Amhran nam Bandia

Minister Deenihan Announces Conservation Plan for Tara

2012-01-24T16:51:00.000-05:00

Press release from The Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (An Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta)

24/01/2012 Minister Deenihan Announces Conservation Plan for Tara
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan, TD. has announced today (Tuesday 24^th January, 2012) that, in collaboration with the Office of Public Works and the Heritage Council, he has commissioned the Discovery Programme to undertake a Conservation Plan for the Hill of Tara, Co. Meath.

The Conservation Plan will illustrate the unique cultural and historical significance of Tara and identify appropriate policies to ensure its preservation and presentation. Minister Deenihan said that the Conservation Plan would “focus on the State-owned lands”.

The Minister said “the plan will catalogue the character and importance of the Hill of Tara and the issues impacting on it; it will also contain recommendations for policies that will help preserve its status as one of Ireland’s most outstanding national monuments”. The area to be examined includes the immediate environs of the Hill which contribute to the experience and enjoyment of the Hill.

Whilst the Conservation Plan will also consider access and visitor amenity issues, Minister Deenihan stressed that Tara was “essentially an outdoor experience and that should not change”.

The Minister emphasised that the emerging Conservation Plan would “place a key emphasis on consultation with stakeholders, and the local community in particular”. Ultimately, it is intended that the Conservation Plan for the Tara complex will act as an overarching framework for management and interpretation.

Archaeological works to investigate the significant degradation of the covering of the Mound of the Hostages have recently been completed. These excavations have resulted in the removal of a portion of the earthen mound over the passage tomb. Design options for conservation works to the passage tomb and the restoration of the mound are now being considered and will begin as soon as possible.

The most racist thing I've seen today...

2011-11-11T15:41:00.002-05:00

This video perfectly sums up what is wrong with the newagers and others who engage in cultural appropriation. James Ray admits he has no idea what a local, possibly indigenous, woman at this sacred site is saying. She appears to be explaining the site to visitors. Ray not only ignores her words (that he could have recorded and had translated later, if she gave him permission to do so) but instead he talks over her, giving his outsider interpretation of what the symbols at this site mean, and what religious significance he thinks the site has. Of course, he uses appropriated imagery and his fantasies of Indigenous people's traditions for this, though he admits that he "doesn't understand a word" of it.

Her voice is drowned out, and his replaces it. His voice is broadcast over the Internet, as hers is reduced to background noise, and then forgotten. Misinformation and fantasy replace traditional knowledge. The appropriator says some more racist crap, laughs about the Indigenous people, and laughs about how clever he is.

Next James Ray tells us that his pay-to-pray, "prosperity consciousness" group, World Wealth Society, are over in a nearby "vortex". Now he's making money off the sacred site. They have invaded this indigenous sacred site, and are performing their own idea of a death/rebirth ritual. Or something. If Ray's comments and attitude are any indicator, they have no idea what ceremonies have been traditionally held at this site, or which spirits live there, and which things please them... or anger them. Probably no one in his group had any idea how to call to the local spirits (since they don't understand the language) and probably they were so caught up in their pay-to-pray experience that they didn't think to call on some of their own ancestral spirits. By barging into this site and not knowing the people or spirits of the land, even calling ancestral spirits might have resulted in them stirring up things that would clash with the local spirits. Then again, maybe they did get noticed by someone... as death is following James Ray.

Watch it for yourself. Astonishing:

Thanks to Twinkie Wrangler for finding this.

If James Ray had listened to Indigenous people, the three people who died in his Sedona deathlodge would still be alive. Indigenous people said, "You don't know what you're doing. Don't pretend you are leading one of our ceremonies. Don't try to lead these fake ceremonies at all. No. Stop."

But like so many lower-profile appropriators of his ilk (who, like Ray, come from the dominant culture and never interact with traditional, non-colonized Indigenous people), Ray decided he knew better than those dumb Indigenes. He knew better: how to better interpret their sacred stories, how to better lead rituals of his own devising on their sacred sites, how to talk to those spirits (despite not understanding a word of their language), how to fulfill the newagers' fantasies of mystical ceremonies they secretly knew no Indigenous person would ever teach them. If the newagers had simply listened to the people who said traditional ceremonies must be in the language of that culture, maybe they wouldn't have paid $10,000 to die.

Multiple witnesses in Ray's manslaughter trial said they trusted that Ray could lead a sweat lodge because he showed them pictures of himself with nameless Indigenous people. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated NDN activists in North America, he would have had a hard time passing off traditional people here as his teachers. (See, NDNs here have phones and email.) So he claimed people from the more rural regions of South America, who have less phone service (and usually no Internet), were his teachers. (This tactic has become very popular with the appropriators, by the way.) But if the consumers of his pay-to-pray pyramid schemes had understood that Indigenous people have names, opinions, and sovereignty over their own cultures, they wouldn't have fallen for this. As long as there is racism, there will be appropriation. And as long as there is appropriation, people will support dangerous frauds like Ray.

State of Emergency: Another Week of Action to Save the Peaks

2011-08-19T15:19:00.000-04:00

Activists on-site have announced a state of emergency. Old growth forest is being clearcut and burnt, the land bulldozed. Many of the trees are not even being used for lumber, but piled into twenty foot high slash piles and burned. All of this so privileged tourists can go snow skiing, all of this to destroy a watershed, destroy a landbase, destroy a culture.

Another Week of Action is in progress, with street actions and direct action on the mountain continuing.

"If not now, when? If not you, who?"

"The pictures do not really explain the massive scale. The stump in the foreground is 5ft across and the log pile peeking over the top has a few hundred trees that were many hundreds of years old."

"20 foot tall slash pile being burned. Thanks Lorena Caballero for the photo. Be sure to check her photos for another full album of pictures."

From the album: Converge on the Peaks - www.TrueSnow.org by Nuvatuqui Ovi

Save the Peaks Action: August 23

2011-08-15T19:17:00.001-04:00

Passing on the word from truesnow.org

Silent Vigil
Tues, August 23
4PM
City Hall
Flagstaff AZ

Water is Life, Don't sell ours to Snowbowl!

On Tuesday August 23 we will hold Silent Vigil in front of City Hall and subsequently in city council meeting. It is time to stop for a moment and pay our respects to the plants, trees, animals, and insects who died or lost their homes in the clear-cuts that are taking place up on the mountain at the hands of Arizona Snowbowl.

It would only take four city council members with courage and vision to end this entire treated sewage effluent fiasco forever. With their simple vote to end the contract it could put an end to anger and racism and outright desecration and begin the healing process. It would also keep 180,000,000 gallons of water a year filtering through 1200 feet of volcanic rock back into our own aquifer, instead of dumping it directly above a perched aquifer on the peaks and uphill from the Hart Prairie aquifer.

Flagstaff water for Flagstaff, don't sell it to Snowbowl.

Please join us in the City Council meeting and let them know what their silence feels like. The council chambers can likely hold about 200 people, so come on down and help us fill the room.

Let them know that water is life, don't sell ours to Snowbowl.

Spread the word, and follow the updates at truesnow.org/vigil

"What is at stake is our prayers, our ways of life, our cultural survival."

2011-08-15T15:52:00.007-04:00

Updates, additional photos, and statements from activists arrested on the Holy San Francisco Peaks on Saturday, courtesy IndigenousAction.org:

"What is at stake is our prayers, our ways of life, our cultural survival."

On the Gaelic front, so much of my work in recent years has been about preserving our prayers and songs for the coming generations. This is still culturally vital, but what good are these things if we no longer have the land on which to pray and sing? What use are our ceremonies if the land becomes too desecrated to sustain life? Without land we have no culture, no life, no future.

This is why my prayer is that our cultural preservation of language, songs, prayers and ceremonies, go hand in hand with our cultural preservation that prioritizes protection of the sacred land. The culture sustains us, the land sustains us, and neither can be separated from the other.

Update: Annie over at Tairis in Scotland has weighed in on the issue, as well. Good to see more international coverage, especially from a fellow Gaelic Polytheist who understands how vital this work is to our cultures, whether we are protecting sacred sites in Alba agus Éire or in the diaspora. Moran Taing!

What Part of "Sacred" Don't You Understand?

2011-08-14T15:37:00.001-04:00

photo courtesy Outta Your Backpack Media / Censored News

View Video of Lockdown

Indigenous people and their allies were holding a prayer circle on the mountain Saturday morning. They had invited people of all faiths to the sacred site to pray with them in solidarity.

As they were praying in the cool, mountain air, sounds of heavy machinery drove away the sounds of nature. In rumbled the diggers... ready to desecrate and disrupt ceremony, ready to rip the mountain apart right in front of the people. Klee Benally jumped in front of a digger and chained himself to the heavy machinery to stop them, and activists moved to fill in the trenches, rock by rock, handful of earth by handful of earth.

Many of us involved in the struggle to protect sacred sites have stressed:

We protect the sacred sites
so we'll have a place to pray
We pray to have the strength
to protect the sacred land
United in our prayer
we protect the sacred land
Our action is our prayer
Our action is our prayer

How much clearer does the struggle get? How much more vividly can the need for resistance be shown, when clearcutters, diggers and bulldozers violate the sanctity of a prayer circle, and the people who were only there to pray are faced with the immediate decision whether to take it, to flee, or to put their bodies on the line to defend the land?

Full story and additional photos

Nineteen people have been arrested in the past ten days, as Navajo, Hualapai, Hopi, O'odham and other Indigenous people have been protesting the destruction of the sacred mountains.

"The Arizona Snowbowl plans to make snow for tourists on the sacred mountain using recycled waste water. Thirteen Native American Indian Nations hold the mountains sacred. Medicine men gather healing plants and conduct ceremonies on the mountains.
Already, there is clearcutting of the old growth forests for the pipeline and tourist developments."

More...

Klee Benally Locked Down on Holy Mountain

2011-08-13T16:36:00.011-04:00

Two activists arrested, public protest at Coconino County Jail, bail support needed.

Via Brenda Norrell:

Navajo Klee Benally chained himself to an excavator on Snowbowl Road on Saturday, Aug. 14, after machinery disrupted a prayer gathering on San Francisco Peaks. Peaks police liaison Rudy Preston and author Mary Sojourner were arrested. Both have been bailed out of Coconino County Jail, according to a message at 1:30 am on Sunday.

More...

The Week of Action to save the sacred San Francisco Peaks from clearcutting, bulldozing, devastation and desecration has drawn many new supporters to the public marches and rallies, as well as direct action by those risking arrest on the mountain herself. Guess what, the week is over but the actions are not. The fight continues in the courts and defenders are camped all over the mountain, ready to launch direct action from base camps. Actionists have vowed to continue until the site is protected.

At 2pm Mountain Time on Saturday, Klee Benally locked down to heavy machinery on the mountain, laying his body on the line to protect this sacred site. Our prayers and gratitude to Klee and all the brave actionists on the mountain. Follow Censored News and twitter for the most up to date coverage, and the rest of us will do our best to spread the word as well.

More photos from the week of Action and invitation to prayer circle in support of the actions.

Update 5:26pm et: Police vehicles on scene, police are with Klee and other protestors.

Update 5:56pm et: Two actionists arrested: Mary Sojourner and Rudy Preston. Klee Benally is still locked down.

Statement from Protect the Peaks, via Brenda Norrell:

Snowbowl's destruction and desecration is currently being stopped by another blockade involving Klee Benally. Updates and photos are available at www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com. Jail support is needed and there will be a gathering outside of the Coconino County Jail (starting now until everyone is released). At this point, it is expected that $900 may be needed to bail out those arrested. If you can contribute to legal funds, please drop off money at the jail. Please support in person or in some other way.

For those wishing to help with bail but unable to get there in person, you can donate via PayPal at www.truesnow.org or www.indigenousaction.org.

Update 7:13pm et: Klee Benally cut out of chains, cited for disorderly conduct and released. Rally continues at jail.

Week of Action for the Holy Mountain: brave and beautiful actionists, violent police, attempts at censorship, and the necessity of security culture

2011-08-08T15:08:00.003-04:00

The Week of Action is continuing full force in Arizona. Brenda Norrell and activists on Twitter are continuing to provide vital, up to the moment coverage of this breaking story. Indigenous Action Media and truesnow.org are continuing to publish detailed reports of the actions and marches.

Sunday’s march joins four decades of sustained resistance to desecration of the Holy Peaks. Over the past three weeks since Snowbowl began clear-cutting, dozens of protest camps have been established on the mountain.

“The Week of Action is a culmination of efforts to directly address the lack of political will of the Forest Service and City Council to safeguard the community, public health and cultural rights,” said Nadia Del Callejo who was arrested while simply video taping the incident.

“The same profit driven push that has desecrated the Peaks, is the same sickness that has lead to the militarization of the border and is now trying to desecrate South Mountain, which is sacred to all O’odham.” said Alex Soto (Tohono O‘odham ) who was also arrested, “Sacred sites are under attack, but today we said no. Our solidarity in these struggles is re-establishing our traditional networks of support.”

Demonstrators invite everyone to join them
- Monday, August 8, 12:30 pm at the United States Coconino National Forest Service Office at 1824 S. Thomson St
- Wednesday, 12:30pm at High Desert Investment at 504 E Butler Ave
- Wednesday, 4:00pm at Flagstaff City Hall.

Protesters vowed to not stop until the desecration of the Peaks stops. “I am not afraid of what will happen to me if I protest, what I am more afraid of is what will happen if I do not stand up for what the Peaks are,” Stated Del Callejo.

Read the full story at Censored News

What is disturbing about the arrests at these actions is most of them are not your usual, orderly, Civil Disobedience arrests seen at many mass demonstrations or even lockdowns in the past. The police have dragged peaceful marchers out of the crowd for no apparent reason; the only reason seems to be they were recognized as some of the more central organizers, which in some cases would only be known via infiltration, informants, or lapses in security. In other cases, activists in roles that are usually respected as not violating any laws, and not risking arrest, such as police liasons and media personnel, are also being arrested.

It seems clear to me that the police are being ordered to stop these demonstrations - including the completely legal and peaceful marches - even at the risk of breaking the law themselves. Whether the harsh treatment of protestors is simply due to the patterns of racism we have seen in Arizona government, or due to the money thrown around by those who stand to profit from the desecration of the mountain, remains to be seen. I have my opinions in the matter, but will wait to hear more from the actionists on the front line.

Another pattern we're seeing is that Facebook, which is now thoroughly used by law enforcement for gathering intel, has been demanding unintelligible "captchas" of anyone posting links to certain blogs that are covering the actions. Sometimes four or more captchas in a row, and then the post will still not go through. Other activists have been mysteriously locked out of their accounts after posting links to the Save the Peaks coverage.

It is not the first time this has happened. A few months ago I was signing into my account, and for no apparent reason it asked me to identify pictures of people on my friends list. Every picture was of activists and spokespeople, and all of them were Indigenous. All of the pictures were of groups of people, and I was asked to identify the people pictured with my friends. I had never seen some of the pictures before. In one case I was asked to identify the elderly mother of an activist friend. I refused, and eventually Facebook stopped asking me.

If it was just a Facebook account security or social networking issue, Facebook could have asked me about any of the non-Native people on my friends list. There are plenty of them. But that's not what whoever was using FB for intel was interested in.

Some good links on Security Culture that should prove helpful:

Deep Green Resistance page on Security Culture

The bare truth is that we live in a surveillance state that is unparalleled. Many people are legitimately worried or afraid. But this fear can become paranoia and paralysis. As a result, some will not get involved in radical activism. Others will stay involved, but their paranoia will create a stifling atmosphere and drive people away. Result? Our movements die. This outcome works perfectly for those in power. Without wanting to, our fear and paranoia can end up doing the work of the state that wants to shut our movements down.

But Security Culture – a simple set of rules anyone can follow – reduces paranoia and fear, and makes us safer so that we can do our work effectively.

Security Culture: a handbook for activists - Concise and to the point, essential reading on keeping yourself and other activists safe. How to handle security, informants, arrests, police, etc. In PDF form so you can print it out and hand it out to people at meetings.

Direct Action Continues on Sacred San Francisco Peaks

2011-08-08T13:44:00.002-04:00

The action continues on the peaks today. Jail support needed. Updates on this developing story at Censored News and Twitter at #NoPoopSnow.

Breaking News

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Eight Snowbowl Ski Resort protesters locked down to barrels at 5 am, protesting the destruction to sacred San Francisco Peaks.

Police are now cutting away the protesters. Peaks police liaison Rudy Preston arrested at the scene.

Native American are struggling to defend San Francisco Peaks, sacred to 13 area Native American Nations. The Snowbowl Ski Resort is already destroying the sacred mountain with the clearcutting of grandmother trees, as a pipeline is put in to bring sewage water to the ski resort for snowmaking.

Native American medicine men gather healing plants and conduct ceremonies on San Francisco Peaks. The healing herbs would be contaminated by sewage water snow.
Tourists are being asked to boycott Snowbowl Ski Resort. Many Flagstaff businesses use Native American images, jewelry and culture for profit. Flagstaff residents and businesses are asked to protect Native American sacred places and join the efforts to defend San Francisco Peaks.

Thanks to Alex Soto and Darrick Jay Hobbs for sending photos to Censored News, via cellphone.
Photo copyrights: Photo 1: Alex Soto Photo 2: Darrick Jay Hobbs.

And thanks to Brenda Norrell of Censored News for her excellent coverage.

Detailed coverage of the Week of Action and more photos from Indigenous Action Media.

zombie walk draws attention to the dangers of poopsnow

Seven Arrested at Peaceful March for Sacred San Francisco Peaks

2011-08-07T18:36:00.006-04:00

Requesting anyone who can to head over to the Coconino jail right now to join the solidarity and support rally. Reports are coming in that police attacked marchers today.

klee benally being arrested

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Sunday, Aug. 7, 2011

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Seven of the fiercest warriors who have been protecting the peaks were targeted and arrested in front of Macy's Coffeehouse on Sunday afternoon.

Undercover police have infiltrated the hundred person march and are attempting to squash the growing anti-Snowbowl movement! If you're in Flagstaff, please go join the march downtown. They will soon be moving over to the jail to rally and organize legal/financial support.

This was a peaceful march that was surrounded by police from the minute it formed and they were just waiting to pounce. And they did!

Native Americans are struggling to defend sacred San Francisco Peaks from snow to be made from sewage water at the Snowbowl tourists resort on the Peaks. The mountains are sacred to 13 Native American Nations, medicine plants are gathered there, and ceremonies held there. The pipeline is already resulting in clearcutting of grandmother trees.

www.justpedal.org is taking donations for bail. All bail will be refunded. It is $238 per person.

Check back for updates.

police arresting Klee Benally some more
Up to the moment discussion and immediate updates also happening on Facebook and Twitter.

protesting the desecration of the sacred san francisco peaks

peaceful solidarity march

I am pretty sure all these photos are courtesy of Youth of the Peaks, via Brenda Norrell. Will update later. Action still in progress. More photos at Censored News.

Operation Become The Media - Protect the Sacred San Francisco Peaks

2011-07-13T14:57:00.003-04:00

Call to action and request for support: Base camps are forming at the Sacred Peaks. Grab your affinity group and head over, or support in whatever way you can. The landbase and watershed is threatened by developers clearcutting for ski resorts, and their plans to dump sewer water into the snow-making machines. Direct action is in motion, right now.

People are mobilizing, and those putting their bodies on the line are imploring us to spread the word and strengthen their impact in whatever ways we can. Strength and prayers to those holding the line today, for as long as it takes. Moran Taing agus Slàinte Mhath!

Follow the actions live on Twitter at the #nopoopsnow hashtag.

Photo of sacred peaks courtesy Nuvatukya Ovi
Press release via TrueSnow.org and Censored News:

Operation: Become the Media

Hello all you hard working supporters of sacred sites. We are quickly moving towards the critical mass of people prepared to move this to a full fledged sit-in. Eleven basecamps set and at least 15 more who have announced they have started travel, and growing. The CookShack affinity group has made a public call for joiners, and will be taking a public role. Here are the problems we are running into, especially here in Flagstaff. [To those not on-site] The destruction is not real or everyone is in some stage of denial. Petitions will not save us. The superhuman lawyer Howard Shanker has been neutralized. The coalition court case is now the perfect smokescreen for the Destruction. People sit thinking that a legal decision some time in September will stop destruction that is ALREADY HAPPENING. So join Operation: Become the Media today:

1. Go to the peaks immediately and start filming the destruction. Post it on YouTube, Vimeo, and Facebook.

2. Everyone post the links for other to spread the word. Tweet them with #nopoopsnow on #sacredsites.

3. Spread the word on Facebook by tagging your friends. This link will take you to Facebook Event with a note to help you get started tagging right away: Join the Peaks Tagging Crew.

4. Become the media. Don't wait for Randy Wilson to mangle the story. Write the story. Give it to your friends. Who are they going to believe? You and your eyewitness reports or a half-spun version in a newspaper funded partly with Snowbowl money?

5. Help people snap out of it. I know, Tsunamis, Earthquakes, 20% house foreclosure rate, nearly 25% of the country out of work, massive fires from a century of forest abuse, war in the east, war in the west, etc. Yep It's all connected. But it feels really good right now to know that there is one place we can take a stand. We can make a difference. And it is right here, It's the Peaks. It's a start!

6. Spread the word! Petitions were used as toilet paper. Letters were thrown away. The lawsuits have become a smokescreen for the greedy to do their destruction. The destruction is real and it is time to interrupt our normally scheduled lives and converge on the peaks!

Grab your camera, grab a friend, go right up on your public lands and film it and let the world know! It's up to you now. Do not go alone, and if Arizona Snowbowl harasses you, call the police on them. You have the right to be there, it is your land! And film that too :)

photo courtesy brenda norrell

Racism and Invisible Indians in the James Ray Trial

2011-06-22T20:52:00.011-04:00

James Arthur Ray has been found guilty of three counts of Negligent Homicide

I join with the many activists who have followed this trial in being relieved we have a verdict of guilty. Like my colleagues, I would have preferred the manslaughter conviction, which carries a longer sentence. But at least Ray has been found guilty of causing the deaths of three human beings through his negligence. He will do time. May this serve as a deterrent to the other frauds and exploiters out there.

James Arthur Ray exploited Native people by mimicking their ceremonies and selling them for obscene amounts of money. He exploited lost souls looking for a spiritual leader. He killed three people in his sham plastic tent and sent many more to the hospital. I only wish the penalty was more severe for the damage he has done.

I pray that all those who have been exploited and harmed by this arrogant fraud, and by exploiters like him, find justice, completion, peace and healing.

James Arthur Ray, manifesting his future
Racism and Invisible Indians in the James Ray Trial

One of the most horrifying things about the James Ray trial, and the coverage by the mainstream media, is that Native people were rendered largely invisible. Of the many witnesses who testified, only Fawn Foster, a groundskeeper at the Angel Valley
retreat center, claimed to have any Native heritage (I don't know if she does, but this is what she stated on the stand). The defense tried to use her stated ethnicity, and her disapproval of pay-to-pray, as a reason to doubt her testimony. It was ugly and racist.

Even worse was the news coverage on In Session and Headline News. They found a pretendian fraud to lead a badly-done and dangerous fake sweat for their cameras. Then they had the fraud on the air repeatedly to talk as an "expert" on Native ceremonies. The fraud violated so many ceremonial protocols in the footage, it was appalling. Native people from the family he claimed had adopted him went online to speak out and say he is not a member of their family and has no rights to ceremonies. He caused much distress to Native people, but even over objections In Session kept having him back.

A few days after that, In Session had a panel of six people discussing their experiences with "sweat lodges". Not a single one of the people interviewed was Native. They were all non-Natives who dabble in what they think are Native ceremonies. As I wrote to In Session at the time: "Non-Natives chanting vocables in a plastic tent is not a 'Native ceremony.'"

Native people and their supporters wrote and called In Session and Headline News to protest. We blogged and tweeted about it; one group started a petition. The only response was that eventually In Session stopped their coverage of the James Ray trial completely. They never issued a clarification or retraction. They never apologized. Perhaps they were embarrassed they had been tricked by the fraud, and wanted to pretend it never happened.

Though In Session gave the non-Native people multiple days of coverage to opine on Native ceremonies, and to spread more ignorance, the only time I saw any Native person given a chance to speak was a brief phone call with Floyd Hand, a Lakota Elder. His brief spot was not promoted the way the non-Natives were; he was given very little time to talk, and the vapid on-air personality interrupted him and ended the call when he didn't give her the sort of sound bites she was looking for.

It was very offensive.

The James Ray trial has provided a few small openings to educate about cultural appropriation and the cultural genocide perpetuated by frauds like James Arthur Ray. But mostly it has been horrible and disappointing: Newagers on parade, racism, and the perpetuation of negative stereotypes. Three people are dead and up until today nothing had really changed, except that a lot of ignorant non-Natives now think anyone can attend a sweat lodge and it's only inappropriate if you make it too hot and too long. Or they don't understand that what James Ray led was not a Native ceremony, and now they mistakenly believe that Native people have scary and deadly practices. Some Pagans who have commented seem to think it's only a matter of a few mistakes in construction and timing, "Oh, he used plastic tarps and overdid it." In terms of non-Native perceptions of Native people and Native lifeways, I'd say the net result has been more of the same ignorance about Native traditions, just on a bigger scale.

Today's verdict is not ideal. Manslaughter convictions would have locked him up for longer. But at least there is a guilty verdict, and some consequences. Maybe some of the exploiters will think a bit longer before they do one of their macho, sham ceremonies, where they (consciously or unconsciously) act out the racist fantasy that they can be "the better Indians" - that they can make their imitation ceremonies longer and hotter, and in airtight deathlodges, because they must know better than those traditionals who've only been doing this for many, many generations. And they must also be the better Indians since apparently they can just attend a few rituals by another fraud and then hang out a shingle as a sweat leader, when those silly Indians have to grow up in the traditions, be trained for decades by people who were raised in these ways, go through ceremonies cultural outsiders don't even know exist in order to be trusted with the right to have a lodge, and then be acknowledged before the whole community as someone who has earned this right. (As the Lakota ways are the ones most-mimicked by the exploiters, including James Ray, I think Chief Arvol Looking Horse's comments on the issue are especially relevant.)

I keep hoping we can use this case as an opportunity for education, and maybe in a small way we have done that. But aside from those who injure and kill ritual participants now knowing there is a precedent for them to face criminal charges, I'm not sure much has changed. I hope there will be more questioning of cult leaders like Ray. But with our increasingly desperate society, with the environmental and economic disasters we're facing, many people seem all too willing to turn off their brains and follow anyone who claims to have easy answers, or easy solutions. My prediction is that more people are going to die. Newagers and NeoPagans are still leading plastic sweats. Back when I was attending Neopagan gatherings in the 1980's, I saw Neopagans make every single one of the mistakes Ray made - the dangerous changes to lodge construction, the macho changes in tradition, the ignorant mixing of fragments of ceremonies, the ignorance of proper spiritual and physical safety protocols, all of it. The only difference, really, is that Ray charged thousands of dollars whereas Neopagans, if they charge money, usually charge hundreds.* Unless something changes in people's attitudes about cultural integrity and cultural misappropriation, the next deaths may be at a Neopagan gathering.

For those who've never researched Gaelic (Irish and Scottish) Sweat House traditions, if someone brings that up you may be interested in this earlier post: New Age Death Sweats IV: Jackboots at the Seder Table. The section specifically about comparative Sweat-related traditions, "But Sweatlodge is Universal", starts about 1/3 of the way through.

*Yes, the old joke does still seem true for much of the Neopagan community:
Q: What's the difference between a Newage gathering and a Neopagan gathering?
A: A decimal point.

For those of you who may not know, the main reason I have very little to do with the mainstream of the Neopagan community these days is the cultural appropriation and usually unintentional, but still very real and unacceptable, racism that is so prevalent there. I just couldn't take it anymore. By the technical definition I'm still a type of modern Pagan, in that I'm a polytheist and practice an earth-based tradition that is both pre-Christian and other-than-Christian. But our Gaelic Polytheist (GP) community has largely different values than the eclectic Neopagan community. We don't have a lot of overlap. As participants in a traditional lifeway, my GP friends, family and I have more in common with our Indigenous friends. These days when I participate in large-scale gatherings it's usually at Gaelic cultural events that are generally secular in nature, or Interfaith gatherings with Indigenous friends and colleagues.

Áine's Day / Grianstad an tSamhraidh

2011-06-21T15:25:00.001-04:00

Thugamar féin an samhradh linn

Bábóg na Bealtaine, maighdean an tSamhraidh,
Suas gach cnoc is síos gach gleann,
Cailíní maiseacha bán-gheala gléasta,
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn.

Curfá:

Samhradh, samhradh, bainne na ngamhna,
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn.
Samhradh buí na nóinín glégeal,
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn.

Thugamar linn é ón gcoill chraobhaigh,
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn.
Samhradh buí ó luí na gréine,
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn.

[Curfá]

Tá an fhuiseog ag seinm ‘sag luascadh sna spéartha,
Áthas do lá is bláth ar chrann.
Tá an chuach is an fhuiseog ag seinm le pléisiúr,
Thugamar féin an samhradh linn.

[Curfá]

Translation:

Mayday doll, maiden of Summer
Up every hill and down every glen,
Beautiful girls, radiant and shining,
We have brought the Summer in.

Chorus:

Summer, Summer, milk of the calves,
We have brought the Summer in.
Yellow summer of clear bright daisies,
We have brought the Summer in.

We brought it in from the leafy woods,
We have brought the Summer in.
Yellow Summer from the time of the sunset,
We have brought the Summer in.

[Chorus]

The lark is singing and swinging around in the skies,
Joy for the day and the flower on the trees.
The cuckoo and the lark are singing with pleasure,
We have brought the Summer in.

[Chorus]

Traditional Gaeilge. Translation from Singing in Irish Gaelic by Mary McLaughlin. Thanks to Treasa for various essentials. Some background on the song, which is usually sung at Bealtaine, but seemed apt around the fire today.

Press Release from Six Protesters arrested at San Francisco Peaks

2011-06-21T00:54:00.001-04:00

Native women locked down in the trench,
blockading placement of the pipeline
Photo courtesy of Kyle Boggs
This post is a followup to my Thursday, June 16, 2011 post about the direct action taking place at the sacred San Francisco Peaks in Arizona. Dine' and other Indigenous people and supporters are taking direct action to stop a proposed pipeline that would douse the mountain with sewer water, polluting a sacred ceremonial site and harming the medicinal herbs grown there. See that post for the initial press release from the day of the action.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sunday June 19, 2011

Contact: Beth Lavely
Tel: 928.254.1064
protectpeaks@gmail.com

Protest Halts Snowbowl Wastewater Pipeline Construction

End Destruction and Desecration of Holy San Francisco Peaks

Flagstaff, AZ – At sunrise on Thursday, June 16, 2011, more than a dozen people stopped ski area construction on the Holy San Francisco Peaks. Six individuals used various devices to lock themselves to heavy machinery and to each other inside the waste water pipeline trench.

Kristopher Barney, Dine’ (Navajo) & one of the six who locked himself to an excavator stated, “This is a continuation of years of prayers and resistance. It is our hope that all Indigenous Peoples, and all others, throughout the North, East, South and West come together to offer support to the San Francisco Peaks and help put a stop to Snowbowl’s plan to further destroy and desecrate such a sacred, beautiful and pristine mountain!”

Photo courtesy of Kyle Boggs
“What part of sacred don’t they understand? Through our actions today, we say enough! The destruction and desecration has to end!” said Marlena Teresa Garcia, 16, a young Diné woman and one of the six who chose to lock down. “The Holy San Francisco Peaks is home, tradition, culture, and a sanctuary to me, and all this is being desecrated by the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort. So now I, as a young Diné woman, stand by Dook’o’osliid’s side taking action to stop cultural genocide. I encourage all indigenous youth to stand against the desecration that is happening on the Holy San Francisco Peaks and all other sacred sites”, said Garcia after being arrested and released.

Warrior women arrested at action
Photo courtesy of Out Of Your Backpack Media / Beth Lavely
A banner was hung on the side of the trench that read “Defend the Sacred!” where two protesters were locked together. Over the half mile of open construction, the group chanted, “Protect Sacred Sites, Defend Human Rights!”, “No desecration for recreation!” “Stop the cultural genocide! Protect the Peaks!”, and “Human health over corporate wealth”.

“This waste water pipeline will poison the environment and to children who may eat snow made from it. Snowbowl plans to spray millions of gallons of waste water snow, which is filled with cancer causing and other harmful contaminants, as well as clear-cut over 30,000 trees. The Peaks are a pristine and beautiful place, a fragile ecosystem, and home to rare and endangered species of plants and animals,” said Evan Hawbaker, one of the protesters who locked themselves to the excavator.

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Forest Service, the City of Flagstaff Mayor and Council, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality are all responsible for permitting Snowbowl to endanger public health, destroy the environment, and desecrate the Holy Peaks,” said Nadia del Callejo, one of the protesters who locked themselves in the trench.

“Throughout history, acts of resistance and civil disobedience have been taken by young and old against injustices such as this. This action is not isolated but part of a continued resistance to human rights violations, to colonialism, to corporate greed, and destruction of Mother Earth,” added Del Callejo.

A separate group of supporters, some wearing hazmat suits, “quarantined” the entrance to Snowbowl Road. Banners were stretched across the road that read “Protect Sacred Sites” and “Danger! Health Hazard – Snowbowl”.

Photo courtesy of Protect the Peaks

Shortly after initiating the action, a Snowbowl security guard spotted two people locked to an excavator. By 6:00 a.m. more than 15 armed agents, including the Coconino County Sheriff’s Department, City of Flagstaff Police, & the FBI stormed the mountain.

At approximately 7:30 a.m., the Flagstaff Fire Department, assisted by County Sheriffs, started aggressively cutting two people from the excavator.

“We took every possible measure to ensure our safety. Our actions were taken to safeguard Indigenous Peoples’ cultural survival, our community’s health and this sensitive mountain ecosystem. Those who cut us out endangered our well being ignoring the screams to stop. They treated our bodies the way they’re treating this holy mountain. If they had their way, we wouldn’t even exist. There is more danger in doing nothing. To idly stand by and allow this destruction and desecration is to allow cultural genocide”, said the other young Dine’ woman who chose to lock down.

Photo courtesy of Protect the Peaks
“The police’s use of excessive force was in complete disregard for my safety. They pulled at my arms and forced my body and head further into the machine, all the while using heavy duty power saws within inches of my hand,” said Evan Hawbaker.
After being cut out, the two were treated by paramedics and arrested for trespassing. The police, firefighters, and paramedics then proceeded to cut two people locked in a nearby trench.

Extraction took about forty minutes and the two were immediately seen by paramedics after being unlocked. One of the individuals sustained injuries to their arm from abusive force. Both were charged with trespassing, with an added charge of “contributing to the delinquency of a minor”, for one of the individuals. Police proceeded to unlock the last group who was also inside the trench nearby.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Boggs
“Our only offense was resistance; resistance of the implications that’s Snowbowl’s development exudes. The police’s defense was to implement tactics of fear to reach a goal, essentially to continue construction as soon as possible. Our safety was prioritized second to Snowbowl’s demands. I was one of the demonstrators in the trench, locked at the neck with a partner. I was not aggressive. My lock was sawed through, inches away from both of our heads, secured solely and recklessly by the hands of a deputy. During the process, we were repeatedly asked to chant to reaffirm our consciousness. The police’s response was hasty, taking about ten minutes in total–it was dehumanizing,” said Hailey Sherwood, one of the last protester to be cut out.

Both women were also seen by paramedics. One was sent to the hospital for heat exhaustion although she denied feeling dehydrated. She started to faint during the extraction when police, EMTs, and firefighters attempted to force the pair to stand and move them from their location. Both women repeatedly expressed that they were being hurt and choked by law enforcement officers and firefighters. Both of the protesters were arrested for trespassing, with additional charges to one of them for “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” and “endangerment”.

Photo courtesy of Out Of Your Backpack Media
Four of the protesters were taken to County Jail. The two young people were taken to Coconino County Juvenile Detention Center. FBI agents attempted to question four of those arrested.

As word spread about the demonstration to protect the Peaks, overwhelming support and solidarity poured in from throughout the community and internationally.
Bail was raised shortly after the arrests. All demonstrators were released by 3:30 p.m. Three of the protesters, including Marlena Teresa Garcia, immediately filed a report for excessive use of force after being released.

Photo courtesy of Kyle Boggs
“How can we be trespassers on our Holy Site?” questioned Barney. “I do not agree with these and the other charges, we will continue our resistance.”

###

All photos courtesy KUYI Hopi Public Radio, reprinted with permission. All copyrights revert to the original photographers.

Closing Arguments in James Ray Deathlodge Manslaughter Trial

2011-06-17T14:01:00.000-04:00

Prosecutor Sheila Polk delivers closing arguments in James Ray manslaughter trial

Thank you, Twinkie Wrangler for transcribing highlights from the closing arguments in the James Arthur Ray, newage shameon deathlodge trial: Closing Arguments in Arizona v. James Arthur Ray

The defense is delivering their closing as I type this. For the play-by-play, live coverage follow the James Ray Daily and the #JamesRay hashtag on Twitter.

For those wondering how to lead an eclectic, newage ritual that kills people, this is also a good intro. < / sarcasm >

Some quotes from the transcript:

Laurie Gennari ... heard a voice call out, “She’s not responding”.

And at another time, she heard someone call out, “She’s not breathing.” She heard Mr. Ray respond, “leave her there we’ll deal with it at the end of the round.”

...

In his pre-event briefing, Mr. Ray described all the signs and symptoms of heat related illness, but then told them to ignore them and that it was safe to do so.

Mr. Ray encouraged them to let others have their own experience and not to interfere.

Rather than teaching participants that altered mental status is hallmark of heat exhaustion, Mr. Ray encouraged them to push through and endure and that they would have a breakthrough.

...

You’ve heard the defendant’s own words describing how he was intentionally taking the lodge to extreme heat to achieve an altered mental state, telling and them to ignore signs of their bodies.

Sweat lodge ceremonies are not inherently dangerous events.

Endurance challenges where participants are told to ignore signs of heat illness are incredibly dangerous.

No one could imagine that James Ray would ignore calls for help and allow participants to pass out in that tent and just leave them there.

He knew.

He intended to introduce hellaciously hot heat and steam.

He told participants to ignore their body’s warning signs of distress and pushing through pain and suffering was a good thing.

He told them they were not supposed to speak during sweat lodge ceremony unless asked by him.

James Ray audio clip: “…By the time we get to the 27th round – just kidding I will promise you we’ll have at least 7 rounds it just depends on how I get inspired. You’ve got to surrender to it. We’ll be doing some prayers and chants and I may go into an altered state. …

"I’m the master of the lodge and when I tell you to do something that’s when you do it."

He told [participants] they could not leave the tent during a round. ... he said, “I am the grand master in this temple and I need you to think of it in this way. The person running the lodge is like a priest.”

...

What you must consider is did the defendant’s conduct pose a substantial and unjust risk of death and was the defendant aware of the risk. Did he substantially disregard the substantial risk of death?

To prove crime of manslaughter you would have to prove Mr. Ray was aware of the risk of death and ignored it.

I submit to you that Mr. Ray was aware of that risk.

His words before and during the heat challenge itself is proof to you that he was aware.

His conduct inside the sweat lodge as round after round after round more people got sick and his conduct about what he did and what he did not do shows you that what was happening is what he intended to happen. You’ve heard his intent was to create this extreme mental state.

But he intended to use that heat to take them up to that brink of death and think they were getting something for their $10,000.

That’s why he doesn’t stop as people are being dragged out. This is what he intended.

...

Witness after witness has testified about the growing chaos in this tent starting really about the end of round four.

Amy Grimes passed out on Kim Brinkley. She testified she yelled out for help and that Amy was dragged out.

Somebody drags out Amy right past the defendant.

Lou Caci ... delirious and unconscious, falling into that pit of heated rocks.

You have heard so much testimony about the growing chaos, moans, requests for help, dragged out limp and lifeless in front of the defendant.

All the information that he had about people being in distress as early as the fourth round and all the opportunity he had to stop this challenge. He didn’t.

Mr. Ray’s desire to make people think they were experiencing something unique took precedence over their safety.

Debbie Mercer testified that she assisted about 25 people.

Beverly Bunn testified that everything was chaos after the 4th round. Sydney Spenser was dragged out completely lifeless right past the defendant. The defendant shouted, “Everybody quiet down! I am in charge!”

When Scott Barratt tried to move Linda Andresano, the defendant yelled at him to stop. Scott Barratt testified that he stopped because he was afraid that the defendant would yell at him again.

Mr. Ray said, “Just leave her. We need to keep going.”

All these opportunities to stop that event.

These deaths were not inevitable.

Ask yourself , if the defendant had stopped the ceremony when he had these warnings would Kirby, James and Liz still be alive?

There's more. Much more...

It is abundantly clear that by the fourth round, Ray knew people were in medical distress, and needing medical attention. He ignored their distress, told others to ignore their distress, and kept calling for more rocks, more buckets of water to create more heat and steam. He continued this hell-lodge for four more rounds as people lost consciousness and three died. He watched them vomit and lose control of their bodily functions. He watched them unconscious and not breathing, and still he went on. He could have stopped it and he did not. Let's hope the jury gets it and locks this guy up.

Activists locked down on San Francisco Peaks

2011-06-16T12:12:00.015-04:00

BREAKING NOW

Two activists have been arrested, one Dineh, one non-Native. Six to eight others remain locked down and are negotiating with the police.

UPDATED Thursday Night:
Six activists were eventually arrested. See updates on Censored News and at end of this post.
Activists locked down on destruction equipment
Updates are coming fastest via Brenda Norrell at Censored News, Twitter, and contacts on-site. Facebook is censoring Brenda Norrell's updates again.

Press release via LOCKED DOWN: Protest halts Snowbowl destruction on San Francisco Peaks

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday morning, June 16, 2011
Contact: Beth Lavely
Tel: 928.254.1064
protectpeaks@gmail.com

*PROTECT THE PEAKS – STOP DESTRUCTION & DESECRATION NOW!*

Today we take direct action to stop further desecration and destruction of the Holy San Francisco Peaks. We stand with our ancestors, with allies and with those who also choose to embrace diverse tactics to safeguard Indigenous People’s cultural survival, our community’s health, and this sensitive mountain ecosystem.

On May 25th 2011, sanctioned by the US Forest Service, owners of Arizona Snowbowl began further destruction and desecration of the Holy San Francisco Peaks. Snowbowl’s hired work crews have laid over a mile and a half of the planned 14.8 mile wastewater pipeline. They have cut a six foot wide and six foot deep gash into the Holy Mountain. Although a current legal battle is under appeal, Snowbowl owners have chosen to undermine judicial process by rushing to construct the pipeline. Not only do they disregard culture, environment, and our children’s health, they have proven that they are criminals beyond reproach.

Four weeks of desecration has already occurred. Too much has already been taken. Today, tomorrow and for a healthy future, we say “enough!” As we take action, we look to the East and see Bear Butte facing desecration, Mt. Taylor facing further uranium mining; to the South, Mt. Graham desecrated, South Mountain threatened, the US/Mexico border severing Indigenous communities from sacred places; to the West, inspiring resistance at Sogorea Te, Moana Keya facing desecration; to the North, Mt. Tenabo, Grand Canyon, Black Mesa, and so many more… our homelands and our culture under assault.

We thought that the USDA, heads of the Forest Service, had meant it when they initiated nationwide listening sessions to protect sacred places. If the process was meaningful, we would not have to take action today.

More than 13 Indigenous Nations hold the Peaks Holy. The question has been asked yet we hear no response, “what part of sacred don’t you understand?”

For hundreds of years resistance to colonialism, slavery, & destruction of Mother Earth has existed and continues here in what we now call Arizona.

The United States recently moved to join the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, evidently the US has not currently observed and acted upon this declaration, otherwise we would not be taking action today. This document informs our action, we also assert that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples supports the basis for our action:

“Article 11, 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to practice and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs. This includes the right to maintain, protect and develop the past, present and future manifestations of their cultures, such as archaeological and historical sites, artifacts, designs, ceremonies, technologies and visual and performing arts and literature.

“Article 11, 2: States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms, which may include restitution, developed in conjunction with indigenous peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual property taken without their free, prior and informed consent or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs.

“Article 12, 1: Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions, customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites; the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains.

“Article 25: Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard."

For nearly 4 decades, resistance to desecration and destruction of the Peaks has been sustained. Prayer vigils, petitions, lobbying, protests, and many diverse tactics have been embraced. Historic court battles have been fought.

We continue today resisting Snowbowl’s plan to spray millions of gallons of wastewater snow, which is filled with cancer causing and other harmful contaminants, as well as clear-cut over 30,000 trees. The Peaks are a pristine and beautiful place, a fragile ecosystem, and home to rare and endangered species of plants and animals.

Our action is a prayer.

We invite those of you who could not join us today and who believe in the protection of culture, the environment and community health to resist destruction and desecration of the Peaks:

- Join us and others in physically stopping all Snowbowl development!
- Honor and defend Indigenous Peoples’ inherent right to protect Sacred Places.
- Resist colonialism and capitalism! Embrace diverse tactics to end Snowbowl’s and all corporate greed.
- Demand USDA end Snowbowl’s Special Use Permit.
- Demand that the City of Flagstaff Mayor and Council find a way out of their contract to sell wastewater to Snowbowl.
- Demand that Arizona Department of Environmental Quality change its permission allowing wastewater to be used for snowmaking.

KUYI Hopi Radio is covering the protests live.
Streaming radio: http://www.kuyi.net/listen-online
KUYI updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/KUYI

From their website:

Snowbowl Pipeline Protest

Developing Story: 9am PT

At sunrise Thursday June 16 2011 six protestors chained themselves together at the trench site off U.S. Highway 180 and Snowbowl Road. Four chained themselves together in trencher & tree removal machinery and two to each other in the pipeline trench itself. Approximately one hour ago two protestors attached to the axle of a bulldozer were removed and taken into custody. As of one half hour ago the two protestors in the trench were in the process of being removed. Snowbowl Road was closed off by protest supporters and remains closed & a work stoppage remains in effect.

Flagstaff Police Department, Coconino County Sheriff Officers, Flagstaff Fire Department and Paramedics are on site.

"Protect The Peaks" contact and self proclaimed "police liaison" Beth Lavely states shortly after the action began Snowbowl-contracted security arrived at approximately 5:30am and that the first FPD officer arrived on scene approximately 15 minutes later. Ms. Lavely estimates approximately 20 law enforcement personnel remain and that this protest puts into action the "Human right of all indigenous people to protect their sacred sites". Lavely mentioned that "the majority of officers have been respectful of the protestors. I might even call a few sympathetic."

...

Initial early morning phone calls and email to the offices of AZ Snowbowl have not yet been returned.

Stay tuned to KUYI for updates as we confirm them.

Update 1:05pm, EDT: Six people have now been cut away from the equipment and arrested. First two arrested are on way to County jail.

Update 3:06pm, EDT: Received word about an hour ago that six people have been arrested, including four Native Americans. They should be at the county jail by now. They need help with bail money. Will update again when I have a contact for bail fund.

Update 9:45pm, EDT: Brenda Norrell reports that everyone's bail is covered but to keep the donations coming at Indigenous Action to cover the legal expenses.

Last I heard, two activists were out on bail, with four still in jail and a rally going on outside.

So far, mainstream media coverage of the action has been biased and culturally clueless, with most stories simply picking up the AP line, and not even mentioning why the activists were there - to defend a sacred site from desecration and devastation. Most coverage has omitted the fact that this is holy ground for thirteen tribes, that Indigenous people hold ceremonies there, and that the proposed development would douse herbal medicines, utilized by traditional healers, with sewage water.

More details: Media Watch: Snowbowl and racism in the media

Photos from protest.

All photos courtesy Censored News

December 29, 1890

2010-12-29T18:06:00.000-05:00

Respect and honor to those remembering the ancestors today - those praying at Wounded Knee, and those who are retracing the steps of the ancestors, on foot and horseback through the snow.

Support the Lakota in requesting the Medals of Honor be rescinded

Names of the Dead

List of those Massacred at Wounded Knee

December 29, 1890

Grian-Stad Geamhraidh: A' Ghrian

2010-12-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

Fàilte ort féin, a ghrian nan tràth,

'S tu siubhail ard nan speur;

Do cheumaibh treun air sgéith nan ard,

'S tu màthair àigh nan reul.

Thu laighe sìos an cuan na dìth

Gun dìobhail is gun sgàth,

Thu 'g éirigh suas air stuagh na sìth,

Mar rìoghain òg fo bhlàth.

A' Ghrian - Traditional Gaelic song to the sun,
from the original Gàidhlig, as recited by Iain MacNìll of Barra,
at the turn of the century before last.

#316 in the Ortha nan Gàidheal.

And in English:

The Sun

I welcome you, sun of the seasons,

As you travel the skies aloft;

Your steps are strong on the wing of the heavens,

You are the glorious mother of the stars.

You descend into the deadly sea

Without distress and without fear;

You rise up on the wave of peace,

Like a youthful Queen in bloom.

And a Victory!

2010-11-04T18:54:00.001-04:00

CMU returns Native remains to Saginaw Chippewa Tribe

By SUSAN FIELD
Clare Managing Editor

A somber group of Saginaw Chippewa Tribal members on Thursday brought some of their ancestors home.

A sunrise ceremony at Central Michigan University’s Special Olympics building was followed by a procession of Tribal members bringing the remains of Saginaw Chippewa Tribal ancestors and funerary objects that were returned to the Tribe from CMU’s Museum of Cultural and Natural History.

... ... ...

“The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and Central Michigan University share a long and proud heritage of mutual respect,” said Pam Gates, interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Science. “In honor of the proud culture, heritage and history of the indigenous people of this region, CMU will rightfully return the remains of Saginaw Chippewa tribal members in its possession to their families for proper burial.”

Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Chief Dennis Kequom said said he was humbled by CMU’s commitment to returning ancestral remains to the Tribe.

"I am very proud of what we have gathered here to do today and humbled by the care, understanding and sensitivity that Central Michigan University has displayed in the time it took to bring us to this point,” he said. “This historic event marks a new direction in our efforts to repatriate all of our ancestors.

“It is my hope for our Tribal community that other institutions throughout Michigan and elsewhere follow the lead of Central Michigan University. There are so many people to thank and we will have ample time for that over the course of these next two days. Today we proudly reclaim our own and return them home.”

View the video of the procession and interview with tribal spokesman

May this victory serve as inspiration and precedent to all those who are still fighting to have their ancestors remains returned and reburied with dignity. I particularly take it as inspiration today as we work on reburial issues for the ancestors in the Tara-Skryne.

Previous post on repatriation efforts for the Saginaw Chippewa ancestors:
- Is your grandmother’s skull in a box in a stranger’s closet?

Tara Reburials - Action on Monday, November 8

2010-11-04T16:35:00.001-04:00

On Monday, activists in Dublin will print out and hand-deliver the petition for the reburial of the ancestors whose graves were destroyed in the desecration of the Tara-Skryne valley. They will petition the Irish government at the Dáil Éireann and the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.

If you have not yet signed, I ask you to please follow the links below and do so. If you can attend in person, please join the activists in Dublin on Monday, November 8 · 12:00pm - 2:00pm.

Petition for respectful reburial of ancestors: http://www.petitiononline.com/taraeire/petition.html

Handing in the Tara Reburials Petition: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158352907521351

Previous posts:
- More Graves Desecrated, Ancestors Remains in Boxes on Shelves
- Meath Motorway Ancestors to be Reburied... well, some of them

Halloween, Women and Racism

2010-11-04T15:13:00.004-04:00

Heather from Don't Pay to Pray weighs in with a thorough examination of how Samhain has been degraded from a holy day into mainstream Halloween celebrations that excuse and even encourage racist and misogynist treatment of women, especially indigenous women.

Halloween: The Most Racist Day of the Year

Growing up in the Michigan parochial school system, we were told by the sisters that the word Hallow’een was a contraction of All Hallows Eve, and that Hallow meant holy or sacred. We were told that on this night when the border between the worlds became blurred, the Celtic tribes believed that the spirits of the dead were allowed to come back to earth. Because they believed that the spirits of the dead could walk among the world of the living, they feared what the spirits might do to them, and tried to disguise themselves to fool the spirits into believing that they weren’t living.

As an impressionable Native girl, that seemed pretty awesome to me back then. Unfortunately, all these traditions have been lost in a materialistic society that transforms everything into a commodity. Sex sells the best in the mainstream media, and this is reflected in the choices that young women make in Halloween costumes. I’ve heard that there are some college parties where women are not allowed to attend unless they are dressed "sexy." The backlash against feminist values is even more chilling when the costumes use other people’s ethnicity to appease the demands of a generation of young white men whose sexual attitudes were constructed almost entirely from pornography. As an indigenous woman, it is disheartening to see how a spiritually bankrupt, pornographic youth culture has transformed All Hallows eve into an opportunity to get drunk and engage in minstrelsy, abusing my image in the process.

While there have been many bloggers objecting to the hyper-sexualization of children and young girls and to the racist element of playing with another human being’s ethnicity on this day, there has been very little written from the perspective of indigenous women, who must confront both misogyny and racism on this day that once carried the connotation of "holy."

... ... ...

Playing with racial stereotypes is about power. Those with white skin privilege have chosen to do the defining. Those of us without it are dismissed as hyper-sensitive and told to spend our time on issues that whites define for us as being more important. Those of you reading this that have white skin privilege and think it’s just harmless fun to try on the ethnicity of others, need to realize that dehumanization is the essential processes in the transformation of “good” well-intentioned people into perpetrators of evil.

There is no reason why you have to succumb to media indoctrination. There is no reason why Halloween has to be the most racist day of the year. As feminists, humanists, and white anti-racists allies, you can challenge undignified images that misrepresent indigenous people. You can chose to talk about racial stereotypes when you see people “just having fun” with other people’s ethnicity on Halloween. We all need to start honestly discussing who has the power to define others in this society and how we can view all human beings in their full humanity and not as one dimensional stereotypes.

When you are in a position of power, you have a responsibility NOT to mock people who are not in a position of power. Racial stereotypes only function are to reinforce outdated notions of white supremacy. You can choose not to engage in the degradation of your fellow human beings. You can contact he companies who manufacture these costumes and inform them how inappropriate they are. Ethnic costumes are meant to produce a reaction. If you are reading this, you now know that the reaction they produce in indigenous women is one of outrage and offense. If you know something offends a marginalized group of people, then why continue to do it? It’s time to turn Halloween back into a night that is sacred, by respecting all women’s bodies and respecting the dignity of all human beings.

'S Math Sin, a Fhraoch! Tapadh leat!

Adrienne over at Native Appropriations also weighs in on the topic with Paris Hilton as a "Sexy Indian": The Halloween Fallout Begins.

Jodi Rave addresses the problem with Paris Hilton: Dresses as “sexy, Indian warrior princess” for Halloween, and includes a review of Andrea Smith's magnificent, Conquest: sexual violence and American Indian genocide which I consider essential reading on misogyny, racism, cultural appropriation, and the many and sometimes surprising ways these oppressions intersect and support one another. Readers of this blog and colleagues in the fight to protect indigenous spiritual ways from appropriation and exploitation might want to take particular note of Chapter 6: Spiritual Appropriation as Sexual Violence.

You can listen to Andrea Smith speak on Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide, in this recording from 2007.

Moran taing a huile duine!

Spirit Day - Speak Out Against Bullying and Domestic Violence

2010-10-20T14:48:00.000-04:00

Spirit Day - wear purple in memory of the recent suicides, speak out against bullying

On October 20th, 2010, we will wear purple in honor of the 6 gay boys who committed suicide in recent weeks/months due to homophobic abuse in their homes and at their schools. Purple represents Spirit on the LGBTQ flag and that’s exactly what we’d like all of you to have with you: spirit. Please know that times will get better and that you will meet people who will love you and respect you for who you are, no matter your sexuality. Please wear purple on October 20th. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and schools. RIP Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Seth Walsh, Justin Aaberg, Raymond Chase and Billy Lucas. You are loved.

On the web today, my icon is the purple ribbon of a survivor of domestic violence. October is DV awareness month. It's fitting that today we are calling out bullies with the same symbols. The kid who viciously and chronically bullies other kids, if not stopped, will continue to be a bully. Bullies lash out at those they can reach, and those they can get away with bullying. The school bully often grows up to be the man who physically assaults his wife and children, or the woman who beats her kids. We need to stop bullies when they're young. Once they get older, they may not be fixable.

I am a survivor of homophobic bullying, and a survivor of domestic violence. Both almost killed me, but I got out. It can happen to anyone. And it does get better.

Preserving Sacred Sites in Ireland - Tara Skryne Preservation Group

2010-07-27T15:06:00.004-04:00

The Lia Fáil (aka Stone of Destiny) atop the Hill of Tara,
County Meath, Ireland. Photo © Sean Gilmartin

Many of those involved in the struggle to stop the M3 Motorway are now involved in the Tara Skryne Preservation Group (TSPG), and are working to protect the sites that remain.

We are an allied group of local and non-local stakeholders and concerned citizens who wish to improve the Tara Skryne Landscape after the destruction wrought by the M3 Motorway through this most Sacred, Mythical, and Historical Valley of Ireland.

We are a volunteer, non politically affiliated organisation comprised of members of various groups who stood against the route of the M3 Motorway through the Tara Skryne Valley. Now that the Motorway has opened we stand together to demand the preservation of what remains of the Tara Skryne Valley ie. its protection against further inapproriate development as well as greater protection for our National Monuments and sacred places countrywide.

TPSG members are also involved in planning and coordinating the 2010 Sacred Fires event, and the UNESCO petition for World Heritage Status. You can check out their website and connect with them on Facebook.

In February 2010 - Imbolc - TSPG volunteers reconstructed the Inner Circle of the ancient Lismullin Henge. The M3 motorway bulldozed through this ancient site in the Tara-Skryne Valley.

While many are familiar with henges of stone, such as Stonehenge in England, many other sacred sites were surrounded with a circle of wooden poles which marked astronomical events, such as the place where the sun or moon would rise on a solstice or equinox. These sites have sometimes been forgotten until modern archaeology turns up the evidence of poles in the ground. As discussed in the video, the government knew they were destroying an irreplaceable sacred site when they bulldozed through. What does it do to the land, and the people, to now have cars and trucks speeding through the ceremonial enclosure?

View the video of the Lismullin Reconstruction

Gaelic Polytheist Rites and Customs

2010-07-26T15:48:00.001-04:00

I am very pleased to note that my An Chuallacht Ghaol Naofa colleagues Treasa Ní Chonchobhair and Annie Gormlie have posted some excellent work lately.

Ritual within Gaelic Polytheism is a solid introduction and overview of the earth-based ceremonies and customs that survive in Ireland and Scotland (and the diaspora). Some of the surviving traditions were lightly Christianised, others not so much. They've kept this work very traditional, and have been excellent about noting when a practice has undergone reconstruction, or when presenting ideas for reconstructing a more elaborate version of a surviving practice. I think they've successfully walked that line we all try to balance in GP, that of giving people enough ideas to be able to pray and observe the customs on their own, without publishing anything too private or personal about ceremony.

In (De)constructing Reconstructionist Ritual, Annie looks deeper into the common themes present in Gaelic rites, and discusses the process of maintaining tradition as well as looking to the ancient Celtic practices for additional material.

Due to it being a basic, consensus introduction, and needing to cover a wide variety of subject matter, we were only able to touch briefly upon specific rituals in the CR FAQ. Much work has been done in the past four years, and these articles are a welcome addition to the field. 'S math sin!

Irish Heritage Rights Survey and Tara UNESCO Nomination

2010-07-25T20:36:00.002-04:00

From TaraWatch:

TaraWatch and Save Newgrange, in conjunction with a University of California, Berkeley, human rights lawyer, Matt Schwoebel, are launching a heritage rights survey online tomorrow.

The launch will coincide with the opening of the 34th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which opens in Brazil today.

The Hill of Tara is being nominated at the UNESCO meeting, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, by Ireland, along with a number of other sites, despite the fact that the M3 motorway has just opened in the middle of the proposed site. Bru na Boinne is under threat from the N2 Slane bypass, which will pass within 500 metres of the existing World Heritage Site, and impact over 44 related sites.

The survey asks Irish people if they believe their heritage is being adequately protected, and if they feel their human rights to heritage are being violated, particularly with regards to the treatment of the Hill of Tara and Bru na Boinne. The results will form part of a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Vincent Salafia of TaraWatch and Save Newgrange said:

“Many Irish people feel their human rights to heritage and culture are being continuously violated by the Irish Government, and we are offering them a chance to do something about it."

(Read the full press release...)

Take the survey

The survey is for those with Irish heritage, and those interested in preserving sacred sites in Ireland, as well as Irish citizens. The survey also asks participants their thoughts about the spiritual and ceremonial significance of Tara, Newgrange, and other Irish sacred sites.

Samhain at Tara 2007 - 2010

2010-07-23T15:14:00.003-04:00

Lighting the Sacred Flame on the Hill of Tlachtga, Samhain 2007
photo courtesy tarataratara.net

Many of you reading this have been involved in the struggle to preserve the Tara-Skryne Valley from destruction. While some of the sacred sites in the valley have been irreparably damaged by construction of the superhighway, the struggle continues to preserve the rest of the valley from development. Earth-honoring peoples in Ireland are also working to preserve the ceremonial centers that remain, and to re-establish the old customs and rites that our ancestors observed at these sacred sites.

Many of you also participated in the 2007 Samhain event where we re-established the old custom of lighting the signal fires on Tlachtga, Tara, and the surrounding hills. Want to do it again? Carmel Diviney, one of the main Irish coordinators of this international event, weighs in with this update:

SAMHAIN AT TARA 2007 -2010

A very special Samhain Celebration was held at Tara in 2007. Tara campaigners came together to resurrect an Ancient Irish tradition based on evidence from Tara’s history and mythology.

Tara was always associated with Samhain and in Ancient times a tri-annual Feis (Festival) was held there, the Feis Teamhair. According to some researchers, a Beacon Fire was lit first by a woman (a personification of the Goddess) at Tlachtga now known as the Hill of Ward in Athboy. From there, its flames were sent by a fleet of chariots to Tara to where the High King and his assembly awaited their arrival. The High King then lit the Sacred Fire at Tara from the flames of Tlachtga’s heart. Once this had been done, Tara’s seven surrounding hills were lit with flames from the Tara fire. From hill to hill and on every high place, beacons were lit in response throughout the land. It is said that no hearth in Ireland could be lit until it was lit by a brand from the fire at Tara. Some accounts say that the feasting and celebrations that occurred with this triennial celebration could continue for two weeks.

Based on this story, Tara campaigners created a Global Chain of Light on Oct 31st 07 with beacons being lit not just in Ireland but in countries worldwide to draw attention to the plight of the Tara Skryne Valley.

In a massive show of support for our cause, Fire Pledges came pouring in from people lighting their fires in conjunction with ours in the following places:

Ireland
Armagh, Antrim, Cork, Down, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Tipperary, Waterford, West Meath and Wexford.

Worldwide
Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Scotland, and Wales.*

USA
Arizona, California, Colorado, Conneticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, new York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington.**

This year, 2010, we will light the Fires again (smaller scale perhaps) and ask that you join us and encourage others to take part also. We celebrate our rich history, tradition and culture as we honour the Ancestors together this Samhain. We will be doing a very special Ceremony at Collierstown- more details nearer the time. If you cant be here please remember Tara as you light your fire wherever you are. Please help to spread the word.

Carmel

Join us on the Sábháil Teamhair (Save Tara) list for updates, and we hope to see you on Samhain, whether in person or in spirit.

Samhain on the Hill of Tara, 2007
photo courtesy tarataratara.net

Note: Additional areas where the ceremonial fires were lit, that we heard about after the fact, include:
*Countries: England, Portugal, Saudi Arabia
**US States: Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri

Momentum grows in MTV boycott

2010-07-14T15:55:00.010-04:00

Since my last post, additional chapters of AIM, and a number of other Native American actors and organizations, have added their voices to the protest against MTV's racist self-injury show, The Dudesons: Cowboys and Findians.

Today Clyde Bellecourt, speaking for the Grand Governing Council of the American Indian Movement, has condemned MTV for continuing to air the show despite protests.

Letter to AIM Santa Barbara, reprinted at request of recipients:

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL

July 14, 2010

Michael Fairbanks, Director
American Indian Movement-Santa Barbara
P.O. Box 204
Santa Barbara, CA 93102

Dear Michael and Santa Barbara AIM,

The American Indian Movement National Office located in Minneapolis, Minnesota is in full support of the Santa Barbara Chapter of AIM in their efforts to stop the airing of The Dudesons in America-Cowboys and Findians, and demanding an apology from MTV.

The American Indian Movement through the development of the National Coalition on Racism and Sports and Media http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm/index.html has a long-time record of intolerance for racist imagery in regards to Native people here in America.

We condemn MTV for refusing to recognize the harmful effects of such broadcasting.

Respectfully,

Clyde H. Bellecourt
National Director
American Indian Movement
Grand Governing Council
Anishinabe Ojibwe Nation

[signature on record]
_______________________________________

National Offices:
P.O. BOX 13521, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55414
TELEPHONE 612-721-3914/FAX 612-721-7826
E-MAIL: aimggc@worldnet.att.net
Web Address: www.aimovement.org

Billy-Talako Williamson of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Department of Education weighs in at length on working with the kids who are the target audience for this programming, and how these racist stereotypes, casually passed off as light humor, set back the efforts of anti-racist educators:

We work on a daily basis with Cheyenne & Arapaho Students along with numerous other students that are members of other tribes. The negative images and stereotypes of Native Americans that have been created over the years are a constant detriment to the progress and self esteem of our students. Most recognize that a new language has emerged in the world, one that has grown to reach all nations with equal effect and understanding,… it is the language of Mass Communications. The average parent spends about 38 minutes a week in quality conversation with their kids, while the average kid spends 3 to 4 hours a day watching television. The American Medical Association recently reported that 60% of the information children receive comes from television. Mass media has become the second language of our children.

This MTV show manages to tear down much of the work we have accomplished.

(Read full letter here)

Other groups who have joined the protest include:

Read about the boycott, and please sign the petition

ETA July 17, 2010: Bit by bit the mainstream media has been picking up the story, with coverage in the New York Post and numerous entertainment news outlets. The Santa Barbara Independent has published an excellent editorial by Michael Fairbanks:

Red Face Minstrel Show Unamusing
“Cowboys and Findians” Not Merely Dumb, It’s Abusive

The other side of the coin is that there is a media blackout on Native issues. In this past year, there have been states of emergencies called from tribal leaders, and practically no media covered these stories. People were freezing to death in the plains area, starving to death in the southwestern region, and now, Native nations are struggling with the effects of the oil spill of the Gulf. Yet, ironically, MTV airs The Dudesons, stating the episode was created to honor Native people. This argument is frequently used with regard to the use of mascots in school and sports (think Carpinteria High School). Imposing one’s definition of “honoring” on someone else, and the “honoring” as a guise to hit upon every stereotype ever used to characterize Native people, is simply not good. Our cultures, our spirituality, and our ceremonies laughed at on an international level, with the everlasting shelf life of the Internet.

(Read full editorial)

There are also preliminary reports, via a letter from an MTV-Canada executive, that MTV-Canada is pulling the show. There have also been positive responses from some of the advertisers about pulling their advertising from the show if it continues to air in the US. More on this as it develops.

Members of AIM LA, AIM SB and supporters
demonstrate at the MTV Movie Awards, June 6, 2010
Photo by Tim Keenan

Grianstad an tSamhraidh - Áine Mhór - an Ghrian Mhór

2010-06-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

Sunset viewed through the roofbox from inside Cairn G in Carrowkeel

The Summer Solstice this year in the Northern Hemisphere is on June 21st at 11:28 UT/GMT.

In the West of Ireland the Summer Solstice Sunset shines through the roofbox at Carrowkeel Cairn G, illuminating the chamber within.

This is much like the Winter Solstice phenomena at Newgrange and Maeshowe, and the Equinox Illumination at Loughcrew.

Thanks to Michael Fox of knowth.com for the photos.

MTV and Racism: Protest, Petition, Boycott

2010-06-03T16:53:00.003-04:00

Activists are gearing up for a protest at the MTV Movie Awards, this coming Sunday in Los Angeles.

As MTV did not meet the demands of the email and phone protest, a boycott has begun. This petition has a list of the top advertisers for The Dudesons: Cowboys and Findians. Click on "letter" under the image on the left for the addresses of the sponsors who are being targeted in the boycott.

Silent boycotts are not as effective as active ones. Contact the companies and tell them why you are no longer buying their products. Call the cable or satellite company and tell them why you do not want to subscribe to MTV or other Viacom channels.

IPSC and ICTU Condemn Israeli Assault

2010-05-31T21:09:00.001-04:00

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) and the Irish Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU) have condemned the Israeli assaults and joined the call for protests.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign has called a protest for this evening at 6pm, assembling at the Spire on O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 which will then march to the Israeli Embassy in Ballsbridge. Speakers at the event will be Aengus O Snodaigh TD and Chris Andrews TD, both of whom were refused access to the flotilla by the Cypriot authorities after coming under severe pressure from Israel. ICTU President Jack O'Connor will also speak. The IPSC is calling on people in Ireland to show their outrage at this murderous attack against unarmed solidarity activists by coming out on the streets today.

More details on demonstrations and letter-writing campaigns on the IPSC website.

From SIPTU:

ICTU Condemns Israeli Assault
Date Released: 31 May 2010

Israel’s Assault on Aid Convoy akin to actions of a ‘Rogue State’

Congress President Jack O’Connor and General Secretary David Begg have jointly condemned the Israeli assault on the Gaza aid convoy, during which at least 10 civilians were killed.

The joint statement said: “This was a callous attack on innocent civilians which showed an utter disregard for all precepts of international law and human rights.

“The people on those boats were civilians engaged in peaceful humanitarian work, bringing much needed aid to the Gaza Strip and were no threat to anyone.

“To launch a military assault on a humanitarian convoy is beyond the bounds of all that is acceptable and should be judged as such by the international community. The assault was akin to the actions of a rogue state.

“On behalf of the Irish Trade Union movement we would like to extend our sympathies to those killed and injured in this attack and we are thankful that the Irish contingent appears to be safe and well.

“We lend our support to calls for an immediate suspension of the EU’s trade agreement with Israel and we also believe that the recent decision to accept Israel into full membership of the OECD should be reversed with immediate effect.”

Sinn Féin calls for expulsion of Israeli Ambassador after Gaza attack

2010-05-31T17:35:00.003-04:00

From the Sinn Féin website:

Irish Government should expel Israeli Ambassador — Adams
Sinn Féin leaders are attending demonstrations in Dublin, Belfast and Derry today to protest at the actions of Israel whose forces killed a number of civilians this morning when they attacked one of the ships taking part in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams will attend a demonstration at Belfast City Hall at 4pm. Martin McGuinness is to attend a protest at the Guildhall in Derry at 5pm while Sinn Féin Vice President Mary Lou McDonald and Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD will attend an event at the Spire in Dublin’s O'Connell Street at 6pm.

Speaking from the Belfast demonstration Gerry Adams said:
“I welcome the fact that Minister Micheál Martin has summoned the Israeli ambassador to explain the actions of Israeli forces in killing up to 20 civilians taking part in a peaceful humanitarian mission to Gaza.

“This morning’s murderous attack is an affront to international law and has endangered the lives of Irish citizens. It requires a firm and resolute response by the Irish Government which must now expel the Israeli Ambassador.

“The government must also use its influence to discontinue the EU’s preferential trade agreement with Israel.

“In the wake of this morning’s tragedy, the Irish Government should support and seek the backing of other countries for a new international aid mission to Gaza which will ensure that necessary vital supplies reach the suffering people of that besieged area."

You can also follow Sinn Féin on Twitter.

Brenda Norrell's coverage of the attack: Censored News -- Israel kills humanitarians on flotilla bound for Palestine.

Protest MTV's "Cowboys and Findians" - Sunday 6/6 - Los Angeles

2010-05-31T14:54:00.010-04:00

The email, phone, letter and new media protest against MTV's racist show, The Dudesons in America: Cowboys and Findians, has resulted in only minor concessions from MTV.

They pulled the episode from the web, but are still airing it in reruns on MTV2. Out of the many people who have written in protest, only AIM Santa Barbara has received a response - a rather bland and vague note from AJ Sarcione, the Senior Publicist for the show:

From: Sarcione, AJ - AJ.Sarcione@mtvstaff.com
Subject: RE: MTV & the Dudeson
To: "Aim Sb" - aimsb@ymail.com
Date: Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 1:51 AM

Michael,

We appreciate your recent feedback regarding “The Dudesons In America.” It is never MTV's intention to offend anyone. The series is about creating lighthearted humor, that at times, could integrate various themes as part of the overall stunt or prank. We take viewer feedback very seriously and thank you for reaching out.

Sincerely,
AJ Sarcione
Senior Publicist, MTV

Members of AIM, BICONA, and others have continued to try to explain why this show is offensive, and have invited Mr. Sarcione to meet with them, but there has been no further response from Mr. Sarcione or any other MTV executives. The deadline is tomorrow, and there has been no indication that the demands will be met. So plans are proceeding for a full boycott of MTV, VIACOM, all of their sponsors, and protests at their doorsteps.

This coming Sunday, June 6, there will be a protest at the MTV Movie Awards. The show starts on Sunday, June 6 at 9 p.m. ET, at the Gibson Amphitheatre - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA - so the red carpet show will probably begin at about 3 p.m. Pacific.

AIM SB Press release about the protests

Facebook page for the protests

This is COMMUNITY ACTION ! Grassroots at its finest! WE'RE SEEKING EVERYONE OF ALL RACES, IN EVERY COUNTY OF AMERICA (ESPECIALLY LOS ANGELES COUNTIES) WHO CARE ABOUT AMERICAN INDIAN ISSUES!!!

BICONA (Black Indian Confederacy Of North America) is looking at organizing a protest with the Santa Barbara and the Los Angeles chapters of The American Indian Movement (AIM), against MTV because of their blatant disrespect for Native culture in their "Cowboys and Findians" episode. BICONA and AIM are looking for others to join in on the mission.

So Who are the Dudesons "Honoring" Now?

2010-05-29T00:42:00.005-04:00

The image above is from this fansite, where they mention the impending boycott of MTV and all their sponsors if MTV does not pull the shows and issue a public apology to the Native American communities by June 1, 2010.

Well, MTV, are you still happy about hiring these guys?

The Black Indian Confederacy Of North America has joined multiple AIM chapters in calling for a boycott and protests if the deadline is not met:

In regard to MTV's episode entitled "Cowboys and Findians", we find it appalling that in this day and age there are still those who show total disregard for traditional, spiritual and/or religious beliefs, as depicted in film and television. I see MTV's "Cowboys and Findians" as reckless, insulting and repulsive. The episode amounts to nothing more than a modern day American Indian minstrel show; reminiscent of the days of “Black face”. We are here to stand side by side with American Indian movement chapters and all other people/organizations, who, by the way, are of various races, to oppose this act of insensitivity.

MTV should be ashamed and take responsibility by removing this episode and any others that depict indigenous culture as nothing more than a joke... they should also issue a public apology to all indigenous people. I understand that AIM Santa Barbara had asked for a public apology and to remove the episode by June 1st, so if the demanda are not met, we will stand in solidarity with our Indian family, against your network.

Read full statement from BICONA...

The deadline is approaching.

Newspaper Rock: The Dudesons, Polish jokes, and minstrel shows

2010-05-26T15:00:00.001-04:00

Newspaper Rock: The Dudesons, Polish jokes, and minstrel shows

Rob Schmidt weighs in on the ongoing discussion about The Dudesons and other racism that some people excuse because it "makes them laugh".

... It's the racism, stoopid.

The Dudesons, MTV, AIM, and a Whole Bunch O' Racism

2010-05-20T22:16:00.023-04:00

By now most people in the anti-racist blogosphere have heard about MTV's racist TV show, The Dudesons: Cowboys and Findians. (aka Cowboys and Pretendians)

Finnish Pretendian on the Dudesons
The American Indian Movement, Santa Barbara chapter, is coordinating an email, mail and phone protest. If MTV doesn't meet the deadline, the next step will be a boycott of MTV and their sponsors, and protests at their offices by Native activists and supporters. It's not the first time MTV has crossed the line with their racism, by any means, but this time we're going to try to do something about it.

Here's a press release, sample email, and contact addresses for writing and calling MTV.

Findiot Prepares to Injure Himself

Immigrants, Racism, Stereotypes, & MTV

from AIM Santa Barbara
Today at 7:21pm

Wait! Do these guys have GREEN CARDS? Are they IMMIGRANTS? Why didn't they spoof the freaking governmental freaks in Arizona? You don't hear anyone saying these Fins are taking Americans jobs do ya?! No one is asking these idiots if they have a Green Card! Are they legal? They look like Immigrants to me....

We watched The Dudesons last night. It was horrible. Over and over these crazy white men in headdresses and feathers would injure themselves and scream things like, "I'm becoming a Native American!" One man injured his testicles and anus, screamed, "I think I ripped my a***ole!" and his friends replied, "You're the Chief now!"

When they performed their "Break Out of Jail" skit, they asked one of the white men dressed as an Indian what he did to wind up in jail. He replied, "Honestly, it was my own casino that I burned down." Before they were slapped in the face with fish, the white men said, "True Native Americans, they fish with their mouth. And with their hands." The only authentic Native American on the show nodded his head and said, "It's true." The voiceover continues, "Native Americans are like bears. They catch fish with their mouths. This is a rite of passage for fishing."

MTV is a pillar of this economic and cultural racism. They have the power to create cultural attitudes and cultural shifts, especially among young people. But with shows like The Dudesons they are choosing to use this power to degrade and exploit.

http://mtvpress.com/shows/dudesons_in_america/

Now some people have said that this is only comedy. “Why are you guys so riled up? It makes people laugh,” - Yes, it makes people laugh. But as someone put it very eloquently; “are they laughing at us or with us?” take a look at the clip. You decide.

What are the positives of this show? Will it open new roles for Native people in the industry? Will it interest people to research Native Culture? Does this show celebrate Native Diversity? Or does it perpetuate more stereotypes? How will this affect our Native children already being taunted at school? Does this show aid or hamper our causes such as and not limited to: high rates of suicide, domestic violence? Treaty right violations?

This is not just a National show, it will have INTERNATIONAL viewing.

AIM SB is asking you to take 5 minutes - 5 minutes to call or shoot off an email to MTV.

Below is a sample:

I am writing to protest your racist show, The Dudesons: Cowboys and Findians. Though you were able to find a Native American to participate in this culturally offensive display, he is only one man. Many others are appalled at the negative stereotypes you are promoting. It adds insult to injury that you gave the impression that Native peoples somehow approve of being depicted as animals and self-injuring fools.

You have already run this show three times this week. I add my voice to the demand that you stop this racist attack. Immediately. If you do not take the show out of rotation and issue an apology to the Native American people by June 1, 2010, a complete boycott of your network and all your sponsors will begin.

Sincerely,

Please include AIM SB on the cc (aimsb@ymail.com)

Melissa Barreto
Senior Publicist
melissa.barreto@mtvstaff.com
212.846.7226

Stephanie Berman
Senior Director
stephanie.berman@mtvstaff.com
212.846.7175

Jeff Castaneda
Vice President
jeff.castaneda@mtvstaff.com
212.846.6774

Janice Gatti
Director
janice.gatti@mtvstaff.com
212.846.8852

Senior Publicist he covers the Dudesons
AJ.Sarcione@mtvstaff.com
310.752.8082

See also: http://www.mtvpress.com/contacts/

PLEASE REPOST & Distribute WIDELY

And here's a handy copy and paste to put all those addresses in the field of an email: melissa.barreto@mtvstaff.com; stephanie.berman@mtvstaff.com; jeff.castaneda@mtvstaff.com; janice.gatti@mtvstaff.com; AJ.Sarcione@mtvstaff.com; aimsb@ymail.com; showbiztonight@cnn.com

ETA 5.21.10: Jennifer Yuhas Gall weighs in with a strong post, an excellent sample letter, and a brief history lesson for MTV: The Dudesons in America ~ Racism and Stereotyping at its Finest…and Lowest.

ETA 5.22.10: MTV removed the video from their website sometime during the evening of 5.21.10. It was uploaded to YouTube, then removed by Viacom. Activists have reposted it here:

Cowboys & Findians-Part One

Cowboys & Findians-Part Two

MTV and Viacom are busy doing damage control online, but we need to keep after them as the episode is still scheduled to play in reruns on MTV. It's on the schedule a few times in the upcoming weeks. We'll be watching to see if it airs. And we are still waiting on that apology.

ETA later on 5.22.10: Rob Schmidt has posted a good summation of the coverage and commentary so far: Natives Protest The Dudesons

A Great Urgency - by Arvol Looking Horse - May 11, 2010

2010-05-12T10:58:00.006-04:00

Last night Lakota Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe, sent out this statement about the current world situation, most notably the Gulf Oil Spill. Published with the author's permission.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
A Great Urgency

To All World Religious and Spiritual Leaders

My Relatives,

Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.

We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the World; we are guided to speak from all the White Animals showing their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the sacred life of all things. As I am sending this message to you, many Animal Nations are being threatened, those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all will be affect from the oil disaster in the Gulf.

The dangers we are faced with at this time are not of spirit. The catastrophe that has happened with the oil spill which looks like the bleeding of Grandmother Earth, is made by human mistakes, mistakes that we cannot afford to continue to make.

I asked, as Spiritual Leaders, that we join together, united in prayer with the whole of our Global Communities. My concern is these serious issues will continue to worsen, as a domino effect that our Ancestors have warned us of in their Prophecies.

I know in my heart there are millions of people that feel our united prayers for the sake of our Grandmother Earth are long overdue. I believe we as Spiritual people must gather ourselves and focus our thoughts and prayers to allow the healing of the many wounds that have been inflicted on the Earth. As we honor the Cycle of Life, let us call for Prayer circles globally to assist in healing Grandmother Earth (our Unc¹I Maka).

We ask for prayers that the oil spill, this bleeding, will stop. That the winds stay calm to assist in the work. Pray for the people to be guided in repairing this mistake, and that we may also seek to live in harmony, as we make the choice to change the destructive path we are on.

As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected. And that what we create can have lasting effects on all life.

So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer. Along with this immediate effort, I also ask to please remember June 21st, World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites day. Whether it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your own sacred space, let us make a prayer for all life, for good decision making by our Nations, for our children¹s future and well-being, and the generations to come.

Onipikte (that we shall live),

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
(Wolakota.org)

Mòd Season 2010 - Gaelic Language, Song and Culture

2010-05-09T13:56:00.006-04:00

Since none of my friends are currently being harassed by military helicopters (at the moment), we'll get back to some of our Gaelic coverage.

Courtesy A’ Seinn Còmhla, the blog of the U.S. National Mòd, we have news of this summer's festivals of Gaelic language and culture: The Mòd Season Begins. The local and national mòds feature performances and friendly competitions, and are a great opportunity for learners and native speakers alike to experience the traditional songs and stories that maintain so much of our lore.

Here's a video from last year's Mòd in Canada. I particularly like the waulking song by the second singer.

Waulking and other òrain luaidh (work songs) are traditionally sung in Gaelic by groups of women, with a lead singer improvising verses to tell a story, and the other women singing a chorus. Some were never sung in the presence of men. They are very rhythmic as they accompany otherwise boring work, and are an opportunity to share news and remember the history of the community. At times the content is humorous and even suggestive, and some of the songs carry the beliefs and customs that are crucial to our understanding of the earth-based Gaelic spiritual traditions. Whether spiritual or social, the music is one of our strongest bearers of tradition and an important part of a modern Gaelic spiritual practice.

òran, ùrnaigh, dànachd
gleidheadh, ùrnaigh, cleachdadh

Mystery Military Choppers = Intimidation, No Matter Who Sends Them

2010-05-06T14:18:00.006-04:00

Now both the OST Tribal Council and the Colorado National Guard are saying the choppers that tried to land at Wounded Knee on Sat, May 1, 2010 were not Seventh Cavalry, but were Colorado National Guard.

It took them a few days to tell people this.

Things were further muddled by KOTA TV reporting on May 3 that the helicopters were not from the South Dakota National Guard.

The people on the ground, defending Wounded Knee, calling in what they saw as it was happening, had every reason to assume the worst. The people at large had not been given adequate information or notice, let alone been asked for their consent. People calling in live from underneath the choppers thought they were Seventh Cavalry, which made perfect sense given what little information had been leaked.

As Debra White Plume reported: "A few people present said they heard President Two Bulls on KILI Radio the previous day, asking people to go to Wounded Knee to hear the presentation, but not much information was provided other than that there would be members of the 7th Calvary and National Guardsmen arriving in military air transport."

No matter who sent the choppers, sending American miltary choppers to Wounded Knee is grossly insensitive. They're lucky the protesters were peaceful. As the Lakota are a sovereign nation, this invasion could be seen as an act of war, and some would have chosen to meet it with fire. Thankfully there is now a resolution that the Military will not be allowed to trespass on this sacred site.

People who are unaware of the history here may not understand what it's like to be invaded by a hostile force, or to grow up with the stories of your family members who were murdered by invading military. Try growing up in Wounded Knee, or Belfast, or Palestine. I'm pretty sure you'll see it differently.

When I heard the choppers were coming, I did not think, "Peaceful Visit for a Cup of Tea and Chitchat." I thought, Apocalypse Now. And I know I'm not alone in this.

Media Fail: Denver Post Spins Wounded Knee into Pro-Military PR

2010-05-04T12:51:00.007-04:00

Censored News Page 2: Denver Post: Biased and twisted article about military helicopters at Wounded Knee

The Denver Post published a biased and twisted article concerning the Lakota protest of the military helicopters attempting to land at Wounded Knee on Saturday. The Denver Post twisted the facts into a pro-military press release, disguised as a news article, without quoting any of the Lakotas or their reasons for halting the helicopters.

The statements by Debra White Plume, Lakota, and others were easily available on the Internet on Monday, even an armchair journalist at the Denver Post could have found those.

Read full post...

Watch the OST press conference yourself: http://www.youtube.com/user/OglalaSiouxTribe.

What I heard was Tribal President Theresa Two Bulls apologizing to the Lakota people for not communicating with the community before agreeing to let the choppers land. What I heard was her commending the protesters. What I heard was her agreeing the incident, and the events leading up to it, were handled badly by the Tribal Council. She apologized all around and asked for help and forgiveness. But the Denver post twisted this beyond recognition.

ETA: Additionally, a Resolution of the Oglala Sioux Tribe concerning the incident and future actions at Wounded Knee was PASSED, Monday, May 3, 2010. It reads in part:

Whereas, the United States Military arrived at the Wounded Knee Mass Grave on May 1, 2010 in three Military Transport Helicopters that held 40 and more members of the Armed Services of the US without the free, prior, informed consent of the Oglala Lakota people and thus were prevented from landing.

Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Oglala Sioux Tribe will take every action to see that the United States Reclaims the Twenty Medals of Honor from the 7th Calvary for their role in the Massacre at Wounded Knee, to remove any recognition the US Military bestows to its entities for the Massacre at Wounded Knee, and to obtain the return of personal items taken from Lakota people at the 1890 Massacre.

Therefore Be It Further Resolved, that the Oglala Sioux Tribe, its members, any entity, organization, or resident on the Pine Ridge Reservation will not allow the United States Military from this time forward to come anywhere near the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre Mass Grave in order to demonstrate Honor and Respect for the Lakota people buried there, and to ensure a peaceful, nonviolent, weapon-free zone for the Mass Gravesite area.

Read the full resolution... (page down past Debra White Plume's report)

Support the Lakota in requesting the Medals of Honor be rescinded

Wounded Knee 2010 - Additional Reports, Press Conference

2010-05-03T17:22:00.005-04:00

Lakota man running toward the helicopters
May 1, 2010
from Censored News

Brenda Norrell continues her coverage of the Wounded Knee situation with an article by Debra White Plume, including a proposed resolution about the Wounded Knee site that is being presented to the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council: Debra White Plume: Military Helicopters at Wounded Knee? Traditional Lakota Elders Say 'NO WAY!'

This post has a press release by Tribal President Theresa Two Bulls: Helicopters invited for 'educational and historical presentation'. I can't make out the text, but if I can find a text version I'll post it here so it's readable. As far as I can make out, this is the press release President Two Bulls reads in the video below.

The OST press conference was broadcast live today on KILI Radio, and videos of it are being posted to YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/OglalaSiouxTribe

Here's part one. I think there are five parts, though not all are posted yet.

ETA: More legible image of OST Press Release: Page 1 and Page 2.

Wounded Knee Aftermath - May Day 2010

2010-05-02T13:56:00.008-04:00

Discussion continues among the Lakota who drove away the Seventh Cavalry yesterday, and among those who have helped get the word out and who stand in solidarity with these warriors.

We now have some video taken on the fly at the incident yesterday. It looks like the videographer was trying to keep the camera hidden. The sound quality is poor due to the wind, but you can see the choppers coming in, and the gunship that touched down. There's a very brief glimpse of the people running out onto the field, then more footage of people speaking to the police.

By all accounts, the confrontation yesterday was firm but peaceful. There has been some confusion and misinformation out there, so if you see quotes from people, I'd suggest checking your sources before running with them. In the heat of the moment there was a lot of speculation, and sometimes people's theories were reported as fact.

Wanbli Tate has posted, "The quote attributed to me saying that Theresa Two Bulls said she had only 24 hours notice of the helicopters coming is not a correct quote."

I'd also like to point out for those who missed it that Autumn Two Bulls, head of the women's warrior society, who we heard on the radio show yesterday, is not Theresa Two Bulls, the tribal president. Some people have confused the two of them, or don't seem to realize these are two different people.

What we know is that the Lakota people and the descendants only found out about the arrival of the Military at Wounded Knee about 18 hours before the attempted landing. How long members of the tribal council knew, and which members of the tribal council knew, is still a bit unclear. There has been no official statement from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council about the incident.

Brenda Norrell has posted about it here: Lakotas Prevent Blackhawk Helicopters from Landing at Wounded Knee

As has David Sugar: Three blackhawks down and 7th cavalry retreats defeated once again

And Sarah Johns, who was one of the first to post while we were listening to the calls live from the Knee: 7th Cavalry defile Lakota Burial Ground @ Wounded Knee, S.Dakota

A list of the unarmed women, children and men murdered by the Seventh Cavalry at Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890

ETA: Follow the Wounded Knee tag below for followup on this.

One of the posts with clarifications on who sent the choppers: Mystery Military Choppers = Intimidation, No Matter Who Sends Them

Warrior Women and Wounded Knee III

2010-05-01T15:03:00.013-04:00

About half an hour ago, Black Hawk gunships tried to land on the killing field at Wounded Knee. Autumn Two Bulls reports that when the choppers tried to land the women ran out into the field and would not let them land. The choppers are gone. Updates to come. But for now it looks like the women drove away the 7th cavalry!

Blackhawk helicopter flies a mission over Iraq

For those unfamiliar with the background of Wounded Knee, read the text here, and please sign the petition: Wounded Knee Medals of Dis Honor

The situation is still a bit unclear. But here's what we know right now.

After months of coordinated days of action, calling and writing to get the White House, or anyone, to help out with the crumbling infrastructure on the reservations in the Dakotas, the suicide epidemic, the grinding poverty and lack of jobs, there was finally a response. Sort of:

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 30, 2010

President Obama Signs North Dakota Disaster Declaration

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of North Dakota and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts in the area struck by flooding beginning on February 26, 2010, and continuing.

Federal funding is available to State and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in the counties of Barnes, Benson, Cass, Dickey, Emmons, Foster, Grand Forks, LaMoure, Logan, Mercer, Morton, Nelson, Pembina, Ramsey, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, Stutsman, Traill, Walsh, and Wells and the portions of the Spirit Lake Reservation that lie within these counties.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties and Tribes within the State.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named Justo Hernández as the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-3272.

Then late yesterday afternoon, the relatives network led to a few Oglala people finding out about a private meeting scheduled at Pine Ridge. Word leaked that the helicopters would be coming. Allegedly the meeting was so some representatives of the military could hear the NDNs side of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Huh? Why now? Why all of a sudden, with no real notice, without the descendants being notified at all, without anyone but a few people on the tribal council even being told this would happen? The traditional way would have been for the military to ask permission to come to Pine Ridge. Then, if permission was granted, to call a community meeting, with the appropriate representatives there, and everything done respectfully and openly. But this was about as far from that as you can get.

Perhaps they wanted a photo op of a military-style wreath-laying, with no one but a few token NDNs there. Perhaps they just wanted to land as close to the cemetery as possible then get out fast, before anyone who might have a problem with this could find out.

Now, if you've read the above links, you'll know that:

1. You don't send the modern Seventh Cavalry to Wounded Knee. Not unless it's to crawl on their knees in abject apology for the actions of those whose legacy they have chosen to carry on; not unless you've come to return the medals that were given to soldiers, and are still displayed, for their massacre of unarmed women, children and elders.

2. You do not land gunships on a burial ground. You just don't. How about if we drive monster trucks loaded with armed civilians into Arlington National Cemetery? Maybe armed warriors on horseback, with the horses taking a dump on the graves? How about if a bunch of Iraqis and Afghanis drive ATV's over the graves of soldiers who died in the Gulf Wars? Maybe some Nazis having target practice on the graves of World War II dead? How about that?

So, some are saying this was some sort of attempted PR stunt. Some kind of "apology". Well... maybe they should have talked to the people first instead of rampaging in in their colonialist, militarist, macho "glory". No glory for you, dudes. You messed it up once again.

Still waiting to hear where they landed, if they landed. But all the military, and the White House, has accomplished today is scaring the crap out of a bunch of women and children, who, despite any fear, put their bodies on the line to protect their land, to protect the graves of their ancestors.

History repeats at Wounded Knee.

The mass grave at the Wounded Knee Massacre site
in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation

Listen to the archived show with the live calls from the site as the choppers are trying to land: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wanbli/2010/05/01/indigenous-rights-movement-radio-live-from-wounded-knee-emergency And stay tuned, I'm sure there will be another show on this later today or tomorrow.

Black Hawks equipped with M60 machine guns
near An Najaf, Iraq in May 2005

ETA: I don't want to forget the brave men who also stood up today. Alex White Plume and other men also stood against the choppers, and like the women, are still on site dealing with this. I was just so excited about these brave young women charging out there, and that was the first report that came in, that I had to run with it :-)

ETA: 4:30pm EST - Alex White Plume is reporting that, "A large number of people from three rezzes came to defend the ground of Wounded Knee. At 11:45 am three helicopters appeared above Wounded Knee. We were all in shock. It was true: the 7th Cavalry. I seen women and children running under the killing machines to keep them from landing. One chopper landed 50 feet from the cemetery. A society leader stood his ground and so he lifted off."

ETA: 6:45pm EST - This is footage of a Blackhawk helicopter over Iraq. You can see the guns, like the ones they used on women and children in Vietnam. Be ready for loud sounds... much like those that ripped the sky open over sacred ground in NDN Country today.

Wounded Knee III?

2010-05-01T14:10:00.002-04:00

Right now, as I type this, Black Hawk Helicopters, Gunships from the Seventh Cavalry, are attempting to land on the Killing Field at Wounded Knee.

I will be posting more as news comes in, but right now you can follow the updates on twitter at #WoundedKnee

Just now we had a live radio broadcast from the Knee, with Autumn Two Bulls and others from the warrior societies calling in on cell phones as the choppers were trying to land. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wanbli/2010/05/01/indigenous-rights-movement-radio-live-from-wounded-knee-emergency

The show should be archived momentarily, and there will probably be another on shortly. I will also update on twitter as news comes in.

I've decided to just do new posts rather than edit this one. Updates on main page. Here's the next one: http://nicdhana.blogspot.com/2010/05/warrior-women-and-wounded-knee-iii.html

ACGA Immersion Weekend, 2010

2010-04-01T13:46:00.000-04:00

An Comunn Gàidhealach Ameireaganach (ACGA) presents its 14th Annual Scottish Gaelic Immersion Weekend, held for the fourth time in Colorado and the second time in Colorado Springs, from Thursday June 3 – Sunday June 6, 2010.

"This event will feature some of the best Scottish Gaelic instructors from Cape Breton and the United States. The immersion weekend is a unique opportunity for learners of Scottish Gaelic to come together with more advanced and native speakers in both a classroom setting and informal gatherings. Whether you are a new learner with no experience or an advanced speaker, the immersion weekend will provide opportunities to speak Gaelic in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere."

Instructors this year include Donnie MacDonald, Mòrag Burke and Caroline Root.

More info: http://www.acgamerica.org/events-1/immersion-weekend/copy_of_2009-immersion-weekend-colorado-springs-co

CENSORED NEWS: Disaster Declaration Months Late for South Dakota

2010-03-11T14:04:00.000-05:00

CENSORED NEWS: Disaster Declaration Months Late for South Dakota

FEMA DISASTER: Spring is just around the corner and South Dakota is finally designated a disaster from December storms

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

In one of the most pitiful delayed actions, the Obama administration's FEMA declared a disaster in South Dakota, months after the winter storms that first devastated the state in December.
While Lakotas from Pine Ridge, Cheyenne River Sioux and elsewhere in the Dakotas pleaded for aid in January and February, their pleas were ignored by the Obama administration. Cheyenne River Sioux were without electricity for weeks and fresh water for more than six days.
Indian Nations and individuals rallied to help the Lakotas blasted by repeated winter storms in December, January and February. An online campaign urging CNN to cover the disaster in the Dakotas only resulted in one brief mention.
While most attention was focused on Haiti, Lakotas suffered.
Now that spring is just around the corner, here's the disaster declaration: Read full post

James Arthur Ray Arrested, Indicted

2010-02-03T20:36:00.003-05:00

DeathRay will face a jury...

(CNN) -- Self-help guru James Ray was arrested Wednesday after a grand jury indictment charging him with three counts of manslaughter in the deaths of three participants at an Arizona sweat lodge ceremony he organized last year.

Yavapai County Sheriff Steve Waugh said Ray was arrested at his attorney's office in Prescott, Arizona, Wednesday afternoon.

He will eventually be housed at the Camp Verde Detention Center, the sheriff's office said, and his bond has been set at $5 million.

Ray is charged with the deaths of Kirby Brown, James Shore and Liz Neuman.

Read the whole story...

Perp Walk

Mugshot

Mugshot courtesy Don't Pay to Pray

Warrior Women and Winter Emergency in South Dakota

2010-01-30T16:03:00.013-05:00

After the devastating ice storms, some of the Reservations in South Dakota have now been without heat, power, or even water for over a week.

More info on how to help on the YouTube page (Click on "more info")

Additional information and comments about this video on CNN's board

Call CNN and demand they cover the emergencies in South Dakota. The situation in Haiti is real to people, and viewers are moved to help, because news networks like CNN show the devastating footage of human suffering, in vivid detail, round the clock. Who wouldn't cry with compassion and want to get on the next plane when we see survivors pulled bleeding from the wreckage as their families cry and pray? It's human for people to care more about those they feel they know, and the media makes this connection for people. But the mainstream media ignores disasters on the reservations, and the current situation is no exception.

Yesterday activists bombarded CNN with calls, demanding coverage. CNN has promised to cover the situation on Pine Ridge, but we need to keep on them and make sure they keep their word. (CNN News Room: 404-827-2658)

For more information on how to help, Supporting SD Rez is posting frequent updates, and checking in with friends on the reservations to make sure the charities they recommend are legit.

Indigenous Rights Movement Radio is having frequent shows on the situation. Listen to the archived show with Grandma Wilma Thin Elk from the Wounded Knee District and Autumn TwoBulls. Last night's show has added momentum to the continuing discussions on increasing sustainable energy, and traditional food production on the reservations, and how these things can bring jobs and improve reservation economies. Any grantwriters out there want to lend a hand?

Autumn TwoBulls and her team, frustrated with the inaction of some of the mainstream charities and tribal councils, are working tirelessly to coordinate contact between families in need and those with the resources to help out.

You can also check out the Pine Ridge website directly, and get updates and contact info for donating to their emergency fund: http://www.oglalalakotanation.org/

This thread on NAFPS includes news stories, friends posting in with updates from Standing Rock, Pine Ridge, and Cheyenne River Reservations, and their personal and professional feedback on relief efforts.

And yes, sign of the apocalypse and all, I'm on Twitter now, and reposting things about this, as well as the usual Gaelic stuff. Twitter is weird, but it sure is a fast way of getting the word out.

And now they want to desecrate Brú na Bóinne

2010-01-24T20:23:00.004-05:00

When this arrived in my inbox, I have to tell you, I thought it was a joke. It's not.

I thought it was going to be a satire about what the bastards were going to try next in terms of desecration of sacred sites. Those evil fuckers.

From Vincent Salafia at Save Newgrange:

RTE News - Slane bypass would run close to Newgrange (Video)

The Irish Times - Friday, January 22, 2010
Slane bypass to run close to Boyne heritage sites

THE NATIONAL Roads Authority has confirmed that the proposed route of the bypass of Slane village will pass some 500 metres “from the perimeter” of the buffer zone of the Brú na Bóinne Unesco World Heritage Site.

The road, which will be a dual carriageway, will have “the least impact” taking all factors into consideration, including the archaeology and heritage of the area, a spokesman said.

It will be 3.5 kilometres long and run to the east of the village, which is on the heavily used N2 linking Dublin with Derry and it has been the scene of at least 22 fatal traffic crashes in living memory.

Included in the scheme is a new bridge over the river Boyne which will be about 200 metres long.

The environmental impact statement has been published and submissions on it are being accepted by An Bord Pleanála, which will decide whether to grant permission.

Bypass Slane Campaign group spokeswoman Michelle Power said, “we welcome the plans and look forward to the day permission is granted and funds are allocated for its construction.

“After numerous fatal accidents human life must take precedence,” she added.

Brian Taylor, spokesman for An Taisce in Meath and a resident of Slane said: “I’d be very reluctant about anything that might hold up that road. It has been several years in the offing and it has gone through numerous public presentations and the route chosen appears to be the least offensive [one].”

A spokesman for the NRA said, “we have selected a route with the least impact. It is 1.5 kilometres from the core of the Brú na Bóinne and around that centre core is a buffer zone; this route is 500 metres from the perimeter of that buffer zone.”

However, the statement does say that also within 500 metres of the route are 44 archaeological and cultural sites. The next stage is for An Bord Pleanála to decide whether to hold an oral hearing into any objections or submissions on the proposed route.

Motorway ‘may cost ancient site World Heritage status’
Press Association – 22/01/2010 – 17:55:53

The ancient Bru na Boinne site around Newgrange may lose its World Heritage status if the proposed M2 motorway goes ahead, it was claimed today.

The National Monuments Forum warned if changes are not made to the new motorway plans, the area near the Boyne in Co Meath is likely to lose recognition from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco).

Dr George Eogan, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at University College Dublin (UCD), said the new motorway is too close to the monuments and will have a considerable impact on the surrounding landscape.

“Five hundred metres is simply too close, and it is conceivable that Newgrange could lose its World Heritage Status,” he said.

The site can be saved if Environment Minister John Gormley fast-tracks the new National Monuments Bill 2009 according to the National Monuments Forum.

Vincent Salafia, National Monuments Forum spokesman, claimed the minister created unnecessary delays which place Ireland’s heritage at risk.

“We urge Minister Gormley to deliver this long overdue legislation and to ensure it is strong enough to protect Newgrange from this outlandish proposal,” Mr Salafia said.

Hogmany 2009/2010

2009-12-30T18:31:00.013-05:00

Sun Goddess, Hogmanay Street Festival, Edinburgh 2005
Hogmany - the Scottish celebration of New Year's - incorporates the older, Gaelic traditions of Samhain, as well as the Norse celebrations of Yule. Bonfires, purification (saining), and taking of omens for the new year (First Footing) are common customs.

In the darkest time of the year, we welcome the returning light with fires in the fields and the streets, praises to the returning sun, and welcoming the light into our homes and our hearts. Like at Brú na Bóinne in Ireland, the ancestors further up the coast in Scotland also aligned the megalithic cairns at Maeshowe with the midwinter sun, which illuminates the inner chambers at only this time of year. After the longest night, the light returns, and the ancestors are awakened as the sun enters the earth. Fire without, and fire within. Fàilte ort féin, a ghrian nan tràth, 'S tu siubhail ard nan speur...

Maeshowe, Orkney, Scotland
Hogmanay.net is full of links to activities, including the burning of the Clavie and the ever-popular Fireballs Ceremony, which for those who can't make it will once again be streamed live over the net from the festivities in Stonehaven.

Fireballs Ceremony, Stonehaven High Street, 2003
Via Rudy at ACGA, and the crew at Clì Gàidhlig: The Hogmanay programme anns a' Ghàidhlig will be available worldwide for the first 24 hours of January 1st. The programme can be accessed on BBC Alba's website.

Bliadhna Mhath Ùr agus Slàinte Mhath a h-uile duine!

Nollaig anns a' Ghàidhlig

2009-12-23T20:22:00.001-05:00

Nollaig bhon Ghàidhealtachd / Christmas from the Highlands

BBC Alba will be broadcasting an ecumenical service from Ness Bank Church, Inverness. Gaelic music by Kathleen MacInnes, Karen Matheson, Maggie MacDonald and James Graham, The Caledonian Canal Ceilidh Trail and pupils from the Inverness Gaelic Primary School (Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Inbhir Nis). The Inverness Gaelic Choir and the Ness Bank Congregation join together to sing favourite Gaelic carols. The carols are subtitled in Gaelic so viewers at home are able to join in.

BBC Alba, Christmas Eve, Thursday 24th December at 11pm and repeated on Christmas Day at 3.25pm (Inbhir Nis time / GMT). A special recording will also be played out on Radio nan Gàidheal on Christmas Day at 12.03pm.

Moran Taing to the lovely Kathleen MacInnes for passing this one along, as well as for her ongoing contributions to language and cultural preservation.

Grian-Stad Geamhraidh: A' Ghrian

2009-12-20T21:01:00.009-05:00

Fàilte ort féin, a ghrian nan tràth,

'S tu siubhail ard nan speur;

Do cheumaibh treun air sgéith nan ard,

'S tu màthair àigh nan reul.

Thu laighe sìos an cuan na dìth

Gun dìobhail is gun sgàth,

Thu 'g éirigh suas air stuagh na sìth,

Mar rìoghain òg fo bhlàth.

A' Ghrian - Traditional Gaelic song to the sun,
from the original Gàidhlig, as recited by Iain MacNìll of Barra,
at the turn of the century before last.

#316 in the Ortha nan Gàidheal.

And in English:

The Sun

I welcome you, sun of the seasons,

As you travel the skies aloft;

Your steps are strong on the wing of the heavens,

You are the glorious mother of the stars.

You descend into the deadly sea

Without distress and without fear;

You rise up on the wave of peace,

Like a youthful Queen in bloom.

Light for the Ancestors: Grian at Brú na Bóinne, 2009

2009-12-18T19:06:00.001-05:00

Brú na Bóinne Illumination 2003
photographed by Alan Betson

This year's winter sunstanding at Brú na Bóinne will not be broadcast on the web.

People are gathering at Newgrange, County Meath, Ireland, for Sunrise on the mornings around the Solstice (December 18th to December 23rd). Those chosen in the annual lottery will be able to go into the mound. Others will be gathering outside the Brú.

All praises to Grian, and to the ancestors. Light upon your path, as the shortest day begins with the light entering and illuminating the earth, heralding the return of the sun. Sláinte Mhaith.

Thanks to Michael Fox for passing along the info on this year's gathering.

Patrick Stewart speaks out about domestic violence

2009-12-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

What he lived through.

I especially appreciate his words about how his abusive father seemed so kind and charming to outsiders.... But at home, behind closed doors with his ~~family~~ captives, it was another story. So typical. And what so many who've never lived with this sort of abuser don't seem to grasp ("But he's such a nice guy!"). I thank him for speaking out.

National Day of Mourning, 2009

2009-11-25T18:30:00.000-05:00

40th
National Day
of Mourning

Nov. 26, 2009
12:00 noon
Coles Hill Plymouth, MA

United American Indians of New England

Don't Pay To Pray: Lakota Nation Calls James Arthur Ray on his Disrespect

2009-11-14T17:56:00.001-05:00

Don't Pay To Pray: Lakota Nation Calls James Arthur Ray on his Disrespect

More details about the Lakota Lawsuits against DeathRay, the impact of this sort of cultural appropriation, and the harm the desecration of the ceremonies and lands does to the Indigenous peoples of the area.

Lakota Nation files lawsuit against James Arthur Ray and Angel Valley Retreat Center

2009-11-13T19:00:00.000-05:00

Lakota Nation files lawsuit against parties in sweat lodge incident

In the aftermath of the tragedy at Angel Valley Retreat Center, where an incompetently conducted “sweat lodge” held by Californian self-help guru James Arthur Ray killed three participants, ... the Lakota tribe of North and South Dakota has filed a lawsuit against the United States, the state of Arizona, James Arthur Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat Center.

The lawsuit refers to the Treaty of Fort Laramie between the United States and the Lakota Nation from 1868, which states that “if bad men among the whites or other people subject to the authority of the United States shall commit any wrong upon the person or the property of the Indians, the United States will (...) proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained.” The plaintiffs hold that James Arthur Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat Center have “violated the peace between the United States and the Lakota Nation” and have caused the “desecration of our Sacred Oinikiga by causing the death of Liz Neuman, Kirby Brown and James Shore”. The lawsuit further holds that James Arthur Ray and the Angel Valley Retreat Center have committed fraud by impersonating Indians and must be held responsible for causing the deaths of the victims and injuries of the survivors, and for the destruction of evidence through the dismantling of the sweat lodge.

Read the full article here: Lakota Nation files lawsuit against parties in sweat lodge incident. Apologies for the crassly commercial ads on the newspaper's website.

The Fort Laramie Treaty was also instrumental in setting a precedent for justice in a rape case this summer: Justice and Honors for Lakota Women.

Update, Sat. Nov. 14, 2009: More details from Don't Pay to Pray, here: Lakota Nation Calls James Arthur Ray on his Disrespect, calling all supporters of cultural preservation to stand up for the voices of the Indigenous peoples harmed by these appropriations and desecrations.

Thanks to Heather from Don't Pay to Pray for passing this along. Follow her updates on Twitter.

How Abused Children Wind Up in Jail

2009-10-27T18:13:00.000-04:00

The transition from abusive father to pimp to jail is very common with our young people who wind up prostituted, or doing other illegal things to survive. This has touched my life personally, as it has happened to multiple girls, boys and young women I've known. Children don't run away for no reason.

That abuse in the home sets these children up for further victimization. It's the pimps and battering/raping fathers that belong in jail, not the kids who are struggling to survive.

ASHLAND, Ore. — She ran away from her group home in Medford, Ore., and spent weeks sleeping in parks and under bridges. Finally, Nicole Clark, 14 years old, grew so desperate that she accepted a young man’s offer of a place to stay. The price would come later.

They had sex, and he soon became her boyfriend. Then one day he threatened to kick her out if she did not have sex with several of his friends in exchange for money.

She agreed, fearing she had no choice. “Where was I going to go?” said Nicole, now 17 and living here, just down the Interstate from Medford. That first exchange of money for sex led to a downward spiral of prostitution that lasted for 14 months, until she escaped last year from a pimp who she said often locked her in his garage apartment for months.

Read full article: For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival by Ian Urbina

Thanks to Quileute Tribe New Beginnings

New Age Death Sweats IV: Jackboots at the Seder Table

2009-10-24T18:36:00.008-04:00

Comparative Genocide 202:
The Nazi at the Seder Table
and the Myth of the Universal Sweat Lodge
I was talking to a Jewish friend about the pretendians. She said she doesn't understand why white people think it's OK to mimic Native American ceremonies. I told her that she gets it, while many other non-Indians do not, because she knows what it's like to have a culture.

Because she has an ethnic cultural identity, she would find it ridiculous if a bunch of white Baptists from Iowa decided, after seeing the movie Yentl and reading some stuff on the Internet, to hold their idea of a Seder with all their Baptist friends. And then if they were really on a roll, to declare themselves Rabbis. Because, you know, they are "Jewish in their hearts".

Rootless people do ridiculous things. And mainstream white Americans often have no sense of what it is to have an ethnic identity. So they have no understanding of how ceremonies, beliefs and customs are rooted in particular cultures. They also don't get it that not all of us are rootless, and that even melanin-deprived people come from somewhere. All of our ancestors had earth-based traditions. If you weren't raised with them, it's just a matter of looking a bit further back and doing some work. Yet too many "white" people just want to take what they think is the easy way out, and steal from other cultures that seem more "exotic" to them. These things are only "exotic" when you're a clueless outsider.

A witty blogger who often has hilarious things to say about newagers disappointed me with this comment: "If non-Natives want to take part in these traditions ... it may be no different from, say, a Presbyterian sitting in on services at a synagogue."

Now, it's not the best idea to compare genocides. I know a number of Native folks who have made comparisons to the Holocaust in these discussions, assuming that it will have more of an emotional impact on white people. Many white people know more about the Holocaust than they do about American history from the perspective of Native Americans. Ironically though, some of the Jews I brought this up with felt it was insulting to Native people to make that comparison, as the genocide against Native peoples in the Americas has not only taken far more lives, but due to the severe, ongoing oppression of Native peoples it is still taking lives. The Native peoples and cultures are in far more immediate danger than the Jewish ones. So, not an exact analogy, but bear with me.

Even if for the moment we leave aside the well-known, unanimous declarations opposing non-Native involvement in Native religion, I think a more apt analogy would be that of a non-Jew inviting themselves to a Seder. More aptly, a non-Jew who has had zero exposure to Jewish culture, and whose grandfather or great-grandfather was a Nazi. Seriously, we're talking about genocide here.

So this German guy with the Grandfather-history-dilemma talks his kind Jewish acquaintance into letting him tag along to the Seder. The outsider, who has never been to anything Jewish in his life, pays close attention and think it's pretty cool. He likes the way it makes him feel. His family are atheists, and for the first time he feels connected to a culture and religion.

Now the German guy could have chosen to be humble and patient; he could have continued to participate in his friend's life in a mutually supportive and respectful way over time, and maybe he would have been invited back to other things if the people liked him. Not that that would make him a Jew, but maybe he could have been an ally. But he wasn't patient, he didn't really care about his new friend's family, and he didn't much care for all those restrictive rules and customs. And there were ways that the cultural differences made him uncomfortable. So, three months later he decides to hold a Seder himself. With modifications and "improvements". After all, he's been to a REAL SEDER before. He knows his stuff now. He even learned from Elders! (His friend's grandmother was there and said hello to him.)

His Jewish friend tells him that's not cool, and anyway, it's the wrong time of year to hold a Seder, even if he was a Jew, and even if he had a community of Jews supporting him in this endeavour. The non-Jew calls the Jew "a hater", declares himself a Rabbi, puts an ad on Craigslist for participants ("Everyone Welcome! We're no haters here!") and charges other non-Jews money to attend his "Seder". It's a great success.... among the non-Jews.

It's wrong and disgusting even if he stopped before advertising and charging for it. But imagine the insult if he goes on to set up a multimillion-dollar business, selling pieces of this Jewish family's history and customs in get-rich-quick schemes. Imagine if then he goes so far as to kill people by telling them to fast in the desert like that Jew, Jesus, while drinking communion wine, singing songs from "Fiddler on the Roof" and chanting Islamic prayers (because, you know, they're all "desert cultures"). And yeah, he's still calling his made-up ceremony a "Seder". Maybe now it's the "Seder Warrior Training". And for part of the $10,000 fee, you'll get a rabbi costume, too. What?

This is how ridiculous James Arthur Ray and his ilk look to those who are part of ethnic cultures. Obviously, with the cult leader thing and the deaths, DeathRay is one of the worst examples. But it's a continuum of ridiculousness and offensiveness.

"But Sweatlodge is Universal"

On one Neopagan blog where the Death Sweats were discussed, a number of people spoke out against cultural appropriation. What a relief. Maybe things are slowly changing in some quarters. Maybe it's taking something this drastic for people to wise up. But of course there were more than a few comments to the effect that Sweat Lodge is "universal", and that James Ray's criminally negligent homicides had nothing to do with cultural appropriation.

Most of our ancestors were hip to the fact that fire and water together make steam. Many of them figured out that steam can be enclosed in some sort of structure for bathing and humidifying purposes. Not that hard to figure out, really. Even white people can manage that. But steam alone does not a religious ritual make. And for those cultures that had, or still have, prayers and songs and ceremonies associated with sweating, beyond those basics of steam and a structure of some sort to hold it, the ceremonies are culturally-specific; they are based on the unique cosmologies and beliefs of a particular group of people. Steam does not mean the same thing in every culture. Fire does not mean the same thing. Darkness does not mean the same thing. The Earth and the Sun are not conceptualized in the same way, or gendered the same way... ditto for all the other natural phenomena and spirits and powers that may be called on or named in a ceremony.

If some non-Native is going on about their "universal" or "European" sweat that involves "rounds", a "lodge", "grandfather stones", "sacred bundles", "sage", "animal powers", "all my relations", and "the four directions".... sorry, that's a fake Plains-style sweatlodge. Even if they've tacked misused and misunderstood names from European cultures onto it.

"Celtic Sweatlodge"

More recently some have tried to claim sweatlodges are also "Celtic". Here we go again. Unless the participants are heating up a small, drystone/fieldstone, dirt-floored, taigh an fhallais or teach an allais structure with a fire inside, then sweeping the fire out completely and covering the floor with particular plant matter, then lying on the floor and praying and contemplating in Gaelic until they "reach a state of peace"... no, it's not Celtic.

A note for those outside the Celtic field: "Celtic" does not always equal Gaelic. "Gaelic" is a subset of the broader, "Celtic" language grouping.

The only surviving "Celtic" sweathouse structures I am aware of are found in the historically Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland and Scotland. While we have many old Gaelic prayers for healing, and an understanding of how the spirits work in Gaelic traditions, we have only fragments of Gaelic sweathouse ceremonies; and beyond the bare bones of prayer in a warm, enclosed space, what we have really bears no resemblance to Inipi (or sweat lodge ceremonies by other Native American cultures).

Some have claimed the Burnt Mound (fulachtaí fia) sites in Ireland and Scotland were once "sweatlodge" sites. While these sites may have been used for bathing (and cooking, and dying cloth, and brewing beer - basically an outdoor, multi-purpose kitchen), reconstructions have shown that the structures probably resembled (surprise!) Irish dwellings and camps more than any Plains-style sweatlodges. The oft-cited but faulty Birmingham "reconstruction" was nothing of the sort. An English youth group tried building a sweatlodge based on their ideas of Inipi; they didn't even base it on the English archaelogical site they were "reconstructing". Serious archaeology fail. But some Neopagans and Newagers still cite it, as they want to believe they have a right to do fake Inipis.

You will find people on the Internet, even some I was once on good terms with, who are trying to tack Gaelic names on their outsider fantasies of Inipi. Don't buy it.

I have a work-in-progress article about the use of Gaelic sweat traditions, but I haven't finished it as I am so dismayed about the appropriation out there, and concerned that anything I put out about it will just be abused. You can read it if you want. Maybe one of these days I'll finish it.

Of course there are some ceremonies associated with traditional saunas in the countries where they originated: protocols of use, stories of spirits who attend, songs that are sung at particular times, and sometimes prayers. Some of these rituals still survive in Latvia, and I've heard of survivals in related cultures. Due to the Northern influence in Scotland and Ireland, it's quite possible that the stone sweat houses in Gaelic-speaking areas were based on sauna, and are not even indigenous to Ireland or Scotland. If anyone is seriously interested in Gaelic sweat traditions, that's where they should probably look for parallels, or to the sweathouses in Portugal, rather than trying to co-opt what they think Indians do.

Perhaps the biggest mistake these appropriators make, both in the Americas and in Europe, is the assumption that commonalities of steam and sweat somehow override the fact we're talking about different religions. Even if the structures did turn out to be similar (which they haven't), why would that mean the ceremonies would be the same?

If someone is telling you their eclectic rituals which are clearly based on First Nations ceremonies are "universal," or "Celtic," they're just showing their ignorance.

In closing, In community

If you're going to learn anything from Native ceremonial ways, or Jewish or Gaelic ones for that matter, let it be this: the importance of community, culture and tradition: the songs you grow up singing and hearing, the foods your family eats, the ways you have of speaking to one another, what you do when someone is sick, or a death has happened, or a child born; the phrases or words from your native language that are still used even if you aren't fluent in the language, the political and intellectual things that matter to you because of the hardships your people have survived as well as the victories they've won, and all the ways you are different from the homogenized mainstream melting pot. The ceremonies grew from this matrix, and that's how they have survived. Without that cultural matrix, without the particular religious and cultural beliefs that surround them, you cannot fully understand the ceremonies. And even if you could, the ceremonies are part of the lifeblood of the communities where they live. They can't be bought and sold in watered-down form by outsiders.

Or, rather, there are newage hucksters doing exactly that. But it's bad craziness and junk-food for the soul.

Worse, it's carrying on a tradition of imperialism.

If you come with the intent to steal, there's nothing spiritual about being the Nazi at the Seder table.

And I just know someone will read that and say, "But if we have the sincere Nazis, or descendants of Nazis (Not their fault!) at the table, we will heal them!" Sorry, but someone who really wants to heal from that ancestral wrongdoing will not force their way into where they are not wanted. And if they are truly spiritual and invited in good faith, they won't pretend to be something they are not, they won't steal, and they won't tell the Jews (or Indians) to STFU when they are told to take their hands out of the cookie jar.

And guess what. I was just about to post this when I found this: Qabalah Tree of Life Journeys. Wow. Looks like old DeathRay is a fake Jew, too. The Newage cult leader will sell you the Kabbalah, and he guarantees that if you do it his way, it will make you money. Because for him and his ilk, that is their only god, and the ring of the cash register their only authentic prayer.

And in a cool bit of synchronicity, in the time between my writing this, sending it around to friends for feedback, and finally posting it, Jim Kent of The Rapid City Journal wrote something very similar: "Stealing religion ignored if it’s Native". I'm glad to see others covering this. And, given the degree of training and community recognition required, his comparison of Native ceremonial people to Catholic Priests is in some ways more apt than my comparison to Rabbis. But I chose to stick with the Jewish analogy for the genocide parallels. No analogy is exact. But as so many non-Natives are so clueless about this, we are all struggling with analogies to try to get people to see what's going on here. Check it out; it's a good piece.

Oh, and thanks to everyone, of a variety of ethnicities and perspectives, who gave me feedback on this. Any mistakes are my own.

Wannabe NDN

2009-10-24T17:53:00.000-04:00

Rezerella brings us this commentary on DeathRay and his DeathTrap. Show it to all the others out there doing the same thing, but who just haven't killed anyone yet.

Tara Symposium - Live Stream

2009-10-24T14:45:00.000-04:00

Ask the speakers a question
Facilities are available to overseas listeners to ask question via the symposium email address tara.symposium@ucd.ie. As the programme is compact, only a small proportion of questions will be relayed to the symposium auditorium.

Symposium Live Schedule
The Syposium will be streamed live from the venue at approximately these times. Absolute timing may vary.

* Friday 7:30-9:00pm
* Saturday 9:00-11:00am; 11:30-1:30pm; 2:30-4:00pm & 4:30-6:00pm
* Sunday 9:00-11:00am; 11:30-12:00pm; 12:30-1:30pm; 2:30-4:00 pm & 4:30-6:00pm
* Monday 9:00-11:00am; 11:30-1:30pm; 2:30-4:00pm & 4:30-6:30pm

(Note - Times are for Dublin)

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Cultural Appropriation Post #949 (but with quotes from Sherman Alexie!)

2009-10-21T15:55:00.001-04:00

Sick of reading about Cultural Appropriation? Bet you're not as sick of hearing about it as I am of having to write about it. But guess what? I'm going to do it some more.

There's nothing new about the James Ray Plastic Death "Sweats". Over the years at least a dozen other newagers have died, and many more have become violently ill, in these pretendian ceremonies with various plastic shamans. You will note however that, with only one exception,* those who have died have not been Indians.

This is almost wholly an appropriator's phenomena. It's what clueless outsiders do when they are messing with something they don't understand; something they don't realize that you can't learn from a book or the Internet; something that is sacred and can't be bought.

It is vitally important that people remember the James Ray Death Camp was not a Native American thing. What happened there were not Native American ceremonies. This was a racist white man exploiting non-Indian people's fantasies of "Vision Quests", "Lodges", "Spiritual Warriors" and wind through their hair while wolves howl and vast desert vistas sweep away from their yin-yang painted tipis. They didn't want to know anything about real Indians, real Indian lives, and real Indian ceremonies; they want Dances with Wolves and they were gullible and desperate enough to pay some predatory cult leader over $9,000 to get that fantasy. The sick irony is that they thought it would make them rich.

In 1992, the "Men's Movement" amped up the white fascination with romanticized fantasies of Indians. Sherman Alexie - Spokane poet, fiction writer and filmmaker - was often asked to speak at these gatherings, and has written about why he chose not to. I appreciate Alexie's ability to handle these things with such humour and candidness.

From "White Men Can't Drum"

My friend John and I were sitting in the sweatlodge. No. we were actually sitting in the sauna of the Y.M.C.A. when he turned to me. "Sherman," he said, "considering the chemicals, the stuff we eat, the stuff that hangs in the air, I think the sweatlodge has come to be a purifying ceremony, you know? White men need that, to use an Indian thing to get rid of all the pollution in our bodies. Sort of a spiritual enema."

"That's a lot of bull," I replied savagely.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the sweatlodge is a church, not a free clinic."

The men's movement seems designed to appropriate and mutate so many aspects of Native traditions. I worry about the possibilities: men's movement chain stores specializing in portable sweatlodges; the "Indians 'R' Us" commodification of ritual and artifact; white men who continue to show up at powwows in full regalia and dance.
... ... ...
Perhaps these white men should learn to dance within their own circle before they so rudely jump into other circles. Perhaps white men need to learn more about patience before they can learn what it means to be a man, Indian or otherwise.

In a wonderfully candid 2001 interview with the Iowa Review, Alexie discusses the problem of writing across the lines of ethnicity and gender, as well as how to handle the issue of writing about ceremony.

SA: And about women's experience — I'm better than most male writers. They see the Madonna-whore — it's incredible: these progressive, liberal intelligent, highly-educated men are writing complex, diverse, wonderful male characters in the same book where the female characters are like women in a 3 a.m. movie on Showtime.

JF: You've said having come from a matriarchal culture gives you more insight.

SA: I think it helps. And I give my stuff to the women around me. 'Does this work?' I spend my whole life around women—I should know something. If I don't know it, I ask. It has to be a conscious effort. It's too easy to fall back on stereotypes and myths, and I think that's what most writers do about Indians and what most men do when they write about women.
... ... ...
JF: You said once that universality is a misnomer, that it's really a Western sense of the word.

SA: Well, when people say universal they mean white people get it.
... ... ...
... "universal" is often a way to negate the particularity of a project, of an art. I hate that term; it's insulting. I don't want to be universal.
... ... ...
JF: Along those lines, I'm wondering about a seeming paradox. You often say during readings and talks that you want to honor your culture's privacy, and yet your work is so public. It seems like you protect it and expose it at the same time. There's a tension created.

SA: Yes, of course there is. One of the ways I've dealt with it is that I don't write about anything sacred. I don't write about any ceremonies; I don't use any Indian songs.

JF: True. You mention sweat lodges but only obliquely. I'm thinking of the image of the old woman in the poem who emerges from the sweat lodge.

SA: Yes, I'm outside the sweat lodge. In Reservation Blues I'm in it and I realized I didn't like it. I approach my writing the same way I approach my life. It's what I've been taught and how I behave with regard to my spirituality.

JF: How do you draw the line as to what is off limits?

SA: My tribe drew that line for me a long time ago. It's not written down, but I know it. If you're Catholic you wouldn't tell anybody about the confessional. I feel a heavy personal responsibility, and I accept it, and I honor it. It's part of the beauty of my culture. I've been called fascist a couple of times, at panels. I've censored myself. I've written things that I have since known to be wrong.

JF: What kind of things . . . I guess you can't say.

SA: (Laughs). All I can say is that I've written about cultural events inappropriately.

JF: How did you know?

SA: The people involved told me. After considering it, I realized they were right. In a few instances. Not every instance, but in a few. I can't take them out of what they're in, but I'm not going to republish them, or perform them in public, no anthologizing: they've died for me. There are Indian writers who write about things they aren't supposed to. They know. They'll pay for it. I'm a firm believer in what people call 'karma.' Even some of the writing I really admire, like Leslie Silko's Ceremony, steps on all sorts of sacred toes. I wouldn't go near that kind of writing. I'd be afraid of the repercussions. I write about a drunk in a bar, or a guy who plays basketball.

JF: So the only flak you get is from individuals who say, "I think you're making fun of me." Do you try to soothe things over?

SA: Some people are unsoothable. But I'm a nice enough guy, and I think people know that. If I weren't pissing people off I wouldn't be doing my job. I just want to piss off the right people. I try not to pick on the people who have less power than I. It's one of the guidelines of my life. And if I have, then I feel badly about it. I try to make amends.

* Note - As archived by Heather at Don't Pay to Pray , one 2009 death in a "lodge" was a First Nations man in Canada, Lawrence Catholique. However, there were some very odd and suspicious things about that incident. Despite being a traditional healer, nothing about the circumstances resemble a sweatlodge ceremony from any First Nations culture that I am aware of. A later article says he had changed the ceremony, "experimenting with wood embers in the lodge". It was a tragic death, but if reports are true, he had changed the ceremony, deviating from the time-tested safety protocols. Also, add third James Ray Death Trap victim, Liz Neumann, to the list of dead newagers. She is the woman who was in a coma, who died after the Don't Pay to Pray blog post.

Thanks to Kooshdakaa for forwarding the Utne Reader article that contained some of these quotes and links: What Happens in the Sweat Lodge Stays in the Sweat Lodge

New Age Death Sweat III - Response by Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Lakota)

2009-10-14T21:13:00.004-04:00

Chief Arvol Looking Horse's statement, released today:

Lakota Pipekeeper’s Statement Concerning Sweatlodge Deaths

As Keeper of our Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle, I am concerned for the 2 deaths and illnesses of the many people that participated in a sweat lodge in Sedona, Arizona that brought our sacred rite under fire in the news. I would like to clarify that this lodge and many others, are not our ceremonial way of life, because of the way they are being conducted. My prayers go out for their families and loved ones for their loss.

Our ceremonies are about life and healing, from the time this ancient ceremonial rite was given to our people, never has death been a part of our inikag'a (life within) when conducted properly. Today the rite is interpreted as a sweat lodge, it is much more then that. So the term does not fit our real meaning of purification.

Inikag'a is the oldest ceremony brought to us by Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit). 19 generations ago, the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota Oyate (people), were given seven sacred rites of healing by a Spirit Woman Pte San Win (White Buffalo Calf Woman). She brought these rites along with our sacred C'anupa (pipe) to our People, when our ancestors were suffering from a difficult time. It was also brought for the future to help us for much more difficult times to come. They were brought to help us stay connected to who we are as a traditional cultural People. The values of conduct are very strict in any of these ceremonies, because we work with spirit. The way the Creator, Wakan Tanka told us; that if we stay humble and sincere, we will keep that connection with the inyan oyate (the stone people), who we call the Grandfathers, to be able to heal our selves and loved ones. We have a gift of prayer and healing and have to stay humble with our Unc'i Maka (Grandmother Earth) and with one another. The inikag'a is used in all of the seven sacred rites to prepare and finish the ceremonies, along with the sacred eagle feather. The feather represents the sacred knowledge of our ancestors.

Our First Nations People have to earn the right to pour the mini wic'oni (water of life) upon the inyan oyate (the stone people) in creating Inikag'a - by going on the vision quest for four years and four years Sundance. Then you are put through a ceremony to be painted - to recognize that you have now earned that right to take care of someone's life through purification. They should also be able to understand our sacred language, to be able to understand the messages from the Grandfathers, because they are ancient, they are our spirit ancestors. They walk and teach the values of our culture; in being humble, wise, caring and compassionate.

What has happened in the news with the make shift sauna called the sweat lodge is not our ceremonial way of life!

When you do ceremony - you can not have money on your mind. We deal with the pure sincere energy to create healing that comes from everyone in that circle of ceremony. The heart and mind must be connected. When you involve money, it changes the energy of healing. The person wants to get what they paid for; the Spirit Grandfathers will not be there, our way of life is now being exploited! You do more damage then good. No mention of monetary energy should exist in healing, not even with a can of love donations. When that energy exists, they will not even come. Only after the ceremony, between the person that is being healed and the Intercessor who has helped connect with the Great Spirit, the energy of money can be given out of appreciation. That exchange of energy is from the heart; it is private and does not involve the Grandfathers! Whatever gift of appreciation the person who received the help, can now give the Intercessor what ever they feel their healing is worth.

In our Prophesy of the White Buffalo Calf Woman, she told us that she would return and stand upon the earth when we are having a hard time. In 1994 this began to happen with the birth of the white buffalo, not only their nation, but many animal nations began to show their sacred color, which is white. She predicted that at this time there would be many changes upon Grandmother Earth. There would be things that we never experienced or heard of before; climate changes, earth changes, diseases, disrespect for life and one another would be shocking and there would be also many false prophets!

My Grandmother that passed the bundle to me said I would be the last Keeper if the Oyate (people) do not straighten up. The assaults upon Grandmother Earth are horrendous, the assaults toward one another was not in our culture, the assaults against our People (Oyate) have been termed as genocide, and now we are experiencing spiritual genocide!

Because of the problems that began to arise with our rebirth of being able to do our ceremonies in the open since the Freedom of Religion Act of 1978, our Elders began talking to me about the abuses they seen in our ceremonial way of life, which was once very strict. After many years of witnessing their warnings, we held a meeting to address this very issue of lack of protocol in our ceremonies. After reaching an agreement of addressing the misconduct of our ceremonies and reminding of the proper protocols, a statement was made in March 2003. Every effort was made to insure our way of life of who we are as traditional cultural People was made, because these ways are for our future and all life upon the Grandmother Earth (Mitakuye Oyasin All my relations), so that they may have good health. Because these atrocities are being mocked and practiced all over the world, there was even a film we made called Spirits for Sale.

The non-native people have a right to seek help from our First Nation Intercessors for good health and well-being, it is up to that Intercessor. That is a privilege for all People that we gift for being able to have good health and understand that their protocol is to have respect and appreciate what we have to share. The First Nations Intercessor has to earn that right to our ceremonial way of life in the ways I have explained.

At this time, I would like to ask all Nations upon Grandmother Earth to please respect our sacred ceremonial way of life and stop the exploitation of our Tunka Oyate (Spiritual Grandfathers).

In a Sacred Hoop of Life, where there is no ending and no beginning!

Namah'u yo (hear my words),
Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White
Buffalo Calf Pipe Bundle.

spiritsforsale.com

Note: This statement was released before the third person died as a result of James Arthur Ray's fraudulent ceremony. Ray is also implicated in another death at one of his earlier seminars - a woman who died mysteriously during one of the events. Additionally, it has come out that in at least two previous plastic sweats he led, many people became very ill. There were many warnings that this was coming. There are still many others leading these untrained, unethical, confused attempts at sweats at newage and Neopagan events around the world. If people don't face up to what's going on here, there will be more deaths.

New Age Death Sweat II - NYT Editorial by Dr. Al Carroll

2009-10-14T17:45:00.000-04:00

The New York Times has asked Dr. Al Carroll of NAFPS to write an editorial on the Newage Death Sweats. The following is scheduled to appear this coming Thursday or Friday. Al has given permission for this to be reposted or quoted from: original post on NAFPS, and on Oprah Winfrey's forum.

Oprah Winfrey Should Apologize for Promoting Dangerous Fraud James Arthur Ray

By Al Carroll

Two people died in a distorted New Age version of a Native sweatlodge in Sedona. Dozens more were badly injured. They each paid over $9000 for a bastardized version of a ceremony which by tradition must never be charged for. Natives don't believe in "pay to pray," but apparently the New Age movement does. It is far more of a consumerist phenomena than a genuine spiritual movement. Many lost, misguided, and genuinely sincere seekers get caught up in the idea of paying cash for shortcuts to salvation, and Oprah Winfrey seems to be among them.

Winfrey promoted New Age leader James Arthur Ray on her program a number of times. It was Ray who jammed over sixty people into a "sweatbox." Traditionally perhaps a dozen people are in a sweatlodge. The lodge is made from natural materials so the heat will not be too intense. But not Ray's "sweatbox." It was sealed with heavy plastic tarp to deliberately make the heat as intense as possible. People even competed to see who could withstand the highest temperatures, making it a bizarre contest rather than a ceremony to heal. Traditionally most of those in a sweatlodge have been through it before so they could guide novices, but seemingly the clients/victims of Ray's outnumbered those conducting it by at least twenty to one.

Traditionally, you don't charge for spiritual ceremony. You also don't do it out of curiosity, because you think it would be "cool," or for any reason except to heal. Survivors of alcoholism or PTSD are often healed by a sweatlodge. Thrill seekers should go elsewhere, hopefully to some self examination.

Spiritual exploiters like James Arthur Ray should be ashamed of themselves, but rarely are. After all, they get rich and have cult followings of the naïve or lost. Ray may belong in prison for negligent homicide, along with others who conduct extremely dangerous false versions of a sweatlodge. Ray's operation likely knew that a sweatlodge, when run by anyone other than an extensively trained Native traditionalist, routinely results in deaths or injuries. There are deaths from phony New Age sweatlodges in Texas, Britain, Australia, and in California multiple times. The Australian Medical Association issued a warning about phony sweatlodges, something that American and European medical associations should do.

A sweatlodge that is not properly run can result in death from asphyxiation, heart attack, or dehydration. Hapless New Agers routinely get burned or scalded. There are also many cases of psychological damage. You can relive traumas in a sweatlodge, such as child molestation or rape, as well as manic episodes. The rocks heated in a sweatlodge, if not properly chosen, can explode. Finally, many of the worst exploiters sexually abuse their followers. It's easy to pass out in the heat of a sweatlodge. Many women (and men) are molested or raped. No one should trust any operator who insists on a sweatlodge alone or in the nude.

Don't trust anyone who advertises or charges for ceremony. There's a simple standard that non-Natives should use when thinking about going to an alleged "Native" ceremony: If the operators seek out non-Native peoples, they are frauds looking to take your money. Actual Native traditionalists neither seek nor want converts. Native ceremonies are intended for Native communities, always. They lose their power and meaning once taken outside that context.

For her part in promoting the dangerous fraud James Arthur Ray, Oprah Winfrey should publicly apologize and vow to be more careful about who she endorses in the future. How many of the victims in Sedona would never have gone there had they not seen Winfrey's program? How wealthy did Ray become off of his victims because of Winfrey's repeated endorsement of Ray, both on her show and online? Why didn't her show's researchers take the time to look carefully and see what they should have known, that Ray was potentially dangerous to his followers?

Winfrey, I believe, is a good hearted person who sincerely wants to help her audience. She apologized for promoting an author who lied about the life he described in his books and strongly criticized him on her own show. Why can't she do the same to James Arthur Ray and confront him also? She should do the right thing and retract all endorsements of Ray and vow to take greater care in the future and never promote New Age exploiters again.

Bio: Al Carroll is a historian, Fulbright Scholar, and one of the founders of New Age Frauds Plastic Shamans (NAFPS) an activist group dedicated to warning the public about exploiters and imposters who pose as Native medicine people, located online at http://www.newagefraud.org/. His first book is Medicine Bags and Dog Tags: Native Veterans from Colonial Times to the Second Iraq War from University of Nebraska Press.

Plastic Death Sweat - 2 Dead, 3 Critical, 16 More Hospitalized

2009-10-10T10:37:00.000-04:00

James Arthur Ray promised to make them Spiritual Warriors.

The newage, pyramid-scheming, scam artist crammed 65 people into a plastic death tent, which he claimed was a sweatlodge. In the hot, wet dark with the man who had no idea how to lead an Indian ceremony, and no connection to any culture that could have taught him how (or told him this was a really bad idea), they sweated for two hours... till two were dead, three were unconscious, and 21 others went to the hospital.

Hazmat teams and crime scene tape now surround the site. Native American ceremonial people from the area are saying that, by imitating a ceremony he was not trained to perform, this newage plastic shaman killed these people. I agree. They used materials in this fake ceremony that should not be used, they used things that were physically and spiritually dangerous. They paid $9,000 for a sad death at the hands of a greedy con man.

I have no idea if they prayed in this fake ceremony, or how. I don't think this guy knows any prayers beyond, "Gimme Gimme Money Money".

James Arthur Ray made them to Pay to Pray. And Michael and Amayra Hamilton provided the place to do it.

James Ray makes his living as a self-styled, newage "prosperity" guru. He sells pyramid schemes and "you create your own reality" guilt trips to rich people. He's been on Oprah.

Even if this shameon knew how to run a small sweat, even if by some miracle this non-Native had been authorized to do so (not going to happen, but we're playing "what if") there's no way one person can keep track of 65 people in the dark. Especially 65 people who've never done this before, and been told they have to suffer to learn. 65 ignorant people who thought paying a newage guru for a weekend retreat would make them "warriors". I'm sure these seekers were all trying to out-macho each other; they were dehydrated and suffocating, and may not have said anything about how much distress they were in. And even if this creep were able to tell they were in distress, maybe he just didn't care. I've seen some really ugly, psychopathic predators among these types. These are the sort of callous exploiters who blame suffering people for their illnesses, and claim victims of holocausts and genocide brought it upon themselves with their "negative thoughts".

From James Arthur Ray's webpage:

"Many so-called successful people make a tremendous amount of money, but their relationships are on the rocks. That's not real wealth.

Likewise, there are others who qualify as a creative genius, and they're physically sick all the time. That's not real wealth!

Then there are those who claim to be really "spiritual," and they're always financially broke. That's not wealth either!"

Then he goes on to promise that if you pay him lots of money, he will show you how to fix all this. If it doesn't work, well, you just weren't spiritual enough.

No compassion, no spirituality, just greed.

And the people were willing to pay him so much because he's been on Oprah. Are you listening, Oprah? I know some kick-ass Indian women who could come on your show and talk about how dangerous it is to Pay to Pray.

This is all over the news now, but for analysis that doesn't mislabel this new age fraud as a "Native American" ceremony, I'd suggest the ongoing discussion and posting of links in this thread on the New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans site.

More mainstream coverage via The Huffington Post, AP Video, and this video of the 911 calls.

Note: When I first wrote this, initial reports were unclear, but most said there were 21 people in DeathRay's DeathTrap. Now that we know more, I've changed this to reflect the number that survivors are saying he crammed into the fake lodge (approximately 65). As of this update (Oct 26, 2009) three people have died, and more are suffering with neurological damage and possible organ failure. We now have multiple survivors stating that Ray forced these people to stay in the death tent even when they were severely disoriented, crying for help and passing out, and that he told people to not get medical help for those who were sick and dying. Criminal charges appear to be pending.

Thanks to Diana, LaDonna, Sarah, Lierre, the Iktome Returns Collective, and everyone else who has emailed and posted about this.

White Ego Racist flocks to Long Island

2009-09-21T17:53:00.000-04:00

Native American groups are organizing protests against Rachel Holzwarth (aka "Suraj Holzwarth" aka "White Eagle Medicine Woman" aka the name actual Native elders have given her: "White Ego Woman" or "White Ego Fraud"), who is planning on spreading her racist swill on Long Island, NY.

Lisa Hill has written a good summation of the situation so far, including an excellent analysis of Ego Fraud's racism and it's similarities to the ugly, racist philosophies of Rudolf Steiner:

“On one side we find the black race, which is earthly at most. If it moves to the West, it becomes extinct. We also have the yellow race, which is in the middle between earth and the cosmos. If it moves to the East, it becomes brown, attaches itself too much to the cosmos, and becomes extinct. The white race is the future, the race that is creating spirit.” (Rudolf Steiner, The Being of Man and His Future, Rudolf Steiner Press, 1981, pp. 118-119)

A common theme of Holzworth’s talks is the need for the human race to “evolve” to a higher state of vibration and the belief that it is inevitable for the ancient “red race” to go extinct so that the more spiritually evolved “white race” can fulfill its destiny to replace the “red Indian of old.” Holzworth has made no secret of her opinion of modern First Nations people as a degenerate race who have no spirituality because their karma is to live in poverty and alcoholism.

Steiner and Holzworth both find what they call “the red race” to be lacking. Steiner considered First Nations people to be connected with “the forces that have a lot to do with human extinction.” Both Steiner and Holzworth describe contemporary First Nations people as “a degenerated human race” which was the reason why they had succumbed to such a degree. Her teachings are filled with the concept of the more deserving “White Race” evolving spiritually to a higher frequency take the place of the degenerate, corrupt, drunken “Red Race” who exists at a lower frequency than the “White Race” and whose karma is extinction.

Steiner stated that “It isn’t because of the whims of the Europeans that the Indian population has died out, but because of the Indian population had to acquire those forces that led it to die out.” (Steiner, Die Mission einzelner Volksseelen, s. 4:9)

The statements that Holzworth has made in her talks about the Whirling Rainbow prophesy and her public statements about drunken, deranged Native Americans who object to her teachings are virtually identical to Steiner’s views about race.

Read the full article: White Eagle Woman Evokes Anger and Outrage from First Nations People: The Grandmother Drum Project is universally denounced as fraudulent by First Nations Groups

Don't Pay to Pray is continuing to post updates on the actions, related info, and what you can do to help out, on MySpace and Twitter.

Previous White Ego Fraud posts:
* April 18, 2008, Haudenosaunee speak out on Rachel Holzwarth
* October 14, 2008, Update on Plymouth Protests against White Ego Fraud
* September 14, 2009, The Return of White Ego Fraud

Light for the Ancestors - Loughcrew Illuminaton 2009

2009-09-20T16:19:00.005-04:00

In the Slieve na Caillaigh hills, County Meath, Ireland, people gathered this morning at Loughcrew cairn T, to mark the autumnal equinox. On the three days on and around the equinox, the light from the rising sun shines down the passageway, illuminating the megalithic carvings in the inner recesses of the mound. Sunrise today, tomorrow, and the 22nd are the days of illumination for 2009.

Read more about The Cailleach, the powerful Hag for whom the site is named.

Thanks to Michael Fox for the writeup and photos from the Loughcrew Illuminaton, 2009

Here's a video about Loughcrew, including footage from the 2005, Spring Equinox illumination.

More on the video

Good Equinox and Bean-sidhe Moon, everyone, and light upon the paths of the Ancestors. Sláinte Mhaith!

Women Warriors, Protection, Healing and Justice

2009-09-19T16:53:00.000-04:00

Tanya Lee writes in Indian Country Today:

Women warriors take on domestic violence and sexual assault

From North Dakota to Arizona, strong, talented, accomplished Native American women are taking up the challenge of protecting themselves and their sisters, their mothers and aunts, their grandmothers and granddaughters, from the devastation of domestic violence and sexual assault.
... ... ...
“Crimes against Indian women and children strike at the very heart of tribal sovereignty,” reads the 2007 Senate Indian Affairs Committee concept paper on law and order that identified domestic violence and sexual assault as one of the five critical areas in which law enforcement in Indian country was failing.

Following the release of the paper in November 2007, the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2008 was introduced in the Senate and the House July 23, 2008. The last action on the bill was Sept. 18, 2008, when the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held hearings. The bill didn’t pass and was reintroduced in the 111th Congress April 2. The Senate held a hearing on the proposed legislation June 25. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has scheduled another hearing for mid-September, and the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women is considering a Tribal Consultation Oct. 30 in Minneapolis.
... ... ...
But in North Dakota, Linda Thompson and her colleagues at the First Nations Women’s Alliance and its member organizations are organizing themselves to be more effective in supporting – and healing – the victims of domestic violence and sexual assault on the four North Dakota Indian reservations.

“It’s often thought that young black men are the most victimized in the U.S., but it is actually Native women,” said Thompson, paraphrasing a statement in the Justice Department report, “American Indians and Crime.”

Read the Full Article

In related news, Cangleska is experiencing some financial hardships, and has had to lay off some staff. If you can volunteer or donate time or resources, please consider them.

Embedded within each of the components of Cangleska, Inc. is the concept of sovereign women within a sovereign nation whose safety was paramount. With the Lakota principle of “we are all related” incorporated in all of the work, Cangleska, Inc. offers a comprehensive and collaborative approach on the local, state and national level.

The number of women and their children seeking shelter and other related services continues to increase. Women are now aware that there is safe space on the Pine Ridge Reservation and are using the services provided to them.

In addition to services for women and children, Cangleska also has family programs and services for men such as Ki Wicasa Wo Ohitika and a Men's Re-education Program.

The Return of White Ego Fraud

2009-09-14T16:31:00.000-04:00

Rachel Holzwarth (aka "Suraj Holzwarth" aka "White Eagle Medicine Woman") laid low for a bit after lots of Native American groups protested her "prayerformances" and workshops. At these events she charges outrageous fees to white people to watch her mimic pipe ceremony and other Native American ceremonies of which she has no knowledge and to which she has no right. She claims to be Seneca, because she had a dream she's Seneca. She's not Seneca. She belongs to no Native American or First Nations community. She parades around in fake ceremonial regalia, and gave herself the oh-so-humble name, "White Eagle Medicine Woman". She's no medicine woman. She is a fraud, making her living off the ignorance of non-Natives who think they can buy their way to enlightenment.

When gig after gig on the mainland US was shut down by Native protestors, she just moved to Hawaii, and used a private mailing list to solicit marks and charge even more money for private workshops. In this video promoting a Hawaii event, she made stunningly racist statements about how she's here to heal Indians of "anger and negativity" and "release their souls" and "heal our stories"... or something. Sickening stuff.

As I mentioned here, at times she has tried to dissemble about her activities by claiming they are "Celtic". Nope, no one bought that lie, either. But it hasn't stopped her. Like all perennial frauds, she just waited it out and has now broken all the promises she made. She has returned to the mainland and is planning more appearances and workshops.

At the Michigan protest she promised not to wear her fake Native regalia anymore, among other things. As all recent photos and videos show, she has broken every promise she made. She is also selling chant books and tapes that appear to me to contain copyright violations from multiple First Nations artists as well as Neopagan ones.

Don't Pay to Pray has posted an update with lots of links here: YouTube Action: White Eagle Woman's At It Again!

Another of Mtig49's videos about Holzwarth. Though I will note that he has reproduced Holzwarth's claims to be "A trained Strega Wiccan priestess". I don't think this is true, either. Obviously, this crap she's selling has nothing to do with Stregheria, and I've never heard of anyone from those communities claiming her, either. It looks like Rachel/Suraj has claimed to be all sorts of things over the years, tailoring her self-description to whatever market she's keen to exploit.

crossposted to craobh caorann

Peltier denied parole

2009-08-21T20:52:00.001-04:00

LP-DOC Response

Indymedia

NPR

New Tara Petition - Taking it to the U.N.

2009-07-31T18:30:00.000-04:00

If you signed months or years ago, this is a new petition.

It's not over yet. There has been irreparable damage to sacred sites in the Tara-Skryne valley (notably Rath Gabhra / Rath Lugh). However, it can get worse. If we don't stop this, it will get much, much worse. If the motorway is finished, the corporations will then push to further develop the valley, placing strip malls and petrol stations atop the graves of our ancestors, bulldozing and paving over the land where they once prayed, and where we pray now.

As a comparison for Americans, this is much like the problems at Bear Butte (Nóávóse / Mato Paha) - this sacred, historical site should be preserved as the beautiful, powerful place it was for our ancestors, and should be for our descendants. Ceremonial people, and respectful spiritual people in general, should be able to spend time on the hill in peace, not be disrupted by cars and lights and urban sprawl. Please sign the petition, spread the word, and do what you can. Go raibh maith agaibh / Thank you.

Read and Sign the Petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/UN-Must-Save-Tara
Extensive updates and links from TaraWatch: http://www.tarawatch.org/new-save-tara-petition-to-the-united-nations-goal-of-1000000-signatures
Tara symposium - University College Dublin, School of Archaeology (23rd-26th October 2009): http://www.ucd.ie/archaeology/tarasymposium2009/
TaraWatch Details on Symposium: http://www.tarawatch.org/tara-symposium-university-college-dublin-school-of-archaeology-23rd-26th-october-2009
Alternative plan for Tara: http://www.meathmasterplan.com/

There is also a need for more letter writing to various officials and government bodies, more than I can cover in one post. Check out the main page on TaraWatch for multiple posts on how to help out. Go raibh maith agaibh! Tara Abu!

Suirbhé Mór na Gaeilge / The Big Irish Language Survey

2009-06-01T15:08:00.000-04:00

The Trust for Irish Medium Education / Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta are asking for wide participation in this survey. No matter where you live in the world, no matter what language(s) you speak, they are interested in your opinion on preserving the Irish language (Gaeilge). Go raibh maith agaibh for taking a few minutes to help out.

Please send this to everyone you know / Cuir seo ar aghaidh chuig gach duine a bhfuil aithne agat orthu.

English below

Iontaobhas daonchairdis i mbun Suirbhé Mór na Gaeilge

Tá Iontaobhas an Gaelscolaíochta ( InaG), iontaobhas atá ann le tacaíocht a thabhairt d’fhorbairt na Gaelscolaíochta, i mbun taighde ar dhearcadh an phobail i leith na Gaeilge. Dúirt An Dr Réamaí Mathers de chuid InaG , "Mar eagraíocht daonchairdis bíonn sinne ag obair i gcomhpháirt le pobail agus le daoine aonair ar fud an Domhain. Is é an ról is mó atá againn ná a bheith ag obair go dlúth le deontóirí agus daonchairde le tacaíocht a thabhairt do phobail eagsúla an Ghaelscolaíochta a bheith acu agus chuige sin tá suas do 5 mhilliún caite againn go dtí seo.

Ní féidir praghas ar chur ar luach ár dteanga féin agus tá neart eolais anois ag teacht chun cinn ar éifeacht déarfach na Gaeilge agus an tumoideachais ar pháistí agus ar an phobail ar fad. Is é an mian atá againn mar iontaobhas ná obair s’againn a leathnú ar fud na tíre agus níos faide mar sin de, tá sé de thábhacht go bhfuil eolas domhan againn ar dhearcadh an phobail i leith na dteanga bíodh sin maith nó olc. Tá an Suirbhé Mór anois ar shuíomh idirlíne Iontaobhas an gaelscolaíochta www.iontaobhasnag.com

Philanthropic Trust Fund carrying out 'The Big Irish Language Survey'

Iontaobhas na Gaelscolaíochta (InaG), The Trust Fund for Irish-medium Education have started what they hope to be the biggest ever online survey on attitudes towards the Irish language. Dr Réamaí Mathers from InaG said “As a philanthropic and charitable trust we work closely with communities and individuals throughout the World. Our main role at this stage is to work in partnership with donors and philanthropic bodies to support communities, primarily in the north of Ireland, who wish to fulfil the dream of an education for their children through Irish. The value of our native culture and bilingualism is being increasingly understood in relation a range of social, intellectual and academic benefits. The work we are involved in is exciting; it enriches lives and indeed whole communities

It is an ambition of our Trust to extend our work throughout Ireland and indeed perhaps overseas, it is therefore of paramount of importance for us to hear the opinions of people in relation to the language be they positive or negative. To this end we have devised a survey that will allow people to express their thoughts on a range of issues. The survey will run online from now until the end of July 2009.
The survey can be found on our website:

www.thetrustforirishmediumeducation.com

Go raibh maith agat to Eireannoir over on Óenach for passing this one along. Sláinte Mhaith!

Identifying the Predator: Spiritual, Financial, and Sexual Abusers

2009-05-02T02:08:00.002-04:00

As some of you know, I've been involved for decades now in trying to do something about predators in our communities. And as some of you also know, one of the reasons I do it is that I, and some of those I love, have been harmed by these con men (the vicious predators I've dealt with have all been men). The reason they were able to fool some of us long enough to hurt us is because they are skilled at it; it's what they do. Hopefully this information will help those who may have been victimized. Even better, maybe it will help someone spot a predator before they have a chance to harm them.

I think this is the first time I've reposted an entire article by someone else on this blog. It's worth it.

My gratitude to RedRightHand over at NAFPS for permission to repost this in full.

Identifying the Predator: Spiritual, Financial, and Sexual Abusers

There are common traits, common behaviors in human predators of all kinds. Spiritual scammers often operate the same way and use the same methods as other types of criminal con artists, batterers, and rapists. These different kinds of abuse often blend into each other.

A liar doesn’t just tell falsehoods/lies to strangers or only in certain situations. A liar routinely lies to everyone. In the same way, a spiritual fraud is not just a spiritual liar. He or she will always lie about other things as well.

Understanding these patterns of deceit among abusers and rapists gives us direct insight into the patterns of spiritual frauds. The following points are offered specifically about the patterns of physical abusers but the parallels to spiritual exploiters should be clear. The aim of this post is to help people in spotting frauds before they can do harm, and to help those who have been harmed find help.

1. Abusers are charming and tend to be very skilled at social manipulation.

2. They are skilled liars. They will also declare they are very honest and honorable but their actual actions will show otherwise.

3. They are in control of their actions, not out-of-control. They do not harm everyone they meet. They are very careful to abuse people they feel confident they can get away with harming, such as wives/girlfriends, children, “apprentices,” or those they are “instructing” ceremonially. Substance abuse may increase their aggression but you should never accept being high/drunk as an excuse for their actions. They are far more in control of their actions than they let on and they also harm their victims when sober.

4. They blame others for their behavior. “The abuser shifts responsibility for his actions away from himself and onto others, a shift that allows him to justify his abuse because the other person supposedly "caused" his behavior.” The fact is, abusing another person is a choice. It is the fault of no one but the abuser.

5. While “friends” and acquaintances will be subjected to manipulation, lies and sometimes emotional abuse, usually only the abuser’s intimate partners and immediate family will see the monstrous side of them. Abusers are very invested in their public image, and will use acquaintances to lie for them and/or pass on their lies in their defense. They will spend a great deal of time lying to non-intimate “friends” to lay a false trail of misdirection and alibis. On the internet and in long-distance phone calls, it is particularly easy for abusers to construct a good front for their online friends who may never meet them in person.

6. Abusers specialize in finding out your vulnerabilities. In the beginning they will tell you how special you are. They will encourage you to confess your fears and vulnerabilities, and they will make a good show of being vulnerable themselves (even though it is just an act and built on lies). They do this to make you emotionally dependent on them, and so later they can use these things to harm and manipulate you.

7. They will seem too good to be true. And they are.

*** *** ***
There is a common misconception that predators and abusers are easy to spot, that they display obvious signs of their predatory nature. While there are warning signs to look out for (linked below), predators have carefully tailored their disguises through their years of abusing others and getting away with it.

If predators weren’t skilled at convincing potential victims and supporters that they’re a nice guy (and those who commit physical abuse are overwhelmingly male), they wouldn’t be successful at what they do. They’ve learned how to fool and manipulate people. It’s their profession. If they weren’t good at fooling people, they would have moved on to some other way of making a living by now. By the time an abuser is middle-aged or elderly, they are very experienced at it; they are not going to change.

Abusive behavior usually starts after the victim has made an emotional, spiritual, and/or financial commitment to the predator. Abuse usually starts right after some milestone: moving in together, getting married, pregnancy, or the birth of the first child. With spiritual predators, it’s often once the victim has made a ceremonial commitment and/or given the predator a large amount of money. Once that investment on the part of the victim is there, the predator knows the victim will be hesitant to throw away all that time and effort they’ve invested in the relationship. By that point the abuser has probably also isolated the victim from other sources of support and information, and has made sure the victim sees them as the unquestionable source of the truth.

The vast majority of rapists don’t hang out in alleys to commit “stranger” rape. “Over 70% of sexual assaults are committed by someone the survivor knows. Over 40% of sexual assaults occur in the victim's home and another 30% take place in the home of a friend, neighbor or relative.”

If you’ve been abused, there is help available. Once you know the patterns to look for, abusers are much easier to spot. Remember, if someone has harmed you, you can bet there are other victims out there. If everyone who has been abused speaks up, the world will change. Those who work the hotlines, who counsel victims of domestic violence and other forms of sexual and spiritual abuse, have heard it all before. They will recognize your story. They won't be shocked and you don't have to be ashamed. The patterns are all too common.

Web Resources

* No Nonsense Self-Defense is an excellent site with many informative articles. Among them:
** Profile of a Rapist
** Stalking/Domestic Violence

* Domestic Violence: In the Mind of the Abuser

* Warning Signs of an Abusive Personality

* Myths and Facts about Sexual Assault

“Myth: Women frequently "cry rape". Fact: The FBI reports that false accusations account for only 2% of all reported sexual assaults. This is no higher than false reports for any other crime.” Rape and domestic violence are the most under-reported of crimes.

* Patterns of Emotional Abuse

* Be Alert To Common Traits of Stalkers

Books

* Why Does He DO That? - Inside the minds of angry and controlling men by Lundy Bancroft (This book identifies specific types of abusers and their M.O.s, though many abusers are of mixed types)

* The Anatomy of Motive
by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker (Understanding criminal psychology, the reasons predators abuse, the types of victims they target, and why)

* Trauma and Recovery
by Judith Hermann (Help recovering from PTSD, whether from combat in war or surviving domestic violence)

Phone and Internet Resources

* National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233)

* RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): 1-800-656-HOPE (1-800-656-4673)

* Sacred Circle: National Resource Center to End Violence Against Native Women": 1-877-RED-ROAD (1-877-733-7623):
“Women Are Sacred! Violence Against Native Women Is Not Traditional!”

* Mending the Sacred Hoop, Technical Assistance Project

* Red Wind Consulting, Violence Against Native Women

* Domestic Violence and Native Americans

* Native Women's Society of the Great Plains: 1-605-455-2939 (not toll-free)

* South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault: 1-800-572-9196

* White Buffalo Calf Woman Society

Permission to re-post granted by the author.

Justice and Honors for Lakota Women

2009-05-02T00:02:00.000-04:00

Lakota Woman Wins Unprecedented Rape Case

From the Argus Leader:

A Native American woman from Wounded Knee won a historic ruling in federal court based on a century-old treaty between the U.S. government and the Oglala Sioux Tribe after she was sexually assaulted by a military recruiter.

The U.S. government must pay Lavetta Elk, formerly of Wounded Knee, almost $600,000 in damages after she was sexually assaulted by Army recruiter Staff Sgt. Joseph Kopf in his car January 2003, according to court documents. Judge Francis Allegra based the ruling on a "bad men" provision in the April 29, 1868, treaty between the government and the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

That provision of the Fort Laramie Treaty "provides that if 'bad men' among the whites commit 'any wrong' upon the person or property of any Sioux, the United States will reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained," court documents filed Tuesday indicated.

read the rest of the article...

Lakota Woman Wins National Award

From the Rapid City Journal

A member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and White Buffalo Calf Woman Society has won a national honor recognizing her work and dedication in addressing and preventing sexual violence.

Tillie Black Bear, executive director of White Buffalo Calf Woman Society, the oldest shelter on a Native American reservation, has been awarded The National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s 2009 Visionary Voice Award. Black Bear is considered a leading expert on violence against women and children.

She is a founding mother of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and a founder of the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. She is the first woman of color to lead the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Black Bear has worked as a therapist, school counselor, administrator and a college instructor.

Thanks to Betsy Campisi at Zintkala Waste Win Oti for passing these along.

Tillie Black Bear speaks at Northern Michigan University, September, 2008:

Tribal domestic violence was once punished by death

We Shall Remain - "Through Native Eyes"?

2009-04-24T19:13:00.000-04:00

There have been some conflicting statements in the media about how much actual input Native Americans had into the PBS series, "We Shall Remain," currently airing on Monday nights on "American Experience". Hartman Deetz of the Wampanoag Nation commented on what his community has gone through in participating, to one extent or another, in the project: we shall remain episode one

As reiterated in the discussion there, while the series is certainly an improvement on some similar mainstream media projects helmed by non-Natives, I don't think any film or documentary can truly be called "through Native eyes" unless all the key roles in the writing, producing, directing and editing of the production are filled by Natives. While this project aimed at "inclusion," it's not the same as creative control.

Irish activist aims for U.S. support to stop highway at Tara

2009-04-07T15:57:00.000-04:00

Campaigner Vincent Salafia marches in Dublin to protest against plans to build a highway through the historic Tara valley - Photo by Julien Behal/PA

Now, with legal avenues and protests in Ireland seemingly exhausted, [TaraWatch founder Vincent] Salafia is looking to the U.S. to try and drum up support for his campaign.

The March edition of the Smithsonian magazine, the magazine of the Smithsonian institute, included a feature on the Hill of Tara that quoted Salafia. It said that the “archeologically rich complex on and about the Hill of Tara is seen by many as the spiritual and historic heart of Ireland.”

Read the rest of the article at TaraWatch

Polls say 2 out of 3 people in Ireland are opposed to the M3 and the continuing destruction of the Tara-Skryne/Gabhra Valley, referred to in the article above as, "the most powerful Celtic pagan site". But after years of front line struggle, many people are worn out and feeling hopeless. Americans have been involved in the fight all along, but I think this call from one of the main organizers is particularly relevant for clearing up some recent confusion I've seen from Americans who are unfamiliar with the situation in Ireland.

crossposted to Óenach

New Online CR Community

2009-04-01T12:58:00.000-04:00

From Felmac:

Óenach (Old Irish: assembly, gathering) is an online Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) community and forum--open to newcomers and the experienced alike--for the discussion of CR and other Celtic-related topics from a traditional perspective, that is a perspective more strictly in accordance history, culture and tradition.

"Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism (CR) is a polytheistic, animistic, religious and cultural movement. It is an effort to reconstruct, within a modern Celtic cultural context, the aspects of ancient Celtic religions that were lost or subsumed by Christianity." -- From the CR FAQ

Principles and Parameters

What We Mean by CR
1. Celtic Reconstructionism is a methodology to restore and revitalize the pre-Christian worldviews and polytheistic systems of the various Celtic peoples in the context of contemporary yet traditional Celtic cultures.
2. This methodology is part of a manner of living and being that involves a commitment to the living Celtic cultures and their pre-Christian thought and character.
3. History, culture and tradition form the foundation that informs our methodology, everyday lives, and the process of restoring our pre-Christian spirituality, values and conceptions.

What We're Not About
1. Celtic Reconstructionism does not involve and in fact rejects modern and artificial syncretisms, eclectic practices and modernist interpretations, and does not affiliate with Neodruidism or Neopaganism.
2. This community supports and wishes to preserve the space of women in relation to the flame of Brigid, ie male flametending is not a supported practice.
3. While we maintain that reconstructed Celtic Polytheisms are ethno-religious traditions, this is not an excuse for embracing notions of racial or cultural superiority, or racialist ideologies, and we firmly oppose discrimination based on factors such as race, heritage, nationality, gender or sexual orientation.

What's On Topic
Anything directly relating to Celtic cultures (past and extant), history, languages, and polytheisms.

Please consider joining!
http://community.livejournal.com/oenach/profile

Go raibh maith agaibh to Tomás agus Mícheál for all their work on this. There have already been some good discussions, and I look forward to many more.

Imbolc on the Hill of Tara

2009-01-30T16:11:00.001-05:00

The TaraWatch crew will be hosting an Imbolc gathering at Teamhair on Sunday, 1st of February.

The intention is to walk sunwards around the hill with lights or lanterns at dusk, pay homage to the festival and by doing so highlight the continued destruction of the Tara Complex due to the works of the M3 Motorway now reaching its end phase.

People are invited to gather in the Hill of Tara car park at 4.30.

Organiser, John Farrelly, said:

"This should also act as a reminder of the hubris style development which ran riot over our country for the last ten years, laying our environment, social system and economy low, something Tara protesters always warned about and which has now came true."

Contact:
--
John Farrelly (087)127-6829

Vincent Salafia (087) 132-3365

info@tarawatch.org

How to learn Gaelic (or any "small, local" language)

2009-01-28T17:40:00.000-05:00

Tim from Mill a h-Uile Rud writes:

Learning a small, local language like Gaelic is fundamentally different from learning a massive, international language like French or Spanish. Most people come to grief when they try to learn Gaelic because they approach it like French or Spanish, and you just can't learn Gaelic that way.

(More...)

Tim provides a number of online resources and has excellent suggestions that apply not only to Gaelic, but to any language spoken mostly by small, insular groups of people. Basically, you need to speak some every day, even when you only have a little bit of the language. The learner needs to shed their fear of making mistakes, and know that everyone knows mistakes are a part of learning. And if you can't find an immersive environment in person, you can get some of that effect via Gaelic radio on the Internet and (in some areas) Gaelic-language television.

It takes more persistence, and more effort to seek out the groups and networks of people who can help you practice. The learner also needs to understand a variety of cultural issues that can help or hinder the process. But with dedication and applied effort, it can be easier than you may think.

Gaelic speakers and learners are relatively lucky, compared to many of the endangered languages of the Americas: we have Internet radio stations, websites and good distance-learning programs, in addition to numerous courses in combined book and tape formats. While it's always easier to learn with others in a group, preferably with fluent, native speakers involved, it's possible to get a solid start on one's own.

Now back to increasing my skills anns a'Ghàidhlig ;-)

Faclair Dwelly air Loidhne!

2009-01-14T18:21:00.000-05:00

Students and speakers of Gaelic, as well as anyone interested in Gaelic culture, will be pleased to discover that Dwelly's Dictionary is now available online. Dwelly's is not only a language resource, but is brimming with folklore and cultural bits. Definitely an essential, and now in searchable form.

Anns a' Ghàidhlig: Am faclair mòr Gàidhlig - Beurla aig Dwelly air an lìon

and In English: The online version of Dwelly's great Scots Gaelic - English dictionary

Language Preservation: Scotland, Ireland, and America

2009-01-12T21:19:00.000-05:00

To preserve the languages of our ancestors, to pray in their native language - the language of the spirits - it is necessary for the passion for the language to be carried on by the next generations. Here are a few examples of younger people doing good work, from Alba (Gàidhlig), Éire (Gaeilge), and America (multiple Native tongues):

Scottish Gaelic

Ireland: Will the Irish Language Survive?

An award-winning documentary filmed and produced by the Norman High School Native American Club. It examines the endangered languages of Native Americans through the eyes of the Elders.

Norman OK students' film courtesy of newsok.com

Meath Motorway Ancestors to be Reburied...

2009-01-03T14:14:00.001-05:00

... well, some of them. Reburial seems to only be planned for those who the staff of the National Museum believes died less than 100 years ago. So, your grandmother gets reburied, but Fionn mac Cumhaill stays in the museum.

Human remains removed from the Scaruppa burial site near Enfield during roadworks there, and in the possession of the National Museum of Ireland, will be returned for reinterment, a museum spokesman has said.
...
A team of archaeologists excavating on the site six years ago, on what was to become part of the M4 motorway, uncovered the remains of 461 bodies dating from the fourth century up to the early 1960s. The site included a 'cillin’, a burial site for stillborn and unbaptised babies.

more...

But for the ancestors whose graves have been paved over by the NRA, what will they think of having their bones reburied in a new location? And though I strongly support and commend Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, for his activism and offers to perform the reburials, I also have to think of the ancestors who were not Christians. Still, if we can even get the bones of the older ancestors returned, I think it's far more respectful to bury them in Christian-consecrated ground than to leave them on display or in storage in a museum. I don't know much about Dr. Smith, but perhaps those participating in the reburial ceremony could aim for inclusion in this. There are many prayers from the Celtic Christian period that would serve well for both Christians and the Polytheists who proceeded them. Even if only the Christians get reburied, I would like to see any ceremony acknowledge all of those whose graves were violated.

Though this is definitely a step forward, so far the pre-Christian ancestors are still out of luck.

Gormley Heckled at Brú na Bóinne

2008-12-22T17:14:00.000-05:00

Irish Environment Minister John Gormley attended the Winter Solstice illumination at Newgrange... and was heckled.

Environment Minister John Gormley -- one of 19 VIPs and lottery winners allowed entry to the Neolithic chamber -- didn't get the blame for the sun failing to shine at the ancient Co Meath site. But the Green Party leader was heckled over his failure to reroute the M3 motorway from historic cultural sites at the Tara and Skryne Valley.

"When you come out Minister John Gormley, will your hands be untied?" shouted Heather Buchanan, from Co Meath. "He talks about sacred land but he doesn't practise what he preaches. I want to know what his intentions are going into the chamber, what does he hope to achieve by entering the chamber? What does he feel coming out of the chamber, I'd love to know, I'm sure the whole nation would love to know that."

And from TaraWatch:

This is the man whose party campaigned vigorously for the protection of the Hill of Tara, and then said he had no power to change the M3 motorway, when he got elected and appointed Minister, by Bertie Ahern.

Some attendees felt the confrontation of Gormley by other participants was disruptive to the ceremony. Others felt strongly that Gormley's entry into the sacred site, after so letting down the campaign for Tara, was the true desecration.

Annual Sunrise Vigil at Alcatraz

2008-11-25T20:08:00.000-05:00

And for those on the other coast...

For more info: IITC at 415-641-4482 or www.treatycouncil.org

And in Gaelic news...

2008-11-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Petition to make BBC Alba available via Freeview

Sign the petition if you want to be able to watch the Scottish Gaelic TV channel via Freeview, or if you just want to make the channel available to more people, period. At present, access to the channel is limited according to your geographical location, or whether you have access to Sky TV.

(repost from Debs at Living Tradition)

And on the other side of the pond, Liam Ó Caiside has started a blog for the US National Mòd: A’ Seinn Còmhla
The Blog of the U.S. National Mòd: Celebrating Scottish Gaelic Song, Music, Language & Culture.

Moran Taing, a Liam!

National Day of Mourning - Thursday, November 27, 2008

2008-11-19T14:41:00.000-05:00

United American Indians of New England
284 Amory St.
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
(617) 522-6626

E-mail: info@uaine.org
Website:http://www.uaine.org

ORIENTATION FOR 2008 NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING

WHAT IS NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING?

An annual tradition since 1970, Day of Mourning is a solemn, spiritual and highly political day. Many of us fast from sundown the day before through the afternoon of that day (and have a social after Day of Mourning so that participants in DOM can break their fasts). We are mourning our ancestors and the genocide of our peoples and the theft of our lands. NDOM is a day when we mourn, but we also feel our strength in political action. Over the years, participants in Day of Mourning have buried Plymouth Rock a number of times, boarded the Mayflower replica, and placed ku klux klan sheets on the statue of William Bradford, etc.

WHEN AND WHERE IS DAY OF MOURNING?

Thursday, November 27, 2008 (U.S. "thanksgiving" day) at Cole's Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts, 12 noon SHARP. Cole's Hill is the hill above Plymouth Rock in the Plymouth historic waterfront area.

WILL THERE BE A MARCH?

There will be a march through the historic district of Plymouth. Plymouth has agreed, as part of the settlement of 10/19/98, that UAINE may march on Day of Mourning without the need for a permit as long as we give the town advance notice.

PROGRAM: Although we very much welcome our non-Native supporters to stand with us, it is a day when only Native people speak about our history and the struggles that are taking place throughout the Americas. Speakers will be by invitation only. This year's NDOM is once again dedicated to our brother Leonard Peltier.

SOCIAL: We hope there will be a pot-luck social held after the National Day of Mourning speak-out and march this year. Please check back to the website to confirm. We anticipate that the hall may not be large enough to seat everyone at once. We may have to do two seatings. Preference for the first seating will be given to Elders, young children and their mother/caretaker, pregnant women, Disabled people, and people who have traveled a long distance to join National Day of Mourning. Please respect our culture and our wish to ensure that these guests will be the first to be able to sit and eat. With this understanding in mind, please bring non-alcoholic beverages, desserts, fresh fruit & vegetables, and pre-cooked items (turkeys, hams, stuffing, vegetables, casseroles, rice & beans, etc.) that can be easily re-warmed at the social hall prior to the social. Thank you.

TRANSPORTATION: Limited carpool transportation may be available from Boston. Contact the Boston International Action Center at (617) 522-6626.

There is transportation from New York City via the International Action Center, for more information call 212-633-6646.

DIRECTIONS: National Day of Mourning is held by the statue of Massasoit at Cole's Hill. Cole's Hill is the hill rising above Plymouth Rock on the Plymouth waterfront. If you need directions, use Water Street and Leyden Street in Plymouth, MA as your destination at mapquest.com. That will bring you to within a few hundred feet of Plymouth Rock and Cole's Hill. You can probably find a place to park down on Water Street.

Donations: Monetary donations are gratefully accepted. Please make checks payable to the Metacom Education Project and mail to
Metacom Education Project/UAINE at 284 Amory Street, Boston, MA 02130.

*** *** ***

Videos from last year's protest:

Blizzard Followup

2008-11-09T15:06:00.000-05:00

Here's a bulletin from Save Our Tribal Youth (S.O.T.Y.) with a concrete way to help some of those hard-hit by the blizzard:

Many of you are aware of the severe blizzard that just past over South Dakota leaving much of the state and especially isolated reservations without power and ability to travel due to snow drifts of several feet high.

Residents are asking for help in many ways with heat, food, basic needs and warm clothing.

Here is a quick and direct way you can get help to them. Cangleska Inc. is a women & children's shelter on Pine Ridge Reservation that houses moms and their kids who are in domestic violence situations and/or have become recently homeless. One of our sponsored families who suffered a fire is now in shelter.

They are asking for items for winter and for the upcoming Christmas holiday. MANY children will receive nothing at all. Most families do celebrate this holiday. Every child wants to receive a gift on Christmas day. Especially those in shelters who generally are forced to leave their homes suddenly with only what they are wearing.
You can help!!

Cangleska Shelter is asking for (NEW) blankets, coats of all sizes (infant to large teens), NEW foot gear such as winter boots and sturdy athletic shoes, diapers, formula, non-perishable baby foots, cereals, powdered milk, etc.

If you have the ability and can find it in your heart, please send a new unwrapped toy (such as an art-type item ((crayons, paints & paper, art kits)) and other suitable gifts that don't require batteries or additional items to Cangleska to help with their holiday gift program for the kids. Teens could use winter clothing and age appropriate books or scientific non-battery operated game.

Please send all items directly to the shelter -- they will know how best to distribute them to their residents and in their community outreach program.

We thank you for your help and assistance.
Below are addresses you can send things via UPS, Fed-Ex or postal service:

Please let them know you heard about them from Save Our Tribal Youth - we have begun working with them to help.
Thank you!

Via UPS or FedEx Ground: (FED EX AND UPS WON'T SHIP TO PO BOXES)
Cangleska, Inc.
1 Cangleska Road
Kyle, SD 57752

VIA US MAIL - POSTAL SERVICE
Cangleska, Inc.
P.O. Box 638
Kyle, SD 57752

PILAMAYA!
S.O.T.Y.

ETA: SOTY also has PayPal for donations on their website, and has other programs for sponsoring children and youth in need: http://www.saveourtribalyouth.com/

Blizzard Slams the Black Hills, Reservations Hard-Hit

2008-11-09T11:31:00.000-05:00

From Save the Sacred Sites Alliance

On Wednesday afternoon, areas of Western South Dakota were slammed with a major blizzard that lasted thru Thursday. The storm left thousands of people stranded and without power and heating. Winds were clocked at 105 miles per hour in some areas and remained at 60-80 mph throughout the 24 hour period. Areas of the Black Hills had snow drifts of over 20 feet in some areas. Record amounts of snowfall for one day, fell in the Hills. Temperatures with the wind chill were just above zero.

Many of the rez's were also hit hard including Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Cheyenne River and no word about Standing Rock, or others further east as of yet. There are still hundreds of people on the rez's without power and heating and many roads still un-plowed.

The frustrating part is, the media gave us no warnings in the days prior, about this blizzard. They kept referring to 2-3 inches of snow on Thursday, nothing about a blizzard until it was already upon us and to late. This left people completely unprepared for what was to come. With the proper warning, folks could have gotten out of the countryside and into town until it was over.

My power was out for almost three days, my house was 45 degrees. Luckily enough in my case, power was restored this morning. However, there are elders and folks with small children on the rez's that endured this cold and still are. Some elderly that are on oxygen and/or dialysis, were having to go without because of no power and no way to travel.

Read the rest of the Bulletin

The Launch of BBC Alba

2008-10-26T22:52:00.000-04:00

BBC Alba, television companion to Radio nan Gàidheal, kicked off in September with a broadcast of a version of Runrig's song, Alba, sung by a number of Gaelic singers.

Like Radio nan Gàidheal, this will provide excellent opportunities for the learning, practicing, and preservation of the Gaelic language.

Moran Taing to Debs at Living Tradition for passing this one along.

Anti-Semite on the Beaver's Head

2008-10-14T18:51:00.001-04:00

So, Mel Gibson is filming a movie here. Unfortunately, they're building sets up on Mt. Sugarloaf.

Despite it having a bit of development up there already (a simple road, a couple parking lots, a picnic area and an observation tower) the site is sacred to the first peoples of this area, and many of us who live here now acknowledge the mountains and their role in the local creation/destruction legends. So some of us are pretty disgruntled they're building stuff and trucking in equipment up there.

Some folks protested the other day, but the coverage didn't mention the sacred site angle.

Any local folks want to protest this with us? I'm not too sure what the upcoming shooting schedule is, but I'll bet we could find out without too much trouble.

Update on Plymouth Protests against White Ego Fraud

2008-10-14T13:53:00.000-04:00

Hartman has posted about his experience confronting White Ego Fraud (Rachel Holzwarth) last spring in Plymouth.

Hartman is one of the protesters who was attacked, pepper-sprayed and arrested, and the one whose blood Ego (Vampire) Fraud stole and rubbed on her drum.

It's good to hear more details on what happened. Other good news is that the case has been continued without finding, with no time served and no guilty verdicts.

Though the protestor's aim of destroying the drum was not achieved at that action, I think it was the brutality shown by the cops and the "peaceful" nuagers, as well as Ego Fraud's chilling blood incident, that really got the ball rolling on this. Hartman and his crew are my heroes for their bravery that day, and I'm relieved they haven't had to serve any time for it.

Thanks to their confrontation, word and outrage spread, so it was a success.

May it continue to spread, till the bloody fraud drum is destroyed and Holzwarth is forced to find a new career.

The Bureau of Caucasian Affairs

2008-10-13T21:21:00.000-04:00

THE BUREAU OF CAUCASIAN AFFAIRS

by Lehman Brightman, President of U.N.A.

United Native Americans is proud to announce that it has purchased the state of California from the whites and is throwing it open for Indian settlement.

UNA bought California from three winos found wandering in San Francisco. UNA decided the winos were the spokesmen for the white people of California. These winos promptly signed the treaty, which was written in the Lakota language, and sold California for three bottles of wine, one bottle of gin, and four cases of beer.

Lehman L. Brightman, the Commissioner of Caucasian Affairs, has announced the following new policies: The Indians hereby give the whites four large reservations of ten acres each at the following locations: Death Valley, The Utah Salt Flats, The Badlands of South Dakota, and the Yukon in Alaska. These reservations shall belong to the whites "for as long as the sun shines or the grass grows" (or until the Indians want it back).

All land on the reservations, of course, will be held in trust for the whites by the Bureau of Caucasian Affairs, and any white who wants to use his land in any way must secure permission from Commissioner Brightman.

Of course, whites will be allowed to sell trades and handicrafts at stands by the highway. Each white will be provided annually with one blanket, one pair of tennis shoes, a supply of Spam, and a copy of 'The Life of Crazy Horse'.

If you are competent enough, you will be able to be a BCA reservation superintendent. Applicants must have less than one year of education, must not speak English, must have an authoritarian personality, proof of dishonesty, and a certificate of incompetence. No whites need apply.

Commissioner Brightman also announced the founding of four boarding schools, to which white youngsters will be sent at the age of six (6). "We want to take those kids far away from the backward culture of their parents," he said. The schools will be located on Alcatraz Island, the Florida Everglades, Point Barrow Alaska, and Hong Kong. All courses will be taught in Indian languages, and there will be demerits for any child caught speaking English. All students arriving at the school will immediately be given IQ tests to determine their understanding of Indian language, spirituality and hunting skills.

Hospitals will be established for the reservations as follows: Whites at Death Valley may go to the Bangor, Maine Hospital; those at the Utah Salt Flats may go to the Juneau, Alaska Hospital; those at the Yukon may go to the Miami Beach Hospital; and those at the Badlands may go to the Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. Each hospital will have a staff of two part-time doctors and a part-time chiropractor who have all passed first aid tests. And each hospital will be equipped with a scalpel, a jack knife, a saw, a modern tourniquet, and a large bottle of aspirin.

In honor of the whites, many cities, street cars, sports teams and products will be given traditional white names.

One famous Indian movie director has even announced that in his upcoming film, 'Custer's Last Stand', he will use many actual whites to play the parts of the soldiers, speaking real English. But of course, the part of Custer will be played by noted Indian actor Jay Silverheels.

Certain barbaric white customs will, of course, not be allowed. Whites will not be allowed to practice their heathen religions, and will be required to attend Indian ceremonies. Missionaries will be sent from each Indian Nation to convert the whites on the reservations. White churches will either be made into amusement parks or museums, or they will be torn down and the bricks and ornaments sold as novelties, souvenirs and curiosities.

Hope everyone found some way to protest today.