Casinos and other tid-bits

[walksalone11]

There is something I forgot to mention in the "Our Country" thread but didn't want to hi-jack that thread with all Native content, so decided to post a separate thread.

Just as with every other enterprise Native Nations have tried to establish, in order to regain some of our self sufficiency, casinos were hotly contested and attempts at legislation barring them was attempted. Luckily(or not, depending on your prospective) a sympothetic judge ruled in our favor in that as sovereign nations our casinos could not be dis-allowed. However, sovereign status is only enjoyed by federally recognized tribes. If you are not recognized by the Fed, you will not be having any casinos.

nother perk of having federal recognition is the "right" to religious freedom.....somewhat.

I'll explain, but first.....it wasn't until the 1980s with the Native American Religious Freedoms Act that the Indigenous of this continent were given the "right" to practice our spiritual traditions. However, if you are not an enrolled member of a recognized tribe there are some certain ceremonial practices you are barred from participating in, regardless of how much Indigenous blood you may have.

There are also some ceremonial items you would be barred from possesing, such as our most sacred Ceremonial Eagle Feathers. The oly people allowed to posses feathers are enrolled members of a recognized tribe and then only with proper documentation of the feather, such as where they came from etc.

Eagle feathers are very very sacred to us and one only comes by them in certain ways, which I will not elaborate on, but being gifted an Eagle feather is one of thehighest honors we can recieve.

Now, take for instance you have an Eagle feather that has been gifted down thru 27 generations. There were no regulations concerning documentation even 2 generations ago, much less 27 generations, therefor it would be an impossibility to have "proper, legal" documentation of said feathers.

The wildlife authorities in some states get thier jollies by crashing our ceremonies, disrupting the proceedings and confiscating any such feathers,and levying substantial fines, with no chance in hell of us ever regaining our possessions.

Sovereign???.....Religious freedom?.....you decide.

Now I realize the supposed reason for such laws. So we don't go out killing and scalping Eagles, however, you have to understand that traditionally in most Nations ceremonial feathers had to come from live and un-harmed birds. Now they are only available through the federal raptor repository in Colorado, and most often come from road killed birds which is totally contrary to our tradition. Secondly, we consider all animals as relatives, would I kill my Brother in order to appropriate his sacred tobacco, sage or sweet grass? of course not.

If I were a member of the Native American Church (NAC) and not an enrolled member of a federally recognized tribe, I would not be legal in participating in thier ceremonial practices involving peyote.

And of course we all abide by federal statutes, just as you would if you were told you were not allowed to practice your Spirituality, although considering we are sovereign nations, in our case it would be more akin to Russian or Chinease authorities telling you that you could not practice.

Of course we all abide by the laws set down for us by foreign governments. Always.

Another interesting tid-bit is that again, if you are not enrolled in a recognized tribe you are forbidden by federal regulation from claiming your true race on any legal documents including birth certificates etc, even if you are full blood you must choose another race to list. Any other will do it just can not be Native American. Just another way of killing us off on paper and attempting to force us into assimilating

No, genocide is all in the past and we really should just get over it already.

[walksalone11]

http://www.danielnpaul.com/WeWereNotTheSavages-Mi%27kmaqHistory.html

"First Nations History

We Were Not the Savages

Third Edition

NOTE: Three editions of We Were Not the Savages have been published - 1993, 2000, and 2006. The 1993 Edition, published by Nimbus, was taken out of print in 1996. A fully revised edition, with lots of new information, was published by Fernwood Publishing in 2000 - it is now out of print. In 2006, the new updated edition, described below, with more new data, was published by Fernwood.

Daniel N. Paul
ISBN 10:1 55266 209 8
ISBN 13:978 1 55266 209 0
September 2006
Fernwood Publishing

We Were Not the Savages is a history of the near demise, caused by the European invasion of the Americas, of ancient democratic North American First Nations; with special focus on the Mi'kmaq, from a Mi'kmaq perspective. Although other European Nations, Spain for instance, were in on the slaughter this history relates in detail the actions of only one, Great Britain.

In Great Britain's case it isn't hard to prove culpability, because British colonial officials, while representing the Crown, recorded in minute detail the horrors they committed. When reading their records one often gets the impression that they were proud of the barbarous crimes against humanity that they had committed in their brutal efforts to acquire the properties of sovereign First Nations Peoples by exterminating them. From my knowledge of what they did I can, without fear of contradiction from men and women of good conscience, use the term monstrous to describe it.

That they worked without conscience to cleanse the land of its rightful owners is verified by the horrific methods they used in the process. The truth of this, as previously stated, is attested too by their own records, which give minute details of what and how they did it. A sample of the horrors used: bounties for human scalps, massacre, starvation and germ warfare. These cruel methods of destruction were so effective that the British came close to realizing their cleansing goal. All North American civilizations under their occupation were badly damaged, many eliminated, and close to 95% of the people exterminated.

In fact, after reviewing the horrific barbarities that the European invaders subjected First Nations citizens too, one finds it almost impossible to comprehend how any survived. That some North American First Nations Peoples did survive the best efforts of their tormentors to exterminate them, 1497 to 1850s, and then from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s a malnutrition existence under the rule of Canada and the United States, is a testament to the tenacious courage and faith in the Great Spirit of our ancestors.

Today, although starvation and malnutrition have been mostly eliminated, the systemic racism instilled in the majority of Caucasians by colonial demonizing propaganda about our ancestors, which depicts them as the ultimate sub-human savage, is still widespread. This is witnessed by the level of discrimination still suffered, which is a very heavy burden for our Peoples to try to overcome.

Interestingly, although both claim to be compassionate countries with justice for all as a core value, Canada and the United States are not making any viable effort to substitute demonizing colonial propaganda with the truth. This is why I wrote We Were Not the Savages, my small effort to air as much of the truth as possible."