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TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED

By James B. Beard aka Noodin
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  TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE   1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!   First, we survived being born to mothers  who smoked and/or drank while they were  Pregnant.  They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,  Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.  We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,  locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode  our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.  As infants & children,  we would ride in cars with no car seats,  No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes. Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day w as always a special treat.  We drank water  From the garden hose and not from a bottle.  We shared one soft drink with four friends,...
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Honor all veterans!

By James B. Beard aka Noodin
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In 1962 I entered the military services. At that time, I put up my hand and swore that I would support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It was a proud moment in my life.   I did not see a lot of action while on active duty. I was stationed on a Destroyer, The USS Warrington, DD 843, out of Newport, Rhode Island and our patrol duties included the Cuban Crisis and intermittent duty off the shores of Vietnam. The Navy saw to it that I was trained to handle what would come at me in service. The real battle began the day I was released back to civilian life. No one prepared me for that. The p rotests against the Vietnam conflict were happening all over the country. R ace riots were going on in major cities across the country and only blocks from where I lived in Buffalo NY. Veterans were being harassed on college campuses and in the workplace. I came home in 1967 to a different United States of America than the one I h...
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Excerpt from book: Walking Spirit in a Native Way

By James B. Beard aka Noodin
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Excerpt from book: Walking  Spirit in a Native Way                               Man or Spirit Drawing by Brian Matrious aka Nish Nung Ojibwe Elder It was still dark out.  I thought I heard something outside my tent and awoke with a start.  What was that I wondered?  Then I heard a crackling of a fire and saw light on the side of my tent.  The crackling was close.  That is my fire!  I had put it out last night so how could it have started up with no wood.  I heard someone pick up a piece of kindling and put it into the fire.  It couldn’t be the kids?!  “This is my camp!” I said, in as strong and firm a voice as I could muster.  “Can I help you?”  I tensely waited for a response. A quiet, yet also strong, male voice came back.  “Are you looking for someone to tell you about the Iroquois people?”  “Yes I am.”  I answ...
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Creator - Hear my prayer ~ Poem by James Beard aka Noodin

By James B. Beard aka Noodin
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Creator - Hear my prayer    View from Manitoulin Island - Ontario, CA         When I hurt the most Self will t’was true Self will had failed And God’s will new I learned to love him And accept And love for me was the effect As love for God And myself grew I learned to share that love with you Jan 1986  Poem by James B Beard            Denver Please Repost this Article! James Beard aka Noodin                Cultural Storyteller, Educator, Speaker,                Author ...
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Who is a woman who’s made an impact on your life?

By James B. Beard aka Noodin
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  Celebrating  Josephine Mandamin  Walks for the Water! James Beard aka noodin -- March 8, 2026 Josephine Mandamin Celebrating Josephine Henrietta Trudeau February 21, 1942 Died February 22, 2019 (aged 77) Wikwemikong First Nation and Canada Josephine Mandamin ( Anishinaabemowin : Biidaasige-ba, "The one who comes with the light". Anishinaabe grandmother, elder and founding member of the water protectors movement. A member of Wikwemikong First Nation , Mandamin was a survivor of the Canadian Indian residential school system and cofounder of the Mother Earth Water Walkers . During her 77 years, she walked about 25,000 miles around the shorelines of all the Great Lakes , and other waterways of North America, carrying a pail of water, to bring awareness to the need to protect the waters from pollution. Early life From 1948 to 1954 Josephine attended the St. Joseph' Residential School for Girls in Spanish, Ontario. Josephine moved to Thunder Bay in 1979. Th...
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