The Traditional Home Lands
The Traditional Home Lands
All throughout these United States are lands that have a factual respect to the American Indians. Lands that contain a history that is woven within the oral history of each and every Tribe, a history that reaches far back in time. The vast majority of those traditional tribal lands contained a way of life in which every tribe was content with, a way of life that was unique, healthy and prosperous. Each and every Sovereign Nations of American Indians had their own unique customs and belief’s, a genuine strength that was deeply embedded within their culture and a devout respect that evolved from within. Over a course of time these Sovereign Nations of American Indians would find their world of often tranquility invaded by a force of inhuman disrespect.
America has become filled with a diverse population of people, people that found their way on to the home lands of the American Indian, people whom were seeking a new life for their selves and their families, people from all walks of life who also brought their cultures and beliefs with them. America began to grow and the traditional lands of the American Indian became a habitat for a people who would in time prove to be very uncaring and disrespectful towards all that was once very pristine.
All of life within the traditional lands of the American Indian would change forever, a change that was not fit for humanity, beast or the environment. Bears, deer, elk, buffalo, wolves, coyotes and other such four legged creatures would become targets for near extinction, their habitat would lose the magnificent beauty as would much of the food they depended on for life. Many of these fine noble creatures brought to the American Indian a great deal. Food, medicines, tools, hides for clothes and shelter, so much of the American Indians way of life came from the wisdom and knowledge of their relations, all of their relations, from the four-legged to the winged ones, to the ones that live within the sacred waters and that the ones that crawl upon the land.
The majestic beauty of the traditional lands of the American Indian and all their relations, in time would take on a new appearance, filled with towns, cities, farms and ranches, a way of life that promoted laws to imprison the American Indian and to trap and kill most every beast that got in the way of what is called progress. Most of the natural beauty of the land, forest, rivers, lakes and other areas would soon become home to the new folks who were arriving in America needing homes, cities and towns.
The traditional home lands of the American Indian would take on a new look, a progress that took over millions and millions of acres of a land the American Indian had called home for hundreds, thousands and millions of years. Such was the progress that the landscape took on a new meaning but it was not a justified meaning because such a progress was having a severe impact on not only wildlife, wildlife habitat but the American Indian as well. Ceremonial grounds, sacred burial sites, hunting, fishing, food and medicine gathering areas torn down for new towns and cities and the course of nature and the environment would change forever.
Modern progress, with the construction of huge cities and towns would begin to absorb large quantities of water, this would have a critical impact on many rivers, lakes and streams, water that was valuable to all of life, including any and all wildlife. Huge tracts of landscape were bulldozed over, trees, plants, shrubs, mountains forest and other areas torn down to make way for a people who had no care or respect for the natural elements or what they represented to the American Indian.
Mankind would devastate great forest almost from the time of their arrival showing a serious manner of disrespect for what these grand forest lands stood for to the American Indian, wildlife, natural resources and the environment. The greed of man would clear cut forest lands all across the traditional lands of the American Indian, lands which were a valuable resource to their way of life, a life that would never have the same harmony and balance it once had with nature and all of its resources.
While progress became a historical time, the modernization of the so-called New World would also provide historical change. With large industries being structured throughout the land and no laws to stop the destructive waste from being dumped on the land or poured into water ways, land and water would soon become filled with deadly chemicals and toxic waste. The new industrial world would take liberty in contaminating huge systems of water ways. Lakes, rivers and stream, acres and acres of water spoiled for the cause of modern progress, a lack of care as well as a lack of humanistic intelligence.
So uncaring was man, land, water and air felt the illiterate disease that came from unconscious minds and such was the destructive force that was dealt to land, water and air, that in time humanity, wildlife, wildlife habitat, natural resources and the environment would suffer long term damage to a world that once was sincerely pristine. Nothing in the path of man would be spared any form of preservation, all would feel the impact of progress and the American Indian world would suffer.
Before man realized how so great was the destruction of the environment that there was hardly anything that could be done to repair that in which had been destroyed. Industrial waste not properly taken care of filled great bodies of water, nothing was left out, even the oceans were impacted. Deadly chemicals and toxic waste was dumped everywhere and a people would declare what was happening to the land, what was happening to the water was factually unjust and in time the dirty and deadly pollution that man was pouring upon the world began to take a toll on all of life.
So great was the uncaring of nature by mankind, all of which was considered pristine land, water and air, would soon become a barren land, a land, water and air that would be so unfit for humans and every living matter. The land would become scarred by the ignorance of man, the air so filled with death that all of life felt succumbed by it and the water became so filled with filth, that hardly any living matter could survive by it. With deadly chemicals and toxic waste impacting all living matter, life would develop critical diseases, death upon the land, death in the air and death in the water. Governments were called upon to stop the huge arena of pollution that was slowly destroying all, but the greed of man is far greater than the protection and preservation of life.
Greed captured the hearts of man, Corporations, Industries and Politicians worked together to fight off the forces of people who were protesting the wicked destruction of the environment. Huge sums of money were poured into the campaigns and pockets of the politicians’, enough to pacify the environmentalist and the American Indian and such moderate legislation would allow corporations and industries to continue to pour deadly mixtures into the air, land and water.
So severe was the acts of illegal dumping of chemicals and waste, unknown diseases became obvious and for the most part, deadly diseases. Scientist in America and throughout the world began analyzing air, land and water, their findings often brought forth understanding of many diseases but the world scientist would also become a tool for Capitalism and Industrialism in the worse manner of speaking. Scientist did discover strong and legitimate connections between chemicals and diseases often by using animals as their guinea pigs and the authors of history would find in their investigative regards that even human beings had been and are still being used as guinea pigs by the world scientist.
As the modern world evolved, so did confrontations between the nations of the world and the movement to gain world power. Wars between mankind has a historical significance throughout world history, wars that have always had a deadly impact on humanity. In the modern times though, scientist and military powers needed super strength and in this many nations would develop modern weapons but none as deadly as the atomic bomb, however, the powers to be had no understanding of the affect the deadly mixture of chemicals would have on the world, humanity and the environment and generations of people would become so exposed to the deadly gases and fallout of bomb testing experiments, that governments nations decided or failed not to report the deadly results to the people until it was far to late.
Radionuclides’ and Radiation Tracer’s became words that would express the sounds of death throughout the world and as nuclear fallout descended upon the populations of humanity, beast and the environment the disastrous affects would become known and the outcry, protest and opposition became a severe reasoning, however, Capitalism would prove to be a power that would evolve above any and all opposition. Scientist and Governments would do their best to explain the work they were accomplishing and their expressions of deceit and perjury covered up truth and the wicked injustice would prevail.
While the world was changing, the United States Government had begun a process of using deception to confiscate American Indian lands. Stealing the world of the American Indian was easy, because during those years the Government understood that the Indian was their Prisoner of War, a people who knew little English or knew little about the White Mans laws. Through inhuman acts supported by laws and the Christian Society, most of the American Indian Tribes faced near extinction, forced to move off and away from their traditional home lands to areas that in some cases were unfit for humanity. Most Tribes were incarcerated on lands surrounded with barbed-wire fences and posted U.S. Army sentries, lands that would soon become known as American Indian Reservations and the death of the Indian was dangerously high due to some of inhuman terrorist acts imposed and forced upon the Indian.
The conquering of the American Indian took more than 500 years, 5 centuries of brutal acts of beatings, torture, sexual abuse and other forms of inhuman acts. The prejudice was sincere with most every race from throughout the world that were arriving in America, a people who would demand the Government and U.S. Army to move the American Indian off pristine land that was valuable for ranching or farming. Such was the discrimination against the American Indian that inhuman slaughters found the population of the Indian facing near extinction, the racism lasted for several hundred years and has not actually gone away.
The Indian World was becoming a part of the New World, a way of life that was not acknowledged by the Indian but the Government imposed a policy of Assimilation on the Indian, trying to take the Indian out of his world and to put him in a religious Society where the Indian would be forced to wear the non-Indian clothes, to speak English and to take on the appearance of a Civilized Being like the non-Indians. In time, the American Indian found their tribes and people facing a life that they were not accustomed to nor cared for. The Government with the aid and assistance of suppose Religious Scholars began changing the Indian, a change that would destroy, distort and desecrate the Indian culture and beliefs, customs and devout faiths that were thousands if not millions and millions of years old.
The history of the United States Government is one that is full of historical notes that have been rewritten, modified and made to appear sincerely patriotic, in other words a Government and country created where “All Men Were Created Equal”, a country that stood as “One Nation Under God”, however, the modern world became an evil to where “Injustice” became a tool to generate Capitalisms, Industrialism and through structuring a Corporate Order of Rule that severely has impacted the Liberties and Justice of every American.
And what about America’s Frist Prisoner’s of War? How did the modern world affect their way of life, their culture and beliefs? The word “Terrorize” comes to mind, because for centuries the Sovereign Nations of American Indian would face “Inhuman Terrorism” of the worst kind by the U.S. Government, U.S. Army and Society. Through Genocide and Oppression, the American Indian would survive, however, they would suffer near extinction as the Government enforced Inhuman Policies that would devastate the world and population of the American Indian, yet they would begin to rebuild their world and would do their best to climb up and out of the world of Injustice and Poverty that had been forced upon them through heinous acts of terrorism.
Surviving through centuries of inhuman neglect and abuse, the American Indian would do their best to preserve and protect their world, their culture and beliefs, the government however was determined to assimilate the Indian into their world, into their culture and religious beliefs, no matter the cost but the Indian remained strong, the traditional Indians kept to their heart maintaining the discipline of their traditions. Did Capitalism find its way into the Indian world? Yes, as well, so did the means of tribal corruption, fraud, embezzlement, a greed that would have the Government laughing and enjoying the downfall of some tribes and their councils and government and a people would know that their own people had turn into a carbon copy of their worst enemies.
Incarceration of Tribal Corruption would seem to be a means to construct an avenue of Justice, however, when Justice is not available violence seems to be a motive to end Tribal Corruption, yet we all know that such means only leads to grief and a worst setting in our communities, yet we must begin to focus sincerely on paving away to a stronger and better future.
Washington D.C. has answered the call to criminal activity throughout Indian Country, yet the scale of Justice will not target Tribal Corruption and it is always proclaimed that the Government can not intervene in Tribal Disputes an escape route always for the Government which leaves the innocent with no avenue towards ending corruption or criminal activity by past and or former tribal leaders, councils or governments and the struggle continues to take a toll on progress.
The pain in knowing that we have probably failed our children is heart wrenching, although it is not as sad as what the Government has done to our people, what history has done to our people and yet, when we look around throughout Indian Country what is often discovered is how Greed is destroying our people, how it is leaving a trail of poverty, alcohol, drugs and gang activity, conditions that should not be and some of us would ask, “why has it taken an African-American President to begin addressing the needs of our people?”
Our burial grounds, natural food gathering areas, old hunting and fishing sites, camping grounds and ceremonial places are being desecrated by major Corporations and Industries, lands and waters becoming unfit for humanity or beast.
Once our people would gather in great numbers to do thy will with all the beings in the universe, placing words upon the smoke, drumming and singing sacred songs, offering pipes to the Holy One’s and Grandfathers, dancing in ancient ceremonies but now today, they sit and stand not upon the sacred ground but sit and stand in buildings being devout to one creation and receiving no sincere guidance to help them form a path to undo the present injustice and that injustice of times gone by.
Decades ago, there were a total of 928 announced nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site and of those, 828 were underground and within that figure more than some sixty-two of the underground tests included multiple, simultaneous nuclear detonations, adding 93 detonations and bringing the total number of NTS nuclear detonations to 1,021, of which 921 were underground. For more than 41 some years, the Government and Scientist did all they could to cover up their deadly misdeed, covering up the fact that thousands if not millions of acres of land and water had been severely contaminated by radiation fallout.
The Government and the Atomic Energy Commission worked diligently to hide and keep secret facts about the death that had been bestowed upon millions of Human Beings, Wildlife, Wildlife Habitat, Precious Waterways, Ranch and Farm Lands and Life stock and most all of Corporate America would continue to pour and dump their toxic waste and deadly chemicals everywhere they could, together with Nuclear Fallout, the effects of death was beginning to show, the impact was great.
We can not go back and change time, we can not undo the great damage that has been done, because even in this day and age the Government has endorsed Corporate America to continue destroying our world with their toxic waste and deadly chemicals and all for the sake of the almighty dollar. What makes this even more sad, is that some Tribal Governments have turned their backs on our world with allowing Corporations to do as they so desire.
The path to Justice is one not meant for the American Indian and in some manner yes, the Government is approached by so-called American Indian Groups and Organizations, even some Tribes and they express to the Government that the Governments to present some means to pacify the Traditional Indians so that they will quietly go away.
Upon the land there seems to be a quiet vision of our ancestors turning away and leaving from us, for it seems as so many of our people have accepted the terms of assimilation policy, so many of our people have accepted the non-Indian religions, so many of our people have walked away from our culture and beliefs, while some have made a mockery, distorted and desecrated everything that once was considered sacred.
Many of the D.C. Indians, assimilated Indians and the non-traditional Indians pay their respects to greed and dishonor, they have the support of the Government and Corporate America. Most of these Indians have lost their heart, lost their pride, dignity and honor, many of them will never be shown the sacred direction to their ancestors and wander forever in a world lost in time, their heart and blood darken by their greed.
Still, there is a fairly good number of us traditional folks who know and hope that our ancestors will not give up on us, for we seem to know and understand that their hearts are upon the winds and their war cries echo from the valleys and mountains, through the tree tops of the forest and from this we know that our land beckons us to continue in our struggle to preserve and protect our homeland in every manner we can.
So many of us know and understand why we must forge ahead doing what we can to protect our people, our culture and beliefs, it is within our hearts to never give up, to never dishonor the blood of our ancestors.
And though we continue to fight for treaty rights, we know that the Government, Congress and the Senate, with the help of some of our own people, will never allow us our treaty rights, civil rights, liberty or justice.
And while you fill our adults, young adults, teens and children with your alcohol, drugs and gang activity, we will shun your sickness, we will turn away from those who are fakes and frauds, who use the culture and beliefs of our people for their circus acts that are supported by Big Government, Corporations and as well as city, county and state governments.
We will do thy will with all the Beings in the Universe. We will fill our pipes, do our sweats and sacred ceremonies with the hearts and blood of our ancestors and the Grandfathers and Holy One’s will stand by us, walk with us and join us in our endeavor to build upon our true ancient culture and beliefs, we will prevail, we will gather our strength and power and those who hate the culture and beliefs of our people will only come to know darkness and dryness and though times may seem to be cool the heat of evil they will come to know.
We have sent our words upon the smoke to be carried forth to the Holy One’s and Grandfathers by the Sacred Eagle, guided by the Spirits of the Buffalo, Wolf, Coyote, Elk and Deer and other such Spirit relations who have been our life. The non-Indian world along with a few Indian folks and tribes have murdered our people with their deadly chemicals and toxic waste but they have not destroyed Our Spirit, nor have they fully distorted our hearts with their Assimilation Policy and Non-Indian Religions like they have with so many of our people.
The Government, Congress, Senate, Corporate America and the Non-Indian Religions have kept our people from making sincere progress and with the help of Tribal Corruption, especially that of some former and past Tribal Leaders, Councils and Governments with their deceit, lies and fraudulent ways, many of our people still live in a critical form of poverty.
Don’t turn away from the truth, for the truth is strong and powerful. Our ancestors,along with so many of our traditional people have continued to fight against the odds, doing their best to keep the means of hope in their hearts and have stood in line along side the Spirit of their Ancestors to Preserve and Protect their Homeland, to protect their Natural Resources, to Protect their Environment, to protect their Burial Grounds, to protect their Medicine and Natural Food gathering areas and to protect their Ceremonial sites, for these lands are Sacred to Our Hearts, these are the Lands of Our Ancestors and this is Our Homeland, we will keep the Indian World Alive Now and Forever! For We Are Indian!!
February 16, 2012 Posted or Forwarded by: Reznews List Owner Larry Kibby – l.kibby@frontier.com
American Indian Poetry http://lkibby1.webs.com/
