Comfortably Insane
Causes & Opinions
| Causes: Arctic drilling | Gypsies | Sioux | Philanthropy Opinions: Politics | Religion |
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The caribou and the people are as one, and the culture is completely tied to it. In their mythology, the Gwich'in were derived from a heart shared with caribou, so each will always know what the other is doing. "The Gwich'in of northern Canada and Alaska have lived in their Arctic homeland since the last ice age. ... There is direct archaeological evidence that the Gwich'in have depended upon the Porcupine Caribou Herd for at least 12,000 years. They still depend upon the caribou for their subsistence needs as well as their cultural survival.--ccp " The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is the home of the Porcupine Caribou Herd's calving grounds, located in the Northen coastal plain. This coastal area referred to as ANWaR or the 1002 lands by the oil companies, is to the Gwitchin Vadzaih googii vi dehk'it gwanlii - or "sacred place where life begins," and is *exactly* where the U.S. Republicans want to drill for the *possibility* of oil. "It would be like drilling in a hospital nursery," states Norma Kassi, Gwich'in spokeswoman. President Bush's family is closely tied to the oil industry, and the Vice President, Dick Cheney, is closely tied to Haliburton, the oil drilling company in Alaska. The Alaskan Governor is on the side of the Republicans and thinks that the Vuntut Gwitchin could learn to change their lives to be like the Inupiats in Prudoe Bay. He also thinks that the Gwich'in people are only holding onto a romantic notion of their culture, fueled by some radical environmentalists. He has no idea what is at stake, and doesn't care about the Canadians. Therefore, the Gwich'in and their supporters have had to try to fight the issue themselves, by going to Washington D.C. and to make as much of a case as possible. In August 2002, the Caribou Commons Project from Yukon, held a trek across America, The Walk to Washington D.C. for the Arctic Refuge. Led by Ken Madsen, it was kicked off in Seattle with the support of the Canadian Consulate General in Seattle and several other leaders. I was lucky to be involved, even if in a small part, with the kickoff event. The walk ended last November in D.C. View my website on this topic
Like my experience with Old Crow and the Gwich'in, I discovered the reality of the Roma while studying indiginous music styles for my personal research. The more I read and learned of their true history, and what they've lived through and have to endure to this day....well, my heart cries for them. Here's some excerpts from the Patrin Web Journal website:
Czech citizenship law effectively renders the Roma stateless, forcing them to live as foreigners in their own land. At least 20,000 Roma, about a tenth of the Roma population, have been excluded from Czech citizenship since 1993. ‘Ever since our arrival in Europe, we Roma have been victims of society’s animosity. Banishment and pogroms, as well as mistreatment and discrimination, have always been part of everyday life for the ‘Gypsies’. (Kawczynski, 1997:24-25) ‘… forced evictions from homes; expulsions from villages and towns (often with the support of local Mayors); physical assault and murder by skinheads, policemen, neighbours; exclusion from public places; widespread legal discrimination; unduly harsh prison sentences and extortionate fines for petty offences; and endemic racial abuse.’. Many Roma women have gone into hospital for minor operations only to return home sterilised. Another 'fear factor' that causes Roma to shield their ethnicity from outsiders is the continuing legacy of 'O Baro Porrajmos' ('The Great Devouring' - Roma Holocaust). Grandparents today recall the numerous censuses which were conducted during World War Two in order to identify and locate Roma groups for Nazi concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau, Mauthausen and Ravensbrück (Kenrick and Puxon, 1995:125-150). Again, estimates vary enormously regarding how many Roma were murdered between 1933 and 1945. Most reliable estimates suggest half a million, though some figures have gone from the ridiculous (zero - 'it never happened' according to the revisionists) to the exaggerated (anything from 3-4 million upwards). It can be seen that in relation to the Porrajmos the political and economic significance of numbers are also important and contested. The number of both victims and survivors has a crucial bearing on any future compensation award that might eventually be paid out by the German government. At the time of writing progress is being made but no end is yet in sight (The Guardian, 6/4/98). What is very clear to Roma in Europe is the fact that the gadzhe [non-gypsy] search for the 'final solution' to the 'Roma problem' is determined and ongoing. In Britain, English Romanichals, such as Peter Mercer and Charlie Smith of the Gypsy Council, talk about the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994 in this light: to criminalise nomadism in the UK is to literally 'ethnically cleanse' Gypsies (Hawes and Perez, 1996:x-xi). Roma Student Beating the Odds - RomNews Network Romani Information: The Patrin Web Journal: Romani Culture and History Myths, Hypotheses and Facts Concerning the Origin of Peoples: The true origin of Roma and Sinti News: RomNews Network Community | Romani Yag Lets face it folks — the "indians" of this country were the custodians of this land, its resources, natural plants and animals for 25,000 years before the European Americans decided that they were in the way. I am absolutely in awe of idiots who actually have a problem with NATIVE American nations that wish to stay banded, to live amongst each other, to have the opportunity to live traditionally and to pass down those traditions to their progeny. Which they could NOT do if they were assimilated into the alien white culture which they did not invite to live on their land in the first place! But I digress..... Here's a quote from a website that sheds a lot of light on the extermination of those who were here before us. "As a high school student I was always annoyed by students who would ask: Why do we have to learn this stuff [history] anyway? We learn history so we don't repeat our mistakes. This is the common answer that my teachers, my father, and just about any other adult would give. This answer made perfect sense to me then, and I easily accepted it. In high school, students learn about the Nazi-Holocaust, and rightfully so. Information abounds regarding this topic. However, my teachers never taught me that our country has a Holocaust of its own (actually there are two; one killing 40 to 60,000,000 Africans, and one killing 100,000,000 Native Red Peoples). Hitler himself often expressed his admiration for the expediency in which the American Christians removed the Native Americans and gave them mass graves like the one in Wounded Knee, South Dakota. Have you ever heard the words American Holocaust(s) before?" [ Read the rest of this moving article ] One hundered million! HELLO!! Did you learn about that in school? NO. Hell, I grew up in Tulsa Oklahoma where one of the worst, most violent acts against blacks in our coutnry took place, and didn't find out about it until recently. But the 1992 race riot and the false American history being taught in schools is for another discussion. There is one band in particular, the Oglala Sioux of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, that is suffering hellishly from the extermination of its people and the ersaure of their culture. From Wikipedia: Adolescent suicide is 4 times the National average. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewer. Many families use wood stoves to heat their homes. The population on Pine Ridge has among the shortest life expectancies of any group in the Western Hemisphere: approximately 47 years for males and in the low 50s for females. The infant mortality rate is five times the United States national average."
This generation is not responsible for what happened in the past, but we are certainly obligated to helping our American brothers and sisters suffering right now. Learn how to help: Sioux Nation Relief Fund
If you know me at all this Democratic show of support shouldn't surprise you...
Say no to the Republican party as a religion and to their
dogmas being mandated upon The People.
My prayer All the praises and thanks be to God, the lord of all that
exists. Inspirational passage:
The
Creator has blessed me with a comprehensive religious experience
in this world—and at the end of the day, this is my rock). [ Back ] |
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"Unemployment
on the Reservation hovers around 85% and 97% live below the
Federal poverty level. Average annual family income is $3,800
as of 1999. 
