Indigenous cultures rivalled those of many other civilizations – The Globe and Mail

Indigenous cultures rivalled those of many other civilizations

HAYDEN KING
Teaches indigenous studies at McMaster University and is a member of the Beausoleil First Nation on Chimnissing

Thomas Jefferson once remarked that those who don’t read newspapers are better informed than those who do, even as the former may know nothing, the latter only know falsehood and error. This brings to mind Margaret Wente’s recent column about Olympic official Dick Pound, who said, “400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages.” Ms. Wente’s Saturday column has likely set back the first nations’ campaign for an accurate representation of native peoples in the mainstream media by 10 years.

In fact, a brief survey of the original peoples of this continent illustrates an array of accomplishments that rival civilizations around the globe, including those in Western Europe. Yet today, in North America, the ancestors of those from both continents live side by side, separated by a canyon of misunderstanding. To gain insight, we need only turn to indigenous oral traditions, wampum belts, birchbark scrolls and Tsalagi and Aztec texts. In addition, scholars of all stripes from all corners of the globe have contributed to a greater knowledge of indigenous cultures.

Perhaps most impressive among their findings is that indigenous peoples were adept farmers, originally cultivating and harvesting two-thirds of the foodstuffs the world consumes today. These include the tomato, peanut, potato, chili peppers and corn. In fact, at the time of contact, and long before Gregor Mendel’s experiments with pea plants, the Huron in Ontario had genetically engineered 17 different varieties of corn. Not quite the Stone Age hunter-gatherers of Ms. Wente’s column.

But the achievements don’t end there. And because Ms. Wente uses European-inspired standards of success when measuring first nations “savagery,” a comparison is in order. At a time when the Anishinabek had societal codes forbidding incest, the crowned heads of France and England were as inbred as poodles. While Christians were burning “heretics” at the stake for suggesting the Earth wasn’t the centre of the universe, the Mayans were charting the movement of the stars, creating a calendar within seconds of modern-day atomic clocks. The Wet’suwet’en practised a matriarchal society, while on the other side of the Atlantic, women were the property of men.

In addition, and contrary to Ms. Wente’s assertion, the Haudenosaunee did influence the U.S. Constitution. American “founding fathers,” including Benjamin Franklin and Jefferson, explicitly recorded the first nation contribution. John Rutledge even articulated the structure of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and their “Great Law of Peace” to the drafting committee. (He spoke of a complex federalism whose leaders included executive, legislative and judicial branches – the latter of which were generally a group of elder women). The Haudenosaunee actually practise a 900-year-old democracy and the longest lasting peace between nations in recorded history.

Yet another disturbing aspect of Ms. Wente’s column was the dismissal of traditional ecological knowledge – this is the sum knowledge of a given first nation or Inuit community that has been accumulated and amended for thousands of years. Dismissing it reduces us to conclude, for instance, that the Inuit have survived in the world’s harshest climate by sheer luck. Of course, this is nonsensical. Sophisticated knowledge of ice flows, animal migrations, wind patterns and temperature fluctuations ensured their success in the past and educates scientists, the military and resource companies in the present.

In fact, such traditional ecological knowledge also significantly contributes to Western medicine: essiac is a cancer treatment, evanta cures leprosy, foxglove aids heart care, kava kava reduces stress, and quinine treats malaria. All of the above are indigenous inventions. Not only can such ecological knowledge save lives, it may also help save the world. First nations peoples have lived sustainably in North America for tens of thousands of years, respecting all life, however small, putting an emphasis on reciprocity and understanding that their relationship with ecosystems is one of life and death. At a time when first nations peoples can teach us so much, Ms. Wente would have us ignore them.

Indigenous cultures were and are diverse and vibrant.

They lived in cities larger than those in contemporary Europe, had greater populations, taller buildings, sophisticated governance structures, varied art forms, tested scientific knowledge and on, and on. What is truly savage is the perpetuation of a false representation of first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, particularly when they’ve worked so hard to overcome racism and stereotypes.

But perhaps Jefferson was right all along, we shouldn’t expect much from newspapers anyway.

Teaches indigenous studies at McMaster University and is a member of the Beausoleil First Nation on Chimnissing

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/indigenous-cultures-rivalled-those-of-many-other-civilizations/article716632/

c̓əsnaʔəm: The City Before The City | Museum of Vancouver

So many bloggers and readers in the blogosphere are here because we want to help build a better world (” a world that works for everyone”). I believe that one of the best ways to do that is to develop an intimate and thorough understanding of the worlds that came before this one, and how this greed driven catastrophic mess came about.

First Nations in Canada and indigenous societies worldwide represent what I call “the elder cultures”. By this I mean the cultures that grew up, that existed in most cases for thousands of years-sometimes for many thousands of years. These people adapted not only to their physical environments but to the spiritual environment and the human temperament. They understood how people are and why so the psychological and moral structures of these elder cultures are very effectively designed to manage humans problems both human problems of behaviour and adaptive problems due to environmental instability and change.

We’ve had all that stolen from us by the insidious process of colonization. Luckily for us, the elder cultures most successful at resistance to colonization are still here-they haven’t been erased and paved over with lies, half truths and disinformation-despite ongoing attempts to do so!

Exhibits like this are a precious resource not only for learning about the people whose land you are living in and on, but for starting to learn how to live successfully. Colonized culture-otherwise known as modern, mainstream or “western culture” does not teach us or even allow us to live successfully. It’s designed to create and perpetuate human dysfunction.

For those who live near Vancouver, and everyone who can travel this should be a really fascinating exhibit. For the rest of us, there is also a blog that can be found at the link below.
Blessings,
ohnwentsya

c̓əsnaʔəm: The City Before The City | Museum of Vancouver

The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) connects people with the city, people with ideas, and people with each other. The MOV also explores the continuous transformations of our city. Vancouver has grown up on unceded Coast Salish territory. It is therefore fitting that an exhibition featuring c̓əsnaʔəm, an important ancestral village of the Musqueam First Nation, be the first story of our Vancouver history galleries. c̓əsnaʔəm, known to archaeologists variously as the Eburne Midden, Great Fraser Midden, and Marpole Midden, recently made headlines when ancient burials were uncovered through urban development and the Musqueam strove to protect them. This collaborative project aims to generate public discussions about heritage and Indigenous history, and to raise awareness of the significance of c̓əsnaʔəm for the Musqueam people and for Vancouver.

The curatorial premise of this project is simple: the bone, stone, and shell objects from c̓əsnaʔəm, which have survived thousands of years, are great catalysts for conversations about the relationship between Indigenous and settler societies in Vancouver. They are reminders of the connections between the history of colonialism, and the continuum of Musqueam culture. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver (MOV’s predecessor) undertook excavations at the Marpole Midden and removed over 1,500 “artefacts” for the museum’s displays, discarding others. The presence of these objects or “belongings” as this exhibition calls them since they were, in fact, personal possessions and ancestral remains in the museum’s collections point to an unsettling history. The museum constructed a story about Vancouver’s past that distanced and excluded the Musqueam, viewing the village as an ancient forerunner to Vancouver instead of as a place of ongoing significance to Musqueam. This exhibition re-examines the historical collection and display practices of the museum itself within this context of colonialism.

The exhibition asks, whose home is Vancouver? How have newcomers claimed Vancouver as their own? How do the Musqueam understand their lengthy connection to this place? Generations of families have lived at c̓əsnaʔəm and other areas in the territory for thousands of years. The exhibition evokes this concept of home through design components that reference a Coast Salish longhouse: a site of residence as well as of political, economic, and ceremonial activities. For the Musqueam, home is much more than a physical space; it is what connects individuals to a much broader web of family relationships and territory.

Oral traditions and Indigenous languages are a central vehicle of cultural expression and identity and play an important role in the exhibition. Visitors are invited to pronounce hən’q’əmin’əm’ words, view an animated version of a Musqueam story, and “meet” several community members through a series of recorded interviews. Displays incorporating 3D digital modelling allow visitors to visualize the context in which cultural objects were used. Visitors can also participate in association games and activities designed for families. Throughout this exploration, visitors are invited to reflect upon Vancouver’s history. As Musqueam cultural advisor Larry Grant explains, “c̓əsnaʔəm: the city before the city aims at ‘righting history’ by creating a space for Musqueam to share their knowledge, culture and history and to highlight the community’s role in shaping the City of Vancouver.”

http://www.museumofvancouver.ca/exhibitions/exhibit/c%CC%93%C9%99sna%CA%94%C9%99m-city-city

Remember, Remember, the Fifth of November…

There’s a lot of talk of Revolution going around this fifth of November.

The thing we need to remember is, as Albert Einstein once said “A problem is never solved at the level at which it was created. ”

Or, as Audre Lourde expressed it “You can’t tear down the Master’s house using the Master’s tools. ”

If you are tired of the dominator model of society you will never conquer it externally using bombs and guns.

First, it must be cleared from our internal landscape.

For those who believe anarchy is the answer.  The essential meaning of anarchy is ‘None has power over another’ .

So no put downs, no violence,  no focus on being “right” or who is “right”.  It’s hard to switch mental gears after a lifetime in this culture but it is possible to decolonize our minds.

When we learn to think as fully functional parts of the systems we live within,  our awareness takes on new levels and new breadth.

We are no longer confined to the mental and emotional boxes the dominator culture kept us in.

We are Free.

D L Zeta | Soul Synching with Past and Future Selves

When you reach a sufficient level of awakening you are able to make contact with other selves that exist simultaneously in other locations in time and space. This is possible because you are a multi-faceted soul that sends forth multiple aspects to experience the pain of separation and the joy of oneness on the earth plane. These aspects exist in various timeframes and consist of what we think of as both past and future selves. Your future selves exist on the map of your consciousness in locations you have not yet experienced. The order and location of your present-moment self on this map is determined by your proximity to energies of awakening. Proximity allows you to retain a greater degree of “other life” memories. Selves that hold less “other life” memory awareness are generally considered past lives while those with a greater amount of other life awareness are generally considered future life selves. Your Awakened Selves Facilitate Healing of other Selves Part of the awakening process involves facilitating the healing of other selves. The awareness of other selves is a key piece of entering mastery consciousness. As a mastery self assists other selves with healing and entering deeper levels of awakening, it becomes more powerfully awake, serving in effect as the higher or coordinating self for other aspects of your soul incarnated throughout time. Recognition and Awareness of other Selves leads to Soul Synching When you enter resonance with your future self, this self joins its light with yours and begins telepathic communication. In much the same way, you are able to reach back to your most awakened past self and make this connection and so on. This synching cannot take place until the current focus self of an incarnation holds the recognition and awareness of other selves. Your focus self changes throughout various phases of a given lifetime. The focus self is akin to the ego, the part of your conscious mind currently in charge of navigating physical reality. When your focus self embraces the idea that physical reality is best navigated in communion with your soul and higher self, you are ready to begin the process of unifying your past and future selves. The energetic influences of recent years have fostered an unprecedented level of spiritual growth and sharing that has brought many focus selves to the point of awakening to past and future incarnations. Your Future Self is a Wise and Caring Mentor When your focus self is assured that contact with your future self will make its job of navigating the earth plane easier, it poses no resistance to continued connection with your future self. In fact, it will likely come to respond to your future self as a wise and caring mentor able to provide a greatly expanded vision of the landscape you are presently navigating. Contact with your future self can take place during meditation, or any time you still your mind and bring your full focus to the highest frequency you can access. From this point of still focus you can reach out with the intention to make contact. Once you are connected, you may experience a warm, loving energy and presence. From inside this connection, you can ask your future self for guidance and assistance with issues you are working with. Because soul synching places you in an expanded and altered state, you may find it helpful to prepare in advance questions about your present situation. Your future self will perceive your questions and download guidance and information to you. Your Future Self is dedicated to your Self-Realization You future self is as invested in this connection as you are for your growth and awareness are one and the same. Though you are experiencing different time frames and realities, this self is as dedicated to self-realization as you are. Your future self is as intent on carrying out the desires of your soul as you are. This is a powerful, loving connection that holds the power to heal you at all levels and to assist you in making choices that allow you to magnetize meaningful and uplifting realities. Synching with your future self allows your light to shine brighter. It expands your consciousness and helps grow your field of potentials. This synching brings both you and your future self into greater resonance with your higher self. It brings you into greater communion with your soul and allows you to bring forth the unconditional love, higher information and healing that is much needed in the world. ©2010-2014 DL Zeta, Celestial Vision, All Rights Reservedwww.celestialvision.org These messages are intended to be shared. You are welcome to share and distribute this message with others as you feel guided to do so. Please be sure to include the author & source website link. For more on timeline and identity shifts, see Timeline and Identity Shifts: the New Science of Reality Creation For more on accessing the fifth dimension, see The Future is Here Now: Steps to Accessing Fifth-Dimensional Consciousness By DL Zeta For more on working with your future self, see Messages from the Future: Adopting Your Future Self as Guide and Mentor by DL Zeta

New post on HighHeartLife! “Escalating Attacks…” (Denise le Fey)

If you have also wondered why the more you personally grow, change, heal and ascend, the more the mean people seem to crawl all over you and get all up in your business for seemingly NO logical reason-then read Denise’s latest post.

Someone told me something similar a few years ago when my own personal fan and manure mountain were getting acquainted and I was utterly horrified but it does make perfect sense.

The better your kung fu gets, the more situations arise to test it. Eventually I guess we will get to the stage past that, like Michelle Yeoh, Ip Man and the 8 immortals where we are left alone by the bad guys but can choose to help when others ask. I’m looking forward to it anyway!;-)
ohnwentsya

Escalating Attacks from Strangers by Denise Yep, that sign about sums up the last half of July 2014 pretty darn well I’d say. Wowza fellow Ascension travelers, it’s been something lately hasn’t it? And this sign rather simply explains why. I’m in the mood to write this entire article using 21st Century Internet “pictograms”! 😀 (Because it’s been rather intense lately, […] Read more of this post Denise | July 29, 2014 at 2:26 PM | Tags:6D Sirian Lion’s Gate energies of 2014,amplified NEW energies causing people emotional imbalance, Ascending and Decending worlds and populations, Dark attacking people of the Light, Duality consciousness, holding higher frequency & consciousness, individual Mastery, July 2014 attacks on Forerunners, July 2014 violence,overriding negativity, the shift from 3D duality to 5D unity consciousness | Categories: Higher Awareness & Abilities | URL: http://wp.me/p3TaTL-Ct

The Future Is Now: Zapatista Memories of the Future

The Future Is Now: Zapatista Memories of the Future.

(Excerpt-click the link above to read this article on Truthout)
In the case of the Zapatistas, it is the desire for a world outside of neoliberal exploitation, in which life is not disposable. Or, as the Zapatistas are fond of saying, a world in which many worlds can fit.

For 10 years now, the Zapatistas have been living autonomously, creating a world not consumed by capitalism’s manufactured desire. It would be naive to assume that there haven’t been serious stumbling blocks to overcome, but nevertheless they have managed what many believe to be impossible, a life outside of capitalism’s culture of disposability. They have refused to be relegated to an undignified living death as excess and created a new world based on dignity, autonomy and sovereignty. The Zapatistas haven’t moved with the speed that many thinkers and activists would like, but that is perhaps the greatest lesson to be learned from them. In the First Declaration, they note that they are the product of 500 years of anti-colonial resistance, and each communiqué since then has highlighted the continued need to resist exploitation and exclusion in all their forms. Only through continuous resistance can people realize the memory of a non-disposable future. The process of de-colonialization and resistance to dehumanizing forces is never-ending, so patience is by far the most important virtue. Or, as the Zapatista axiom states, “we walk slowly because we are going far.”

‘Why Do You Indians Always Live in the Past?’ – ICTMN.com

So, I recently took down my Facebook page. About a third of my many friends were Indians from various reservations around me; most of these had never gotten past their GED. The rest were white Mormons and white non-Mormons from Utah. This was an educated group and also a rather vocal one, constantly expressing their opinions on my Facebook wall and debating/arguing with other posters like themselves. The Indians, on the other hand, sent me frequent private messages, jokes and invites to join them for various parties, dinners and events on the rez but rarely posted publicly on my wall, although most of them keenly followed what one of them called the “white discussions.”

One day, one of my Facebook friends ran into me on campus. He asked me, “Why do you always live in the past?” I didn’t pay much attention to his question back then but remembered not arguing with him or his very strong Mormon beliefs about why Indian languages need to die out and the Mormon placement program. The same evening, another friend ran into me when I was riding a horse. She asked me the very same question and she wasn’t Mormon. The same evening, I put up an informal poll on Facebook and, without exception, all whites who responded agreed that I “always lived in the past.” They also seemed rather angry, upset and resentful about it. They said things like, “Get over your past!” I tried to get to the bottom of their resentment by asking questions such as, “But don’t you remember 9/11 every year?” or “Should Jews also forget about their near extermination in concentration camps?”

Their responses, the contradictory feelings they expressed, and the very ambiguity in their responses made me sit up and analyze my posts over the two-year duration of my Facebook. Less than 10 percent of my posts dealt with tribal issues; these were mainly news items neglected by the mainstream media that I didn’t want my Indian friends to miss. Another 5 percent of my posts were announcements of upcoming events like the Circle Dance, a powwow in a town an hour away, an Indian health fair, announcements of language and culture classes, the free medical clinic, personal updates like my adventures in Australia, etc. But the bulk of my posts, over 85%, talked about issues that were of interest to the educated white audience. I talked about game theory, happiness research, genomics, the new MCAT, exchange-traded funds, cancer detection by canines, research by a physicist that showed how racial profiling to limit terror attacks is mathematically flawed, compassion fatigue in physicians, artificial intelligence in medicine, new open courseware by MIT, research on the neurogenics of niceness, and other very contemporary topics. So what really bothered my white friends on Facebook? In my case, in-depth, in-person discussions with my buddies revealed that the 10 percent content that related to news articles from Indian media was what bothered them and led to their distorted perception. Even though over 85 percent of my Facebook content dealt with very contemporary issues, I was perceived as “living in the past.”

Which brings me to the question: Why do we Indians always hear that we live in the past when we don’t? Why are we always told to “get over the past?” The real reason is that Indian discussions serve as an unpleasant reminder to whites that this country is not theirs. Indeed, our very existence serves to reiterate to them that Turtle Island is not their land. Indian news articles from ICTMN and other sources are unpleasant to them because on a subconscious level they realize that they are as much aliens on this land as newly-arrived Arabs or the illegal Mexicans they despise so much. Our stories send home a message to them that their ancestors committed a holocaust against Indians and nearly exterminated us. When we speak about our dying languages, our high rates of diabetes and cancers, alcoholism or the poverty on our reservations, it reiterates to them that this country was built on deceit and lies and their ancestors did something horribly wrong. Our values tell them that their way of life—with the environmental destruction, the divorces, the crime, the wars, deteriorating family values, etc.—is going horribly South. The very fact that you and I are alive and that there are still “full bloods” around undermines the white sense of legitimacy and ownership of America. So my friends, don’t let it bother you when people tell you to “stop living in the past” and to “get over the past.” It is just another of those issues mainstream America needs to get over and resolve in their own minds.

By:
Mike Taylor
April 23, 2012
‘Why Do You Indians Always Live in the Past?’

http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/04/23/why-do-you-indians-always-live-past