Family Values

Here is an important post from opthunderbirdinfo. Rape and intimidation is a problem for women all around the world, not just in Pow Wow Country. If we had any doubts about this, they were erased on our recent trip. The flip side of this is men, seemingly everywhere, are confused and, often, angry, caught up in confusing and emasculating social conditions and expectations. The combination seems to lead, inevitably, to great suffering.

Dawn Marie Marchand writes:

When I was 18, I was a virgin. I was quite proud of it. Somehow, despite some of the things that had happened to me, I had managed to retain that. I was very close to my grandmothers. They both believed so strongly in not having sex before marriage. It was hard to keep myself in this condition. I didn’t date much. I didn’t judge or blame others because I knew how hard it was for me to not indulge. I never wanted to be a single mom, and I knew single motherhood was likely if I became a teen mom. I didn’t want to become a statistic. I wanted to meet the right guy – the one who would stick around – and wanted to marry me.  just. My parents have been married over 40 years now. My story turned out much different than my Mom’s.

Read more

Yesterday we had snow. This morning the sun is bright and the shadows are long. The world is remade.

The past six weeks we were traveling and working in India and Hong Kong. Our work is focused on teaching, and our teaching is centered in the arts, social change, and shamanism. All of it is strongly arts based. Perhaps this should come as no surprise as we are both artists.

I have come to realize, mostly in response to this most recent trip, that I make sense of the world and my life through writing. I make images but that process is about something else, something I am unsure of. One of the arenas that holds fascination for both of us is that of Playback and other forms of Image Theatre. During our work time Honk Kong, we both utilized theatre improv to explore opportunities for social change. Jennie did the same in India.

Perhaps my favorite arts moment in Hong Kong occurred when my workshop, which was focused on integrating Narrative Therapy ideas with the arts, spent much of two evenings playing with shadow puppetry. The creation of brief performances was extraordinary to watch. The performances were astounding. I think we all sat there agog.

In India I taught two workshops on the arts in social context. The first was with Jennie, and we spent two exciting evenings exploring the arts as resources for healing. The second workshop focused on the myriad ways artists from all disciplines are engaged in social change around the world. Over two evenings we met with local artists and discussed their socially engaged work. Both workshops took place at the Apparao Gallery in Chennai.

Now we are back home and wondering what will evolve from our travels. We shall see.

Undoing my Unknowing

The following is an excerpt of a recent paper I wrote for an Aboriginal Social Work Theory that focused on my personal decolonization. I wanted to share it because, my introduction to “decolonization” left me with a lot of grey areas,  the untangible, and sometimes down right confused me on what this process may look like. Every journey is different and unique but here is a short snippet of my journey.

Read more.

One of the most disturbing trends I have noticed while in India this trip is the rise of violence against woman and Indigenous people. Here is an example of institutionalized violence against Native people. Conditions for Native people in India were difficult and deteriorating two years ago. They appear much worse now. Of course, this is in line with events over much of the world. Please voice your concerns to the Indian government.

From Intercontinental Cry:

India opens the floodgates for extinguishment of Indigenous Rights

By John Ahni Schertow • Feb 22, 2013

India’s central government has walked away from its position on the need to obtain consent from Indigenous peoples and forest dwellers before handing their lands over to industry.

On February 15, the central government announced that major “linear projects” such as roads, railways, transmission lines, canal systems and pipelines do not need to obtain consent from affected forest populations before clearing their lands. The announcement, which stands in sharp contrast to provisions in the Forest Rights Act, could now make way for hundreds of new industrial projects that would have never otherwise seen the light of day.

“This is serious breach of trust and a huge step back in ensuring the dignity and survival of traditional forest-dwelling people across the country”, said Dr. Swati Shresth, from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment. “Forests are going to be cleared to make way for a particular kind of economic development; it will adversely impact communities and the environment.”

Read More

Sadly, world governments seem little interested in the impending catastrophe. Even when the “problem” of climate change is mentioned, there appears little will to address the issue. Rather, any substantive change is put away in preference for more study.

I find this heartbreaking. I also know that eventually this too shall pass, although it might take 100,000 years for the climate to return to something like the climate we know. By then, even should human beings still be around, many of the organisms we know and love will not be. There will, however, be an abundance of mosquitoes.

For much of her life Joanna Macy has worked to help people feel empowered in the face of despair. I believe her message of hope is needed now more than ever. Keeping heart in the face of indifference and greed is an enormous task, every bit as large as addressing climate change.

Read more

In the Relevancy of Dr King to the Idle No More Movement Mr. Rickert writes:

…..The tremendous contributions Dr King made it possible for Barack Obama to become president of the United States. Prior to Dr King’s masterful leadership during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, African Americans could not even drink from the same drinking water fountains as did their white counterparts, let alone occupy the White House as president.

Dr King’s relevance to American Indians and Alaska Natives should not be forgotten on this Martin Luther King Day.

The passage of the momentous Civil Rights Act of 1964 benefited American Indians and Latinos, as well as African Americans. We can now go places we could not go prior to 1964. We can now stay in motels we could not stay in prior to 1964.

Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, American Indians were not allowed in many establishments simply because we were Indians. Many establishments prominently displayed signs that read:

“No Indians or Dogs Allowed”

Without question, Dr King’s commitment to action during the Civil Rights Movement helped move equality into law in the United States…. Read More

We are reminded that Dr. King’s accomplishments came at great cost. Social change seems always to occur against the current, and to require fortitude and perseverance.

….

From its inception, I’m certain there were Indigenous people in our community who were skeptical of the Idle No More grassroots Peoples movement. It almost seems natural that we have those in our community who will stand by and watched with skepticism while others join in a movement for the People.

I thought I would state in this long over due 2013 blog, today is Day 41 of Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike. Not only is she protesting peacefully, she is strong with our creator. Within the Indigenous community we are taught, when one is fasting, one is also strong with the creator. Chief Spence is in a prayerful place conducting interviews, reading current affairs, and has awakened a sleeping giant. Since the first day she declared her hunger strike, Idle No More has become something more for First Nations people in the Canadian provinces, but also Natives across reservations in the US.