We don't have to say or think what we don't wish to. We have a choice in those things, and we have to realize that and practice using that choice." (Rolling Thunder, CHEROKEE)
Good Morning to all.
Foremost and first I would like to thank everyone who took the time to read and comment on my (now deleted) previous posting.
As was added (edited) later I did NOT write this. And by now many of you already know this.
Those awful Native Words were written by a Native!
I found them offensive.
I found them to be ignorant.
Cruel.
Dangerous.
Shallow.
Intemperate.
Insensitive.
Foolishly UN~informed.
And completely prejudicial...
I will include a history of my remarks to this message posting...
...And just to let you know, I was either terribly misunderstood, or just completely rebuked for taking a stand with this.
My initial response was...
"Perhaps my sense of humor has gone missing, but I find this entire posting prejudicial and very UN~funny...
I do not, nor do I believe that this is the way most of us live.
This was a 'cancer' posting, nothing more. (And we ALL know how slowly, and insidiously, a cancer can kill)....
XOXO Anna" ------------
The reply I received as follows...
sorry i have to disagree with you on this...the ability of the native americans to laugh and find humor in life in general is awsome. how horrible attack someone and to rate it a cancer posting!!! :(
---------------------
And me again here...
"Without turning this all~important issue into a three~ring~circus, I find it odd that I do not live like that... And if I did I do not think I would find it funny in the least! I believe this is when one HAS to have the ability to pull ones self up by the bootstraps and make something more special out of their lives, and their families.
Finding humor in life in general is one thing; but this biased 'rez
dictionary' only seemed to find humor at the indigents expense. (And by 'indigent', I mean "poor").
As far as attacking my personal use of the word 'cancer'. It was
used synonymously to 'scourge' and 'rot' and certainly NOT as a
reflection of any illness!!!
And yes, 'scourge' and 'rot' do kill. They kill the spirit slowly and insidiously with thoughts such as were previously posted. Let us
be more kind toward everyone no matter their personal circumstance!
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: My sister has Grade 3, Stage IIIC cancer, and I do not think I would use this disease as food for anyones fodder (on here, or anyplace else for that matter).
Thank you.
XOXO
Anna-Anna"--------------------------
Anna, i thought i could let this rest but this morning i can not. i thought maybe if i could respond to your comments in nac perhaps you could gleem some insight... I find it odd that I do not live like that... altho you do not or have not lived like this many na have. thus they will find the humor .... it is no different than your posting on your blog...'the day my older sister lost her mind'. As far as attacking my personal use of the word 'cancer' i understood what you meant when u used the word in your post and so did everyone else i believe. but it was an offensive attack on the poster. Let us be more kind toward everyone no matter their personal circumstance! perhaps you should take some of your own advice here... if youve not lived it than you have no way of understanding i guess... but a sense of humor inspite of adversity ...is not a cancer...it is healing in itself. i personnally think you owe the nas of this board an apology. -----------
and from yet another person...
what exactly did you find offensive in this list? ndns ability to laugh at ourselves does not equate with not trying to better our lives. this rez dictionary is closer to real life than the stereotypical stoic-super-spiritual always-serious-ndn. in fact, anyone who spends time with ndns better have a sense of humor and a thick skin. the only ones who don't get teased are the ones who don't belong. they get teased after they are gone...
------------------
And so I have been trying to analyze and sort through my own feelings for the past two days...
In reading the remarks about my sister, (and the post about the MOW~ISS), I think it already clear that the respondent did NOT actually take the time necessary to read/understand/comprehend that post. But that is of little importance or regard at this point.
On another level is the statement that the respondent clearly believes I do NOT have "sense of humor inspite of adversity" This statement has also hurt me; but having not followed my blogs and life as it is, I do not think anyone could really bear witness to the fact that I believe I do have this offbeat sense of humor ...(about MOST things anyway).
When I was 22 years old, my then-husband left me alone with 3 small babies, and sailed off into the sunset with his girlfriend and little boy; moving to Germany to avoid any possible child support issues.
I, alone, was responsible for the complete care and raising of these three lives begotten during that marriage. (My baby girls were 3, 2, and 1 month of age when we split up). ...He provided NO support. He could not even send a birthday card, nor a Christmas present in all their growing up years. And if any of you think for one minute that I was not eligible for some commodities during those younger years, then you clearly have another thought coming!
And yet, we are 'survivors' in a very REAL sense of the word!
I have raised those three little babies to be that kind of survivor too.
Proud.
Strong.
Accomplished...
As I have raised their little sister Casey to also be that way!
...And yes, ALL with their 'backbones' and their spirits intact!
It should go then, without saying, that I am PROUD of them all.
The 'rez dictionary' I took offense to is the same kind of ignorant thought process that I fought all those years to keep my babies from.
And yes, it is an affront to any parenting abilities, (and survival skills too). AS I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE to EVERY SINGLE PARENT, and to EVERY SINGLE HUNGRY PERSON OF ANY CREED, SKIN, OR NATIONALITY WHO MIGHT POSSESS EVEN HALF A BRAIN!
And then to completely stick that proverbial foot in the writers own mouth, they had also included the last 'definition' as follows:
Disunderstanding (DISS under stand ing):
when white people think that they understand why tribes and individual Indians are the way they are, but attribute any and all behavior to the culture or the race.
Correct me if I am wrong, but is this not what they themselves have done with this entire 'dictionary'?
I am still at a loss for words... and perhaps that is why I wanted to read your own thoughts on the matter.
Some of you have referenced the fact that I am Ojibway; and some clearly did not know that I am of Native descent.
Some of you thought I might have written it, (asking for your blessings to post it).
I am not of that nature.
Never was; and I promise to you, I never will be!
But I am Native.
And I would never ever want any other natives to be laughing at such a sickness. It only serves to stifle. To belittle; and to break spirits and hearts.
Do not do this to your young. Do not do this to your neighbors. We are all here. We are all alive ...and trying HARD to find some semblance of peace and intelligence amongst the many reasons not to in this world today. (And if that sounds a bit "Billy~Jack"~ish, then so be it).
Again, I thank you all for your wonderful and most welcomed messages. Serving only to solidify my many friendships that I have already made on here!
XOXO
Anne
Free Hit Counters
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN
by Graham Nash
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.
Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.
Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picks, the one you'll know by.
Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you will cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.
