CELEBRATING NATIVE AMERICAN MONTH

Did you know that freedom fighters like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson admired the Indians so greatly that they based the Bill of Rights on the establishment of the Iroquois Confederacy?  On October 21^st, 1988, the United States Congress passed a resolution that recognized the influence of the Iroquois Nation upon the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (H. Con. Res. 331). 

And in 1990, U.S. President GHW Bush designated the month of November as Native American Heritage Month.  It’s kind of funny that a man whose family is deeply emerged in the oil industry designated this month in honor of Native America.

Unfortunately, historically the Untied States government has done everything in its power to wipe out the Native American culture, including Presidents Washington and Jefferson.  Treaties are still being broke today.  The Keystone Pipeline is only one prime example.

Currently the tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Idaho are defending their lands from the black snake.  Especially now that the mid-term elections are over and the Republican’s have majority power in Congress; Republican’s have vowed to support the pipeline project regardless of the environmental impacts.

But like a squirrel focused on opening a nut, so I can get to the favorable stuff in the middle, I see a lot of good hatching from this tragic episode in American history.  People are coming together regardless of color or cultural backgrounds to protect the beauty and sanctity of their home lands. 

Groups like, Idle No More, a Canadian born Indigenous movement have gotten worldwide recognition and sparked off small groups such as Idle No More Gulf Coast, I.N.M. Minnesota, and many others.  Bold Nebraska is another environmental group bent on stopping the Northern leg of the Keystone pipeline.  Bold Nebraska is a joint effort fueled by area ranchers and tribes.

Not all is hopeless.  I see hearts opening and circles growing.  The walls are falling that kept us separate.  The Earth Mother is calling us together once again, as one family.  We may not be able to change the past, but we can be the future. 

 

#IdleNoMore #NoKXL #TarSands