"Thanksgiving": One Person's Justification For Thieving Genocide Is Another Person's Rage At Being Ripped Off And Mass Murdered
Hello, Family and Friends worldwide!
Here are two good quotes on our theme for February (Love and Service to Others):
“Once I was in Victoria, and I saw a very large house. They told me it was a bank and that the white men place their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it back with interest. We are Indians and we have no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by, they return them with interest, and our hearts feel good. Our way of giving is our bank.” - Chief Maquinna, Nootka
“Being Indian is an attitude, a state of mind, a way of being in harmony with all things and all beings. It is allowing the heart to be the distributor of energy on this planet; to allow feelings and sensitivities to determine where energy goes; bringing aliveness up from the Earth and from the Sky, putting it in and giving it out from the heart.” - Brooke Medicine Eagle
Topic: Humainologie creative
Time: February 10, 2021 06:30 PM Mountain Time (US and Canada)
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In our creative dialogue facilitated by Erica Amery last Wednesday, we again achieved flow, the joy of movement. Erica’s topic was Intercultural Communication. I had summarized Ari Shavit’s book about the triumph and tragedy of Israel.
The displacement of peoples has many historical precedents, and perhaps the largest has been the displacement of Indigenous Peoples by Europeans in the Americas. We are living on land that was previously the home of a rich and diverse culture - or cultures, comparable to the richness and diversity of those in Europe - which our odd colonial way of thinking had begun to destroy. There were some who saw the light, who became aware of the vast expanse of wisdom to be found in the very Indigenous cultures which colonialism was threatening. In “Dances with Wolves,” Kevin Costner plays the role of a man whose life is transformed because of his encounter with an Indigenous culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Who knows, it might transform your life too. I suggest we explore that wisdom of Indigenous cultures a little further right here, in the land of the Tsuut’ina Nation, Stoney Nakoda Nation, and Siksika Nation. To get started, I’ve appended herewith a synopsis of the book Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips, and Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality, by Bob Joseph with Cynthia F. Joseph.
Looking forward,
Arthur
Book: (Bob Joseph with Cynthia F. Joseph) Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality (2019)
Reading my synopsis of a book falls far short of reading the book itself, though my synopsis might be sufficient for your purposes. Reading a book falls far short of putting into practice what the book suggests or doing further research of your own. That said, here’s my synopsis.
The historical orientation provided In the Introduction is a good place to start: “The path to reconciliation began in 1982 when the rights of Aboriginal Peoples were recognized in Section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act. The next milestone on the journey was in 1998 when the federal government made the Statement of Reconciliation, thereby acknowledging government inflicted damage on Indigenous Peoples. …In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its Final Report: the first volume is titled Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future.” Based on tens of thousands of testimonies from survivors, the deeply disturbing report raised the obvious question of where to go from here. And that led to 94 Calls to Action contained in the Final Report, “guidelines for moving forward together in a spirit of reconciliation.”
The expulsion of North America’s Indigenous Peoples from ancestral lands by Europeans is one of history’s major atrocities. I think that, somehow, I share in the responsibility for righting that wrong. This book is a concise and incisive guide to help with that process. The author Bob Joseph also has a presence on YouTube https://www.youtube.
I was surprised at how little I knew about Canadian Indigenous Peoples, including very basic things. For example, I did not know that in British Columbia alone, there are “over 200 First Nations communities…each with its unique culture, traditions, and history.” Such communities will often have their own websites. A quick search of the internet led me to the website of the Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary https://www.
There are eleven distinct Indigenous language families in Canada. Within a language family, one may find languages as similar as French is to Spanish (and also as different). The linguistic and cultural diversity among Indigenous Peoples in Canada is comparable to the linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe. However, English is becoming the common language of Indigenous Peoples in Canada (except in Quebec). Also: “Aboriginal Peoples are the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian population.”
Indigenous communities differ in such things as governance structures and perceptions of authority. In some, with matriarchal traditions, women are considered the decision-making authorities. Governance structures have historical roots not only in the indigenous communities themselves, but – especially if the governance structure involves elections – in processes imposed from outside the communities, by acts of the Canadian government. Both a traditional governance structure and an externally imposed (electoral) governance structure may coexist in a community. The recent trend is to move away from elected toward the more traditional structures.
The author lists seven issues that are of particular concern for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: 1) Poorer health (higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, tuberculosis and many other diseases; 2) Lower levels of education; 3) Inadequate housing and crowded living conditions; 4) Lower income levels; 5) Higher levels of incarceration; 6) Higher rates of suicide; and 7) Higher rates of unemployment. “Indigenous leaders and negotiators will tend to place premium value on measures that increase levels of health, education, housing, and income in their communities, as well as on measures that decrease levels of unemployment, incarceration, substance abuse, and suicide.”
In Chapter 8, “Respect: A Path toward Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples,” we learn about the three R’s that prominent national Indigenous leaders have emphasized to guide an Indigenous relations process: Recognition, Respect, and Reconciliation. “Recognition means to recognize constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights. Respect means to address the uniqueness of individual Indigenous Peoples, their cultures, and their constitutionally protected rights. Reconciliation means to restore harmony between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”
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