To Ojibwe or to not to Ojibwe.

Nobody is an authority on being Ojibwe, and if there is someone that claims this, they are in need of mental help because they are delusional. There isn't much difference between narrow minded republicans that refuse to adhere to facts of science or the law of nature because they tailor make truths to validate what the bible says they can and can't do compared to the stubborn obsolete authoritarian views some of our so-called spiritual leaders who pontificate to those that are vulnerable to the racial reasoning they ignorantly find comfort in. Theology is dangerous to any form of government, including tribal governments. Our leaders must transcend the racial reasoning our ancestors were taken advantage of under to critique the system that is victimizing all that have failed to prosper under oppression. I say this because so many Ojibwe culture elitist usually undermined anybody else's opinion that has the courage to look for solutions outside of the strict influence of the cultural/racial reasoning they have invested themselves to. I can see how they would be threatened by anyone attacking Problems of Ojibwe people from a wider plectrum of influence, but it's nothing more Then disappointing when these highly educated scholars of our culture ignorantly refuse to acknowledge anyone else's opinion in finding solutions. Yes we have some valuable elders to learn from but these elders most times don't give their effort to realistically solving our problems we face as Ojibwe people. Some times we just can't let go and have faith the manidous will take care of everything, if that was the case then everything would work out the way we wanted them to. If anything, these manidous our ancestors relied on abandoned us along time ago, why? Because today we are very disappointing as Ojibwe people, there is little to no reason for these manidous to rejoice and assist in our happiness as a tribe, because for the most part, we are no longer a tribal people. Some will say 'we are pitiful' and then allow this pity to become their excuse for their shiftlessness and lack of concern of real issues. I personally do not subscribe to any religion not even the religion of my people, yet I do carry some of those beliefs and teachings as well as other teachings of various other religions. Does this make me more or less Ojibwe, I don't feel any less Ojibwe then anyone that dedicates themselves to the lodge or the language. I guess what I'm getting at is there are people that use our heritage as an excuse, I live by the teachings my ancestors laid down for us to live by and some of these people that try to live anishinaabe just don't think anishinaabe.

Too many 'Indians,' not enough chiefs

Leaders today of Indian Country rarely respond to the needs of the people. Most times, they catapult themselves to the forefront of situations to gain audience with those that they seek to allow utilization of themselves to undermined and exploit our situations for their own personal gain. Most of these so-called, 'leaders' are more concerned of conforming with the broken, insensitive, inadequate government system rather then confronting it to improve or repair quality of life for our people. Most of those that have aspirations of leadership tend to nurture their leadership skills under the strict influence of colonization, and assimilation to the capitalist market culture devouring humanity here and abroad. Leaders of our people today, lack the bold and defiant energy that is accredited to preserving our communities and way of life. Today we haven't anyone that deserves to be considered a leader in regards of the survival and prosperity we are pursuing as indigenous people. We have too many false leaders that are appointed positions of power under the guise of compassion for the less fortunate that in reality uses the less fortunate as their means to rise to opportunity. These so-called, 'leaders' are just examples of how this broken system works for those who are willing to sacrifice and compromise dignity, integrity and compassion in the name of personal advancement. So I have concluded the term, "Indian Leader" as overrated, it has been distorted and debased under the control of these traitors that constantly betray the needs of our people. Today our leaders are but mere tokens to the systematic, disenfranchising establishments that are intended to victimize our people. Those that are brave enough to confront this treachery amongst our leaders are undermined, condemned, demonized, and belittled because we directly threaten to expose these so-called, 'leaders' and their cohorts that are enjoying themselves at the expense of our misery. White men of position that utilizes these Indian leaders to the means of their financial stability or advancement in their political careers that find ways to make our predicaments economically viable are fully aware of the vulnerability they encourage and delude our so-called leaders with. Many organizations are established to undermined the reality of our situation and deprive us of solutions that will remedy our predicaments that they have utilized to justify funding or sponsorship of their intended programs. These people require us to be discriminated and impoverished, dysfunctional and directionless so they can bring home a pay check and own a false sense of accomplishment that they don't deserve. Not only do they ineffectively confront situations, but they obviously mishandle and misappropriate attention of these matters purposely in the name of funding. These inept people believe they are obligated to confront our predicaments without having genuine insight or understanding to our situations. The disappearance of genuine public dialogue is a testimony to the painfully distressing lack of engagement on our lack of genuine leadership. Not only is it intellectually debilitating, but it is morally dis-empowering to witness pretentious individuals and Organizations reduce my people's attempts to rise out of despair disappear at the hands of their intentions, which in my opinion are not entirely good. Realization of this treachery boils rage within me, but I channel that rage towards my desire to liberate my people from the emasculating bondage these individuals enjoy themselves to. For my rage is primarily fueled by the love for my people, and this love is neither an abstract nor ephemeral. Rather, it is solid to the connection to the degraded and discriminated people. A people that need immediate conversion from the path these leaders are misleading us down.

This isn't politics. This is tactic.

There is little to no democratic accountability in many organizations that are founded to meet the racial predicaments of our area. Most of these organizations leaders/figureheads are rarely a product of struggle or resistance, rarely are they genuinely concerned of the urgent conditions of our community. Most are too concerned of status or acceptance to be bold or defiant, for those leaders or figureheads of Ojibwe background that transcended the conditions of our people, they tend to routinely reach out more to the white constituency rather then those they have been charged to serve or have taken up on their own accord to finding equality and justice for. These individuals carry themselves in a pretentious sense of sophisticated vocation, yet they use their race to authenticate their inept or invalid opinion of the struggles they have socially and economically distanced themselves from. The cynical tokenism they subject themselves to is then used to conceal the reality of any and all situations they are cast upon. Any claim to Indigenous authenticity is a construct that ignores the facts, racial authenticity then assumes this elaborate concept of moral and ethical relation to the interest of individuals and communities victimized by racism and discrimination. Some of these individuals rely on a authoritarian sensibility of cultural conservatism they utilize by racial reasoning as means to promote their authenticity, yet they will compromise these supposed values at the drop of a dime to appease those they selfishly wish to seek audience with. The flowery rhetoric of these 'authentic' individuals most time successfully moves them into office or positions that overshadows the reality of the racism they have allowed themselves to then become apart of. The indoctrinated discrimination within our lethargic electoral system must be shaken to its core then if we are to ever overcome racism. We must organize and utilize the electorate as a means to raise our people out of discrimination and poverty, we must enlighten and uplift our people to the forefront of our despair. We must give back the voices of those that have been oppressed into silence. We can only remedied the lack of genuine leadership if only we can confront it, we must grasp the disfiguring dynamics that has devastated Indian country into this morally underdeveloped wasteland that has been used to justify discrimination for far too long. With serious strategic and tactical thinking we can create new models of leadership. These new leaders must not only confront the silence of our current corrupt Indian leaders, but we must also question the iconic figures of the past. In looking in all direction to those that have triumphed over oppression, because we are not alone when it comes to discrimination. We must hold on to our heritage, because that is what dignifies us in this multicultural society we are all subject to. We must transcend race to criticize the power that be, including the Indian component of the establishment. We must put forward a ideal fundamental social change for all who suffer from injustice and inequality. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Blurred Visions.

Racism will thrive and encourage our cultural decay as long as we as native people allow the double standards and the paralyzing conceit of white supremacy to dominate the social Framework of our communities here in 'Ojibwe country'. Bemidji is the pinnacle of racism here in northern minnesota, here where the dominant narrow minded views of the conservatives renders our social misery invisible and unworthy of public attention. Their obnoxiously overt racism has become too obvious and vulnerable to attack, so they are forced to become more covert with their discrimination. Here where liberals integrate only those of us they deem to well behaved enough to be accepted and acknowledged by their exclusive and most times executive social circles. These liberals then believe they can relieve their guilty conscious by supporting overrated and misappropriated public programs that devalue any significancy to solutions they are too weak willed to confront with decency that they allow to be suppressed by their deluded criticism they subject my people to. The problems of Indian people should not be the focal point of discussion, it should be the historic flaws that our society has allowed itself to be nurtured of. Our burden to assimilate ourselves into American society is met with extreme insensitivity, resistance of accepting the humanity of my people has become a paradigm. Classism has encouraged division in Indian country, where working class Indians are considered wealthy in comparison to the poverty most Indians are subjected to. This most times results in a very uncompassionate Attitude towards ones fellowman who is overwhelmingly victimized by the rigors of discrimination. Ones success should not validate intolerance of any kind towards disparity, economic dimensions are disregarded as well in the eyes of racism. So those of my people that think their 'too good' to endure discrimination and prejudice give themselves this false sense of security, they then in turn obliviously make themselves vulnerable to the infectious ignorances that ravages the social image of our people simply because of the color of our skin. The apartheid of reservation life should not dictate our value in society, the drug invasion has turned our once proud tribal communities into ghettos. Yet our personal integrity, and self respect should not be held captive by the reciprocating discrimination that our white counterpart has failed to take accountability for. Each and everyone of us are a testimony to the resiliency of our ancestors, yes some of them were debilitated by the overwhelming disempowerment to effectively confront our oppressors. But we today have the tools at our disposal to overcome systematic institutionalized racism, we can honor those ancestors by providing our children with the equality and justice they died pursuing.