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O'siyo Brothers and Sister!
Read the first article in this issue, and you
will understand why I could no longer be silent regarding the
insensitivity and futility of the Bush Administration's "immigrant
wall".
When the Europeans first came to Turtle Island, they did so to escape
tyranny and oppression. They were leaving the fortified walls and
prisons of Europe in hopes of discovering new opportunities in the "New
World".
So what did they do shortly after arriving? They built fences and walls.
One of the earlier such walls was built by the Dutch in New Amsterdam,
hoping to thwart the growing power of the English in that settlement.
Wall Street is named after that wall ... in New York, not New Amsterdam.
The French fortified their boundaries against threats from Germany and
Italy with concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casements
and machine gun posts and other defenses. The line facing Germany was
named the Maginot Line, while the one along the Franco-Italian border
was named the Alpine Line. Both proved to be extremely expensive
failures. Germany circumvented the defenses of the Maginot Line,
attacking on May 10, 1940; and German forces were deep in the heart of
France five days later.
The Berlin Wall divided East and West Berlin for 28 years, separating
families and relatives for ideological and political reasons, only,
until it was dismantled and Germany reunited in 1990. In 1987, Ronald
Reagan gave a famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate, at which he
challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall".
Now, some twenty years later another Republican President, George W.
Bush, is determined to build a wall between the US and Mexico, and
instituting much greater restrictions along the US-Canada border, thus
separating many indigenous families and relatives for ideological and
political reasons.
Past articles in this newsletter have pointed out the anger and
determination by the Mohawk not to be controlled by fickle US policy.
The lead story in this issue demonstrates the pain the wall being
constructed on the Southern Border is bringing to the Native Peoples
there. It is appalling what ego will drive some people in power to do to
other human beings.
Mr. Bush, "tear down this wall"!
Dohiyi Ani Oginalii
Gary Smith (*,*)
wotanging@bellsouth.net
P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org
Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. ===w=w===
http://www.nanews.org
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CONTENTS LIST OF ARTICLES IN
VOLUME 15, ISSUE 048
FOR ARTICLES GOT TO
WOTANGING IKCHE-Native American News
Editorial Section: . Tear Down This Wall
- Border Wall Tyranny: Lipan Apache Cry For Help
- Border Fence Exempted From Nagpra, Other Laws
- Border Wall Genocide: O'odham Graves Go Under
- O'odham Say Border Wall Is Genocide
- Artman Lends An Ear At Ncai
- Many Indians Say, 'No Thanks' To Thanksgiving
- A Lesson In Thankfulness The Wampanoag Way
- Impoverished Tribe Hit Hard By Blazes
- March Honors Children 'Lost' In Foster Care System
- High Rate Of Indian Children In Foster Care
- Alaska Native Abuse Victims Share Stories
- Traditional Approach To Healing Encouraged
- $50 Million For Alaskan Abuse Plaintiffs
- Tribal Language Fading Away
- Nakwatsvewat Institute Graduates First Class
- Hualapai Ethnobotany Project Publishes Cookbook
- Yellow Bird:an Indian Doctor Comes Home
- Giago: The Myth Of The Pilgrims And Indians
- Editorial: Don't Ignore Indian Youth Suicide
- Mountain: Out Of The North, Culturally Displaced
- Yellow Bird Interview: War On Diabetes In Indian Country
- Frank King Iii Interview: Honoring, Remembering, Praying For
Warriors
- Rolo: Indian Cringes At Thanksgiving
- Yellow Bird: No Need For Thanksgiving Guilt
- Iron Shell: Wondering On Turkey Day
- Giago: Helen Felix, A Lakota With Gift Of Gab
- Judge Rules Against Unrecognized Wichita Tribe
- City, Council Can Join Tribal Land Lawsuit
- Tribe Officially Taking Over Law Enforcement
- Native Justice -- Family Sues Over Death At Bia Detention Center
- History: Carlisle Indian School
- Rustywire: Nacho
- Lee Goins Poem: Please Remind Me
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"It's (Thanksgiving) a day of mourning,"
"Indians are victims of the American holocaust. That's the truth. I'm
not going to paint a rosy picture." - Chief William Redwing Tayac,
Piscataway Indian Nation
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As
historian Patricia Nelson Limerick summarized in "The Legacy of
Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West...
"Set the blood quantum at one-quarter, hold to it as a rigid definition
of Indians, let intermarriage proceed as it had for centuries, and
eventually Indians will be defined out of existence. When that happens,
the federal government will be freed of its persistent 'Indian
problem.'"
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Once a language is lost, it is gone forever. Of the 300 original Native
languages in North America, only 175 exist today. * 125 of these are no
longer learned by children. * 55 are spoken by 1 to 6 elders; when they
die, their language will disappear. * Without action, only 20 languages
will survive the next 50 years. Source: Indigenous Language Institute
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