April 10, 2019
April 9, 2019
Poetry and Literature on Tohono O'odham Nation -- The Power of Words and Presence
 |
| Ofelia Rivas, O'odham, Photo by TD Garcia |
 |
| Photo by TD Garcia |
Native Poetry and Literature
Resistance and inherent sovereignty in the age of US Border Patrol militarization, the commercialization of DNA, and the historic denial of the US genocide of Native People
By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
TOPAWA, TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION -- Ofelia Rivas, O'odham founder of O'odham Voice Against the Wall, shared her poetry of the smell of rain and memories of corn. Remembering her childhood on the land, she shared one poem from her aunt, and the gift of new black shoes that laced up to the ankles.
Rivas read her poetry during the Survival of Colonial Genocide forum at the Tohono O'odham Cultural Center and Museum on Monday. The event was sponsored by Red Ink.
Rivas, who lives on the Tohono O'odham Nation at the so-called border, exposed the Israeli spy towers, which are now planned for her community. She continues to battle the planned desecration of burial and sacred places planned for the construction of the towers by way of US Homeland Security on sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation sacred land. She battles the US Border Patrol on O'odham land as agents continue to abuse O'odham and migrants here.
As Native speakers and guests were driving across the Tohono O'odham Nation to the event, they were closely followed by tribal police and U.S. Border Patrol.
During the reading of poetry, literature and research, James Riding In, Pawnee from Oklahoma, spoke on inherent sovereignty, which Native people have always had, since time immemorial.
Riding In said sovereignty was not granted by treaties or the U.S. Congress.
"Sovereignty does not come from the US government," Riding In said, adding that it predates the arrival of the colonizers here.
"Sovereignty comes from our people."
Riding In, professor of American Indian Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, is an author who has spent his life in the struggle for Indigenous rights.
Riding In has served as an expert witness on Native American rights in numerous court cases, including the Snowbowl case, the Cleveland sports team case, and a case involving hair in Texas.
Riding In said the goal of colonizers was to annihilate Native people, with a system of taking Native children from their homes and putting them in boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their language.
Speaking on repatriation, he spoke of the importance of bringing the ancestors home from museums.
Speaking on the need to rethink tribal governments, he spoke of the need for tribal governments which are based on the cultural ways.
There is also a need to hold tribal governments accountable, he said.
Riding In said he doesn't believe in DNA testing. "We know who we are."
Dine' Poet Bojan Louis told how he came back to Crystal on Navajoland and how he had longed to smell the pinyon trees again. Louis' poetry was filled with scorpions, Sheriffs and the rawness and contrasts of Arizona.
Louis, whose mother is from Coal Mine Mesa, is a professor and published poet.
Krystal Tsosie, Dine' from Shonto, began with a photo of her grandmother's hogan, where she grew up.
Tsosie is a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University.
Tsosie described her research and the importance of Indigenous scientists working in genomics. She pointed out how researchers used O'odham and Havasupai blood samples in research without their knowledge. Havasupai filed a lawsuit over this.
Today the search for ancestry has become commercialized. Companies are seeking out Native peoples' DNA for profit. Those companies are targeting Native people who live in urban areas, to avoid working with, and getting permission, from tribal governments.
Tsosie also pointed out that research has been done using samples taken from Native Americans using permission forms that were never understood by Native people who speak their own language.
During questions from the audience, the speakers were urged to write down the histories for future generations and make sure the facts are included in textbooks.
Speaker Bios
Rivas read her poetry during the Survival of Colonial Genocide forum at the Tohono O'odham Cultural Center and Museum on Monday. The event was sponsored by Red Ink.
Rivas, who lives on the Tohono O'odham Nation at the so-called border, exposed the Israeli spy towers, which are now planned for her community. She continues to battle the planned desecration of burial and sacred places planned for the construction of the towers by way of US Homeland Security on sovereign Tohono O'odham Nation sacred land. She battles the US Border Patrol on O'odham land as agents continue to abuse O'odham and migrants here.
As Native speakers and guests were driving across the Tohono O'odham Nation to the event, they were closely followed by tribal police and U.S. Border Patrol.
During the reading of poetry, literature and research, James Riding In, Pawnee from Oklahoma, spoke on inherent sovereignty, which Native people have always had, since time immemorial.
Riding In said sovereignty was not granted by treaties or the U.S. Congress.
"Sovereignty does not come from the US government," Riding In said, adding that it predates the arrival of the colonizers here.
"Sovereignty comes from our people."
Riding In, professor of American Indian Studies at Arizona State University in Tempe, is an author who has spent his life in the struggle for Indigenous rights.
Riding In has served as an expert witness on Native American rights in numerous court cases, including the Snowbowl case, the Cleveland sports team case, and a case involving hair in Texas.
Riding In said the goal of colonizers was to annihilate Native people, with a system of taking Native children from their homes and putting them in boarding schools where they were forbidden to speak their language.
Speaking on repatriation, he spoke of the importance of bringing the ancestors home from museums.
Speaking on the need to rethink tribal governments, he spoke of the need for tribal governments which are based on the cultural ways.
There is also a need to hold tribal governments accountable, he said.
Riding In said he doesn't believe in DNA testing. "We know who we are."
Dine' Poet Bojan Louis told how he came back to Crystal on Navajoland and how he had longed to smell the pinyon trees again. Louis' poetry was filled with scorpions, Sheriffs and the rawness and contrasts of Arizona.
Louis, whose mother is from Coal Mine Mesa, is a professor and published poet.
Krystal Tsosie, Dine' from Shonto, began with a photo of her grandmother's hogan, where she grew up.
Tsosie is a doctoral student at Vanderbilt University.
Tsosie described her research and the importance of Indigenous scientists working in genomics. She pointed out how researchers used O'odham and Havasupai blood samples in research without their knowledge. Havasupai filed a lawsuit over this.
Today the search for ancestry has become commercialized. Companies are seeking out Native peoples' DNA for profit. Those companies are targeting Native people who live in urban areas, to avoid working with, and getting permission, from tribal governments.
Tsosie also pointed out that research has been done using samples taken from Native Americans using permission forms that were never understood by Native people who speak their own language.
During questions from the audience, the speakers were urged to write down the histories for future generations and make sure the facts are included in textbooks.
Speaker Bios
Krystal Tsosie (Diné/Navajo), MPH, MA, is currently completing a PhD in Genomics and Health Disparities at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. She also co-manages the Genetics and Preeclampsia Study within the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian Nation in Belcourt, North Dakota where she studies the genetics pre-determinants of women's health clinical phenotypes while also contributing to advancing equitable genomics research in indigenous communities.
In 1998 Ophelia Rivas begin working with an indigenous women organization, First Nations North & South to support the Zapatista movement in the Mexico state of Chiapas.
In May 2002-2006, Ophelia attended as a delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues under the UN Economic and Social Council in New York to present an intervention on protection of our Right to Exist, our Inherent Right to continue our way of life called the Him’dag and Rights of Mobility to continue to cross the United States and Mexico International Border that bisected our original homelands and Human Rights. In 2006, the O’odham VOICE Against the WALL hosted the United Nation Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues on O’odham lands.
James Riding In is an activist scholar and a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Riding In is the editor of Wicazo Sa Review: A Journal of Native American Studies. He writes from the perspective of an American Indian Studies Paradigm that empowers Indian nations, communities, and peoples in their struggles to overcome the harmful consequences of colonialism.
BOJAN LOUIS (Diné) is the author of the poetry collection Currents (BkMk Press 2017), which received a 2018 American Book Award, and the nonfiction chapbook Troubleshooting Silence in Arizona (The Guillotine Series 2012). His fiction has appeared in Ecotone, Numéro Cinq Magazine, Yellow Medicine Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review; nonfiction in MudCity Journal and AS/US. Former poetry editor at RED INK and former poetry editor and co-founder of Waxwing, Louis has been a resident at The MacDowell Colony and is the inaugural Virginia G. Piper Fellow-in-Residence at Arizona State University. He will be joining the University of Arizona MFA and AIS faculty in Fall 2019.
Listen to an interview with Bojan Louis, about his award winning "Currents," winner of the American Book Award.
http://www.newletters.org/on-the-air/bojan-louis
Article copyright Brenda Norrell, may not be used without permission. Photos copyright TD Garcia.
In 1998 Ophelia Rivas begin working with an indigenous women organization, First Nations North & South to support the Zapatista movement in the Mexico state of Chiapas.
In May 2002-2006, Ophelia attended as a delegate to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues under the UN Economic and Social Council in New York to present an intervention on protection of our Right to Exist, our Inherent Right to continue our way of life called the Him’dag and Rights of Mobility to continue to cross the United States and Mexico International Border that bisected our original homelands and Human Rights. In 2006, the O’odham VOICE Against the WALL hosted the United Nation Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues on O’odham lands.
James Riding In is an activist scholar and a citizen of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Riding In is the editor of Wicazo Sa Review: A Journal of Native American Studies. He writes from the perspective of an American Indian Studies Paradigm that empowers Indian nations, communities, and peoples in their struggles to overcome the harmful consequences of colonialism.
BOJAN LOUIS (Diné) is the author of the poetry collection Currents (BkMk Press 2017), which received a 2018 American Book Award, and the nonfiction chapbook Troubleshooting Silence in Arizona (The Guillotine Series 2012). His fiction has appeared in Ecotone, Numéro Cinq Magazine, Yellow Medicine Review, and Alaska Quarterly Review; nonfiction in MudCity Journal and AS/US. Former poetry editor at RED INK and former poetry editor and co-founder of Waxwing, Louis has been a resident at The MacDowell Colony and is the inaugural Virginia G. Piper Fellow-in-Residence at Arizona State University. He will be joining the University of Arizona MFA and AIS faculty in Fall 2019.
Listen to an interview with Bojan Louis, about his award winning "Currents," winner of the American Book Award.
http://www.newletters.org/on-the-air/bojan-louis
Article copyright Brenda Norrell, may not be used without permission. Photos copyright TD Garcia.
April 6, 2019
Speaking from the Heart -- Apache Wendsler Nosie's Words in Paris, Part I
WENDSLER NOSIE SR. IN PARIS, PART ONE: ABOUT HIS FAMILY, THE CHIRICAHUA APACHES AND THE SAN CARLOS RESERVATION
Photo by Christine Prat
By Christine Prat
Censored News
On March 23rd, 2019, we were honored by the visit in Paris of Wendsler Nosie Sr. The gathering was organized by the CSIA (Committee for Solidarity with the Indians of the Americas). Mr. Nosie introduced himself and talked about his childhood, his family's, the Chiricahua Apache's and the San Carlos Reservation's history. This article reproduces this first part of his speech. He then spoke about the struggle for Mount Graham and its importance in Native American struggles, and, of course, about Oak Flat. This will be published in following articles.
Wendsler Nosie Sr. first asked the audience: "Is anybody familiar with what they call 'pooper scooper'?" and went on explaining: "What it is, is when in a Parade, they have horses, and the horses poop, and someone picks it up, to make it look clean. That's what I think I am. Because, when I was growing up, I was always around the older people. They had a lot of information and a lot of wisdom, they had a lot of heart. I was left to help understand what we were going through, and how it would affect our children. So, what I'm talking about is that my great-grand-parents were free people. Then, my grand-parents were brought as prisoners of war into San Carlos, and my mother was born in a prison. So, my mother felt the transition from what prison life was to when it became a reservation in 1934. There was one thing she really hated, she called it a disease. It was passed on and passed on, then passed to me. Then I wanted to give it to my kids. What she was referring to, was that people were changing, in something that was forced on us, to change. They looked between the bars and said to themselves, and asked the question to their parents, 'how come these people on the other side are different?' And 5 years old children would see that there is a difference between living on a reservation and living off the reservation. Then, they began to understand that everything they saw did not apply to those who lived in a jail cell. So, when I was growing up, this is what they talked about. But I never thought I would be living, in that day. So, in the 1960's, late 1960's, for some reason, I was always with the older people, and always with the holy people who were still on the reservation. Then, what I have also learned, but also felt inside, about our holy places, these holy places where we came from, we were exiled out of that and put into a reservation, to not go back to where we originated from. Not only that I experienced that, a lot of people did. A lot of people on our reservation experienced what I'm sharing with you. So, when I talk about the pooper scooper, there was a lot of work, there was a lot of seeing, and there was a lot of smelling, good and bad."
"There were a lot of people before me, way before me, and a lot of people who were ahead of me. Then I say it's like a laying, a laying of bricks, every brick is a step. And the reason I say that is because every step is crucial, every step, every brick that's laid is very crucial. Because the ones in our following are the children. So, those bricks we lay are for our children to have a solid ground to step on. And the reason I start with that is because I never thought I'd be here, I never thought of ever talking in front of people. I always admired musicians, movie stars, politicians, all these people. It's exciting to see them. So, it's kind of funny for me to have a group listening to me."
"What's so important is, back home on my reservation, is that I challenge my people. But I had to challenge myself first. Because when I learned all about this, I was very discouraged. So, when I confronted my mother and my grand-parents, I was discouraged, because there is really no answers and the questions you have for your family before you, they are difficult questions for them to answer. Because where I come from, in my reservation, in the San Carlos Apaches, we have 15 different types of Apaches living in one reservation. Like here in France, it's French, but you have different regions of people and you are all brought together to live as one."
"I am a descendant of the Chiricahua. Most of you must be familiar with Geronimo. So, that's my family blood line. So, the reason why I'm here, I think it is because it goes back to my grand-parents. Because, back in the 1800's, my people were still fighting the Spaniards, as they came out Mexico. So, my great-grand-father was still out, one or two months before Geronimo and his people were exiled to Florida. And I am staying in San Carlos. So, there are different groups of Apaches. So, as you see in America, when they are going to other foreign countries, they sided with a tribe, they sided with different groups of people, against their own people. So, in my people, we were the freedom fighter people, who fought to the last day. So, being in San Carlos, we were living with the scouts for the Americans, Apache who became military scouts for the Americans. When the United States were changing in 1934, the scouts moved out of the reservations. So, in 1934 to 2006, in the white man's elections – for we have a tribal government now – in the American elections, in 2006, we finally elected somebody who served as leader of the government, from the freedom people who fought to the very end. In 2006, the person they elected to run the whole tribe was… ME! So, that's when we began to change, in America. I am very proud of that, because there were a lot of people like me waiting. We were waiting, because there had been so many things in the 1950's, the 1960's, the 1970's, and movements in America. But the elders, where I grew, in the 1960's, in Apache would say 'wait, it's not our time'. You can imagine growing up with them telling to wait, wait. So, my mother reminded me of something very important. She said 'you can hate them – meaning America – you can kill them, you can beat them up, but is it who you really are?' Because you have to remember, in the beginning, when they first came to our part of land, they did not know what they were doing, and in our language, there is no word for white people, black people or Asian people, there is no such word. And for the first people who came in our area, the word meant 'those are your relatives'. We didn't know their mentality was different from ours. So, my mother told me to watch and learn. But most importantly, the road you're on is spiritual. She said 'you can't, as a human being, you can't make out where you want to go. The Creator, which means the Holy Spirit, will come to you and give you directions where to go'. So, you can imagine as a young man, being very patient. It was always 'wait', 'you will know when it will come'. But in this kind of world, there is bad all over the place, there is temptation all over the place."
"I can only speak of San Carlos. In the 1960's, we lost two very important people. I say that because when it comes to spirituality, there are some who are trained and some who are gifted. The two I speak of where gifted. They were blessed. So, these two also laid a foundation for tomorrow. And again, the foundation they talked about was the children. It goes back to the whole people. When the first things came, they were American, modern, something that was new to us, they said when we touch it, we become dirty. They left a lot of clues and I always wondered why they never gave you the answer. So, now that I am 60 years old, I understand why: because they want you to find, because everything you do, it comes from your heart. Because what they say now, as I understand, if you don't feel it here [pointing at his heart], then you don't feel anything. So, this is why I turn to my people and challenge us to heal."
"I was told a joke. I may not say it as good as this one person. But it always makes me laugh. So, one day they found a baby eagle and they stuck it in the cage of the chicken. Years went by. That what man came to visit the family, and he said 'hey, there is an eagle inside that chicken coop'. And the white man said 'ah! He thinks he is a chicken.' It bothered the other man. He kept saying 'but that's an eagle'. The white man kept saying 'Nay, he is a chicken, he thinks he is a chicken'. It bothered the man, so he asked the white man 'Can I take this eagle and show him that he is an eagle?' The white man said 'yeah, you can take it, but he thinks he is a chicken'. So, he took the eagle and prayed, and through him in the air and told him to plane like an eagle. So, the eagle flew, but when he hit the ground, he quacked and walked like a chicken. He did it two more times, and the same thing happened. Finally, he was so upset, he took the eagle to a cliff and had the eagle look into the canyon. So, finally he looked again, prayed and said "eagle you must fly" and threw him in the canyon. So, he started to spear down to hit the bottom. But finally, he gave up a cry that he himself never heard and then he picked up himself and flew like an eagle. So, the joke in the story behind that is that he said 'that's who you are', the Native people of North America. So, when I was coming here, the ocean is very big, so I reminded myself I was an eagle. So, I won't be a chicken being here. This was a very important thing that was said to our people, because we were acting like somebody we were not. And that's why I said in 2006 is when we began to change our world."
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net
Article, photo, copyright Christine Prat
Words copyright Wendsler Nosie
http://www.chrisp.lautre.net
Article, photo, copyright Christine Prat
Words copyright Wendsler Nosie
April 4, 2019
How Abusive Partners Use Sexual Assault as a Form of Control
How Abusive Partners Use Sexual
Assault as a Form of Control
Byline: Mallory Black, Diné, Communications Manager, StrongHearts Native Helpline
Censored News
Censored News
Sexual violence can be difficult to talk about. Some people feel uncomfortable when the subject comes up, which – intentionally or not – sends a message to survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault that they won't be believed if they come forward.
Sexual assault is any type of sexual activity or contact that you do not consent to. In an abusive relationship, some partners might sexually assault their partner or force them into unwanted sexual activity as a means of control. This type of violence can be one of the most traumatic forms of relationship abuse.
Across the nation, more than half of Native American women (56 percent) and about one-third of Native men (28 percent) have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, according to a recent report. The report also found that Native women – our mothers, grandmothers, daughters and sisters – face nearly two times the risk of sexual violence when compared to non-Hispanic white women.
Sexual abuse in a relationship
There is a strong connection between colonialism and sexual violence. As Native people, we know any form of violence such as sexual assault and sexual abuse is unnatural and goes against our traditional ways. Sexual violence was introduced into our communities through colonization, as Native women were often violently targeted, humiliated, degraded and terrorized as a way to undermine the very foundation of Native communities.
As a form of domestic violence, sexual abuse is used to assert power and control in the relationship. The behaviors can range from:
Calling you degrading sexual names
Fondling, grabbing or pinching the sexual parts of your body
Constantly pressuring you to have sex when you don't want to have sex
Becoming angry or violent when refused sex
Demanding or normalizing demands for sex by saying things like, "I need it, I'm a man"
Drugging or restricting you to where you are unable to consent to sexual activity
Forcing you to have sex or engage in unwanted sexual activity (ex. rape, anal rape, forced masturbation or forced oral sex)
Using weapons or other objects to hurt the sexual parts of your body
Records or photographs you in a sexual way without your consent
Intentionally tries to pass on a sexually transmitted disease to you
Threatening to hurt you or your children if you do not have sex
Demanding you to dress is a sexual way
Forcing you to watch pornography
Lasting effects of sexual violence
Sexual assault can affect your spirit in many ways, including feelings of depression, fear or anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some survivors may experience flashbacks of the attack or may disassociate from what happened entirely to cope with the trauma. When there is ongoing sexual abuse in a relationship, trauma and other negative impacts can worsen.
Some survivors may become very sensitive to touch or struggle with intimacy in their relationships. It's important to recognize not all survivors will react the same way and often report a range of feelings about the experience.
After a sexual attack, you may feel alone, ashamed or believe you did something to provoke the attack or that you somehow 'deserved it.' You may also feel that your community is not a safe place anymore. However, you are never to blame for rape, sexual assault or any form of abuse that happens to you.
Finding hope and healing
Recovering from sexual assault or sexual abuse is a process and one in which you decide every step of the way. There is no timeline for healing; it is entirely up to you.
It is important to know that in the aftermath of sexual assault or abuse, you do not have to face your healing journey alone. When you are ready, there are people available to help you if you have been sexually assaulted or are being sexually abused by a current or former intimate partner.
Advocates at StrongHearts Native Helpline (1-844-762-8483, available daily from 7 a.m. to. 10 p.m. CT) can offer emotional support and a connection to culturally-appropriate resources and legal options where available. It is always anonymous and confidential when you call. You can also find sexual assault service providers here.
While your healing journey may be painful, remember you were born with the inherent strength and courage of your ancestors to survive. We believe you. We are here for you every step of the way.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)