Star gazing,”Canadian” constellations
September 9, 2010
When Indigenous Peoples look to the night sky they do not see the Big or Little Dipper,North star,Vega ,etc.
They see; Sweat-lodge birds,Star Chief/King star,Coming Down stars,Bigfoot Giant,Wolf,Buffalo,Loon and Turtle…
Names are tied to place , they define and give substance to the peoples of a place, their cultures, their history,their stories .
On a side-note ,its also worth pointing out that…
Decolonization & reconciliation is not only about land-claims & respecting treaties.
It also involves remembering and reapplying the original names, that give this the northern half of Turtle Island meaning, indeed its own history. A history that is not only valid but differentiates this place, that some call Canada, from all other places.
In fact the arrogance of some people namely settlers, who run around the country-side re-naming mountains,rivers,special places etc as if the original inhabitants no longer exist or indeed ever had, can be truly disheartening to witness.
No matter what some people might think or believe, history did not start when Europeans/white-people discovered first became aware of the existence of Turtle Island.
O,arrogance thy name is a white/European settler.
Resistance is futile,you will be assimilated
September 9, 2010
Not…
I was deeply heartened to learn this weekend that in South Dakota women of the Yankton Sioux/Ihanktonw Oyate nation have revived the traditional Isnati coming-of-age ceremony for girls: four days after the onset of a girl’s first menses when adult women of the community nourish, bathe, teach, and rename girls and guide them in rituals of self-reliance like gathering their own medicines, making their own ceremonial foods, and erecting their own lodges. Young boys too play a role in Isnati, by keeping fires burning in the camps day and night.
After decades when traditional indigenous religious ceremonies were banned by the federal government or punished and disrupted by government boarding schools, the revitalization of traditional ceremonies and indigenous languages has been a key part of the agenda to restore indigenous well-being and sovereignty.
Is there a Corporate-media conspiracy to obfuscate…
September 6, 2010
Silly as this might sound I have to ask, because when it comes to “Aboriginal” issues that’s the impression I get.
After all it’s very easy , particularly given the unprecedented access to information afforded by the internet, to at least get one’s facts straight. Is this to much to ask of journalists & or the media outlets that employ them,apparently so.
What else explains their most recent servings of crap ? Indeed steaming piles of crap from the Montreal Gazette we get this , from the National Post Putz this.
To add injury to insult any & all context is totally lacking…
Interestingly both are unsigned…hhmmm -but then again when one throws around phrases like, “enough Soviet-style native property rules” & “current law gives band councils powers undreamed of except by the North Korean leadership” ,I suppose it’s understandable-lest one risk being labeled an insufferable idiot.
Editorials like these are designed to do one thing heap even more scorn on Indigenous Peoples in general and to build on the popularly held misconception the idea that Indigenous Peoples, their culture, & traditions are the problem.
Or to put it another way, just more of that same ol’ same ol’ 19th century thinking -”kill the Indian,save the man” -that continues to dominate the thinking of so many Canadians/non-aboriginal people.
That said if you really want to UNDERSTAND why Indigenous Peoples are leery about fee-simple/private property rights and allowing even more settler government oversight of their lives,and as I wrote in my previous post, read the latest issue of the First Nation Strategic Bulletin.
O,arrogance thy name is a white/European settler.
Also read; ‘Now First Nations are Soviets & Primitive Communists ?’ @ Non-Status Indians blog
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On a side note:
Happy Labour Day-peace & solidarity for ever.
Latest issue, First Nations Strategic Bulletin
September 4, 2010
Definitely worth a read particularly the articles discussing the Government’s push to institute the “Tom Flanagan/Manny Jules fee-simple plan”. Because we all know that settler governments-together with it’s bought & payed for F.N collaborators-just wanna “do good” by Indigenous Peoples.
Also discussed is the Assembly of First Nations, National Chief Shawn Atleo’s plan to eliminate the Indian Act within 2-5 years. Changing the current paternalistic & imperialistic relationship to one of mutual respect & equality .
Although I am very critical and skeptical of the AFN – as it is government funded & is in no-way accountable to the very peoples it claims to represent- I have to give credit to Shawn Atleo for his work on this.
That said where his plan goes from here is the 64 thousand dollar question. Personally I do not believe that many of the Indian Act Chiefs that constitute the AFN have the stomach or back-bone for a long drawn out fight with their paymasters-the government. As this would threaten their pay-cheques and standards of living, heck they might have to live like all those other “ordinary Indians”.
But who knows,only time will tell I suppose.
And lastly,the bulletin explores some thoughts on the, U.N Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples .
Canada Day,Bah Humbug…
July 1, 2010
My native bro- from another mother- “Canada Day is a white persons colonial holiday/celebration”.
Personally I agree,in fact I will “never” celebrate Canada Day.
That said…
The day Canada commits itself to rebuilding its relationships with the Indigenous Peoples of this, the Northern-half of Turtle Island. I will be one of the first waving the flag and shouting myself hoarse in support of Canada.
I like to think this is not wishful thinking on my part,after all there is a historical record of solidarity and mutual support.
Indeed if it were not for this solidarity and mutual support Canada might never have survived the expansionist efforts of America. Which arrogantly believed all of Turtle Island was by rights theirs for the taking.
Thankfully the Indigenous Peoples-in this case the Mohawk/Iroquois Confederacy – and their settler allies prevailed during the War of 1812. Not only were the Americans sent packing,twice, the White House was burned to the ground for good measure.
‘Manifest destiny‘ was stopped dead in its northern-expansionist-tracks
And some say that Canada is somehow beholding to the U.S for our defense,indeed for our very survival as a country…like please,lol.
All said the most important factor is the longstanding activism of Indigenous Peoples themselves. Big strides have been made in the ongoing struggle to force persuade settlers/whites to acknowledge & recognize Indigenous People’s rights as Peoples. Rather than them being perceived, as being, just another hyphenated-Canadian / ethnic minority (a convenient self-serving perception/assertion that is still ,unfortunately, widespread among settlers/whites ).
The cause is just, the struggle is righteous,this is an undeniable objective truth.
Indeed the struggle gains momentum with every generation,and seems to be intensifying as the native population increases. Indigenous Peoples being the fastest growing segment* of the population,on this the Northern 1/2 of Turtle Island.
The writing is on the wall,it’s in the treaties,it’s in the very fabric & history of this land. Justice and morality demands that we settlers reacquaint ourselves with our history and re-build/re-new our relationships with the First Peoples.
Only then will Canada be a country worthy of admiration,only then will I personally celebrate my home on native land.
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* The total Indigenous growth rate, is 1.8% per year more than two times that of the overall Canadian growth rate. The Indigenous population is young,with a median age of 27,compared with a median age of 40 for all of Canada. 49% of Indigenous Peoples are under 25 years of age.
The on-reserve ["registered Indian"] is growing even faster, 2.5 % annually 40 % being 20 years of age or younger,compared with 24% for the overall Cnd population.
There are 615 communities[Bands],comprising more than 50 Nations.
Open Letter Protesting the Presence of Anti-Native “Militia” Leaders at the May 5th Aboriginal Policy Forum at Mount Royal University
May 3, 2010
Seems Frances-the-talking-mule-Widdowson is set on stirring the anti-native pot, yet again.
We’re talking bottom of the barrel scraping here …
[...] Widdowson personally invited Mark Vandermaas and Gary McHale to be discussants on a panel entitled “Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Rule of Law.” McHale and Vandermaas are leading figures in grassroots anti-Native organizing against the Six Nations people of the Grand River Territory in south-western Ontario; they have played key roles in the formation of a non-native “militia” aimed at repressing Indigenous land protests and they have also organized a variety of anti-Native protests, a number of which have attracted the support of neo-Nazis and far right racists. While Vandermaas and McHale claim to speak for Caledonians, their activities have consistently increased tensions in this community facing a well documented land claims dispute.
That should be a hoot, Mark Vandermaas and Gary McHale discussing Native issues ? These two clowns don’t do discussions they rant ,in fact both…
…continuously cast Six Nations people protesting the continued theft of their land as “terrorists”, “militants”, “thugs,” “criminals”, “sociopaths” and as a part of a “Native Supremacy Movement.”
Widdowson want’s to legitimize these two by including them in a discussion on Indigenous issues ,in an acdemic setting no less, yikes ? What’s up with that, Mount Royal University ?
Even supposed allies, want nothing to do with McHale or his ilk…
“I want nothing to do with McHale. All he’s trying to do is continue his natives-against-non-natives thing. Nobody needs this. I don’t want to fight anyone. Fighting’s too easy.”…@
Please add your signature and help get the word out.
Read letter & more @ Solidarity with Six Nations
Happy May Day
May 1, 2010
The more things change the more they stay the same.
That said there are different ways of thinking & being ,on which we could build & learn from. In fact the seeds of future possibilities exist right here in Canada. For example, to name but one…
The Iroquois Confederacy…
And a wonderful constitution it is, this gentile constitution, in all its childlike simplicity! No soldiers, no gendarmes or police, no nobles, kings, regents, prefects, or judges, no prisons, no lawsuits – and everything takes its orderly course. All quarrels and disputes are settled by the whole of the community affected, by the gens or the tribe, or by the gentes among themselves; only as an extreme and exceptional measure is blood revenge threatened-and our capital punishment is nothing but blood revenge in a civilized form, with all the advantages and drawbacks of civilization. Although there were many more matters to be settled in common than today – the household is maintained by a number of families in common, and is communistic, the land belongs to the tribe, only the small gardens are allotted provisionally to the households – yet there is no need for even a trace of our complicated administrative apparatus with all its ramifications. The decisions are taken by those concerned, and in most cases everything has been already settled by the custom of centuries. There cannot be any poor or needy – the communal household and the gens know their responsibilities towards the old, the sick, and those disabled in war. All are equal and free – the women included. There is no place yet for slaves, nor, as a rule, for the subjugation of other tribes. When, about the year 1651, the Iroquois had conquered the Eries and the “Neutral Nation,” they offered to accept them into the confederacy on equal terms; it was only after the defeated tribes had refused that they were driven from their territory. And what men and women such a society breeds is proved by the admiration inspired in all white people who have come into contact with unspoiled Indians, by the personal dignity, uprightness, strength of character, and courage of these barbarians….
Quote taken from Frederick Engels ; Origins of the Family, Private Property, and the State 1884
On a side note this post has given me an idea for a series of posts.
That being an exploration,or a kinda of reconnaissance, of the relationship,from a left/progressive perspective, between Indigenous Peoples and ordinary/working Canadians/settlers. How can the two sides support each other, how does the discourse of the “left” , organized labor,etc…fit in with the Indigenous point of view. Indeed are they even on the same page ?
Personally I think not.. .
My reason’s for believing this will be the topic of my first post…stay tuned
A salute to Metis & Cree freedom fighters
April 25, 2010
Yesterday day ,April 24, marked the 125 anniversary of the battle of Fish Creek Saskatchewan (formerly part of the Northwest Territories).
1885, the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan was involved in an armed conflict with the Dominion of Canada. The urge to freedom prevailed that day,but sadly in the end the rebellion was put down.
Some of the militiamen questioned the message sent by the government about the rebel Métis and aboriginals. There was a feeling among some of them that the Metis and aboriginals had been wronged, the government had been criminally negligent. Other militia had no compunction about looting and burning Métis homes, and driving off their livestock…@
The last surviving veteran, Honor’e Jackson ,one of the leader’s of the Provisional Government, died Jan 10 1952.
Read more on the Northwest Rebellion here
H/T Buckdog
