Songs of Perfection: Perfect

 Can you imagine a world without sound, without laughter, without music? 

I love music, lots of different kinds of music. There is Playing for Change and this initiative brings musicians from all over the world together to make songs, do covers and share. Pemba Laka is one of the most fun songs. The great thing about songs, is you don't need to even understand the tunes, the language or the style. I wouldn't know Baroque from Avant Guard, but music reaches beyond the labels. 

To me there are songs, music which is perfect. Those perfect songs climb inside your throat, your stomach, your very ear wax and they speak to you like a cherished teacher, a loved Elder, and a Wise One. Now tell me, if the songs I tell you are perfect, can you disagree, earnestly? 

Sam Stone, the tale of a Veteran who lived with the struggles of war. The sordid story of addiction, and death captures the perfect tale. John Prine has many songs which could be placed in the perfect category but let's limit the cache to one per artist. 

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen is a song that is quite different from the story tellers. It bounces and takes you different roads. The music style and the changes within the song just add to the perfection of this music song. 

Hey That's no Way say to Goodbye by Leonard Cohen is perfect. Of course he has a number of songs that are perfect. Like many story tellers, the story is what creates perfection. In this case the simplicity of the guitar enhances perfection. 

The Long Way Home is a perfect Tom Waits ballad. He of course has many, and I mean many perfect songs. It is a crime not to list them, but I'm a criminal anyway. 

Tearful Honor is as song done by the Drum group Red Bull. Like many songs of perfection you need not know the words, you just feel the perfection. Red Bull has done wonderful songs which touch the Spirit. 

Mystic River the Drum group performed this song, Natural Mystic, at the Heartbeat of Nations Powwow in Winnipeg Manitoba years ago. It is a song that captures the beauty of Anishinaabe living. Perfect is all you can say about this song. 

Keep Me In Your Heart For A While, written and performed by Warren Zevon is a perfect song. You can't go wrong having this played on your final drive home. Eddie Vedder does it justice as well. You just can't do perfect wrong. 

Open Letter to a Landlord, by Living Colour. Great story, and message. Perfect. Teach them greedy baskerds not to be greedy. 

Nothing Compares to You, song by Sinead O'Connor. Perfect and it is a song which takes me back to that time. How music is time travel. 

Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye with Kimbra second vocals. The story the vocals, the tune is perfect. Good chemistry from people never heard of before or since.

Copperhead Road by Steve Earle is perfect. You know it had to be on here. The tune, the instruments, the story, the rawness, perfect. 

Loretta, written by Towns Van Zandt. Perfect. What is perfect is Van Zandt has his songs covered by many and the songs can't be messed up. 

Zobra's Dance is perfect. I think the world became more aware of this perfection was from Anthony Quinn when he starred in Zorba the Greek a 1964 movie film. It's perfect.

Chan Chan by the Buena Vista Social Club of Cuba is perfect. Thanks to World Circuit Records and the artist Ry Cooder for letting the world know of them. 

Opera has many perfect song, like Carmen: performed by Elina Garanca is perfection. The chorus just plays perfect to her single voice. In this music genre there are just too many perfect songs and many will be missed in the list of perfect. Of course we always will include the Tenors; Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti in the perfect company. 

Classic music has so much perfect composers how can you pick? I mean Adagio for Strings takes you home. You may cry to be home when listening to perfect classical tunes. You hold your hand out to demonstrate it touches you and that is perfect. Richard Wagner Ride of the Valkyries is a classic. Get it, a classic. 

Leaving Eden by the Carolina Chocolate Drops is perfect. The live version on the stage of the Grande Ole Opry was legendary. Perfect. Rhiannon Giddens voice is golden. 

Far Away Eyes by the Rolling Stones is perfect. A good story, some functional steel guitar adding to the perfection. 

Moondance by Van Morrison is perfect. The many instruments just cool as a dark warm room with great food, substance of beauty in the room, can't be beat. Actually the whole album is perfect as perfect as Pink Floyd's The Wall. 

The Fairytale of New York, the Pogues and Kristy Mac Coll is perfect. A seasonal song that you can play every single day regardless of the weather. The story just pierces your heart. A love song that hits you square in your face like a sock filled with rocks. 

Magnolia Wind either John Prine of Guy Clark is perfect. "I rather sleep in a box like a bum in the street..."  "I'd rather not hear pretty music again if I can't catch your fiddler on a magnolia wind..." 

Where would perfect music be without Stevie Wonder? He has so much perfect I had to chose this one as it is perfect by itself, Superwoman. 

Santana!!! Carnaval from the perfect album Moonflower. Perfect. It's perfect along side with the song Let The Children play. 

You can't have perfect without Lyle Lovett. His large band with Francine Reed is perfect. 

Some songs have stories but it doesn't mean they are perfect. For example David and David's Welcome to the Boom Town is an okay catchy song, with a bit of a story, but nope it's not perfect. Some pieces don't fit. Not like Sunday Morning Coming Down, sung by Johnny Cash, the man in black, who identified with the down trodden. 

Orphan Girl by Gillian Welch is perfect. Some heart touching tunes here. Some songs are good, real good but doesn't mean they are perfect. This song captures her career and the audience loves her. 

This list will be increasing as I remember or discover perfect. 

 

F*ck You White People

*Be Forewarned, There are swear words ahead. There are bad words ahead. There are slurs ahead. There is name calling ahead. Stop now if you are sensitive to bad words.* 

A number of  years ago I was feeling quite magnanimous, so I wrote a Thank you White people blog post. It was awesome, I thanked you White people and I was so cool about it. It was a glowing thank you for demonstrating humanity and doing groovy things. You see, some of you are good beings, and some of you do right by your actions. Lately, the world is not seeing the groovy white folk. The world is having to deal with the White people who are thugs, ghouls that are baby cooking eating vultures. These Whites are making the Thank You Groovy Whites look awfully bad. And, I mean really bad. Like so bad no Mom would look at you, never mind pick you up, pinch your chubby little cheeks and say "lub you dahlin'."You do realize the world lumps everyone into one big hemp burlap potato sack. The Groovy Whites are tainted with the radioactive stench of the Blood-leaking-arse -Fucking Whites. You don't want that, but it's out of your control. Now it is Fuck You White People.

The Fuck-you-White-People are taking over the world. With the fuck-you-white-people group, no white people are immune to the fall out for their foul odor and rotten genital warts on the face and lips. Even the coolest, grooviest, caring, kind-hearted, sincere white people have Fuck you white people shit stained on their crisp white shirts. There might be exceptions to the shit stain and raw sewage smell which comes from the Fuck You White People. One exception that comes to mind is John Prine. He is just too damn cool (even in death) to ever be lumped in with the shit teeth fuck you white people. 

The Fuck You White People are everywhere: in the gas station line ups, in the cop cars, in political roles, in news broadcasting, in teaching, in nursing, in social media, in celebrity roles, in costumes, in wash-out musicians-actors, in neighborhoods. The fuck you white people are like flies on a dead skunk, dead racoon by the side of the highway, just maggot crawling and foul stench, burning your nostrils and eyes. 

What can be done with the fuck you white people phenomenon? Is it really something not seen in the world before? The Right wing mindset is taking over the world but it has been around since white people have been around. The fuck you white people is not something new: Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Holodomor, Nazism, Zionism, US capitalism, Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump et al. 

I have no answers to the Fuck You White People crisis which is griping the world. The only real thing we can actually do is to not encourage them. This means ignoring them, not engaging in their sewage breathing on social media. I guess if it came to it, you could slash their tires on their Teslas and KIA Sorentos. Personally I would prefer if they would cancel each other out, like Carney, Merz, Netanyahu, Vance meeting in a Thunderdome pit, complete with Gladiator gear. There they would settle things in the most white way possible, after all the Fuck you with People are savage. 

The most iconic way the Fuck You White People could appease the world would be to have a Fuck-Off party. They could line each up to Arse to Plude insert (penis, in the case of Women, have a Fuck-Fist-Off) and continue along those lines. You could start the line with Netanyahu, Trump, Vance, Mitch Mcconnell, Lindsey Graham (dig up his body), Stephen Miller, Henry Kissinger (dig up his ugly corpse), Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld (repulsive ogre), Alecia Beth Moore-Hart, Mayim Bialik, Gal Gadot, Dbra MessingHelen Mirren (old replusive crow), and so many others, that the Fuck You White People train would go on and on. 

The thing with the Fuck You White People label it's a badge of honor for them. Why wouldn't it be, being a Fuck You White People has been working. Raoul Peck had it right when he brought out the documentary series Exterminate All the Brutes. 

An apology for those Thank You White People, you don't need to be lumped in with the Fuck-You-White-People, because you are indeed cool. "What is Fonzie like?" He is Wallace Shawn, she is Miram Margolyes. She is You, the Thank you White People. 

Celebs who have spoken out in support of Palestine

• Annie Lennox
• Amelia Dimoldenberg
• America Ferrera
• Amir Khan
• Ariana Grande
• Ava DuVernay
• Bella Ramsey
• Benedict Wong
• Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas
• Boygenius
• Cardi B
• Cate Blanchett
• Chance The Rapper
• Charles Dance
• Chloe Sevigny
• Dave Chappelle
• David Beckham
• Dua Lipa
• Emily Ratajkowski
• Emma D’Arcy
• Emma Watson
• Ethan Slater
• Frankie Boyle
• Freya Allan
• Gabrielle Union
• Gemma Chan
• Halsey
• Hari Nef
• Hozier
• Hugo Weaving
• Hunter Schafer
• Indya Moore
• India Amarteifio
• Jade Thirlwall
• Jameela Jamil
• Jenna Ortega
• Jesse Williams
• Joaquin Phoenix
• John Cusack
• Jonathan Glazer
• Julia Fox
• Juliet Stevenson
• Karen Gillan
• Kehlani
• Kid Cudi
• Leigh Ann Pinnock
• Lena Headey
• Lewis Hamilton
• Liam Neeson
• Lily James
• Lizzo
• Louis Tomlinson
• Macklemore
• Mahershala Ali
• Melanie Martinez
• Michael Stipe
• Michelle Wolf
• Miriam Margoyles
• Ms Rachel
• Nelly Furtado
• Patti Smith
• Pedro Pascal
• Penelope Cruz
• Perrie Edwards
• Paramore
• Quannah Chasinghorse
• Rachel Zegler
• Ramy Youssef
• Renée Rapp
• Ricky Martin
• Riz Ahmad
• Rosie O’Donnell
• Snoop Dogg
• Stanley Tucci
• Susan Sarandon
• SZA
• Victoria Pedretti
• The Weeknd
• Zara Larsson
• Zayn Malik

Chief Council Seeking Integrity

Politics is a strange sport. I mean you have to promise the sky full with cheese and dip, and you try your hardest to make it seem the "god's honest truth," with sweet peppers in the mix.  It is exactly how it sounds, ridiculous but yet, just maybe, your promise is sincere. I said it before, politicians in general are political prostitutes; sell their honor for a seat at the trough, I mean table. 

It's weird because a lot of "good" people seem to lose the good version of themselves when they are shit-deep in the political sewage tub. It's a smelly mess with political animals. Myself, I did try to wade waste deep in the dung pile as well. I was not sewage ready and lost out. How naive I was. I actually thought I would be able to walk on the shit river without getting sunk in. Now seeing how deep the shit goes, I no longer pout about being shunned in the Reserve. You can't complain if you don't stick your finger in the crack, so I did my finger thing, and now I have free reign to call the pot black and dirty. And boy, don't you know I have mustered out, a few "Sooey, Sooey, Sooey," a time or three.

Today, I was driving home from the Rez and took a cell phone call from a friend. There was frustration from the friend; seems our Chief (and Council) are alienating the masses. It could be due to the blatant favoritism, secrecy, nepotism, wasteful spending, the general lack of respect for the community and each other. It is quite funny, there are pockets of people who actually think the Chief and Council are doing "good jobs." The sad thing about our community is the fact the Chief and Council are nice people. They are the people who will laugh with you, share stories, give you a hearty handshake and tell you what you want to hear. If the job of leadership was to just to be someone to share a good laugh with, these folks would be excellent for the job of leadership. This formula of being affable has its benefits; people look past the lack of transparency with financial decisions, capital purchase decisions and operational deficiencies. 

I was speaking with a member of our local leadership the other day. It was okay, just your mundane daily chats about nothing. The local leader said something which make me look differently at the person. "I don't like Giveaways. People only give the good big things to their friends and give the little stuff to others. Only give to their friends, when I get stuff in a Giveaway I just leave it." In my head I was like, "holy nut bar." This is a leader, someone with such a negative view to see something as good as sharing to see it as a bad thing? It was not the only thing I noticed that day, as this person spoke at the podium of the meeting we were at. It was an Elders' Gathering held for a specific item for the community. The leader wasn't uplifting but rather just put down an entity in our community. An entity that does have a bad reputation, nationally wide. Thing is our community entity has made great strides in their operational delivery. Leadership would know this if they actually took interest, rather than just tear down. 

I heard something disturbing the other day, not sure if it is true or not, rumors go around in a community like fish flies to a light bulb at night. Our community has a housing program, where there are houses provided to families and repairs to older dwellings as well. The leadership is quite known for providing these services to their  immediate, extended families and friends. This is, of course, expected in any community, we get that. However, there should a little fairness to other community members as well. The incident which got my attention was the sibling to one of the leaders is having a dwelling, a  house totaled repaired so the sibling could move from the city to the Reserve. On the surface, "Oh, that's cool, bring them home." The issue is, this sibling has been provided help in the form of mortgage down-payment a number of years ago. The Band, the community, the Leadership provided this sibling with Band funds to able to finance a house in the City of Winnipeg. That is actually a good thing, if the Band could help people, that's great. The issue is, the sibling coming back to the Band trough again. I guess it's not so bad in the big scheme of the universe. The trouble is our community universe is small and resources in our universe are finite, our community has a limit. A limit in terms of Land, people, fresh water and cold stinking cash. How can the Band afford to provide a house, a new dwelling to someone who has a  house already. The fact that this sibling made a living out of selling drugs to their own people for most of  their adult life, is absurd, crazy, disgusting actually. The amount of pain, hurt and community damage done by this person is long lasting. Sure people change and that's awesome, in some cases noble. Still. Not to be begrudge, but it is a scratch to the spine with a thorn from a plum tree, and it stings that this is happening. 

For me, I like our current community leaders for their congeniality but that is it. I have yet to see any integrity. Integrity for the well being of the whole community. I do realize and know the leadership are bombarded with unending requests for this that and a house, but have some awareness leaders. The easy thing for any leader to do is to say "yes, meenagay," or "I'll look into it." To actually consider if their decision is benefitting the community as a whole. I can see they don't act in this manner. Wanting to be nice (and elected again) is not what leadership should be about. It's about having "walking around cash." Just kidding, a former Leader said that before to an administrator about wanting "walking around money," for when they are out and about. This was another institution and not our Reserve, although I have known our Band did have "hero money," for leadership to have when people came begging for hand outs; fifty-dollars here and there. 

The election will be in five months and the community will decide who will they send to the trough, new leaders or the same ones. For me, I wouldn't vote for a single one of them. But sadly it won't matter, as the community has a culture of me, me and my dog. So whoever has given the most or is likely to give the most will be our leadership. Integrity indeed. 

Integrity seeking for both leadership and the electorate. 

To Be Antisemite

 Sean Ward is the person who tried to kill people at the Synagogue in Ontario, Canada. This guy served in Infantry Canadian Armed Forces. It is quite a coincidence the attempted Jewish killer was with the Canadian Military. The Canadian Military seems to attract racists. This guy was targeting Jewish people with his hate. He called himself the "KiteKiller." He could not use the derogatory K-word on the internet gaming sites because of the label being tagged as racist. There are no tears going to be shed for Sean, nope, he made the choice to carry out his hate and fortunately for the Jewish people at the Synagogue, he was killed by police. 

No doubt Sean Ward found like minded racists in the Military. The Canadian Military seems to breed racists. This former solider can be labeled an antisemite. The Antisemite label is for people who are racists towards the religious followers of Judaism, known as Jews. How someone knows what religion a person follows must be a gift. I mean how do you know? There must be clues, like wearing a Kippa for men (the skull cap) or scarves for Women. Quite something isn't it, just think Jews were forced to wear hats to identify them. There are other people who do wear head gear or other items which makes it easier to identify their religious beliefs; Turbans, Feathered Headdresses, Hijabs, Cassocks, Kufis. For me, I remember the tv show "The Flying Nun." I did go to the Indian Residential school but the Nuns there, didn't have the big wings like Sally Fields of the Flying Nun. The Nuns word scowls and crosses on their necks, along with the Habit. So for me, if I was to be targeting a Jewish person with hate, I wouldn't know how they look. So I guess lurking around the Synagogue would be the first clue to who is a Jewish person. For the life of me, I never could understand why people don't like the Jews? What did they do, kill God or something? 

The hate for Jewish people must be really something, there is a specific word dedicated for the type of racism aimed at them. Maybe there had to be a word made for the hate because being Jewish is not really an ethnic group or race. So can you really call it racism? I guess Antisemite is more specific. Is it though? I mean are the Jewish people Semitic? Whether Jews are Ashkenazi or Semitic does not change that hate is hate. Jewish people, European or American are targets for hate filled arseholes. Religious groups are targeted by people with hate and anger. The thing is if you don't know the religious symbols, you might attack the wrong religious person. There are cases where Sikh men have been killed because the misguided bigots thought they were Muslim. That's the thing right, you have to know something about religious beliefs and symbols to target the right people for your hate. You wish to be an Antisemite, you have to know your Kippa from your Kirpan. 

You know I hear the Antisemite chant a lot these days. The B'nai Birth of Canada are saying the number of hate filled attacks against Jews is rising. Lot of that is linked to the Genocide being committed by Israel. The Zionists are making people feel ugly towards Jews. Jews and Zionists are not the same. Zionism is not a faith, while Judaism is the faith, the Jewish faith, but I could be wrong. I don't equate Jews with Israel, not really. Am I antisemitic because I vehemently oppose the genocide of Palestine, the Women, the children being massacred daily by Israel. It if does, then colour me Antisemitic. I can't in any shape or form believe standing up for people in Palestine is wrong or based of hatred. It is beyond repugnant to equate any kind of argument for genocide as being antisemitic. Who knew Pink was religious? We never know who is of Jewish faith, do we? I was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church as a baby. I am not Catholic, I follow Anishinaabe Traditional Teachings, also called a "Traditional." Natives (Indians), Blacks, People of Colour are targeted daily for their race, their ethnicity and it is based on racism. I think there are different words for that kind of hate; xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, bigotry. There should be a word for specific groups as well, this way society knows who the hate is aimed at, and not just a general hate. We all know who is the target when we say antisemitic, but what if you hate Black people? Maybe we can call it Negrophobia? No that is not a cool thing to say. It in itself is an ugly label. What about a word for the hate of Latinos? They were called Beaners and it may still be a label used in the United States. Again this is not cool, it is a label for sure, a real racist term. Indians, what do we use to say racism, hate against Natives; Redskin, Squaw or Wagon-burners? Nope that is opposite of terms used to describe racism to a specific group not to add a racist term to identify them. 

Jewish groups are doing a disservice to themselves by labelling everyone and antisemite. The word loses its "umph." It is like the word racist in today's society. People are proud of their racism, so calling them that, is no longer an insult or a call out. "I'm racist, so what of it?" Telling everyone they are antisemite for caring about Palestine just alienates them. The world is in a battle not of right and wrong but of "who is harmed more." The thing is hate hurts no matter who.  As the crazy of the Earth we act selfishly. Even in the midst of ugly hate, killing, and choices, we will make it about who is winning the victim contest. "We suffer more than everyone else."

Cracked Cups - Broken Cups

 The Japanese have a practice call Kintsugi.  Kintsugi is the art of "fixing" broken pottery, making it look even more beautiful with the repairs which have been made. It is also a telling, not throwing something away because it is broken. 

"As a life philosophy, kintsugi argues that the places where things have cracked and been repaired are not failures. They are evidence of a history that has been lived. Difficulty, loss, rupture: these are not things to hide. They are things that, when attended to honestly, become part of what makes a person or a relationship or a period of life worth understanding."

It is a cool way to look at something broken, maybe even if we look at it in our own lives. I see this in many of us, we are cracked, some of us are broken and even some of us are smashed; smashed to pieces. Can there be a fixing if the piece is smashed to pieces? Do we even recognize if something is cracked or broken, and if it is, do we adjust our view of it?

shutterstock.com

So what do we do with people who are cracked? Society labels them cracked and treats them accordingly. The police are the hands of society. The hands of society is rough. "Man-handled" is a soft term to describe the treatment of the cracked. Thing is, some cracks can be fixed like the Japanese art of redemption-Kintsugi. In Canada, and the United States we really don't do that kind of thing. If it's broken, well fuck it, toss it, in some cases "have at it," smash it even more. 

We tend to view the cracked as ugly, don't we? It has no purpose, can't be fixed, no redeeming qualities in something broken, is there? Try pick up the Cracked and you could get hurt, maybe get a cut from the jagged edges.  Japanese society seems to know there is redemption, even beauty in  the Cracked. So much so, they give energy and time to fixing what is cracked, what is broken. What a way to see the Cracked, isn't it. 

Indigenous people have been cracked with all that colonial bullshit that happened and is still going on.

Interacting with the Cracked, is a matter of how we see and approach the Cracked. Maybe the Cracked can be fixed or mended, who knows. All I know is we have a bias towards the Cracked. Where we see this most often is by the actions of the First Responders (Police, Ambulance), the decisions makers and then the "everyday Karen and Karl" on the street. There are no shortages of jokes, complaints, insults regarding the Cracked being played out in social media, television shows-sitcoms-movies and in the news. The Cracked is a target for everyone. 

So how do we see the redeeming qualities in the Cracked, the slightly chipped cups and the broken cups? 

There are many many many reasons for a cup being chipped, cracked, broken and smashed beyond recognition. We can name them, the reasons of course, but in the end the reasons come down to a multitude of actions, of years, of held beliefs, of seeing, and imbedded in laws. Now how do we go about with Kintsugi, with fixing the broken, the cracked cups? I don't think it is up to us to fix the broken, we don't have control over them. What we can do is this: Stop being a fucking arsehole to them, the cracked cups. Stop looking down on them, judging the fuck out of them. Maybe instead of choking them, kicking them, spitting on them, ignoring their existence, instead of killing them,we acknowledge them cups, as people, as a human being. That's a start. We need to see the person behind all the shards of broken glass (cup material). How the heck do we do that?

We need to exercise. Exercise our compassion. With any thing we do, we have to keep repeating and repeating until we can get it right. It may not be perfectly right but it's better than where we started. We have to look at them as a vessel that is incapable of holding anything anymore. It has to be hard for cops, they see the broken, the cracked cups everyday. It must be difficult to see humanity in the damaged. I guess it's a way to protect themselves from getting cut by the shrapnel of broken glass (people get it). 

In the end we all have chips, cracks and are broken. Does that mean we are beyond use? Beyond fixing? Beyond compassion?  

We need to be aware of our bias, conscious and unconscious bias. Our ugly view of the cracked. Be like Johnny Cash and wear Black. "Well, you know Johnny always wore black, and he wore black 'cause he identified with the poor and the downtrodden..." 

Maybe God will cut down those who step on the cracked cups. 

How Beautiful We Are: Anishinaabek

 This morning, I drank my Earl Grey tea and watched a little film; "If anything happens, I love you." I had seen this little film before and for some reason I watched it again. I was sitting propped up with a number of fluffy pillows in the King sized bed, drinking Earl Grey and scanning through titles of shows and films. I was not sure of where I was going with the aimless channel flicking and searching and what my emotional state was in. But there it was, picked a little animated show of 12 minutes in an obscure category of  Netflix listings. I watched it and it made me cry and reflect. The show demonstrates the grieving parents of a horrible incident; school shooting. It made me cry for our loss. Yeah, it's been 21 years this August that my dear boy, ended his life by chosen to hang himself. Still this took me somewhere else, I don't cry in the conventional sense, sobbing and bring tears. I'm medicated everyday so tears don't come anymore, but deep sadness and emotion is still there, it is in the back of my eyeballs. A pain of burning happens behind the top part of my eyes. 

Yesterday, it started off pretty good. I was up early, drove to the Reserve, which takes me a hour and a half to get there. So it's an hour of talk radio, CBC morning show and the University of Manitoba radio show. I like to listen to talking and move on to my music play list: John Prine, Lyle Lovett, Tom Waits, Watchhouse, Chris Smithers, the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison and lots of old radio rock. When I got to work, I started with Sage Smudge. There is a beautiful Eagle carved staff hanging in the reception area, I am tasked with smudging the Staff. It is soothing and cool, I feel. It gives me the opportunity to smudge myself. It makes me feel good, you know what I mean? Anyways the day started off like that. I could hear some of my colleagues laughing amongst each other and this brings me joy. A few of my co-workers were getting ready to go pick Grandfathers (M'shoois Asin), you may know them as rocks. When a local Knowledge Keeper came with his truck to hook up the trailer to go haul the Grandfathers. It became apparent that damage had taken place. Someone, (burned me up) came and stole the battery for the jack mechanism of the trailer. The trailer needs an electric jack to lift up because the trailer is heavy and cannot be picked up an individual to hook the trailer to the hitch on the truck. Not only did some individual steel the battery, but the cut all the electrical wires and took them. Can you imagine, and the thing is, this trailer was one week old, it was just purchase by the community Health Centre. This was extremely disheartening. A lot of theft and destruction is going on in the community. At the Powwow Arbor, there was a new wiring system put in the MC stand and a solar panel system put into the Arbor, and some individual came and destroyed the new electrical system and stole the four thousand dollar system for the solar panels. This didn't feel good. It feels really ugly actually. 

The fact is, there are so many good things and happenings going on in the Reserve. These ugly incidents are dark cold clouds on our shining sun-filled community and people. It is enough to make you say, "Jesus Maggot Christ sakes," and go on a running-over-Reserve-dogs-rampage. But nope, as the great Bahai' says, "Hey you know what, Maanoo." Actually the Bahai' Faith do not say Maanoo but Bahai' says a lot of cool shit. Maanoo is an Anishinaabe saying used by the Old people in the community, it is a way of thinking, "let it go," or as the Italians in the movies says, "Fuhgeddaboudit." Maanoo is still used but not very much these days. Seems it is a way of thinking that was exclusive to the Old people. Not that we don't have old people now, but I'm talking Older Old People, those ones. They used to say stuff like "Yoohoo" when in conversation with you. No one says that anymore. In any case sometimes bad shit goes on. It can ruin us or we can side-step it. Like deceased Elder Ken, once said, "if you're walking and see shit on the street, do you step in it?" We are going to have dark cloud days, but there is going to be sunshine as well. 

Our community is experiencing some hardships, there is no doubt. In the midst of those hardships there is the movement of Mino-Bimaadiziwin, the Good Life. Many Reserves - Native communities are igniting flames of Traditional life, Traditional Beliefs, Traditional Languages, through Traditional Teachings and Celebrating their heritage. 

It is beautiful, the Anishinaabe - the people. It is the Traditional Teachings, the Language, the world view, Anisinaabe will bring about the Good Life. I love being Anishinaabe. One of the things we hear when our People pray, is to give Thanks. We give thanks for the Earth and all the Relatives we have here on Earth. It's funny, we have everything, I mean everything we need from the Earth, but yet, human beings want more. For fuck sakes wanting stuff for the sake of having it, is what is killing us. The Earth will survive but maybe we won't and that is not the Earth's fault. How wonderous is it how a world exists at all. To have the miracles of life, living beings in this world, now you have to admit that's fucking awesome. It's beautiful how Indigenous people see the World, as all connected. Fuck those who just exploit, how sick are they. Not sick in something they have no control over, but sick in the choice of how they see the world. 

Like any person, I get tired too. I can choose to focus on what is wrong: the wickedness, the depraved, the greed and the overall selfishness of individuals. The whole living as an Indian brings me back. There is always something, someone who will bring you back to seeing the Good in Life, good in the world. When I see those young singers at the Drum and how they choose to interact with the Drum is a blessing. You see, they, the Indigenous people see everything as a Relative, and the Drum is a relative. It's built into the Language, the Drum in the Anishinaabe language is a living relative, not a "thing." How beautiful is it to see the world as having so many relatives and being connected to them? 

How Beautiful We Are: Anishinaabek. It's not a question, it's a fact. 

Red Bull - Whistled - 

Through Indian Eyes

 

I purchased this book many moons ago. It is a good book. Not sure of how it would be received today. As a kid, a young adult and now an older adult, I still value Indians in media, in sports, in television, in movies and in the spotlight. Another book I did enjoy was Mitakuye Oyasin: We Are All Related, by AC Ross. I did get to meet him a couple of times so that was cool. The first time was a conference at the Lethbridge University, Ross was a speaker. Phil Lane Jr was the host of the conference and it was the launch of the Four World's Institute. If you ever get the opportunity to go on the internet, search the title We are All Related, find a book store and be able to order the book for about fifteen bucks, do it. The read is interesting. Some things you may find far fetched, maybe weird, but look past that and grab the nuggets of gold the reading offers. You will decide to wish me good feelings and gratitude for sending you to the reading. You will end up quoting, "the world is going to shake like a  dog and shed its fleas." End of the world baby, end of the world (but not the way you think).  

I have been missing Ceremony in my life. Of course I have attended a few this year, but somehow I miss Ceremony. I was at a Ceremony a couple of weeks ago, and man did I feel really good listening to the Knowledgeable ones.  There is much to be said about hearing good words, good advice, good Teachings. I do see things, like the good in others. It takes practice. Practice to look for the good. I think looking for the good in people is in fact Looking Through Indian Eyes. That is about Looking Through Indian Eyes, you look for the good. Thing is not everyone is good. 

You really think Indians are the bad ones? Geez that sucks, sucks the ugly one, on how white people (and others) can't see through Indian eyes.  If you could see Through Indian Eyes, you would see beauty. The beauty of the Children, the Sky, the Earth, the Water. You wouldn't see money in everything, you wouldn't admire greed. 

If you ever get a chance to hear Indian Words,  you will hear good. You will hear them saying Thank You. Even when Indians are praying, it's always about being Thankful. Being blessed for a Gakina, everything and everyone. The People have everything they need on Earth. Why ask for more? Oh but wait, you didn't win the lottery, so you asking the God, the Allah, the Waheguru, the Jehovah, Bog, Dio and so on, to give you something? You want to win a game, so you ask in Jesus name to be on your side? Bombing people, you pray your aim is true and kill those children at school. I hope your prayers are not answered, but that's not right for me to speak like that. I do hope your eyes and ears do open. 

Through Indian Eyes is living as Anishinaabe. I wonder if I look Through Indian Eyes. I mean, I should look through Indian eyes, after all I'm Indian, Anishinaabe, one of the people. I was with my Dad driving through the mean streets of Winnipeg and we were in an area with many an Indian living "hand to mouth." They are the hurting ones, the homeless, the ill, the addicted, the challenged and we saw them. My Dad was old at this time, starting spiral of dementia. He looked sadly at the Indians on the street and started speaking Anishinaabemowin. I made out the words, Gidimaazinaagozi, they are pitiful. I loved my Dad, never said it to him, ever (legacy of Indian Boarding Schools). Dad was hurt for his people, our relatives - Indinawegaamaganidog. Through Indian Eyes, you see other human beings, not the dregs of society. Society sees them as lesser.  

You know many of Indians are not looking Through Indian Eyes. The results of not looking Through Indian Eyes, we knock each other down. We blast those trying to live the Good Life. 

Through Indian Eyes is living Mino-Bimaadiziwin, seeing everything as our Relative. If we see everyone as our Relative, we are going to try and treat them good. 

Are we looking Through Indian Eyes today? Can we learn to see look Through Indian Eyes, if we are not Indian or we were not raised Indian?