Exciting News! I was accepted to participate in the Anti-Racist Action Group through New Demographic. I am very thrilled to participate, I feel honored!
Thoughts On My Ojibway Heritage...
My heritage is always on my mind. I think about my skin color, my spirit, my heart, my soul, my connection to the land, the drum beat in my spirit, the ancestors, the smell of sage, the smell of sweet grass and my longing for a life that was annihilated and has been oppressed for hundreds of years. I have recently been reflecting on my tribe's name. When I tell people I have Ojibway heritage they often ask where the Ojibway are from. If I am in Michigan I have to inform people that they are from right here. I have to change consciousness around towns and cities being "founded" in 1701 or 1844 and tell them that the Ojibway have been here long before that. In the newspapers and on the nightly news you aren't going to hear from the Ojibway perspective or from the perspective of other tribes located in Michigan such as the Ottawa, Fox, Sauk or Potawatomi. The colonized mind no matter what your background is will forget about who was on the land where you live now. Our current system mostly operates in colonialism, annihilation and oppression. There are efforts being made to change the consciousness around this and I applaud everyone is doing the work. I start right here, everyday doing this work. I committ to this so I can contribute to breaking down these walls that keep us from not facing the truth that is within each and every one of us. The Ojibway are right here, first and foremost. This is where we are from!
Here is a song for you by Jim Boyd. This song interweaves with what I wrote about today in some ways. I really like this song and the images in this video.
Jim Boyd Band - Inchelium
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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