There is no fine line.
indigenous peoples
On the theft and appropriation of Indigenous cultures
A recent discussion over a cup of coffee with friends in Edmonton brought up four very different examples that had me considering how indigenous culture is flagrantly (mis)appropriated and twisted.
They are: a self-proposed, self-described "chosen shaman" of multiple indigenous nations named "Little Grandmother," the deaths and injuries that took place in an appropriated sweat lodge at a "New Age" retreat in Arizona in 2009, a noted pretender who once taught at my Alma Mater in Minnesota, and a "Quantum Healing" business in Saskatoon.
A healing walk around the tar sands dead zone
Organized and led by Indigenous people and open to everyone.
Related rabble.ca story:
A healing walk around the tar sands dead zone
I had the honour of participating in a healing walk through the Alberta tar sands on Sunday, Aug. 14. Organized and led by Indigenous people and welcome to everyone, roughly a 100 walkers trekked through a 13-kilometre loop that could be called the Ground Zero of Alberta's dirty oil industry. We witnessed the images you are probably familiar with by now: the industrial plants spewing smoke into the air, the enormous tailings ponds that are deadly to all life, the moonscape denuded of trees or anything green.
Healing ancestral relationships is important to activism
"There's a cartoon where activists march bearing placards. ‘No more motorways,' says one. ‘Stop the War,' demands another. ‘Down with the corporations,' shouts a third. And, finally, the guy at the end proclaims, ‘I hate my dad!'"
- Andrew Harvey
While personal pain is probably not the sole motivation for why activists do what we do, we probably all have to admit that it plays some role, even if only to sensitize us to the suffering of others. Perhaps, however, we are unaware of just how much personal pain we carry with us into our work.
In support of Indigenizing activism
'Indigenize' describes an understanding of the process of changing our thinking and relationships to acknowledge our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual inter-connectedness.
Related rabble.ca story:
In support of Indigenizing activism
Mother Earth and all her children teach us that diversity is necessary to our health and wellbeing. You don't see the trees insisting that they all bear the same fruit. You do not see the fish declaring war against those who do not swim. You don't see corn blocking the growth of squash and beans. What one plant puts into the soil, another takes. What one tree puts into the air another creature breathes. What one being leaves as waste another considers food. Even death and decay serve to nurture new life. Every one of Mother Earth's children co-operates so that the family survives.
The Road from Copenhagen to Cochabamba – Part II
Visiting Kichwa Amazonian communities who are resisting a biofuel company, oil interests, and their own governments.
