REVENGE OF THE CRADLEBOARD – the “500 year war” of Indigenous genocide
Mohawk Nation News
http://www.mohawknationnews.com
Feb. 9, 2009. When the Europeans invaded Turtle Island, they thought indigenous people were in their way. They pushed us west and did everything they could to get rid of us. Where did we go? 115 million were “disappeared” and the world doesn’t care.
The scum dogs of Europe set in motion a plan to dispossess us of our territories and resources. Almost all of us were annihilated in the biggest holocaust in the history of mankind. They developed “scientific theories” that claimed we were an inferior race to justify killing us off. Their motto was “the only good Indian is a dead Indian”. So there are only we mean ones left. Our ancestors sacrificed their lives at great cost so a few could be on Turtle Island today: in the beginning of the 20th century, from 60 million to 260,000 in the U.S. and less than 100,000 in Canada.
The law in Canada was that “a person was anyone other than an Indian”. We were treated like sub humans. The U.S. and Canada starved, subjugated, exterminated and then interned us on worthless land where it was almost impossible to survive. Today like guinea pigs we are numbered and catalogued more than anyone else in centralized computer information banks on all aspects of our lives.
As part of “racial hygiene” we were sterilized against our will. Our children were taken from us and put into concentration camps called residential/boarding schools. “Kill the Indian and save the man” was their motto. In Canada almost half never returned home. They were sexually abused, experimented on or murdered. Hitler’s World War II holocaust was modeled on the American Indian one.
Eugenics was part of how 10,000 French Canadians become a population of millions while we were being wiped out.
In the early days of New France, as Quebec was called, the birthrate was low because few European women were in Canada before 1663. After the English defeated them in 1760, the Roman Catholic Church’s retaliation was called the “revenge of the cradle”. They wanted to drown the English in a “bath” of French Catholic babies. The priests told the women that the ideal French Canadian mother was the one who took the first son from the cradle to replace him with his younger brother, while telling him that next year a little sister would take his place and so on. Fourteen children was the ideal. If they did not produce a child every year, they had to confess their sin. The protestants used the same fertility strategy to secure their theft of our lands. The physical strain of this policy killed the settler women and many of their babies.
The women got medals from the Pope for having at least 10 children. In 1973 a reporter from France, Andre Luchaire, wrote a story about this for La Presse. He visited a woman in the Laurentians, north of Montreal, who had over 25 children. He asked her to name her children who were running all around playing. She signaled one over and asked him, “What’s your name, son?”
In the 1970s after the “quiet revolution” when modern life hit Quebec, the French birthrate plummeted. They stampeded out of the church over this issue.
Recently technology made it possible for a 33-year old single woman in California to give birth to eight babies at one time through in vitro fertilization. She already had six. In previous multiple births the government stepped in and made assistance and funds available to help out the families. In this recent event, criticism and almost condemnation has been leveled at the mother about the cost to taxpayers, the social problems and government funds expended. Why? She is well educated and loves her 14 children. This woman is a person of color and she did not intend to have eight children. She wanted only one. All the implanted eggs survived in her womb and produced eight babies. She could not bring herself to abort any of them. She is obviously strong and so are her offspring to survive such an ordeal.
Since the invaders to Turtle Island have almost destroyed the environment that threatens to wipe out humanity, it is time to bring back the ways of Indigenous people to save mother earth.
We are not advocating that Indigenous women start having eight babies at a time. Indigenous women should be given the assistance needed to cut down our high infant death rate and to stop the theft of our children by government agencies such as social services. The survival and health of our babies means raising them in a decent standard of living to which we are entitled. Presently we are forced to live in one of the lowest life standards in the world. To take care of our children we need the same level of human rights as anybody else. Why is this being denied to us?
Yes, our birthrate is higher than the rest. This is a natural biological response to the genocide perpetrated on us. Canada wants to cut down our births. To hit us Ottawa recently made two major budget cuts to help stay-at-home mothers and provide day care for those who have to work. More will have to go on welfare which is not enough to cover decent food and shelter. Canada is deliberately creating hopelessness to lower our population by knowingly worsening conditions that will make us sick and that will make it harder for us to look after our children.
The colonists would rather hang empty cradle boards on museum walls than put live Indigenous babies in them to be raised by healthy Indigenous communities.
Ia’koha:kowa & MNN Staff Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com kittoh@storm.ca katenies20@yahoo.com kahentinetha2@yahoo.com Note: Your financial help is needed and appreciated. Please send your donations to PayPal at www.mohawknationnews.com, or by check or money order to “MNN Mohawk Nation News”, Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0. Nia:wen thank you very much. Go to MNN “Canada” category for more stories; New MNN Books Available now! Purchase t-shirts, mugs and more at our CafePressStore http://www.cafepress.com/mohawknews; Subscribe to MNN for breaking news updates http://.mohawknationnews.com/news/subscription.php; Sign Women Title Holders petition! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Iroquois
February 10, 2009
Listen: Indigenous Peoples and Bolivia's Constitutional Reform
THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM IN BOLIVIA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES THERE
"Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond" radio program on
WESU, Middletown, CT, 88.1fm.
~~~
LISTEN ONLINE to host Kehaulani Kauanui, while the program airs from 4-4:55pm (EST):
http://www.wesufm.org/
On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, join your host, J. Kehaulani Kauanui for an episode that will focus on recent developments in Bolivia, where a national referendum held on January 25, 2009 passed after a long and contentious road in order advance a new constitution under the leadership of Bolivian President Evo Morales, the first Indian president of a South American country. On the show, we will hear from Dr. Victoria Bomberry (Muscogee) and Dr. José Antonio Lucero about the politics of the new constitution and its implications for the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, and the ongoing democratization project. Dr. Victoria Bomberry is an assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Riverside where she teaches Native American Studies. She is the International Coordinator of Movimiento de Mujeres Originarios y Indigenas de Qollosuyu, Bolivia, and the Project Director of Abya Yala Women's Circle. Dr. José Antonio Lucero is an assistant professor at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle. He is the author of a new book, Struggles of Voice: The Politics of Indigenous Representation in the Andes (University of Pittsburgh Press). Past programs of "Indigenous Politics" are now archived online:
http://www.indigenouspolitics.com/
"Indigenous Politics" is syndicated weekly on Pacifica-affiliate stations: WNJR, 91.7 FM, "Washington & Jefferson College Radio" in Washington, PA, and WETX-LP, 105.3 FM, "The independent voice of Appalachia," which includes a region encompassing twelve states and 20 million people: east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, west Kentucky, all of West Virginia, most of Pennsylvania, south New York, west Maryland, west North Carolina, west South Carolina, north Georgia, north Alabama, and northeast Mississippi. In addition, starting this month, WBCR-lp in Massachusetts is also syndicating the show. The show's producer and host, Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui is an associate professor of American Studies and Anthropology at Wesleyan University. She is the author of a newly released book, Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity (Duke University Press 2008).
http://jkauanui.faculty.wesleyan.edu/
"Indigenous Politics: From Native New England and Beyond" radio program on
WESU, Middletown, CT, 88.1fm.
~~~
LISTEN ONLINE to host Kehaulani Kauanui, while the program airs from 4-4:55pm (EST):
http://www.wesufm.org/
On Tuesday, February 10, 2009, join your host, J. Kehaulani Kauanui for an episode that will focus on recent developments in Bolivia, where a national referendum held on January 25, 2009 passed after a long and contentious road in order advance a new constitution under the leadership of Bolivian President Evo Morales, the first Indian president of a South American country. On the show, we will hear from Dr. Victoria Bomberry (Muscogee) and Dr. José Antonio Lucero about the politics of the new constitution and its implications for the indigenous peoples of Bolivia, and the ongoing democratization project. Dr. Victoria Bomberry is an assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Riverside where she teaches Native American Studies. She is the International Coordinator of Movimiento de Mujeres Originarios y Indigenas de Qollosuyu, Bolivia, and the Project Director of Abya Yala Women's Circle. Dr. José Antonio Lucero is an assistant professor at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle. He is the author of a new book, Struggles of Voice: The Politics of Indigenous Representation in the Andes (University of Pittsburgh Press). Past programs of "Indigenous Politics" are now archived online:
http://www.indigenouspolitics.com/
"Indigenous Politics" is syndicated weekly on Pacifica-affiliate stations: WNJR, 91.7 FM, "Washington & Jefferson College Radio" in Washington, PA, and WETX-LP, 105.3 FM, "The independent voice of Appalachia," which includes a region encompassing twelve states and 20 million people: east Tennessee, southwest Virginia, west Kentucky, all of West Virginia, most of Pennsylvania, south New York, west Maryland, west North Carolina, west South Carolina, north Georgia, north Alabama, and northeast Mississippi. In addition, starting this month, WBCR-lp in Massachusetts is also syndicating the show. The show's producer and host, Dr. J. Kehaulani Kauanui is an associate professor of American Studies and Anthropology at Wesleyan University. She is the author of a newly released book, Hawaiian Blood: Colonialism and the Politics of Sovereignty and Indigeneity (Duke University Press 2008).
http://jkauanui.faculty.wesleyan.edu/
February 9, 2009
Native Americans Protest Reinstatement of Racist Mascot
Contact: Mark Anquoe, American Indian Movement - West
(415) 566-5788 gazelbe@yahoo.com
http://www.aimwest.info/
Corine Fairbanks American Indian Movement – Santa Barbara (805) 212-4947
corine68@yahoo.com
http://www.myspace.com/aimsantabarbara
Native Americans Protest Reinstatement of Racist Mascot
By Mark Anquoe and Corine Fairbanks
CARPINTERIA, California – The Carpinteria based Coalition Against Racism in Education (C.A.R.E.) will hold a rally and protest outside of Carpinteria City Hall on Tuesday, February 10th at 4:30 pm. That evening, the Carpinteria district school board will continue to hear arguments regarding a petition to rescind its own April 2008 decision to remove the Native American sports imagery at Carpinteria High School. C.A.R.E. demands that the previous decision be upheld in accordance with official positions on Native American mascots published by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the National Education Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, among others.
The demonstration is also being held to draw attention to the threats and intimidation against the Native American community that have become commonplace since the 2008 ruling. Supporters of the racist mascot have made multiple death threats against Eli Cordero, the 15 year old Chumash youth who originally petitioned the school board to remove the imagery. A child of one of the supporting school board members was also targeted, prompting the child’s transfer to another school. No one has been charged with making the threats, as police have refused to recognize any “credible threat”. Those who publicly support the mascot’s removal have been refused service at local restaurants, harassed in their homes and even pursued into and accosted at their churches.
Protest organizers expect aggressive opposition at the Tuesday rally. At a protest on January 27th, the Federal Department of Justice sent an agent from their Los Angeles office to ensure proper police protection of demonstrators. Previous protests have been met with mascot supporters shouting racist epithets, spitting, and throwing rocks.
Although the Carpinteria school board will hear arguments on Tuesday, it is not expected to vote on the matter until February 24th. C..A.R.E is also organizing a rally and march on that date.
(415) 566-5788 gazelbe@yahoo.com
http://www.aimwest.info/
Corine Fairbanks American Indian Movement – Santa Barbara (805) 212-4947
corine68@yahoo.com
http://www.myspace.com/aimsantabarbara
Native Americans Protest Reinstatement of Racist Mascot
By Mark Anquoe and Corine Fairbanks
CARPINTERIA, California – The Carpinteria based Coalition Against Racism in Education (C.A.R.E.) will hold a rally and protest outside of Carpinteria City Hall on Tuesday, February 10th at 4:30 pm. That evening, the Carpinteria district school board will continue to hear arguments regarding a petition to rescind its own April 2008 decision to remove the Native American sports imagery at Carpinteria High School. C.A.R.E. demands that the previous decision be upheld in accordance with official positions on Native American mascots published by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the National Education Association, the American Psychological Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, among others.
The demonstration is also being held to draw attention to the threats and intimidation against the Native American community that have become commonplace since the 2008 ruling. Supporters of the racist mascot have made multiple death threats against Eli Cordero, the 15 year old Chumash youth who originally petitioned the school board to remove the imagery. A child of one of the supporting school board members was also targeted, prompting the child’s transfer to another school. No one has been charged with making the threats, as police have refused to recognize any “credible threat”. Those who publicly support the mascot’s removal have been refused service at local restaurants, harassed in their homes and even pursued into and accosted at their churches.
Protest organizers expect aggressive opposition at the Tuesday rally. At a protest on January 27th, the Federal Department of Justice sent an agent from their Los Angeles office to ensure proper police protection of demonstrators. Previous protests have been met with mascot supporters shouting racist epithets, spitting, and throwing rocks.
Although the Carpinteria school board will hear arguments on Tuesday, it is not expected to vote on the matter until February 24th. C..A.R.E is also organizing a rally and march on that date.
Katenay: Resistance at Sweet Water Stronghold
Protesting is not Resisting, Resistance are based on Profound Manifestos:
“Ancient Big Mountain Supreme Ways Dictates Dineh Resistance, Pauline Whitesinger Continues to Defy B.I.A. Police Harassment & Threats”
By Bahe Y. Katenay
Sheep Dog Nation Rocks
http://sheepdognationrocks.blogspot.com/
Republished with permission
Sweet Water Stronghold, Big Mountain. February 9, 2009 - Dineh elder resister of the traditional lands of Sweet Water is bundled up for the chilly winds as she takes some hay out to her sheep and goats. The herds need a little extra feed before going out to graze. The non-Indian, volunteer supporter is dressed warm and ready to follow the sheep as he chops some wood for grandma, Pauline and while the herds nibble on the scattered hay on the ground. Not many non-Indian volunteers do occasionally make themselves available from their busy lives to come out for short stays and help traditional, elder resisters. Very few traditional elder residents are now left throughout such regions affected by the harsh relocation laws of 1974.
When asked, “How is everything out here?” The well-outfitted supporter says, “Just a lot of babies, and that is why I’m carrying this!” He wears a large, hand-sewn canvas bag which he referred to is to be used in case any of the sheep or goats have “babies.” Soon the sheep and goats are done feeding and they head towards the great pristine canyon of Sweet Water, and the supporter suddenly quits all chit-chat, grabs his stick and runs off toward a herd that is disappearing into the juniper forest.
Each non-Indian supporter that make these short stays with traditional elders have unique and deep sense of passion that is more than just positive, but they have the understanding of the suffering from injustice and the presence of environmental destruction. Though these kind of ‘hardcore’ supporters are becoming rarer, they value the human connections to nature or to the eco-systems rather than connections to corporate entities and its policing/policies. They see and appreciate, more than most native Americanas, what still exist out here at Big Mountain especially where an elder like Pauline lives. Supporters like this one at Sweet Water do have ‘profound’ commitments to stay two weeks or more to learn and experience a glimpse of natural survival skills and maybe a very small bit of ancient human ritual ways. Within their profound commitments they know they may encounter at any moment the ‘terror-threats’ of the U.S. sponsored, BIA Indian Police Gestapo.
Grandma Pauline moves about slow as she closes the “hay barn” doors that are made from frames of a single-bed, and the barn’s roof is of tattered plastic tarps and the walls are of leaning juniper logs. She greets with a friendly and joyful hand shake as she adds a little sense of humor to her greeting. Grandma is still strong but age is still giving her a challenge, too. She is like a story teller as she makes numerous comments about things and about the conditions out there. She also knows that she is part of a situation which is the struggle for liberation at Big Mountain—her birth place.
A few supporters are very concerned and that is why this independent monitoring of human rights violation and religious intolerance is being carried out. The Arizona-based, Black Mesa Indigenous Support had received a phone message on behalf of Pauline in January about BIA Police personnel posing threats to demolish a traditional earth lodge. Because of the lack of resources, it took a while for the support network to finally establish contact and get the information. This situation with her re-building this sacred lodge should be a natural process but the regional BIA Hopi Agency saw it as a violation of U.S. Court decisions in the name of the federally-supported Hopi council. Grandma Pauline who still lives according to her ancestors’ ancient, cultural lifestyles completed the earth lodge and which is another, direct-action that is obviously missing in Indian country, true Native Resistance!
Grandma recalls what happened on January 20th as she also refers to a radio announcement, “It was about that time, 10 AM, when the radio said that in the east ‘the hand shall to be raised,’ when my grandson beckoned me outside because there were some visitors. It was those BIA-Hopi Police, again, and one officer got out of the vehicle followed by a female officer. I sat down on the bench against the house and they both sat on either side of us, the man who spoke Dineh sat next to me. As he said, ‘we hear you are out here sitting in the mud and we come to check on you,’ the third officer got out of the vehicle and started to walk over towards the newly rebuild lodge.
“My response to the officer next to me was, ‘I’m sitting in the mud out here? You say that as if you spoke with someone that lives with me and knows about my situation.’ Then we all noticed that the third officer was taking more pictures of the earth lodge like (they) do not have enough pictures of it by now.
“I begin to ask the officer sitting with us, why do you all need more pictures and you all should just stop these picture-taking of my home? The officers both ignored my request but the third officer came over and took a couple pictures of me and my grandchildren. The police said nothing more to us but left to return and drive by my resident again, and they drove slowly like they were still up to something. About a week ago, (they) did not come here but (they) again drove by very slowly like they were making some intense observations. I believe these (BIA) police are going to start doing as they please because the actual Hopi council is in defunct…”
The Call to Action for Support Continues
The protests in the American streets where Starbuck, Bank of American and GE own the concrete-n-steel sidewalks are hopeless! Come to the place of opportunity to show the American Police State that you support the natural humans pay homage to, not control, the Mother Earth. At Big Mountain, you will see and understand what real resistance is and experience being part of defending the profound ancient ways of life that are threaten into extinction. Come out, rough it, have patience, find that humbleness within you, and you will be in the human circle for revolution. Help, Save the Microcosm of the Universe at Big Mountain, the Whitesinger Earth Lodge!
© Sheep Dog Nation Rocks, 2009
>>>>
For more information about how you can help, contact: blackmesais@riseup.net or visit www.blackmesais.org and / or leave a voice message @ 928-773-8086.
“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducated the person who learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours!”
--Cesar Chavez, (activist & educator)
“Ancient Big Mountain Supreme Ways Dictates Dineh Resistance, Pauline Whitesinger Continues to Defy B.I.A. Police Harassment & Threats”
By Bahe Y. Katenay
Sheep Dog Nation Rocks
http://sheepdognationrocks.blogspot.com/
Republished with permission
Sweet Water Stronghold, Big Mountain. February 9, 2009 - Dineh elder resister of the traditional lands of Sweet Water is bundled up for the chilly winds as she takes some hay out to her sheep and goats. The herds need a little extra feed before going out to graze. The non-Indian, volunteer supporter is dressed warm and ready to follow the sheep as he chops some wood for grandma, Pauline and while the herds nibble on the scattered hay on the ground. Not many non-Indian volunteers do occasionally make themselves available from their busy lives to come out for short stays and help traditional, elder resisters. Very few traditional elder residents are now left throughout such regions affected by the harsh relocation laws of 1974.
When asked, “How is everything out here?” The well-outfitted supporter says, “Just a lot of babies, and that is why I’m carrying this!” He wears a large, hand-sewn canvas bag which he referred to is to be used in case any of the sheep or goats have “babies.” Soon the sheep and goats are done feeding and they head towards the great pristine canyon of Sweet Water, and the supporter suddenly quits all chit-chat, grabs his stick and runs off toward a herd that is disappearing into the juniper forest.
Each non-Indian supporter that make these short stays with traditional elders have unique and deep sense of passion that is more than just positive, but they have the understanding of the suffering from injustice and the presence of environmental destruction. Though these kind of ‘hardcore’ supporters are becoming rarer, they value the human connections to nature or to the eco-systems rather than connections to corporate entities and its policing/policies. They see and appreciate, more than most native Americanas, what still exist out here at Big Mountain especially where an elder like Pauline lives. Supporters like this one at Sweet Water do have ‘profound’ commitments to stay two weeks or more to learn and experience a glimpse of natural survival skills and maybe a very small bit of ancient human ritual ways. Within their profound commitments they know they may encounter at any moment the ‘terror-threats’ of the U.S. sponsored, BIA Indian Police Gestapo.
Grandma Pauline moves about slow as she closes the “hay barn” doors that are made from frames of a single-bed, and the barn’s roof is of tattered plastic tarps and the walls are of leaning juniper logs. She greets with a friendly and joyful hand shake as she adds a little sense of humor to her greeting. Grandma is still strong but age is still giving her a challenge, too. She is like a story teller as she makes numerous comments about things and about the conditions out there. She also knows that she is part of a situation which is the struggle for liberation at Big Mountain—her birth place.
A few supporters are very concerned and that is why this independent monitoring of human rights violation and religious intolerance is being carried out. The Arizona-based, Black Mesa Indigenous Support had received a phone message on behalf of Pauline in January about BIA Police personnel posing threats to demolish a traditional earth lodge. Because of the lack of resources, it took a while for the support network to finally establish contact and get the information. This situation with her re-building this sacred lodge should be a natural process but the regional BIA Hopi Agency saw it as a violation of U.S. Court decisions in the name of the federally-supported Hopi council. Grandma Pauline who still lives according to her ancestors’ ancient, cultural lifestyles completed the earth lodge and which is another, direct-action that is obviously missing in Indian country, true Native Resistance!
Grandma recalls what happened on January 20th as she also refers to a radio announcement, “It was about that time, 10 AM, when the radio said that in the east ‘the hand shall to be raised,’ when my grandson beckoned me outside because there were some visitors. It was those BIA-Hopi Police, again, and one officer got out of the vehicle followed by a female officer. I sat down on the bench against the house and they both sat on either side of us, the man who spoke Dineh sat next to me. As he said, ‘we hear you are out here sitting in the mud and we come to check on you,’ the third officer got out of the vehicle and started to walk over towards the newly rebuild lodge.
“My response to the officer next to me was, ‘I’m sitting in the mud out here? You say that as if you spoke with someone that lives with me and knows about my situation.’ Then we all noticed that the third officer was taking more pictures of the earth lodge like (they) do not have enough pictures of it by now.
“I begin to ask the officer sitting with us, why do you all need more pictures and you all should just stop these picture-taking of my home? The officers both ignored my request but the third officer came over and took a couple pictures of me and my grandchildren. The police said nothing more to us but left to return and drive by my resident again, and they drove slowly like they were still up to something. About a week ago, (they) did not come here but (they) again drove by very slowly like they were making some intense observations. I believe these (BIA) police are going to start doing as they please because the actual Hopi council is in defunct…”
The Call to Action for Support Continues
The protests in the American streets where Starbuck, Bank of American and GE own the concrete-n-steel sidewalks are hopeless! Come to the place of opportunity to show the American Police State that you support the natural humans pay homage to, not control, the Mother Earth. At Big Mountain, you will see and understand what real resistance is and experience being part of defending the profound ancient ways of life that are threaten into extinction. Come out, rough it, have patience, find that humbleness within you, and you will be in the human circle for revolution. Help, Save the Microcosm of the Universe at Big Mountain, the Whitesinger Earth Lodge!
© Sheep Dog Nation Rocks, 2009
>>>>
For more information about how you can help, contact: blackmesais@riseup.net or visit www.blackmesais.org and / or leave a voice message @ 928-773-8086.
“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducated the person who learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours!”
--Cesar Chavez, (activist & educator)
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