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Dakota Brant - My Blog
Dakota Brant - My Blog
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Turtle Talk, Nov 12th edition
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

This is courtesy of Turtle Island news, you can visit my articles and learn more about "The Turtle Island News' at www.theturtleislandnews.com

This has been an interesting week in US politics. For the first time in history the most powerful political office in the world is being held by a person of colour. Doing a quick internet survey of friends that chose to participate in the US vote, it was easy to see that Barak Obama was the popular pick for native people. I have to admit I was happy, however brief it was, when he did in fact acknowledge Native Americans in his winning speech. What does his election mean for us? Whether we choose to vote or not, his choices will impact our lives. It may be more than we have ever imagined.
Now I would like to say something about the World Economy. The World Economy, in its most basic definition, is something driven by what is valued by people at a given time. Not so long ago people of the world valued land for agriculture, and North America had plenty of it! Unfortunately First Nations people had undisputed ownership over that very thing. The main goal of the US and British/Canadian governments at that time was to get the Indians off that land so that it could be given for free to settlers under the condition that settlers work the land and make a quick contribution to the world economy. Where did the Indians go? Where the land was undesired. Foreign governments of the world put a hoe in one hand and seeds in the other of Indians, some of whom were generally migratory and never farmed in the history of their people. Indians were set up on rocky unworkable land and told to become decent hard working people and farm! Then it became the Indian Agents job to limit permissible travel to local towns (Indians could not leave the reserve without permission of the Indian Agent) to sell their produce so Indians were not taking profit from white farmers.
The result is that First Nations people now find themselves living on what is essentially unliveable land, depending on the rations and scraps of the Canadian and US governments to keep them alive. But that was then; this is now. Most white settlers have put away their plows and set themselves up on oil rigs instead. Cheap energy in the world economy is the new Agriculture. People crave it, people need it, and guess what, Natives have it. Who would have thought that a hundred years after being forced into settlement on unfarmable land surveyors would find this land to be so full of oil, diamonds, uranium, and everything else that makes the world go round? Presently the US is heavily dependant on foreign oil. During this years election it seemed that President-elect Barak Obama was the only candidate with a real exit plan for troops in Iraq. Obama also made promises of depleting the US dependency on foreign energy; this would mean an exit of the American market in Iraq as well. Where does that leave First Nations people? The majority of energy exports coming from traditional territory on this side of the border go to the US. If Obama wants to bring the troops and the energy market home, that means more wheeling and dealing between US and Canada. Energy use must also include energy waste; south of the border, we have already witnessed Tribal governments delving into the possibility of storing nuclear waste on their territory. Extraction of Oil, coal, fresh water and uranium, aside from where it is already happening, is the new “agriculture” in Indigenous lands.
There is still hope, however, in terms of consideration of First Nations people in these affairs. That hope is President Obama. If anyone is going to give consideration to a disempowered people it will be a person of a disempowered heritage. Black and Native people have a shared history of being people who were never asked for what it is they wanted. Our hopes must lie in this new US President because they certainly cannot lie in the Canadian system. While Canadians generally pride themselves in being more liberal and free-thinking than Americans, we have a Black man voted in during an election that according to the Toronto Star had the largest turnout of voters in over 40 years. On the other hand, the recent Canadian election saw the lowest turnout of voters in the history of Canada voting in a stronger Conservative minority, and First Nations have to contend with “free-thinking” people like Dick Pound and Margaret Wente; people hiding their racist upbringing behind their right to free speech. So where will these next four year take us? Its hard to say. What we can be sure of however is Indigenous Peoples will have to keep on doing what they do best; survive, educate, and reclaim. Whether President Obama will prove to be the champion of the under-represented that everyone wants him to be is yet to be discovered.

November 18, 2008 | 4:24 PM Comments  0 comments

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Turtle Talk 7th Edition
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

This week I wanted to do a continuation of my last article. Last week, I dedicated my article to Rotiskenhrakéthe, the strong Haudenosaunee men who do their best to carry on their duties of perpetuating the life of Our People and all Creation. Although I am not a man, I will do my very best to relate what I have learned about their roles and responsibilities by the men who have taught me. Part of our Rites of Passage as young Haudenosaunee deals with getting to know about the opposite gender so that we may understand truly the care and respect we need to have for each other. We must all have an understanding of the other genders mind, duties and spirit if we are to possess that great love for each other that Shonkwaya’tíson meant for us to have.
Long ago, a group of Rotiskenhrakéthe made their way deep into the woods to find meat for their families. They travelled a great distance as game was scarce. Not wanting to go home empty handed, they were determined their task. As time passed they happened upon a great Bear. They believed this bear was so large they could feed all their families if they were fortunate enough to catch it. They were determined not to let it get away; after the great distances they had come to find it. The young fathers, sons and uncles gave chase.
This Bear, being that he was so large and old was the leader of the Bear People. When Our Men hunt, it is hoped that when they are so blessed to see an animal that is this great in size, they will leave these animals alone. Animals that live long lives and grow large are to be respected for their knowledge of survival. We leave these elders alone when out on the hunt so that the young ones can learn survival from them. Imagine if today all of our elders were taken away from us. Imagine the knowledge we would lose. Imagine how feeble our attempts to survive would become. Now try to understand how the young bears would feel to have their own elder and teacher taken away, however this story ends a little differently.
The hunters continued the chase, and the Great Bear used special abilities Shonkwaya’tíson gave him to help himself escape. The Bear began to hover above the ground. The further he ran the higher he rose. The hunters, deeply shocked by this occurrence but determined in the chase, continued the hunt. The Bear rose, higher and higher. He was now running clear across the sky. One hunter, desperate to end the chase, shot an arrow. Next thing every hunter in the group was showering arrows across the sky. The Bear, running across a sky lit by a cool twilight, was hit by one of these arrows. The wound began to sprout and bubble blood that dripped across the land. Blood showered over every leaf of every tree. The Bear, wounded but not killed, ran into the sky where he became stuck in the stars. Today we can still look among the stars and see that Great Bear, also known as the Big Dipper. Every year during the Harvest the Big Dipper tips slightly to drip blood over the trees once again, turning our landscape a deep red. To me the blood is both a sorrowful reminder of those hunters who had to go home to their families empty handed, but a lesson of why we must honour and respect Elders, both human and creature. Rather than hunt for these great leaders of the woods, our Men hunt for the “young men” of those animal people. Our Men do not hunt for the Deer with the largest antlers, or their women or children. Our men hunt for the deer with the little antlers, young and strong Deer who have lived long lives and have no children to care for. These young Deer have instructions similar to those of our own young Men. Shonkwaya’tíson in the beginning told Deer that there would be a time when humans would come looking for food to survive and it is the duty of a Deer to lay down its life. Just as our young strong capable Men lay down their lives for their families and people, so do the young male deer.
Our Men often today wait until the trees turn that blood red before they begin that hunt. Our stories are teachings to be cherished. They are our passageway in reaching back to our Ancestors. We listen earnestly to those stories and what lessons our Ancestors are teaching us. Every story carries a portion of our Original Instructions; those instructions are what make us Onkwehón:we. Nature has been the realm where Men learn from our greatest teachers. Men learn from the animals how People are to live within the natural cycles and balances of the world, to be thankful to all the things that sustain life; and to have great love for one another. Think of nature as one big family working together to sustain life, with humans as the babies and the only creature with the ability to destroy itself. Nothing exists to destroy itself or others accept humans. Because of the choice given to us by Shonkwaya’tíson and his brother we can either encourage life or destroy it. From both nature and the life lessons our Ancestors impart with us through stories we learn how to deter from our instinct to destroy and formulate for ourselves what it means to respect, show appreciation, have gratitude for ourselves and others, have responsibility for ourselves and others; and above all to help life continue.