Hau. Mitaku Oyapi. Hello, all my relatives. This is the Lakota greeting for all people. It is the Native American philosophy that in this world we are all related. The plants, animals, humans and all things share a spirit giving by our Creator. It is also the philosophy of my People that in this world we must help each other to survive and grow. To “Think Indian” means so much more than just casinos, feathers, reservations, or pow wows. What “Think Indian” means to me is to know my culture, live it, take part in it, and be grateful and proud of my ancestry. In addition it means to be respectful, friendly, and courteous to my fellow man or woman, regardless of their race. Every day I strive to be the best example I can be to my children, friends, family, and to our next generation. Being an Native American allows me to hold my head up high and be proud of the many accomplishments of my People as well as my own. It is my identity, who I am, and no one can take that away from me. I embrace this opportunity to write about the political, social, health, economic, and educational inequities that American Indians have endured for centuries. Through this blog, I celebrate my Cherokee and Choctaw heritage and I celebrate the endurance of the American Indian. This is in honor of the American Indian spirit of endurance. May God bless each person who reads my blog with peace and understanding. Walk softly upon the earth and live in peace with those around you. Remember that we are all related through God, our Creator.
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Last edited by AniGequoti; 7th October 2009 at 03:11 PM.
What would you do if I took from you
Your home, your family and your identity, too?
If I changed your religion and the language you spoke,
Left you hungry, suffering and broke.
Could you embrace me as your savior?
Then forgive me for my heartless behavior?
If I looked at your family with eyes of shame,
Shunned your kindness and changed your name,
If I made you walk a thousand miles,
Starving and cold and ignored your trials,
If I sent you away to eat nothing but lies,
Could you still look at me with love in your eyes?
If I told you all you believe is wrong,
And said your home land you no longer belong,
What would you do and how would you feel?
Do you think with time passing all pain would heal?
So next time you see a tear fall from a Red Man's eye,
Remember this is one sad reason why. . . .
Author Unknown
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Last edited by AniGequoti; 20th October 2009 at 12:18 PM.
"I think there was a big mistake made (when) people separated religion and the government. That was one of the big mistakes that was made, because when they did that, then they removed the Creator from their life - or at least from half to three-quarters of their life."
--Tom Porter, MOHAWK
The Elders tell us that every thing the Creator made is interconnected. Nothing can be separated. The Elders say we should pray before we do anything. We should ask the Creator, what do You want us to do? We are put on the Earth to do the will of God. If we run our governments, communities, families, or ourselves. Without the spiritual we are doomed to failure.
My Creator, guide my life to include the spiritual in everything I do.
Native American Genocide Still Haunts United States
In the past, the main thrust of the Holocaust/Genocide Project's magazine, An End To Intolerance, has been the genocides that occurred in history and outside of the United States. Still, what we mustn't forget is that mass killing of Native Americans occurred in our own country. As a result, bigotry and racial discrimination still exist. "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" . . . and made the first contact with the "Indians." For Native Americans, the world after 1492 would never be the same. This date marked the beginning of the long road of persecution and genocide of Native Americans, our indigenous people. Genocide was an important cause of the decline for many tribes.
By conservative estimates, the population of the United states prior to European contact was greater than 12 million. Four centuries later, the count was reduced by 95% to 237 thousand. In 1493, when Columbus returned to the Hispaniola, he quickly implemented policies of slavery and mass extermination of the Taino population of the Caribbean. Within three years, five million were dead. Las Casas, the primary historian of the Columbian era, writes of many accounts of the horrors that the Spanish colonists inflicted upon the indigenous population: hanging them en mass, hacking their children into pieces to be used as dog feed, and other horrid cruelties. The works of Las Casas are often omitted from popular American history books and courses because Columbus is considered a hero by many, even today.
"That spiritual power I wear is much more beautiful and much greater. We call it wisdom, knowledge, power and gift, or love. There are these four parts to that spiritual power. So I wear those. When you wear that power it will beautify your mind and spirit. You become beautiful. Everything that Tunkashila creates is beautiful."
--Wallace Black Elk, LAKOTA
When I was young, I asked my grandfather, "What should I pray for?" He thought for a long time and then he said, "Pray only for wisdom and for the knowledge of love." This makes a lot of sense. No matter what happens I ask the Creator to show me the lessons I should be learning. I pray for Him to help me learn the lessons. By doing this everyday we become beautiful human beings.
Don't give me your labels or those causes you travel under. I respond to you - not what you call yourself. If you insist that I must accept your labels and all the wrappings that go with them, where is the room and opportunity to know the real person? A rare friendship meets on common ground of hope and need and tender feelings - not on the strength of names and labels and challenges. We are simply friends. I see your smile.
~ To have a friend and to be true under any and all trials is the mark of a man. ~
OHIYESA - SANTEE SIOUX
"A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II" by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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Why Does the USA Celebrate Columbus Day?
By Evelyn Garcia (Taino)
Columbus Day is a federal holiday in the USA, but why? Why don’t seventeen states in the USA celebrate Columbus Day? Why do protestors turn up at every Columbus Day parade or event? Why is there so much confusion about this man and this holiday?
Anyone who has ever read the public school version of events knows that Columbus set sail in 1492 hoping to find new lands, gold, spices, a shorter route to India and personal recognition for himself. Columbus has gone down in history for discovering America. Never mind the fact that the land he stumbled upon was already occupied… he is still given credit for it, although obviously the people who lived on that land had discovered it themselves.
We call ourselves Americans and Columbus is given credit for discovering America. But, although some people refer to our country simply as America, the truth of the matter is we are the United States OF America . The Americas encompass 43 different countries from the northernmost reaches of Canada to the Southernmost tip of South America and all points in between. The points reached in The Americas by Columbus were the islands in the Caribbean. Columbus never actually set foot in any part of the land now referred to as the USA, so why does the USA have a holiday for him?
Even though Columbus never set foot in our country, we honor him with a holiday. But, there are seventeen states that do no celebrate it. WHY? Why are there always protestors at any event honoring Columbus? Why don’t our public (or government) schools teach the truth about this man? The answer to that can only be that seventeen states know the truth about Columbus that the public schools don’t teach and that is that Columbus was a land-stealing, slave-trading, murderer whose practices and policies set in motion of wave of genocide, colonialism and oppression against the indigenous peoples of the Americas that continues to this day.
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