Watched the movie, 'Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee'.
'Sitting Bull'. Have heard the name but never explored. Respect to the man who stood up to protect his people, their way of life and the land that nourished them.
'The Truth', not your truth, my truth. The superiority of the white man to tell that his ways and modes are civilized, that others have to conform, assimilate and integrate is pure arrogance according to me, then, now and always. This earth is in tune with the universe and tribes commune with nature in ways we do not understand. Of course there are practices that are brutal, but can the one dictating confront his own brutality and the history of his brutality before dictating to the world. How do the tribes in Africa communicate with animals, how do the tribes in India read the weather, how do the tribes in the Amazon know medicine ? I read somewhere of the tribes in the Kalahari who spoke about hearing the sound of the stars. At that moment, I felt grief and pain. I can never hear that. I cannot in my dreams fathom or imagine what that magic would be. It is lost to us. In the name of cult, superstition and dogmas, we have been for generations made of feel inferior, lesser mortals and not worthy of sitting on the same table. The same is the case everywhere. Tribal chiefs are poached with tobacco, liquor and drugs for access to the land. If not acceded, then rebellion will follow. Traitors to do this abound. Traitors to their own land and their people all for a few pennies. This is the formula used around the world.
There is knowledge among the indigenous people s that are lost today because of the 'my way is the only way' policy. If not 'my way then it is the highway' policy has created so much strife in this world, created wounds some of which will never heal. 'Only' My God, my Book, my Way is the root cause of trouble in many parts of this world. The rights of some to convert even in this internet age where one cannot be blinded easily by some lunatic is appalling. The sad part is that in America, where treaties I remember reading are sacrosant, there is still the fight for land belonging to the Indians. The same is the case in New Zealand where the Maori's are fighting for their rights to live life the way they wish. In India too, there is a fight for tribes to retain the land they have lived in. The concept that they do not own land is sacred to them. Why cannot we see the beauty and the depth of that thought and way of life ? For all their talk to the world about democracy and rights, the white man when it comes to the native Indians, rules get broken, thrown out and they turn a blind eye. Why ? Is it the superiority of the white man because of the colour of his skin, or is it the arrogance of power and might. Civilizations more powerful than any we have every seen have been wiped off the face of earth. What are we ? Why isn't that thought coming to mind before we wipe out the tribes from the earth ?
Hug a tree, pet a dog, caress a leaf, smell a flower, watch a butterfly, follow the ants, stretch your arms to feel the breeze, glide like the eagle, there is God there, if you will take the time to feel and connect. If you will listen. This earth is ours to live.
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