Revenge or Avenge?

Avenge is a verb. To avenge is to punish a wrongdoing with the intent of seeing justice done. Revenge can be used as a noun or a verb. It is more personal, less concerned with justice and more about retaliation by inflicting harm.

"An Ojibwe community was battling with another group of Indians. The battle was not without people getting hurt and sometimes killed. In this one battle the brother of one of the Ojibwe warriors was killed by one man in the other group of Indians. The brother was sad and hurt by what happened to his brother. As it was his intent to avenge the death of his brother, he went into the groups camp and sought to challenge the man who killed his brother. The challenge was accepted. The two warriors started to battle each other. The Ojibwe Warrior had finally got the man down and was getting on top of him. The man then spit in the face of the Ojibwe Warrior. The Ojibwe Warrior stopped, got off of the man and walked out of the community. He did not strike the man who had killed his brother." This is the Ogichidaa.
_________

There is so much ugly happening all over the world. In the Native world we are hurting and we have anger. A young woman is killed and just a couple days later a young man is killed. We are hurting and we are angry.  There is an Inquiry as to what has and is happening to Indigenous Woman in Canada and why are they going missing and being killed.  The Inquiry in its current state is not looking too promising for getting answers. People are sad hurt and angry.

The Governor General of Canada, the person who is suppose to represent the Crown just called the Indigenous people of Canada immigrants. Then he apologized by calling Indigenous property; "Our Indigenous people are not immigrants."  That is so funny. Because of how clueless this guy is.

The list of things indigenous people have endured and are faced with, is long. Just ask any Indian and they will tell you. There are the deeds done against them individually and there are things done broadly across our larger community.

So what do we do with all this hurt?  With the anger building up? In the US  the anger is played out by violence to those who they don't feel fit with their thinking and lives. The amount of racist attacks has just increased and become more visible by the White population. In Canada attacks of racism by Whites have become more visible as well.

That is not the way our people are going. They still don't get into the act of violence and revenge. Regardless of how much they feel it is their right.

So not sure if we can ever see the difference between avenging our ancestors and getting revenge?

Many of the feelings are very personal to us. We are emotionally invested in our families, friends, community and our heritage. So of course there is strong feelings to what happens to us.

I still carry much resentment and anger towards people who I think hurt my Son when he was alive. I used to think of how to get revenge on them. I would cause them so much pain if I should follow through on my thoughts. It didn't happen of course. Not that I didn't have the anger or the wherewithal to go on with it (after all anyone can be mean and inflict hurt). Its a battle in my heart: I want to be kind but yet know I have the ability to be mean. So its a battle.

There are many of us fighting a battle between revenge with those who wronged, and there are those who are avenging what has been done to us. I like those that are taking the anger out of their actions and doing things because it is the right thing to do.

I battle to hold the violence in my being at bay. I know everyone of us is capable of violence. It takes restraint to hold off violence. 

The guilt, the regret of doing violence never leaves us once we have done it. 

Do you know what the Ogichidaa (Ojibwe Warrior) story reminds us of and illustrates? 

Sundancers Be Happy, Be Proud

Well it's the summer and with that come the Thunderbirds, the Ceremonies. The Sundance Ceremony is one of sacrifice.

Pictures taken after Ceremony competed

Pledging Before Sundance Ceremony

Complete Ceremony 

It is quite a thing making a commitment. You make a pledge to sacrifice for others. We dance for life; the good life - Mino Pimatisiwin.

So for all those who make the commitment to the Creator to try and live a good life, I think you should be happy and you should be proud.

I know from  experience life can be anything but kind. We can feel defeated, angry and hurt. Still it is amazing our people will still try to be good, to think of others.

I am so grateful for those who work at sharing their life of following a good path.
The feelings that come with being surrounded by positive thoughts is fantastic. Once the Dance is complete the amount of smiling faces, the hugging and the appreciative gestures to each other makes you wish it would spread all over.

There are those who wish to share their joy on social media and there are those who berate them for speaking about the experience.

I feel bad for those who try and mute the enthusiasm of the Dancer. You see it at many levels. For some arcane reason we are not allowed to share our activities with the Creator. Strange. There can be every form of notification and sharing of main stream belief systems but when it comes to Indigenous Traditions we are to be quiet or hide it? Doesn't make sense. Even some of our Teachers say not to share it?

Lot of shared happiness.

I think a lot of our misguided thoughts regarding the sharing of Ceremony, Traditional Indigenous Ceremony, and it may come from forced norms. The governments made Ceremony of Indigenous people illegal. What you going to do? You hide it. You pretend it doesn't exist. You can't share it without fear of repercussions. There is also the message made popular by media - film industry. We are so backwards that recording ourselves will steal our soul. The popular image in movies where they say we are afraid to have our pictures taken. The message being we are not sophisticated enough to understand a representation - like a picture. Yet Indigenous people have been recording events for ever with many different forms.

I think our people should be proud of their deeds, their accomplishments and share it with the world.

There is so much ugly happening in the world so why can't we share some good?

Share your pride. Share your dreams. Share who you are. Indigenous and great.

We need to love who we are more.

For too long the message has been not a good one. Now people are more open about the good life. I applaud you the strong proud Indigenous.

Can We Just Say "Ah, That's Okay, No Big Deal"

It seems like Indigenous folk are always angry. If you follow any media story about Indians it would seem to be the case. It seems there is no limit as to what will anger the Indigenous person.

This week a White Woman had her art show cancelled due to a backlash of angry Indians. She was copying the art works of deceased artist Norval Morrisseau.  Lot of anger for her copying his work. The gallery cancelled her show.

There was this other time when the Swine Flu hit Canada a few years ago and the Ministry of Health sent body bags to northern Reserves. People were angry that time. Not only did they send body bag but they considered not sending hand sanitizer to the Reserves because of the alcohol content in the sanitizer.  Now that was pretty funny. Funny as in stupid for even making it an agenda item for a number of days.

There are times in our lives when we have the right to get angry. The sanitizer is one of the times when a whole group of people were stereotyped by our government. I was pissed at the arrogance by the bureaucracy and how they see Indians.  Like we are kids and can't handle getting hand sanitizer. This is one case were we had every right to be upset  The body bags, however grotesque, was a mistake. In that case the powers to be should have said "maanoo, ani-sha, babaamendan." (let it go, its for nothing and don't bother) and laughed it off. The funny thing is that we should have laughed at the absurdity. Did they really believe the body bags were sent in earnest to prepare for the deaths? Now that is ridiculous. Some one made a bad goof, a mistake. Even if it was an ugly mistake, its a mistake. Give them heck and move on. But nope the mistake was used for political crying. The leadership should have used the incident to make fun of and ridicule the bumbling bureaucracy that they deal with day in and day out.

With many things we should speak up and voice our concerns and our outrage or our disappointment. There are times when a mistake is just a mistake. Those are the times when we should conserve our energy for things which are truly wrong. Of course I do understand the fact some things are subtle and many may not know its a point of contention; something which we should be outraged about. I understand and know we should be voicing about those times. Still in some cases we should have restraint when it is a mistake. Like the stupid white woman who copied Morrisseau's art. She just didn't show influence from his style, she just copied it. Some folks said she was engaging  in Genocide. If that is not hyperbole or over the top rhetoric, well then, nothing is. I think she was stupid in how she addressed the criticism. Of course she didn't understand the meaning behind Morrisseau's works. She should have said that. But nope she dismissed the critics. Which of course angered them some more. This is one instance where it got big and should not have been. But hey we have lost the ability to say "Maanoo".

In the news media people are starting an "appropriation fund" for writers. Now that is a direct attack on Indigenous and other non-white groups. This is a fight for white privilege. Here is one of those areas that is clear. The idea came up with a magazine wanted to dedicate and issue and have Indigenous input and views. The editor wrote in the same issue to go ahead and appropriate stories about People of Colour. The group wants to encourage cultural appropriation as it is their Right. The right to continue  with their dominance. That is what it plays out as. So this is one of those cut and dry issues, where we know they are dumb and it should be fought. But is it really cut and dry? In some ways yes. The appropriation fund is clearly an attack but the article to go ahead and appropriate stories or characters is not. That is the problem, the first issue was about difference of opinion and we can disagree with  what Hal Niedzviecki wrote.  He expressed an opinion and he wasn't attacking Indigenous folk. I was conflicted about this but kind of agree in some sense. I think we can write what we don't know. For example, I am a fan of Bernard Cormwell's fiction. He writes in the first person of a fictional historical heroes. So its not a cut and dry about writing. It is cut and dry when someone is openly supremacist.

Fighting for what is right and what is stupid are different animals. The problem is, we can never agree on what is stupid and what is right.

But I am always amazed on how people can explain the issues - cultural appropriation and what it means.

David Blacksmith Artist

David Blacksmith is an artist. He paints and he also makes Drums, Rattles and many other items.

I enjoy his art, and the stories behind the art. 

12 inch buffalo hide with drum stick , painting on it is a mother that cries for her child and the wolf hears this cry , the wolf will look after the child and in cree MI CUN means wolf but it really means to cry for someone that's not there or missing etc , I put things on the side of the drum to make wild happy 

David shares on Facebook.  https://www.facebook.com/david.blacksmith.3
TheDavid Blacksmith

Go Ahead Brag About Yourself, Break Social Norms

Why are we not allowed to brag about ourselves? You will find all sorts of articles stating the case of the braggart being wrong.  I am wondering if there is any a time when bragging is acceptable.

When much of the world tells us that no matter what bragging is wrong. It sends the message that you just want to look good. I guess that is true but there must be some good in telling others the good deed you have done. When I'm talking about bragging I'm focused on the things we do and not what we have: a high paying job, big house, fast car, trophy spouse, and big dog. No its about the good things you have done which helped others.

Its a bugger for sure. You may want people to know the good thing you did. Still you don't want to be seen as a braggart. You want to inspire others into doing more and Pay-It-Forward but how can you get people to pay it forward if  they don't know about it?

So I say screw it. If people think you are telling about a good deed you did to make yourself look good, so what? We want to hear good things in the world. We hear so much of the ugly things we do. We are also quick to shit on ourselves. Even if we make mistakes, don't we need a chance to make things right? We should be able to say good things about ourselves.

Society is hard. Our people have been slagged so much that it is part of our being and we need to change that. So start with shouting it out. We are pretty damn good. Let's show them this is what we are doing.

Take Part in Give Away Ceremony

Have you given a gift and it made you feel good? That feeling is pretty awesome isn't it? The joy you feel is tied to many reasons. Generosity is an act of kindness. Kindness and generosity are virtues we should all try to hold. Regardless of the reason for the giving of gifts, it should be part of your life.

I have seen some cool examples of giving. The 1972 Canada Russia series where Peter Mahovlich gave his sweater to Czechoslovakian player. the Czech player in turn gave his sweater to Mahovlich Now that was so damn cool and generous. At the time Western world was not in good relationship with the Eastern Bloc and they were considered enemies; figuratively and literally. So the act of sharing by Mahovlich was a huge gesture. I think others have done the same thing since then.

Giving gifts I believe are part of everyone's culture.

In Indian country everyone is aware of the Potlatch Ceremony. The British Columbia Indigenous community is world known for their acts of Giving. Similar ceremonies take place in the Indigenous community which are still practiced today. Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki)  provides a very informative overview of the Give Away Ceremony in his article Sacred Giving, Sacred Receiving.

The Powwow is likely a place where you will see a Give Away: a new child entering the Circle or a Remembrance of a loved one who has passed on or a family member's celebration of healing. The Lakota Powwows are known for their "Specials" and Give Aways. Lot of beautiful Blankets given out. The Giver of gifts is acknowledging the Creator in front of witnesses.

There was a Tradition of gift giving that I am not sure is practiced very much anymore. It is like the old saying that she/he "will give you the shirt off of their back". This has really taken place. The person who will give you something because you are fond of what they have. I remember years ago that used to happen. Someone in earnest would say "I like your jacket".  The person who had the jacket would take it off and give it to them. Lot of people used to tease about things like that. They would say I like your car.  They would of  course not expect the person to give them, they were just teasing and acknowledge the old practice.  They were just being Indian and teasing.  You will notice a lot of "celebrity Indians", or well known Indians are wearing all sorts of nice beaded adornments. When they travel to different areas, cities or even countries. They seem to come back with all their adornments; beaded medallions and things like that. I think about them and think if you are coming back with all your stuff, you're doing it wrong. And because  I am somewhat of a jerk I will go and test people with "I like your stuff". In one instance I even said to this one guy, "give me that". He was wearing a beautiful Maori Bone Medallion.   He was a Maori fellow and he was shocked. He stammered and said something like it was his Iwi or something like that. My friend a Traditional Maori just laughed and said to me "you got his number".

I think we are becoming more and more like main stream culture with acquisition as our default position: getting more stuff. That is too bad. I see many of our people embracing the Spirit of our Ancestral Teachings and wanting to live with those virtues. Still there are many who like the "idea" of being Traditional with not really understanding the significance of the Teachings. We can mouth some of the good things behind the Teachings but have difficulty letting go of our main stream norms and behaviours.

I like that many are bringing back many of the old ways and teaching them to others. I wonder how many practice the Give Away?

This summer will begin another season of the Sundance Ceremony. Some of the people who have pledged to Dance in front of the Creator will be finishing their 4th year of dancing. Upon completion of their 4th year, these Dancers will be having Give Aways. A way to express their gratitude to the people for the support and to honour the people. All of this is always in front of the Creator and in mind.

I like the Give Away. In general I just like generous people. I am not a fan of the cheap arse. It bothers me how people can be so selfish. Its not the price of stuff or the item, its the sentiment behind it. With Give Aways I have seen lot of the Dollar Store items and I have seen the handmade item as well. The act is about how you feel. Sure its nice to be on the receiving end of the Give Away but it sure feels awesome to be the one giving as well. That is the other thing of Give Away; if you are on the receiving end, try and be gracious. I have seen many who will come back and ask for some more stuff or even try to trade the gift for another. Take the gift in the manner it is given.

So consider the next time you have a celebration, an anniversary of some type about hosting a Ceremony of the Give Away. It will bring good feelings to you and your family. And we can always use good feelings towards us.

Horrible Death of Young Woman in Sagkeeng by Teens

A horrible incident occurred in Sagkeeng First Nation Manitoba. A young girl was killed. She was brutally beaten. Beaten by other young girls while it was being recorded. 

Steve Julian You know I had a copy of the video in messenger. I made the mistake of asking to see it. I looked at it for 5 seconds. The image and sounds is now in my head. That night I couldn't sleep knowing the connections we have with them. It was my stupidity and morbid curiousity and just being a f**ing nosey person. I am so mad at myself and sorry for getting it. The brutality of death is nothing to search for. The poor families involved. I am surprised the guy who recorded the incident has not been charged?

Sagkeeng.
We can't deny the ugliness in the community. We can try and deflect it and say our community is fine and that this incident was an anomaly. It isn't. It may have been the extreme of ugliness and it is. There are many who are affected by the killing of the young woman. Lot of hurt people. Its tragic and its horrible. The poor families of all involved; victim and perpetrators. Its not a bad scene from a movie or from a different country. Its here in our home. Sadly our community has seen lot of death, either by killing of others, by taking our own lives or by sickness. Our community is is despair. We can do all the smudging and the vigil' now but what and where we were before? We need more of the good efforts and there are some but let's look at what is happening. The pill explosion has expanded to the meth disaster. We can point fingers for sure. You know the way other communities and reserves see Sagkeeng? We are dealers of death.Our community is so filled with bad that it glows at night. We can and try sanitize the reputation of the Reserve but we all can see and feel the way it is. Of course there are pockets of good in the Reseve, no doubt. But the ugly and the bad is like cancer; it grows and it kills. We need to actively try and change that. How do we that? First is to admit there is in fact an ugly. Then we can start to fight the ugly, the bad the evil. We need to acknowledge there is a cycle of ugliness. There are bullies who thrive in the dysfunction. There are rodents who prey off the sick and the addicted. There are opportunists just watching for any excuse to market themselves. There are those with integrity who just go along trying to make the Reserve a better place. I truly love my community and it saddens me to see what is happening. The old adage of a village raises a child is not applicable here. "Who the fuck are you to give heck to my kid?" "Fucking teachers calling cops on my kids." "Fucking crooks." "Someone gives heck to my kid I'm going to kick ass." 
I was speaking to a friend in the Reserve and he/she was appalled at the situation of what took place. No one intervened. No one checked. No one. 
It can't happen to me is not a safe way to live. Anything can happen to anyone. 
We are not immune to bad things happening around us. 
I for one know ugly. 
The big problem is we are not engaged. And its not the fault of anyone. The change just happened. From a community where everyone thought of everyone to where we are only concerned with our immediate group. 
The other thing is we know who people are and we care or don't care for what goes on. "Its not my business." Or we can turn away from what we see.
The justice system is not kind to us. So of course we distrust them-the police. Will having more police in the community cure the ills we face? Nope. Just have more folks in the jails. 
So what can we do? Where do we start?
Banning dealers? Perhaps a start.
More community involvement in people's business? Why not?
More discipline in the community? Curfews? Stricter rules of behaviour in school?
Are we afraid to say anything for fear of our own history?
We all have a past and we may have all made mistakes but does that now exclude us from having a voice?
Are we afraid if we say something, someone will say "but what about you, you fucking piece of shit?"
I feel bad for the families all our families. People will point and blame. That is not going to be helping. 
Sagkeeng is a beautiful place and does have good good people. At the same time we do have a great number of ugly things.