Indigenous Peoples Flags – Portland Flag Association

A Treasure Trove of Vexillology

Good news for all you vexillologists out there: NAVA, the North American Vexillological Association, has made available, for free online access, nearly everything that it has published in its premiere scholarly journal Raven. (The two most recent volumes are behind a paywall.) Most of the free content can be accessed at:

https://www.pdcnet.org/raven/free

The interface is basic, but by scrolling and searching you can find every article from volume 3 through volume 19. For some reason this list omits volumes 1 and 2, but these are also freely available through these links:

Raven volume 1 (1994)
Raven volume 2 (1995)

Included in all this are four entire books which were published as special issues of Raven:

Native American Flags by Donald T. Healy and Peter J. Orenski, forward by Carl Waldman. Raven volume 3/4, 1996-97. ISBN-13: 978-0806135564
American City Flags by John M. Purcell with James A. Croft and Rich Monahan. Raven volume 9/10, 2002-03. ISBN-13: 978-0974772806
Russian Regional Flags by Anne M. Platoff. Raven volume 16, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0974772820
Canadian City Flags by Luc Baronian, Christopher Bedwell, Doreen Braverman, James Croft, Scott D. Mainwaring, John Purcell, Rob Raeside, Mark Ritzenhein, & Alison Wilkes. Eugene Ipavec, Art Editor. Edward B. Kaye, Editor. Raven volume 18, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-0974772837

For handy access, links to the book chapters (PDF files) are listed below.

Native American Flags by Donald T. Healy and Peter J. Orenski, forward by Carl Waldman. Raven volume 3/4, 1996-97.

Introduction / References with a Guide to Notes / Absentee Shawnee / Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) / Ak-Chin Indian Community (Tohono O’odham & Pima) / Alabama Quassarte / Arapaho / Assiniboine & Gros Ventre / Assiniboine & Sioux / Bay Mills Ojibwe (or Chippewa) / Big Pine Paiute / Blackfoot / Caddo / Catawba / Cherokee / Cherokee, Eastern Band / Cheyenne & Arapaho / Cheyenne River Sioux / Chickasaw / Chirakawa & Warm Springs Bands of Apache of the Fort Sill Reservation / Choctaw / Citizen Band of Potawatomi / Cocopah / Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) / Colville Confederated Tribes / Comanche / Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde / Coquille / Crow / Crow Creek Sioux / Delaware of Western Oklahoma / Eastern Shawnee / Flandreau Santee Sioux / Flathead of the Salish & Kootenai / Gila River Pima & Maricopa / Ho-Chunk (or Winnebago) / Inter-Tribal Council of California / Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada (ITCN) / Iowa of Oklahoma / Iroquois Confederacy / Jamestown S’Klallam / Kalispel (or Pend d’Oreille) / Kaw (or Kanza) / Kialegee Creek / Kickapoo of Oklahoma / Kiowa / Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe (or Chippewa) / Lenni Lenape (or Eastern Delaware) / Lower Brule Sioux / Lower Elwha Klallam / Lummi / Makah / Mandan, Hidatsa, & Arikara / Mashantucket Pequot / Menominee / Miami / Miccosukee / Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe / Mississippi Band of Choctaw / Modoc of Oklahoma / Mohawk / Mohegan / Mojave / Muckleshoot / Muskogee (or Creek) / Nambe Pueblo / Navajo / Nez Perce / Northern Cheyenne / Oglala Sioux / Olemitcha Miwok / Oneida / Oneida of Wisconsin / Osage / Otoe-Missouria / Ottawa of Oklahoma / Paiute of Utah / Paiute & Washoe of Reno-Sparks / Passamaquoddy / Pawnee / Penobscot / Peoria / Poarch Band of Creek / Quapaw / Quileute / Quinauit / Red Lake Ojibwe / Rosebud Sioux / Sac & Fox of Iowa / Sac & Fox of Oklahoma / Salt River Pima & Maricopa / San Carlos Apache / Santa Clara Pueblo / Santee Sioux / Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Ojibwe (or Chippewa) / Seminole of Florida / Seminole of Oklahoma / Senec / Seneca-Cayuga / Sisseton & Wahpeton Sioux / Southern Ute / Spokane / Standing Rock Sioux / Suquamish / Swinomish / Thlopthlocco Creek / Tohono O’odham / Tolowa / Tonkawa / Tonto Apache / Tunica-Biloxi / Uintah & Ouray Ute / United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee / United Sioux Tribes / United South & Eastern Tribes (USET) / Upper Skagit / Warm Springs, Wasco, & Northern Paiute / Washoe of Nevada & California / White Earth Band of Ojibwe

American City Flags by John M. Purcell with James A. Croft and Rich Monahan.
Raven volume 9/10, 2002-03.

Color Plates / Akron, OH / Albany, NY / Albuquerque, NM / Anaheim, CA / Anchorage, AK / Annapolis, MD / Arlington, TX / Atlanta, GA / Augusta, GA / Augusta, ME / Aurora, CO / Austin, TX / Bakersfield, CA / Baltimore, MD / Baton Rouge, LA / Billings, MT / Birmingham, AL / Bismarck, ND / Boise, ID / Boston, MA / Bridgeport, CT / Buffalo, NY / Burlington, VT / Carson City, NV / Casper, WY / Cedar Rapids, IA / Charleston, SC / Charleston, WV / Charlotte, NC / Chesapeake, VA / Cheyenne, WY / Chicago, IL / Cincinnati, OH / Cleveland, OH / Colorado Springs, CO / Columbia, SC / Columbus, OH / Concord, NH / Corpus Christi, TX / Dallas, TX / Denver, CO / Des Moines, IA / Detroit, MI / Dover, DE / El Paso, TX / Fort Smith, AR / Fort Wayne, IN / Fort Worth, TX / Frankfort, KY / Fremont, CA / Fresno, CA / Garland, TX / Glendale, AZ / Glendale, CA / Grand Forks, ND / Grand Rapids, MI / Greensboro, NC / Gulfport, MS / Harrisburg, PA / Hartford, CT / Helena, MT / Hialeah, FL / Honolulu, HI / Houston, TX / Huntington, WV / Indianapolis, IN / Irving, TX / Jackson, MS / Jacksonville, FL / Jefferson City, MO / Jersey City, NJ / Juneau, AK / Kansas City, MO / Lansing, MI / Las Vegas, NV / Lexington, KY / Lincoln, NE / Little Rock, AR / Long Beach, CA / Los Angeles, CA / Louisville, KY / Lubbock, TX / Madison, WI / Manchester, NH / Maui, HI / Memphis, TN / Mesa, AZ / Miami, FL / Milwaukee, WI / Minneapolis, MN / Mobile, AL / Montgomery, AL / Montpelier, VT / Nashville, TN / New Orleans, LA / New York, NY / Newark, NJ / Norfolk, VA / Oakland, CA / Oklahoma City, OK / Olympia, WA / Omaha, NE / Philadelphia, PA / Phoenix, AZ / Pierre, SD / Pittsburgh, PA / Plano, TX / Pocatello, ID / Portland, ME / Portland, OR / Providence, RI / Provo, UT / Raleigh, NC / Rapid City, SD / Richmond, VA / Riverside, CA / Rochester, NY / Sacramento, CA / St. Louis, MO / St. Paul, MN / St. Petersburg, FL / Salem, OR / Salt Lake City, UT / San Antonio, TX / San Diego, CA / San Francisco, CA / San Jose, CA / Santa Ana, CA / Santa Fe, NM / Scottsdale, AZ / Seattle, WA / Shreveport, LA / Spokane, WA / Springfield, IL / Stockton, CA / Tacoma, WA / Tallahassee, FL / Tampa, FL / Toledo, OH / Topeka, KS / Trenton, NJ / Tucson, AZ / Tulsa, OK / Virginia Beach, VA / Warwick, RI / Washington, DC / Wichita, KS / Wilmington, DE / Worcester, MA / Yonkers, NY

Russian Regional Flags by Anne M. Platoff.
Raven volume 16, 2009.

Introduction / Acknowledgements / The Russian Federation / Design Basics / Colors Used in the Flags / Symbols / Summary / Federal Subjects / Merged Federal Subjects / Conclusion / Contributors / Index / Color Plates: Symbols of the Russian Federation, Current Symbols of Federal Subjects, Symbols of Merged Federal Subjects, & Obsolete Flags of Federal Subjects

Canadian City Flags by Luc Baronian, Christopher Bedwell, Doreen Braverman, James Croft, Scott D. Mainwaring, John Purcell, Rob Raeside, Mark Ritzenhein, & Alison Wilkes. Eugene Ipavec, Art Editor. Edward B. Kaye, Editor.
Raven volume 18, 2011.

Editor’s Notes / Definitions, Conventions, & Authors / Donors / Acknowledgments / Introduction / Abbotsford, BC / Arviat, NU / Baker Lake, NU / Barrie, ON / Bathurst, NB / Bay Roberts, NL / Behchokò, NT / Belleville, ON / Brandon, MB / Brantford, ON / Bridgewater, NS / Calgary, AB / Cape Breton, NS / Carmacks, YT / Charlottetown, PE / Chatham-Kent, ON / Chilliwack, BC / Corner Brook, NL / Cornwall, ON / Courtenay, BC / Dawson, YT / Drummondville, QC / Edmonton, AB / Fort Smith, NT / Fredericton, NB / Gander, NL / Granby, QC / Grande Prairie, AB / Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury, ON / Guelph, ON / Haines Junction, YT / Halifax, NS / Hamilton, ON / Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL / Hay River, NT / Igloolik, NU / Inuvik, NT / Iqaluit, NU / Joliette, QC / Kamloops, BC / Kawartha Lakes, ON / Kelowna, BC / Kensington, PE / Kingston, ON / Kitchener, ON / Leamington, ON / Lethbridge, AB / Lloydminster, SK & Alberta / London, ON / Medicine Hat, AB / Miramichi, NB / Moncton, NB / Montague, PE / Montréal, QC / Longueuil, QC / Moose Jaw, SK / Nanaimo, BC / New Glasgow, NS / Norfolk County, ON / North Bay, ON / Oshawa, ON / Ottawa, ON / Gatineau, QC / Peterborough, ON / Portage la Prairie, MB / Prince Albert, SK / Prince George, BC / Québec, QC / Rankin Inlet, NU / Red Deer, AB / Regina, SK / Rimouski, QC / Saguenay, QC / Saint John, NB / Saint-Hyacinthe, QC / Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC / Sarnia, ON / Saskatoon, SK / Sault Ste. Marie, ON / Shawinigan, QC / Sherbrooke, QC / Sorel-Tracy, QC / Souris, PE / St. Andrews, MB / St. Catharines, ON / St. John’s, NL / Summerside, PE / Thompson, MB / Thunder Bay, ON / Toronto, ON / Brampton, ON / Markham, ON / Mississauga, ON / Vaughan, ON / Trois-Rivières, QC / Truro, NS / Vancouver, BC / Burnaby, BC / Surrey, BC / Vernon, BC / Victoria, BC / Victoriaville, QC / Watson Lake, YT / Whitehorse, YT / Windsor, ON / Winnipeg, MB / Wood Buffalo, AB / Yellowknife, NT / Contributors to this Issue / Colophon

Teen Hopes Flags Will Help Heal Eastern Oregon Community

[Above photo of the Burns High gym by Thomas Boyd, Oregonian Staff]

The 41-day standoff between law enforcement and armed out-of-state militants who took over and vandalized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon has finally ended, but the hurt done to the communities of surrounding Harney County has only begun to heal. The Oregonian recently published an in-depth feature on the importance of the Burns High School sports program in providing an inclusive venue for local people to come together:

[Amid] the upheaval, a weary and divided community has found common ground in supporting the Hilanders sports teams. And players from families all along the political spectrum have relished their opportunities to escape the debates and come together in a gym that during the standoff hosted both cathartic games and a pair of emotional community meetings.

[…]

“The gymnasium is their sanctuary,” [civics teacher Jake] Thomson said, and he could have meant players and spectators alike.

Andrew Greif ended his feature, As Oregon standoff raised tensions, Burns found release in the Hilanders, with the story of senior basketball player Ty Reed:

On the morning of the last occupiers’ surrender, Reid walked into the low-lit Burns gym and looked up at its arched ceiling. He pointed at a beam.

Reid hopes to hang three flags from it for his senior project. He envisions a U.S. flag as the centerpiece, flanked by smaller flags for Oregon and the Burns Paiute tribe. [For the smaller flags, he is working with fellow student Anthony Purcella from the Paiute Club at Burns High.] He has raised a little more than 10 percent toward the $18,000 project.

Reid came up with the idea long before the occupation. But the winter’s events have added deeper meaning as the community begins the hard work of moving on.

“Our community has been kind of split by all this,” Reid said. “This could be a start.”

The flag of the Burns Paiute Tribe consists of this logo with the tribe’s name written above.

$18,000 may sound like a lot for three flags, but one is 12 x 18 feet and the two others 10 x 15, and they will be suspended from electrically operated rollers built by Morgan Rolling Flags so they can be ceremonially unfurled and unfurled during events at the gym. A YouTube advertisement from the company gives a sense of scale and effect:

For more information or contribute to his project, check out Ty Reid’s GoFundMe project, All Flags United in Burns!

RAIPON

The Flags of the World (FOTW) database recently added a new indigenous peoples’ flag: the flag of the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON).

RAIPON was established in 1990 and participates on the Arctic Council. It represents 41 different indigenous groups across Russia.

RAIPON’s logo. Source: yle/UUTISET

RAIPON was shut down unexpectedly in 2012 with the pretext that its logo had not been federally registered. It has since reopened.

canadian-american-visitors — Desk flags of Moscow (front) and RAIPON (back) at a meeting with North American environmental scientists at RAIPON’s Moscow offices. Source: raipon.info

On raipon.info we found a couple photos of vexillological interest:

sami-games-2015 — The flag of the Sami People is displayed at the opening of the 2015 Sami Games in the village of Lovozero, Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Source: raipon.info.

pervenstvo — Flag of the Okhinsky District, Sakhalin Oblast, Russia flies at a regional championship in which 63 child athletes from Sakhalin’s seven districts competed. Source: raipon.info

Other Sakhalinese flags can be seen in this video about the competition.

The Ieweras Gray Women’s Warrior Flag

Women's Warrior Flag, designed in honor of Ieweras Gray. — Women’s Warrior Flag, designed in honor of Ieweras Gray.

Ieweras Gray (1998-2014) was a Mohawk girl who was diagnosed with leukemia at age six, battling the cancer until succumbing to it at age 16. Her story, and that of her father James Sakoietah Gray who was torn between supporting his daughter and defending himself in a criminal case regarding an Indian casino, was movingly documented in She brings the thunder by Jorge Barrera (APTN National News, 20 April 2015). He quotes Sakoietah:

The Woman’s Warrior Flag was developed to honour Ieweras Gray and to bring strength to all women of the world for their voices to be heard once again. For the women are the protectors of the lands, they will stand strong and proud.

Ieweras means “she helps bring the thunder and lightning” — a warrior’s name given to her because she was born during a thunderstorm in Cornwall, Ontario. The thunderbolt earring shown on the flag references this.

The Mohawk Warrior Flag, designed by Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall.

The flag is a variant of the flag of the Mohawk Warrior Society, one of a series of flags designed by the artist Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall. Other flags in the series include the “Indian Flag” showing a “long haired indigenous person,” and versions showing both a man and a woman.

The Indian Flag, a poster by Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall.

The Women’s Warrior Flag has been adopted by the Ieweras Gray Foundation, which sells the flag in its online store and publishes a feed on Instagram of photographs it has been sent showing the flag in various contexts, including MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) protests.

Oregon Flag Registry Update

from Vexilloid Tabloid #53

The Oregon Flag Registry is an ongoing project by the PFA to document the flags of all Oregon tribes, counties, cities, and other flag-using entities. Current status:

Total Prospects Identified: 118
Total Entries Assigned: 32
Total Entries Completed:16

The Registry is online at oregonflagregistry.org. Contact Scott Mainwaring to join the team: info [at] portlandflag.org.

Ted Kaye recently completed the entry of the flag the Chinook tribe, based in Washington, with members in Oregon. From his entry:

Adopted January, 2003, the flag places a stylized Chinook salmon in the style of Northwest Coast Indian art in black and red on a field of white. Centered on its stomach are the contours of a human face.

The flag’s salmon image is the tribe’s logo, designed by Tony Johnson. An accomplished artist and canoe carver, he also led the Cultural Affairs Committee which adopted the flag.

The Clatsop-Nehalem Flag

The Clatsop-Nehalem are an unrecognized confederation of Native Americans in Oregon with a truly striking flag.

Flag of the Confederated Tribes of Clatsop-Nehalem. Adopted August 2003. Designed by Mark Scovell.

According to its designer, Mark Scovell (son of tribal chief Joe Scovell):

The circular design of the yellow touches all of the other colors because it represents the Creator whose presence relates to all of life. The red represents blood which is life-sustaining, the blue represents food resources, and the black represents cooperative relationships. The Clatsop-Nehalem flag is a symbol of the four things that our Tribe believes in: first, we believe in community…we all need to work together to be a strong group and to survive; second, we believe in the power of the sun and that it is held in the sky by God to give us life; third, we believe in Blood that flows through us giving us life; fourth, we believe in the Sea as it is a provider of food and other things to help us survive.