whatever their social condition today, are living according to American standards.

 But they all come together during their, modern or traditional ceremonies, to maintain their traditions, their identity and their culture. The present day Osage are now cultural warriors.

 In June 1987, Jean-Claude Drouilhet founded the association after having read an article in «Historama» journal. It was there were he discovered with great surprise the story relating to the three Osages who were in the town of Montauban 1829. He launched a project to invite the Osage to Montauban. He wrote to the tribe. The Principal Chief, George Tallchief, and Mrs. Angela Robinson (an Osage Lady) accepted the project and the cultural exchanges.

 This was just the beginning of a new adventure!

 

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Posté par okoc à 10:54 - Subjects in English - Commentaires [0] - Rétroliens [0] - Permalien [#]



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