CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- It was a send-off ceremony like no other for a shuttle crew.
As astronauts were on the pad preparing to board Endeavour late Sunday, Native Americans were holding a pre-launch ceremony in honor of astronaut John Herrington, the first member of a federally recognized tribe to go into space.
In the end, the launch was scrubbed.
But Native American youth, elders and a Chickasaw dance troupe came from across the U.S. to participate in the ceremony in the shadows of rockets from early space flight located in the rocket garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
In all, an estimated 1,500 people came to honor Herrington.
Jarred Thomas, a Navajo from White Horse, N.M, and his three brothers came to celebrate Herrington's accomplishments.
"He has inspired many natives," Thomas said. "It's different now. It's one of my brothers going up in space. This is like a big thing for us."
The dance troupe performed to a standing ovation after they brought Herrington's parents to the stage at the end of one of the dances.
Native Americans said their horizons have been broadened with Herrington's accomplishments.
The space flight is a first for Herrington, who is a Chickasaw. "I know who I am, and I'm proud of who I am. And I think that I'm comfortable with my understanding of where I came from, the level of meaning, what that means to me, and it means a great deal." Herrington said before the mission.
"If NASA chooses, and NASA chose, to recognize that, then that's the way it's supposed to be," he said.
Herrington was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo. He is a commander with the U.S. Navy and selected by NASA in 1996 to train as an astronaut.
He is scheduled for three space walks on the Endeavour mission.
Henrietta Mann, a member of the council of elders of American Indian Science and Engineering Society said Herrington's flight was a proud moment for all Native Americans.
"We're all so elated and proud of John Herrington in terms of his contributions to science," she said. "He brings us new joy and new hope. He's just an indigenous man and he belongs to all of us."
"If there's one child out there or somebody that says hey, because that person's in that role, I never realized I could do something like that, and it makes them, motivates them to achieve something they might not otherwise have done, then that's great. That's what it's all about. It's not about me." He hopes to play a Native American-style cane flute while he's in orbit. He learned to play it after he met a man at a powwow at Montgomery, Ala.
The man makes cane flutes and used to work at KSC. He showed John how to make one.
"I have a couple, three flutes of his," Herrington said. "Hopefully I can take one out and play it sometime."
The ceremony also included a Native American drum group and the presentation of colors by the Seminole Native American Veterans. It ended with Buffy Sainte-Marie singing "Up Where We Belong".
Published under license from FLORIDA TODAY. Copyright © 2002 FLORIDA TODAY. No portion of this material may be reproduced in any way without the written consent of FLORIDA TODAY.
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