How US Lawmakers Get Involved in Immigration Cases

  The United States government may force Gurmukh Singh to leave the country. Singh works as a taxi driver in Southern California. The government denied his request for asylum 18 years ago. Since then, he has been trying to persuade U.S. immigration officials to overturn the expulsion order. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE detained Singh in early May. His wife and two daughters are American citizens. Alan Lowenthal represents a part of Southern California in the U.S. House of Representatives. Shortly after Singh’s detention, Lowenthal offered a private immigration bill to the House for consideration. If approved, the measure would give Singh the legal right to stay in the country. However, the Trump administration recently changed the way immigration officials deal with such cases. What is a private bill? Private bills are pieces of legislation that create a law that affects only one person or a small group of people. Private bills can stop a law from affecting someone, provide special help, or remove legal responsibility for some wrongful act. Often, members of Congress write private bills to help people who been unsuccessful in dealing with the U.S. immigration system. How often does this happen? Private bills are rare. Between 1986 and 2013, Congress approved such measures just 94 times. Jill Marie Bussey is the director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. She says about 300 private bills have been proposed in Congress since 2010. That number could fall because of changes in the way ICE deals with private bill cases. What are the changes to private bills? Until last month, ICE delayed expulsions of undocumented immigrants named in private bills in Congress. The agency says there were about 70 such cases over the past six years. But in May, ICE told Congress it would only delay expulsions for up to six months -- and only after receiving a written request from the chair of the House and Senate judiciary committee or one of their subcommittees. Committee chairs are usually members of the majority party. Republican lawmakers now control the House and Senate. ICE says most private bills are designed to give people permanent resident status by “circumventing the normal immigration law network.” Bussey says that private bills are only used when there is no other way to resolve the immigration case under current law. “This is not about circumventing,” she says. “This is about providing protection in very unique ways.” Robert Law is the director of government relations at the Federation for American Immigration Reform. He said the changes will help make the process fairer. But some members of Congress believe the changes give too much power to the president. Dianne Feinstein is the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Dick Durbin is the top Democrat on the Immigration Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. In a joint statement, they described the change as “a mean-spirited action that tramples firm, longstanding practice between two co-equal branches of government.” Can members of Congress intervene at all? Members of Congress can also have an influence on immigration cases in other ways. Bussey says members can contact a local ICE office, or the State Department, when a case involves visa issues. “There’s human error in all of this stuff,” says Bussey. “Even doing everything the right way -- you know you’ve completed the forms properly, you know you’ve completed the case -- things can go wrong.” That is how Florida Representative Charlie Crist, a Democrat, was able to help the Huynh family. They are friends of his family and operate a jewelry store in his state. Crist told VOA that he entered the store a few months ago and saw that Mrs. Huynh was sad. “She was telling me about her daughter Kim who had gotten married a year prior and yet her husband wasn’t allowed to come to Vietnam to be with her in America,” he said.  Crist began to work with Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who was already making telephone calls about the case to the State Department. State Department workers met with Kim’s husband at his home in Vietnam. They saw a photograph of the lawmaker and asked if he was a family friend. Three days later, Kim’s husband was given a visa. What role can Congress play? Immigration powers are divided between Congress and the president. Finding a balance between them often means looking for areas where one of them has done something they are not permitted to do. Law says “there needs to be (a) clear line about what the letter of the law is and if there are problems with the law, then we have a legislative process to fix it.” Bussey says that when members of Congress get personally involved in immigration cases they learn more about what is happening in federal agencies and “what people are facing day to day and hopefully they can learn from that.” I’m Alice Bryant. And I'm Bryan Lynn.   VOA’s Katherine Gypson wrote this story. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   expel – v. to officially force (someone) to leave a place or organization resident – n. someone who lives in a particular place status – n. the current state of someone or something  circumvent – v. to avoid being stopped by (something, such as a law or rule); to get around (something) in a clever and sometimes dishonest way trample – v. to treat other people's rights, wishes or feelings as if they are worthless or not important practice – n. the action of doing or using something error – n. something that is not correct; a wrong action or statement stuff – n. informal used to speak in a general way about something that is talked about, written about, etc. allow – v. to permit (something) letter of the law – expression the specific meaning of a law  

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Everyday Grammar: But

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Gaining Greater Knowledge at Dartmouth College

  Editor’s Note: This story is part of a continuing series about international student life at colleges and universities across the United States. Please join us over the next several weeks as we bring you stories about international students and the American higher education system as a whole.   Faith Rotich always thought she would stay in Kenya to seek a university education. Rotich is from Eldoret, a town of about 290,000 people in the western part of the country. After she completed high school in 2012, the University of Nairobi accepted her into an undergraduate program. However, Rotich says at that time there was limited space at Kenyan public universities. Many students had to wait a year or more after schools accepted them before they could begin studying. During her year of waiting, she began thinking about other possible choices. Rotich then learned of the Kenya Scholar-Athlete Project, or KenSAP. This program helps gifted high school graduates with little money gain admission to selective colleges in the United States and Canada. With the help of KenSAP, she applied to several schools, all in the northeastern part of the U.S. called New England. In 2014, Dartmouth College accepted Rotich to start her undergraduate studies in mathematics. Dartmouth is a private research university located in Hanover, a town of about 11,200 people in the northeastern state of New Hampshire. In 2016, more than half of the town residents were students at the school. Dartmouth is one of eight private colleges and universities in the Ivy League. The schools are widely considered to be some of the best in the world. From 2011 to 2013, Dartmouth earned the highest rating in the country for ‘Strong Commitment to Teaching’ from the website U.S. News & World Report. Dartmouth selected Rotich for its King Scholar Leadership Program. This program chooses students from developing nations and helps pay for and supports them in their education at the college. Upon graduation, they are expected to return to their home country to help fight poverty. When she arrived in fall of 2014, Rotich says she could not believe her eyes. She says she was surprised at how much the school and the town looked like pictures she had seen on the internet. "I felt some kind of happiness, that I want to explore this place, I want to know what it’s like. Then later on … I met some wonderful students who immediately made me feel like I really belong here." In her first year, Rotich started taking pictures for the university newspaper. As her interest in photography grew, the 22-year-old held special events to share her works with even more people. Rotich has also explored different ways of thinking. She says where she is from, people believe in a form of Christianity with strong, conservative rules. At Dartmouth, she took a religion class that asked her to question some of those beliefs. Her mother grew concerned that Rotich might lose respect or support for her own culture as a result, she says. But after Rotich explained that the purpose of classes like these was to improve her critical thinking, Rotich’s mother grew less worried. Her mother came to see the value in the respectful way professors teach these classes. Exploration has been a big part of Rotich’s experience at Dartmouth. Now she is even considering changing her subject of study from mathematics to economics and anthropology. Interest in research Gilbert Rahme is from Beirut, Lebanon. Like Rotich, he also had little money growing up. After completing his education at a Catholic high school, he had two choices: work as a bartender or attend the country’s only free public university - Lebanese University. He chose a university education and, in 2008, earned undergraduate degrees in biology and geology. In 2009, Rahme began a master’s degree program in biology at the American University of Beirut. It was there that his interest in scientific research began to grow. Rahme says he became increasingly interested in studying cancer and how to fight it. Halfway through the master’s program, he applied to several well-known research schools in the U.S. for his doctorate degree. Rahme was especially drawn to Dartmouth because he loves cold weather. The average winter temperature in Hanover, New Hampshire is between about -2 and -12 degrees Celsius. Students applying to almost any doctorate program in the U.S. have to go through an intensive interview process. But Rhame says the focus on academics and research and the difficult interview at Dartmouth excited him. Rhame says he received some support for his research into cancer biology while in Beirut. However, Dartmouth’s support for his research is like nothing he has seen before, Rahme says. "We had to deal with a very tough funding situation in American University of Beirut. So the research funding we had for a year [at American University in Beirut] was equivalent to what I spend here [at Dartmouth] in a week." Rahme says there are few problems he has faced in the last seven years at Dartmouth that he has not been able to solve. After the terrorist attack on the Boston Marathon in 2013, some Americans said insulting things about immigrants. But Rahme used that moment to explain how hurtful comments like that could be for immigrants like himself. He feels his experiences meeting different types of people at Dartmouth have been just another way of learning more. And he says the more knowledge he gains, the more he wants to share. I'm Caty Weaver. And I’m Pete Musto.   Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. Lucija Milonig produced the video. We want to hear from you. What different kinds of knowledge do you think you might be able to gain while studying in a foreign country? How do you think that knowledge might help you in your daily life? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   undergraduate – adj. used to describe a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after four years of study gifted – adj. having great natural ability selective – adj. careful to choose only the best people or things graduation – n. the act of receiving a diploma or degree from a school, college, or university wonderful – adj. extremely good master’s degree – n. a degree that is given to a student by a college or university usually after one or two years of additional study following a bachelor's degree doctorate degree – n. the highest degree that is given by a university academics – n. courses of study taken at a school or college funding – n. the amount of money that is used for a special purpose equivalent – n. having the same value, use, or meaning

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South Sudan's Refugee Crisis Affects Ugandan Health System

  The huge increase in the number of refugees entering northern Uganda from South Sudan has affected the country’s already-weak health care system. VOA recently visited the Adjumani area in northern Uganda. Health centers there are also near refugee settlements for South Sudanese. But the health centers are unable to care for all of the pregnant women in the area. Experts estimate that Uganda has one doctor for every 24,000 of its citizens. It has about one nurse for every 11,000 people. Most health care workers are in cities. Because of war and violence in neighboring countries, the country now has 1.2 million refugees. The United Nations says more refugees entered Uganda than any other part of the world in 2016 as civilians fled conflict and hunger in South Sudan. The flow of refugees into Uganda has continued this year. Ester Ponne Charles is a refugee. She arrived in northern Uganda eight months ago. She also was pregnant. “If you do not have money, you may lose your life and the child too. Because there they want money. Without money, even medicine, you buy even the gloves yourself, everything in the hospital. So those are the challenges we are facing. Those ones who cannot even afford any coin, so they will just end up losing their life.” Aid agencies and the government have worked to set up temporary health centers in the refugee settlements to help women. One refugee settlement called Maaji now has 15,000 refugees. However, there are no doctors and only eight medical officers and nurses for the settlement. Tako Stephen provides medical care at health center three in Maaji. However, there are limits to what medical workers can do for pregnant women at the center. “We are unable to conduct planned deliveries here because of the setup of the place. The place is very small,” he said. “We only conduct emergency deliveries and yet there are very many pregnant mothers here. So they have to walk all the way from here up to Maaji Two for deliveries.” Some of the women are sent to another health center. Odaru Judith is a nursing officer at the center. She says the number of babies born at the center has increased from 29 to 75 a month. But, there is little space for patients, she says. “Our general ward is very small,” says Judith. “It has only 10 beds, but the number of deliveries we have in a day, the average is five, and when you take the labor room, it is so squeezed and small that it only fits one bed and at times you have three deliveries at a time, so making it very difficult. You will not even have a place where you can squeeze at least a carpet for a mother to deliver.” In January, the government and United Nations agencies promised to spend $1 million for women’s health in the refugee camps. But the U.N. Population Fund says the camps will need four times that amount. I’m Jill Robbins.   Correspondent Halima Athumani reported this story from Adjumani, Uganda. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted her report for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   coin – n. money conduct – v. to plan and do something deliveries – n. the act or process of giving birth to a baby ward – n. a section in a hospital squeezed – adj. to be small, not having enough room carpet – n. a kind of floor covering  

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Trail Offers Visitors Look at Harriet Tubman's Life

  A simple 19th-century house in eastern Maryland once served as a major stopping place along the Underground Railroad. The “railroad” was an informal path that helped escaped slaves reach free states before the American Civil War. Today, the house is open to visitors. Many who visit it are brought to tears, as they stand before a path where slaves once made their way to freedom. The Jacob and Hannah Leverton house is one of 36 sites along the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a 200-kilometer self-guided path. The byway is named for Harriet Tubman. She escaped slavery and became a leading abolitionist -- an anti-slavery activist.  She guided other escaped slaves north on the Underground Railroad. Tubman also served as a Union spy during the Civil War. A new $21 million visitors’ center along the byway tells about Tubman’s life. Kate Larson is an historian who has written books about Tubman’s life. She worked as a consultant on the byway project.  Larson told the Associated Press that many kinds of people can relate to Tubman’s life and struggles. “It’s hard to identify with George Washington, unless you’re an older white male. But when it comes to Tubman, there’s so many ways that people of all backgrounds and races ... can find something that they can see in themselves that she has carried forward,” Larson said. A long road The places and landscapes along the Tubman Byway offer a rich look into Tubman’s life and the experiences of slaves along the Underground Railroad. After 18 years of planning, the first sites along the byway were announced in 2013. That year marked the 100th anniversary of Tubman’s death. Victoria Jackson-Stanley is the mayor of Cambridge, Maryland. The town is not far from where Tubman was born and raised as a slave. Jackson-Stanley is its first black woman mayor. “This is just an opportunity for the world to know that Harriet has been a major part of our history in the United States of America,” Jackson-Stanley told the AP. “She’s a local home girl, as I like to say, but she’s an icon for freedom.” Renewed Attention Harriet Tubman has received a lot of attention in recent months for reasons other than the new visitors’ center. The U.S. Treasury Department announced last year that Tubman is set to appear on the redesigned $20 bill. No woman has been on U.S. paper money in the last 100 years.   Tubman’s story was recently presented on the show “Underground,” a television drama about the Underground Railroad. Actress Aisha Hinds played Tubman in the show. She said she feels Tubman’s story is a meaningful one in today’s divided America. A television movie with Viola Davis starring as Tubman is also being planned. The film will be based on Kate Larson’s book, “Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman: Portrait of an American Hero.” Refusal to Obey The site of Tubman’s first known act of defiance against slavery is one of the most popular stops on the Tubman byway. The Bucktown Village Store has been restored at a crossroads believed to be where Tubman refused a slave owner’s orders to help him detain another slave. When that other slave ran, the owner grabbed a one-kilogram weight and threw it at him. The weight struck Tubman on the head and caused an injury that would trouble her for the rest of her life. The inside of the store still looks like a 19th-century shop. The owners have some Tubman-related objects, including a newspaper advertising a reward for Tubman and two of her brothers. Susan Meredith and her husband own the store. She said more and more people have been stopping at the store since the opening of the visitors’ center. “We see people from all over the world that come to see and step in the place that she was in,” Meredith said. I'm Ashley Thompson.  And I'm Dorothy Gundy.   The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   informal - adj. done in a way that is not especially careful or scientific byway - n. a road that is not used very much icon  - n.​ a person who is very successful and admired​ portrait - n. a detailed description of something or someone​ crossroads  - n.​ a place where two or more roads cross​ defiance - n.​  a refusal to obey something or someone​

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Natural Burials Are Growing in Popularity

  Natural burials are increasing in popularity in the United States. The Associated Press reports that a small, but growing number of Americans support calls for more environmentally-friendly “green burials.” They are turning to places like Rhinebeck Cemetery, about 130 kilometers north of New York City. The cemetery welcomes the natural burial movement’s supporters and their loved ones. The purpose of green burials is to speed up the breakdown of human remains through natural processes. They are far different from what many Americans experience when they die. Comparing common American burials to green burials When a person dies, the remains are usually given to a funeral home, which washes the body and adds embalming fluid to help protect the appearance. The funeral home places the body in a coffin, and transports it to a cemetery for burial. The coffin is often lowered into a solid burial vault in the ground. The vault protects the box and everything inside from the weight of the earth. Rhinebeck Cemetery is different from most American cemeteries. Rhinebeck shuns the use of coffins, embalming fluid and burial vaults. It says they can slow the natural breakdown of the body in the ground.   The natural burial movement started more than 10 years ago. And its supporters say public attention is growing. Now, more cemeteries are changing their burial policies. Gina Walker Fox says she loves the idea of "just being wrapped up and going back into the ground." The 59-year-old bought a small piece of land at the cemetery near a tulip tree and wild berry plants. She imagines that, when she dies, her children will pick the berries when they visit her grave. In the United States, natural burials took place in the days before the Civil War. But, during the war, embalming bodies became popular as a way to protect the remains of soldiers who died in battle. Burial vaults became more common across the country after World War II. The vaults prevent coffins from sinking. And, they help keep the ground level so grass is easier to cut. But green burial supporters say the environment is healthier without the vaults and embalming fluids. They also say there is no need for fossil fuels used in cremation. Natural gas, for example, is often used to fuel hot fires necessary to destroy the remains. Changing ideas about burial types Of the thousands of cemeteries nationwide, only about 125 now offer green burials, notes Suzanne Kelly. She leads the Town of Rhinebeck Cemetery committee and wrote a book called “Greening Death.”   In Vermont, a law starting on July 1 will change how deep bodies can be buried. The current law requires a depth of at least 1.5 meters, but it will become one meter next month. Green burial supporters say the one-meter depth will help decompose of the remains and be safe from animals. Patrick Healy is president of the Vermont Cemetery Association. He wonders whether people understand how different green burials may be. He said, for example, that a body buried in cloth may have an unusual smell to it. He wonders about this and other possible issues. Alabama last year changed a law that restricted coffin sales to funeral directors with a special permit. The change came after a court case from a woman who wanted to sell decomposable coffins for her environmentally-friendly burial ground. Green burials can save people thousands of dollars in costs for a vault, coffin and grave marker. They have also helped grow a market for environmentally-safe products. Mary Lauren Fraser makes decomposable urns and coffins at her home in western Massachusetts. She often shows her products at local farmers markets. “I get all kinds of reactions,” she said. “Way more people coming in and saying, ‘Is that a coffin? Did you make that? Is green burial legal?’” State laws differ on the treatment of bodies. But green burial policies are legal across the nation, said Kate Kalanick. She is with the Green Burial Council in Ojai, California. It says untreated bodies are safe for public viewing before burial and do not pollute the soil. One family's story For some people, the cost and the environment are not the main concern. What's more important to them is what feels right during a difficult time. After their daughter died, Becky and Chris Mancuso hoped to bury her at Vale Cemetery in Schenectady, New York. Five generations of Becky's family are buried there. Chris couldn’t imagine injecting chemical fluids in his daughter, and the cemetery’s new natural burial area seemed to meet the beliefs of his Christian faith. So, he built a wooden burial box for his daughter. Their other daughter, who is six years old, chose wood that was golden, like heaven, Chris Mancuso said. He said his main purpose for making the burial box was to feel a connection with his dead daughter. He wanted to do anything he could for her. "That was very hard for us," he said. I'm Alice Bryant. And I'm Bryan Lynn.   The Associated Press' Michael Green reported this story. Alice Bryant adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   cemetery – n. a place where dead people are buried embalming – n. (gerund) the act of treating a dead body with chemicals to prevent it from decaying vault – n. a room or chamber in which a dead person is buried grave – n. a hole in the ground for burying a dead body cremation – n. the act of burning the body of a person who dies fossil fuel – n. a fuel, such as coal, oil, or natural gas, that is formed in the earth from dead plants or animals urn – n. a container that is often shaped like a vase with a closed top and that is used to hold the ashes of someone who has been cremated shun – v. to avoid on purpose; to ignore decompose – v. to cause something, such as dead plants and the bodies of dead animals, to be slowly destroyed and broken down by natural processes or chemicals viewing – n. an act of seeing, watching or looking at something

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English in a Minute: Domino Effect

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'To Err Is Human ...'

Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories. On this program we explore the origins of common expressions in American English and, more importantly, how to use them. We really want to do an excellent job teaching and entertaining our audience. So, we try to do this program as best we can every time. But sometimes we make mistakes. We err. Making a mistake is not pleasant, but it is natural. One well-known saying begins, “To err is human…” In other words, making mistakes is part of being a person. But what about those who suffer because of someone else's mistake? The saying answers this question, too. It says, “…to forgive (is) divine.” That means that excusing others for their faults makes us a little better than just being human. The act is god-like. This popular saying is an old one. It comes from the 18th century English poet Alexander Pope. He wrote about forgiveness in an essay titled "An Essay on Criticism." However, Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary says the original idea is older than that. In 1678 Thomas Jones wrote, "To err, is human; to recover, is Angelical; to persevere is Diabolical.” But this saying wasn't as memorable and, therefore, it just didn't stick. "Err" comes from the Latin word "errare,” meaning “to stray or wander.” Related words, such as errant and erroneous, have the same Latin origin. But the noun form of “err,” error, appears in many American English expressions. For example, human error is often the reason police give for a preventable – but unplanned – accident. If a train crashes because the driver fell asleep, that crash was caused by human error. But some errors or mistakes are nobody's fault directly. Let's say a plane crashes. An investigation proves that the crash was caused by an undetectable engine problem. There was nothing the pilot could have done differently to prevent the crash. In this case, the cause of the crash was not pilot error. But that is enough talk about crashes. Let's say this pilot is on the runway preparing to take off. Suddenly, a bad storm begins. She could take off but decides to wait until the storm passes. We could say she wants to err on the side of caution. This simply means that of all the options available, you choose the safest one. If you feel sick one day but feel fine the next, you may err on the side of caution and stay home from work.   You can err on the side of other things. For example, let's say your child's school asks for a money donation to build a new playground. You don't know how much other parents are giving. So, you err on the side of generosity and give more than you think is expected. Here's another example. If a person has treated you badly in the past, you can err on the side of being polite to them. Acting politely is the right thing to do. And it's good for another reason, as well. When you are nice to people who have treated you badly in the past, they may re-think their bad behavior. They may see the error of their ways. We often use this phrase when we want to say that a person has realized the things they have done wrong. But be warned – we don’t use this phrase lightly. The "error" in this expression is usually a serious problem with a person's character or behavior that may cause trouble. This expression also means the person became aware and then fixed the problem. Let's go back to the pilot. Imagine she had a bad habit of working too hard. She would lie about her long flight assignments so that she could fly even more routes. However, one day she realized that she was putting the passengers in danger. She saw the error of her ways and stopped. If her supervisor had caught her and forced her to change her work habits, you would not use this expression. And you would not say the supervisor saw the error in her ways. It is always a self-discovery. Now, talking about self-discovery brings us to scientific discoveries. Scientists are very careful people, but scientific research is full of errors. Scientists know this. So, they sometimes say that their findings have a margin of error. That margin, or amount, shows how accurate they think their answer really is. You can also add prepositions to this expression. For example, if something is unlikely to happen based on information you have collected about it, it is outside the margin of error. If it is likely to happen, it is within the margin of error. Another scientific term that we use in any part of our lives is trial and error. Trial and error means you find the best way to do something by trying many ways and getting rid of the ways that failed. Sometimes here at VOA, creating new programs for our listeners involves some trial and error. Sure, it is helpful to know which programs in the past were popular. But times change and so do audiences. We need to be willing to try new things -- that's the trial part -- and fail, or make an error. If we do fail, I hope you will err on the side of forgiveness and give us another chance. And that's the end of Words and Their Stories. I’m Jonathan Evans … and I'm Anna Matteo.   Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   divine – adj. of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God stick – v. to remain in a place, situation, or environment error – n. something that is not correct : a wrong action or statement errant – adj. straying outside the proper path or bounds : behaving wrongly erroneous – adj. not correct undetectable – adj. impossible to discover or notice caution– n. care taken to avoid danger or risk : a careful attitude or way of behaving generosity – n. the quality of being kind, understanding, and not selfish : the quality of being generous polite – adj. having or showing good manners or respect for other people

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Native Americans Celebrate Patriotism, Unity At Pow Wows

It is pow wow season in the United States. That is a time when Native American groups gather to connect, celebrate tribal cultures, and express their patriotism. On any weekend this summer, a pow wow is taking place somewhere in the country. The term “pow wow” comes from the Algonquian language. It meant a gathering of spiritual healers celebrating successful hunts, battles or trade. A pow wow is an expression of unity within and among Native communities. In 1883, the government banned “old heathenish dances.” Officials said they were trying to prevent an inciting of what they called “warlike passions” of tribal youth. However, tribes continued to carry out the activity, and the ban was ended in the 1930s. The drums  The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of northwest Montana held pow wows as Fourth of July celebrations. Other tribes held pow wows as cultural displays for non-Natives. Becky Olvera Schultz is an artist and writer of Azteca and Kickapoo ancestry. She said all pow wows center around dance, and central to dance is the drum. “The drum is the heartbeat of the pow wow,” she said. “Drum refers to both a large instrument and the group of drummers and singers who provide the pulse for pow wow dances.” The drums make music of many kinds, from war songs to religious. Many are sung in “vocables,” non-word sounds that can be understood and shared among tribes. Drums may include members of different tribes. Some well-known groups are in high demand and travel from one event to another to perform. Honoring the warrior All pow wows open with the Grand Entry into the dance arena. “The veterans head the Grand Entry, carrying flags and eagle staffs,” Schultz said. Covered in animal skin and eagle feathers, the staff is a sacred symbol of its tribe or nation. Dignitaries, chiefs, princesses, elders and pow wow organizers follow the veterans during the Grand Entry. "Then come the male dancers, in different categories and age groups, and then the women dancers in theirs,” explained Schultz. When all are in place, a song is sung to honor the veterans and a prayer is said to open the dancing. A presenter leads the activities, announcing events and introducing dancers. “Competition pow wows, which are usually larger, have a purse, prize money, and some of them are quite large," Shultz said. "A lot of the dancers will go from pow wow to pow wow, and some of them win a good amount of money,” she added. Grass dance, fancy shawl dance and more Men, women and children dance in several categories, which have developed as a mix of traditions from different tribal nations. The men’s Fancy Dance, for example, is a colorful and energetic dance in which men wear feathered bustles. Men in the Grass Dance, on the other hand, wear long strips of material that represent the movement of windblown prairie grass. The Fancy Shawl Dance has women wearing shawls over their shoulders. The dancers’ shawls are large, colorful and have many strips of material, called fringe, hanging along the edge. “They swing around and hold their shawls out,” Schultz said about the dancers. “The purpose is to make the fringe sway back and forth. It’s very pretty and fluid,” she said. A dance for healing Californian Alorha Baga is a member of the Rosebud Lakota tribe and a competitive jingle dancer. She said jingle dancing began in the early 20th century as a healing dance among the Northern Ojibwe, or Chippewa tribe. She said, “An elder was trying to figure out a way to cure an ailing woman named Maggie White. He was gifted a vision, and in that vision, he was told exactly what to do." At first, Baga explained, Maggie was too sick to move. But as tribal women danced, Maggie began getting better.​ “And by the time they were finished, she was cured,” Baga said. The jingle dress includes beadwork and the rolled covers of metal tobacco containers. The metal rolls hang from strips of cloth attached to the dress, producing the jingle sound. Today, Baga not only performs at pow wows but teaches the dances to children. “Part of our teaching of pow wow dancing is making sure that our children and even adults know how these dances came to our tribes, their origins and their histories,” she said. Pow wows may take place over two or three days, attracting large crowds and generating substantial income. “I don't dance at pow wows, but I attended all my life and I am 60 years old now,” said a Rosebud Lakota tribe grandmother. “We have the Rosebud Fair every year here on the reservation,” she said, “and everybody attends either for pow wow, the rodeo, mud racing or bread-making contests.” And, she added, the food. I’m Dorothy Gundy. And I’m Caty Weaver. VOA reporter Cecily Hilleary wrote this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story heathenish – adj. non-Christian; or non-religious pulse – ​n.  a strong, regular beat or pattern of sounds in music — usually singular​ sacred – adj. worthy of religious worship: very holy​ elder – ​n. a person who has authority because of age and experience​ category – ​n. a group of people or things that are similar in some way​ bustle – ​n. a frame or pad worn in the past under a skirt or dress to hold it out from the body in the back​ swing – v.  to move backward and forward or from side to side while hanging from something​ ail – to suffer bad health​ rodeo – n. an event in which people compete at riding horses and bulls, catching animals with ropes, etc. contest – ​n. an event in which people try to win by doing something better than others​

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June 30, 2017

A look at the best news photos from around the world.

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When Should Race Influence Choice of Actors?

When the musical “Miss Saigon” first opened in New York City in 1991, critics questioned the choice of Jonathan Pryce to play a French-Vietnamese engineer. “Miss Saigon” is a love story between a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier. Pryce, a white actor, was from Britain, not Asia. A labor union representing actors criticized the decision. "Equity (the actors’ union) believes the casting of Mr. Pryce as a Eurasian to be especially insensitive and an affront to the Asian community,” the union said in a protest letter. Twenty-six years later, “Miss Saigon” is back on New York’s Broadway. This time an Asian actor is playing the engineer. Linda Winer reported on the show for the New York newspaper Newsday. She noted that while the music is much like it was in 1991 and the show still has a helicopter seeming to lift people away at the end of the Vietnam War, there are differences. “Most obviously, many of the main roles and, especially the engineer…” are now cast “with powerhouse Asian-Americans,” she wrote. Parts played by white actors wearing makeup For years, Asian and black characters were often played by white actors. Those actors wore makeup to make them look less white. One example is the decision to cast Katharine Hepburn as a Chinese women in the 1944 war movie, “Dragon Seed.” More recently, theater critics questioned the casting of a white actor as Michael Jackson, and a Hispanic actress as singer Nina Simone, an African American. Today, more shows like “Miss Saigon” are casting actors who have the ethnic and racial backgrounds of the characters they represent. But some directors are choosing diverse actors for parts that, in the past, went to white actors. As New York director Jackson Gay says, there are parts that really are not clearly connected to a racial or ethnic group. Gay recently cast African-Americans as Russian soldiers in a production of the 1900 play “Three Sisters.” The play was written by Anton Chekov more than a century ago. It was performed recently at the Studio Theater in Washington, D.C. Russian soldiers in the late 1800s and early 1900s were generally not black. But Gay said the emotions and pressures felt by soldiers are universal -- meaning that gifted actors of any race could play the roles.  An all black production of ‘Proof’ Dawn Ursula starred in a recent production of “Proof” at the Olney Theater in Maryland. The play had all white stars when it opened on Broadway in 2000. Later, it was made into a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. But at the Olney Theater, Ursula and the other three actors are all African-American. Ursula played the part of Catherine, a woman who is good at mathematics like her father. But she is afraid she also might have some of his mental problems. Did the African-American cast make a difference? Ursula said it did to some theater goers. There are lots of African American mathematicians. But that did not stop theater goers from reacting approvingly to the casting of blacks as math geniuses. Ursula recalls her satisfaction watching some older African-American men stand and cheer after her performance – happy that “Proof” showed four successful people – all of them African-Americans. That kind of reaction made Ursula feel “like I had crossed the finish line in some Olympic sport that ‘black’ people may not normally be associated with and had won the Gold.” Some white audience members told her that an all African-American cast did not make a difference to them. They just enjoyed watching excellent acting. Ursula is thankful for their praise, but hopes the day will come “when those pronouncements are not necessary.” Taunya Lovell Banks is a professor at the University of Maryland’s School of Law. She often writes about ethnic and racial diversity in theater. She said casting decisions can be a difficult balance. Normally, Banks supports open casting. Casting an African American, for example, in a part usually performed by a white actor can bring new meaning – even to an established show. That happened in “Proof,” when Ursula’s character discusses a conflict she had with police officers. Washington Post theater critic Celia Wren said the discussion produces more tension with an African American cast “in the aftermath of the police-related incidents that have fueled the Black Lives Matter movement.” But Banks said that casting at times can still be a divisive issue. Recently, the estate of playwright Edward Albee refused to approve a Portland, Oregon production of his famous play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf.” The reason: the director wanted to cast an African-American actor in the part of Nick, a young professor. Director Michael Streeter went on Facebook to express his anger with the decision. Sam Rudy, spokesman for the Albee estate, said the playwright had created Nick as a character with “blond hair and blue eyes.” Rudy said the casting proposed by the Portland director would have led to a mixed marriage between a black man and white woman. He said “that would have not gone” unnoticed at the time the show is set -- in the early 1960s. Other parts in Albee plays carry no limitations on the race of the actors, Rudy said. I’m John Russell. And I'm Ashley Thompson.   Bruce Alpert reported on this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story   cast – v. give someone a part in a show or movie affront – n. an insult role – n. the part that an actor has in a movie or play character – n. a person in a story or play diverse – adj. including people of different races and ethnic groups audience – n. people attending the performance of a show genius - n. a very intelligent person associate – v. connected to something or someone pronouncement – n. a message estate – n. the things left by someone who has died  

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