Making things Wednesday - remind oursleves

The picture is from the beading R did on her moccasin.  She favoured the big heavy rocks for her work.  She loves her rocks. Little ones, big ones she carries them all home.  She even brought in the ones I put outside as they were too special to spend the winter in the snow.

It was interesting how organically the beading happened.  S wanted to show me some beading videos she found on Youtube and that inspired us all to work on our moccasins again.  S made a flower.  R put on rocks and I almost finished my other vamp.  Both girls were quite confident in taking up their needles again.  It was wonderful to watch someone more experienced and to learn from them - to share someone elses Kookum.  I find the four bead technique a lot easier than that with two needles and ten beads.

Every morning I try to tell the girls to find the centre of their circle - to position themselves in their medicine wheel and find a place of calmness and I remind them that their ancestors are around them and go with them and that they can draw strength from them.  The other morning S said "not all ancestors".  She rightly pointed out that one mooshum  solved a lot of problems with drugs and by shooting things.  Neither of which were good options for problem solving at school.  I love that they are thinking about these things and engaging with them.  It makes me very happy.  The little flames we are supporting in our families will hopefully be part of a much bigger flame.

Micro Agressions

I came across the term "micro-agressions" yesterday in a Buzzfeed article.  As soon as I heard it I wondered why we didn't use this word all the time.  Wikipedia defines it "Microaggression is a form of unintended discrimination. It is depicted by the use of known social norms of behavior and/or expression that, while without conscious choice of the user, has the same effect as conscious, intended discrimination." I think of all those times that people make little comments that if you think about them a bit are uncomfortable but you mostly let pass.

I guess I am pretty behind as I just found both a New York Times and Time articles from last year on this issue and I found mention that this was "the new form of racism".  We need to keep up people.  Don't want to get behind in my racism.  These articles were both pretty patronizing and kind of came from the "now that there is now no overt racism...." which honestly people?????  That assumption comes from such a place of privalage that it kind of nulls the remainder of the arguments in these articles.

Given the lack of recognition of minority actors (see this buzzfeed piece), given that men still overwhelmingly own most of the land in the world, women and children make up most of the poor,  the deep levels of poverty of many of our aboriginal peoples and that in most professions women are still underpaid, adding in the high levels of violence against gay and trans-people, I think there is still plenty of conversations to be had.  ISMS seem to be alived.  That in the university context these biases are not longer glaring is great, that this diologue moves on is important.  That is a glimpse of a possible future.  It is a slow progress to open spaces and to have uncomfortable conversations.  This requires creating new languages and sensitivities.  I find it exciting and hopeful.

Speaking of indian poverty and challenges here is another indian rapper Shibastik scroll down his page and you can listen to his work.

The Ones - Shibastik

Shibastik's Album "Fire and Water" is making me think this morning.  In particular his song "The Ones" half way down the linked page.

"We know we’re not the one’s who lived off nothing but the land.  We know we’re not the one’s who know what life was like before the white man came and affected the average native life span."

"You’ll never get to see the native I was meant to be.  Sometimes it feels like I was born in the wrong century.  I know we’re not the ones who had to choose our destiny."

"You looked at us like we were dust on your floor plan."

 

" People tell us to stop bitchen about the past.  We’re not bitchen were just in mourning.  It wasn’t a thousand years ago you know, it was just a few generations ago. "

 

"We’re all survivors.  If you are breathing still and you got native blood you’re a survivor and you gotta be proud of that."

I am so lucky to have such a depth of talent to draw from to feed my soul.

Ricardo Cate

Ricardo Cate is a cartoonist who has a lot of thoughtful things to say and also is just funny. 

Cthulhu Runa

Runa wanted me to post this picture of her being Cthulhu.

Changing perspectives

 I first saw this poster over ten years ago.  It didn't particularly strike me in any way.  I came across it again last week and had a totally different reaction.  Free land?  Wait a minute were these the immigrants brought to camp on my families land while the church screwed the original owners over?   After having already done this to the same families in Manitoba?  A part of our past sure, but building our future?    I tried to finish the John Ralston Saul book about aboriginals.  I could not do it.  I could not find it in me to care what some old white guy had to say about this stuff.  There are so many indian/metis writers to get it and I don't have to push myself to read them.  He seemed to be selling shame, but without the action.  Maybe the call to action came later, but I just couldn't keep caring.  He gave me no reason to listen to his voice above someone else.

Aaron Paquette

I really enjoy the art and writing of Aaron Paquette.  I want to share a few of his images over the next week.  Below is his tee-shirt design "Halfbreed - deep roots"