Shared by Dorinda Moreno with thanks!
swaneagle harijan wrote: Blessings People of Peace I have been home in these remote mountains for over 2 weeks now savoring the rare solitude and sanctuary. Catching up with sleep, eating simple organic food, drinking herbal teas of roots and leaves, hauling water, chopping wood, clearing the garden of winter debris and prepping it to plant, i seek clarity in how to live this frontline life. The strange rash around my eyes seems to be clearing up. I am getting stronger and spent 2 days planting trees with a friend in the hills above Che Wanah (invader named her Columbia) where we saw a flock of Trumpeter Swans flying north along the river, then turning around south again. We saw a Golden eagle soar meditatively above the trees oblivious to the thundering fury of a jet. Within days of arriving home, I got wind of the ongoing conflict between a Sinixt Indigenous man and the Hippies who participate in our local low powered radio station. Having been targeted not only due to my name, but because I would not accept dictation on how to proceed in addressing the issue of my perceived cultural thievery, I had first hand knowledge of the situation. Hippies have always been the marginalized of white Amerikkka since their emergence in the '60's; the vilified, the untouchables, those easily scapegoated for a myriad of social ills. The voices of those of us who lived the dream of organic planet, nonviolence, simplicity, inclusion and spiritual autonomy has never really been heard. Especially the mothers, the women. It is the male icons who are known, famous and widely published. Few women squeaked thru the glass ceiling of alternative living. Starhawk is a rare exception and a fine one at that. For myself, i took the path less traveled having never married, birthing 4 children by 4 different fathers and parenting alone for over 30 years. When I left home, raised to either be a Catholic nun or marry someone who never showed up, I plunged myself whole heartedly into the emerging New Culture. Foresight was not my strong point and I somehow believed love would conquer all and I would find a companion kinder than my violent, alcoholic father. Not to be. I simply could not endure verbal abuse or alcoholism and it seemed I attracted both from the partnerships I attempted. Thru shortlived pairings, i continued struggling to raise my children, tho i gave my first up for adoption. What i learned informed my future choices. Yet, i never have deviated from the culture that gave me room to unfold as i was not allowed to in my youth. In '82, i spent 4 months in Rockingham County Jail, Epping, New Hampshire as part of a Gandhian action against the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant. This was my introduction to the frontlines of struggle beyond my own little world. I met women from Haiti and El Salvador facing execution on deportation. I became close to Rachel Harmon, a young woman from Liberia, West Africa abandoned by even her relatives when INS broke down her door throwing her in jail for improper paper work dating from 7 years previous when she was a 13 year old immigrant. When i was released, my lens of reality was forever altered. I have been an anti-racist human rights worker ever since. When my 2 children and i returned back to the mountains of northeastern Washington, my metamorphisis continued with the change of my name and a deepening commitment to human rights of people primarily in the amerikkkas. Sadly, it was Hippie kids he had known all his life who first called my young son a nigger, throwing rocks at him as they walked home from the first day in the one room schoolhouse. It was devastating and i had no skills to cope with the shocking situation. We left the area shortly after. It is because i have mixed race children that my quest to dismantle bigotry in myself and my community arose. I have been a living laboratory for positive social change. Painful, arduous and deeply emancipating, i have done my utter best to shape a healthy segment of the culture i hold dear. It has been the only place where i felt the freedom to heed my heart fully. In '84, i began living at Big Mountain with Dine resister, Pauline Whitesinger. She speaks little english and when i first stayed with her, she spoke not a word. We developed our bond thru the level of work we shared. I chopped mountains of wood, carded 10 fleeces of wool in as many days, sewed, cooked, including learning to make fry bread. I learned to herd sheep, work in the cornfields, keep an eye out for coyotes and BIA police. In 1986, i first encountered attacks against me due to my name. I asked Pauline what to do. She told me to ignore the AIMsters denouncing me. She said they were not out there herding sheep and that they only knew how to sweat in the sweat lodge. In 1992, i returned to this area for my final birthing. It was a time when a human rights group started due to the presence of skin heads, Christian Identity and other white supremacist groups. I thought a renaissance of conscience would be occurring, but it did not turn out that way. Too many middle class people (many former Hippies) did not want to dismantle the bigotry of the community, much less their own. They were content to slap a band aid on a gapping wound, thus the so-called human rights group disintegrated due to a lack of authentic commitment. They were willing to address abuses against privileged people targeted such as a grocery store owner or a middle class gay couple, but not poor black people or others who did not fit neatly into middle class ideas of acceptable victims. Essentially, we did nothing to uproot local bigotry. Now i am encountering the issue of my name again. Only this time, i did take it to heart. But the authoritarian nastiness the guy was imposing upon me repelled me so deeply i have had to reconsider. I cannot cooperate with abuse and must heed truth and integrity accepting the consequences of my decisions. I do not have all the answers, but i do know i must follow the guidance of my heart. Sadly, my dear Hippie friends have responded to attacks on their names and beliefs with racism that has appalled and embarassed me profoundly. But how can anyone make effective change when they do not have skills nor incentive? One child has even called my daughter a nigger, but Taina has coping skills that come from my own advancement as well as her magical resillance. I went to a meeting for the radio station almost a week ago. There were about 30 people present. Many of them were filled with vengeance. It was horrible. I had been listening to the radio show of the Sinixt man beforehand, so was familiar with what currently had been feeding their ire. Having been gone for 4 months has given me the chance to step back and depersonalize the whole process. Tho i had gone thru my own misery and anguish over the issue of cultural appropriation, i never approached the level of revenge i was witnessing. It was so tragic. My response to the situation shocked many present as they are familiar with what happened to me and expected an alliance of my own outrage. But i never advocated any kind of retaliation. People were talking about how they called the FCC!! I was horrified. To see people i love so vindictive astounded me. When my turn to speak came, i talked about the racism leveled against my children by Hippie kids, the short lived human rights group, my work with Indigenous people, my own challenges with my racism and the dismantling bigotry work i have participated in. I also mentioned that several people present had participated in ridiculing me and my name who now oppose the source of that issue. I suggested that we take the opportunity of this conflict to do an anti oppression workshop to better equip people with skills in dealing with the current conflict. I said that the FCC is a white supremacist power structure backing up the complaints of white people leveled against an indigenous man with legitimate complaints even if they are not couched in a pleasant manner. I said that the Sinixt man had no such power structure to back him up. I said it was hypocritical to call on an institution we do not even believe in. One guy said it was headed by a black guy. Oh, i just told him Michael Powell is Colin Powell's son and is gone now, but he still represented the white supremacist power structure. Several people present also echoed the mistake of involving the FCC. Some took a more constructive approach. The anger was very extreme and one man already sent a denouncing letter to the editor of the local paper and has called the FCC. He has threatened the station and levels insane anger in a very disgusting manner. He is not a Hippie, but many are aligning themselves with his behavior, tho he failed in his attempt to get people to sign his letter. I just am so disheartened. A few days later, i gave a ride to my old friend who is now on the board of the radio station. She won't call me swaneagle anymore, which really hurt me a few months ago, but what the hell. She does not think like i do, nor has she encountered the same level of authoritrianism with the Sinixt man that i have. She has her own experience and i accept that some people will no longer view me as swaneagle. Tho humiliating in some ways, i also am open to whatever i am truly supposed to do and must do so based on clarity and not coersion. She also supports freedom of speech, which is very critical. It is sad that people living such radical life styles fail to see this when they feel attacked. The attacks are very clever and often only known by those who it may apply to. It is certainly a unique situation. What i see is that patriarchy prevails and racism fits hand in glove with it as does the other isms that separate us. I will not cooperate with authoritarianism, patriachy, racism, classim, vengeance nor any other forms of oppression. I strive daily to keep aware of my own forms of oppressing others. After dropping my friend off at her home the other day, i took some papers by the home of one of the people who had a radio show and was attacked for his taken name. I spent an hour talking to this partner, the young mother of their child, about my approach to the conflict. Then i talked to the man and he was very defensive. He called the Sinixt man "racist" and again, i attempted to differentiate between racism backed by a societal power structure and internalized racism expressed by one from an oppressed target group. He kept referring to oppression of his ancestors centuries before and other justifications. He just did not get it. He gave me several books to read that have influenced him. Oh, my word! Now we are saddled with ORGANIZED NEW AGE RACSIM! I am not surprised having encountered it before, but to have such philosophy influencing people in my community is laying out a very major responsibility on my part to take it on. I have to find help as i do not have the resources to do it alone. So i seek HELP FROM THOSE WHO CAN ASSIST IN ADDRESSING THIS VERY TROUBLING DEVELOPMENT! Unfortunately, we live so remotely in the second poorest county in the state with less to work with than elsewhere. I pray we can address this soon as it just cannot go on to wreak more havoc. The most troubling book given to me by my friend is called: ONE SPIRIT MANY PEOPLES: a manifesto for earth spirituality by Stephen Harrod Buhner. It is addressing the issue of spiritual appropriation of Native American practices by non Indigenous peoples as well as Indigenous spiritual teachers of nonIndians. Buhner has no experience with Indigenous historical perspective. He remains largely ignorant of the ongoing genocide that has never stopped. He draws his information from the writings of Russell Means, Ward Churchill and Vine DeLoria Jr. as the "activist Indians" opposing the involvement of white people in their traditional ways and ceremonies. His use of written references fails in integrating the context of these perspectives. He displays his incompetence and complete failure of acknowledging or facing the white supremacy of where we live. He makes no mention of the damage done by colonialist invasion 500 years ago thru today. His outlook renders his work as superficial and mean spirited. Sadly, i am witness to how such influence harms a community furthering white supremacy. He divides opposers to earth based spirituality into 3 camps; "activist Indians", Western Intellectuals and Fundamentalist Christians. Tho an interesting approach, he is far too under educated to pull it off. He ends up trivializing the perspective of Indian people by his very shallow analysis. It is outright pitiful. Such conflict needs attention and perhaps why the genocide of Indigenous people continues with little impediment has much to do with the failures of activists to seriously dismantle oppressive behaviors, especially given the position of privilege so many activist white men continue enjoying. I see that most of my very radical Indigenous women friends, many who are Grandmothers living lifelong resistance, just HAVE NO VOICE! I feel like i am almost wasting my breath, banging my head on that garden fence post out my window, blaring the urgency into the great emptiness of apathy. It is a cold, gray day. I have not seen a soul since neighbors came by yesterday to fill their water barrels. I gave a bit of milk and rice to a squalling tom cat whose yoweling stirs my heart for some reason. The snow melts a month early. The dryness of the earth is already disturbing. I wonder how long we have to do anything of value before we will all be swept up in the war of all wars touching every living thing with unending horror. I wonder what the purpose of my heart's drive to call people to deep unity when it appears to be nearly hopeless only kept alive by the still existing relationships i have. So easy it would be to drift off some cold night and never return to the madness of what has been laid out before us... In peaceful struggle, swaneagle harijanIndigenous People Glenn Welker's list
Last updated on March 06, 2005
o call on an institution we do not even believe in. One guy said it was headed by a black guy. Oh, i just told him Michael Powell is Colin Powell's son and is gone now, but he still represented the white supremacist power structure. Several people present also echoed the mistake of involving the FCC. Some took a more constructive approach. The anger was very extreme and one man already sent a denouncing letter to the editor of the local paper and has called the FCC. He has threatened the station and levels insane anger in a very disgusting manner. He is not a Hippie, but many are aligning themselves with his behavior, tho he failed in his attempt to get people to sign his letter. I just am so disheartened. A few days later, i gave a ride to my old friend who is now on the board of the radio station. She won't call me swaneagle anymore, which really hurt me a few months ago, but what the hell. She does not think like i do, nor has she encountered the same level of authoritrianism with the Sinixt man that i have. She has her own experience and i accept that some people will no longer view me as swaneagle. Tho humiliating in some ways, i also am open to whatever i am truly supposed to do and must do so based on clarity and not coersion. She also supports freedom of speech, which is very critical. It is sad that people living such radical life styles fail to see this when they feel attacked. The attacks are very clever and often only known by those who it may apply to. It is certainly a unique situation. What i see is that patriarchy prevails and racism fits hand in glove with it as does the other isms that separate us. I will not cooperate with authoritarianism, patriachy, racism, classim, vengeance nor any other forms of oppression. I strive daily to keep aware of my own forms of oppressing others. After dropping my friend off at her home the other day, i took some papers by the home of one of the people who had a radio show and was attacked for his taken name. I spent an hour talking to this partner, the young mother of their child, about my approach to the conflict. Then i talked to the man and he was very defensive. He called the Sinixt man "racist" and again, i attempted to differentiate between racism backed by a societal power structure and internalized racism expressed by one from an oppressed target group. He kept referring to oppression of his ancestors centuries before and other justifications. He just did not get it. He gave me several books to read that have influenced him. Oh, my word! Now we are saddled with ORGANIZED NEW AGE RACSIM! I am not surprised having encountered it before, but to have such philosophy influencing people in my community is laying out a very major responsibility on my part to take it on. I have to find help as i do not have the resources to do it alone. So i seek HELP FROM THOSE WHO CAN ASSIST IN ADDRESSING THIS VERY TROUBLING DEVELOPMENT! Unfortunately, we live so remotely in the second poorest county in the state with less to work with than elsewhere. I pray we can address this soon as it just cannot go on to wreak more havoc. The most troubling book given to me by my friend is called: ONE SPIRIT MANY PEOPLES: a manifesto for earth spirituality by Stephen Harrod Buhner. It is addressing the issue of spiritual appropriation of Native American practices by non Indigenous peoples as well as Indigenous spiritual teachers of nonIndians. Buhner has no experience with Indigenous historical perspective. He remains largely ignorant of the ongoing genocide that has never stopped. He draws his information from the writings of Russell Means, Ward Churchill and Vine DeLoria Jr. as the "activist Indians" opposing the involvement of white people in their traditional ways and ceremonies. His use of written references fails in integrating the context of these perspectives. He displays his incompetence and complete failure of acknowledging or facing the white supremacy of where we live. He makes no mention of the damage done by colonialist invasion 500 years ago thru today. His outlook renders his work as superficial and mean spirited. Sadly, i am witness to how such influence harms a community furthering white supremacy. He divides opposers to earth based spirituality into 3 camps; "activist Indians", Western Intellectuals and Fundamentalist Christians. Tho an interesting approach, he is far too under educated to pull it off. He ends up trivializing the perspective of Indian people by his very shallow analysis. It is outright pitiful. Such conflict needs attention and perhaps why the genocide of Indigenous people continues with little impediment has much to do with the failures of activists to seriously dismantle oppressive behaviors, especially given the position of privilege so many activist white men continue enjoying. I see that most of my very radical Indigenous women friends, many who are Grandmothers living lifelong resistance, just HAVE NO VOICE! I feel like i am almost wasting my breath, banging my head on that garden fence post out my window, blaring the urgency into the great emptiness of apathy. It is a cold, gray day. I have not seen a soul since neighbors came by yesterday to fill their water barrels. I gave a bit of milk and rice to a squalling tom cat whose yoweling stirs my heart for some reason. The snow melts a month early. The dryness of the earth is already disturbing. I wonder how long we have to do anything of value before we will all be swept up in the war of all wars touching every living thing with unending horror. I wonder what the purpose of my heart's drive to call people to deep unity when it appears to be nearly hopeless only kept alive by the still existing relationships i have. So easy it would be to drift off some cold night and never return to the madness of what has been laid out before us... In peaceful struggle, swaneagle harijan Lifetime NonIndian Supporter of Traditional Dine and Hopi Elders Indigenous Peoples Literaturehttp://www.indigenouspeople.net