Amhran nam Bandia: Emergency: Wildfires Hit Northern Cheyenne Nation

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Emergency: Wildfires Hit Northern Cheyenne Nation

The Ash Creek Fire is estimated to be approximately 110,000 acres, on the eastern side of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana
Photo by John Youngbear, Wednesday, June 27, 2012
The wildfires ravaging the country have now hit the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Montana. A number of families have lost their homes and all their possessions. Things are still very dangerous there, and the community is fighting to get the wildfires under control.

Photo by Elton Harris via Billings Gazette

An emergency shelter has been set up at the Boys and Girls Club in Lame Deer.

Please consider helping out the people who have been hit hard by this disaster.

Current needs: Children's clothing, diapers, adult clothing and shoes, toiletries, eventually household goods will be needed. ETA: Updated, More Extensive List Here and Here.
There are currently emergency shelters and the Red Cross is providing food and water.

All donations of items can be sent to:

Northern Cheyenne Boys and Girls Club
101 Cheyenne Ave
Lame Deer MT, 59043

Monetary donations can be sent to:

The American Red Cross of Montana
**Important: You must state that the funds are for the Northern Cheyenne Reservation**

Our prayers are with our friends and their community in this difficult time.

Photo by John Youngbear, Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Photos courtesy Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health.

ETA 7:12pm ET: The Fire is uncontained and headed for Lame Deer.

Our prayers with our friends fighting the fire and taking care of survivors.

With the power outages and maxed-out phones, updates from friends are spotty. Regular updates are being posted on Facebook by Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health, and the KURL-8 Fire Watch.

Update, 6pm ET from Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health

ASH CREEK FIRE INFORMATION, 06/28/12

Basic information
Date of origin: Sunday, June 25, 2012 approx. 04:22
Location: 10 miles NE of Lame Deer, Mont., in Ash Creek
Incident Commander: Tom Heintz

Current Situation
Total Personnel: 118
Size: 110,000 acres
Percent Contained: 5-percent
Fire Behavior: Surface fire with occasional torching and long range spotting.

Significant Events: Ash Creek Fire was transferred to IMT 2 Heintz at 06:00; HWY 212 is closed from Lame Deer to Broadus, Mont.

Outlook
Planned Actions: Anchor and Flank; Hold flanks of the fire where feasible and identify and provide protection to values at risk.
Growth Potential: HIGH

Photo by Elton Harris via Billings Gazette
ETA: More photos at ICTMN: Northern Cheyenne Reservation Burning, in Photos

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Gaelic Polytheism, Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Solidarity

Occasional musings from one of the original troublemakers behind the contemporary Gaelic Polytheist (GP) (Gaelic: Ioma-Dhiadhachd Ghàidhealach; Irish: Ildiachas Gaelach) and Celtic Reconstructionist traditions. Allegedly the person to blame for that unwieldy, awkward, misinterpreted and misrepresented, umbrella tradition name (CR), and most definitely to blame for the Nigheanan nan Cailleach agus Ora nam Bandia branches of the community.

Clann Eóghainn na h-Oitrich, NicAoidh, agus Eóganachta. Tha mi a fuireach ann Wabanahkik. Co-còrdadh: Gä•sweñta’.

While my family culture growing up was predominantly diasporan Gael (Irish/Scottish-American), and my low BQ gives me white skin privilege / passing privilege, I also have Indigenous heritage from both Turtle Island (Yę Iswąre tatene utkéware hęwu) and Sápmi, as well as cherished African-American ancestors who survived the Middle Passage and the Underground Railroad. I am one of the people who has researched Cherokee blood myths to find the hidden truth that so many of us share - Black ancestors who made the excruciating choice to assimilate and pass in order to stay alive after escaping slavery.

As an unenrolled relative, reconnecting with the community we're pretty certain my ancestors are from, I'm a long-term member of several Indigenous-led collectives, active in Indian Country in largely a backup/support role since the 1980s, and in more recent years in interfaith and political work as both a collective member, extended family member, and as a representative of both our GP groups and the descendant crew. I don't presume to steer the canoe, even when I'm another grunt helping paddle one that my cousins, aunties, and adopted siblings have built and are helming. But except for my fellow Gaels and other diverse relatives, I jumped out of the ship over a decade ago. I'd much rather dive deep with the prop-fouling otters, be a shieldmaiden in the metaphorical jet ski clan, and continue my work with the side of the family I live with now, than get back into that rotting colonists' ship... unless it's to sabotage and change the course. Which I've been known to do sometimes.

It's one of multiple ways that my life is lived in liminal zones.

And if it's not abundantly clear, I fully support and unreservedly defend Indigenous Sovereignty: the right of Tribal Nations to determine their citizenship criteria, as well as their right to set the definition of who is and is not Indigenous. Descendants - those of us with documented ancestry but whose ancestors chose to separate from the tribe and live as non-Natives - need to abide by the criteria for Indigeneity set by the Nations we descend from. Even if it's complicated and not what you want to hear. And this applies exponentially if the documentation is iffy. To violate that boundary by trying to claim full Native status - by self-Indigenization - is dishonorable to the ancestors, as well as a violation of hospitality. Real descendants seeking to reconnect need to do so with profound respect, and on the terms set by the living relatives and Elders in that specific culture and community. And if the answer is "No," or "Not that way," to accept that.

I serve on the governing councils of CAORANN and Gaol Naofa; however, all opinions expressed on this blog, and posted elsewhere under my own name on social media, are my own.