Undeserved apathy of the Anishinaabeg

Oh I'm sorry, I must have mistaken you for someone who genuinely cares, someone who appreciates the truth, someone I can count on when I need your support on confronting issues that effect us all. I thought you'd realize the importance taking a stand, defending our rights, taking initiative to improve them, not settling for what little we are allowed. As first Americans we should be the most privileged, acknowledged, the first to be considered when policy and legislation are being handed down. Why? Because we have lost, sacrificed, bestowed the most in regards to any race of people in america that has of yet not been compensated in the value of rights, nor equality that we have all paid, and continue to pay so dearly for.


It is not as if we have outrageous demands that can't be met with compassion and consideration. No, we have to endure insensitivity, dehumanization, apathy, relentless attacks on what remains of our dignity, our integrity, our sovereignty. And most times these attacks come from our very own people. The agents of oppression indoctrinated, and administered to uphold the continuing onslaught against our humanity. It's nauseating, discouraging, disheartening to witness our own people selfishly dedicating themselves to the injust system pit against us. As first Americans they should be the most conscience, the most compassionate, the least subordinate of the bureaucracies intended to diminish what little we are forced to fight for to obtain.


How can anyone who identifies themselves as Anishinaabe lose sight of who we once were, dishonoring our ancestors, and most of all our children by feeding into the absurdities Intended to suppress us into even more disparities and disadvantages. I don't understand the mentality that leads these people to believe they were doing right by any assumption when they made themselves knowingly available to justify the intolerances and ignorances that are blatantly intended to injure our struggle to regain our composure in today's hostile world. They even feed their ignorances on the fallacies that help them justify their self centered, unwarranted self preservation that they take at the expense of our already besieged, and diminishing opportunities. They feed into and try to adopt the ideals, the standards, the premiums, and absurdities of the status quo. Allowing themselves to become bitter, cynical, pessimistic, intolerable, incompassionate, justified, loathing, and mostly, hopelessly out of touch with their own people.


What caused these Anishinaabeg to lose or pervert their identity, their dignity, their compassion for their countrymen? What's going to bring them back from the brink of nihilism to where they reinvest in their self worth, their precious energy to will of their people? Each and everyone of us are very valuable to our plight to reassert ourselves as human beings that have a right to participate equally within the society. that has discriminately held us hostage with it's inherent ignorance long enough. The ideals most of those that are vulnerable to these absurdities are out of date, obsolete. We are no longer to be romanticized or depreciated as the noble savages challenging the colonization of the territories of our wilderness. We are not conquered, culled, Defeated unless we insist on being. Together we are disenfranchised, discriminated, degraded by the predominant standards that rejects us for being who we are.


We need to return to those visionary, bold, compassionate models of stalwart defenders of our people like our ancestors. We need to quit taking the easy way out and embracing colonization, assimilation, indoctrination, and surrender. We were born into this struggle, perhaps for a reason beyond our comprehension. Yet we are here, and we have a responsibility to one another as Anishinaabeg. Maybe it's time we start living up to these responsibilities instead of looking for excuses to dismiss them. That individualistic mentality does not belong to tribal people such as ourselves. We are not that far removed from our tribalistic ideals to lose sight of who we really are and our purpose to one another. Yes their are some that are hopelessly far too invested into this broken thinking that is only meant to contribute to our decline and eventually the disappearance. But we can not let the casualties to these ideals discourage us from our goals to reignite our potential as Anishinaabeg. We need to prepare ourselves for the tasks in front of us and quit handing over our worth to those that have no use for it.


It is time to reject and abandon the ideals forced upon us that are preventing, and discouraging your potential. We haven't come this far as a people just to let opportunist saboteurs infiltrate our movements for their own selfish benefit. the ideals I share are considered racial, drastic, and unacceptable amongst those that abide by the status quo's demand of our lack of humanity. It's time to revolt, rebel, uprise and break those chains they have shackled to your mind. It is time to reclaim our self worth from those that devalue us. The person responsible for your undeserving depreciation of yourself might just be yourself. Some of us have been forced to think our entire lives we are no use to the society that constantly refuses us our dignity. We must use the momentum of these anti wall street movements to assure our demands are going to be acknowledged and confronted as well. Those non-Anishinaabeg people courageously taking to the streets in disapproval of this broken system are honoring the vibrant tradition of resistance that our ancestors assured our survival with more then most of us are. Their making you look bad people, just keep that in mind when apathy overwhelms you like I witness it doing to you all everyday.

The Broken ones.

Some can not fathom the call for change the younger generation is calling for. Most of us have as of yet indoctrinated, lost hope to the bureaucracies, To have dedicated ourselves to this broken system much of the older generation has forced itself to take comfort in. The bureaucratic and politicians call us confused, misdirected. They would like to think we have no demands or purpose. Well, let’s set the record straight. It’s not that we don’t have demands; it’s that we speak them in a different language. We speak them with our struggle. Our movement is made up of people fighting for jobs, adequate education, for financial stability, housing, as well as adequate healthcare. We are resisting oppression, ecological destruction, imperialism, racism, patriarchy, and capitalism. We are doing it all in a way that is participatory, democratic, fierce, and unwavering. There is nothing very vague, confused, or misdirected about it.
 
 
But we will not stop there. That, perhaps, is what sets us apart from those who wish to use our tremendous and growing power for small selfish gains or modest reforms. We want more. We want it all. Not for ourselves, but for OUR children. Some self serving individuals can not comprehend this because they have been simply self centered, opportunistic, and self absorbed. You can not tell anything of rationality to those that selfishly insist on themselves against the will of the people.


We want a political and economic system that we all actually control together, one that is equitable and humane, one that allows for people to self-manage but act in solidarity, one that is participatory and democratic to its core. We want a world where people have the right to their own identities, communities, and cultures, and the freedom from oppression and constraint. We want a world with institutions that take care of our youth, our elderly, and our families in ways that are nurturing, liberating, and consensual. We want a world in which community is not a hamper on individual freedom, but rather an expression of its fullest potential. We want identity those that take comfort in this broken system and poor leadership will not recognize. Sure they will claim we reflect their old ways of broken thinking, but that is only because they no longer have the desire to see it any other way. They try to inconsiderately simplify a very complex matter that deserves more then their willing to give the predicaments that we now face. They only do this in order to try to discourage the less incline of the next generation with their pessimism and cynicism, to rob their energy from the solutions our children deserve. Greedily, selfishly clinging to their broken ideals they take comfort in against the needs of the next generation, all the while trying to justify and excuse corruption assimilated themselves into. They think they have taken the easy way out against the problems we face together, little do they know that not only are their compromised ideals obsolete, but so is their ignorance's as well.
 
 
As we keep fighting, we will continue to ask ourselves difficult questions as these broken people only ask what they can get out of their participation in this broken system. We will ask what world do we envision? What kind of world does our children deserve. What values do we want to live by? What institutions do we need in order to live those values? What structures will we build to protect what we’ve won and create a platform for continued struggle? What will we win for generations to come? How will we fight these enormous battles in a way that is both effective and reflective of the new world we are ushering in that those broken people are doing everything within their selfish power of prevent.
 
 
Make no mistake about it though, we are not aimless; we simply speak a different language – a language of mutual respect(even if it is not reflected by our opposition that enjoys provoking unneeded conflict, and when we re-act to their treachery, they find it convenient to perpetuate their behaviors on anyone unfortunate enough to engage their ignorance), participation, self-management, and action. We make our demands in this language that screams that we are here for the long-run, that our goal is not merely reform, that our vision is deep and radical, that we will not be bought off or co-opted, and that we are prepared to struggle in order to win not only those gains we can pronounce now but also those we can’t even fully articulate yet. We claim our space through actions that shout that we are here to stay, that this movement isn’t going home, that we are winning already, and that there is no turning back. We build this movement through the firm and fearless declaration that another world is possible, and that anything less is unacceptable.
 
 
You will see our demands plastered on facebook walls, scrawled on hanging banners, tweeted across oceans, marched on the shoulders of hundreds of thousands, shouted in unison from millions of streets, windows, and computers screens. You will see them all over the world, from post-industrial cities to the ghettos of our reservations, from capitals to the country side. You will see them expressed in the streets, out in front of the institutions of oppression that has colonized our communities and minds of these broken people and their broken system and we will re-decorate it with our humanity. The world is revolting against the repulsive, inconsiderate, self serving behavior of the broken. Now is their opportunity to return to their drawing-board and re-evaluate their worth to the inevitable change they will soon witness and fail at preventing.
 
 
 
Yes, we speak a different language they can not understand, a fearless and visionary one. We are shouting, with every ounce of passion and strength we can muster: Of course there is an alternative. It is us. Victory is certain.

Moccasin Mockery and their hypocritical hyperbole

By writing this response to cowardly attacks against my reputation and character I have gone against the advise and wisdom of my elders. I have been experiencing some serious verbal attacks from people(some anonymous)hiding behind a keyboard,some of these people don't even have the guts to stand on their supposed own words. Yet I wear as a badge of honor their insults because that means I am doing something right or they wouldn't be attacking me. Some people just don’t have the self-awareness to recognize how out of the realm of acceptability their thoughts really are, so they put them all over the Web. Most that have seen my work over the last four years, and judging my work it should be clear that my life is committed to fighting for justice and against injustice. But recently these individuals that have been effectively identified for what they really are have paid money to publish my criminal record and post it on their slanderous, defamatory site dedicated to protecting the corruption of our tribal government, The Leech Lake band of Ojibwe. I also wear as a badge o honor most of my criminal record because it reflects my dedication of clearing gangs out of my community. Back in 1998 I embarked on a vigilante campaign to confront gang members that were lawlessly terrorizing the community of the Mill lacs Indian Reservation. The law enforcement agencies eventually could no longer turn a blind eye to my extreme violence against these individuals disrupting the safety and harmony of this community and charged me with multiple acts of violence. The courts in my eyes showed me leniency for succeeding where these agencies where failing us as a community and I was convicted and repaid my debt to society. Years later, with more knowledge and more self restraint I returned home to the Leech Lake area to continue my campaign against gangs in our Anishinaabe communities. I was welcomed with open arms by many that were fed up with these criminals running a muck, and endangering the safety of our children. So I worked with whom ever was willing to help us rid our communities of these people putting us all in danger and putting our youth a risk. Including the very same law enforcement agencies that criminalizing me for the justice they were unable to provide for the communities I took up to protect. Although I am still very leery of certain law enforcement agencies because they have been supposedly working in effort to remedy this problems that are still very prevalent within our communities. I figured I would help empower these agencies to work in our favor instead of further damaging the relationship they have with Native people. I'm aware of the stigmas and paradigms of authority against native people, but I gave my assistance over to these agencies to now help them help my people. Yet our chairman, Arthur"Archie"Larose has systematically dismantled the relationship between the Band and the Gang/Drug task force agencies funded to approach these problems so he could protect his position within our tribal government he obtained by utilizing these criminal organizations. My colleagues and I started to confront these blatant acts of treachery against our people by our elected officials(mainly Arthur Larose, yet he used the criminal organization of the "Native Mob" to ensure a few other of his hand picked candidates into office as well)But in 2006 our efforts were disrupted by the untimely loss of my best friend who was more like a brother to me, who also worked in effort with other and myself against this treachery against our people. He was violently killed due to the very gang violence we were confronting. Grief stricken I fell back into my alcoholism worse them ever before. The following year I hit rock bottom. Stricken by the loss of yet more close friends, relatives and a spiritual advisior I fell even harder. At the end of a year long binge I woke up in a jail cell. I was guilty of trying to scare my fiance out of a van I owned by violently rocking it because I was blackout drunk trying to drive myself to the liquor store. Neighbors of ours witnessed this and called the police to intervene, I later thanked them(our neighbors)for saving my life. I incriminated myself by admitting I was attempting to scare my fiance out of the van so I could commandeer the vehicle, that alone was enough to convict me of domestic violence which I take full responsibility for. This final incident helped me out of the grief stricken rut I couldn't have gotten out of on my own, so it came as a blessing in so many ways. Now these despicable people are trying to use these valuable life lessons against me to sully my reputation because I speak the truth against their treachery the corruption against our people they have some how have come to appreciate. These people are being encouraged and enabled to Attack me by the powers that be that we have been directly confronting and threatening to dismantle against our people. This stinks of John McCarthy and Randy Finn because Archie lacks the intellect to orchestrate such cleverly, sinister attacks against those of us that are effectively working to overthrow their oppressive hold on the Leech lake people. This treachery goes much further than reservation politics, these pawns will twist and pervert whatever they can get their slimy hands on to discredit those working against their well established, status quo corruption. So don't allow yourselves to be distracted and drawn in by such sinister, petty acts meant to disrupt the progress we have all been making against this corruption. Miigwech for your time and consideration. Our victory is certain.

Do yourself a favor...

Some people can not comprehend the urgency of our situation, they have some how become too complacent with this broken system that was never intended for our survival. Some people have willingly surrendered their inherent indignation, only to find they are disingenuous, and superficial to anything we should be standing for as a tribal people. Sometimes this is beyond conversation, it's requires confrontation. I for one get tired of seeing my people so pathetically colonized, and assimilated to the point were they only misdirect, and harbor hypocritical judgement outwardly against their fellowman instead of saving some of that judgment to constructively resolve their own inward shortcomings preventing us all from moving forward. Some of us are more critical of ourselves then we are of others. Yet some of our very own people have the audacity to intentionally misconstrue, misrepresent one another's valid frustrations to try to demonize one another,and sabotage us all further from solutions. This in itself is a act of treachery against us all, our children, our nation. Instead of tryings to lash out, or putting up our unwarranted defensives against one another, we should be evaluating ourselves first and foremost to identify were we as individuals are failing each other and betraying our children. In my opinion this is what I see more then anything else. Excuse me, but its getting sickening. And I have of yet to encounter an excuse to justify any of this treachery. The divide and conquer mentality is well conditioned within some of our people, do them a favor if you happen to overcome it and confront them on it and hold them accountable for it before their children inherit it and continually infect our communities with it. It's very frustrating when other perpetuate Their shortcomings on others as if that's suppose to distract us from the source of misunderstanding of the situation. Or they try to over exaggerate claims against others because their threatened, and are not ready to come to terms with these shortcomings. Only if they had the ability to be honest with themselves and confront these shortcomngs that might cause our ancestors to rejoice in them once again instead of abandoning them to their own demise. This country is erupting in revolution, why are some of us still sitting around acting naive to it? Sometimes revolution starts from within, so do yourself a favor and revolt against your ignorance, and bias. Those of us paying witness to you squandering your abilities would appreciate this more then trying to defend ourselves from these shortcomings you admire more then the reality and truth put before us all. I really do hope some of you find some clarity and come to the self revelation you could serve our people more effectively by finding the courage to confront your own bullshit before you force someone like me to do it. But here I am, at your service. Some people don't deserve consideration of those of us unable to help them deal with their inner demons devouring their spirit. They require ceremony, or maybe a psychiatrist, heavy medication, or perhaps institutionalization to help them from further damaging their own reputations or themselves and most of all our struggles. I don't know, I'm no authority on mental illness. I think banishing these people to the wilderness might have been the only remedy available to our ancestors if these people were beyond the help of ceremony or medicine, and I could understand this conclusion. But I'm suspious that some might be using a fabricated mental disorder to guise genuine treachery, and corruption. Passing themselves off as crazy so they can't be held accountable for their obvious sinister duplicity, ignorance, and treachery. But yet some of us operate on higher levels of conscience, some on lower levels of ignorance. To each their own, but these foolish people will soon find out they have sold out their own dignity and honor for all the wrong reasons. But I doubt there's even a good reason to betray these virtues, least most of us have too much self respect to ever find out.