GRANDMOTHER

I’ve blogged about grandfather on more than one occasion, a man certainly deserving of mention and respect, but I know a woman equally as deserving,…grandmother.

A woman whose seen, heard, endured, and emerged with a positive attitude, smile, and kind word for all.

Grandmothers a helper, that’s the role she has staked out for herself, but also a matriarch in the sense that she is looked to for wisdom and sound advice much the same as grandfather.

Her “daughters” adore her, and perhaps her greatest strength is to know when to offer advice and when to defer.

Her emphasis is the well being of those within her orbit, whether friend or family, and utterly selfless.

She knows the ways and has a well worn bag never far from reach containing everything essential, from her favorite splinter extracting needle to sage, a measuring cup made long ago from a buffalo horn, assorted herbs, and what some would refer to as “fetishes” – though that is a word she scorns preferring medicine.

Grandmother has a great humility about herself, but also an unmistakeable pride in being one of the people.

Grandchildren are a joy for her – she sees both the future and the past in them, eager to instruct, listen, or engage in some game with them.

I doubt there is a single plant within a huge radius she isn’t familiar with, can’t chapter and verse it’s name along with it’s nutritional and medicinal values – a knowledge best characterized as encyclopedic, the result of a covenant made decades ago grandmother strictly adheres to – pristine, nothing added or subtracted – no new age or rainbow influence.

I mentioned to a friend recently that while grandmother doesn’t believe her spirit will be captured in the  taking a photo of her she is nonetheless not keen on the idea.

Nor is she infatuated with the internet, she would never promote herself on the net or offer her “wisdom”, dvd’s, cds, or any of that for a price/donation.

Grandmother in fact believes there are things specific to the nations that should be kept that way, I agree, after having lived the life and seeing the rampant corruption of our ceremonies and traditions her position is valid.

This woman can see a missing button or some small tear a mile away, when she does it’s off with the shirt and out comes the needle and thread.

I think if I had given her a dollar for every tear she’s mended or button she’s sewn on, every bruise, cut, busted lip or black eye when I was younger and crazier she’s tended she would be listed in Fortune 500.

I asked grandmother once if she could turn back the personal time that has been her life if she would? Thinking about it for a moment she said she could see no reason to as she is where she wants to and should be – that if a single direction had been changed that might not be the case. But there are many things she would have to have been different for her people, for all the nations.

I wonder how many people would be willing to say the same thing?

THE PROS AND CONS OF IT REDUX

THE PROS AND CONS OF IT
Posted by rezinate on July 7, 2012

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/the-pros-and-cons-of-it/

As it stands Congress is basically in charge of “Indian Policy”-it is they who author legislation and manipulate treaties under what is referred to as the Commerce Clause in the Constitution.

It is a fundamental truth that entering a treaty is an admission that the parties involved are Sovereign entities, and as such have undeniable rights.

The Supreme Court upheld this premise in 1905 when it stated treaties agreed upon between the U.S. and any of the nations are ” not a grant of right TO the Indians, but a grant of rights FROM them-a reservation of those NOT granted.”

That is about as clear a declaration as possible- yet previous and subsequent decisions, legislation, interpretations, and outright chicanery have undermined the concept of sovereignty.

During the Revolutionary period the then existing Continental Congress composed of the original thirteen colonies found an efficacy in dealing with the various nations diplomatically-nation to nation.

This was done in part as a strategy to persuade the nations not to join the ranks of the British, but to remain neutral during the dispute, or assist the revolutionary forces.

In 1781 the Articles of Confederation were adopted with a spate of new treaties being signed-the “drawback” for the new government was that the Articles of Confederation didn’t specifically grant complete authority to Congress to negotiate as a single representative agency with the nations, the result was that the states entered various treaties thought to advance their interests that created what were viewed as problems by their neighboring states.

In an effort to circumvent States rights and create a unified code Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution declares that the U.S Congress is singularly empowered to negotiate treaties with nations in the following edict….that Congress has the authority “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.

The Supreme Court dutifully upheld this provision-but I would ask what “commerce” exists in confining a people to a reservation, instituting the separation of children from their families to attend “school”, outlawing various ceremonies, or not granting citizenship to them until 1924? Is it the commerce of slave trade?

In 1789 Article 6 of the Constitution proclaimed that ALL treaties entered into by the U.S. “shall be the supreme law of the land”

An onus was placed upon the Government by these Articles and rulings to respect the sovereignty of the nations and to deal with them fairly on the basis of government to government-an onus always circumvented and falling prey to greed and a policy of expansion.
There isn’t enough room in this blog to cite every law, every bit of legislation, betrayal, and outright theft-but one need only to read the Articles cited to understand the crimes committed against what was referred to as the supreme law of the land, and the people and issues they meant to address.

It is not my belief that the treaties, nor the Constitution will ever be upheld as originally written-what will, has, and is eventuating is the ongoing process of “interpretation”, revision, and cash settlements-cash settlements whose acceptance is based on a fatalism that it is the best that can be done, and existing poverty.

This so called Commerce Clause has been employed as a device to circumvent the sovereignty not only of the nations but of all people-and I would submit a review of the clause itself is in order.

I’m not a Constitutional authority, don’t belong to any think tanks,no college degrees to hang on the wall or boast of, or even a high school diploma, I have no advice for OWS other than to stay the course-I can offer no “profound” wisdom regarding matriarchy-haven’t and won’t “endorse” any candidates, don’t make the talk show rounds huffing and puffing or alternately railing and weeping, never written a book, offered prayers for a price, established any faux republics, or made a career of calling for “donations”.

I have no commercial products to offer-none that whisper or are sweet to the palate,no DVD’s, no price tag to advocate on behalf of another- but neither have I abused a woman or ran off and left one when there was trouble,used or sold drugs, introduced alcohol to ceremonies, or ever sought to give myself a title-so if these things are qualifications to speak I guess I have none, but that isn’t going to silence me.

I can read and understand what I read, I can see and know what it is I am seeing, hear and comprehend what is heard, in so doing I see the course this nation has chosen, and what the effects have been.

The law of the land is that which best serves the one percenters, best serves corporations, and the farther down you are on the socio-economic ladder-the less “service” you will have-the less respect, the less sovereignty.

Even at the hands of the one percenters within the nations who have either individually or as a group done all of the above….and more.

STANDING ON SACRED GROUND REDUX

STANDING ON SACRED GROUND
Posted by rezinate on June 4, 2011

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2011/06/04/standing-on-sacred-ground/

The earth has been said to be the floor of heaven and there seems to be a great truth in this, if this is so then all the land is sacred and we cannot pick and choose which should be fought over to protect-all must be protected.

Understandable that specific areas to specific peoples have a greater personal significance, but the land is contiguous-fences cannot divide it, municipal boundaries, or the little picket fence-neither the great bodies of water beneath whose surface the land continues. It is illusion to think they do. This is a thing if understood and accepted would go a long way in creating a better life for all who inhabit the land.

The history of all mankind has always been to claim and fight over a portion here or a portion there for reasons to numerous to even begin to define.

Words have been invented to support such claims, words that led to “laws” and the legalization of theft- to deeds, treaties, to concepts such as eminent and public domain-all foreign, all conceptualizations, until this nation, foremost among all the other nations perhaps, has become a nation of words, stumbling over words, and constantly distorting or inventing new ones to further pave the way. Problems exist? Go figure.

The great Sauk leader Black Hawk once said, “How smooth must be the language of the whites, when they can make right look like wrong, and wrong like right.”

He would be ashamed I think to find that modern day liberators selling syrup and autobiographies employ much the same tactic-to learn that an indigenous woman, any woman among our own could become prey for abuse, sexual assault, or to be abducted, beaten, raped, and murdered, and the response would be silence, or the spinning of words to make wrong look like right and right look like wrong.

In all of this it has been forgotten that we stand on the floor of heaven, that wherever our feet touch the land it is sacred . On scared ground truth should be spoken.

SONGS OF OUR MOTHERS REDUX

 

SONGS OF OUR MOTHERS
Posted by rezinate on October 26, 2012

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 than 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.

 

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/songs-of-our-mothers/

 

SNITCHES, RATS, MOLES, AND WHISTLE BLOWERS REDUX

Posted by rezinate on July 14, 2011

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2011/07/14/snitches-rats-moles-and-whistleblowers/

I just watched the latest video offered on the Annie fb page and would commend Paul DeMain for having said what should be understood by one and all-not verbatim as cited below but close enough to make the point.

“Silence is killing our children we need snitches who say there is a crack house here that is killing our children-my uncle is raping his niece.”

By the Liberators own definition and liberal application of the word snitch, one would have to say Russell Mean’s melodramatic, with perfectly timed breaking up of his voice finger pointing at Vernon during the Branscombe news conference serves to qualify him as one.

I don’t exactly view his participation as a public service, more one of an abortive attempt at damage control. The reality was that Branscombe was on the trail and the press conference would have taken place at some point with or without Mean’s and his homeboy Churchill, didn’t leave a lot of options.

The problem with the AIM leadership of that era is they actually believed their own lies and propaganda-it is a part of the pathology. They thought they were invincible, that the tide of misguided public opinion would insulate them, and the intimidation they had long practiced would suffice.

In essence the original Wall Street Corporations and Banks too big to fail-recipients of their own stimulus packages in the form of government grants, pay offs, and well meaning, if not coerced donations.

Now, as is the case with the present day thugs who have milked the stimulus cash cow and being seen for what they are, so too are the liberators. The question is who will be the poster boy ala Madoff? Will it be any of the top CEO’s, or will they attempt to toss a subordinate under the bus? Tricky situation and a dangerous game to play.

But then there’s the unsettling suspicion that is gaining momentum-that of is there, has there, been an ultimate insider all these many years?

That in the aftermath of the Jumping Bull event and the all out ramped up effort by the feds to pursue and capture the shooters was a deal struck in the liberator hierarchy to give up Peltier for personal immunity? Something LPDOC might consider taking a look at.

There are those who say a growing number of clues can be found that point in that direction-if it is true what a buffoon and tool Peltier has been, but he is so caught up in the myth that has been created for him that it would be a near impossibility for him to confront or even to consider such a thing.

I view this as an hypothesis that increasingly has the feel of merit- much of what has defied explanation begins to make sense when as pieces of the puzzle find their place a coherent picture begins to emerge. It is as I say a hypothesis, but one worth looking at, and perhaps time will tell.

This identical myth building is underway regarding John Graham-of course such things as chasing the wind and living a sundance life have already been taken by Peltier, in lieu of that this low level gopher, this hanger on, is cast in the roll of an activist and “land warrior”-in time with this crafted resume he will be referred to as founder and high ranking AIM leader just as the other low level subordinate Peltier has been. It is the established formula.

When Graham starts selling second rate art work and tomes of fiction we will know the makeover is in full swing.

Will people buy into it? Of course they will, too many love them some conspiracy, too many walk around in a self induced coma, too many are armchair activists who are capable of little more than than being a sponge that soaks up the party line.

There are people who champion Charles Manson, skinheads who do likewise of Hitler-should any be surprised that there are those who would champion Peltier, Graham, and the wannabe chiefs?

Surprised? I can’t see why-angered and disappointed yes-but we are adults and know these things exist-too many view themselves as, and want to be “rebels”, convincing themselves that allegiance to fairy tales and the ogres that populate them makes it so.

It’s been a while since I’ve browsed any of the many works of fiction regarding Annie Mae that have been breathlessly authored and advanced as the result of what we are told is a devotion to truth and the pursuit of justice, an unbiased and exhaustive devotional effort, that in effect does nothing more than to further muddy the water and assist those who have something to hide.

These “books” are almost singularly dependent on information selectively taken out of context by organizations such as LPDOC, Free John Graham, interviews with the accused (never with the accuser), their misguided supporters, and of the mighty “liberators” of oppressed people.

Facts are of secondary importance, and then only if they can be co opted, distorted , or spun. This is yellow journalism of the most obvious sort,-and a literary or journalistic effort that is both commercially and agenda driven.

In a very crude analogy it is the selling of bones, much as those of the buffalo were, or those of the Elephant Man-a public display of remains for profit, and maybe a little of that fifteen minutes based on the words of drive-by basketball players too cowardly to put in an appearance, and remnants of the pie patrol or those who wish they had of been and must content themselves to braid the hair of their heroes if not literally, then literarily.

In the wake of such transparent bias it doesn’t matter that one such as Thelma Rios confesses to her role in the abduction and murder of Annie Mae-I’ve seen numerous “explanations” why she did so-none of them willing to cede that she actually was involved or finally told the truth. No it has to be something else, anything else, for to admit the truth of what amounts to a deathbed statement from a dying woman is inconceivable and clearly illustrates that the works of fiction promoted as truth are exactly that-fiction, not even worthy of being viewed as indulging in creative or literary license.

It doesn’t matter that juries render a verdict, that literally dozens of witnesses testify-that more questions are asked, and silence, a refusal to respond is the rule of thumb. No, what this about is a conspiracy to destroy a morally and spiritually bankrupt organization that created absolute havoc in it’s wake and made untold millions in the process.

An organization and it’s leadership who believed that their “vision”, their sense of entitlement superceded all other considerations as they enriched themselves, divided up territory, and the spoils of the proclaimed war they initiated.

A war that included off shore accounts, firebombings of newspapers that dared to label them for what they were, drunken revelry at ceremonies, phoned in death threats, using and dealing drugs, the destruction of WK2, the incessant collection of donations that never were accounted for, the formation of untold charitable foundations and defense funds that have little to show for the money or time invested, rape and murder-all a blue print, a clone, of liberators who for centuries in every nation spanning the globe acted in the same manner, followed the same course.

These authors, journalists, and supporters have invested too much of themselves, too much of what is referred to as personal integrity too even consider, much less admit they have been in error. That they in point of fact either knowingly or unwittingly have perpetuated injustice while claiming to serve it and making a few bucks in the process.

To admit to having been used and made a fool of is a difficult thing-I know, having once been a knee jerk Peltier supporter-but in the end it is a human being that finds a greater value in moving on to the truth and accepting they were foolish.

It is a human being who looks openly at the overall picture and says the liberators say this and yet have done that, finds the discrepancies, and asks why rather than ignore them, make excuses, or contrive tales of conspiracy.

The feds had moles in AIM-what is that, an anomaly? Proof of a sinister conspiracy to break the nations? They’ve had them in the Mafia and nearly any organized crime syndicate you can think of-I don’t hear anyone complaining about that or labeling it a conspiracy. I don’t hear anyone complaining about it when fraud and embezzlement are exposed in charities or foundations, or in Wall Street, the Banking industry, or huge Corporations. I don’t see anyone complaining when street gangs that terrorize their communities are taken down. I hear no one complain when whistle blowers expose corruption or unsafe conditions in the workplace.

People see a drunk driver weaving on the highway and phone it in-a party in their neighborhood gets out of hand and they phone in it. They see a billboard alert of a missing child and thinking they may have seen the child or have some information and phone it in. They see some suspicious activity and phone in it -what are they, snitches, or someone concerned with the public welfare and possibly their own safety or that of loved one?

I’m not advocating for a big brother society, which this country is rapidly becoming, only common sense and asking oneself what they would do in a similar situation? To ask them self what is more important, to assist and protect a victim, the survivors, or to aid and abet the perpetrator(s) in a coverup and escaping accountability?

Abduction, rape, murder, theft, fraud, drug dealing are all crimes-if you don’t think so ask Banks who has decried the theft of his pots, demanded action, and offered a reward. That’s pots-not rape and murder, all should ask them self if the theft of pots is more heinous, more criminal, than crimes of violence?

One should wonder if in view of Bank’s uncanny ability to identify the remains of Annie Mae weeks before anyone else could if he might not be better suited to wrap a turban around his head, get a crystal ball, and set up a fortune telling stand at a flea market? Surely he’s missing his calling.

All should ask themselves if one can be this vocal, this adamant about a theft, why not at least equally so about those in unmarked graves at WK2 or the murder of Annie Mae? One should ask them self if a truth has ever been spoken by liberators-if it ever will be?

This excuse making and willingness to ignore is relied upon, it is part of the manipulation and a proven tool. It’s all about choice-that “free to be responsible” thing we hear so much about.

The us against them attitude is understandable, predictable, and certainly justified by centuries of injustice and oppression-what needs to be recognized and acted upon now though is who “them” are, rather than being led by tricksters and Judas goats.

In the end it is about an organization and a leadership that refused to police itself-to set a standard of integrity and practice an actual dedication to service on a people first basis. It is about greed and gluttony, malice, avarice, and mayhem, death and dying, and perhaps more than anything else name recognition and celebrity.

I find that I have arrived at a point where all I can say about this is F*** every damn lying one of them, and make no apology for doing so.

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Kind of funny that in a conversation several months back I said I wouldn’t be surprised if Chase Iron Eyes being an attorney would interject himself  into John Graham’s case.

Sure enough that’s exactly what has happened – and again it doesn’t surprise me due to Last Real Indians hands off approach when it comes to anything that doesn’t pander to AIM.

CIE isn’t Clarence Darrow or F. Lee Bailey, that translates in my opinion to Graham will rightfully remain where he is, but it is also an opportunity to garner a little more attention and perhaps post more selfies.

I don’t know how a claim can be advanced that a persons focus is all about our youth and yet ignore the corrupting influence AIM has been, to ignore the murders of Annie Mae  Pictou Aquash, Perry Ray Robinson Jr, and several others.

I don’t believe that’s what “last real Indians” are about, if it is then I’ll be opting out and anyone can call me whatever they like – but at least I will have remained true to the blood of our ancestors that blankets this entire hemisphere.

CHILDREN OF MEN REDUX

CHILDREN OF MEN
Posted by rezinate on February 17, 2012

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/children-of-men/

When you shuttle back and forth between sites like Annie’s page, Ray’s page, and the Peltier Still Guilty site there is a noticable ramping up of discussion, of facts and evidence being presented, making it increasingly more difficult for the deniers to offer anything credible in the way of a defense. Which then lends itself to the predictable name calling.

There is a cross section, a diversity not only of opinion but ethnicity and awareness emerging-that is a good thing, because the cultivated base for the free Leonard, free Graham, free whoever, has always been primarily the non indigenous, for a couple of obvious reasons.

One being that as a rule they generally are better off financially, the other is any familiarity they may have with rez life and the issues indigenous people face can be said to be of a secondary nature, an observer.

Not being there, not living there, and not experiencing the day to day they are dependent on the media, “autobiographies”, You Tube, and video “updates”. There are exceptions to this rule but they aren’t the ones I am addressing.

It is said American’s have a penchant for rooting for the underdog-if so it has taken them a while to realize that is the status of the nations, now that they have they throw their support behind the dogs that are barking the loudest, those that are most visible.

And as is the case in all “campaigns” it is those with the deeper pockets who have access to a greater visibility.

Commonly among the nations few have this access, and those recognizable ones who do, do so as the result of a concerted effort to first and foremost promote themselves-that requires the effort to “own” a topic.

Something that is current and resonates with the majority-as in Russell’s endless droning about matriarchy while never have lived it, or being dedicated enough to address the issues of Annie Mae and the “reign of terror” indigenous women suffer at the hands of rapists and abusers.

It is campaign talk-that and nothing more-and like campaign talk vacuous, self serving, and lacking substance.

It seems as though in this diverse gathering they are now looking a little deeper, digging beneath, rather than merely scratching the surface, and like a sleeping giant beginning to rouse from their slumber.

No thinking, reasoning, person can compare the realities of the murder of Annie Mae, Ray Robinson, or that of WK2 with those the AIM leadership has offered up and fail to have doubts-to look at it as a puzzle and not realize there are pieces that have been hidden and in their place substitutions that do not fit.

In this penchant to champion who is perceived as the underdog all it should require is a comparison of the live styles that Means, Banks, Bellecourt, Crow Dog, and others are living as opposed to the ones they profess to speak for-the differences are glaring.

Once that is done then the question should be asked who and how does one profit from the misery of others? What form of “service” is it, and what is the motivation? Is there a single justification for selling ceremonies?

Having done so the next logical step would be to review the ever changing stories they offer up, the constant state of flux and revision these stories are characterized by, and ask the same question of who and why.

This isn’t rocket science-it doesn’t require a remedial reading class, only openness and a willingness to accept what is obvious.

So by all means champion the underdog, champion justice, express the compassion you have, but take the time to educate yourself and not cast the pearls of your good intentions, your compassion, at the feet of swine-sow them where they will serve the purpose you intend-where they will make a difference your effort desires.

Hopefully that would be those many who share the familiar misery of rez and urban ndn life-not the walkers and talkers, not the “liberators” and “patriots”.

Not those who stand convicted for their crimes, and those who hopefully will be as well.

There are children out there, our children, who are oblivious to the games of their adult counterparts, yet bear the burden of them-elders who are aware of them and can do nothing-because the end game for AIM was and has always been to marginalize elders, to usurp the position they held.

These usurpers would now attempt to present themselves as elders-they are not in any sense of the word as we employ it-they are merely aged, and the same as they have always been-nothing has changed.

Many of these children are suffering the abuses of abject poverty, of parents or a single parent who in trying their best cannot provide what is needed-and sadly parent(s) who place their own pursuits first.

Children, women, who suffer physical and sexual abuse that these erstwhile heroes have done little or nothing to address. Have you seen so much as one lone “update” by any of them that has candidly addressed these issues? One that has said many of our women and children are targets for this sort of abuse?

Christmas toy drives? Nice public relations move, but calculating, and one designed to profit from the innocence of children as well who only know the reality of a toy in hand or the lack of a decent meal.

How about a drive to create safe havens, or a drive to confront these issues for the destructive and shameful reality they are?

How about creating communal bs free zones devoid of all this-all this campaigning and lying? A haven where children can revel in the simple joy of being a child, where women and elders can sit in comfort and security to visit and share, and perhaps to laugh as well.

To do any of this would strike at the heart of brotherhoods and the warrior myths they propagate. It would call into question their claims, their manhood-and lay the blame of the existence of such shortcomings squarely at the feet of men and counterfeit leaders where they belong.

I would have our children to truly be the children of men, of warriors, and all that implies.

MAD DOG REDUX

MAD DOG
Posted by rezinate on March 30, 2011

A few years ago while walking down a street in Minneapolis I saw a poster depicting an angry poodle with a Mohawk-it was a funny enough that it made an impression on me and every once in a while I will think of it and laugh.

The other day in a blog I mentioned that Annie’s supporters were not poodles or lap dogs, but rez dogs who weren’t going to let go-kind of got me thinking about that poodle with a Mohawk and I had a mental image of a rez dog mad as hell and looking to kick some ass and take names-one fed up with all the celebrity books and ruminations.

Not being able to draw, and envious of those with a such a talent, I explained the idea to one who is known to us as sister who is very accomplished in the arts and asked if she could breathe life into it, and as you can see in the attached drawing she did exactly that.

I had more or less entitled it Rez Dog-mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, but another involved in the fight for justice and closure for Annie Mae suggested Mad Dog with a good AIM-and so it is.

Mad Dog or Rez Dog-he’s had enough and expressing an opinion held by a growing number.
We have an idea to market it through CafePress as a poster, t-shirt, or something of that nature with all proceeds going to indigenous causes.

Anyone who would care to is welcome to post such a cause or if they too have a talent might consider doing something similar, maybe even an Ebook if they have a literary talent-it’s more than about the amount, it’s about doing what one can.

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/mad-dog/

 

The CafePress idea never came to fruition after looking at their fee. I know someone who went that way and they made something like twenty cents on a cup or shirt, not sure which.

The poodle poster mentioned can be found by typing in Poodle With a Mohawk in your search window. The initials JFAM on the dog tag stands for Justice for Annie Mae.

JOHNNY MOORE – ANOTHER VICTIM ? REDUX

JOHNNY MOORE-ANOTHER VICTIM ?
Posted by rezinate on November 15, 2011

Keeping an accurate count is at best challenging, and the true numbers may never be known. The most familiar AIM victims have been Annie Mae Pictou Aquash and Perry Ray Robinson, but a strong case can be made that 20 year old Johhny Moore, a Penobscot, found dead in a Nebraska AIM house can be added to the list.

The original official report listed the cause of Moore’s death as suicide, and the story was floated that he had become despondent. But this story was disputed by individuals who knew and had access to him.

The cloying scent of foul play that has clung to Moore’s death has resulted from the fact that he was under supoena to testify against Stanley Neptune-a fellow AIM member.

The investigation into Moore’s death was originally conducted by the Lincoln, Nebraska police department who listed it as a probable suicide, and it wasn’t until years later in a follow up investigation by the Nebraska State Police that the cause of death was changed to undetermined.

As I understand it when such is the case it is protocol to then pursue it as a possible homicide- and although I am not privy to any official information pertaining to such an investigation I do know that statements have been issued addressing the difficulty attributed to the now infamous code of silence.

I don’t know, and neither do I think does anyone what the nature of Johnny Moore’s testimony would have been-but the mere fact that he was supoenaed was apparently sufficient cause for the AIM “security apparatus” to label him a snitch. Sounds all too familiar doesn’t it?

And so once again all the elements were in place:
Motivation: A young man deemed as a threat and labeled a snitch, and effectively isolated among his peers by such a pronouncement just as Annie was.
Opportunity: Moore was staying at Wounded Knee Legal Defense flop house in Lincoln along with several others.
Result: Another senseless death, and AIM as usual has been struck deaf, dumb,and blind-nobody knows anything and have even less to say.

I didn’t know Johnny Moore but I suspect he was a decent young man who cared for his people, and in wanting something better for them fell for the bullshit AIM line-a line of bullshit and an association that ultimately cost him his life…..at a mere twenty years of age.

It is my sincere wish that people would just step back a moment, forget all the by rote defenses and factory issued conspiracy tales and objectively look at events that have transpired in the last few decades-I’m not suggesting they summarily toss their beliefs asides but to ask questions, to think, to employ even the most rudimentary forms of logic and reason.

If everyone would do so this would be a whole new ball game-silence is consent, it is a degree of participation by any formula, if we do not personally grieve for a loved one lost, a victim, we are no less removed from those who do.

That’s what the “we are all related” is about-and seemingly forgotten.

“A good example, the 1974 murder case of Johnny Moore (Penobscot) called to testify in the trial of Stanley Neptune for running over the foot of a US Marshall at Wounded Knee in 1973. The District Attorney for Lincoln, Nebraska was running for Attorney General that year and allegedly said he didn’t want to have the same kind of “AIM” problems SD was having. (I will find his name). Johnny Moore’s death was determined by him to be a suicide, after they say he became despondent after being accused of being an FBI spy, and surrounded by AIM members, he slashed a knife so hard to his face it chipped his cheekbone, then severed his neck through his esophagus where upon he bled to death — all self-inflicted, the then dreaming to be Attorney General determined. It took years for his mother, Jeanne, family and tribe, (and still living at Indian Island, Maine in 2011) to have the case reviewed by a special commission of the State Patrol who then ruled it “probably homicide” several years later, by then — the evidence was history, and people scattered far and wide.”

A copy/paste above of a comment made in the blog Not Exactly Sweet Like Syrup from 5-29-11 by Skabewis

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/not-exactly-sweet-like-syrup/

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/johnny-moore-another-victim/

“Probably homicide”….probably? More like obvious I would say – another one of those dirty little secrets the AIM leadership doesn’t know anything about or care to discuss.

I’d say the DA should have wound up in jail for obstructing justice, tampering, and in effect aiding and abetting  and at the very least should have led to a federal investigation.

But then that’s just another decades old crime the USAG and DOJ doesn’t want to burden themselves with considering Holder’s public announcement they aren’t interested in cases forty years old- like the AIM murder of Perry Ray Robinson jr. or any number of murders committed by AIM.

Statistics are kept related to crimes…murder, rape, assault, robbery, and even “suicide”.

It would be interesting to see how many people commit suicide by first slashing their face and then cutting their throat with such a ferocity as to sever their esophagus.

Especially Actuarial charts kept by insurance companies who know this sort of thing forward and backward.

Apparently Moore didn’t have a life insurance policy, for if he had of it’s reasonable to assume insurance investigators would have entered the fray and it would have been an entirely different ballgame.

Since this involved AIM and a U.S. Marshall the feds surely would have been in the loop,  as in monitoring the approach and whether there was a a proper investigation that could have led to indictments – that implies to me they would have been aware of the “findings”, had access to the coroners report if in fact they didn’t oversee it, and any related documents they deemed germane.

Yet it took  years for a “special commission” to arrive at the conclusion that Johnny Moore’s death was “probably murder”?

That’s a commission convened by the State Patrol, not any federal agency.

You know that cliche about there’s no such thing as a perfect crime? Apparently that’s bs, or an urban myth, as AIM seems to have committed them on a routine basis if the lack of prosecution is to be the definition.

Am I saying AIM’s hand was in murder of Moore? I surely am, and that can only mean either some or all within the leadership knew what was going on.

People haven’t any reservations to address the heinous character of serial murderers like Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, or a host of others – yet among them are those who absolutely refuse to acknowledge what is before their very eyes when it comes to AIM, it’s leadership, or wannabe poster boy Leonard Peltier.

Why that is I haven’t a clue, and seriously doubt I ever will as such a position is completely without merit.

CONFLICT AND CULTURAL STRESS

There are literally thousands of our women’s faces that could appear on this poster, a relatively new phenomena that staggers the imagination.

I link this in part to the sixties and the formation of AIM under the leadership of Dennis Banks, Russell Means, and Clyde and Vernon Bellecourt.

The examples they set of ignoring traditional values and leaders – the manner in which they set about corrupting everything they lay their hand to in a quest for power and personal aggrandizement.

They are and have been the 20th and 21st centuries smallpox laden blanket, a bioweapon designed to infect the nations.

Conflict always leads to stress, whether it be individual or cultural, undermining the very foundations of communities, of nations.

Little wonder after five hundred plus years of an ongoing conflict between the nations and whatever “government” has been imposed upon us during these centuries that so much has changed.

Russell Means in his attempts to portray himself as Mr. Mom would drone on about matriarchy, insisting it was the standard prior to the appearance of the first boat people, that’s far from the truth.

While matriarchy was the way of it for various nations for others it was not, and for some whose cultures were matriarchal the impact of this conflict lead to it’s decline.

The stress of conflict impacts every aspect of life and culture, we see the evidence of it among the nations in the prevalence of gangs, crime, alcohol and substance abuse, the marketing of ceremonies, the loss of language, and the increase of sexual crimes and abuse committed against our women and children.

It is visible and a contributing factor related to our missing and murdered women, to human trafficking and the sex trade. To their marginalization, and one could argue a further subjugation.

The stress AIM has brought upon the nations with the murders they committed, the examples of corrupting tradition and ceremony, the flaunting of a gang mentality and use of intimidation, alcohol, and drugs to the extent of at least one “leadership” member dealing them can hardly be said to have a calming affect.

There is enough blame to go around, enough to lay at a multitude of doorsteps, some of which we as a people have the ability to address, others beyond our reach.

A starting point is our own backyard, our communities, taking them back- not a single excuse exists why we shouldn’t.

ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE

In the blog Over Reacting I suggested a fund raising alternative for that “library” to memorialize Russell Means – an alternative that would validate the estates desire to “honor” the man whose latest makeover is that of being a “great statesman”.

My suggested alternative has about as much chance of getting off the ground as a Boeing 767 without fuel, so I have another suggestion – one that would evidence the matriarchal characteristic of mothering and nurturing, a real testament to Russell’s proclaimed conversion and advocacy – a legacy if you will to that end.

Since there are two additional residences in the “estate” as stated before, one in Santa Monica and the other in New Mexico, why not convert the ranch to a shelter for battered women and their children?

It’s big enough to accommodate several and with a little well planned remodeling could accommodate quite a few more if the need arose.

The land it sits upon would provide plenty of room for children to play and even expansion.

The abuse both physical and sexual of women and children on PR and RB isn’t a secret, and the need for such havens, such safe houses, is undeniable.

The value and benefits of such a center would far outweigh a “library” dedicated to a serial con artist.

Funding for this to meet operational costs could be secured in the form of grants, private donations, and royalties from books already in existence and those that will surely follow as long as the cash cow continues producing.

https://rezinate.wordpress.com/2014/05/13/over-reacting/