| The Mind of Mankind | The Clasped Hand | Lacie's Poetry Garden |
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| Iroquois Women | Women in Leadership | The Passing of a Rose |
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| Dr. Annie | Concourse of Light | Honoring Mother | The "S" Word |
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| Honing the Spirit | Search for Pocahontas | Forced Sterilization |
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| Humor? | May Moonriver | Fabric of the Future | Links |
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Proverbs: "Wisdom is a woman."
Job: "I did not hide my sin in my
bosom, as Adam did."
That might be a tough one,
but with consideration it will become clear.
At the risk of making a lot of people angry, and making a lot of preachers look foolish, I feel prompted to clear up a basic misunderstanding concerning the use of male/female and man/woman in the Bible.
A close study with an open heart will show clearly that male/man is symbolic of the spirit and female/woman is used to mean the mind or the flesh. (The mind is flesh.) I was surprised and delighted to be told that the Bahai Faith has this understanding and I have met some good folks online.
Examples:
When the Apostle Paul said that it was not allowed for a
"woman" to speak in church he was referring to the fact
that matters of the Spirit do not originate in the mind.
In the Book of Job, the passage about Job's "wife" telling him to "curse God and die" is nothing more than a momentary pity party. Job was feeling sorry for himself and the thought of suicide crossed his mind.
The story of Lot's "wife" turning to look back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was a longing in Lot's mind to return to the familiar rather than trust the guiding Spirit.
The "woman" in the Book of the Revealing of God's Spirit in his children (called Revelation, which is an invented word) represents the mess which we are in because of "thinking" instead of listening.
And now to the source of all of our sexist misery: Adam said, "The woman you gave me caused me to sin." Simple enough. Adam had been given a choice. Oops!
Here it is again. Job: "I did not hide my sin in my bosom, as Adam did."
And so, my sisters, put these arrows in your quiver, but be nice. And, my brothers, lighten up!
"There is now no Jew nor Gentile, no Greek nor Barbarian, no male nor female, for all are one in Christ." Paul, the "woman hater" said that.
Comments welcome.
"About the parts that we took as women. I was taught to think and hunt like a man, yet act like a woman.
"I was taught that we are here to protect the young
and to be their guiding light.
"will share with you... Men are weak in areas where we are strong and vice versa.
"It is up to us to lead the way as men are one tracked and can only see
things on level whereas women see things in 3D...
"it is our job to tell them (men) these things that we see and let them figure it out as that is not our gift.
"We are to fit together as a clasped hand and are the half of the other.
"They are here to take care of us in one way and we take
care of them in another way.
"We are to be strong and to pick our mates very carefully. That the womb should be kept pure as the young grow there.
"Is this kind of what you are looking for?.... take care"
"understand this.....I feel that people are people.....and are kindred spirits not only with each other.....but with animals and plants....
"to me all things exist together in a wonderful harmony....
This division attitude i do not understand....
"We may all practice different "religions"....but down deep i feel it is
the same higher spirit within all of us....
"Those who know others are wise, those who know themselves are
enlightened."
The following article appeared in a supplement to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on Women's Rights. Written by Diana Louise Carter.
Why Seneca Falls? Why in the middle of the 19th century, in this little village in upstate New York, did a group of women begin the first national women's rights movement?
A decade ago, that question so gnawed at historian Sally Roesch
Wagner that she sought a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to look for the answer.
Nine months and thousands of pages of research later she came up with
this: Iroquois Women.
Among the hundreds of native nations across the North American
continent, the Iroquois Confederacy was unique in the amount of power it accorded women. And Seneca Falls, which takes its name from one of the confederacy's six nations, is smack in the middle of Iroquois territory.
Western New York was also a hot bed of abolitionist activity at the
time; anti-slavery and women's activists often worked together toward their mutual goal of a more egalitarian society.
But the local Native American population provided a living example for these women.
"It was a puzzle for me why Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn
Gage.... were able to get past the condition of women such as it was," says Wagner.
After rereading the books early feminists read, and the letters and
diaries they wrote, Wagner discovered a trail between these women and Iroquois communities.
"It just lept out at me," Wagner says. Reciting one of Gage's writings she quotes: 'Never was justice more perfect, never was civilization higher,' and she's talking about the Iroquois the power between men and women are equal."
Wagner is co-founder of the first women's studies program, at
California State University, Sacramento. She now lectures various
universities, performs in character as Stanton and Gage, and is regarded as an authority on the early women's rights movement
But until this question came up, she knew little about Native
Americans.
She soon found out that Stanton, Gage and Lucretia Mott were well
acquainted with Native American life, much more so than most white people are today.
In her series of essays, "The untold Story of the Iroquois Influence of
early Feminists" (Sky Carrier Press, 7$) suggests that Iroquois life must have been pretty attractive to white women, who had no right to vote, to own land of their own, to keep their wages after they we married. Or to decide the welfare of their children.
Their husbands exercised all these rights for them.
And the law provided no protection from an abusive husband.
But 19th century Iroquois women were landowners and farmers. Female
elders selected the tribes male chiefs . Community decisions we discussed by both men and women's council. Clan and tribal membership followed matrilineal lines.
Iroquois women wore loose, functional clothing, unlike the
constrictive corsets and heavy skirts of the white women of the 1840's. The bloomers and short dresses that the feminists adopted around this time were remarkably similar to Iroquois women's tunics and leggings.
When the Iroquois couples married, the husband moved into the home shared by his wife's extended family.
"There was no wife-beating either because the guy was living in a
house with 30 of his wife's relatives" says John Mohawk, a Seneca and professor of Native American studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Newspaper accounts and diaries report that Mott, a Quaker, visited the
Cattaraugus Seneca Indian Reservation just before she went to Seneca Falls that momentous summer of 1884.
"She writes more about her experience at the reservation than at the
women's right's convention" Wagner says.
During the era when various religions were aggressively converting the "heathens" and encouraging Native American women to adopt the more subservient role of Christian women, Mott took the unusual stance of defending the Iroquois religion.
"The native Indians of our forests have their worship," Mott wrote,
"and having witnessed some of their strawberry festivals and dances, and religious operations, I have thought there was, perhaps, as much
reasonableness and rational worship therein as in passing around a little bread and wine......"
Gage wrote frequently about the participation of women in Iroquois
politics, and once said "under (Iroquois) women the science of government reached the highest form know to the world."
Ironically, as white feminists were organizing the women's rights
convention, most of the Seneca nation was dismantling its traditional Iroquois government, adopting a "democratic" constitution that watered down its female member's rights.
However that constitution "still stated that no treaty would be effective unless it had the signatures of three-fourths of the mothers of the nation" Wagner says.
"The Iroquois provided what appeared to be proof that there were societies where women held power equal to or above men," Landsman says. "Proving that it happened in history, ( white feminists) found validation that it could happen in their own life time."
But it's old news to Iroquois women.
"Indian women have always had the power,"says Ramona Charles, a
78-year old member of the Tonawanda Seneca community near Akron, Genesee County.
"From earliest contact, Europeans negotiated with Iroquois by trading domestic items such as blankets, she notes. "Why did they do that?" Because they realized after being around for a while that even though the men were the chiefs, the women called the shots," Charles says.
"Most of these (white) women, when they got to talking to Indian women, they realized they were behind the times."
(End email)
In Dineh (Navajo) teachings, you can't pray without the female deities.
Women provide balance. "No prayer is complete without the female.
Without the female nothing can be done," says LeNora Fulton.
She figures it should be the same way in government.
So when Fulton decided to run for president of the Navajo nation, she
started hauling 400-pound timber to build a hogan with her own hands.
The traditional home is used as her headquarters and to show that she
didn't need outside help. "You do all your planning for your family, the
council and the nation from the home," she says.
She goes against seven male candidates for the leadership of her people
on August 4, 1998. While she's been told the presidency is men's work, she notes that key issues facing Indian Country have been the traditional purview of women -- education, the family, housing and health.
Navajo women have historically been part of the decision-making and were key to defeating gaming on the reservation last year (1997). Fulton, who is a grandmother and the granddaughter of a medicine man, had bought land and was raising her own alfalfa and sheep by age 18. And like other Navajos,she was taught she has divine beginnings. "I'm a sacred being, raised to be a leader."
All over Indian country, women are reasserting leadership, whether it be in tribal government or establishing drumming societies, which are
primarily men's domain. Native women and elders view this as the
manifestation of prophesies predicting that the power of women would
re-emerge to strengthen their nations.
While some tribes have elected female chiefs such as
Cherokee Wilma Mankiller,
others do not permit women to vote or to serve on tribal
councils, some arguing that it goes against tradition.
Fulton notes that the councils, established in the 1930s, diminished the
participation of elders, traditional leaders and women. Consequently,
these relationships "went out of balance." Women agreed to the councils
as long as the men conferred with them and they reached a consensus.
A word search April 1999 showed that LeNora Fulton lost in the primaries and in March endorsed the Begaye/McKenzie team.
This arrangement no longer functioned in the 1970s with the increase in
alcoholism and divorce and the loss of traditions in general. In the
past decade, Dineh women started electing females to tribal council, and now 51 more are running.
Female creators, forces and protective spirits are central in many
native religions, showing how women and the feminine principle were long revered.
Among the Iroquois and Cherokee, women selected and deposed of
chiefs and participated in decisions of war and peace. In one famous
encounter of the early 1700s, a Cherokee leader asked the British,
"Where are your women?"
While the Iroquois Confederacy is credited with inspiring the U.S. Constitution, less commonly known is that it was the decisions and words of the women's council that were represented by male envoys to other tribes and to the likes of Benjamin Franklin, who chose
to diminish the rights of women in the Constitution.
And traditions do change. Sharon Mountain, a Dakota and Red Lake
Anishnabe Indian who is drumkeeper of the Red Drum Woman Society, says
that elders speak of long ago when the women drummed and the men danced.
"Then they let the men come to the drum and the women switched," she
said. Elders also told her that she would "lead differently" and with
the drum.
Often, families bring daughters to the drum who are unruly,
and they learn to walk a good path and return as community leaders,
Mountain said.
Germaine Tremmel is the last living ancestral member of the Red Robe
Society, which was inspired by a Lakota grandmother who fought in
battle. She speaks of the reappearance of women's societies that had
gone underground. As a result of a woman's vision, one society was
created to protect women from violence.
Her tribal elders have told her of the renewal of indigenous cultures, "but first women must take their place of honor." To that end, she established the Mending the Sacred Hoop Within Project, based in Minnesota and South Dakota.
An Eastern Cherokee friend who lives in Michigan recounted recently how
about three years ago, young girls just started walking up to sing with
the drummers at gatherings all over the state. "The men didn't have
enough nerve to stop them." Now the girls and women have been singing
ever since. She says, "It's one magnificent sound."
They can be reached at
Here is something we can all learn from. With
so many issues and struggles in the news, this
little story is about values that we must learn
to respect. From a Native News letter, (I could not find this
URL)The Susquehanna Valley Native
American Eagle:
It's only been a few hours since I left Big Island, Va for the Monacan Powwow, but what happened there just a few hours earlier touched not only me, but everyone that was able to experience what happened.
A jingle dress dancer, Cisawni Rose, dropped her Eagle fan in the circle while dancing. Cisawni lives in Albuquerque, NM but is currently spending the summer with her Grandmother, Nantinki Rose.
She is a beautiful girl who knows the importance of her role as a dancer.
After being notified by a traditional dancer, Nantinki grabbed several
items from her booth and ran toward the circle.
I listened as the MC announced to please stand and remove all head gear and respectfully asked that no pictures be taken. He then joined three other gentlemen in the circle to perform a pick up ceremony for the eagle fan. I ran to the top of the hill and stopped. I looked down upon such a scene that I could not have imagined.
I saw Nan in the drum arbor, holding her Granddaughter Cisawni as she sobbed. Cisawni was devastated. She knew what she had done. She knew the consequences. She knew what was about to happen. Many did not.
Behind the drum arbor and all around the circle, the dancers and
spectators all stood. After the pick up ceremony, the MC informed the public what had just happened. He then turned the microphone over to Nantinki.
She introduced herself and her grand daughter. She then proceeded to
announce that because of Cisawni's dropping of the fan, she had no choice but to give away all of her belongings.
She knew before she ever walked into that circle what an honor it was to be a dancer. She knew the responsibility of her feathers and her fan. She knew that she should never let her feathers touch the ground, for that had been told to her all of her life. She knew as soon as the fan fell from her hand what was to happen.
Nan and Cisawni came back up the hill, surrounded by Cisawni's
two sisters and brother, friends and the little girl that came to receive her regalia.
Cisawni pulled off her regalia as we all cried for her. She gave it to the little girl and then they proceeded back down the hill. The little girl and Cisawni were to dance together in the circle, like the passing of the torch.
More people gave money, a little boy gave a hawk fan, jewelry and many other gifts came, all again to be given away again.
You see, for such a young woman, she still knew the shame of dropping her eagle fan. Cisawni had earned this fan after much discussion because she is a junior AIM warrior.
She has participated in numerous AIM events and demonstrations. She has been identified as a warrior in the struggle to save Mother Earth and to fight with all her might for Native American issues and to work to mend the injustices against Native American people.
This fan is over 25 years old and had been carried by both her Mother and Grandmother, and has been in ceremonies too numerous to mention and has been shared by some of our most respected.
She knew that anything less than that would be wrong. She taught all of us the humility and pride of what the circle represents. And she restored for many of us the pride of what our culture represents.
This is not a game. It was not a game to Cisawni. She had earned her regalia. She had saved her money to purchase those moccasins, which had just been worn 10 times. She helped make her regalia. Nothing had been just given to her. She knew what that regalia meant.
She will not ever dance in this category again. In order to jingle dress, she must wait until she is thirteen to enter a new category.
Cisawni was devastated, but she taught so many of us with her actions.
When her Grandmother walked to her, she asked if she wanted to give her
regalia away, and she said yes. Including the moccasins? Nantinki asked, and she nodded yes. Cisawni took out her barrettes to give away, took off her bracelets to give away, took the eagle feathers out of her hair and took the regalia off her body to give away. That was to show the shame for letting her eagle feathers touch the ground.
And to all that received her gifts, know that you are blessed and have honored her and her family by receiving her giveaway.
Before the end of the day, many people had approached Nan and Cisawni,
and thanked them for restoring a tradition that many had forgotten. Many people made offers to start her new traditional or fancy dress outfit.
Grown men cried openly as did women, children, Native and non Native. It didn't matter. Those that were there were able to witness a tradition of generations. And even for Cisawni, who at the tender age of 9, knew what was happening.
So did her 7 year old little sister Monica, who, in her competition
danced backwards. She danced that way to honor her sister.
She danced to carry her sister's heart and her Mother's heart.
She won first this day.
Her brother Aron wept openly and shamelessly for his sister. He made
sure that he danced with her back to the circle. Our eagle feathers are prized possessions and no matter what age, they are to be taken seriously.
Thank you Ciswani for knowing. And thank you for sharing. Through your
devastation, we learned the courage and pride of a true dancer and the
importance of passing the tradition on.
Today there are many people who are proud to not only have witnessed this ceremony, but to have been honored by your gift is overwhelming.
The Monacan people, several dancers and vendors, knowing and respecting
the fact that Cisawni could not receive any more this day collected money and gave it to me to hold. After the powwow was over, I was proud to present $115.00 to Cisawni and Nantinki. They were touched beyond words. They were
already making plans for new regalia.
In Parade magazine on June 2, 1998, the same day as this ceremony Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell was quoted, "We say a nice home and lots of money are symbols of success. But to Indians, it is the other way around. Success is not what you have, It's what you have given away. The most revered member of the tribe may be the poorest, because giving away increases your
stature".
O CHILDREN OF MEN:
Since We have created you all from the same substance it is incumbant on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.
Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.
Also this has been
updated
since the event.
We call on the Women, for we as women throughout time have stood
together
to protect our children, lands, religions, traditions and family values.
Now it is that time again! Now is the time for healing, healing of one's
self and healing for Mother Earth. This is a time to come together;
through our unity the healing can take place.
The epicenter for the nuclear industry is in Nevada at the Nuclear Test
Site. This is where we will come together Mother's Day, May 7-10 1999.
Standing United we will say No More! No More to Waste and Weapons, No
More to poisons in our Water, Earth and Air.
Where are they going with the waste? Indigenous Lands, Sacred Mountains, Burial Grounds and Sacred Desert Valleys.
The Tennessean newspaper just completed a 1 year study of 13 nuclear
weapons plants and research facilities connecting 410 resident's and
worker's chronic illnesses to these facilities. (This excellent report
can be viewed at
Tennessean.
Feeling this urge to stop the madness, 20 women gathered at the
Goddess Temple in Cactus Springs this past October 6-8th, (1998)
before the Fall Healing Global Wounds Gathering. We shared the need we all felt to unite all mothers, bringing our families together with all of our diversities, honoring these differences with a focus of unity, finding strength in our knowledge and respect for all of life.
These feelings brought the focus of the mom's gathering to organize a
multi-cultural youth and child care program , with the direct purpose of integrating it with Spring Healing Global Wounds Gathering/Action on Mother's Day weekend, 1999.
The Healing Global Wounds Mother's Day Gathering will focus on honoring
our Mother Earth by honoring the Mothers of the Earth and their families. So bring mom or mom bring the family, and come to our Peace Camp for Mothers Day 1999. Form an affinity group with other moms, and join the Mother's March to Mercury, the nerve center of the nuclear testing complex!
We are collecting the most accurate information possible to help each family make an educated decision. But we believe it's time to face the fact that for most Native Americans and many other communities of poverty and color, environmental contamination is as bad or worse every single day.
There is radioactive contamination throughout the world leftover from nuclear weapons testing, and from all of the nuclear reactors. These communities are under direct attack from the nuclear industry. The health of our future generations is up to us to protect, but we must do that in a way that is sustainable for ourselves.
The Nevada Test Site is an incredibly beautiful place, yet it has been the victim of over a thousand nuclear tests, which have left a deadly legacy. Protecting the health of all who come to the test site is a priority.
We are working hard to keep peace camp as safe as we can, but there are risks.
There is very little documentation on the longer term effects of exposure to radiation, but there is some information out there.
To find out more, check out the
Standing for Truth About Radiation
web site.
also
Committee for Nuclear Responsibility.
If you're not able to join us at Peace Camp for any reason, don't let
that discourage you! We urge you to join us in solidarity by creating an
action/vigil and/or ceremony in your home communities. Be part of Healing Global Wounds everywhere by breaking the nuclear chain one link at a time!
Contact Mari Todd @ 1309 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95816; (916)447-4823
e-mail
Healing Global Wounds
website
Healing Global Wounds
In 1870, women in the United States proclaimed the first Mother's Day.
Far from the sentimental Sunday . . .(it has become) . . .
the original proclamation was a powerful call for women everywhere to unite in nonviolent resistance to a world of warfare.
One hundred and twenty-nine years later, we ask you to answer that
original call. Celebrate the unique and powerful gifts that women everywhere bring to the human family. Honor and pray for the beautiful blue-green oasis in space, our Earth, that has supported all life for so long.
Join in an incredibly rich and culturally diverse community of people
from all over the world. Learn about nuclear and indigenous land rights
issues. Participate in traditional and multi-faith ceremonies.
If so called, join us in nonviolent direct action to shut the Nevada Nuclear Test Site down and reclaim Shoshone land.
For the latest Healing Global Wounds Newsletter and information packet
please contact Jennifer Viereck at Healing Global Wounds, PO Box 3518,
Freedom CA 95019-3518 USA, (831) 661 - 0445
e-mail
Healing Global Wounds
website
Healing Global Wounds
Subject: HGW Spring Gathering
Around 700 people gathered at the Nevada Test Site from May 7-10
to celebrate Mother's Day and demand an end to the radioactive poisoning of Mother Earth. Following a rousing rally of music and speakers from
around the world at the Test Site gates on Mother's Day, 198 people (DOE
figures) entered the site. Ian Zabarte, of the Western Shoshone National
Council (WSNC), put Test Site officials on notice that they were
trespassing on Shoshone lands and were in criminal violation of
international law.
The arrestees were detained and released on site. They are
unlikely to face prosecution, as the U.S. government has avoided the issue of the treaty with the Shoshone for some time. Activists are considering steps
to charge federal and county officials with kidnapping and false arrest.
Between Sunrise Ceremonies and evening Native Drum circles on
Friday
and Saturday, participants attended workshops, discussion groups and
nonviolence trainings. The new Youth Program was thoroughly enjoyed,
with activities for families, small children and youth. Mother's Day
began with at dawn sweatlodges for women, a Eucharist Service offered by
35 members of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and a Grandmothers and
Crones Ceremony.
Following a brunch served by the men in camp, a march
was led by Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader, members of
the Western Shoshone National Council, and other Native American
community leaders. Hundreds of grandmothers, children and families and
supporters of all ages followed the eagle staffs and WSNC flag to the
Test Site gates.
On Monday, 175 activists participated in a Western Shoshone
occupation
of the Test Site by entering the site, erecting a teepee and joining in
a Sunrise Cermony led by Corbin Harney. Lands for the Nevada Test Site
were seized from the Shoshone in 1948, forcibly relocating 100 families
from lands guaranteed under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley. This was
only the second time since 1947 that the Shoshone were able to have
morning prayer on this portion of the 1250 square mile site.
Another teepee was set up over five miles inside the Test Site
perimeter, high on a ridgetop overlooking Mercury NV, where Sunrise
Cermony was also celebrated by
tired but inspired activists. A third teepee was was erected well inside
the front entrance, visible to the thousands of arriving workers at
dawn. Around one hundred people were at the front gate greeting workers
and entertaining the test site guards.
Throughout the weekend, a micro-radio station, Radio-Free Newe
Sogobia,
broadcasted and recorded most of the events. Honor the Earth will be
producing a radio show that will air May 15 or 17th.
FRIDAY PRESENTERS:
SUNDAY RALLY PRESENTERS:
I figure that either the article had not been read before I was critized, or had been misunderstood, or maybe I'm too flippant. . . Nah!
Here is a link to the article:
Change The Signs.
So I wrote in defense of myself and at this time, Dee entered the
conversation and here is what she had to say to me. Unedited.
Dear Mr. Smith,
It goes back to the days when we were captured and taken as slaves and
used as concubines against our will. This word was used as a derogatory and deliberate insult to the native female.
You would be surprised how many men today have an "Indian Maiden" fantasy. I know of a now-deceased archaeologist in Ohio who dug up the graves and had visions where he was having sex with the "souls" of the dead females and he wrote books about his encounters.
I removed from my personal profile online the fact that I am a "Native American" because these men would e-mail and send instant messages that were insulting to me and this is true of many others.
If it weren't for the fact that this word is still used in that manner,
it would not be a problem. We could overlook the ignorance of those of past generations, but MANY know just what it means and use it on purpose.
So, you see, it is MORE than just racist and sexist, it is a personal SLAP in the face to each and every one of us.
We have created many things on AOL that promote our cultural and
heritage and I don't think that we should have to find another provider
because of the stupidity of a few. I think they should.
Also, AOL does not ALLOW us to speak up in a chat room and state our cause when the word is brought up. Some have been kicked out for this and the one using the word allowed to remain in good standing. This is why we are complaining.
And as for us fighting to have one common name like "Indian" or
"Native American", I don't know about the others, but I'll tell you how I feel about it. I don't care what they call us in this respect. We KNOW who we are and we are proud of it.
Unlike the blacks, we did not come from different tribes of some far off land and have to unite and settle on ONE descriptive word to make ourselves known here. We come from many different tribes and were HERE in the beginning, when this country was "discovered" by everyone else.
Our people who are scattered across the country are different in many
ways from one another and each tribe has it's ancient teachers and warriors that they hold in high esteem as others do Washington, Lincoln and the others.
The Sioux, Cherokee, Iroquois, Apache, Hopi, Navajo and all the rest are proud of where they came from and prefer to be known by the names of their nations or tribal names.
We each have our own individual heritage to look back on and
many beliefs differ among us, therefore, you can not box us up into one neat little categorical box and call us anything. All we want is that whatever you call us, you do so with respect.
If we were to be called anything, an appropriate term would be "First People", but no one wants to use that because the history of this country only goes back to 1492 in the history books.
There was no one here when the country was "discovered". No one of any
importance, anyway. Just in the eyes of many, a bunch of ignorant savages and their squaws, less than animals.
This is the respect shown to us then and is the respect shown to us NOW thruout this land. I realize that there are groups that get offended at the words "Indian" and "Native American", but that resentment goes much deeper than just the use of these words.
I hope I've given you a little more insight into how we feel.
Dee Jones
Also my oldest daughter's adopted Uncle is beautifully blue/black.
(I had told her previously that the only "white" people I had
ever seen were the Winters brothers, Edgar and Johhny, musicians,
who are "albinos," - that I had never seen a "black" person, though I saw a man who was so dark he looked blue - and that to me all others were shades of brown.)
Maybe this was what I was trying to say... I think
it was about 10 years ago now, I walked outside and "felt" that something had changed. I had been feeling that I was seeing more and more people without a spirit, so I called my grandmother of course and told her that I thought there were a lot of people walking around without souls. She informed me that everyone has a soul.
I started to debate the issue as I was continuously meeting more and more people that were like "flat wallboard"... No light, nothing to "touch" ... nothing to "feel" My grandmother informed me that they
had simply gone so long without growing their spirits that they were smothered way down deep. That immediately brought me to one of the stories my grandfather told me as a child.
He was honing his knife out back in his typical stance. squatting and sitting on one foot (the guy could do this for hours while working) honing his knives. I ran out back only about 5 years old and asked if I could do it for him. He told me to go get my own knife which I did. He then showed me how to spit and hone a knife properly so that it was even on both sides, very slowly and with great patience.
As we sat there, honing our knives together very quietly he
said... " you see the care that you take with this knife? It could save your life or help you eat or to survive in some way. That is why you should do it with great care and sincerity."
I was getting a little ambitious with my honing..lol.. Then he said "you know the way we hone our knives with care because we know that we depend on them for our lives, is the way we hone our spirits every time we pray. That is why we give thanks for everything the Creator has given us.
If your spirit is kept sharp and strong, when your time comes to leave this shell that carries you ... your spirit will fly so quickly
out that those around you will feel the wind.
If you let you spirit get dull and rusty, it will get stuck in the shell and have no way of going to the great other place."... "I will be here to help you until you are grown, but you will have to take it from there" ... that was a long speech for him and I was more concerned about him not being around than "honing my spirit" at the time. But I never forgot that and how important it was to him.
My first question after this wonderful story was... "you aren't going to die are you, I don't want to live without you"... He repeated" I will be here to get you grown, I promise"
He had been given 3years max to live as he had severe emphysema from working on the oil tanks down in south Texas. He died about a month after my 21st birthday. He kept his promise.
He died because he was
"mowing the lawn"...lol.. You could not keep that man down.
The family did not call me when he went into the hospital ... he called my name, but they were afraid of how I would be, they were only thinking of me of course, but it made him have to make a stop on his way. He died at 11:30am... no one called me. I think they were all dreading who would tell me.
That night at around 2:30 am he woke me up standing there just as clear and solid as could be, woke both dogs up too. We talked and I knew that he was going on. I didn't feel sad, we had a good talk and I knew he was really in a hurry and wanted to go, then I laid there saying "man this is such a real dream that I can't even go back to sleep in my dream" ...
well at 6:30am I finally called home and my dad answered the phone. I said "When" ... he said "yesterday, have you seen him" I said "yes" ... my dad said "I was afraid he might have to stop, but we just
didn't want to tell you.
I said "he looked great ... young in fact very strong like when I was really little," my father started to cry. I told him don't cry, Granddaddy is really happy and in a big hurry to get there. I
didn't even go to the funeral.
As my grandmother said "you are the sun the moon the stars and the world to him" and I had no desire what so ever to go to the funeral... I never shed a tear either. I still feel his presence.
I have had medicine men tell me that they have seen a man around me at times ... they described him to the last detail. I haven't asked for him to come back ... guess he just can't stop running my life...LOL He would never stop working either, neither would my father or uncle, I think they are already out there protecting people.
And as I was told in an "awake dream once while feeling sorry for myself my grandfather, my father, my uncle and my protector since I
was a child just came right up close to my face and said" ... you aren't the only one that needs help you know ... they were laughing at me too for feeling so sorry for my self. Got right up in my face and asked "are we doing enough for you now???" teasing me and laughing that I could feel so sorry for my self for such a little reason.
I ended up laughing and waking my husband up....LOL
I haven't heard from any of them in about 1 1/2 years, I think they are very busy working and try very hard not to take them from more important work.
My grandfather took me on a trip when I was six to many places, I had no idea why, but they were all sacred sites. I know that now as an adult. Went from South Texas up through Taos into Colorado where he gave me the love of stones. I have them everywhere... I find beautiful rocks and into my purse they go and next to the tree by the front door... They are hidden in the summer by the plants, but they are there all winter to look at, pick up, wash and just look at them in wonder.
As an adult I lived in Ft. Collins Colorado and felt like Lucy in the trailer scene. I went into the mountains all the time and would always come down with a stone that I just wanted to be with for a while...LOL I used to find roads that were hardly ever used and find the most
beautiful spots. Summer down below and I would sit on a big stone with snow on it in my shortsleeves... It was incredible.
The male/female thing. We were never supposed to be the same...if we were God would have made us like snails...LOL ... my grandfather said.."you have a right hand and a left hand, hold them flat against each other"... I did it... he took my wrists and of course easily pulled my hands apart. Then he said "clasp your fingers together so they fit comfortably."... I did...he said "that is what it is like for a man and a woman ... what one has the other doesn't and the other way around.
Women have gifts that men will never understand, and we have what women don't have"... I started laughing and he tickled me...LOL I knew what he meant though. (we women always feel a little
superior you know...LOL)
It's interesting that you just now figured out that I was female...LOL am I that logical...???..LOLOL
Women now days have a problem in that they were never trained to be their fullest and know their worth. In the old days, women were looked at much differently and today smart men use the gifts that the women in their lives give them.
Women may not always know exactly what's wrong, but if she tells a logical man that there's something wrong there and he listens...he can usually figure out what's going on. We "fit" together
like hands clasping. A strong bond, half of each other and together we make a pretty good human being...LOL
In the beginning when we "accepted" everything that the Creator gave us and told us, all that wasn't necessary, because we just did what we were asked to do.
I have to tell you in my childhood dream the most wonderful feeling in the world was the feeling of "complete and total ACCEPTANCE" ... even as a child I had question, but in my dream that I hadover and over ... there were no question, because all the answers were given to us as we needed them.
I think that may be one of the basic differences between Indians
and other...we think about every little thing. Gets us into trouble, but when we come out of it we come out a little better human being.
You mentioned Alzheimers. My father died of Dementia.
He in his dementia was as
sweet as when he was healthy. For 5 years, I went every 8 weeks for 4 days
down to Texas to see my father, and maybe if I was lucky I would get 20
seconds of the look in his eye that he really knew who I was ... it was worth it, although he was always very loving to me and sweet. He didn't know who I was, but he knew that I loved him and he loved me...LOL ...
He never showed them (some other familiy members mentioned)
himself. He tried to be white with them and it came off very stiff. That is what (they wanted though and he respected (their) wishes.
(They) are all on antidepressants and in therapy trying to figure out what went wrong.
I feel sad for so many families nowadays. The parents don't even talk
to their kids, have no idea who they are and what they think about things.
Also as well, you know how it is always said that when you really need
something the Creator will provide, during those years I worked at a job that I worked my way up to 80,000 a year. Spent most of it going to Texas then when it was over, I got very sick and became a happy corporate dropout. Couldn't take losing my spirit to them.
Dang... I talk too much...LOL ... and it's all your fault...LOL you make good
memories come home....
take care ... pat
Many historians feel the whole "Pochahonatas/John Smith" episode is a myth. On his first meeting with Chief Wahunsonacock (who the Whites called Powhatan after the village where he lived, today "Richmond,
Virginia); Pochahontas was about 11 years old and John Smith about 41 years old.
This exciting incident, where Smith's life was saved by the young daughter of a chief was not exciting enough to make it into his personal
diary or letters of that time. In fact, it is at least three years later that this tale is first mentioned.
As for John Rolfe, he was a wealthy planter who developed tobacco farming in Virginia. In 1613, Pochahontas was kidnapped by the Virginia settlers. She was about 19 years old. She was held captive on a ship for more than a year (and probably subjected to intense brainwashing and probably rape).
By the time she was released, she had accepted Christianity, and threw away her Native name, calling herself Rebecca. She married John Rolfe who had "visited" her often during the time she'd been kidnapped. She then was hurried off to England with her husband.
She gave birth to a son, but wanted to return home. When she was finally allowed to return home, she died suddenly soon after boarding the ship.
She was only 24 years old.
(Copied from
Women of Color Partnership
Native American women perceive current reproductive health issues in the
context of centuries of hostility by the U.S. government. Stories of
massacres by government troops, distribution of blankets contaminated by
smallpox, and other abuses of Native people have been passed down
through generations.
Native Americans also point to the role of religious denominations in
undermining Native cultures through the establishment of boarding
schools that removed children from their families, cultures, languages,
and communities. Native American organizations have documented the
physical and sexual abuse of children in boarding schools even into the
1970s.
In the past, the activities and policies of some religious people and
institutions, however well-intentioned, harmed Native peoples. Today
non-Native religious people who wish to be allies should do so in ways
that reflect the needs and priorities of Native people.
Current Reproductive Health Issues:
A study by the Government Accounting Office during the 1970s found
widespread sterilization abuse in four areas served by the IHS. In 1975
alone, some 25,000 Native American women were permanently
sterilized--many after being coerced, misinformed, or threatened. One
former IHS nurse reported the use of tubal ligation on "uncooperative"
or "alcoholic" women into the 1990s.
Many Native American women, seeking effective birth control, have
requested one of the long-term contraceptives Depo-Provera and Norplant.
Unfortunately, these drugs have many side effects and contraindications
which have not always been made clear to women requesting information
about their use.
Depo-Provera is a long-term injectable contraceptive that lasts up to
ten months. Use of this powerful drug carries serious health risks,
including blood clots, reduced lipid levels, decreased glucose
tolerance, weight gain, irregular and excessive bleeding, and
depression. The Food and Drug Administration has noted "evidence of
fetal risk based on human exposure," and medical studies indicate
possible links to cancer and osteoporosis.
Norplant is a long-term contraceptive that is surgically implanted under
the skin in six flexible silicone capsules that slowly release the drug.
It is effective for up to five years and is intended to be removed at
the doctor's discretion or at the woman's request. Side effects of
Norplant include irregular bleeding, weight gain or loss, headaches, and
mood swings. The drug is not recommended for women who smoke or for
women who have serious medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood
pressure, or elevated cholesterol. In addition, Norplant's effectiveness
decreases in overweight or obese women.
Native American women express a number of concerns about the use of
Depo-Provera and Norplant in their communities, especially about the
coercive use of these drugs. Both IHS and Job Corps have used
Depo-Provera widely in Native American communities. As early as 1986,
IHS administered Depo-Provera--without informed consent and prior to FDA
approval--to Native American women, including many who were mentally
retarded. A recent study by the Native American Women's Health Education
Resource Center found that many more women were given Depo-Provera and
Norplant without adequate informed consent.
Basic health risks are a concern as well. Even when a woman chooses to
have Norplant implanted, having it removed is often difficult. Removal
is expensive, and many doctors are untrained or unwilling. In addition,
rates of diabetes, obesity, and cigarette use--contraindications for the
use of both drugs--are high in Native communities. And neither
Depo-Provera nor Norplant prevents sexually transmitted diseases, such
as AIDS or gonorrhea, the rates of which are increasing in Native
American communities.
Cultural issues must be considered also. For example, irregular bleeding
caused by the drugs can prevent Native American women from participating
in traditional practices and ceremonies.
Like other basic health services, treatment for alcoholism and drug
abuse (including smoking) is often unavailable on Native lands. Pregnant
women with alcohol or drug dependency are often required to turn their
children over to social services for foster care. And alcohol- and
drug-dependent women are often involuntarily incarcerated in tribal law
enforcement facilities to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome/fetal alcohol
effect and other injury to the fetus--a possible violation of their
civil rights.
For more information about the center and its wide range of publications, contact:
Not too long ago, there was a CEO of a Fortune 500 company who pulled into a service station to get gas. He went inside to pay, and when he came out he noticed his wife engaged in a deep discussion with the service station attendant. It turned out that she knew him. In fact back in high school before she met her eventual husband, she used to date this man.
The CEO got in the car, and the two drove in silence. He was feeling pretty good about himself when he finally spoke: "I bet I know what you were thinking. I bet you were thinking you're glad you married me, a Fortune 500 CEO, and not him, a service station attendant."
"No, I was thinking if I'd married him, HE'D be a Fortune 500 CEO and YOU'D be a service station attendant."
The men wrote: "Woman, without her man, is nothing."
Quote from email: Pat
.... pat
Thanks Pat. 3D, huh! Oh well, I'll figure it out.
Quote from email: Lacie
Lacie,
~Tao Te Ching~
I don't remember who sent me this but the following is
unrevised as it came in the email.
Robert Venables, a professor of Native American history at Cornell
University, calls Wagner's research " very reliable and groundbreaking" and feels that once it is well-known (she's working on a book) it will open this subject up to further study.
(Smith here): After unraveling that, I think I would like to play some poker with that professor. By my count, prof checked the hole card
five times!
I don't know about you but I'm having a good ole time!
When I played music usually I ran the band, but recalling
the ten times I worked for others, seven of the bandleaders
were women. They told me what they expected and I did it.
No problem there. Who cares who calls the shots as long as
we hit the mark?
More email - this from July 1998. This is copyrighted material, so I'm using it as a sample from the authors to promote the book. See below.
Column of the Americas,
by Patrisia Gonzales
and Roberto Rodriguez
in Indian Country
"It's not tradition that needs to change," says Fulton of her own tribe. "It's the Bureau of Indian Affairs-imposed form of government. Tradition has always honored and revered women."
Former Principle Chief Wilma Mankiller was selected to the new
National Native American Leadership Hall of Fame.
Wilma was Principal Chief from 1987 through 1995
and was also awarded the highest honor that can be bestowed to a civilian in the United States, the Medal of Freedom. It was presented to her by President Clinton in a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.
Copyright 1998 Universal Press Syndicate
PLEASE NOTE NEW CONTACT INFO:
* Both writers are authors of Gonzales/Rodriguez: Uncut & Uncensored
(ISBN 0-918520-22-3 UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library, Publications
Unit. Rodriguez is the author of Justice: A Question of Race (Cloth ISBN 0-927534-69-X paper ISBN 0-927534-68-1 Bilingual Review Press) and the antibook, The X in La Raza II.
PO BOX 7905,
Albuqueque, NM 87194-7904,
505-242-7282
Authors
Gonzales's direct line
is 92
Patrisia Gonzales
email from August 4, 1998
Subject: The Passing of a Rose
by A Kay Ensing
I stood on this hilltop watching our baby give away everything she owned
to show her devastation. And Cisawni did as she was told, because she knew.
This seems like a good place to refer you to a previous
article in the Four Corners Clamor Five about
Dr. Annie Wauneka.
Young Ciswani Rose has such makings.
Quote from Email: Judiann
Most of her email has this and we all
hope it will be heard and accepted.
Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created.
-Baha'u'llah
Concourse of light sounds good to me. Here are some things
that Judiann has shared with me in the past year or so.
This was very long and I edited it a bit.
By Mari Todd
of the Test Site for young people and moms."
PS. (Mothers Day brunch will be prepared and served by the men!!!)
E-mail
Information
or the Healing Global Wounds office @ PO Box
3518, Freedom CA 95019; (831)661-0445
Talk about putting it on the line! I can only admire these
folks, because I wouldn't go within miles of that place.
They make me feel like so many who sit back and say,
"Something must be done." Prayers needed.
Received this just after the page went up:
Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 12:46:15 -0700
From:
Jennifer Olaranna Viereck
Organization: Healing Global Wounds
To: lmikes@feist.com
"Honoring The Mother" Gathering
Nevada Test Site, USA, May 7-10, 1999
Corbin Harney, Western Shoshone Spiritual Leader
Jennifer Olaranna Viereck, Healing Global Wounds Coordinator
Molly Johnson, Save Ward Valley Coordinator
Shannyn Sollit, Los Alamos Peace Project
Dan Sythe, International MedCom
Gilbert Sanchez, San Ildefonso Pueblo
Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Delegation, 5 members
Louise Benally, Big Mt. Dineh Relocation Resister
Katherine Blossom, Ely Shoshone Council Member
Helen Herrera Anderson, Alliance of Native Americans
Margene Bullcreek, Ohngo Gaudaudeh Devia, Skull Valley Goshute Tribe
Michelle Xenos, Shundahai Network, HGW Youth Program Coordinator
Janet Chisholm, Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Jane Williams, CA Citizens Against Toxins in the Environment
Susan Gordon, Alliance for Nuclear Accountability
The Raging Grannies, music
Movement Pour La Paix, France
Taiwan Delegation women, indigenous music
Jennifer O. Viereck, HGW Coordinator, read message from Lillian
Willoughby, first women arrested at the Test Site in 1957, and messages
of support from other related events around the US and Puerto Rico.
Quote from email: Dee.
You're gonna love this. It is the first e-mail I had received
from my (now) friend, Dee. I don't remember which discussion
group I had come across, but I recommended Four Corners Postcard
and I can only guess that someone did a quick word search of
the pages and found the "S" word. I got jumped on quickly.
(If you use this link you will notice that the article
was written over a year before the date on Dee's e-mail.)
To: lmikes@feist.com
Subject: Comments on NA discussion board on "s" word.
You sound like a man who tries to be fair and one who thinks for himself
and this is commendable, however, I think you still don't understand the
effect the "s" word has on the women of the First People.
Cherokee/Lenape
Tell it all, sister! Dee also is an author and here are
some stories that you will like.
The Best of Dee
Quote from email: Pat
She describes her lineage as this: pat rainwater beaver walker Klee cosme... Caddo/Texas Tsalagi/White ... and proud to be raised an Indian...
This is a compilation from three e-mails:
If I'm not mistaking the child in question 'Pocahontas' was even
younger than 19 and was given up by her father as a gift to avoid a long war with the English.
Pocahontas was 11...Smith was 42....there was no "relationship" between
them. It is my understanding that she "saved" him because she felt that if he were killed...the whites would surely wipe out her people....she married John Rolfe...died in England at age 21...I never heard story of her father giving her has a gift to avoid war...guess it could have happened.....
This is pretty grim. I edited it to just the facts and
they are hard to take. This was in the
Blue Eagle
Newsletter, which is published by my good friend,
Helen (TxRose). About two-thirds of the Four Corners
Clamor is lifted from the Blue Eagle.
Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center, PO Box 572, Lake Andes, SD 57356, telephone (605) 487-7072,
E-mail
Nativewoman
Just a thought: If anyone
would do that to anyone then they would
do that to anyone.
Wanna help? See
Little Sister
and scroll down for addresses.
Here are two quick ones I hope you will enjoy:
An English professor wrote the words, "Woman without her man is nothing" on the blackboard and directed his students to punctuate it correctly.
|
Skydancing Institute
Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) University of Creation Spirituality California Institute of Integral Studies Graduate School for Holistic Study
| Sancta Sophia Seminary |
|---|
| Foundation For Conscious Evolution |
|---|
| Blue Mountain Center of Meditation | Spirit Rock Meditation Center |
|---|
| The Reclaiming Collective | Common Boundary |
|---|
| The New Dimensions Radio |
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