Two choices only

Page 6

Dear Editor:

Over the past 10 years I've been looking at the state of the First Nations affairs and found serious issues are all around us-sexual abuse, rampant drug/alcoholism, corruption, and a feeling of hopelessness. As a young citizen of the Anishinabek Nation, I am constantly wondering why this has happened and what needs to be done in order to change it.

Through personal research and experience, I have discovered that there are several reasons for this situation. As human beings we have both positive and negative aspects, depending on which we choose to live determines how we live. However this alone does not explain why our nations are nearly broken.

The system under which we find ourselves occupied encourages the negative aspects of ourselves. The goal of the occupiers right now is the acquisition of power and resources. This is the effect most seen by our people, but least understood. As this system encourages our negative sides, which in turn keeps the system going, the next step is what people call assimilation. This is the stage where we are now. It is the systematic destruction of our way of life, to be replaced by the foreign imposed way.

The final stage is destruction, of mother earth and us as Indigenous peoples. In order for this system to function, it must have the means to accomplish the objectives of our occupiers. Deception, interception, intimidation, misinformation, misdirection, assassination and subversion are the means by which the occupiers accomplish their goal of power and resources. The means are many, however, there are several general categories in which they can be put under. Start with Deception, this would entail lying, cheating etc. A good example of this would be treaties. The treaty signed says the band will receive 50,000 square acres of land, but then gets only 500 acres and the people are told that the land was held in trust for them and then mysteriously disappears from sight, then are later told that the land was never theirs.

Interception would involve stopping or controlling the actions of the people so as to ultimately benefit the occupier. A good many examples of this are found in the many so-called Native organizations around Turtle Island. The Assembly of First Nations, the National Council of American Indians, tribal and band councils and so on, they are nothing more than fronts used by the occupiers to enforce their system.

Intimidation is one most of us can relate to. Police, military, the foreign judicial system and other agencies are the most obvious form of maintaining the system. Misinformation is the spreading of lies about us to others and to ourselves. A good example would be the theory of us coming over a so-called land bridge to our homes here.

Misdirection is the means used to distract us from what is really going on. A good example is what happened with Leonard Peltier. On the same day that the two FBI agents were killed, an illegal land deal was made between the Pine Ridge Tribal Council and the U.S. federal government for one-eighth of the land base that held uranium deposits.

Assassination is the one item that seems to be used the most efficiently if only in the short term. A good case is Anna-Mae Aquash, a Mig'Maw woman who was killed because of her involvement with the organization American Indian Movement.

And finally we come to the final one, subversion. This is the one used the most often and it has proven to be the most effective. What this entails is "make them become us, even if it's a lower form." This is where the most destruction will result from-disunity, loss of language/culture, greed, anger, selfishness of the most extreme kind. After reviewing all of this one might ask oneself "How do we fix it?" I propose the answer has been here all along. We have all of the tools within our way of life. Now some people would suggest that we use nothing of the knowledge from our brothers and sisters from across the sea. I would say tat would be against our very way of life not to accept what useful knowledge others have gained, not to use what skills and technologies are available to us in order to fulfill our duties and responsibilities to mother earth and us.

It would not be difficult, say to learn engineering and science skills, nor to build the facilities to house the equipment. Combined with our way of life we would never have to worry about self-suffiency again. This type of interdependent skill can be included to all of the skills and abilities needed to be self-suffient in who we are.

What we must do is to recreate a system that encourages the positive aspects of ourselves. To those who say this is unrealistic or hopeless, I say that is the voice of someone who cannot or will not do what is needed for our people. It is much easier than people realize to accomplish these tasks, so that we can be truly free. If we wish things to be better, we must do these things. We must act quickly for we are running out of time.

Remember we are not Americans or Canadians. We are citizens of our respective nations which are part of the greater nation of red. We need to be responsible to each other and for ourselves. It has been shown what their objectives are. We are a threat to that, therefore we will never be treated like the way we think we should. We are currently engaged in genocide conditions and no one will get us out of it except us!

This is not to encourage reprisals or promote hatred of our fellow siblings that would defeat the purpose of creating this system. We must, however be willing to defend ourselves from both the why and the how of the foreign system imposed upon us. We must make one of two choices:

1. We choose now and go through a little pain.

2. We wait and suffer horribly.

Which choice will you make?

Tante Hokslina

Baawaating Territory

Anishinabek Nation

Turtle Island Confederacy