The truth needs to be told, we deserve to know where we come from, and I hope we can share this learning journey together.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Yes, it's been more than a little while.
A lot has happened while I've been gone. I have a son who is now 26 months and 8 days old. He takes up a lot of my time, and most of that time is filled with laughter, all of it is filled with love.
I'm honoured to belong to the Winnipeg Aboriginal Writer's Collective. Now I am surrounded by a great group of people who share several things in common; we are aboriginal, and we love to write.
As well I'm fortunate enough to find a little time to craft again. I love crafting; necklaces, bracelets, dream catchers. Someday soon I'll post some pictures here.
In the meantime, I've always found a few minutes each day to read. One of the best books I've read recently is "The Inconvenient Indian" by Thomas King. Prophetically, he has written the unwritten history which gives meaning and explanation to the movement "Idle No More" for the uninitiated. If you are interested in learning more about our shared history, read this book.
As the famous saying goes, "I will be back". Back with more histories, biographies, and any ideas and news items that need to be shared. With updates to my own urban Indian life, raising my son as a single mom. Why? Because we are all related.
I would like to address one of many First Nations issues which have come to light in the press in recent days. The story I’m referring to was very nearly buried by the media. It concerns the “Seven Native Americans” who have been working to have the Redskins trademark removed from the National Football League’s Team Roster.
The story created many questions:
Who are these Seven Native Americans?
Why are racial slurs still used today in Sports and many other franchises?
What can we do about it?
First things first: The Seven Native Americans’ identities remain anonymous in all instances of the press which I could find. But it doesn’t matter that their names remain unknown.
Our neighbours’ to the south have reputations for being extremely prideful for all things “American”, and what’s more “American” than the NFL?
Do we really need to know their names to call them heroes? These 7 people epitomize the definition of hero: they have shown great courage in taking on the NFL, and they do this without seeking glory. They do what they do to benefit all those who will follow for generations to come.
I respect their anonymity. It’s all to easy to envision a truckload of disgruntled NFL fans tearing around town, rooting out any ‘suspects’ who would dare to try and challenge or change their beliefs of “the American Dream” by attacking the name of their favourite NFL franchise.
Under the entry for ‘hero’ my Webster’s 9th new Collegiate Dictionary, the first definition reads:
1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage
There is nothing which says a hero has to be well known or idolized. History has thousands of unsung heroes; think about the Underground Railroad, or the hiding of peoples of Jewish decent during the Second World War. The last thing those unsung heroes wanted was recognition for their unselfish, humanitarian acts.
And that’s why the 7 Native Americans are heroes, and are represented here, today.
What the press has told us about these Seven Native Americans is that they have been arguing this fight since 1992. That they won the right in 1999 to have the Redskins trademark invalidated. But the NFL refuses to obey the Trademark law. The 7 Native Americans have been fighting the NFL ever since to have the name changed.
So what if the NFL has teams with names like the Washington Redskins? Calling someone a redskin is like saying they are ‘brave’ and ‘scary’, isn't it? When you’re playing football I guess that’s what you want the opposing team to think, that you should be feared. With that kind of logic, they should rename all the teams with racial and stereotypical slants:
How are we, as a peoples, to be able to find pride in ourselves when the society we live in uses dated, and not so dated racial slurs as trademarked names?
But none today, right? Uh, well, there are those Lakota ads…
(I was going to post the Lakota link here, but then I found this gem on youtube, and I’m sticking it in even if it’s a little off subject)
There was no reason, no one is better, or more important, but how to choose the first?
It came to me while listening to my favourite radio station, CBC Radio One.
The interviewee ___, on the radio show ___, both names’ escape me, was talking about an Onondaga named Tom Longboat, and how he’d set a course record for the Boston Marathon back in 1907, and then went on to serve in WW1. He acclaimed how many First Nations people had never ever heard the name Tom Longboat. He was right.
I was one of them.
Maybe you are, too.
Not anymore!
Introducing our first hero of many,
TOM LONGBOAT Tom Longboat was an Onondaga born on June 4, 1887. He grew up on the Grand River First Nations Reservation in Ontario. It was Tom’s destiny to become world renown as a long distance runner; now it is our pleasure to recall his achievements as our very first profile entry for the First Nations People Project.
Tom’s road to success was filled with obstacles, the least of which was poverty. In 1906, while training with Bill Davis, a Mohawk, Tom ran his first race wearing cheap sneakers and a droopy cotton bathing suit. Others laughed at the sight, but Tom laughed last when he won the 19 mile race by a full 3 minutes.
Tom went on to run and win many other races, and with proper running shoes, he most notably won the Boston Marathon of 1907 when he was 19 years old. There he set a course record of 2:24:24. That is something we can all be proud of, and you can see his listing here.
At the age of 29 Tom enlisted to fight in WW1. There he continued to run, carrying messages and orders between units. Tom Longboat was wounded twice while in service, and even declared dead. Yet he survived the war and returned to Canada in 1919. Tom Longboat died in 1949 at the age of 62. He is remembered today in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Indian Hall of Fame. Where is the Indian Hall of Fame? Apparently it was a travelling exhibition of some “Indian” sports stars, but nothing worthy of perpetual recognition.
Today, we stand and read, corrected.
Recognize Tom Longboat.
To learn more about Tom Longboat, do an Internet search you! LOL! Some Anishiniaabeg humour; get used to it!
The book relates that there is plenty of evidence suggesting that the indigenous peoples of the Americas – we First Nations Peoples - were larger in number, had arrived earlier, were more sophisticated culturally, and controlled and shaped the natural landscape to a greater extent than had been previously thought: that we weren’t savages after all.
In one of those very rare and true moments of awareness, when the electricity in the air seems to spark and attention is focused and open and taking in everything around you, it was as if an Eagle feather had dropped onto my head. Then I realized I had been staring at the Thunderbird feather I’d been granted custody of the previous summer. I very rightly jumped off the couch, ready for action.
The television was showing a history vignette, created for Black History Month. Though generally only 2 minutes in duration, these little episodes purveyed a plethora of factual information about lesser known African-Americans and African-Canadians who helped shape our present world. And they were presented in an entertaining, and pride inducing manner.
As far as learning our heritage, and being proud of your heritage, culture, and language, we are far behind the African Americans.
Shortly thereafter I began to do research; who are our First Nations heroes? Several Internet searches revealed that there are quite a few websites out there dedicated to the preservation of our languages, our histories, and our diverse cultures. There were a few dedicated to Aboriginal Heroes, yet hero was never used as a word to describe our peoples, past or present.
I posed the question to myself: who are my First Nations Heroes? Who do I admire for their actions and contributions to our understanding of ourselves, and to our own potential?
I am not ashamed to admit I could not think of anyone. That’s not my shame – that shame belongs to the writers of the Euro-centric history books which are still in use in schools today. But it would be my shame if I did not use my talents and interests to rectify the situation. I’d already begun my own personal journey, but what of all my cousins? (I refer to all First Nations peoples as my cousins, and everyone else on the planet too, which I will explain in a later blog.) There remains a huge gap of unanswered truths about our history, past, present and future. It is necessary to research, compile and present these uncommon truths to all peoples of the land.
I am only one Anishinaabeg Ikwe (Anishinaabee Woman), and by creating this blog I hope to reach as many curious minds as possible, to learn as well as teach, and to share knowledge, as our peoples had before. We have a lot to be proud of, more still to fight for. Even after 500+ years of subliminal and not so subtle eradication attempts, government sanctioned and otherwise,
We Are Still Here.
Stand up, smile, and be proud.
If you know of any links I should check out, or that I could connect to this blog, let me know.
Past and present, our peoples are still being treated as less than second class citizens even as we strive to acclimate ourselves to a societal structure which differed greatly from that of our ancestors. As a people we need to feel affirmed. We need to be aware of the contributions made by other First Nations peoples in Canada, and indeed, all throughout North and South America, and the Caribbean islands. We need to have role models, and we need to understand the social forces which have shaped and influenced our communities, both on reservations and off. We need a means of feeling connected to the experiences of our ancestors, our lost cultures and languages, in all regions across Canada.
The greater Canadian community, indeed, the world, needs to know a history of Canada that includes all of our histories, especially those which the government, working with various Christian religious institutions, tried so hard to eradicate. “The Indian Act” of 1850 and its various amendments outline this in detail. I have not been able to find any of the original texts online in their entirety; however, I did find this gem of a page.
The truth needs to be told, we deserve to know where we come from, and I hope we can share this learning journey together.
I'm a curious person who has been reading and writing since the age of 3. I think books are the most amazing luxury in the world, right up there with dark semi-sweet chocolate.
Let’s work together to make sure that censorship does not become the rule, but rather a luxury for each person to realize and exercise on their own.
Miigwich for reading.
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