Gary has asked that I serve as one of a group of rotating
moderators for the Native-L and NatChat lists. I am deeply
honored that Gary would ask me to serve you all in this manner.
However, before I feel comfortable in assuming such a role, I
feel that it is important that you, the list subscribers, know a
bit more about me and have a chance to comment concerning whether
or not you are comfortable with me assuming a role as a
moderator.
My name is Jay Brummett. My Indian name is Cecala
Ptehincalaska which means Calf. I am a mixed blood Indian.
My grandfather (step for those who care) was a full-blood
Lakota. He was a very holy man, who had probably the most
influence on my life of any one human being. My actual Indian
blood comes from my paternal grandmother, who was a mixed blood
Comanche. My paternal grandfather hated Indians and all things
Indian. My great grandmother was a white woman from a family of
some standing who became preg from a Comanche man who worked for
the family. My grandmother was seen as a disgrace to the family
and was shipped off to a Catholic boarding school to be raised to
be a nun. She was a very wonderful woman, but for reasons hid
her true ancestry from everyone she could. I know next to
nothing about being a Comanche.
I spent a lot of time with my grandfather, he raised me to
at least the degree of my parents. My grandfather started me
down the red road. As a mixed blood I have seen racism from both
sides Indians who won't accept me as I do not look Indian enough
and whites who called me a prairie nigger. I was born with black
hair, that has gotten lighter and lighter the older I get. I
guess the best way to explain who I am as an Indian is to say
that when I was asked by other Indian children why I wanted to be
Indian when I could pass for white, I could only reply that I am
both Indian and white.
I identify myself as Lakota as this is the culture I know.
I am not enrolled. I try to live my life as a traditionalist. I
was raised by my parents as a Catholic. They wanted me to be a
priest. This was not the way for me; rather, I have tried to
follow the red road as Grandfather has placed it before me. I
try to lead my life in such a way as to honor my ancestors and my
people.
Please read over the articles and replies that I have posted
in NatChat and Native-L. Also, I will try and respond to any
questions that list subscribers may care to ask. If it is
acceptable to you then I will be honored to help out as a
moderator on this list.
Mitakuye Oyasin,
Jay
Cecala Ptehincalaska - Calf
jb6778@u.cc.utah.edu
jay@slcpl.slcpl.lib.ut.us
----------------------
[ Jay has suggested that if anyone has any comments on his assuming the
role of moderator of NATIVE-L and NATCHAT, they do so via those lists,
so the discussion can be public. I will for this purpose relay any
articles received on the subject to both lists (with apologies for the
duplication for those who are subscribers to both). Jay will be away
between 16-26 July at Sundance, so he would assume the post shortly
after his return.
My hope is that we can make NativeNet more of a community effort, with
various members of our community helping out in one way or another. I
want to try to draft a list of various responsibilities with which folks
can help out and to indicate what special skills might be necessary for
each, after which I'll accept volunteers. As for the role of list moder-
ator, the responsibilities entail:
1. approving articles for relay to one or another of the lists,
along with any comments that might help readers understand the
issue being discussed if it's not otherwise obvious, including
providing information from past discussions on the same or
similar subjects
2. interjecting comments that indicate suggested lines of reasoning
or investigation that might lead to fruitful and interesting
discussions and/or exchanges of information
3. communicating with those whose articles are not suitable for the
indicated list in the judgement of the moderator to suggest how
to construct articles which will be approved (the moderator will
have broad powers of discretion, but will generally adhere to
guidelines relating to subject matter, ordinary courtesy and
intelligibility, etc.)
4. dealing with messages that are misdirected to the lists:
a. requests for subscription/unsubscription information
b. messages intended for authors of previously-posted articles
c. messages intended for the moderator
d. off-topic "junk mail" sometimes broadcast to various lists
e. error messages from mail systems that don't know any better
than to use the appropriate address for such things
5. dealing with the need for reformatting that some articles have in
cases in which it seems easier to do so than to send an article
back to its author (I sometimes reformat articles so that lines
do not exceed eighty characters as well as correct minor errors
of spelling or punctuation, but it is not necessarily the respon-
sibility of the moderator to do the latter)
6. making sure that each article has a meaningful subject line
(articles sometimes arrive with subject lines like "a question"
or "article for NATIVE-L" - which do not help readers understand
the topic of an article without reading it)
7. communicating with subscribers and potential subscribers about
matters pertaining to the lists
Maybe I've missed a few things, but I think that's the essence of the
job of a list moderator, as I see the matter.
If you would like to be considered as a potential member of the rotating
set of moderators, or you'd like to suggest someone who you think might
make a good moderator, who we could approach, please let me know. (In
addition to being willing and able to carry out the duties listed above,
you should also feel comfortable using a text editor, in order to do the
kinds of jobs that require it, and that you have access to reasonably
flexible electronic mail software. If you would like to comment on Jay's
application to be moderator, just reply to this article, or send to either
of the posting addresses for the lists:
"native-l@gnosys.svle.ma.us" or "natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us"
If you have any comments which you'd like to keep confidential, please
send them to me personally (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us). Thanks. --Gary ]