What all do we need? re: Indigenous communities in crisis

Hello. After much consideration, I thought I'd start a thread on this topic.

What do you think North American Indigenous peoples/communities in crisis need in order to start making tangible progress out of the sticky web of multiple crises that -dare I say many - are currently stuck in?

I invite other "existential thinkers" - meaning, others who think long and deep about life and the world - to share their thoughts here on what is needed. Please know I realize this is a complex matter and no one simple method will work - otherwise, it would have by now. But what do you think are some crucial strategies to at least get us started with some significant movement out of this ongoing cycle of suffering?

When I listen to mainstream news reports about Indigenous communities in North America, every day there is yet another story about a murder, rape or violence or another child being abandoned in an Indigenous community.

While I do subscribe to an online Indigenous news service that delivers "good news" (thank God for that), I cannot ignore the tragedies that take place every day in the lives of Indigenous peoples somewhere on Turtle Island.

Please know I am NOT saying this happens only in Indigenous communities - but with me being Anishinaabe (or Indigenous), I am even more aware of what is happening in my cultural communities, and I tell you, it repeatedly breaks my heart. When I hear stories and teachings about how we used to live with our spiritual laws intact, and I see all the crises plaguing our communities today, it makes me really, really sad. When I pray for others, I always include specific prayers for my Anishinaabe family - especially the children - who are being traumatized by poverty, addiction, abandonment, dysfunction, and violence.

I tread carefully here. I admit, I enjoy some relative anonymity here on this forum by asking such a question. It's not that I mean to cowardly hide behind internet anonymity. Truth is, most of the Indigenous friends and relations in my immediate circles are still traumatized by and struggling with these issues and can only lash out in their pain - understandably - whenever I broach this topic with them. And the few Elders and ceremonial leaders I know are so busy trying to provide "front line" help to those suffering that they don't have much opportunity to enter into a lengthy existential discussion about this with me. I do not want to add to the traumas they are dealing with, so I decided to post this here, for those who are not currently debilitated by trauma and would like to discuss this from a place of relative security and thoughtful, respectful contemplation.

I ask my SF relations who are Indigenous or who are connected somehow to Indigenous peoples to share their existential views on what do we need to do to start moving out of this state of recurring trauma and reclaim our beautiful spiritual ways and laws so we all can live in relative peace and safety and wellness?

It is my intention to take some of your wisdom shared here and include it as a concrete part of my prayers. I gotta know what to pray for! So I welcome insights from my friends here on SF about what I might include.

Miigwetch, Gakina Ndinawe Makinaak. Thank you, All My Relations.

[Shaunc]

Hi, I don't know the problems your community is suffering, but from the sound of it it's not all that much different to the problems facing the indigenous people in my country (australian aborigines). The change must come from within. In my local community sport has been the great equaliser. My 20 year old son played football (rugby league) and boxed with many indigenous boys, 2 of those boys he counts as good mates, besides the sport they often go out fishing & rabbiting together. The change has to come from the young ones, older people like myself (51 years) are set in our ways, we won't change & if we do it'll only be marginal, plus we're likely to fall off the planet in the next 20 years or so anyway. Teenage Boys especially have to be guided, they have too much balls & not enough brains at that age, a good coach that not an egotistical trophy hunter can make all the difference. For example his boxing trainer made any boy that smoked train harder in cardiovascular fitness than the non-smokers, what I mean is he figured if you've got enough wind to smoke you've got enough wind to run an extra couple of laps of the oval. His football trainer stood down any boy that either missed training or turned up hung over.
Don't just pray for change, make a change.

[Thunder Bow]

One must understand the difference between a Hunting Gathering Culture and a Money Culture.

In a Money Culture such as we live in today. The dominant culture, we buy what we need to live on in stores. These products come from far away places that we never see, or interact with on a personal level. Our food, clothes, and shelter are obtained through Money. Also we are subservient to a ruling class such as kings and queens, or in today time rich families. This can be corporations, and dictators, and so forth.

In a Tribal hunting gathering culture, we got our food, clothing, and shelter directly from or immediate environment, that we interacted with personally. Thus we developed a deep spiritual connection to that environment. In this Money culture we never developed that deep connection, because we got what we need from stores by using money. That alone severed us from our natural environment. Add the fact that we built big houses and live in big cities to protect our self from the elements.

All that above changed us. We lost our connection to the Earth when started making and spending money. This kind of culture has no mature elders. No wisdom. Our leaders are lost children, that do not know what to do when there is a serious crisis. Look at the Sony CEO, reactions to the hacking crisis. He made his decisions based on if others accepted him. That is very immature. Look at 911. Anger without wisdom reaction did more harm than good. All very immature.

We must be present for our children, and Teach them the truths of our ways. The dance has changed, the truth of these ways will always be with us.

The money people only thought of the hunting gathering people as being primitive, and their lives did not matter. They enslaved them, or just killed them outright to get what they want, and have their control. In todays times, look at the Flintstone Jetson Myth. Early man were brutal half apes, and technology saved the day. It is all a myth.

The native people of today are victims of Money, and the money peoples harsh immature ways. Child care is the 1st to go. We must be front and center for our children. Money or no money.

[Shaunc]

That's true with australian aborigines as well. They had no concept of "ownership". To this day, my belief is that along with poverty is one of the main reasons they are jailed at a much higher rate than the general population.
Unfortunately most families today need 2 wages to survive. This is different from my own childhood & yes, the kids are the big losers. At the moment my wife is in the Philippines with my 2 youngest children because of a family crisis. My 11 year old son has been taken under the wing of my brother-in-law (his uncle) & has been learning some of the culture of cebuanos. He's been taken out fishing, was given the task of looking after 2 fighting roosters, boxing with his cousins & riding a motorbike. The biggest change I feel in all cultures since we got away from a nature based livelihood whether it be hunting, fishing or agriculture was the disintegration of large extended families.

[emerge]

This is a topic I have thought about many times and one that makes my head spin. Every time I hear the statistics my heart breaks. How do we fix problems that span so many different cultures and different races? These same problems tend to be greatly magnified in the Anishinaabe communities for some reason.

In order to fix any problem first we have to understand what that problem is and how it happened in the first place. Unfortunately there is no single answer. I am no expert, I have no degrees pertaining to this topic, and I do not have ties to any Anishinaabe community. But I do have an idea of where part of problems stem from.

It was bad enough the way the European Americans treated the Anishinaabe when they began to spread across this country. It was bad enough to round up all Anishinaabe possible and stick them in reservations sitting on some of the poorest lands. It was bad enough that the Anishinaabe was forced to endure all the atrocities the European Americans could dish out. But then there came a time that I believe is mostly responsible for much of the problems Anishinaabe communities suffer today. There was a time when children were ripped from their families. Often witnessing the beating or in some cases death of one or both parents. Then they were put in "schools" and beaten, neglected, and abused in countless ways often on a daily basis. They were told lies, told they were loved and that this was what was best for them. They were in essence tortured and brainwashed. It was said they were trying to beat the Indian out of them.

What did these children learn? They learned to hate themselves, they learned to hate their culture or at least to pretend to hate their culture. Many were torn in two, divided, both loving and hating their culture. They learned to abuse those they loved, to abuse their children. That's all they knew. So when they were released from the "schools" and sent home, what things were they able to teach their children? They couldn't each them self respect, self love, and pride in themselves and their culture. All that was beaten out of them. All of that and much more. Children learn from their parents.... so began the cycle. So how do we end it?

Education. By educating everyone, children, teens, and adults. At an early age children can be taught to have self respect and to love themselves and to respect and love others. Boys have to be taught to respect girls. They have to be taught how to be men without violence, without rape, without getting some poor girl pregnant. They have to be taught how to be strong within themselves. They have to be taught what it means to be a good father and good husband. Girls have to be taught that they have worth, they can follow their dreams, they are just as smart as anyone else. They have to learn to respect boys. They have to learn that having sex isn't the same thing as being loved. They have to learn to be strong within themselves. They have to learn how to be good mothers and good wives. Both boys and girls should learn coping tools so they can cope with family problems. They should learn that escaping through substance abuse only creates more problems.

Adults have to learn the same things as well. And to do all this educating, since it's probably not going to happen in the school systems, we should turn to what's been working with varying success in big city poverty stricken areas. Start by creating community centers to help everyone. Boys clubs and girls clubs..... not the famous ones we see advertised but an Anishinaabe version if possible. And similar clubs for men and women..... support groups more or less. Men helping men and women helping women. Places where men and women can talk about what hurts their hearts or makes them angry. Places that are safe to speak without fear of being ridiculed or judged. Places where they too can learn coping tools and methods to heal their hearts and spirits and learn just how to be the best person they can be and how to share what they learned with their children and grandchildren.

Unfortunately people can't be forced to become a part of a community center. They can't be forced to become part of a support group. They can't be forced to become better people and to break the chains of violence and abuse that links the past to the here and now. They can't be forced to forge new chains of promise and hope, of love and gentle strength.

Just like the people outside the Anishinaabe communities can't be forced to shed the prejudices they learned from their parents. They can't be forced to hear the truth of the Anishinaabe beliefs or see the beauty of the Anishinaabe cultures. They can't be forced to stop allowing greed to rule the country. All these things add to the problems of the Anishinaabe people all over the world. The New Age movement helped and the Holistic movement is still helping.

Sorry, I haven't got any ideas how to stop greed from ruling (ruining) the country.

Originally Posted by Shaunc

Hi, I don't know the problems your community is suffering, but from the sound of it it's not all that much different to the problems facing the indigenous people in my country (australian aborigines). The change must come from within. In my local community sport has been the great equaliser

.
Hi, Shaunc from Australia! Welcome to SF. Loved your response. In our Country, Canada, sport has done the same for many as well. So that's a good thing to focus on and ask Spirit to send us more support and resources, as sport can be expensive for families living in poverty.

Teenage Boys especially have to be guided, they have too much balls & not enough brains at that age, a good coach that not an egotistical trophy hunter can make all the difference.

This is so funny! I think the same - and I see young men who appear to crave the guidance and input from older role models. Good to hear a man say this. I will keep this in mind.

Don't just pray for change, make a change.

Yeah, Shaunc - this is true. I try to do what little I can in my role in the public school system. I would like to see more from our own leaders. Like you say, change must come from within. I see so many - not all, but many - of our leaders infected with greed and selfishness. "Fat chiefs" while the people are starving, in many different ways. That was never our way. The leaders always made sure the People they were leading were taken care of first; it was a demonstration of their strength and leadership abilities. So I'll keep praying for strong, humble leaders to emerge and take their rightful places. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this.

[quote=Thunder Bow]

Our food, clothes, and shelter are obtained through Money. Also we are subservient to a ruling class such as kings and queens, or in today time rich families. This can be corporations, and dictators, and so forth.

Very true, Thunder Bow. Our traditions need to continue to evolve; we need to walk that fine balance between functioning in today's money economy but not allow ourselves to forget "who" we are - children of the Earth.

Thus we developed a deep spiritual connection to that environment. In this Money culture we never developed that deep connection, because we got what we need from stores by using money. That alone severed us from our natural environment. Add the fact that we built big houses and live in big cities to protect our self from the elements.

So re-establishing, or strengthening, our spiritual connection to the Earth. Yes ... I can see this as a good strategy. When we treat all our relations of the Earth with respect, that can transfer over to our families, the women, and the children.

Our leaders are lost children, that do not know what to do when there is a serious crisis.

Yes, and many of them are wounded adults. A wounded adult sees the world through a lens of scarcity - there's-not-enough. So they take just for themselves. This was not our way.

We must be present for our children, and Teach them the truths of our ways. The dance has changed, the truth of these ways will always be with us.

Okay, keep on sharing with the young ones - keep helping them see the beautiful truths of our ways. Yes!

The native people of today are victims of Money, and the money peoples harsh immature ways. Child care is the 1st to go. We must be front and center for our children. Money or no money.

Yes, because if we don't do this, we are raising another generation of victims and disempowered people.

Thank you, Thunder Bow, for sharing these powerful and analytical thoughts.

Dear emerge: Thank you for sharing this well developed critique of the situation.

I really appreciate your using the word the people in my part of the world call ourselves, "Anishinaabe" - and all it means is an Ojibwe person.

It is good that you know your history. Many societies throughout time have traumatized other societies. I can't think of one world culture that hasn't been oppressed by another at some time in history. It is good to know the history, the "bad blood" between two nations, but I wish more of our people would do that forgiveness work. Move beyond resentment and anger - and pain - and that the two groups who have a history of conflict work together in sacred partnership, for the sake of all. Some Canadians call this issue the "Aboriginal problem" - but they don't understand that we all pay for the results of these social problems in the costs of jails, probation, and recovery from theft and violence. It comes from the public purse that we all pay into. Our tax dollars would be better spent in proactive means, not reactive means.

You are so right in that self respect is something that is taught/modelled, not inborn. And you can't teach what you don't live - so our adults would help the children by doing their own healing and recovery for themselves first. And more healing centres and community centres would be great. There is still a grave disconnect among ourselves. Infighting and backstabbing among ourselves. When we could all help each other heal and move forward instead.

[Thunder Bow]

Actually, self respect is inborn. The lack of self respect is taught. We are taught to conform, and wear a uniform. We are taught just to be a productive "Nanic" to serve rich families. No self, just be productive, and shut up and just do your job. You are not be paid to think.

When a child is neglected or abused, they internalise it, and blame one self for the abuse. Self hate is taught through abuse and neglect. So is rage.

[Seekerofsolace]

I don't feel I have as eloquent as words you all have, but I will try. I feel like the Native American community is closed to outsiders. I honestly understand why as the early inhabitants of America took so much from them. Being closed however, makes them isolated to everyone else. In the wild, when you isolate an animal from the pack or herd, it is more vulnerable. I think if the indigenous peoples become more open, the rest of the world can learn more about them and possibly want to help. Everyone I talk to says, "I feel bad for the Indians and what has been done to them..." They can use this sentiment and channel it to change things for the better. People want to learn about Indians, because up until recent years, they were connected to something advanced civilization had lost. The white man is not longer the enemy of the Indians in my opinion. There are many out there who are white on the outside but their heart wishes to beat Indian. These long to join a tribe and learn to be what their heart tells them to be. Only when both young and old generation learn to see with their hearts will we see real change. The 1% want us all to crave material things like them so we will spend our lives chasing after it. They do not want us to see with our heart.