#36
INDIAN MEANS "IN GOD"
June 18, 2008, Fort Lauderdale, FL
WORDS WE SPEAK Editor’s Note: My heart is very heavy, after reading this article. The United States needs to engage in this activity, wholeheartedly. The voice of Native Americans has been quieted, not only by Euro-Americans, but by all those who have immigrated to this land without conceiving of the pain and anguish suffered by the “First Nations” who resided here for 12,000 years before the coming of the first colonialists, including Caribbeans, post-slavery Africans, South and Central Americans, Asians, Australians and New Zealanders and all those who flock to the United States in search of a better life. As the descendant of a Cherokee grandfather, I am jubilant that one group of Europeans in the New World have seen the way to apologia. – JC – divajc47@yahoo.com
Canada’s Native People Get A Formal Apology
By Christopher Guly and Maggie Farley
OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized Wednesday to the nation’s native people for “a sad chapter in our history,” acknowledging the physical abuses and cultural damage they suffered during a century of forced assimilation at residential schools.
“Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country,” he said to applause.
A group of 11 aboriginal leaders and former residential school students sat before Harper in a circle in the House of Commons, some weeping as the prime minister delivered the government’s first formal apology to them.
In the crowded, expectant chamber, Harper bowed his head as he read a carefully crafted speech, asking for forgiveness for separating children from their families and cultures, exposing the students to abuse, and sowing the seeds for generations of problems.
Over more than a century, about 150,000 native Canadian children were sent to boarding schools run by churches and the government to “civilize and Christianize” them. Expressions of native heritage were outlawed. Many children suffered sexual and psychological abuse and grew up with neither traditional roots nor mainstream footing, their ties to family and community unraveled.
“The government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language,” Harper said.
The apology was billed by the government as a chance to redress a dark chapter in Canadian history and to move forward in reconciliation.
But the hours before the landmark statement were marked by wrangling over whether native leaders were adequately consulted about the content, and anger that they would not be allowed to respond in the House of Commons. Just before Harper’s speech, opposition leaders led a successful motion to allow aboriginal representatives to reply in the chamber.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine, wearing a feather headdress, took the floor to declare that the occasion “testifies nothing less than the accomplishment of the impossible.” In 1990, he was one of the first to come forward with his story of abuse and push for an apology.
“For the generation that will follow us, we bear witness today . . . . Never again
will this House consider us the Indian problem just for being who we are,”
he said, as tribal members cheered and beat a drum in the gallery. “Finally,
we heard Canada say it is sorry.”
Some survivors, as the former schoolchildren are widely called, said the apology
came only grudgingly under intense pressure from native groups, and must be
matched by action. But it is widely recognized as a significant step for a
government that had previously sought to limit its responsibility for the harm
caused by its assimilation policy.
Several churches offered apologies in the late 1980s and 1990s, and the government’s
head of Indian and Northern Affairs made a statement of reconciliation in
1998. A lawsuit settled in 2006 created a $1.9-billion compensation fund, and
an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched June 1.
But Wednesday’s statement is the government’s first formal expression of
responsibility and remorse for the forced assimilation program.
Elijah Harper, 49, a Cree leader from Manitoba, said the prime minister’s speech
allowed his people to embark on the road of reconciliation. “From a spiritual point of view, what he has done is release the bonds that have
held us from being able to forgive,” Harper said.
Analysts say that the next step for the government is to settle outstanding land claims
with aboriginal groups, and to refocus policies to alleviate poverty and
improve education among First Nations.
“Even if you solved this, there are a number of issues still facing aboriginal
people,” said James Miller, a University of Saskatchewan expert on
the residential schools.
An editorial in Toronto’s National Post newspaper offered one of the few voices
defending any part of the residential school system.
“Being honest with history also means acknowledging that the residential schools did
provide the education and training that opened new horizons to their
graduates,” it said. “Many students were saved from serious childhood
illnesses, or even death, because of their access to health care. To recognize
what was wrong does not require ignoring what was right.”
But for most of the former residential school students, the focus will be on
fixing those wrongs. Many former students gathered across the country, and at Ottawa’s House of
Commons, where television screens were set up on the lawn for the crowds. Counselors were mobilized to help people deal with emotional memories triggered by the
event.
Geraldine Maness-Robertson, 72, a Chippewa from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, said her six
years at an Anglican school were a “horrific experience,” and her hands
were often whipped with a razor strap to break her spirit.
“When I left, I was so full of rage and anger and hatred,” she said. “Today’s
apology was so helpful, it hit all the areas of hurt. I have spent my whole
life reconciling, and I turned a page today.”
Canada got it right, said Sammy Toineeta, a founder of the Boarding
School Healing Project, a national coalition seeking justice for
similar abuses and loss of culture in Native American boarding schools in the
United States.
“An apology does not carry much weight unless there is something behind it. In
Canada, they got a certain amount of land and money, and then the apology,”
said Toineeta, a Lakota who attended a boarding school in Rosebud, S.D.
“That’s the way to do it. Action first and then words.”
Special correspondent Guly reported from Ottawa and Times staff writer Farley from New
York.
© 2008 The Los Angeles Times
Joan Cartwright
Granddaughter of Savage Logan
Cherokee Nation
“From a spiritual point of view, what [the Prime Minister] has done is release the bonds that have held us from being able to forgive,” Harper said.
Geraldine Maness-Robertson, 72, a Chippewa from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, said her six years at an Anglican school were a “horrific experience,” and her hands were often whipped with a razor strap to break her spirit.
“The [Canadian] government now recognizes that the consequences of the Indian residential schools policy were profoundly negative and that this policy has had a lasting and damaging impact on aboriginal culture, heritage and language,” Harper said.
Re-Thinking "Columbus Day"
We live in mythical times that continually remind us that much of the history (i.e. "his-story") that we grew up with has given us but a partial and distorted view of past events -- and usually from the point of view of those in power, and not from the point of view of "the people." As many of these cherished myths come crashing down around us, we are invited to pause and revise--sometimes radically--our sense of "what on earth has been going on." In that spirit, we offer the following "myth-busting" notes on this day of celebrating/protesting Columbus Day (in the US): "In Columbus' logs from his first voyage, he is continually astounded by the kind and thoughtful ways of the people he meets. Here are a few excerpts during the weeks after October 12, 1492: "And the people are all so gentle. These are the friendliest people. There cannot be better or more gentle people than these anywhere in the world. The chiefs are men of few words and fine manners, it is a marvel. The houses of the Indians are the most beautiful I have ever seen. They are well swept and quite clean inside, and the furnishings are arranged in good order." On Columbus' second voyage, a compatriot of Columbus noted that the native people came out "to greet the ships with gifts of fish and fruit, as if we had been brothers."
Yet, Columbus also wrote: "They... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned.... They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want...As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts." The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the gold?
The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...." He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage "as much gold as they need . . . and as many slaves as they ask." He was full of religious talk: "Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities."
In some strange way, Columbus thought that these people were a living expression of God, and the word Indian actually comes from the Spanish 'in Deos,' or in God. What an oddity it was, then, that they were wiped out in the name of ChristianityŠPope Alexander VI issued the Bull Inter Caetera (May 3, 1493) granting the right to the monarchs of Spain to own, possess, and exploit any part of the Earth not already under control of a Christian nation. The real destruction began after his second voyage, which left for the Americas in 1493. This time there were 17 ships, and about 1,200 men. The arriving Spaniards were shown the same kindness and humanity as on the previous voyage, but this decency was not reciprocated, and in a generation's time, millions of native people were dead, and nearly every Caribbean island thoroughly devoid of its original inhabitants. As Columbus traveled through the Caribbean islands, in each place he would read the following fearsome document giving the Church and the monarchy of Spain the right to seize the lands, and if necessary, kill the occupants:
"I certify to you that, with the help of God, we shall powerfully enter into your country and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and Their Highnesses. We shall take you and your wives and your children, and shall make slaves of them, and as such shall sell and dispose of them as Their Highnesses may command. And we shall do you all the mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey and refuse to receive their lord and resist and contradict him."
"In
a generations time, millions of native peoples were dead, and early every
Caribbean island thoroughly devoid of its original inhabitants. In
time more than 95% of the first peoples of the Americas (an
estimated 15 million) would perish and their way of life would be lost for
ever." -- Excerpted and adapted from American Indian Prophecies by
Kurt Kaltreider (Hay House, 1998)
As we consider these impacts of "Columbus Day" in the light of
the "popular myths" of our current global situation, let us
ask," What lessons from the past invite our deep reflection to inform
and inspire how we hold and respond the circumstances of our modern
times?"
May we all, individually and collectively, have the courage to look for and listen to the stories that bring the wisdom and compassion we need to heal the wounds of our past---and present, and learn to live together and with the Earth in ways that honor the sacredness and potentials of people, traditions, and cultures around the globe.
We encourage you to read: Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress excerpted from A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Columbus_PeoplesHx.html
Thought for the Day from http://www.WisdomAtWork.com
