And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 14:35:27 EDT Subject: Please distribute To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 4.0 for Windows 95 sub 13 REALITY CHECK What have we become? As Indian people, our heritage is one of profound dignity. Since our ancestors met the invading Europeans, we have met with an amazing array of challenges. In the tumultuous times which have followed, our people's best and worst has been on display. Where would we be without the epic heroism our leader's and their followers displayed? At so many times, it would have been easier to have laid down and died, but the will of life carried our people on. Ours is the legacy of Tsali, Osceola, Crazy Horse, Geronimo, Dull Knife, Little Wolf, and others. When things gave been at their worst, our leaders distinguished themselves time and again. This has held true even throughout this century. THE INDIAN WARS ARE NOT OVER! The racist, genocidal policies of the united states government towards our people have continued, indeed intesified, once the illusion of mineral wealth became apparent to the Euro-centrists. The "worthless Indian land" became a battleground between Indigenous People, and of mining interests, with their oh-so-willing puppets in washington d.c.. So, in addition to stolen children, forced sterilization, alcohalism, and other imposed health risks, we now had to watch firsthand, as what was left of our homelands were methodically raped. We had to watch those who had lost their medicine undo what Mother Earth had created over millennia, and will take hundreds, if not thousands of years to repair. In these darkest of hours, in the face of mounting hopelessness, and the final push to rid the landscape of the only remaining inconvenience facing these multi-national corporations, our American Indian Movement was formed. A few brave souls stood together for a prophetic rebirth. A rebirth of our cultures, a rebirth of our determination, a rebirth of our pride. Astonishing those who had thought their work was nearly finished, our young generations, with the wisdom of their traditional elders, have established our final line of demarcations. As in all wars, almost mythical courage has been summoned by the men and women who felt the connection to the generations, and the Earth. And, though we had a choice whether or not to fight. To not have struggled, would have meant to cease to exist as a distinct race of people. When our people called, the Movement answered. As Indian people, our heritage is one of profound dignity. However, this dignity is slowly, but surely being erased. And, this is where the quandary lies: What has become of our Movement? As a result of real and imagined indiscretions, we have morphed into judgmental, pious, purists. As a real and imagined infiltrations, we have changed into finger-pointing ninnies, shouting "YOU'RE AN AGENT! YOU'RE AN INFORMER! YOU'RE A WANNABEE!" Sadly, if this weren't enough, there are those among us who would foster this dissent and paranoia , to their own ends. The psychological need to be at the center of attention has moved some to attack and "badjacket" anyone who doesn't kowtow to them, or has had a disagreement, even of a personnel nature, with them. This would be nothing more than, shameful, selfishness, if it had not occurred with such a frequency, and at such a level, as to have paralyzed the Movement, by becoming accepted protocol. Given the smallest excuse of a reason, leaders and would-be leaders are now crucified beyond belief. Given the slightest opportunity, certain individuals are smearing people's names, and intentions to ridiculous proportions. "You don't have to be a cop to do a cop's work!" We are at the point where we don't have to be infiltrated to be divided, we are doing it to ourselves! We have cannibalized our dignity in exchange for the illusion of safety, and one-up-man-ship. I have the inescapable sense of someone, somewhere, laughing themselves stupid, at how we have turned ourselves inside out. If I wanted to divided a National Liberation Organization, I would aspire to accomplish exactly, the frenzy we have whipped ourselves into. We are robbing ourselves. Robbing ourselves of assets, in the way of people who will not endure the backstabbing of themselves, or their loved ones, to help their communities. Robbing ourselves of the very dignity, we should be claiming as our birthright. When did we lose track of our own judgement? How many leaders can we afford to sacrifice in order to satisfy our manic paranoia? It is costly, far too costly for us to endure under the weight of lost leadership, in the face of current and future challenges. This is not to say all hope is lost. The remedy is simple. We must learn to trust ourselves again. Rather, we must remember how to trust ourselves again. The way to make a person trustworthy is to trust them. There is a catchy statement about fear- False Evidence of things Appearing Real. How many times have we opined about a potential infiltrator, to later learn of his or her forthrightness? When this happens, the damage done is irreparable, the loss of assets irreplaceable. We must get back to the days of believing in ourselves, and our brothers and sisters participating in the struggle. I'm not talking about mindless pollyanna, our survival demands discretion. However, reasonable and just rationalization can be accomplished without the mind-numbing and spirit robbing self paralysis we have spiraled down into. Each of us holds the key to ending this madness. Each of us must simply declare, if only to ourselves-I REFUSE TO PARTICIPATE! In the end, the relationships, and the projects which are allowed to grow into fruition, the people who are helped down this path of struggle, far outweigh the real, or imagined threats to our security, and to our sovereignty. Our strength lies in our unity. Let's be worthy of our legacy. We are all related. It's time for a REALITY CHECK! -Lawrence Sampson Delaware/Eastern Band Cherokee A PAPER OF THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS AUTONOMOUS CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
