another perspective from a Lakota friend

A Native Perspective on Virginia Tech Headlines*

>Thursday, April 19, 2007**
>
>By Kat Teraji=20

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee, Deep in the Earth, Cover me with pretty =

lies - bury my heart at Wounded Knee. Didn't we learn to crawl, and =
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>still our history gets written in a liar's scrawl. They tell 'ya "Honey, =
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>you can still be an Indian d-d-down at the 'Y' on Saturday nights." - =
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>lyrics to "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," written by Buffy St. Marie
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>"The worst shooting rampage in American history." "Massacre and =
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>Mourning, 33 die in worst shooting in U.S. History," and "Rampage called =
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>worst mass shooting in U.S. history." "What first appeared to be a =
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>single shooting death unfolded into the worst gun massacre in the =
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>nation's history." You've
>seen and heard these headlines and reports all =
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>week as the media provided non-stop coverage of the tragic shooting of =
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>33 people at Virginia Tech University on Monday.
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>
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>"The worst in U.S. history." Really? It is certainly the worst shooting =
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>on a college campus in modern U.S. history. But if we think it is the =
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>worst shooting rampage in U.S. history, then we are a singularly =
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>uneducated nation.
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>"I can't take one more of these headlines," said Joan Redfern, a member =
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>of the Lakota Sioux tribe who lives in Hollister. We met at First Street =
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>Coffee to talk while we scanned Internet stories. "Haven't any of these =
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>people ever heard of the Massacre at Sand Creek in Colorado, where =
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>Methodist minister Col. Chivington massacred between 200 and 400 =
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>Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, most of
>them women, children, and elderly =
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>men?"
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>
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>Chivington specifically ordered the killing of children, and when he was =
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>asked why, he said, "Kill and scalp all, big and little; nits make =
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>lice."
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>At Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, the U.S. 7th Cavalry attacked 350 =
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>unarmed Lakota Sioux on December 29, 1890. While engaged in a spiritual =
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>practice known as the "Ghost Dance," approximately 90 warriors and 200 =
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>women and children were killed. Although the attack was officially =
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>reported as an "unjustifiable massacre" by Field Commander General =
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>Nelson A. Miles, 23 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for the =
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>slaughter. The unarmed Lakota men fought back with bare hands. The =
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>elderly men and women stood and sang their death songs while falling =
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>under the hail of bullets.
>Soldiers stripped the bodies of the dead =
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>Lakota, keeping their ceremonial religious clothing as souvenirs.
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>
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>To say the Virginia shooting is the worst in all of U.S. history is to =
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>pour salt on old wounds-it means erasing and forgetting all of our =
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>ancestors who were killed in the past," Redfern said.
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>
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>"The use of hyperbole and lack of historical perspective seems all too =
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>ubiquitous in much of the current mainstream media," Redfern said. "My =
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>intention is not to downplay the horror of what has happened this week =
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>in any way. But we have a 500-year history of mass shootings on American =
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>soil, and let's not forget it."
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>
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>This is only the most recent mass shooting massacre in a long history of =
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>mass shootings in a country engaged in a long love affair with firearms =
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>and very
>little interest in gun control.
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>
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>Let's not forget our history and the richness of our Native roots. While =
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>spending time on the 1.5 million acre Hopi Reservation in Arizona, I met =
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>families living in homes they have occupied for over 900 years. On the =
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>surface, it looks like a third world country: you will observe many =
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>homes without running water, travel unpaved roads, and notice that there =
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>are no building codes. But sitting in a Hopi home being served a =
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>delicious lunch cooked by a proud Hopi working mother, I experienced so =
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>much more: the continuity of a long and deep heritage, a sense of the =
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>sacred, an artistic expertise, and wisdom about many things that remain =
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>a mystery to my culture.
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>Most of all, may we never forget all those innocent civilian men, women, =
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>and children
>who lost their lives simply for being in the wrong place at =
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>the wrong time, just as the students happened to be this week in =
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>Virginia.=20
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>May we always remember the precious humanity of these students, but may =
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>we also never forget the humanity of those who lost their lives simply =
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>for being born people Native to this country.=20
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>

Encinitas CA

Just a few pics of wonderful Encinitas southern Ca. I journey here after the visit in Santa Barbara with my good friend Michelle Blumberg ( in pic ),before heading to San Antonio for the Fulbright enrichment senimar. Michelle teaches in the NAROPA university contemplative education program. We had much to share and it was a good time to do some writing and thinking before heading east again( well south east ). It was just gorgeous weather and her parents live on the ocean. ( pic from deck ).
Michelle also works with global villiage learning and I shared about digital stories with her and with another person she works with in the area of social services. I had hoped to meet with Peter levine " waking the Tiger " , to learn more about his work with trauma" somatic experiencing " . Unfortunately I was unable to do so. otherwise it was a good visit. more soon. I have a new computer and soon will add more updates and also some good web links for more indigenous issues and sites I would like to share. My old one was limiting , slow and clunky. technology is great , but you need the equipement. I am always interested in this aspect of the " digital divide".

Virginia Tech

As most will know a terrible incident has happened here in Virginia. Many of you will have seen the news reports and know the basic story. I wanted to send my heart felt thoughts of healing to all involved in this incident , the families , the students and all who feel its effect.

I hope that reflections about how this can happen and what can be done to avert such events prove helpful. I would wish that somehow from this senseless and sad action that the lives of those lost are honored with peaceful solutions in our world .

I am putting a link here to access online first person reflections on the events of yesterday. It seems that online media , face book and blogs have been very busy.Students are utilising this resource to communicate with each other about their feelings and thoughts. The mainstream media has been getting most of their leads from this sourcing.

http://icantread01.livejournal.com/103060.html
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6176579.html

For all those suffering here and elsewhere , in Iraq in Darfur , in all corners of this planet, may peace and healing become our desire. May the leaders of this world and corporations somehow realise there are indeed things more worthy than making money and eating away at the worlds resources. It is up to us to be the ones who make a future that is better. It is up to us to create a world where people don't suffer isolation and fear , where people who are unwell are helped so this kind of thing can be averted if possible.

I have just been at a Fulbright seminar and I saw in the news one of the students killed was a Fulbright Scholar. Senator Fulbright created this program of student exchange in the hope or promoting peace and understanding between people's of all nations. I believe this is possible. I do not have further details on this but am sure that as the days go by more stories of the people who died lives will unfold. Many of them died protecting others , all were people , like you and me .

Chumash canoe ( Tomol) Santa Barbara CA

Santa Barbara , Southern California is known by the Chumash people and other tribes as the "keepers of the western gate". This is a special place and very beautiful and in some ways reminds me of home. The warmth and the ocean.

I have been blessed to share with the people here and very kindly taken around to special places here and greet the land. Here are pic's of the "Tomol", the only functioing canoe of its type .he canoe( Tomol), was built by the people to be ocean going ten years ago. It is made of red wood and hand crafted according to traditional ways. The crew practices and gets in condition and then once a year travels across the channel to their homeland, on the island of Limuw( santa Cruz Island ) ,where the people were moved when the settlers came.
It is a hard crossing and there can be dangerous currents. I was taken out with the crew to the blessing of the canoe at the Equinox and spent the day as people took turns going out. The paddling is not easy and takes a lot of strength and flexibility and balance. This is a big part of it , to become one with the boat and with the ocean and to be in tune with the crew.
I felt very priveleged to do so. Here are some shots of the day as well as one of me with a surfboard on another day! Yes , finally after 9 mths of no surf and not much ocean I was home again. The surf was small , but glassy and it was great to be with the ocean again.

Help the planet/results of Earth day / hour launch

Fantastic results for Earth Hour! ( from the Sydney Morning Herald)

Image: A family enjoy Earth Hour under the Sydney Harbour Bridge at Milson's Point. © Jamie Williams/Gekko Images

More than 2 million Sydney residents participated in Earth Hour on Saturday night by flicking the switch, turning appliances off stand-by and enjoying an hour of quiet darkness, according to our poll results.

The result: an impressive 10.2% drop in energy usage across the usually glittering CBD, according to Energy Australia.

This is double the anticipated energy saving and represents a reduction of 24.86 tonnes of carbon dioxide - the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for an hour!

Sydney
Saturday 31 March, 2007 - 7:30pm
See your world in a whole new ligh

Films and Music UP DATES from home

Some interesting sites to check out. The first one is a program form Australia. It is our main national radio station for Indigenous mob. It is great and if you follow the link you can listen to some past shows through real player or windows. The one on "Bobby turns 60" is great. Bobby Mcleod is aexceptional muscian , poet , dancer and Elder , Uncle and well known by many. Have a listen to his moving story.( pic is of Bobby Mcleod with friend at " the dreaming 06).

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/awaye/

The next is links for " Big screen ", touring films , one of my films a small short my first ), made with The MERCY , Saunders family( Val , James , Amber and Shara ) and some other wonderful people who helped in various ways ( too many to name here , but they know who they are , THANKS) .

This film was made with GAIA films( the wonderful Jenny Kendall and Paul Tait ), for the "Homegrown film festival", and also has screened now at a bunch of festivals in OZ and OS. I am so happy it has been seen and appreciated. It is a tribute to Eric Mercy, one of our first Aboriginal/ islander managers and coaches of the "Originals" surf team.
Eric was also the coach and manager for early " Oceania" Surfing teams, who attend in the pacific to the sharings we have had there. I have been fortunate to be involved with this wonderful pacific and Australian Family of Indigenous people coming together , sharing waves and culture and this film pays tribute to this gift and to this family in particular.

The Film was also selected in the finals selction of 6 and came 2nd, at the " Woodford film festival ", part of the " Woodfrod folk festival , held in QLD each year. This is also the site of the " Dreaming festival". Both are excellent and world class venues for music , film , dance and cultural sharing and learning. google and have a look .

There is another film , made with Glenn Woods and myself, called" Pasifik Journey's" that is a longer doco and focuses more on the actual " Oceania " event and covers interviews and footage of most of the teams that come. There are aprox 11 teams all up from throughout the pacific that send a team each year. Last years event was in Samoa, Manager and Coach , Scott Winch, ( who came a close 2nd in the finals to Tahiti), with Amber Mercy ( Eric's daughter), in the team. This year Amber takes over as Coach and Manager , following proudly in her fathers surfing legacy. YAY. I hope to rejoin the team in 2008 and travel with them once more ( though I am now a bit old for the team ). This is a development project and has been very positive and healing and I feel things like this are one of the many ways we can combat the bad news and make WAVES in improving our wellness in all ways.

We are also very happy to hear young Dale Richards , a Koori young man , has been selected to compete on the international circuit , the ASP. He is the the first Aboriginal man to be make this level and we wish him well. Congratualtions DALE !

Look out , Indigenous surfing is on the rise and more will come. For further info about the films , contact me , or go to the site and look and see if you can find a screening to attend.

more soon.....

http://bigscreen.afc.gov.au/Towns/Yamba/index.aspx
http://bigscreen.afc.gov.au/Towns/Yamba/program.aspx

Indigenous Health report in Australia just released

CLOSE THE GAP

http://www.oxfam.org.au/

This article is copied from the oxfam website. It is The most recent report into the status of Aboriginal health and it is not good. It indicates that our health is still worse and our life expectancy is generally a good 17 years younger than other Australian's. Even compared to The Indigenous populations of USA and NZ , we still come out worst. There should be no reason for this , except the will to change it .
PLEASE , read this and respond to the appeal to ask our country to address this issue urgently , it has gone on for too long. Please go to the Oxfam site and sign a online to a petition.

MORE info and a full article can be found also in the Age Newspaper. :http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/04/01/1175366078725.html

Indigenous Australians should have the same access to health services as all other Australians.
Photo: Wayne Quilliam/OxfamAus.

Together we can end the Indigenous health crisis

Take action. Sign up to the pledge below.

Indigenous Australians die 17 years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians and Indigenous infant mortality is three times that of non-Indigenous Australians. It is a national disgrace that Indigenous Australians do not have the same access to health services that other Australians enjoy.

We call on Australian governments to take action to achieve health equality for Indigenous Australians within 25 years through:

• increasing annual Indigenous health funding by $450 million to enable equal access to health services
• increasing Indigenous control and participation in the delivery of health services
• addressing critical social issues such as housing, education and self-determination which contribute to the Indigenous health crisis