Respect-the lost art of humanity

I was taking my children to school this morning, as I do every morning, and I proceeded to escort them to breakfast in the school cafeteria. As I await my children to emerge from the food line, the school's custodian proceeds to ask some students to vacate the premises so other students can use the space to eat. The 8 young men proceed to talk back and refuse the custodian's request, as to challenge his authority over their actions. I then proceeded to intervene , as well as a teachers aide, to support the Head Custodian's request for the young men to leave and head for class. They finally picked up and left after the confrontation, only to have 2 of the young men come back and complain to a parent who proceeded to give me ugly stares.

This is a prime example of what I have been preaching about for years with school district officials- parents refusing to take responsibility for their child's actions and leaving the schools to deal with disciplining their children only to be criticized when it is not fair in the eyes of the parents. This kind of problem could be easily solved by one word- R-E-S-P-E-C-T , just like Aretha belts it out. Respect is a two way street, in order to receive respect one must practice it!
Parents no longer discipline their children for two reasons- first, for fear of Government agency interference (Child Protective Services seems to have a lot of time on their hands going after people who spank rather than people who have histories of beating their children severely); and secondly, they feel since they send their kids to school, it is the responsibility of the school to deal with their children indiscretions while in their care. So what have we derived from this attitude? Parents are the blame for how children act at school, not the schools or other environments such as video games or the media. We are the foundation for our children to learn morals and manners, so why do we turn that over to people who know very little about our children? So, respect your children by teaching your children to respect others.

Cultural Identity Theft

We all seen the commercials about "Identity Theft" and read or seen news programs on the subject. People have been plague with some serious problems financially due to this so called "victimless" crime. But there is another crime that does just as much harm as someone using your personal information for monetary gain- it's called Cultural Identity Theft.

Cultural Identity theft has been rampant since before Financial Identity theft was even conceived. Some people think it is okay to portray themselves as Native Americans- sometimes at sporting events, other times as holistic healers. Others claim Native blood through dreams or other inaccurate histories or information.It seems to be an ongoing plight for our people that others see an opportunity to make profit off a community that was decimated by years of oppression and disease. Far too many "plastic" Indians are popping up all over the Americas charging for sacred ceremonies, sweats, and traditional regalia items- along with mixing other Nation's ceremonies together with New age, Wicca, Christianity, Hindu, Kabbalah, and other Eastern philosophies. This is downright an abomination against our people and the Creator who gave us these sacred rights, and no one should benefit financially through abuse of such rights. These ceremonies were given freely, and they should be receive in such a manner. This is a crime, and it should be dealt with as a crime- no outsider should ever be allowed to charge money for a gift that was given out of love for the people of Turtle Island.

If you been a victim of Cultural Identity Theft- speak out about it. We have the power to stop this crime from taking anymore victims- we been victimized enough for over 500 years.

Giving is sharing our culture

I apologize to my blog readers for being away for awhile, but this was on my mind recently. Of course, the Council met last week to discuss business and to inform our members that we used funds to help some of our community members out of some binds. One of our members mentioned that "we should help our members first rather than strangers..." and that we did not know these people. I found this attitude in almost every organization I have come across, and it always is the "Me First" syndrome.

Giving should never be about what you can get from another, or about keeping resources to your self. Giving is from the heart and a reflection of the Creator's love for his people. He gave freely to the Indigenous community- visions, teachings, animals, medicines, and creation itself and the guardianship over it. This goes back a long time, as tribal members refused the acquisition of material goods- even the Chief, the poorest of all his people, gave freely and without asking for anything in return. In the modern time we live in, we deal now with con artists and scams that harm and take advantage of Native generosity, but that should not deter us from honoring our commitment to the Creator in giving from the heart. If we keep the "Me First" attitude in our thoughts, then we become no better than those who came to oppress our people, and we dishonor our ancestor's memory along the way.

Native Americans and Mexicans- Why the controversy?

Seems like wherever I go in this state I hear the same things over and over again. We recently (Running Waters & ADRIT) were asked to go bless a park for a event that was upcoming in the near future, and were given the details of what was to be done. The next statement rang in my ears like a bad note from a out of tune piano, as the person requesting our help said they didn't want "any Azteca or Mejican drumming" at the event. I was not surprised by this statement, but I was disappointed in this particular relation as to their attitude against those of the southern land.

First of all, Native American is a misnomer (America was a name given to this land by a demented mapmaker named Amerigo Vespucci, because those who "found" the "New World" failed to name it.) given to the people of Turtle Island (both North AND South) by the United States. Because of this, most Indigenous people have a warped definition of Native, thinking being Native American means being from the United States. Native Americans encompass all Indigenous people of North America and South America, as well as the Caribbean Island area. This attitude toward our brothers to the South could be likened to the movies seen in Hollywood- when we talk about Mejicans (pronounced meh-shee-kan, not meh-hee-can) it is almost like the line by Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes where he says "Damn you dirty apes, damn you all to hell." We need to rethink the way we perceive Aztecan/Mejican culture, because immigration is not just affecting the Mexican Nationals, it is affecting Native Peoples who enjoy the Dual citizenship of both countries- like the Tohonom O'ahdam, the Kickapoo, Lipan Apaches, etc. The Aztecan culture has survived its share of atrocities just like every other Nation here today, and they must be shown the same respect in order for our people to live in harmony and strength when the time come for the 5th world to manifest. I for one embrace our brothers to the South, and I see their culture just as important to my learning as my own Lipan heritage. We are all related by our actions to Earth Mother and the Creator, only division is the teaching of the EuroAmerican social order which is out of balance of what we are taught by our elders. Respect is the most important quality we have, and we must respect all Indigenous peoples- Mejican or not.

Keep Him In Your Prayers

Our brother, Rey Rios, is still recovering from an aneurism he suffered last week. We are so relieved that he is still here with us. Everyone needs to continue to pray for his recovery. I believe that so many prayers went out for him, it has helped him to survive and continue to gain strength.

Rey is one of the Council Members of Apache del Rio Intertribal Organization and he is also the Head Dancer for Danza Azteca de Yanaguana Tejatzlan. I know that we are all missing his company and looking forward to his return home.