NativeNet's moderator explained his agenda, and I'd like
to explain why my vision is more modest (only in comparison, since
the North American continent is so vast and its aboriginal communities
so geographically diverse), despite appreciation for his
considerable efforts.
> The stated purpose of NativeNet is to cover issues relating to *all*
> aboriginal peoples, wherever they may live, not just in North America.
> One reason for this broad focus is to encourage building bridges of
> solidarity among people engaged in their seemingly separate struggles.
Yet, if people can't read about and act locally on what is happening in
their own cultural neighborhood because of a perceived shotgun approach,
as was implied by at least two recent correspondents, it's not serving
anyone's struggle except in a kind of imitation of Werner Erhard's
estian "Hunger Project" impotence of "consciousness raising."
There is a rather trite joke that is nevertheless true:
"I love mankind, it's people I can't stand." The difference being, an
abstract "mankind" is out there "somewhere" and one can feel progressive,
idealistic and sentimental about people one will never meet and action
one will never participate in, but "people" includes those nearby with
the potential for getting one out of one's comfortable ideological
armchair and actually dealing with the discomfort in one's own back yard.
The expression "solidarity" does imply a shared international
and sharply ideological focus, not really representative or always
respectful of the spectrum of opinion and traditions in North
American native communities, and often alien and unwittingly imperialistic
in its origins. This can be to the detriment of local native issues
that have no international or partisan ideological "hook".
It's a bit reminiscent of the old idea that unique cultural and
social issues are to be conformed or submerged into some sort of
international European-inspired world struggle for social justice
(sometimes, ironically, masking cultural imperialism), in contrast to a
more recent realization that the unique needs that geography, history,
culture and society have created or imposed on local groups cannot be
ignored if those groups are to survive intact.
One of these years some of us will have to begin a communications
channel that will link and empower our own North American Indian
community and allow discussion of and cooperation on issues unique
to that community.
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Peshewegunzh
peshe%mamia.UUCP@mthvax.cs.miami.edu
mthvax.cs.miami.edu!mamia.UUCP!peshe
peshe@mamia.UUCP
mthvax!mamia!peshe
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