Paging Gazhekwe

[gazhekwe]

Here is some awesome music. Moses Brings Plenty is the drummer.

http://www.brulerecords.com/dvd.cfm

Adding cf note: Prior post refers to Moses Brings Plenty.

[gazhekwe]

Oops. I posted the wrong link. You can listen to samples there. Here is a youtube, notice that flute player!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJgWjRO-RxY

Oops, another goof, this drummer is not Mose. I believe it is Clay Brian. The keyboardist is Brule, Paul LaRouche, the flute player is his daughter Nicole, and the guitarist is his son Shane.

[sumas]

Thank you for re posting the Buckskin recipe. Tried it once... loved it, than lost the directions.

[gazhekwe]

It is very good and so simple to make, it has proved invaluable in our house, too. In the old days, we might wrap this around a clean stick and bake it over a fire, or spread it on a hot rock and prop it near the fire to bake. Still an option if you have a fire and want to try something a bit different.

We traveled by train to Moosonee, a Cree village on the south shore of James Bay in Ontario. James Bay is the south end of Hudson Bay. Although no roads go there, there are cars in the village. It is accessible to outside by plane, train and boat. There we visited a traditional lodge where the women were making bannock, mixing in a bark container and baking the bread on sticks over the fire. The sticks were poked into the earth at the edge of the fire at about a 60 degree angle toward but not in the flames. We were able to buy a loaf and they passed a pot of butter for us to dip it in. In the old days, it would have been bear fat or maybe goose fat. Mide [[Mid day') is always an important part of any feast.

[gnome]

gazhekwe,a little off topic, but were you at the State Fair this year wearing a t-shirt that read, Original Homeland Security. ... under a pic of Geronimo and friends?

[gazhekwe]

No, that wasn't me. Unfortunately I couldn't go to the fair this year, but I might have had on a similar shirt if I did.

[gnome]

funny stuff..
Attachment 3793
Not the best picture, but you get the idea...

[gazhekwe]

Yes, I have seen that one. The thing is, it shows how little good it does to fight illegal immigration after it happens. Might as well make the best of things and come up with negotiated solutions.

[gazhekwe]

I think I talked about this before. There was a question on the Edmund Fitzgerald thread that made me think about it again, so I am just going to share some of my learnings about it. First, I am a woman, so one of the things I had to learn about was the power of woman, and how to be safe with it.

The question had to do with Lake Superior who never gives up her dead, according to Gordon Lightfoot's song, the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Why does the Lake have the feminine gender? Someone thought it might have to do with the Chippewa as referenced earlier in the song. One person said it was because women are powerful. Another said because it was part of Mother Earth.

Answer to the first question: She doesn't give up her dead because of the extreme cold. It keeps the bodies from bloating and floating. Answer to the second question, I don't know for sure. But about the power of women?

The power of women comes from the power to give life. One way that is expressed is in the blood. If you shoot a deer but don't kill it, and that deer bleeds for a week, the deer will die. But women bleed for a week every month and they don't die.

That time of the month is the most powerful for a woman, and she must take care not to harm things that represent power for others. She should not handle her man's things, like tools, pipe, weapons, clothing, or food.

Here is a story. I was at language camp not many years ago. I was well grown and should have had all these teachings, but I had not. A man was showing us how to make ricing sticks, and he had a small fire going. He left his axe lying on the ground. At some point, he asked two of us women to get him something from the other side of the fire. I walked straight over to get what he wanted and brought it back. The other woman got another and came back too.

We were back sitting ready to listen some more, and he said, "I noticed you both stepped over my axe."

We looked at the axe and figured we must have because it was right where we went to get what he asked for, but we had not even paid attention. "Yes, we did," we said, puzzled. I know I was thinking, So?

He said, "Women cannot step over things. You have so much power, you can damage things for the next time a man wants to use it."

Now we were just appalled. "We are so sorry!! What can we do?"

He said, "You can purify my axe for me, and that will make it OK."

We looked at each other, each hoping the other would know what to do. No such luck. "How should we do that?" I asked, bravely.

He was ready for that. Must see a lot of ignorant city Indians. "You pass it through the smoke over there. I have cedar in that fire, and that will do it."

We each took one side of the fire and passed the axe across it through the smoke. I hope we had enough sense to pass it in four directions. I prayed the axe wouldn't have any issues for him the next time he used it.

So there was a valuable lesson by a very kind man, and it taught me how to be careful with my woman power, and how to purify things. I have had similar lessons since. Traditional beliefs sometimes seem so irrelevant in this non-traditional world, but there are strong reasons to abide by them, for spiritual wholeness.

More lessons: Women should not see the healer during their moon time. Marriage cannot be performed during a woman's moon time.
Women may not attend sweat ceremonies during their moon time.

It sounds restrictive, but it is because of the convergence of powers during these times. The power of healing, the power of men's tools to do their work, the power of joining two lives. A woman's life-giving power will overwhelm these other powers. Of course, if a woman is ill or needs spiritual help during her moon time, then the healer must come prepared for that.

In the old days, women would take themselves off to a lodge in the woods away from everyone so as to contain their power. Nowadays, that is not practical, but only think about it. A whole week away from the kids and all that work. Every MONTH! Now who's being restricted?

[gazhekwe]

I will be gone a few days. Everyone please think good thoughts of me until you see me again.

[sumas]

Hi Gaz, Always enjoy your wisdom. Hope your venture meets with success and you come back refreshed.

[Pam]

I will be gone a few days. Everyone please think good thoughts of me until you see me again.

Is it because it is your moon time?

[gazhekwe]

Whew, I am back. Well, not exactly my moon time, Pam though there seems to have been a lot of blood involved. I have a spankin' new hip bone to replace the bad one I had from when I broke it a few years back. I sue wish I had been doing something exciting when I broke the thing but it turns out the most exciting thing I could think of was doing a pratfall on the parking lot while cleaning the ice off my windshield.

I am very grateful for the genius of modern medicine that can perform such a miracle. Now I must work on my Indian medicine and get this new baby nurtured and ready to enter the world. It is being a very cranky baby at this stage.

[eriedearie]

Welcome home Gaz - and heal quickly!

[Pam]

Whew, I am back. Well, not exactly my moon time, Pam though there seems to have been a lot of blood involved. I have a spankin' new hip bone to replace the bad one I had from when I broke it a few years back. I sue wish I had been doing something exciting when I broke the thing but it turns out the most exciting thing I could think of was doing a pratfall on the parking lot while cleaning the ice off my windshield.

I am very grateful for the genius of modern medicine that can perform such a miracle. Now I must work on my Indian medicine and get this new baby nurtured and ready to enter the world. It is being a very cranky baby at this stage.

Ow! Get well soon!

[gazhekwe]

Ow! is definitely how I feel today. They say it gets better day by day, and when I remember Friday I thought I couldn't move, but did, well, it's a whole lot better today. I still have 14 steps waiting for me to climb them so I can get to bed. The first time has got to be the worst, at least the most fearsome. Thanks for all the good thoughts and well wishes. Maybe something cool will happen on the way upstairs.

[gazhekwe]

Ah, well, no visions. I think coming down this morning was the worst yet, but here I yam! Anybody want to hear about anything in particular? It would be neat to think about something different for awhile.

[sumas]

So glad you are back. I hate to sound slavishly stupid but your posts are always so interesting. You asked for questions to help you work through your pain.

How about a short bio on your life. You are obviously well educated. I know that you have a very interesting world view to offer, since you straddle two different world views. I said it before, write a book. You are modest, but believe me, you have a lot to share and a lot to say.

Best wishes for a fast recovery. Sumas

[gazhekwe]

I lost my post! Where was I? Thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement, Sumas. The story of my life? I wasn't expecting that one. Well, I do have a few relevant stories I would like to share. Here is one.

After WWII, a handsome Ojibwe ex-marine came to Detroit to find work. He was living with relatives down near Boston-Edison. My mother, second generation French Canadian, lived across the street and was friends with the Marine's younger cousin. Somehow, they ended up together, and got a house in Brightmoor. He worked at Highland Nash, and she stayed home and waited for me to show up. Well, when I did, and was duly shown off to the neighbors, there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Such a dark baby! All that black hair! She cannot be WHITE! A petition was soon being circulated to force us to move out of this pristine beautiful new shiny white neighborhood. The petition accused us of being Filippino! Some other neighbors came out and got everything straightened out. We did not have to move and other kids were allowed to play with me. My Dad later became the 'real live Indian' Cub Scout leader. But what if my dad had been Filippino, what then?

Here is a picture of four generations in front of our Brightmoor house, my mom, her mother and grandmother, and me.

Attachment 3899

Her Dad and sister are on the porch. It's funny, I only remember him speaking French, but my mom didn't speak it, nor did my Dad speak Ojibwemowin.

I don't look so shockingly dark in the picture. I faded over time and ended up almost blond at one point, then started going the other way again. My coloring stabilized by the time I was eight or so.

[sumas]

See my point, you do have interesting stories to tell.

[Pam]

Nice pic, you were a cute baby.

[gazhekwe]

Thank you, Pam! My folks thought so, too. I think I got a bit spoiled.

This is really slow going here. I am still hobbling around with my walker trying to find a comfortable place to light. Played hospital and didn't leave my room yesterday. Today I am downstairs looking around for something to do. I have another life story cooking but not ready yet. Too much detail is boring, it's the life lessons that are fun.

[gazhekwe]

We spent our two week vacations 'up home' every summer, and we always had a wonderful time staying with 'the folks'. My grandparents had two kids at home still, one in primary and one in secondary school. Their house had no plumbing, but did have electricity. The water ran from a pipe into a barrel in the back yard, and we took turns bringing buckets into the house. My grandfather had recently put in a sink for my grandmother, and she was enjoying not having to carry the wastewater outside to throw it out. I think the water just drained out into the yard, it was pretty wet on that side of the house. Of course there was a comfortable but smelly outhouse in back of Grandpa's workshop. Lots of hungry mosquitos out there at night, too!

We got there going up US 27 or US 23 to the Straits, where we waited for the ferry to take us across to the UP. It was so exciting! We would leave in the dark, and get all the way up there in the dark again. From US 2 there was about twenty miles of gravel road out to the res. The whole trip took at least 12-14 hours.

We three kids would be put to bed sleeping crossways in a double bed, covered with heavy quilts my grandma made. There was something so comforting about those heavy quilts, like you would be safe and warm no matter what. I would recite a bedtime story from memory since no one was coming up to read one, too busy 'visiting.' I always loved stories.

There were many cousins to visit and play with, and the time always flew by too fast. I remember one time my uncle who was about 12 carefully carved me a willow flute. It was so amazing. You could finger four notes with that flute, and get quite a range. We picked strawberries, or raspberries or blueberries, depending on the time we were up there. Apples too, maybe. We never wanted to go home at all, but we had to.

There came a time when my Dad decided he wanted to stay too, and I will tell more about that later.

The house my Grandpa built, with my Grandma and two of my aunts, my Mom holding me.

[gazhekwe]

Here's a story in honor of American Indian Heritage Month.

LaCrosse dates back on this continent to at least the 1400s. It was documented by Jesuit missionary Jean deBrebeuf who saw the Hurons playing it in the early 1600s. He said they used a stick like a crosier, a staff carried by Catholic bishops. The French do use the term 'crosse' for a game bat or stick. Different tribes have different names for the game, of course.

Dehuntshigwa'es - Onondaga [["men hit a rounded object")

Da-nah-wah'uwsdi - Eastern Cherokee [["little war")

Tewaarathon - Mohawk [["little brother of war")

Baaga`adowe - Ojibwe [["knocking about of balls")

There could be hundreds involved in a game, with each one's object to injure the opponent to make it easier to make a goal. The field could be a mile wide, and a game could last for days.

Like most activities, this one had a spiritual aspect, one played in the spirit of a warrior, to bring honor to oneself and one's tribe. The game helped train young warriors for war, to protect their nation.

http://www.sportscomet.com/General-Sports/252175.htm

[gazhekwe]

Today is the 40th anniversary of the November 1969 takeover of Alcatraz by Indians of All Tribes. Starting November 20, 1969 and lasting more than nineteen months, this unarmed occupation at first was directed at developing the land and buildings for Indian use for education, museum, spiritual and cultural center. The basis was federal land no longer wanted by the Federal government should revert to Indian use. Alcatraz had been declared surplus after the closure of the prison in 1963.

In 1953, the US had begun a program of termination. Indian tribes would have their lands broken up and divided, and the tribe would be terminated, thus ending their recognized status. This was another focus of the occupation of Alcatraz, and the general treatment of Indians at the hands of the federal government.

The termination policy fell into disrepute during the occupation and was ended by President Nixon in June 1970, during the occupation. Federal agents ended the occupation by removing the 15 residents in June 1971.

This article has some pretty good details in it.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/20/...an.occupation/