Greetings, Ray, I'd like to see the pictures. Could you send them to [email protected]
I can offer an essay I am working on about Chaco Canyon, its rock art and how our brains comprehend it; the Indian and "western scientific" approaches to knowing the past; and their philosophies about decay and preservation. The essay is about thirty pages and lots of pictures and too big for email but I can mail it to you if you are interested. I am following your dialog with Ed with great interest, admiration and sympathy for both of you, and send both of you my thanks. I hope you continue it here. Lawry On Jul 27, 2010, at 7:47 PM, Ray Harrell wrote: > I tried to send the list pictures of my home reservation but the server > didn’t post them. I have them on PDF if any of you would like for me to > send them to your e-mail. > > > > Ed, you are talking about me and my home. I have done a lot with my life > as has my classmates. I’m really fed up with the attitudes of people who > don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to human potential and > how to develop it. The Indian peoples of Canada have made an attempt > to recover and restore the old forestry methods. > > > > What Canada seems not to have learned are the lessons that the Portuguese > Anthropologists of Brazil have come to know about Indian people. That > these peoples are, civilization wise, are not hunter/gather/foragers but are > remnants of great populations with fully developed religions, philosophies, > languages and relationships to the greater forest that they know in their > bones. They were farmers and foresters. Their pedagogy was the basis of > Rousseau’s book on education. My Aleut Sister who spends her life rescuing > these processes amongst her own people would tell you a lot about the > pedagogical practices of the Northern Peoples. Lessons that non-Indians > don’t even know exists. > > > > These economic descriptions are an insult to these people who are treated > like children by the dominant population and the government. I would > recommend that you read some of the more enlightened Brazilian > anthropologists who are the leading the way in rediscovering the great > civilizations that no one knew existed because one Spanish boat with a few > Soldier’s floating down the Amazon river killed millions with their germs. > The finest agricultural soils in the world are the Terra Preta Soils > developed by the Amazon peoples now gone. The stone building techniques, > engineering and great agricultural technology that fed Europe and Napoleon’s > armies from the Inca people are now lost. The growth methods of those > peoples that turned the Amazon jungle into a Garden are lost and being > further desecrated by the European religion of the marketplace. The > Spaniards didn’t just burn the books and tear down the government, they > deliberately desecrated everything that smacked of what they didn’t know or > were afraid the world might discover they didn’t know. The English simply > banned the religions and set out to steal the children sending them to > schools to make them good English Nannies and Servants. > > > > You seem unwilling to admit the immensity of the tragedy that Europe brought > to over 100 million people who in a hundred years would be down to about six > million. All in the name of trade and the marketplace. Is it any > wonder that the Indian people of Canada would rather sniff gas and die than > cooperate? Is it any wonder that the Indian languages in America call > Indian people ayvwiyah which means the Real people? > > > > I believe you are a man of good will. I do not mean to put this on you but > you should understand that unless you live there, can speak the languages > fluently, know the stories and the songs and dance with them, you cannot > possibly understand. The same is true of Europe. > > > > That’s why I teach Europeans their own stuff. I had to learn about them > or to give into my rage and withdraw. I’m not the only one to walk into > the eye of the beast. My good friend Burl Lane from my reservation was the > Bassoon section leader in Sir Georg Solty’s Chicago Symphony for forty years. > He’s in the upper 1% of his profession in the U.S. My high school > friend Don Johnson was the CEO of the Modine Corporation one of the Fortune > 500 companies. My cousin Mickey Mantle played for the Yankees and Gary > Brown a French Horn player friend in my high school band was a leading > anti-war lawyer for the JAG corps for the Navy during Vietnam and today has a > firm in Washington, D.C. I could go on and on about the people I am > proud to come from and be a part of. We all came out of the shacks and > shanties of the worst Super Fund Toxic waste site in America. So bad and > impossible to clean up for the lead and heavy metal pollution that they > closed the place down and fenced it off last year. We were all there > when the mines were in full bloom. It actually looks picturesque now that > there’s no more money to be made off of the bodies of Indian children. > But we did not capitulate and never gave in! > > > > You give in too easily. You would not make a good Indian. But you are a > good and civil gentleman and I hope I have not offended you. > > > > REH > > > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Weick > Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 5:45 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [Futurework] Stuckedness > > > > I've recently argued that people, especially the young, in the poorest > classes cannot easily escape the lot they've been given, even if they aspire > to a better life. Much of my professional life has involved working on the > problems faced by Canada's aboriginal people. Back in about 1990 I undertook > a study of communities would be impacted by a uranium mine in the north of > one of our prairie provinces. Here's my take on the position of one of those > communities. > > > > Ed > > > > Undoubtedly, the community had valid economic and social reasons for existing > at one time. During the fur and mission era, it serviced a largely > subsistence, partly commercial (fur trapping, commercial fishing, casual > labor) population that was widely dispersed on the land much of the time. > > The descendants of that population were drawn into town by a series of > government requirements that were imposed mostly during the post WWII era: > the requirement that kids attend school regularly; that the school be in the > community; that health and hospital services be provided where people live > (which was turned around into the requirement that people live where the > health and hospital services are provided); that people be housed at national > and provincial standards for Indians, and that community physical and service > infrastructure exist to support that housing; that people be conveniently > located so that welfare and other forms of subsidy could be administered to > them; etc. > > It has become a symbiotic community: All of the institutions have been > provided in a single place which in the administrative view is appropriate to > the population and that allows government institutions to provide their > services conveniently. The people, having lost their independence need the > institutions. But the institutions also need the people to justify their > existence in the community. > > Socially, the population maintains many of the values and attitudes of its > land based culture. The people continue to try to be hunters, trappers, > fishers and foragers, though being those things while living in the community > full time is very difficult. So some of the land-based skills and attitudes > have been converted to skills that allow survival in town, with foraging for > money among the various bureaucracies being an especially useful skill. > > Such foraging makes economic sense, since the community has no industrial > base. The only real income base, now and in future, is government, > supplemented by occasional construction, some local business, some fishing, > etc. > > Yet the money that the foragers obtain does not always make good sense > socially. Wives often see one purpose in money - feeding the family - but > husbands all too often see quite another - having a good time with their > friends. This often leads to family violence. > > The government institutions which service the community are there not only to > support and service the population, they are there to change it. They are not > really support services in the sense of helping people achieve their own > aspirations, they are coercive agents of social change - social engineers. > When they put some of the administration of programs into local hands, they > nevertheless maintain tight control to ensure that it is their objectives and > not those of the local people that are met. > > The outcome has been a disruption and fragmentation of the community. Many > people buy into the institutionally driven values, attitudes and actions, and > the old ways get pushed into the background. The elders remain respected as > custodians of old memories, but in reality wield little influence. They have > taken on the roles of cultural icons, not much more. > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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