Chumash Indians, Santa Ynez Band flag

The Native Spirit Center is pleased to display the “Chumash Indians, Santa Ynez Band” flag and tell its story.

The Flag
Federally recognized Indian Band in Santa Barbara County in south-central California, about 32 miles north of the city of Santa Barbara and about 10 miles away from the Pacific Ocean.
Of Hokan language group.
Area: @ 100 acres
Population:@ 213 (on the reservation)
Last speaker of the language died in 1965.
Tribal Chairman: Vincent Armenta (2005-)
There were the most numerous Indian tribe on the arrival of the Spaniards in California, numbering approximately 22,000. They were the only Indian nation depending largely on ocean fishing for subsistence. Skilled canoe builders, they hunted on and around the Channel Islands as well as along the coast. Presently, they are the owners of Chumash Casino Resort which assures their wellbeing.

Clatsop/Nehalem flag

The Native Spirit Center is pleased to display the “Clatsop/Nehalem” flag and tell its story.

The Flag
This very intersting flag belongs to the Clatsop Nation, a small Indian tribe living in northwestern part of Oregon, by the mouth of Columbia river. The flag shows a black canoe with Indians sailing on blue water under red sky towards yellow sun (from which is seen only half). Unusually realistic design (reminiscent of the Kiribati flag), but it also could be seen from the distance also like geometric: red black and blue stripes with yellow semicircle at the hoist. Jakub Grombíø, 17 October 2008
More accurately, "The Clatsop-Nehalem Confederate Tribes", named after the two Clatsop and Nehalem nations encountered by the explorers Lewis and Clark in 1805-1806. They have currently 160 registered members but expect many more to be enrolled. They are pursuing federal recognition as an independent tribe.
 
The canoe, dugout in a cedar log, is a significant element of the Clatsop-Nehalem heritage. See the Canoe Project.
The elements shown on the flag sent by Jakub appear on the oval emblem present on the top of the website's pages. No flag seems to be mentioned there, which does not mean it does not exist, but a source for the flag is required.
Official site of Clatsop-Nehalem Confederate Tribes

Comanche Nation flag

The Native Spirit Center is pleased to display the “Comanche Nation” flag and tell its story. 

The Flag
The flag of the Comanche Nation celebrates its historical status as the dominant Tribe of the south-central United States. The field is divided vertically, with blue at the left, red at the right. (Two versions of the flag exist and one is double-sided, with blue on the left on both sides.)
The seal of the Comanche Nation also appears with the blue portion always to the left. According to the Public Information Office of the Comanche Tribe, the flag may date to 1991. The seal is a Comanche battle shield divided roughly in half (seal provided by The Comanche News, newsletter of the Comanche Nation, Lawton, Oklahoma). The left portion is blue; the right portion is yellow and bears the image of a Comanche warrior on horseback in red to represent the name given to all Native Americans by the European settlers-the "red man" (Jamesena Stops, Editor, The Comanche News). The undulating border between the halves represents a snake moving backwards. According to their legends, the Comanche were once known as the "Snakes". The blue represents loyalty, while the yellow recalls the brightness of the sun and a state of happiness.
The blue and red colors are derived from a British wool trade blanket, the wrap preferred by the Comanche when riding the Plains over a century ago. The blanket recalls the Comanche's life without boundaries, a time when they were the true rulers of the Plains. A critical element in many Comanche ceremonies, the blanket also boasts of the prowess of the Comanche as horsemen. Four feathers appear on the shield when it is used as the seal of the Comanche Nation. As with many other tribes, they recall the sacred number four.
The Comanche are using their seal and flag with increasing zeal. In April 1995 they issued license plates for vehicles registered to tribal members and based upon tribal lands ("Comanche Tribal License Tags Are Here", The Comanche News, July, 1995, 1). The central element of the new plates is the seal of the Comanche Nation. In July 1995 the Comanche officially opened their "Comanche Veterans Memorial" in Lawton ("Comanche Veterans Memorial Dedicated", The Comanche News, Aug. 1995, 1).
Two central flagpoles fly the American and the Comanche flags. A version of the flag with a variant seal flies at the Flag Plaza in Oklahoma City. A yellow circle replaces the serrated edge of the shield. Across the top of the circle, in black, is "Comanche Nation", while in slightly smaller letters below is "Lords of the Southern Plains". The seal is divided equally in half, blue to the left and red (not yellow) to the right. The Indian on horseback is shown in yellow and greatly enlarged to provide more detail.

The Band

Comanche - Oklahoma
The Comanche, the "Lords of the Plains", once dominated an area that included much of present-day Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and northern Mexico. The fiercest of fighters and among the last Tribes to submit to reservations (ENAT, 68-71), they were excellent horsemen, keeping large herds and introducing the horse to neighboring Tribes after acquiring it from the Spanish. Today the Comanche Nation is centered on Lawton, Oklahoma, where the modern Comanche engage in farming and earn income from leasing mineral rights.

Flandreau Sioux flag

The Native Spirit Center is pleased to display the “Flandreau Sioux” flag and tell its story.

The Flag
Until 1994, the Flandreau Santee Sioux flag was dark blue with a white circle in the center. Arching across the top of this circle was "FLANDREAU" in black; across the bottom was "SANTEE". The circle was crossed by a pair of peace pipes representing the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands. From each pipe hung two feathers for a total of four - the mystical number in Native American symbolism and the number of bands comprising the Santee Nation.

The peace pipes on the flag had special significance. The Santee mined the sacred red stone used to carve the heads of the peace pipes employed by many tribes throughout North America. Santee miners still take this sacred rock from a quarry now protected by the federal government as Pipestone National Monument in southwestern Minnesota [see Iowa Nation of Oklahoma]. The Santee also carve elaborate pipe heads and make handsome peace pipes for sale.

In 1994 the Tribe adopted a dramatically different flag, perhaps influenced by the Tribe's entry into the gaming industry. The new flag is white, edged with light blue. Near the center is a disk with light blue edging and divided vertically, orange to the left, red to the right; the two colors may recall the two bands that make up the Flandreau Santee. Overlaying this disk is the head of a bald eagle, the powerful messenger between the "Great Father" and man, and the creature atop the hierarchy of totems in Native American beliefs. The stylized eagle's head is shown in brown and white, edged in light blue.

Emanating from the disk to the right are five sun rays of orange, yellow, red, yellow, and orange. A brown peace pipe crossing behind the disk bears two feathers, again perhaps referring to the Wahpekute and Mdewakanton bands. Along the upper edge of the pipe in the upper left corner is "APRIL 24, 1936", the date the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe adopted its constitution. On the other side of the disk, along the top of the pipe, is "WAKPA IPAKSUN", the Wahpekute band's name in its native tongue. Arching along the top of the disk is "MDE AKANTON", the name of the Mdewakanton band in Dakota. Arching behind the head of the eagle is "FLANDREAU SANTEE SIOUX TRIBE, FLANDREAU, SOUTH DAKOTA". All lettering on the flag is black.

The Band
Flandreau Santee Sioux - South Dakota
The Flandreau Santee is the smallest of the Sioux Tribes in South Dakota, with a population below 300 and land holdings of 3,200 acres (AID, 43), yet Santees lent their names to the states of North and South Dakota. Sioux Nations to their west were known as Nakota or Lakota, but the Santee called themselves Dakota.
The Santee comprise four bands, the Sisseton, the Wahpeton, the Wahpekute, and the Mdewakanton. The first two bands live on the Lake Traverse Reservation in South Dakota and the Devil's Lake Reservation in North Dakota [see Sisseton & Wahpeton Sioux]. The last two bands are scattered on several small reservations in Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. One of these small reservations is the colony outside the town of Flandreau, South Dakota (Presenting the Flandreau Santee Sioux, undated pamphlet, United Sioux Tribes, Pierre, South Dakota).
The Flandreau Santee, a mix of Wahpekute and Mdewakanton, derive their name from the Dakota Isanyati, a shortening of Mde Insanti, the DakotA NAME for the Mille Lacs region of Minnesota, the historic Santee homeland. Isanyati thus essentially means "people of the Mille Lacs region".
The Flandreau Santee settled in their current location after the "Minnesota Wars" of 1862 and adopted the lifestyle of their surrounding white neighbors.

Forest County Potawatomi flag

The Native Spirit Center is pleased to display the “Forest County Potawatomi” flag and tell its story.

The Flag
The flag of the Forest County Potawatomi emphasizes this traditional role. The flag is white. It bears the seal of the Tribe in the center. That seal is composed of a medicine wheel also called the circle of life. That wheel is subdivided into four quadrants, four being a sacred number to most Native peoples in North America. The upper left quadrant is black which represents the end of life and the direction, West. The upper right quadrant is white and stands for North and hibernation or dormancy. The lower left is red for South and rebirth or rejuvenation and lastly the lower right is yellow for the East and new life. These four colors are frequently associated with the four seasons and the four races of mankind as well.

Overlaying the circle of life is a gray outline image of a warrior tending a campfire - thus the "Keeper of the Sacred Fire". Hanging from the circle are three eagle feathers depicted in black and white.

Forming a semi-circle over the tribal seal ins the name "Forest County Potawatomi Nation" in black letters. Underlining the seal is the sobriquet "Keeper of the Fire" also in black.

The Band
Forest County Potawatomi - Wisconsin
Nearly 1,000 members strong, the Forest County Potawatomi possess a 12,000-acre reservation in northern Wisconsin near the border with the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Tribe was formed in 1913 and received Federal recognition in 1937.

As with nearly all contemporary Potawatomi across the country, the Forest County Potawatomi celebrate their ancestral role as the "Keepers of the Sacred Fire". Long ago the Ojibwe (Chippewa), the Ottawa and the Potawatomi were united. The Ojibwe were the "Keepers of the Faith", the Ottawa were the "Keepers of the Trade" and to the Potawatomi came the duty of maintaining the fire around which the Tribes would assemble.