Just A Person Standing In Front Of Family

 "I come to you from a good place in my Heart." The other day I went for dinner to celebrate the 75th birthday of my sister-in-law. Family came from different parts of Canada to visit as well. The dinner was very nice. For me an impressive part of the dinner was not that she made it 75 (she is quite healthy and no doubt be healthy for some time to come), but it was the visiting; sharing smiles, sharing laughs and hugs. They are a huggie bunch my in-law family. I always tell my wife it was the best thing for me to become part of her family, they are some of the bestest nicest people I have ever met, and I have met loads of folks. 

It never ceases to touch my heart and amaze me when someone can stand up and say good things to their family member. This was alien to my family. Not saying my family was not good or nice, just saying there was no outward expression of love. My family did love us, no doubt. Their way of showing love was feeding you, housing you, clothing you, protecting you and doing activities with you. They just never voiced it. Of course hugs, kisses were there for the babies but not for the bigger kids. I know it was the experiences of being taken away from family and growing up in an institution of the Residential School. It is funny because a place that preaches love, kindness, charity had broken those ideals from the children they were in charge of. Those same children grew up not knowing the hug, the praise, the love they were suppose to have from their parents. Of course they are going to be a product of their environment. So the good things a family member says about another family member is heard mainly at the funeral service of the person.  And usually it is only one or two voices which are chosen to speak at the funeral. I wonder if those life-less-shells can hear the good words being said about and to them?  

At the dinner my nephew got up and spoke to the family. He spoke of family and he spoke of, and to his mother. It was so heartfelt without being mushy or over the top. His older brother got up and spoke as well. It was so uplifting to hear the feelings they shared publicly. I often think about this Elder who said to me: "The hardest thing is to pick up a Pipe in front of your family." I know now, what the Elder was telling me and there is a lot to unpack there. My nephews got up and spoke with open hearts. They shared their wisdom, their beliefs, their feelings, their love in the moment. Usually those moments of public sharing is left to the "experts." We tend to look at strangers publicly speaking as the experts, the sincere ones. Why do we do this, accept words from the stranger rather than the known one, our own? The old "can't be a prophet in your hometown" axiom, I guess.

There are some traditions we should break. One of them is not being able to say good things from our heart to our family members. We shouldn't have to wait for them to be a lifeless corpse. Still even doing that is hard for many of us. I am sure there are many families who can sit together praise each other openly, pray aloud in front of each other, but for some this is alien. That is the weird part, the Traditional way of life, the Spiritual practices were not in secret. Well not until it became against the law and for the forced Christian conversion. This is where things got weird. You see, in the Sweat Lodge Ceremony and many other Ceremonies, words are shared openly. This means your heart, whether it is broken, hurting is shared with everyone. Your life is in the open. Unlike the confines of a Church Confessional  booth, where your heart sharing is in secret. Now that is wild eh? With the resurgence of Traditional Spiritual practices taking place in Indian country, there are more and more breaking the norms of secrecy. So what you see is more individuals willing to stand in front of family members, in front of community to share and open their heart. For many openly speaking in front of family and sharing their heart is normal but for many it is a new experience. It is not due to them not having an open heart but due to the normalization of being shut down. We are voicing our open hearts and our children will hear it. 

Shooting the Poop with You

 Picked up my wife from her work and we visited as we drove. We spoke about the downtown Hudson Bay store being taken over the Indians. We both acknowledged the targeted visceral anger and hatred to Indians in social media. The news story sparked a feeding frenzy of racist sharks; their attacks were fast and vicious. Just a normal day as we laughed a bit about people. Suz (my wife) borrowed twenty bucks off her friend at work. The friend started to tell her about her night before. She and her spouse went for supper (dinner for those who don't know) at Boston Pizza. After their dinner, she stopped to play a few slots (gambling slot machines which are abundant in Winnipeg licensed establishments). As she was playing an old white woman (who said she had worked in the WHRA for forty years-Winnipeg Regional Health Authority) started chatting her up. The old white lady says to her, "Child Tax?" Child Tax is a benefit provided by the Canadian government to families and sent out monthly. Anyways...the friend told the old white lady, "I work in government as well." The old lady goes on to say, "I didn't mean anything by it," (the assumption she was spending the tax child benefit.) Of course she, the old white lady didn't, it is normal mindset for many not to acknowledge their bigotry. I am being sarcastic, just in case the "of course she didn't" came off as I believed that she sincerely didn't mean anything by it. Me and my wife said, "could be she was using Child Tax at the slots, but still." 

People are so funny with their everyday beliefs which can only be founded in stereotypes, racism and privilege. My wife and me ( I know I should have said I instead of me, but I'm Ojibwe me) laughed hard at her friend's story. It reminded us of "are you Peggy?" Are you Peggy story is the time a Roman Catholic priest went up to my wife and son on a public street in downtown Winnipeg.  My son who is a brown Indian man, was meeting his Mom to give her money. My son had a wad of cash in his hand as the "Father" asked if he was Peggy. The Priest was actually asking if my son was begging. Such a benevolent and charitable man that Father. 

A cousin of mine died yesterday. He was getting sick for awhile now. Blew out his liver from the drink. I was just thinking about how much fun he was. I was glad to get to know him pretty good through working together. In the Reserve you know lot of people and most of your relatives, but in some cases you don't get to know them really intimately. We shared some good times. He was of course closer to others and I imagine they have some great stories about him. This cousin, Bunny (sounds like Bun-eh) was telling me a story about my brother Pancho (sounds like Pon-cho) when they were younger. Bunny was having fun with the same woman my brother was with. My brother was kind of a tough guy. My cousin said he phoned the woman (she was already married to Sonny) he was fooling around with. When the phone was answered, it was a familiar voice;  "Hello" my brother Pancho said. My cousin Bunny didn't say anything, he just listened, as quickly as the hello went unanswered, came "Who the fuck is this" asked Pancho in a mean voice.  Bunny laughing away as he said, "I hanged up with a very quiet click."  We had a good laugh over this. My cousin was a slickster. 

Was at Surplus Direct today to get some runners (sneakers) for my grandson. The checkout line was long. Surplus Direct is one of those little shops which sells discounted "seconds" from big stores like Costco. So as I was in line a couple of young Neechie girls came in. The one girl leaves her bag at the front as there is a sign advising to do so. They walked around the little store. You could hear the other girl say to her, "Good, I never even knew this was here." They looked around, got the bag from the check out and left. I was a ways from the check out but I am pretty sure one the women at the checkout said to her co-worker, "Bet they are up to no good." I looked and no one in the line noticed or batted an eye over the comments. I was thinking, I heard it, I am going to tell them off. By the time I got to the till the moment had gone, I just kept it to myself. I regret it, no matter that the moment had gone. It did validate my thinking that this must be such a common thing so no one even notices. It is racism. We are so conditioned to it, it doesn't phase the public anymore. But I imagine, "she didn't mean anything by it." Bless her little white heart. 

A couple of weeks ago, I went to visit my cousins Stephanie and Charolette; they live in Selkirk Manitoba. I really enjoyed the visit because no one is really visiting right now (you know the old COVID thing and the fact we are old lazy folks). As we get older we have difficulty; difficulty in making new friends. Heck, it's hard enough keeping in touch with old friends, family, never mind fostering new relationships. I want to make friends with Muslims, Ukrainians, Russians, Black people and other Neechies but how do you go about it. I had this idea before about setting up time to sit in a coffee house and advertise; "Hey want to meet an Indian, well just come down to X-Cues and sit with one, chat and ask what you wish." I thought it would be a good idea. 

Speaking of Child Tax Benefit, my Wife sent me to Wally-mart to get some Ritz crackers for our girl's school day. It was kind of late in the evening. There was an Indian Woman with two young girls with her. So I walked up to her and said "Anishinaabem na?" She said "Eh ha." So I asked her if she wanted a ride home, no charge. She said okay. So we loaded her stuff in the car and took her home. I came back to Wally-mart and was walking in when this Indian guy waved me over. He said "Are you a taxi, I saw you giving a ride to the Woman." I told him "No, I just give rides to Neechies, can't really trust the cabs." The taxi industry in Winnipeg has had some issues with Indian fares; some sexual harassment of Women. So he asked me for a ride. So I sent him to my car to load his stuff and I ran for the Ritz. I asked him where he wanted to go, so he got me to take him downtown Winnipeg. We got to the apartment and I opened the trunk and  he said "No, that's my stuff. I'm just dropping off money for my aunty, paying her back." So I says "Oh okay." While he went visiting his Aunty I waited in the car. He came back about 10 or 15 minutes later and I asked him where he lived, I ended up taking him to south Winnipeg, which was a good drive. It was closer to where we left Walmart in the first place. I went home  and the wife was sitting around with her phone and said, "Three hours? I was worried and you didn't phone?" I had left my phone at home because it was only a ten minute trip to Wally-mart. But the point is the guy pulled a good one on me, he pulled an "Indian."  I could laugh about with my wife because she was upset at the time.

Anyways you take care, just wanted to shoot the shit with you today.  

G'waabaamin sa.

Uncertain about the Uncertainty

 "...How would our Ancestors (Anishinaabek) have responded to these times? They would be calm and approach things with gentleness and confidence. They would say we are not alone and we have never been alone, the Ancestors are here with us to take us forward. They would say, why are you afraid? Do you not believe? Did you really think you were in control and can overpower nature? These are natural consequences that we have helped create. Nature is only returning the poisons we have put into her. The abuse we have inflicted on her. It is a time of reckoning now..."  Elder Dave Courchene Jr. Turtle Lodge 

There is so much uncertainty in our lives: massive forest fires; flash flooding; will Cancer get me; can we earn money to feed and house ourselves; trying to stay alive and free from sickness; hoping to not be shot  by a cop; hoping not to be shot while going to school; hoping not to be shot at a movie, not to be shot at a nightclub; having a spouse with homicidal leanings; worrying about being on a flight with a pilot who decides to fly into a mountain; getting some type of sexual transmitted disease; not having a crazy neighbor who measures lawn height; worried about a pack of dogs eating us; the possibility of swallowing a fly that just came out of outhouse; walking in public with toilet paper hanging out the back of our pants or stuck to our shoe, getting hemorrhoids. The uncertainties we face our numerous. So how in the heck do we cope with the feelings which come from uncertainty? It is worrisome to many that is for sure. We have the "could have been me" thoughts when a bad situation occurs somewhere. It could have been me getting bit in the neck by the white tiger named Mantacore and then carried away like a squeaky toy.  Instead it was Roy, who was bit in the neck and by the grace of all that is holy, was not me. 

There's an old Native proverb which goes like this: "Only the Squirrel eats nuts thrown on the ground, while the Hawk doesn't eat nuts." It reminds of the fact a garden snake is non-venomous but people will bring out their rakes and hoes to cut the snake to pieces when they see one. Hank Williams Jr fell down a rock cliff and damaged his face. George Strait 13 year old daughter died in a car accident and Willie Nelson's son hanged himself. The uncertainty of life can be felt by anyone. I think about Bob Gainey, the manager of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. His daughter was swept of the deck of a Tall Ship in a storm and never found. The common house spider is actually good for your home but you will kill it on sight. Maybe you are uncertain of the type of spider, and uncertain about its bite. The real bite which is an uncertainty is the bite, well really a sting, of a Bee. The Bee of all things which can bring life to an end by ceasing to be, because it is a keystone species. What a tippy topple way for life to be. Can we even plan for the uncertainties in life? 

Uncertainty is our world no doubt. Which uncertainty has you wondering? I fell for a sales pitch, well almost fell for it.  On Facebook there was this post from a City Councilor which showed him getting a free emergency kit. All you had to do was register for it. Anyways the company called the house and set up a date and time to bring over the kit. Turns out there was a presentation you had to listen lasted 2 hours and was a smoke fire detector sales. The presentation was filled with numbers, videos of devastation with home fires. The pitch is really effective. You are left feeling uncertain, feeling afraid. The last sales pitch is "how much is a life worth?"  The smoke detector package is about $4000.00. The thing about uncertainty is it can be pricey. I could not afford the $4000 for the 7 detectors.  I had our house vent system vacuumed a while back and the guy asked me if I wanted to spray the vents with some kind of chemical. I said "no thank you" and he said "well it's your family." I had read the vent vacuum and chemical were not really proven to help air quality in the home. So not sure if I will have vents done again. When marketers call the house and do the sales pitch for vacuuming vents, I just tell them I had it done a month ago. 

I know I will fall prey to uncertainties of life, but for now I am just going to try focus on having enough gas in the car, some water bottles, a fire extinguisher, a charged up cell phone and dog food. It's all we can do in this time of uncertainty; war, climate change, extremism, and social media. I think Dave Courchene Jr said it very well, "to approach things with gentleness and confidence." If Dave Courchene Jr was not a Traditional Teacher and Elder, you would think he was a practitioner of Taoism; Nothing lasts forever. Everything comes and goes. What goes up, must come down. Go with the flow. "The basic principle of Taoism is that animals, plants, and humans should live in balance with the world around them."  This is also the tenants of Indigenous way of life. It is wonderous how people with a strong belief system can meet uncertainties without the worry. 

Will Smith Smite the Rock

 Will Smith walked on a live television show and slapped Chris Rock in the face. Chris Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's bald head. The next thing was Chris Rock told the crowd that Smith smacked him and then Will Smith swears at Rock to keep his wife's name out of his mouth. 

Lot of discussion going on about the integrity of Smith to protect his wife. Smith won an Oscar award later on and with his speech talked about having to protect family from all the attacks they are getting. No word from Chris Rock on what his thoughts were on being slapped for a relatively lame or tame joke. 

I don't condemn Smith for slapping Chris Rock. Heck sometimes a slap has to happen. I do commend Rock for keeping a cool demeanor. If you want to see cool in action, just watch Rock after being assaulted, humiliated on international live television. I do condemn Smith for trying to rationalize his actions when he was presented an Oscar. How he tried to tie it to the protective role he played in the movie about the tennis stars, the Williams sisters. How he tried to play victim and portray Rock as the villain. That was quite disgusting. 

Smith demonstrated a person not willing to accept responsibility. The world saw it. He walked a number of steps and struck a man who's career is made up of making jokes about people. Smith then walked back to his seat and all the while, he did in a swagger. He sat down and started swearing with real anger in his voice at Rock. There is no video of his wife's face when all this is going on, so we don't know if she is condoning his reaction or not. 

The thing I wonder is (to quote John Prine), do we talk about it or not talk about it? I mean Jada has made it public about her hair loss. So now is the thing, does Jada want her situation to be quiet and ignored of does she embrace it and be treated normally? It might be bad taste and even disgusting to make jokes about something which someone is experiencing, but what should the reaction be to the joke? It seems weird that Jada can bring attention to her situation but expect no reaction, no talk about it?  So do we pretend it doesn't exist, the hair loss? Do we dance around the subject or do we be open about it, speak of it and perhaps even joke about it? 

As for Chris Rock, I don't know whether or not he knew about the hair loss thing or he has it out for the Smiths. In the past he has had them on his radar and poke fun at them. So maybe there is something more going on between the Smiths and the Rocks? 

I tell you about Neechies, the slap is going to happen. You tease too much or at the wrong time a slap is expected. At the same time jokes are going to happen. People are made fun for their "situations, their issues" all the time. Like this friend of ours in the community was crippled in a car accident. He lost the use of his legs and was wheelchair bound. He still went on to host people and to party at his home. His friends would say "are you going to go over to cripple creek tonight?" For the fact the crippled friend would sometimes have his piss-bag leak all over the floor when he was drinking. 

Send In The White Looking Indians First

Me & Suz as youngsters

For all of my life I have resented the fact I look like a white man. It is my Jesus-viciously-nailed-to-the-cross to bear. Not saying being called white man by your relatives is close to being nailed through the hands on a big wooden cross, but it still hurts that is for sure. Not bleeding to death painful but hurt my feelings really bad, hurtful. Hurt like when you get a paper cut in between your fingers, that kind of pain. I am aware of my looks and how it reflects my attitudes and my actions in life. I wore my face like a curse. I didn't see myself as a white guy. So when I was accused or tagged as a white guy, it was belittling to me and shameful to me not being mistaken for Jay Silverheels or George Armstrong. I mean, if you look at Jay or George there is no mistaking them for being Indian (Indians of North America, those kind of Indians, you know woowoo woowoo Indians). They fit the image associated as the Indian. 

Society is still stuck on the image of the wild noble savage as the prime Indian. The perfect specimen of Indian should only look one way.  Beautiful bronze toned skin, a greasy head of long hair in braids, a feather on our head and the bare chest. For Indian Women it is the beautiful brown maiden with buckskin on her fine frame of a body. Over time the feather and buckskin is not really the identifier white people look for, they still look for the Indian look: brown face, black hair, sharp boned face (little do they know many Indians have round faces now. We say they are round and brown). The reason for this is white folk want to know who they are dealing with. You see, the white person needs to know they are superior to all others. In this way white folk can treat Indians accordingly, at the lower tier. Standing is a real concept in society and it can be a sweet limo ride for some while it can be a barefoot walk on gravel roads for others. With the lower tier, there is the absence of privilege or benefit of doubt; your word, you standing is not worth as much as the white folk. This standing is used against you, the Indian (also the Black, the Person of Colour) in all types of settings. 

Me & Earl Youngsters

I was renting a trailer from Moxley Rentals in Osborne Village in Winnipeg. Osborne Village is an eclectic community in the City of Winnipeg. lot of hipsters, travelers, youngsters, and some environmentalists.  I was with my friend Earl when we went to the little business shop.  Now Earl is not me, he is one dark Indian. So I went into the rental place to rent the trailer. The older white guy greeted me in a friendly manner. Earl entered behind me and I could see the old white man change at the moment. His friendly looking face dropped and his body stiffened. I noticed right away. Earl didn't seem to take notice as he was just looking around the shop. Lot of tools, machines, vacuums and things to rent. The old man went to do the paper work and I turned to Earl and said "that old man is racist." Speaking of my friend Earl, he got very sick within the last two years. I really thought he was not going to last days, never mind weeks or the last two years. Anyways, he was in and out of the hospital for long periods of time. He would leave the hospital go back to the Reserve and get sick again. One of the nights he got sick, his brother Buddy drove him in the City to the hospital emergency. Buddy phoned me to let me know he was at emergency with Earl. So I went to see them. There were no visitors allowed because of the COVID restrictions. Buddy had been sitting in his truck out in the parking lot for a couple of hours. When I got there, I went sit with him and asked him questions. He couldn't answer because he couldn't get anyone to talk to him at the hospital. So I decided to go and see what was going on, because no use letting Buddy sit out in the parking lot while it was winter in Winnipeg. I went in and talked to security. Security went and got the Nurse. I asked them why they weren't letting Buddy know what was going on, should he just wait or got back home, is what I asked. The nurse said they were going to keep Earl and for Buddy to go home. Now why they couldn't tell Buddy that is of course weird. So I went and let Buddy know. We laughed about sending in the white guy (me) to get answers. Buddy says "I knew to send in the white guy." I said maybe it was because it was an "old white guy" too. 

I never liked to admit I have privilege. Because admitting that would mean I am somehow the lesser Indian and no one likes to be lesser. But I know it is an advantage, not only for me, but for other Indians because we can use that privilege to fight those who hold the privilege to begin with, you dig? I am not going to let white society determine who I am, heck with that noise. So I wear privilege as an armor for my relatives, my family. It doesn't make me less or more. I am my community, my family, my people. So I say to you fuck it, send in the white looking Indian first.     

Suz & Me being oldsters 

In battle they get shot first anyways (but they can also get a good table at the restaurant or a decent room at the hotel). 

They Look Like Us

When you identify with folks it's a good thing. You feel for them. You empathize and you sympathize with them. You can walk in their shoes. This is the driving force of support for things that happen in the world. If we can see ourselves in their shoes we can feel for them and with those feelings we may act upon them. Like donating to a cause, or traveling to a capital city and camping out for a month (because you don't want to wear a mask). I remember when a hockey players team bus was smashed to bits by a semi-trailer. The deaths of so many young men caused the world to react. A fund raising effort for those 16 souls killed in the accident raised 10.5 million dollars, a record amount in Canada. There are so many Go-Fund me causes taking place the world over but this specific cause touched people in their hearts and more importantly in their wallets and purses.  It really resonated in the hearts of people. People grieved collectively for the young men. People the world over could identify; "they look like us." 

Russia, under the orders of Vladimir Putin is using his military to invade the Ukraine. The news is constant with hourly updates of what is taking place. The United Nations is having emergency meetings, while Nations are imposing "economic sanctions" on Russia; Banks are locking down access to their systems, air-space is being denied around Russia, pipeline agreements are being cancelled, and personal assets of the rich Russians are being frozen. Lot of action behind the war scenes are taking place. Even the neutral, "we not see nothing" Switzerland has taken the step to keep Russian money for now. Some of the rich Russian's are starting to worry. They are worrying for their cash so much they have spoken out publicly against the war. One is even pleading in the press for Putin to reconsider his war. Yes, they have spoken out publicly against Putin, now that is something. They are so afraid of losing their деньги - bank roll, they will risk Novichok nerve agent poisoning; Putin's favorite method of getting rid of his pesky critics. The non-military attack by much of the "modern world" on Putin has been swift.  People are sending money, cryptocurrency to the Ukraine. In a few days 23 million had been raised. Individuals from other countries with no links to the Ukraine have volunteered to join military action. A young Canadian man left his wife and three children for the chance to fight for the Ukraine. When asked why, he said "they are Human Beings." There are calls for prayers flooding social media. If you can't fight well at least you could pray. Of course it is, after-all the people of Ukraine, "they look like us." 

While the world, the "modern world" is stressed out, panicking, suffering over the Ukraine invasion by Russia, there are some people who are not part of their empathy, their sympathy . European countries have a base of European people as their main population. There has been immigration by non-European (Black and Brown) countries into these European countries. The immigration has not been well received and is unwanted. Now there is an immigration movement erupting from the Ukraine. Poland is a border country of the Ukraine and Poland is going to open its country doors to those Ukrainians fleeing the war. The door is open but not to the African looking Ukrainians. Which is pretty sad and ugly, when they, the African Ukrainians are fleeing war. Poland border guards are aiming weapons and keeping the African Ukrainians from moving anywhere. The White Ukrainians are receiving preferential treatment from Poland security border guards because "they look like us." 

Prior to the Russian attack on the Ukraine, the Canadian (and some US) news stations were filled with stories of people shouting "they will never take our freedom." People are tired of the COVID virus and all the mask wearing. Groups of people were tired of restrictions.  A convoy of disgruntled truckers staked out city centers to hold their protests. I had visions of Mel Gibson wearing his blue paint, riding on his high horse making the glorious rousing speech being reported on by the CBC news channel and carried onto CNN and Fox News. Instead what I saw was a dirty looking bearded unkempt hippy looking Duck Dynasty Phil Robertson type talking about not wanting to wear a mask as he goes to bingo or something along those lines. They too, the trucker spokespeople, raised a whole bunch of cash in a short period of time. People identified with the "freedom fighters."  It strikes me as peculiar about those freedom fighter (as they are labeled in the news) is their appearance; they all look the same. 

 The men for instance, look like they just came from a NASCAR truck tail gate party lasting for two weeks. Or from a hunting trip where they got lost for a month and finally found their way out of the wilds. The women seem to be carrying the same clothing style; baseball cap, fur cap, camouflage three quarter length military style coat, sneakers or black boots and a very crazed looking sneer.  They sound the same, a high pitched roar of a wild swine caught in a leg-hold trap.  The only thing missing from the female freedom fighter is the beard (we know they don't have beards because they won't wear masks). The freedom fighters went to the Capital of Canada and set up noise camping to cry freedom.  They blasted loud ear shattering horns all hours of the day and night. This didn't play out very well for all those living near the area. If they supported the freedom fighters to start with, it didn't take long before the noise erased the support. The freedom fighters also shut down the money route between Canada and the United States. The President of the US had to call the Canadian Prime Minister to say "Hey Dude, what the fuck?" In Canada the freedom fighters were attacked with hugs, back slaps, selfies, food delivery, fuel delivery by the police forces. These freedom fighters had so much police support the Prime Minister of Canada had to declare an emergency because his police weren't tasing anyone, using their batons, pulling out the military assault guns or heaven forbid, arresting anyone. The lack of police action could only be explained with "they look like us." 

You know it is quite something to know the level support you will receive is directly related to how people identify with you. Just today I viewed a video of a Palestinian girl, and judging by her size, was no more than eight years old, but yet she was injured by a police force, a military police force. I wonder what crime could such a small child commit to receive such a reaction? Saw another video of a similar girl, 12 years old, being beaten by military police. Four grown men in full tactical gear holding her and punching her for an unknown crime. A daily routine (if being beaten, shot at can ever be routine) in their country. The condemnation is nowhere to be heard from the "modern world" over the beatings, the removal from their homes, and the killing of people in this country. The situation is of course is very  complicated (as situations tend to be) but a bit of the silence can be attributed to those who don't look like them and the others; "they look like us." 

There is a scene pictured in my head: a snowy hill across a river and on the hill are armored vehicles, scores of people dressed in battle fatigues, armed with assault rifles. On the other side of the river are numerous Indigenous Tipis, Women, Men, Elders, some on horse back and many just standing, facing the armor vehicles, the military dressed people, and dogs. I see Men and Women in the river standing by the shore line of the hill, while Military style police forces, private security personnel spraying tear gas, pepper gas and shooting rubber bullets at them as they stand in the water. I seen them, the Native Women, Men, Elders and some non-Indian supporters being shot at with cannisters of tear gas. I see them, the Indigenous folk standing there to stop the destruction of the Earth and waterways. I don't see anyone in the modern world standing up to halt the military, the private security forces, the police force. I don't see them, the modern world folks using their voice against the violence by the military forces. I don't see the modern world folk denouncing the sheriff who is indiscriminately jailing folks. I don't seen the modern world folk using their voice to send financial aid to the people putting their lives on hold to save the water ways. I don't see them the modern world folk. I see those in the police, the military and private security with their dogs. I see them, looking at the Indians and saying "they don't look like us." 

Redhawk/Standing Rock Rising

“Apparently my photo below has gone viral. So happy to see the civil and human rights violations of indigenous and the threat to mother nature reaching far and wide,” Redhawk wrote. “…WE ARE RISING.”

Credit: Jason Patinkin, Reuters

Cassi Alexandra for NPR

What Have Learned This Past Year About Gluttony?

 Holy all that is holy, we have rich white men flying into the heavens on their steel seagulls. Billionaires, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Elon Musk have all spent incredible amounts of cash to get them a ride into the Earth's Atmosphere. The funny weirdness of it all is that the space trips are being celebrated. People are cheering the joy rides as the greatest thing since Ex-U.S. President Donald Trump's rise to the thrown. The absurdity of the joy rides seems to be lost on us mere pooget beings (pooget is Ojibwe for farts, implying we are nothing but a fart to those rich arseholes). The rich are enjoying life without regard for their offspring. I guess those rich folk are going to see who has the most toys in the cemetery when they die, not wanting to leave anything for anyone when they die. Unless they know something the rest of the humanity doesn't know? Like can money really buy immortality? In any case the world's human population is really messed up in their priorities, because they support the way things are.  Tornadoes, communities being burned to the ground, floods taking out major access roads, old growth forests being plundered to extinction, rich white woman with plastic arse-cheeks getting divorced, religious armies taking over countries and we get to watch it play out daily. We can even get to hear about when rich white women start their cycles. We still see the same politicians sucking-off the rich, and go speak publicly with cum still on their lips. We hear people say things have to change and will change after the pandemic is over. The politician comes out of the washroom still reeking of being bum-rammed and say we need to foster a business friendly atmosphere; "it's for the jobs, for the investment." Meanwhile these same rich folk are stashing their cash in the hopes to hide it. So much for creating jobs. It is the same old con game going on forever, "our rich need to be kept rich and private interests are our interests." 

We are living in times when the rich are becoming more and more obese with their gluttony over cash amassing.  The person who made the most sense about this situation is a despot, a control-at-all-costs individual. Xi Jinping has said "mutual prosperity"; "in a context of rising global inequality, China's common prosperity proposes a vision towards a more inclusive and equitable economic and social system."  This is a lofty idea, but one where the whole world should embrace. But why is it not a common thought? A friend of mine said, there should be a global law where you are only allowed to amass a fortune of 500 million. After this amount the rest is used for public service and goods. I think along the same way, limit the gluttony.  What is the end goal of accumulation? To have the most and then what? 

With the colonial expansion of Britain, their goal was accumulation. I read where colonizers where confused with the distribution of wealth, with goods by the Native populations. The "Indians" these white folk encountered didn't seem to understand the "Victorian" notion of acquisition. The Indians were always giving away their stuff. Those heathen Indians practiced serving for the public good. Serving the public good is so un-governmental. Governments are no longer pretending the role of serving the public good. Nope the pretending has been tossed, because it is out in the open, get the most for ourselves. The government is the proverbial "prison bitch" of the rich; the means to becoming more and more obese; feeding the gluttony of the rich. It is obscene and the stench is stronger than a full outdoor toilet in the Las Vegas heat. Government reeks of the most active sewers in Texas; burning the nostrils and watering the eyes shut tight. They are the butlers, the serving staff of the rich, that has what a government official has become. They will do everything and anything to keep the rich eating and feeding because they, the public servant will get to eat on the floor of the rich and they, the government officials, can eat the crumbs. Laws and policies governments create are ultimately for the benefit to the system, the rich getting richer. It is unlikely to change. We can write on their walls with shit all we want, there is no incentive for change. 

The answer to what we have learned is lost on the rich, the governments of the world and of course many human beings currently on Earth. It is really disheartening to think about our future, seven generations. Heck it's disheartening to even think about the next five years never mind about a generation from now. To think there was a time when white people, oops, I mean to say, Christians actually sold gluttony and greed as sin. Gluttony, and greed are not seen as a bad thing today. Being a gluttonous mass of putrid flesh is celebrated. We adore the rich, the greed, the selfish, the brazen, the vain, the unapologetically evil. 

Me this is what I learned this past year: