I have just sent this also to the Citizen, and they may or may not print it. It came for you though and here it is.
The Death and New Dawn Vision
By the Mesoamerican Calendar, Wednesday June 11th was “1Death,” and my own Solar Return Day. Of course the symbolism is of letting it go – of a hard past, while knowing the seed is germinating beneath the soil – the seed of new life, new beginnings. I went to greet the sunrise at the invitation of the Aboriginal People. I am one of the “Other”: white, sixth generation from this city, third generation public servant, roots deep in the soil here. I’d been at Victoria Island before. I joined the Circle, my friends Laurie and Louise were there ahead of me. A trail of cedar boughs has been laid toward a small fire lit on the northern edge of the circle. We each give the fire tobacco – a gift to the Spirit-Creator. It is so typically generous for these people to invite us, to include us. We are listening to Fred, one of the Elders in the centre. His words are indistinct washing over me. We hear the soft beat of his spider tambour. Facing the sun, I close my eyes. Beautiful colours come in. Clouded in my vision, these images are gifts from the People.
The first colour is turquoise-green. Here is the Bear’s footprint. Here is the Bird. Here is the Talking Stick. And there is also some patch – which I can’t distinguish. I open my eyes. There is Rose and Turquoise Smoke swirling out of the Sun moving up to the left high over the River. It is so beautiful. The Parliament Buildings are to the right of the images – separate. Separate. Another elder starts to speak. Again the words are indistinct. But the colour of the smoke becomes Red, this man is angrier, in more pain. As he enters into his own ritual, the colour softens to Rose. I am glad for him and for us. We are joined by the spirits that we are here to honour. I see their souls – white “mists” low to the ground mainly by the Fire and in the northeastern arc of the circle. There is a violet haze draping the head and shoulders of the kneeling woman Elder and also hugging the man who had gone into the centre for healing from his hurts. The rose-coloured smoke now also moves right. It has totally engulfed the Library of Parliament. So the Library is a friendly spot. Ah the smoke turns red – there is a fire there now, of the spirit. It reminds me of 1916. This day in 2008, the Library is afire – for the People. And then it softens to Rose again. Still the Peace Tower is totally excluded. Please move a little right, I pray. If today’s messages from Canada are sincere, the Tower will be touched. PLEASE.
I close my eyes. The turquoise- green Talking Stick seems always there, sometimes with the Pipe. And that indistinct image – I know not what. The billowing Rose smoke moves south toward the Peace Tower. It turns brown. Uh oh. That is 19th century energy: dark, bleak. I think of Louis Riel, elected twice to Parliament, from Manitoba, the territory Georges Cartier courted to be the second French province in Confederation. Pre-War (1885). Riel amused himself here, signing in on arrival with a pseudonym. In Halifax, there is a statue in honour of the soldiers who went to fight and die there. In Manitoba, there is a statue of the Métis man – Riel, and memory of the starving Indians who joined in his cause. Will the brown smoke lift? It turns Yellow this smoke and it billows over the river in waves from the Peace Tower. Up and away. We are moved into the 20th Century. Canada still fears the People. Yellow is the colour of Fear. There is a lot and lots of Yellow Smoke – swirling out of the Peace Tower. It is being lifted and blown away. Yes, really. Canada is being cleansed, a long slow process.
At last the smoke turns Rose. Phew, I am joyful. This afternoon’s apology will be honest, well-meant, sincere, a culmination. I open my eyes. There are dozens of small noisy birds overhead. Of course – the children. They fly off and come back and off again. These are the spirits of the small ones who died at all those schools. Listen to their chatter. A message to the Aboriginal People from these dear innocents: “We are carefree, lighthearted, now. We wish this feeling, for all the people, who, scarred at those schools, still walk the paths of Turtle Island.” At end of ceremony, the radiant Sun is directly over the Peace Tower. Walking up the hill after the Sunrise Ceremony, Louise, Laurie and I see a Rabbit. Some say Rabbit is fear. Not – that has gone away out into the galaxy now, wrapped in peace. Rabbit represents quickness, movement, Release after two centuries of stagnation. Aboriginals do share with us, the slow, white siblings, who take so long to get it. As a child I could dream Indian, betimes, without fear of consequence. As a child, You were forced to dream white with dire consequence. And still you open your hearts to us. Such a powerful love you have, such a powerful Anima. Thank you.
And I am impelled to share this story. It will not stay inside me. Do with it as you wish.
I believe talk is cheap and that lies are criminal because of the imbalance it causes. As for Phil Fontaine, I find his actions to be egotistical, ignorant, and insulting to those who who have and continue to suffer. My friends and relatives are very disapointed in the Assembly of First Nations. How dare you people speak on the behalf of all of the indigenous! As far as we're concerned, you have broken the feather with us and we will never support or trust you again.
We don't understand how the churches are not held accountable for their violence against the children. At a minimum, they should have an economic one, I mean, don't they have a multitude of assets that they other wise would not have if it were not for the exploitation of the indigenous? As for the government, they could at a minimum honor the treties and return the the stolen land. At a minimum. Unlike the Euro justice that focuses on punishing the criminal, indigenous law (in general terms)focuses on COMPENSATION of the victem. We don't feel that empty words cover the blood, and so if Phil and the Assembly of First Nations are true to their words, they will compensate from the victems from their own wealth in order to compensate- cover the blood- of the victems government and church wrong doings. At least that is how I understand how peace was kept way back when. Open your eyes and hearts to the cold hard truth that compensation will not come through the governments and churches. In the early 1900's this kind of thing came to a head (again) in Mexico. The indigenous and mestizo (mixed Euro and Indigenous) got fed up with the cheap talk, patranization, and belittlement dished out by the government, the elite, and the Catholic church. The clergy were killed for their multitude of crimes against humanity, many government officials were exicuted, and ten percent of the population went into the spirit world, not to mantion the perminently maimed. The land was taken back, not for personal wealth, but to EAT, to make simple SHELTER, to make simple CLOTHES, and to have SCHOOLS. After all this, within a year or so after the revolution, things were exactly the same as before with the exception that the church lands were divided up between the political/economic elite. Isn't it strange that there is not a flood of indigenous people writing into this blog? Don't let their silence fool you into believing that their silence equals consent. Since the Austrailia insident and now Canada, prayers are being made, emails are flying around the globe, phone calls are being made, and ceremonies are being held. The common people of todays Turtle Island are trying to figure out what to do with the two hearted governments, elites, churches, and the multitude of "Assembly of First Nations" type of groups (i.e. Sell-outs). How about another example? Here in the US we have an organization called "The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)." They are holding their annual convention in our state (Arizona) for between $475 (USD) and $600 to attend. In addition, they have lunches and banquites that range from $50 to $1000. WE CAN'T EVEN AFFORD THE $40 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP! How does this create unity? Why do our own relatives slap us in the face time and again? We even tried to volunteer to clean their filth, escort elders, stand guard duty for the women and children attendies, to cook/serve traditional foods, and so on. But, we wern't good enough for them. AND, yet, they, like you, claim to represent us. They, like you, consider themselves to be our "representatives." This is all I had to say. Thank you.
The apology was ok. As good as you can expect from a society whose greatest fear is "liability."
The language in Mr. Fontaine's speech seemed a bit contrived. It seemed to be more about big words than big ideas.
The whole residential schools thing doesn't seem to address the lingering affects of what happened, but it eased the pain in the hearts of our elders and that's good.
Real will occur with the youth, and not through governments (Indian Chiefs included). Counterculture will be the primary instrument of change.
I am willing to bet all my treaty money for the rest of my life that prominent Indian Chiefs will oppose a youthful counterculture movement among the Anishinabe, but they won't be able to stop it.
Y'know what payzhannakut? I haven't even received my treaty money in, like, 5 years! By my calculations, that's about $25 coming my way. Still, I'll take the land back instead if that's on the table.
I agree that any real change has to come from the young people and, as well, the people in the communities. I know we'll disagree on the roles various people and organizations can play, but the people - especially young people (more than half our population) - have to be involved.
Regarding residential schools reconciliation, it is true that compensation alone will not heal survivors, nor will the words of an apology. My feeling is that the residential schools reconciliation package was a good attempt at a comprehensive approach. The apology is one past of the healing, as is the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission which should get the whole country talking about what heppned and raise public awareness (it's amazing how little many people know about the schools. Then again, given people learn nothing of it in the mainstream system, maybe it's not so surprising). There's also the compensation for the damage done to our languages and cultures, as well as specific compensation for the many incidents of abuse. There are also going to be public commemoration and memorial events.
It's a difficult issue and certainly there are people very pleased by the approach and some who are not. Indfications are that many survivors are involved in the approach so it would seem they are accepting it. I am certainly open to a good discussion on what's good, bad and ugly about the whole thing and, more importantly, ideas for alternative or additional measures.
Hawkbrother, thank you for sharing. No argument about honouring the Treaties and returning stolen land. Don't know that we could have expected that in the apology for residential schools, though, which is what I was asking about. I do commend you in your work seeking solutions. I cannot speak about your experience with the NCAI as it's a different organziation from AFN. You and I may walk different paths but I wish you well!
The English words chosen to describe our ancestors' societies has often had the effect of reducing the significance of certain aspects. Take our idenities for example. It didn't matter that we had a name, our conquerors imposed a name on us that was based on an error. The identity that was imposed upon us is Indian. Now we have too many people who are "Treaty Indians" first and Anishinabe second. We should be Anishinabe and nothing else. But Indian Chiefs oppose the idea of achieving full recognition of our true identity. More and more youth are waking up to the fact that we are not Indians, but we are ignored or chastised by the Indians. This is one example of how the Indian Chiefs will oppose youth.
Obviously, I'm big on changing the way we percieve ourselves. For example, our ancestors' security forces were often described as Indian warriors or Indian braves. Maybe a better word would've been Knights; The Knights Anishinabe. The reason I'm mentioning Anishinabe Knights under this topic is because you will see a group of youth in the near future who will be the modern Knights of the Anishinabe; chivalrous, brave, and honourable defenders of people (check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighthood). They will never claim to represent the people; they will lead the people. Also, they will be the ones who make the Vatican repent. I won't have anything to do with them, but I wish I could be a part of them.
Since no one is taking my bet on opposition from Indian Chiefs, then I will bet my treaty money on the Knights Anishinabe. There will be nothing Indian about them, they will be Anishinabe all the way. You just wait and see.
Oh yeah, AFN blogger, you mention compensation for damages done to language and culture, is there a mechanism that allows youth provide input on how best to use any finacial compensation (besides this blog), or will it be decided for us by the Indian Chiefs? I'm not interested in gaining control of the money, I'm just curious.
Please excuse my tendency to be prosaic. This site is not for me, methinks. There is currently a separating Grand Fire Trine in the sky of Mars, Neptune and fast moving Moon. So breathe Spirit as itresonates here. Methinks this site is not for me so I will move on - to watch the grandchildren (time for lunch). In parting lets say to Hawkbrother, be ye Paiute, Navajo, Hopi or other, you have a powerful name. Use it well. There are fires burning in Arizona at this time. Balance the spirit - you can. Payzhannakut - I know not the meaning of your name yet know it to be well chosen. You can lead whenever you want. Some years ago I was at a PowWow of the Anishnabe of Manitoulin. Generous souls. AFN keepers - you are succeeding in Ottawa - moving politicians beyond themselves. Much good has come of it. Stay on the path. So PAX Meegwetch. Peggy
8 comments:
I have just sent this also to the Citizen, and they may or may not print it. It came for you though and here it is.
The Death and New Dawn Vision
By the Mesoamerican Calendar, Wednesday June 11th was “1Death,” and my own Solar Return Day. Of course the symbolism is of letting it go – of a hard past, while knowing the seed is germinating beneath the soil – the seed of new life, new beginnings. I went to greet the sunrise at the invitation of the Aboriginal People. I am one of the “Other”: white, sixth generation from this city, third generation public servant, roots deep in the soil here. I’d been at Victoria Island before. I joined the Circle, my friends Laurie and Louise were there ahead of me. A trail of cedar boughs has been laid toward a small fire lit on the northern edge of the circle. We each give the fire tobacco – a gift to the Spirit-Creator. It is so typically generous for these people to invite us, to include us. We are listening to Fred, one of the Elders in the centre. His words are indistinct washing over me. We hear the soft beat of his spider tambour. Facing the sun, I close my eyes. Beautiful colours come in. Clouded in my vision, these images are gifts from the People.
The first colour is turquoise-green. Here is the Bear’s footprint. Here is the Bird. Here is the Talking Stick. And there is also some patch – which I can’t distinguish. I open my eyes. There is Rose and Turquoise Smoke swirling out of the Sun moving up to the left high over the River. It is so beautiful. The Parliament Buildings are to the right of the images – separate. Separate. Another elder starts to speak. Again the words are indistinct. But the colour of the smoke becomes Red, this man is angrier, in more pain. As he enters into his own ritual, the colour softens to Rose. I am glad for him and for us. We are joined by the spirits that we are here to honour. I see their souls – white “mists” low to the ground mainly by the Fire and in the northeastern arc of the circle. There is a violet haze draping the head and shoulders of the kneeling woman Elder and also hugging the man who had gone into the centre for healing from his hurts. The rose-coloured smoke now also moves right. It has totally engulfed the Library of Parliament. So the Library is a friendly spot. Ah the smoke turns red – there is a fire there now, of the spirit. It reminds me of 1916. This day in 2008, the Library is afire – for the People. And then it softens to Rose again. Still the Peace Tower is totally excluded. Please move a little right, I pray. If today’s messages from Canada are sincere, the Tower will be touched. PLEASE.
I close my eyes. The turquoise- green Talking Stick seems always there, sometimes with the Pipe. And that indistinct image – I know not what. The billowing Rose smoke moves south toward the Peace Tower. It turns brown. Uh oh. That is 19th century energy: dark, bleak. I think of Louis Riel, elected twice to Parliament, from Manitoba, the territory Georges Cartier courted to be the second French province in Confederation. Pre-War (1885). Riel amused himself here, signing in on arrival with a pseudonym. In Halifax, there is a statue in honour of the soldiers who went to fight and die there. In Manitoba, there is a statue of the Métis man – Riel, and memory of the starving Indians who joined in his cause. Will the brown smoke lift? It turns Yellow this smoke and it billows over the river in waves from the Peace Tower. Up and away. We are moved into the 20th Century. Canada still fears the People. Yellow is the colour of Fear. There is a lot and lots of Yellow Smoke – swirling out of the Peace Tower. It is being lifted and blown away. Yes, really. Canada is being cleansed, a long slow process.
At last the smoke turns Rose. Phew, I am joyful. This afternoon’s apology will be honest, well-meant, sincere, a culmination. I open my eyes. There are dozens of small noisy birds overhead. Of course – the children. They fly off and come back and off again. These are the spirits of the small ones who died at all those schools. Listen to their chatter. A message to the Aboriginal People from these dear innocents: “We are carefree, lighthearted, now. We wish this feeling, for all the people, who, scarred at those schools, still walk the paths of Turtle Island.” At end of ceremony, the radiant Sun is directly over the Peace Tower. Walking up the hill after the Sunrise Ceremony, Louise, Laurie and I see a Rabbit. Some say Rabbit is fear. Not – that has gone away out into the galaxy now, wrapped in peace. Rabbit represents quickness, movement, Release after two centuries of stagnation. Aboriginals do share with us, the slow, white siblings, who take so long to get it. As a child I could dream Indian, betimes, without fear of consequence. As a child, You were forced to dream white with dire consequence. And still you open your hearts to us. Such a powerful love you have, such a powerful Anima. Thank you.
And I am impelled to share this story. It will not stay inside me. Do with it as you wish.
PAX
Peggy
Ottawa, Ontario
(613) 421-3785
I believe talk is cheap and that lies are criminal because of the imbalance it causes. As for Phil Fontaine, I find his actions to be egotistical, ignorant, and insulting to those who who have and continue to suffer. My friends and relatives are very disapointed in the Assembly of First Nations. How dare you people speak on the behalf of all of the indigenous! As far as we're concerned, you have broken the feather with us and we will never support or trust you again.
Meegwetch for the beautifully prosaic post, peggy. And meegwetch for sharing your feelings.
Hawkbrother, please - please! - explain your concerns. Where did things go wrong, and what would you like to see? Seriously, we need to know.
We don't understand how the churches are not held accountable for their violence against the children. At a minimum, they should have an economic one, I mean, don't they have a multitude of assets that they other wise would not have if it were not for the exploitation of the indigenous?
As for the government, they could at a minimum honor the treties and return the the stolen land. At a minimum.
Unlike the Euro justice that focuses on punishing the criminal, indigenous law (in general terms)focuses on COMPENSATION of the victem. We don't feel that empty words cover the blood, and so if Phil and the Assembly of First Nations are true to their words, they will compensate from the victems from their own wealth in order to compensate- cover the blood- of the victems government and church wrong doings. At least that is how I understand how peace was kept way back when. Open your eyes and hearts to the cold hard truth that compensation will not come through the governments and churches.
In the early 1900's this kind of thing came to a head (again) in Mexico. The indigenous and mestizo (mixed Euro and Indigenous) got fed up with the cheap talk, patranization, and belittlement dished out by the government, the elite, and the Catholic church. The clergy were killed for their multitude of crimes against humanity, many government officials were exicuted, and ten percent of the population went into the spirit world, not to mantion the perminently maimed. The land was taken back, not for personal wealth, but to EAT, to make simple SHELTER, to make simple CLOTHES, and to have SCHOOLS. After all this, within a year or so after the revolution, things were exactly the same as before with the exception that the church lands were divided up between the political/economic elite.
Isn't it strange that there is not a flood of indigenous people writing into this blog? Don't let their silence fool you into believing that their silence equals consent. Since the Austrailia insident and now Canada, prayers are being made, emails are flying around the globe, phone calls are being made, and ceremonies are being held. The common people of todays Turtle Island are trying to figure out what to do with the two hearted governments, elites, churches, and the multitude of "Assembly of First Nations" type of groups (i.e. Sell-outs).
How about another example? Here in the US we have an organization called "The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)." They are holding their annual convention in our state (Arizona) for between $475 (USD) and $600 to attend. In addition, they have lunches and banquites that range from $50 to $1000. WE CAN'T EVEN AFFORD THE $40 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP! How does this create unity? Why do our own relatives slap us in the face time and again? We even tried to volunteer to clean their filth, escort elders, stand guard duty for the women and children attendies, to cook/serve traditional foods, and so on. But, we wern't good enough for them. AND, yet, they, like you, claim to represent us. They, like you, consider themselves to be our "representatives."
This is all I had to say. Thank you.
The apology was ok. As good as you can expect from a society whose greatest fear is "liability."
The language in Mr. Fontaine's speech seemed a bit contrived. It seemed to be more about big words than big ideas.
The whole residential schools thing doesn't seem to address the lingering affects of what happened, but it eased the pain in the hearts of our elders and that's good.
Real will occur with the youth, and not through governments (Indian Chiefs included). Counterculture will be the primary instrument of change.
I am willing to bet all my treaty money for the rest of my life that prominent Indian Chiefs will oppose a youthful counterculture movement among the Anishinabe, but they won't be able to stop it.
Y'know what payzhannakut? I haven't even received my treaty money in, like, 5 years! By my calculations, that's about $25 coming my way. Still, I'll take the land back instead if that's on the table.
I agree that any real change has to come from the young people and, as well, the people in the communities. I know we'll disagree on the roles various people and organizations can play, but the people - especially young people (more than half our population) - have to be involved.
Regarding residential schools reconciliation, it is true that compensation alone will not heal survivors, nor will the words of an apology. My feeling is that the residential schools reconciliation package was a good attempt at a comprehensive approach. The apology is one past of the healing, as is the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission which should get the whole country talking about what heppned and raise public awareness (it's amazing how little many people know about the schools. Then again, given people learn nothing of it in the mainstream system, maybe it's not so surprising). There's also the compensation for the damage done to our languages and cultures, as well as specific compensation for the many incidents of abuse. There are also going to be public commemoration and memorial events.
It's a difficult issue and certainly there are people very pleased by the approach and some who are not. Indfications are that many survivors are involved in the approach so it would seem they are accepting it. I am certainly open to a good discussion on what's good, bad and ugly about the whole thing and, more importantly, ideas for alternative or additional measures.
Hawkbrother, thank you for sharing. No argument about honouring the Treaties and returning stolen land. Don't know that we could have expected that in the apology for residential schools, though, which is what I was asking about. I do commend you in your work seeking solutions. I cannot speak about your experience with the NCAI as it's a different organziation from AFN. You and I may walk different paths but I wish you well!
The English words chosen to describe our ancestors' societies has often had the effect of reducing the significance of certain aspects. Take our idenities for example. It didn't matter that we had a name, our conquerors imposed a name on us that was based on an error. The identity that was imposed upon us is Indian. Now we have too many people who are "Treaty Indians" first and Anishinabe second. We should be Anishinabe and nothing else. But Indian Chiefs oppose the idea of achieving full recognition of our true identity. More and more youth are waking up to the fact that we are not Indians, but we are ignored or chastised by the Indians. This is one example of how the Indian Chiefs will oppose youth.
Obviously, I'm big on changing the way we percieve ourselves. For example, our ancestors' security forces were often described as Indian warriors or Indian braves. Maybe a better word would've been Knights; The Knights Anishinabe. The reason I'm mentioning Anishinabe Knights under this topic is because you will see a group of youth in the near future who will be the modern Knights of the Anishinabe; chivalrous, brave, and honourable defenders of people (check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knighthood). They will never claim to represent the people; they will lead the people. Also, they will be the ones who make the Vatican repent. I won't have anything to do with them, but I wish I could be a part of them.
Since no one is taking my bet on opposition from Indian Chiefs, then I will bet my treaty money on the Knights Anishinabe. There will be nothing Indian about them, they will be Anishinabe all the way. You just wait and see.
Oh yeah, AFN blogger, you mention compensation for damages done to language and culture, is there a mechanism that allows youth provide input on how best to use any finacial compensation (besides this blog), or will it be decided for us by the Indian Chiefs? I'm not interested in gaining control of the money, I'm just curious.
Please excuse my tendency to be prosaic. This site is not for me, methinks. There is currently a separating Grand Fire Trine in the sky of Mars, Neptune and fast moving Moon. So breathe Spirit as itresonates here. Methinks this site is not for me so I will move on - to watch the grandchildren (time for lunch). In parting lets say to Hawkbrother, be ye Paiute, Navajo, Hopi or other, you have a powerful name. Use it well. There are fires burning in Arizona at this time. Balance the spirit - you can. Payzhannakut - I know not the meaning of your name yet know it to be well chosen. You can lead whenever you want. Some years ago I was at a PowWow of the Anishnabe of Manitoulin. Generous souls. AFN keepers - you are succeeding in Ottawa - moving politicians beyond themselves. Much good has come of it. Stay on the path. So PAX Meegwetch. Peggy
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