ANCESTRAL TREE

Fawn is quite a woman, wise, and a bundle of energy-reached an age she says with a smile when like an old house things begin to droop, sag, and the paint to peel a little and leave wrinkles- but she likens the process to an old blanket  that is comfortable and familiar and says she is happy.

I’ve known her as long as I can remember-she was my mother’s best friend and a faithful companion to her.

My first memory of Fawn is riding up with friends, dismounting, lifting me up to eye level and saying it was time to meet an old friend of the nations-the horse-mounting up holding me in front of her and off we went.

In later years when talking about it my mother said I wasn’t more than a year and half old-yet the impression made that day imprinted itself and I can see it even now as though it were only yesterday.

She has been an auntie, a friend, a surrogate mother,and a grandmother  to me.

She helped nurse the black eyes and busted lips, sew the torn shirts, revelled in my victories and commiserated in my defeats regardless of their nature, and always reminded me it was better to stand again.

In having done so my life has been enriched and I am a better man than I might otherwise have been.

Her life hasn’t always been an easy one, but inspite of that she has not only prevailed but conquered so many of the vicissitudes of life, and always sought to give more than she would receive.

Old school, and finds much of the current values to be questionable and lacking meaning.

Mildly amused by some of it might be one way to put it, but if asked  won’t hesitate to voice her opinion and offer no apologies when doing  so.

A shared lesson she taught me along with my mother is that a person, man or woman, is no better than their word-that knowing and speaking the truth whether it hurts or brings joy is a responsibility.

That the common responsibility of all is to the family and the nations,  that it is a great wrong to shirk this responsibility or take advantage  of another-to live in a responsible way is to live as a human being.

When I look at Fawn I see  the ancestral tree of the nations stretching back through time, an immutable strength, something of a throw back to another era…and a loving grandmother.

HEARTS ON THE GROUND

Truth of the matter is our women have had their hearts ripped from their chest, thrown to the ground, and trampled upon.

The good news is they are picking them back up and like the Bionic Woman of television fame becoming stronger- the shame is that for the most part they are having to do it themselves while “warriors” posture and devote their pursuits to other areas.

What has become an historical denigration and abuse of our women is an indisputable sign of assimilation-an adoption of the boat peoples attitude that women are chattel-a sort of servant indentured by the act of marriage or cohabitation-property to do with as the “owner” deems fit.

Yet the “warriors” are long on talk about tradition, sovereignty, and being nobodies puppet-they’ll bristle at the very implication that they display the telltale signs of assimilation.

Confusion reigns supreme-a confusion that has led to talking the talking and an unwillingness or inability to walk the walk-the effects of which as we have seen are debilitating.

It creates an environment for more of the same-for homegrown carpetbaggers to insert themselves and profit from the lack of direction.

And they have done just that-from faux for hire “medicine men” to wannabe “chiefs” and “leaders”. They profit and the rest suffer.

As men we ought to be ashamed of the current state of affairs, and while we can’t singularly solve all the problems we can go a long way in mediating them.

While as men we were never tasked with creating problems we have the ability and duty  to seek the balance intended in working alongside our women and resolving issues.

To do this it’s necessary to view them with respect, to see them as equals, not as chattel, not as someone to dominate.

If we would be strong as nations, as a people, it will result as it did in the past from knowing that hearts and devotion are given,  not taken.

That harmony is productive- that it lends itself to the well being of communities and all who reside within them.

Historically our women have fought alongside of us when facing a common enemy-the existence of this form of abuse is also a  common enemy and a few good men need to fight alongside the women as they wage this battle-in doing so a message will be sent and others will join……others like true warriors and last real indians.

VAWA AND BUTTERFLIES

The nine year old daughter of a friend upon hearing her mother tell her of the passage of  VAWA and it’s implications remarked that it was good-that she likens women to butterflies in a manner of speaking.

That they add beauty to the world and were never intended to do any harm, but sometimes harm is done to them, and yes, sometimes they forget they are butterflies and do harm themselves.

A few months or so ago she was given her first computer, a little Acer Aspire which she is completely enamored of, and taught the necessities of safe browsing, parental controls, etc.

Butterflies hold a specific fascination for her, and so she browsed through a few photos of butterflies I had taken to use as a screen saver-this isn’t my favorite as I probably view photos with a more critical eye than her, but it is the one she selected and that’s all that matters.

She asked me if I would post this photo as a gift from her to the “butterflies” of our people and to maybe say a few words:

VAWA is legislation long overdue, and what I view as an incremental step in restoring a balance too many have had no interest in, but like all legislation in itself it is not enough, and the success or failure will depend on two things.

Active enforcement and a change in attitudes- a change reflected in our communities that will translate to zero tolerance.

It’s time to put a stop to the senseless acts VAWA seeks to address-it’s time to stop making excuses or looking the other way. It’s time to stop all the internet posturing of being a warrior and try living like one. A warrior, whose first duty was and is to look to the welfare of women and children.

This isn’t Hollywood – and what is taking place isn’t produced from a script, it is very real, and rent the fabric of the nations. I’d like a future where this little  butterfly will be secure, honored, and respected. It is the way it should be now and in the time to come.

It is a step-hopefully the first of what will be many.

VAWA- VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT

It’s business as usual in the halls of the people’s representative government when it comes to the passage of a piece of legislation referred to as VAWA -the Violence Against Women Act-Bill S 47.

Legislation that would empower the nations to address and ajudicate such crimes committed against women.

Those attempting to block passage predictably reside on the Republican side of the aisle and are attempting to qualify their “concerns” as a matter of constitutionality, while also claiming that passage would enable tribal authorities to arrest non indigenous at will.

Though it has passed in the Senate it now heads to the House where Republicans and their misogynistic cohorts the Tea Party hold sway.

The constitutionality argument is entirely without merit based on the Supreme Court ruling related to the United States vs Lara where it clearly  states that Congress does have the constitutional authority to remove restrictions pertaining to a tribes jurisdiction in criminal matters.

The reality is that little in the history of the governments dealings with the nations has been constitutional in nature.

What I believe is the motivation behind this resistance to passage is the long held belief of the Republican party that whites are gifted with some innate superiority regarding other ethnic groups,specifically white males, that, and they apparently see the passage of this bill as an incremental step  that would further the nations credibility in seeking and claiming  sovereignty.

In a union of  states where power is wielded by a centralized authority a sovereign nation or nations with the ability to govern themselves, create their own laws, and enter into treaties and agreements with whoever they desired to be sitting in their  midst  doesn’t go down well, it isn’t deemed acceptable. Especially in the present political climate of rumblings about states rights and even secession.

What shouldn’t be overlooked when our people rightfully take issue with this is that it is basically the same argument Russell Means presented when the Dine attempted to hold him accountable for the assault of his one armed eighty year old then  Dine father in law.

Russell claimed that in not being of their nation the Dine did not have the authority or essential sovereignty to arrest or try him.

This despite the fact that he was married to a Dine woman, living on Dine land, and committed his crime on their land.

Among Russell’s more inane and predictable arguments was that it was his belief  he wouldn’t receive a fair trail, as if to say his treatment of his father in law was fair-but then we’ve heard that often enough from those in the AIM leadership haven’t we?

Maybe the Republicans can present the same argument and follow the trail Russell blazed in claiming a non indigenous person wouldn’t receive a fair trial because he surely had the same sense of entitlement.

Russell claimed to be a lot of things he wasn’t, and he vacillated back and forth between political party affiliation and positions as it served whatever agenda he had-but I think one would have to say  he was at a heart a Republican when it came to issues  regarding our ability to adjudicate matters and sovereignty,when it came to empowering and protecting women despite all the self promotion in talk of matriarchy, liberation, patriotism, and sovereignty.

What is going on related to this legislation should be a Howard Beale moment for us, for our indigenous journalists-we should all stand up, say we’re made as hell, not going take it anymore and demand passage. That would be the true “liberator” “patriot” thing to do, and might set an example for the AIM leadership.

HONOR AND DISHONOR

” HOW CAN YOU HONOR SOMETHING THAT HAS NO HONOR”

I saw this comment made in response to the above photo on the Leonard Peltier Still Guilty site- it of course is made in reference to the flag Russell is posing in, and a fair enough question if it represents the poster’s opinion.

But I would ask another-HOW DO YOU HONOR A MAN WHO HAD NO HONOR ?

A man that lied, scammed, hustled, and promoted his way through life.

A man who when push came to shove following his assault on his then eighty year old father in law and the Dine attempted to exercise their sovereign right to hold him accountable immediately launched into his now infamous Chinle defense where he made  every effort to kick sovereignty not only for the Dine, but for all the nations under the bus to save his own singularly sorry ass.

Has everyone forgotten that’s what the nations have been fighting for for over five centuries? Have they forgotten the  body count- the reservation system, the boarding schools? Have they forgotten our children had their heads bashed in, our women raped and gutted even if pregnant-their breasts made into tobacco pouches?

Would they say now that in the past when reservations agents enriched themselves at our expense it is somehow different if Means, Banks, and their cronies have done likewise? Is this what the last real Indians is about?

The better question is what has become of the last real Indians-where are they to be found? On the net pushing their wares or promoting themselves and their sites? Or showing up at rallies for an appearance fee? Are they the ones who have the “foundations”always dunning people for a donation for some “project”?

Are they the ones who obstruct and deny justice and closure for victims and their survivors-the same one’s who call anyone seeking those things feds, rats, and whatever other lies they can spew off their  last real Indian tongues?

Are they the same ones who don’t have a damn word to say about the reality of rape and abuses  our women and children face?

If so what does that make them-merely “controversial”?

How do you honor a man who says he knew who was responsible for the murder of Annie Mae but had  given his “word” not to tell-choosing instead to prolong  the grief of her children and family?

How do you honor a man who not only assisted in leading the assault on WK2 that ransacked, murdered, pillaged, and  looted,the homes, businesses, and lives, of indigenous people, and  then lied and boasted about it for decades? One cannot say his people because he was not Lakota.

How do you honor a man who was the equivalent of a Mafia Don in a criminal organization?

I know how it is done-by refusing to address the  realities and instead say Russell was a “controversial figure” and leaving it at that.

But then genocide regardless of whose hands it is at is always “controversial” isn’t it?  As are all the other crimes he and cohorts are guilty of.

I don’t much care about a lot of codes, like Manifest Destiny, and treaties that can be said to be “codes”, and I haven’t forgotten that the code of this flag represented death and destruction for our people just the same as AIM’s flag has-and I sure as hell don’t care about the code of Me-ism Russell lived his  life by.

A personal code that commodified the misery, history, and poverty of indigenous people.

You cannot honor such a person-you can only honor the truth by speaking it. Something these last real Indians can’t seem to bring themselves to do.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Truth_about_story_of_Annie_mae_Pictou_Aquash_and_Wounded_Knee_1975_event_and_all_victims_of_that_event/

FLAGS OF SHAME

 

“THERE IS NO FLAG LARGE ENOUGH TO COVER THE SHAME OF KILLING INNOCENT PEOPLE”.
 HOWARD ZINN

I’ve come to like Howard Zinn, the historian and social commentator, he neither minces words or is beguiled by politicians.

He has said “There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.” And yet the reality is untold numbers of innocents have been killed across the width and breadth of this planet we call Earth. Something we as a people know well.

It is always “patriotism” that unfurls the flags of war, at times it may be unavoidable and could rightfully be called patriotic when done so in defense of the homeland.

More often than not though I think wars are waged for mercenary geopolitical reasons and cloaked under a flag of patriotism- but it is as Zinn has said, no flag covers the shame, or the sin, or killing innocents.

AIM made the same claim of a patriotic war when they invaded Wound Knee under their flag of shame, but there as elsewhere innocents were slain, willfully slain, and their blood and the shame of it rests solely upon the hands of AIM.

Solely upon the hands of a leadership composed of Russell Means, Dennis Banks, Clyde Bellecourt, and Leonard Crow Dog.

AIM cannot even assert that as an army the collateral damage was to be expected and therefore “acceptable”, for they were anything but an army. I have no doubt a few among them actually believed their’s was a just cause, but the reality of the murders and pillaging that ensued cannot be justified then or now.

There is a natural law often ignored that speaks in protest and defiance of such things-a natural law that once was a core element of our beliefs, a part of the balance the nations strove to live in and maintain.

Our failing to observe this natural law has come with a heavy price, a price that has yet to be extracted in full measure.

Show me a man who observes this balance, who follows this natural order of things and I will show you a man worthy of listening to and following- a trait sorely and visibly lacking in the AIM leadership whose greatest love isn’t their people, but the sound of their own voice, with money running a close second.

No recompense has been forthcoming for the blood of these innocents,or the damage done, no admission, no apology-only denials and self aggrandizing tales of would be warriors.

I would say the colors on this AIM flag of shame are appropriate, red for the blood spilled, white for the innocence of those slain, yellow for the cowardice of leadership, and black for the color of their hearts and intentions.

Colors they took from something noble and soiled with their own hands, much the same as they have done with everything else they’ve touched.

SONGS OF OUR MOTHERS

I kind of have a difficult time when a person not of the nations attempts to tell me about our traditions or interpret them for me.

Visiting a rez is a lot different that living on one-reading a book doesn’t make someone an expert, nor is it an immersive experience-never having lived in the language or hearing your mother sing to you the songs that belong to our generations is different than watching and listening to a youtube video.

Going to pow wow and watching dancers is a visual experience, and while I might encourage someone to read a book, watch a video, or attend pow wow, existing differences remain.

We as a living people are not a Smithsonian exhibit, nor a petting zoo, or an internet phenomena-we are neither quaint nor primitive anachronisms, we belong in this time and this land as much if not more than anyone.

We are not obligated to respond to “how do you say this” or pose for a photograph, though we may choose to do so.

We are not native Americans or Indians-we are indigenous to this land, the first people-we are Arapahoe, Apache, Dine, Hopi,Cheyenne, Crow,Cherokee, Mohawk,Ojibwe, Comanche, Zuni,Pima, Papago, and a multitude of other distinct tribes whose names for ourselves in our languages translates to “the people”.

Some things can and may be shared, others can’t and won’t.There is no debt-we owe no one nothing-not our language, our beliefs, or our ceremonies-and any claiming we do expose the same attitude that led to papal bulls and Manifest Destiny that they harbor within themselves.

It is a presumption born of arrogance and entitlement, a mindset that some of ours will cater to on a commercial level, and in doing so sell the songs our mothers sang to us.

I have a greater respect for my mother, and her mother, and her mother’s mother than to engage in any of that. I have a greater respect for the nations,for true warriors that fought and died,for the responsibilities we as indigenous people have, for myself and those close to me-a respect that will endure and has no price tag.

I offer nothing for sale, will cede nothing.

There is a certain universality in belief systems across the world, a commonality that recognizes a Creator, an afterlife, and accountability for the things we do and the way we have lived.

But it is a mistake to think that one size fits all among the nations, that we all believe the same-our creation stories are the same, or that one nations beliefs and ceremonies takes precedence over others, is more representative, or has a greater value.

Creator gave us each to our their what would serve us best in geography, language, and understanding, and none can claim Creator favored them more.

In times past a part of our history has been to take what was given to others, and now we find what we have has been and is being taken from us.

And within our communities we take from each other and ourselves-the pride of manhood or womanhood is taken by alcohol,drugs,and poverty. The security and pride of communities by gangs, liars, and thieves. The respect and honor due a woman by rapists, lives by murderers.

The innocence of children by dysfunctional parenting, incest, pedophiles, and the stark reality of rez life.

Much of what was gifted us has been corrupted-the land, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and what we believe-some by our own hand and some by others.

We follow and honor the wrong people while those deserving are seldom spoken of, we pursue the wrong things, titles are not earned and bestowed, they are appropriated and becoming meaningless.

I believe every nation, every individual within our nations, has the seeds of greatness within them, our past speaks to that, but seeds, like all living things, like our children, must be nurtured, must be cultivated and tended or they will fall upon barren inhospitable ground.

MISSING INGREDIENT

 

 

Believing as I have come to that pinning one’s hopes on further  indictments has become something of a pipe dream-as in not going to  happen, I sometimes wonder about alternative approaches that could  be taken, missing ingredients.

A wrongful death suit could be one, even a violation of civil rights, but statute of limitations vary from state to state and differ from federal standards as well-so not being an attorney I don’t know if it is a possibility.

I believe what has been missing is the presence of a high profile attorney to represent the interests of Annie’s family, and by extension that of Ray Robinson’s and those who lay in unmarked graves.

Such a high profile attorney would be someone like Gloria Allred, the armor clad pit bull of women’s rights.

Allred’s fees would probably put her beyond reach but at times these high profile attorneys will take on a case pro bono.

Now I have no illusions that Allred will happen upon this blog and take an interest, but I offer this as an opinion, perhaps something to promote if agreeable with Annie’s family.

No harm is done in suggesting, asking, or searching for options, and my personal opinion is that with Allred’s level of expertise, commitment to justice for women, and history, if she were to become involved all hell would break loose in very short order.

I’ve always said that Annie’s murder, her case, has greater implications, that her’s is a face put to a larger issue, the issue of missing, murdered, raped, and battered women among the nations-and that in addressing her’s and securing the complete justice required it could in turn translate to justice for other women. Women like Jancita Eagle Deer and countless thousands of others.

Annie’s daughters and journalists like Paul DeMain have done an excellent job in leading the fight for Annie, but I’m confident they more than others understand the process and associated difficulties, the limitations  and hurdles they face, and would have no difficulty in admitting them.

We need an Allred, -we need an armor clad pit bull.

 

WAR

Wars are fought for a variety of reasons-and it is the reason that defines them. Reasons that either bestow legitimacy or withhold it.

Some are fought defensively, some offensively, some for conquest and subjugation, some for “religious” reasons, some for liberation, and some are purely genocidal in nature and based entirely on racial bias.

Whatever the reasons the fact remains that innocents, non combatants, especially women, children, and elders become as much a victim as though they carried weapons themselves.

They are the most vulnerable that war exacts a terrible toll on.

A part of the spin has been a decades long attempt to portray the events of WK2 as a war of liberation-an attempt to legitimize what amounts to the sacking and rape of a community by a gang of criminals one can only liken to other gangs-their “war” was no more legitimate than the ones waged by other gangs such as Chivington’s so called  militia-a title meant to bestow legitimacy on a group of misfits that in a different setting carried out a version of Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas, where even children were indiscriminately slaughtered. In the aftermath even the Confederacy was appalled and denounced Quantrill and his raiders.

That is what has been missing following WK2-a condemnation that a group of raiders sacked and burned a community, murdered, and took hostages.

Those who participated were not liberators-claiming to be such has been their attempt at legitimacy.

There is and always will be an element in society that will romanticize such events-in the case of WK2 the media fueled that for their own purpose, and AIM has done the same for obvious reasons.

This same element will romanticize people like Billy the Kid, who in truth was little more than a psychopathic killer who allegedly killed his man at the age of twelve.

In the aftermath of WK2 we have “liberators” who have gone on to enrich themselves-and what defines them as a criminal gang is their absolute refusal to allow survivors to recover the remains of their dead-a protocol that armies and warriors have long observed.

Above is the rough draft of the sketch promised earlier in the Rez Dog blog, I can’t say when the finished version will be posted, but when it is done it will be, and I apologize for what any may consider as a delay. None the less I consider it to be one of very few depicting what occurred within WK2-an honest and important representation that AIM, their faithful, and the media have long withheld.

Had real warriors, real leaders, existed at WK2 it might have been a different story.

ARE YOU LISTENING JOHN TRUDELL ?

The below was submitted  by auntiej5 in the comments section of Those Trudell Videos, and
 I thought it worthy of standing alone………

The Tiger lily is wild and free, her song is on the winds.
for the Women whose voices you have silenced,
my spirit WILL fill again.
So many tears have fallen, I recall this when it rains.
My Daughters are remembering and proudly call my name.
For the women you have beaten, while for them you should have cared.
Brutal rapes and murder, all because your scared?
Where have all the men Warriors gone, and why do you live a lie?
Allowing truth of a Matriarch, to slowly & surely die.
It was a Woman who gave you the pipe, a woman is the Earth. A Woman who hears you cry a Woman who gave you birth.

John oh John, you know more truth,
then you’ve have the courage to tell,
do you recall who lit the fires
and put the Women through hell.
Remember all the warriors
who protected more than fAIM?
will your spirit ever know peace,
honored you, once, but now I am ashamed.
The Tiger Lily is now free and her voice is on the winds, My daughters are remembering, & renewal will begin.