first, in an effort to start a process of 'decolonializing' the thinking at
leech lake, i would like to poke a hole in a 'mindset' that keeps
assimilation rhetoric and ideology steering and controlling the priorities
and ultimately the values for the leech lake people and affecting the future
generations. rhetoric and ideology like "who needs a tribal college when
there's a major college down the road...."
when this cherokee grandmother came to leech lake 16 years ago, my ojibwe
culture & history teachers were elders like ben and lucy mitchell, lillian
gale, lawrence humphrey, henry boyd, tommy j. stillday and my wa'eh, emma
fisher. on their behalf, i would like to remind people that leech lake is
not a 'band' of ojibwe. leech lake is a reservation, (a diminished land
base established by an occupying force/government to constrain an indigenous
population) with descendents of many bands of ojibwe people: mississippi
band, mikundwe band, white oak band, otter tail band, gull lake band, sandy
lake band........ each band has its own rich heritage and history. for
instance, the mikundwe were the warrior band at the forefront of the
migration from the east. within the bands are social-civil entities known
as clans.
reducing many bands of ojibwe to one (leech lake) band, is part of the
brainwashing mechanism that suppresses the identy and erodes the collective
power of the anishinaabeg (first people).
now is good time for leech lake members of the bands of ojibwe to stand up
to the newly elected reservation business committee and hold them
accountable for their campaign promises. leech lake has long needed a
council of elders to review and supervise the actions of the reservation
business committee. a council that represents all of the historical bands
and all of the traditional clans. the local indian council system falls
short of doing this because, under the manipulation of that occupying force,
some of those councils have become the voices of a select few families on
the rez. establishing a balanced council of elders is not going to happen
over night but it can happen because the strengths and traditions of the
clans and bands are still within us all. we just need the faith and
determination and the commitment to all the generations (past, present and
future) to regain our rightful place, with our collective voices heard, in
our homeland.
the new officers of the business committee promised open door policies, and
no secret deals. hold them to it. all it takes to call a general assembly
is to petition it with the required number of signatures. the cut in
funding to the tribal college is a major issue with major consequences to
the community. seek spiritual guidance, both christian and traditional, for
these general assemblies. acknowledge all the bands and all the clans. and
begin taking the steps back to a governing system that will secure a solid
future for generations to come.
gramma feather rock
Rest of post
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sharon Mitchell" <<email obscured>>
To: "James Poitra" <<email obscured>>
Cc: "Cass Lake Leech Lake Issues Forum" <cl@forums.e-democracy.org>
Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 4:01 PM
Subject: Re: [CassLeech] When the oppressed become the oppressor!!
> welcome James,
> glad you found your way to the site.
>
> I also thought that the response was a little strange, since all the
triball
> collages were developed when there were perfectly good collages right down
> most roads from them. But they didn't meet our needs so as usual we
needed
> to take care of our own. and we did and have done a fine job
> .In all reality, I think its a turf issue. Since the Collage has its own
> board the tribal council seems to be saying we aren't responsible for you,
> find your own money. Instead of saying WOW we are fortunate to have an
> accredited collage in our community and as a part of our reservation.And
we
> believe in our own people and will invest in our own before we spend
> anywhere else.
> Mr treasurer talks like a chamook.........but remember the same people who
> go to the tribal collage will be going to the polls and voting in the next
> election and so will their relatives. My thoughts are remember the
people
> who believe in the people and want to empower them . and i wouldn't roll
> over and say okay. I would be blogging and showing the world how smart
> you all are and asking the current council to justify this perceived act
> of lateral oppression.
> all of the Alumni could write a response to the funding cut. I know money
is
> an issue all over but I cant see how cutting the funding to the tribal
> collage will help anything. Some students may need 2yrs at a tribal
collage
> before they are ready to enroll in a university.of course I am not
enrolled
> here either. I am so glad my chair supports the tribal collage on my rez.
I
> will have to remember to say migwetch for that when I speak with Nokomis
> and on the day of great feasting of the non Indian people{" Thanks Taking
> ".............I call it}
> On Fri, Nov 14, 2008 at 3:06 PM, James Poitra <<email obscured>> wrote:
>
> > Who is the real enemy??
> >
> > What kind of world do we live in where we are oppressed by our own? I am
a
> > student at the Leech Lake Tribal College. I have been going there since
the
> > beginning of this current semester. Since then this college came under
fire
> > from the new Tribal Council here on the Leech Lake Reservation. The
current
> > Tribal Council has cut our funding by 500,000 when they only funded us
> > around 700,000 in the first place. This is not the college's only
resource
> > but how can we expect to recieve funding else where if our own
reservation
> > doesn't believe in us enough to fund us?
> >
> > In a recent newspaper article a Tribal Council member asked why should
we,
> > the tribe, invest a heavy portion of funds into a tribal college when
there
> > is a college, Bemidji State University, 10 miles down the road which has
a
> > brand new "Indian Heritage Center"? Is this just a really good sense of
> > humor or is this fellow out of his mind? This is the same Tribal Council
> > that I met with as a group with the Leech Lake Tribal College Student
> > Senate. At that time they firmly stated that they believe in the Tribal
> > College. Now they are saying we shouldn't have a tribal college because
> > there is a college down the road with a perfectly good Indian Heritage
> > Center! And these are the same people that feel that education is
another
> > form of assimilation! Who are they to talk when they are the ones to
force
> > assimilation down our throats! We dont have to worry anymore about the
> > governments tatics to hold us down because our own Tribal Councils are
doing
> > it for them!
> >
> > I grew up on and near the White Earth Reservation since I was a little
> > bitty guy. Now that I am grown I am with a strong Anishanaabe woman who
is a
> > White Earth enrollee. Now because of a LAW from our own Tribal Councils
all
> > across these states I cannot enroll my children in White Earth which is
the
> > place I call home. So because of our own TRIBAL LAWS my children's
> > enrollment is in jeopardy when they would be more Anishanaabe blood then
> > most of White Earths current enrollees?! This is very sad, but all the
same,
> > it is true for us all.
> >
> > Now look at the education systems we have on our reservations. Why are
they
> > held to less of a standard then normal public city schools? How in the
world
> > are we, as a nation, allowing our sacred little beings to be
undernourished
> > and held down in OUR OWN schools?! We have students attending tribal
> > colleges all across these states who have a difficult time reading,
writing,
> > and can't even compute simple mathimatical equations. But we now want to
> > push these students who are thriving to learn and to better their lives
into
> > a mainstream college where there are 100 students in a class and the
> > professor wouldn't even know they exist? Are we, as a people, suppose to
> > stay on the bottom rung all our lives? Are we suppose to just give up,
cut
> > our hair, and assimilate? Who is our real enemy now?! I can see it
clearly
> > with the new Tribal Laws that are based on greed and the pushing of our
own
> > youth into schools where hardly anyone cares and failure is only a half
of a
> > step away? How are w
> > e going to overcome our cycles of violence, crime, addiction, and the
low
> > self-belief we come to have growing up the way we do if we dont support
our
> > people in conquering the new world we live in today? Our people need the
> > stepping stone from the inadequate schools we have in our mists to the
> > Bemidji Sate Universities with the nice new "Indian Heritage Centers"
filled
> > with people who look down there noses at us. So until the Tribal Council
> > changes the standards of learning and teaching in our public schools the
> > Tribal Council has an obligation to our youth and the rest of our people
to
> > support the education and the rise of our people so we can one day see
the
> > name Day, Jourdain, Northbird replacing the name Obama! Are we so
different?
> >
> > James Poitra
> >
> >
> > James Poitra
> > Cass Lake
> > Info about James Poitra:
> > http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/7cu3t9MwlvaxicXj5zx64F
> >
> > This topic's messages may be viewed at:
> > http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4eNwC4e8qDgsS6mYe5gTE6
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>
> Sharon Enjady-Mitchell
>
> Info about Sharon Enjady-Mitchell:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/2uwINfpQEFMYwQCmkdfz0u
>
> This topic's messages may be viewed at:
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