Kill 'em All, Big and Small, Nits Make Lice and Other Memorable Lines

US Colonel John Chivington shouted, “Kill and scalp all, the big and little, nits make lice.” Colonel Chivington went on to slaughter old people, women, children, unarmed Indians. There are certain sayings you remember when you first hear them, see them. I heard this quote from an Indian Activist when I was in my 30's. He was an American Indian Movement (AIM) member. I haven't forgotten those words and what they referred to. It is one of those moments where your emotions get tied to the quote.  "The Hottest Hells are reserved for those in times of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." I have not read Dante's Inferno, where a version of the quote is said to come from. I kind of like the inference where someone must take a side in a situation. I remember the quote because it hits a cord in my Being. I want to be able to take a stance when the time arises, but I know I may fail. Some quotes are inspiring; "I have a Dream. I have been to the mountain top. I fear no man." Martin Luther King Jr. is of course the man. His words are remembered by everyone, including Red Necks and White Supremacists. Speaking of Whites, Muhammad Ali gave the world some of the best words and we remember them: "I am the Greatest." I admire his courage, his strength, his intellect and his humility. He really challenged the white masses in a time when it was against the law to do so. Ali is still the Greatest. I try to remember some quotes of Indian people but can only recall Chief Dan George, "Come out and fight! It's a good day to die." The line is actually a movie quote so it may not even be George's own quote. Chief Dan George was an incredible actor and the ambassador of the Native community. That is the thing, some lines just jump out in our consciousness while we have to really search for others. 

 I have watched cartoons as a kid and the quotes are no less memorable: "Hey, Baba Looey. Sufferin' Succotash. What's up Doc? I will hug him and squeeze him and call him George. I'm Blacque Jacque Shellacque." Each of these sayings have left an impression on me. Some of the quotes just bring up silly memories, good moments and some quotes are inside jokes with our friends. For me, the quotes from watching cartoons bring a smile and warm feelings. And thank the television gods for the Hanna-Barbera (who were better than Loony Tunes). There was the Saturday mornings getting up early enough so as not to miss when cartoons were on.  All those cartoons take me to a place of ignorance. I didn't even know many of the cartoon lines were ugly to people not white. The quote Kill them all, big and small, nits make lice is remembered not because it makes me smile but because it is so funny. It's funny because this one line just encapsulates the whole colonial-settler history. It's funny because of all these "I'm fourth generation farmer, I'm a decedent of people who came here with nothing," people who boast of their lineage. Yeah, a great group of settler's for sure. It is funny because it hides nothing. It is not hidden behind attempted humor in children's television shows. In cartoons where exaggerated stereotypical images of ethnic people are on full display. Where the Asian, the Black, the Indian, the other Indian, are made to be less then human and ridiculed. Nope the Kill them all, big and small, nits makes lice doesn't try to hide behind so-called silliness. 

Dig. Dig Man. Dig for those Women in the Landfills

A Winnipeg man with white supremacist posting on social media, has been arrested for killing four Indigenous Women. The murders are said to have taken place between March and May of 2022. Four Indigenous Women: Rebecca Contois, 24 of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi (Crane River), Morgan Harris, 39 of Long Plain, Marcedes Myran, 26 of Long Plain, Unknown Woman (Buffalo Woman-Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe). Police say the remains of the Women, are in the Landfills of the Winnipeg City. There is a controversy about whether or not the Landfill should be searched.  A "Feasibility Study" is being financed by the Canadian government on whether or not if it is worth it to search for the missing Indian Women in the garbage dump. So it comes down to how much an Indian Woman's body is worth against the cost of garbage dump disruption.  In a recent media release by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC, Provincial lobby group for Manitoba Chiefs) there has been no funding for the feasibility study and it is suppose to be complete by March 31, 2023. This is a really weird undertaking. Basically you are studying the worth of a person, or the cost of a dead body. 

The costs to dig for the bodies in the Winnipeg Land Fill, the garbage dump will be huge.  Most of the  country would likely side with saving the money.  I can hear it in my head, "Let's be practical" and "they should not have been careful, not partied there" and "they brought it on themselves." What is a reasonable cost for searching for dead people? Searches for missing people is not uncommon. An individual falls off a ship in the ocean and a search will take place. Not matter the situation it always comes down what the costs are going to be. 

People have no issue spending money, only if it is in their interest. With the lost Spirits in the garbage dumps, no one really has an interest. If there was a lost painting in the garbage dump it may increase interest to do a search. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled [detail] (1982), sold for $85 million at Phillips “20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale,” May 18, 2022. Image courtesy Phillips.

With no 85 million dollar paintings in the garbage, Some cities have gone to mining landfills. Landfill Mining is said to have great potential. Since this is being a look at the future of the Landfill industry, might be an opportunity to start now? I know it's a far fetched approach to consider. The fact there is value in the garbage itself; metals, etc., and not the bodies of Women, is really strange. 

I don't know what the outcome of the feasibility will bring, I just know this, if it was my Mom, my Sister, my Cousin, my daughter, or your family member, I would say, "feasibility study? Dig man! Dig."

Pretender Identity Sweepstakes

Michelle Obama said: "I will pit my Blackness against anyone." She said this about the attacks on her husband's identity while he was running for public office. Barack Obama was challenged for not being "Black enough" for some in the Black community.  In the Black community they have similar conversations about who is "them" as well as in the Native community. When I say Native, Indian, Indigenous, I am referring to the original inhabitants of Turtle Island, or as called today, the Americas. So, Michelle listed off her pedigree of her own Blackness. This comparing our pedigrees is also common in the Indian world. It's funny, I think of my Romanian friend who lives in British Columbia. He has a Woman friend who is Chinese. She lives in China, so they have a very long-distance relationship. Anyways in Indian country we use the term Apple to describe White Indians, and the Chinese really do use the saying Banana to those who they see as White Chinese.  Indian's use Apples to describe another Indian, who they feel is trying to "be white." I guess it is the same with the Chinese who see another Chinese person trying to be white. Same with the Black community, people are judged for what is seen as being white. Look at Wayne Brady, a Black Comedian. He has been poked at by other's for seemingly being too white. Being compared to being white is really insulting to Ethnic people, People of Color, within their respective community. What's more insulting than being called white by someone in your own group, is being called white by white folk. So a whiter than Whiteman, Bill Maher made fun of Wayne Brady and his perceived lack of Blackness. Maher didn't see Brady as a menacing Black Man, in other words not the stereotypical scary Black. Maher, everyone knows is one of those White Men who feels he has privilege in the Black world, so he can get away with anti-Black sentiments or statements. It's all over this "more than you" game. There is a Netflix show called Wednesday with this young Latino (Mexican American-Puerto Rican) actress. There is a video of her trying to speak Spanish. The reaction of her speaking Spanish has been harsh: "She's not Latino, she can't speak Spanish." There are some folks who see this criticism as laughable as Spanish is a colonial language. "Jenna Ortega is Latina because we are more than what other people think we are, and we can be everything at the same time. Period." The Identity sweepstakes is always a minefield of bombs. There is a challenge to everyone's heritage, there is the who is going to be more than you sweepstakes.

The weird thing about the identity sweepstakes, some may feel it as a curse, while some may see it as exotic and are envious. So envious they want the exotic identity as their own. White people want to have some added mix in their background, they will go to great lengths to find a Slave in the ancestry wood pile. It is not strictly white people who want to claim another heritage but they seem to be the most proficient at entering into the heritage sweepstakes. The pretenders are so good at becoming Black, Indian, Latino, that they can even fool their own family members. The pretender will even invent a compelling back story of their life. You can see the story coming from the lyrics of "A Change Will Come, Polk Salad Annie, and Patches." 

There are groups of people who identify in a different gender than what they were assigned to when born. For this group I wonder if there are pretenders, but who knows. My big gut says, nope, they have no reason to pretend. The only acceptable (or not) place they can pretend is in the movie and tv industry. It's funny because the entertainment industry is notorious for having Pretenders as a driving force in the Identity Sweepstakes. White people would be literally painted "red" to be the Indians in all Cowboy-and-Indians-John-Wayne-kill-them-up movies. There are many areas of pretend where it is suppose to be fun. Lot of films made where men are dressed as women, women as men, gays being straight, straight being gay and human's as apes, dogs, cats and aliens. 

When we take a look at the pretender in the Identity Sweepstakes, we all wonder, "what the heck?" The Pretender is more often driven not by the beauty of the Identity they covet, but by the rewards which can be had. Pretenders will push aside the Blacks, the Indians, the Latino's, the Gays, the Women so they can attain a reward, a position, a recognition they won't have among their own group. Weird, I know, right? For some reason, the pretender gains popularity in institutions; academics, politics, justice, films and activism. What is even more weird, the pretender doesn't seem to suffer the inherent systemic abuses felt by the groups they infiltrate. You don't see them being shot by the cops, having their babies taken away, denied a table at the big lunches. Nope the pretender only basks in the glow of the awesomeness of being Black, Indian, Women, Latino and Gay. The Pretender is a strange creature. If only they could feel the oppression their stolen community has to contend with, perhaps they would reconsider their weird obsession. Until this happens, we are going to continue to see a lot more Jessica Krug's, Rachel Dolezal's, Joseph Boyden's, Michelle Latimer's, Carrie Bourassa's, and Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan's. Yeah, it is continue to be weird out there in identity sweepstakes. 

Martin Luther King Jr. - Poverty, Militarism, Racism, Materialism. The 4 evils. 

Whack A Mole

Have you played the carnival game, Whack-a-Mole? It is a game where you have a big hammer and you hit the heads of little mice creatures when their heads stick up out of a hole. The game is fast fun and involves smashing heads with a hammer, all good fun. The Whack-a-mole game is an allegory for people in society. You see there are those who will lift their heads out of a hole and then there are those who will take the big hammer and smash them as hard and as many times that they can. People will poke their heads out of hole based on their courageous intentions, and some will do it based on their cluelessness, in other words stupidity.  There are those who will stick their head out of the hole and not be bothered with the hammer hitting them. Some folks don't require the little mouse-creature to poke their little head out of any hole. They just hit anyone at anything and anywhere. Those folks are just messed up to begin with. The Whack-a-mole folk need some kind of stimulus to have them going hammer-time. 

A very good example of real-life-Whack-a-mole is Colin Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick was the football quarterback who decided to kneel when the US National Anthem was being played. Holy heck was Colin slammed on the head and it seemed, everyone wanted to hold the hammer. The then US President and his slog of a VP picked up the hammer and hit the hapless quarterback. Yes, fun times for the US people. Speaking of the then President Mr. Trump, he is one mouse creature who sticks his head and doesn't know why he keeps getting hit on the head with a hammer. He also could be one of those who is not bothered by the hammer smash. Thing is there are too many indicators where he is known to be bothered even without the hammer hitting him and just a maniac to begin with. No surprise he will go after those who he feels smashed him. He will go baby-goat-killing on just about anyone, whether or not they had a hammer or no hammer on him. He went after one of his biggest arse-lickers in Mitch McConnell and his "Coco-Chow" wife.  Trump is an example of the clueless mouse in the Whack-a-Mole game of life. Dave Chappelle is an example of the mouse creature who is not (on the surface) concerned with the smash of the hammer. He has been putting his head out seemly seeking the hammers on his head. Chappelle has made the Trans-community a staple in his comedy routine. He also used the Jewish Power Entertainment trope in his routine. The Jews are thought to have a strangle hold on the entertainment industry. Chappelle seems to take pleasure in offended people, akin to most comics: Jim Jefferies, Ricky Gervais, Sara Silverman, and the forgotten Andrew Dice Clay. Chappelle must have a hard head because he has and is on the receiving end of the hammer smash in Whack-a-Mole. 

In the Indian community (the Peace-Pipe-Tomahawk-Indian and not the Simpsons' Spicy-Curry-Apu-Indian) there are people who are sticking their heads out of the hole. The main-stream community (whites mostly) won't pick up the hammer on Indians. Indians don't register in their minds and Whites can't be bothered to waste some good hammering on moldy Indians.  The only time White people will pick up the hammer on Indians, it is when the Indians is getting between them and their money; the resource sector protests. When Indians speak out against the destruction of lands for resource extraction, this is when the big white hammer comes down, along with all the resources of the system white people enjoy. In the media Indians are viewed as "Something Else, or Creatures."  So, when there comes to hammer smashing, it is Indian on Indian. We have a few Indians who are going after the "pretend-Indian, aka the pretendian." Jacqueline Keeler is an Indian Woman who is exposing fake Indians-people who say they are Indian but are not. This has caused a few to get out the beaded-handled-hammer to whap her right on the top of her braided head-hair. The issue may be her methods of research or the who is on her list.  Indians, for some strange reason, will protect the pretendian. When Joseph Boyden was exposed, he was quickly adopted into an Indian family, crazy right? I think frauds are going to be found out whether or not a list exists. After-all, for Indians the main thing is connection; who you with? The method of identity is so messed up from colonial interference; the numbering system, the government Indian Final List, metal ID dog tags to Inuit people in the north. Our people are so comfortable with the identification systems of the settler governments. For me that is the problem, colonial identification of who we are. I don't hammer Keeler for her attempts at trying to unearth the moles, the mice creatures. However, I am not a fan of using the settler established ways of measuring Indianness. This is what got us here to begin with, the Indian identity sweepstakes. 

The problem with the Indian sweepstakes is in its attraction. People love the Noble Savage. People want to be linked to a history of survival, of the beautiful brown mystique of barefooted-naked-forest-plainspeople. Some people want to embrace the past of the hippie culture with flowers in their hair and being Indian makes them more hippie than anyone. The Indian is the problem as well. They are so damn sensual. They are also damn generous, welcoming and easy to con. The Indian will welcome the pretendian based on their word alone. I mean why wouldn't we? Who in their right mind would make up a story about being something they are not? That's weird, right? If it was as easy as walking up to a whole group of people, a whole community and say, "Hey, I'm Steve and I'm 250th succession of Bulgaria, through Hermann Friedrich, Canadian Banker in Toronto. The last I heard works for the Royal Bank of Canada, look him up." This is what some individuals are actually doing, walking up to the community and saying, "I'm treaty Indian from Norway House." So, we, as Indians, say, "Well okay, that's good enough for me. Welcome Neechie." The Wack-a-mole is not our first reaction. Not until they start acting good. Then it's Indian Factor. If you don't know the Indian Factor, maybe you should reconsider claiming the Noble Savage identity. 

Reservation Dogs; You Kids Got To Stop Being Shit-Asses

 "Native humor has always been close to tragedy because it is about survival; like laughing in the face of all this tragedy that's surrounding us." Sterlin Harjo 

Reservation Dogs is a television show focusing on Indian youth in a small community in the United States. The show has been developed by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi. Reservation Dogs has been receiving great reviews in mainstream entertainment critic media. For me, my first glimpse of Reservation Dogs, was through video snippets on social media, like Facebook. The short clips of the tv show roped me in just like a calf in one of those Rodeos where the big Cowboys, Cowgirls break the necks of those baby cows as they run for their little lives. The calves are hooked in the neck by ropes and they are stopped so quick the back part of them keeps going forward and their head is stopped in mid-air. That is what happened to me, I was stopped dead in my couch and just had to spin around and watch the videos again. The show features some great performances from new talent and old talent: Pauline Alexis (reminds me of my niece), K. Devery Jacobs, Elva Guerra, along with Zahn McClarnon, Wes Studi, Gary Farmer. These are just a few of the many people acting in the show, even Bill Burr is featured in one episode. If you don't know who Bill Burr is, he is not Indian. 

 The thing I like about the show is the "inside knowledge." As Chief Dan George famously said to Clint Eastwood, "Only an Indian can do something like this." There are many things going on in the show beside the story which is in front of you. There are the Little People (who actually exist, I have seen one), the Bad Medicine (exists cause it happened to me) which no one wants to do because it comes back on you. There is the Owl thing, the show pixels out the eyes of the owl because Owls are messengers of Death! Or at least we believed this growing up. I like they don't shy away and get to make fun of all the good stuff. The Elder things, we know they are human and do human things like be jealous of each other. The "watch your hair" is a message we all grew up with because you don't want someone to put your hair in a rat's nest to make you crazy. The other thing they use in the show is the contrary, the backwards people. In the show the backward being is a Spirit, Dallas Goldtooth. Dallas is a well-known sketch comedian and was part of the 1491's. This group has so much talent and some fun videos. 

Of course there are going to be some things in the show which won't resonate with people. The representation thing won't encompass all for sure and it shouldn't. We are such diverse peoples in the Indigenous-Native world. Still it's cool to see those young Neechies, those old Neechies on the tv screen. We now have 85 inch tv screens, so those Neechies are kind of on the Big Screen. It is entertainment and it is fun. They do touch on some realities in our community (the larger Indigenous community) like suicide. It does really fit in the story of the youth in the show; the struggle, the living on and the coping. Believe me, as a community we know this reality. We also know humor and it is part of our lives. 

Just a little bit ago, our Aunt was buried and we went to visit. Our Aunt Francis lived in Muscowpetung Reserve in Saskatchewan. So family came to the service from different provinces; Manitoba Alberta. Allan our cousin said a few words at the service; "we have to get together more, visit and not just at funerals." My brother Howard, and cousin Barry went to visit with Allan just after he spoke. Both of them live in Alberta and Allan is in Manitoba, so they don't often get to see their cousin Allan. Allan could not be found. Turns out he took off from the Reserve as soon as he finished speaking and didn't stay for the service to end. Barry, smiling, says "didn't he say we should visit more?" It was a good laugh. 

We Killed Bruce Willis and It Triggered Much Grief

 

Well Bruce Willis our boy was given the shot of death the other day. As we went to the Vet, I was saying in my head, "be cool, be cool." I wanted it to be just another event in life. My wife was hurting. She is usually a real rock in our life. She is the strong one in our family. She felt the pain of grief I could see it in her.

Bruce Willis was turning 10 on December 23, 2022. Funny thing is we were not going to have any more dogs in our home. We had a Rufus prior, for 13 years and it was not a good feeling when he died. So Dogs were not on the menu. But Chloe and I went out one night to take a look at puppies. We ended up buying Bruce Willis for $650. 

I was disappointed when Bruce got older because he got taller and had a longer snout. I was thinking small round and short snot. Thing is it was better for him as he could breathe better. So it was a blessing for him. The short snouts are health hazards, especially when it is hot outside. Bruce was a good dog. He was intimidating for strangers because he wanted to play with them and he was muscle. We had some good fights me and him. He did bite me on occasion but it was because I wanted him to do something he didn't want to do. He did bit all of my grandkids at one time or another. He did not get along with Jackson. When Jackson was 3 years old to about 5, Jackson teased Bruce relentlessly. So Bruce took care of it. 

Bruce started losing weight very quickly about a month ago. We thought it was an age thing. He had been dealing with sore leg for a while now. So we took him to the Vet last week.  Bruce was laying around all day, had sore legs and hips, couldn't walk anymore. They did a blood test at $490.00. They said they thought maybe it was Addisons Disease but to confirm it would take further tests for $600. We turned the other tests down. The Vet office called us later to offer some pain meds. We got some pain meds for $100 for Bruce. He could not walk anymore, it was like overnight he lost movement. It was painful for him. I had to carry him and he lost weight, he was only 28 kilos. The pain was too much for him, he would try and bit when we moved him.  Killing a dog costs a bit as well. We paid $470 to have Bruce given a needle and then cremated. We asked for his ashes. If you don't pay for a private cremation they put a whole bunch of pets together for a big fire. 

The killing of Bruce was heartbreaking. It was weird because growing up in the Reserve, putting a dog down was not an emotional experience. A relative would take the dog and shoot it. The only time I ever went to a vet was when my brother's dog got hit by a car. We went to the vet and it was put down and my brother cried. It was weird I thought (at the time). The thing with Bruce being killed was all I could see was my dead Dad, my Mom, and my son. I kept stroking Bruce's fur and saying "my boy, my poor boy." It was really triggering. Bruce was not only the loss of him but the loss of others, all right there in that little room. I hugged him and sobbed. It is weird because I don't sob. I do cry when I am sad and missing my loved ones, but it usually just burning eyes and maybe a tear or two. That is the extent and I attribute it to the medication I take. So I cried out loud when Bruce was killed. It was like my Boy was found dead all over again. I remembered stroking his hair and saying "my boy, my poor boy." 

Grief is a strange animal. Can come up and bite you and make you cry. 

They Kill Devil's, Don't They?

My deceased Uncle used to call me a devil when I was younger. He was not being mean, it was an observation of who I was and how he saw me as doing some dumb shit.  Same thing as when I say to one of my nieces, "hey demon." I am scolding but at the same time trying to be light about it and hoping it will get her to be more aware of her antics.  I think we can offer advice or offer a view on a situation and what we think is right but it will most likely mean nothing to the person you are addressing. So we say things with a bite in it. Not right but we do it. Speaking of devils I wonder who died recently? 

"I have never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." There are countless devils who we will never know their names but we have seen them and seen their evil ways. There is a documentary entitled Rocks at Whiskey Trench made by Alanis Obomsawin. "On August 28, 1990, a convoy of 75 cars left the Mohawk community of Kahnawake and crossed Montreal's Mercier Bridge--straight into an angry mob that pelted the vehicles with rocks. The targets of this violence were Mohawk women, children and Elders leaving Kahnawake, in fear of a possible advance by the Canadian army." In the film you can see the faces of devils, faces of hate, faces of white people. Men and women who took the opportunity to hurt people. We don't know their names so we will not be able to read their obituaries. They will or have lived a life free of consequence for their crimes. You can see in the film and the news clips at the time on how much glee, how much fun they were having. Can you imagine the hate they must have had to throw large rocks, some as big as basketballs. They knew there were kids, women and old people in those cars. What is even crazier is the police stood by and watched all happen. They too, the police had fun with watching the throwing rocks. In my mind those people are the epitome of what a devil is, no compassion, hate in their whole being. 

If you ever get the chance take a look at this old film called "You are on Indian Land." It is about a 1969 protest over Canada illegally occupying Indian Land. Basically the film shows interaction between Mohawks and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Ontario. The police act then as they do now; Indians are not to be treated respectfully. I think many police are either mean to begin with or are swayed into this type of behaviour by the culture of the police force systems. There are going to be some who can keep their humanity but there are many who behave and act like devils when in they're in uniform. Not much can be done to really change this situation. We just have to accept the police force is an incubator for devils. 

I wonder what the community of James Smith Cree Nation thought about Myles Sanderson before he went all stabby and killingly. By media accounts and information provided by the police, Myles was a bastard, a mean bugger who bullied and hurt people for years. Myles Sanderson and his brother Damien  went puppy eating crazy in their Reserve. Many people (10) were killed and about 18 others were hospitalized were by the Sanderson's stabbing spree. It seems Myles was always the devil the community and the police had known. I feel bad for his family. His parents were interviewed and called for him to give himself up to the police as Myles was on the run. Damien was found dead not long after the search for him started. Myles might have killed his brother. His parents were calling for Myles to give up and they said, "we love my boy." I think we do love devils. Especially our devils. We don't want to see them as devils. 

I didn't know where I was going with this little story.  I had hoped to offer some good words but I just can't muster anything. The world of ugly is so overwhelming and there is no way I can convey how it is so disheartening, so maddening. I go on social media, Twitter Facebook and there is nothing but sewage, decay and rotting corpses. The amount of hate is overwhelming, it grabs you. It gets in your skin and you can literally smell it. So how can we enjoy the beauty of the world when all we see and hear is the monster, the Wiindigo, the Devil? We are looking at a car crash and we can't look away. I think maybe looking at something pleasant, something good might help. What do you think? 

"Social media is just a lavatory wall." "Under the house, the sewage pipe...you don't want to see it. " Stephen Fry