There are Indians living near enough to me for me to say they are neighbors (mile in any direction). I know people who are Indian. It would be better for all of us (lest you think that I'm some sort of ersatz Romantic or Idealist lost in the last century) if our neighbors were treated with respect. To do so, I begin to think more and more, is, in part, a function of understanding cultural signals and cultural norms.
The designation of the event as a feast was a cultural signal, the previous meetings at city hall were, inevitably, rich with cultural signals and norms on both sides. That the mayor, according to himself, had said he could only stay an hour was, in itself, a failure to understand the cultural signals being given him.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am thankful for the coverage of the AI community event last Tuesday that brought together the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors, community and city officials.WM: This gets to the point I'm trying to make, though done with great diplomacy, as befits Mr. LookingElk's position. IMHO, the office of mayor requires what I call excruciating class. A mayor does not go to a major event with a sizable group of his constituents unprepared or under prepared. Not knowing the cultural norms of the community he is addressing meant that the mayor was not prepared even though Mr. LookingElk's office made efforts to help him prepare.
This was not easy event to developed, this was originally developed to address safety and violence in our community and the perception of the Police Department's role within that. Since the planning began, another incident involving the Police occurred. This led to some internal questions on whether an event could be created that was meaningful, respectful and yet accepted a history of frustration, anger and harm.
We have had four different occasions where we asked community members to expose their stories to paint a picture of the depth and reach of this issue. The event on Tuesday was developed with the intent to honor those stories and the risk people took in sharing them by creating a forum for discussion that could translate into believable actions.
Based on the Mayor's response on this listserve, the intent may not have been clear to him about the event. As a MUID Co-Chair, attempts were made to connect with him for at least a half-hour in the week leading up to the event to be clear of the intent of the gathering and provide some educated advice on what words or actions expressed that leads to some level of reconciliation. Unfortunately that meeting never transpired and other city staff came to gather the information, but they may have played the role of a filter than a line of communication.
What it says to me reading an account of the event in the paper is that the mayor does not respect this segment of his constituency enough to be well prepared to meet with them. Frankly, that really makes me angry.
As a neighbor to some of the people not being respected as a result of carelessness? ignorance? what I conclude is that the mayor's office has put a stick in the wheel of resolving the issue of police brutality and my neighbors. This is not in the best interest of the city since it erects another barrier between me and my neighbors because it makes the Indians around me less open to creating trust with me. I don't want to live like that.
Today we will sit down with some city staff to reflect on the event, next week our sub-committee will gather and the following the full MUID group will come together to develop our collective reflection.WM: I too am pleased with the presence of those people. I'm particularly pleased that it included Lt. Arneson and Inspector Lubinski because it is they who will be responsible for supervising the change and initiating accountability sanctions for those officers who cannot or will not improve their performance. I'm happy that it included many ears, many eyes, many attentions to assist the process by witness.
However, I need to be clear on some general lines of thinking emerging. One is we were honored for the Mayor, City Council members Robert Lilligren and Dean Zimmerman's participation. We were also honored by the many levels of Police representation and their investment into the planning and carrying out the event.
We would be foolish, if our expectations were that a Mayor or anyone would have moved from knowledge to understanding in this period of time. We would also have been foolish in thinking we could have made more progress than we achieved that night considering the issue. We did present a position that we are expecting an answer within a designated period of time. However, we do believe we are engaging those responsible and will continue to pursue a relationship that is respectful, sustained and accountable.WM: Could we know what your position is at this juncture?
WM: I'm relieved that Mr. LookingElk sees progress. Like a typical white person, I want results quicker than is probably achievable. I think this process is much too important for the mayor's office to make easily avoidable mistakes.Tony LookingElk MUID Co-Chair
WizardMarks, Central
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