Just ran across this WWW page yesterday and wish to pass it along
for those who might not have encountered it.
The Tribal Voice, URL >http://www.tribal.com/<. What follows is
taken from their introduction:
THE TRIBAL VOICE BACKGROUND
"I was born a warrior; if warriors speak to me I will answer.
Since none are present, I am honor bound to keep silent.
I am to be executed. I like it well;
for I shall die before my heart is soft,
or I have spoken anything unworthy of myself."
- Cannonchet, a Narragansett warrior at his execution by Captain Benjamin
Church in 1675.
As early as the mid 1700's, we, as native americans, suspected that the
integration of our native cultures into the white man's world may be a rocky
road. Much of the problems stem from a fundamental difference in values -
practices and perceptions that make life worth living for each of us. The
white culture is multi-faceted, and based on subtle interactions between
people where intent is not always synonymous with the Word. Our native
american cultures, in contrast, believe the Word and the Deed to be one and
the same. This has led to much misunderstanding, as was hotly expressed in
1876 by the Flathead chief, Charlot, in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana.
Less hot, but equally pointed, was the outburst by Old Tassel, Chief of the
Cherokee tribe in 1777, to the U.S. commissioners attempting to negotiate a
treaty:
"Many proposals have been made to us to adopt your laws, your religion,
your manners and your customs. We would be better pleased with
beholding the good effects of these doctrines in your own practices,
than with hearing you talk about them"
Time did not mellow the intercourse. After a seemingly endless series of
broken treaties and promises White Bull, a Sioux chief, told the 1876
Presidential commission:
"Tell your people that since the Great father promised that we should
never be removed, we have been moved five times. I think you had better
put the Indians on wheels and you can run them about wherever you
wish."
As the clash of cultures intensified, the inevitable occurred. The Indian
cultures were overrun. What was prophesied by Senachwine in 1830 finally
came to pass. This passing went almost unnoticed by the white culture.
George Catlin was perhaps the only white man at the time to perceive the
impact, and he wrote eloquently, but without effect, against the demise.
Perhaps the most uncomfortable aspect of being submerged by the white way
was not the loss of our lands, but the systematic stamping out of our
cultures. We have never seen the wisdom of the white man's ways and wished
only to retain those aspects of our culture that gave meaning and value to
our lives. Sitting Bull spoke after the Custer massacre:
"If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have
made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and
plans, and in my heart he put other and different desires. It is not
necessary for eagles to be crows."
We seem to have been politically incorrect to the white man. Our attitude
toward our wives still mystifies the white culture. Our silence in social
contexts is often misinterpreted. Our respect for all things is seen as
weakness. But we are merely trying to be to be an integral part of the
natural world in which we find ourselves.
Tribal Voice is intended to be an uncensored, blunt and direct outlet for
the native american heart. Its spiritual guidance comes from the youthful
wisdom of Chuck Monroe. Its funding from the Native American Trust. We
believe that the purity and steadfastness of our efforts in a space that
cannot be taken from us will ultimately realize the vision seen by Many
Horses over a century ago.
Nvwhtohiyada...Jordan
______________________________
not a voice or stir
darkness lies on fields and streets
sad the moon has set