Monday, November 13, 2006

TRIBAL ENROLLMENT CALAMITY

"Old Man was sittin by the creek gazing into the water when a reflection of a branch of dark ripe choke cherries caught his attention. Old Bear was sittin close by watching the Old Man enjoy the summer sweetened berries. "Go ahead, you can have those berries down there" Old Man said pointing to the relection in the green hole. Old Man laughed as Bear dove in." Have you ever noticed Indians are always expecting something really good only to discover broken promises? The story of "Old Man" contains elements of deception, gullibility, greed and unfulfilled expectations all too familiar to Indian people. Indians have been doped into believing that the maintenance of a high degree of Indian blood among members will protect tribal soveriegnty, guarantee federal treaty rights, and increase their share of payouts. Indian tribes zealous to protect land base and soveriegnty have adopted racist policies that has resulted in the loss of future generations. Blood quantum enrollment requirments is institutionalized bigoty and has poisoned the American Indian psyche with a racist under-current. Tribal populations have become infested with prejudice and discrimination toward their own children and have left a generation of youth with no identity. Shame, shame! Native people are quick to accuse White people of racism but are blind to the fact they are resposible for racism and bigotry toward their own children. Who is or what is an Indian? There are four basic ways Indians have been defined. First through blood quantum - the cut off is established by individual tribes, and is restricted to those meeting enrollment criteria, 1/4, 1/2, 1/16 etc. Secondly, the federal government define Indian as a person with at least one quarter degree Indian blood or is a member of a federally recognized tribe. Thirdly, lineal descent is described as being anyone who has an ancestor who was a full blood member of a tribe. The fourth way is subjective identification or a person who believes they are Indian, whose friends believe they are Indian, are considered Indian by the white community and are accepted by the Indian community. These synthetic definitions don't come close to defining what an Indian is; they fail to describe the emotional and cultural bonding that occurs when one is born into an Indian community. Tribal ancestors were much wiser in determining membership; they were more concerned with the well being of their children and the perpetuation of the tirbe then with artificial cut off numbers. Being Indian was a matter of kinship and family bonding, a common ancestory and a shared history. A tribal elder would never consider severing their children from their linage. Membership in communtiy is the right of every person born within an ethnic group and they have the right to lay claim to the history, traditions, heritage, symbols, and land of its people. I propose that it is the parents and the culture a child is born into who determinies ethnicity. Citizenship is not deterined by the division of blood but belonging to family and culture, and choosing to participate as a citizen. Our ancestors practiced inclusion. Membership was based upon an individuals right to lay claim to the community, culture and language of their people and not by division of blood. This guiding principle kept tribes strong and population growth guaranteed protection against other tribes. The ancestors never referred to ones blood degree, nor were they concerned with purity of race, but a stong cultural base was maintained through tradition. A vision for a generation of Native people thriving in a global community in the Twenty First Century must emerge. A new definition must emerge in a new imaginative way linked to the wisdom of the past. Tribal leaders must reject policies born out of fear and prejudice by embracing descendents and instilling Indianness into the culture. A visionalry leadership will assure a futute for its members.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

My Feelings Got Hurt

My feelings got hurt because a man called me "Split Feather" and "Squatting Bull". Every where I went this guy would show up and yell across the room, "Hey Split Feather". I was embarrassed and belittled by his constant public harassment. With so many Euro Americans surrounding me I wasn't sure of how I should react. At first I ignored him, then I laughed at him, next I called him a "Honky", none of this seemed to work, and his barrages continued to get worse. What could I do? Should I hang my head and let him bully me? Should I take on a belligerent attitude and join in his verbal insults? Or maybe I should kill him, cut his head off and spit down his throat? Human dignity is a precious gift. We can give it away so easily by reacting to insults and accusations. I chose to keep my dignity and this man went on to embarrass himself, and lose his own dignity. I think we are seeing Islam expose itself with its reaction toward the news paper's caricature of Mohammad. My feelings get hurt everyday, but does that give me a right to threaten, kill, or destroy property. Don't you think God is big enough to take care of Himself? Your actions reveal what is in your heart.

Global Voices Online

Global Voices Online BEING AMERICAN INDIAN IS A MENTAL DISORDER I saw a book recently that helped me formulate a title that accurately describes the modern reservation Indian experience; the title of the book, "Liberalism is a Mental Disorder". Taking my writers privilege I expanded on the idea and changed it to, "Being American Indian is a Mental Disorder". There is an insane Indian world view that is vastly different than the Euro American perspective. We Indians are quick to point out that according to the White Man's world view, he sees the world and time in a linear fashion, while Indian's way of thinking is a circular perspective. I don't know if this is good or bad, but it leads me to believe that we Indians pretty much have the view, that what goes around comes around. Maybe this is why some things never seem to change in Indian country. I was broke this year, I was broke last year, and I suppose I'll be broke next year. The old Tribal Council ripped us off, the current Tribal Council is ripping us off, and I suppose the next one will rip us off too. A friend of mine shared the definition of insanity with me, "When we do the same old things, the same old way, and expect different results, this is insanity. The truth is, if we do the same things the same way, we can expect to get the same results." This pretty much sums up the the rationale of leadership in Indian County. Every two years we hear the call for change from Indian polititians. Voters, frustrated with the old regime throw out the old council in hopes that new faces will improve the quality of life on the rez. Hello! When are we going to wake up to the fact that the system we have been handed keeps us in a perpetual cycle of curruption and failure? For two hundred years we have been standing in line playing, "Mother May I", with the federal government and its representatives. Our Tribal governments are laughable. With shrinking federal funding our reservations are caught in a pythons grip, dying a slow death. The only hope Indians have, is that maybe the Democrats will get into power next election. This also is insanity, what have the democrats done for Indians that has improved the quality of life on the rez? Nothing! Real change will not come under the current system. Indians love to use the word "Sovereignty". But I think it is too long a word for us to grasp what it really means. Until we are ready to change the way we see things we will continue to be caught in the same old rut. The more I think about it, truly, "Being American Indian is a Mental Disorder">