Post by 2shadows on Jan 27, 2009 13:55:37 GMT -6
(I dont know why I feel the need to post this..but I do..for a great weight is on my heart..it has to do with the conflict between NDN, PODIA, and white. I don't know if it is truly a letter..or a prayer..but here it is. for you my friends to see..read and know my heart.)
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The members of the NDN nations..the "registered" ones are fearful..worried about the new agers, the plastic shaman who are out for a dollar..and they are worried about the desire of PODIAs (persons of distant indian ancestry), afraid their intentions, their actions (even if well intentioned) will result in greater pain and loss by their nation. ...their people.
This I understand..but I am podia..so what drives me? I want to feel complete..to be part of something bigger than myself.. I am an American, born of the melting pot, blended from many, and suffer from that loss of clarity, the loss of traditons. I reject the American "Corporate-ocracy", I reject that profit is the prime motivator for a culture.
There are "registered" members of the Cherokee nation who have no more "blood" than I..but whose ancestors appear on the dawes roll.. so why are they cherokee and I am not? BECAUSE they were raised cherokee and I was not. They know the stories, the language, the traditions.
I feel that blood quanta, tribal rolls, reservations, all these things and more are creations of an oppressive white government. In the old times, membership in a tribe or clan was decided by the members..not by some rules in a white man's law book. Long before the white men came the native peoples commonly practiced adoption..incorporation into their tribes..even of former enemies..it is because of the white men's laws and rules that much of the conflict now exists.
But that being said..I do not resent anyone's tribal membership..I want to take NOTHING from them..NOTHING. I dont want tax advantages or land, or scholarships ..nothing...EXCEPT...
Knowledge.
So ..people of the indian nations..
I want you to know that I humbly pray for and respectfully ask
for these things from the NDN people:
Teach me your language..so we can talk.
Tell me your story..so I can understand you.
Teach me your history..so I can teach my children.
Show me how you dance...so I can dance with you.
Show me how you sing.. so I can sing with you.
Tell me what you stand for..so I can stand along side you.
Tell me what you need..so I can help.
Show me how you speak to GOD..so I can pray with you.
And then..only then..someday..you will call me brother.
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The members of the NDN nations..the "registered" ones are fearful..worried about the new agers, the plastic shaman who are out for a dollar..and they are worried about the desire of PODIAs (persons of distant indian ancestry), afraid their intentions, their actions (even if well intentioned) will result in greater pain and loss by their nation. ...their people.
This I understand..but I am podia..so what drives me? I want to feel complete..to be part of something bigger than myself.. I am an American, born of the melting pot, blended from many, and suffer from that loss of clarity, the loss of traditons. I reject the American "Corporate-ocracy", I reject that profit is the prime motivator for a culture.
There are "registered" members of the Cherokee nation who have no more "blood" than I..but whose ancestors appear on the dawes roll.. so why are they cherokee and I am not? BECAUSE they were raised cherokee and I was not. They know the stories, the language, the traditions.
I feel that blood quanta, tribal rolls, reservations, all these things and more are creations of an oppressive white government. In the old times, membership in a tribe or clan was decided by the members..not by some rules in a white man's law book. Long before the white men came the native peoples commonly practiced adoption..incorporation into their tribes..even of former enemies..it is because of the white men's laws and rules that much of the conflict now exists.
But that being said..I do not resent anyone's tribal membership..I want to take NOTHING from them..NOTHING. I dont want tax advantages or land, or scholarships ..nothing...EXCEPT...
Knowledge.
So ..people of the indian nations..
I want you to know that I humbly pray for and respectfully ask
for these things from the NDN people:
Teach me your language..so we can talk.
Tell me your story..so I can understand you.
Teach me your history..so I can teach my children.
Show me how you dance...so I can dance with you.
Show me how you sing.. so I can sing with you.
Tell me what you stand for..so I can stand along side you.
Tell me what you need..so I can help.
Show me how you speak to GOD..so I can pray with you.
And then..only then..someday..you will call me brother.