Columbus Day

So I’m going to make this as plain and simple as possible. This country where I live and work and contribute to society continues to celebrate Christopher Columbus as the official “discoverer” of North America – The New World. He is credited with having “discovered” a land inhabited by 500 Nations of Indigenous People. What he isn’t credited with is being a slave trader, terrorist, murderer, rapist, and thief. What he isn’t credited with is being single-handedly responsible for the destruction of hundreds of thousands of First Nations People and their culture and for leading the initiation of a Holocaust greater than in Germany, Africa, or China.

To me and my people Columbus Day represents a day of mourning. It is no less than if this country celebrated Hitler Day or Bin Laden Day. It’s as simple as that.

Challenging Columbus Day

Denver Organizers Discuss Why They Protest the Holiday - Democracy Now with Amy Goodman

Monday is known as Columbus Day, which is supposed to commemorate the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the so-called “new world” in 1492. But the holiday has long caused anger amongst people of color, especially Native Americans, who object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade. We talk to Glenn Morris of the American Indian Movement of Colorado and Glenn Spagnuolo of Progressive Italians Transforming the Columbus Day Holiday.

The first state commemoration of Columbus Day was in Colorado and when our “Breaking the Sound Barrier” tour visited the state earlier this month–I sat down with two activists who were working to transform the holiday. Glenn Morris is a member of the Leadership Council of the American Indian Movement of Colorado, an Attorney and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado at Denver. Glenn Spagnuolo is a member of Transform Columbus Day Alliance and the Director of PITCH–Progressive Italians Transforming the Columbus Day Holiday.

Read the interview here: http://www.democracynow.org/2006/10/6/challenging_columbus_day_denver_organizers_discuss

Featured Tribe - Modoc

The Modoc people are of Native American descent, and are located in today's United States of America. The tribe found refuge on the west coast in the Lost River Valley on the present day California and Oregon border before the 1860’s. The United States Army relocated the Modoc people in 1864 to the Klamath Indian reservation, located in southeastern Oregon. Part of the tribe left the reservation in 1872 by the lead of Captain Jack, otherwise known as Kintpuash. They fled to the Lava beds near Tule Lake. The Modoc people, consisting of about 200 people today, can be found in Oklahoma; the US Army located them there following the Modoc War.

The Modoc primarily survived on gathering; they gathered seeds, roots, and berries. They also fished and hunted small game of varying types. The Modoc made rafts to fish with by weaving tule reeds. They also used this marsh plant to make baskets, moccasins, and thatched it together to make summer huts. The Modoc people lived in subterranean houses, in the winter, mostly covered by dirt and snow; the snow drifts would often reach six feet high or more. Their summer homes consisted of these thatched huts of tule reeds. They also built "Sweat Houses" used for praying and other religious affairs. The Modoc Religion, based on the belief of guardian spirits, was sought for guidance and help. The Klamath tribe to the north of the Modoc were good friends of the Modoc people. They didn’t spend much time together, but they would ally in time of war. There was also a tradition of young Modoc and Klamath coming together in marriage; the two tribes often intermixed this way.

The main thing that the Modoc people are remembered for is the Modoc war of 1872-73. The white Americans and the Native Americans have fought all through the settlement of the Midwest and west coast. This is just one of many stories about unkept promises by the United States Government. In 1864, the US Government forced the Modoc north to a reservation on the Northern Klamath Lake Region. This area was known to be the Klamath tribes land. The Klamath treated the Modoc as intruders even though the Modoc were forced upon the land. Traditionally the US broke their promise by not supplying the Modoc people with adequate rations; this act is the main factor that led to the Modoc War. A group of Modoc people by the lead of Captain Jack broke out and fled back to their home land near Tule Lake. Here about 60 Modoc took up refuge in the ruff terrain of the hardened lava fields.

In January of 1873, the US Government sent troops to force the Modoc people back to the reservation. The US attacked the band of Modoc on the foggy morning of the 16th. The army, unprepared for the ruff terrain quickly found themselves loosing this battle; with many US casualties the army retreated leaving everything behind, including the wounded. With this great victory on the Modoc’s side, it gave them an upper hand in peace treaty talks. They had many talks during the days that followed the first battle. Little was accomplished though, Captain Jack was firm on his request for a Lost River reservation. The US Government would not grant this. Hooker Jim and Curly-headed Doctor (Medicine Man) convinced Captain Jack that the only way they could get their land back was to kill the Peace Commissioners. So, armed with guns about eight Modoc met up with the commissioners and killed General Canby and wounded and killed two other commissioners. The Modoc fled again, only to be captured in June of 1873. They were defeated finally by the US Army when a surprise attack by the Modoc went bad. Captain Jack was hung for the murder of General Canby, while the remaining Modoc where forced to a reservation in Oklahoma. Disease and famine killed off many Modoc at the reservation in Oklahoma.

Learn more at the official website: http://www.modoctribe.net/home.html

Putting Anishinaabemowin first

By: Rob Cappricioso

WINDSOR, Ontario – An alliance of Anishinaabe tribal leaders and citizens from Canada has put forth a declaration asserting that Anishinaabemowin is their primary language.

The declaration, which was approved by the Walpole Island First Nation of the Bkejwanong Territory in August, says that immersion and fluency in the Anishinaabemowin language is a long-term goal for all of its citizens.

“We have put something really substantial in place,” said Chris Riley, an organizer of language initiatives with the tribe. “We have created awareness.”

The Walpole Island First Nation is Canada’s southernmost aboriginal territory and is made up of approximately 3,500 Ojibway, Potawatomi and Odawa members, collectively known as the Council of the Three Fires. The Walpole lands are composed of six islands covering 91 square miles between Ontario and Michigan at the mouth of the St. Clair River.

Walpole is already recognized as being one of the first Native communities in Canada to make strides in the field of environment and sustainable development. With the new declaration, Walpole is also playing a leadership role in revitalization indigenous languages.

Keep reading here: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/28661749.html

Paradoxical

W - We

A - Are

R - Related

Quotes

"It is a strange thing, that since prayer has come into our cabins, our former customs are no longer of any service; and yet we shall all die because we given them up." -

Algonquin sachem

Vatican's Silence Sparks Historic gathering of International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers in Rome

In the fall of 2004, thirteen indigenous female elders from all over the world—the Amazon, Asia, Africa, Mexico, the Arctic Circle, the Northwest Southwest and Midwest U.S. and Central America—met at a retreat center in upstate New York and agreed to form an alliance. They declared: “We, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, represent a global alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, all Her inhabitants, all the children, and for the next seven generations to come. We are deeply concerned with the unprecedented destruction of our Mother Earth and the destruction of indigenous ways of life. We believe the teachings of our ancestors will light our way through an uncertain future. We look to further our vision through the realization of projects that protect our diverse cultures: lands, medicines, language and ceremonial ways of prayer and through projects that educate and nurture our children.”

The Grandmothers’ Council convenes every six months, as they travel the world to each other’s homelands to cultivate their unified prayer for peace and care for Mother Earth. In Spring 2005, the Grandmothers’ Council met at the home of Nicaragua Mayan grandmother Flordemayo in New Mexico. In May of 2006, they visited Mazatec grandmother Julieta Casimiro in Oaxaca, Mexico. Next they met in Dharamsala, India, in October 2006, (the exiled home of the Tibetan grandmother Tsering Dolma Gyaltong), and the Council had a private audience with H.H. the Dalai Lama. In June 2007, the grandmothers gathered in the Black Hills of South Dakota to honor Rita and Beatrice Long-Visitor Holy Dance, culminating in a Lakota Sundance.

This summer marks their first visit to Europe. Following their stay in Italy they will continue on to Spain to spread their teachings and light the fire for world peace in Barcelona. Their prayers will go out through the waters of the Mediterranean to the shores of the River Jordan as they join with a global day of Prayer for the Waters of the Earth on July 25th.

The grandmother’s teachings are quickly spreading around the world. Their book, Grandmothers Counsel the World: Indigenous Women Elders Offer their Vision for Our Planet (Shambhala Publications, 2006) is in its fourth printing and available in Czech, Dutch, German, Japanese, Slovene, Spanish and Taiwanese. A documentary film about the Grandmothers, “For the Next Seven Generations,” directed by Emmy and Peabody award winner Carole Hart, will be released in the fall of 2008.

The Grandmothers have decided to persevere, despite much hardship, in laying down their prayers at the Vatican. Encouraged by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's official apology to the aboriginal peoples of Australia, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent apology to First Nations people in Canada, and Barack Obama's promise, if elected, to appoint a Native American adviser to his senior White House staff, the Grandmothers will let nothing deter them from contributing momentum to this wave of support and healing for the world's indigenous peoples.

In their first letter addressed to Cardinal Walter Kasper at the Vatican, dated October 22, 2005, the Grandmothers write, "Our peoples must still live with the continuing legacy of this first denial of our right to be treated as equal participants in the community of nations. Our peoples are still struggling for the right to live on earth and practice our cultural and spiritual traditions as our ancestors did." No response was received from the Vatican.

The July 9th gathering represents an enormous physical and logistical feat as the Grandmothers gather from all four directions of the World. The Grandmothers intend to present themselves in full native regalia and with the collective force of their individual personalities backed by centuries of indigenous tradition and wisdom.

The Grandmothers were nearly evicted from the Vatican grounds. Read the article here: http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417739

Read the letter here: http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/docs/vaticanletter.pdf. Information gathered from www.grandmotherscouncil.com.