You ever feel overwhelmed? Overwhelmed comes in different shapes and sizes, happens for different reasons. Really, it does.
One shape and one reason overwhelms me today. The shape is that of any given Native American reservation in the United States. Of course, those shapes don’t constitute any states of the United States. And that observation yields the reason: The government of the United States never meant for Native Americans to exist, to stay in existence, never meant for them to hold any land worth anything or to hold onto freedom in any form. Reservations accomplished that goal of the government. I think many white Americans believe reservations are like nice private estates where Native Americans are free to live in some idealized past. No, not quite. Not even close. Reservations are regulated and controlled by the federal government in virtually every aspect of their dealings. Any dealings concerning property, land development — their own land — or almost any other actions must all go through multiple agencies. And even when some enterprise is begun, the feds collect the money and decide how to distribute it. They often “lose” it. (Most of this information comes from this Forbes’ article: https://goo.gl/1uqppW). Conclusion: The government has used legal-sounding bureaucracies to minimize the existence of Native Americans through impoverishment, disenfranchisement, and maybe worst of all, imprisonment on the reservations. Oh, no, the imprisonment isn’t one of keeping them inside of boundaries. It’s one of keeping them from developing their own hopes and dreams by robbing them of freedom and spirit, by making it difficult to engage with their own Heart. Thankfully, many still seek Self. The development of reservations was purposed to destroy the freedom of indigenous tribes. The engineers knew if they gave up their freedom through bogus treaties that the zeitgeist of fierce freedom would be forfeit, and the spirit of the people would be broken. No president, legislator, judge, soldier, law officer, or anyone who had any part in imprisoning the Native American in despair and hopelessness has any respect from me in anything associated with their work. None. The leaders who were and are attuned to their Heart understood and understand the purpose, the intent to destroy their race by taking away every vestige of humanity. In 1912, Carlos Montezuma, a doctor and an Apache, spoke before the Society of American Indians — very powerful. “Colonization, segregation, and reservation are the most damnable creations of men. They are the home…of personal slavery.” In 1967, 55 years later, Clyde Warrior spoke to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Poverty, and said this: “…our old people felt rich because they were free. they were rich in the things of the spirit. We still have human passion and depth of feeling, which is something rare today, but we are poor in spirit because we are not free, free in the most basic sense of the word. We as American Indians are not allowed to make those basic human choices and decisions about our personal life and about the best need of our communities, which is the mark of free, mature people” (Great Speeches by Native Americans, Blaisdell, ed.). And 50 years later, this brings me back to the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Sioux Nation and the Utah land grab and the Ute Nation, both situations ripping the “choices and decisions” about the “best need of [their] communities out of the hands of the people. Such extensive documentation and history makes these situations no-brainers except for people with no functioning brains in the areas of Heart and morality. If the pipeline goes through and Utah gets Ute land, then those actions only confirm what Native Americans have experienced for 500 years and what I have said in defense and support of them: the goal of the federal government of the United States, as well as state and local governments, has been to eradicate, whether physically or spiritually, the Native Americans. They feel native Americans and any possible benefits from their reservation lands only exist for plunder purposes, since they have managed to hang on this long. Over the last three days, I have written my Heart. Well, I always seek to write my Heart, but I have shared ideas and ideals I hold very close. I may not have written very well. I have, however, shown you, whoever may read this, that my Heart is in communications such as this. I have shown you that when we become Self-aware and know our Heart we can expose actions, people, and purposes that work against the light. I do not even condemn those who have made such decisions. In fact, I send my best energy their way for awakening, and if they awake to Heart and life Purpose, their actions will bear it out. My life Purpose is to write to help others discover Self, their Purpose, and happiness, significance, joy, love…whatever it is they wish. Each of us has that ability because of our Heart. Those who have come to the fellowship of the Heart form a unique tribe, able to appreciate the freedom of all and the connections to all. This can certainly alleviate those feelings of being overwhelmed. Much blessing.
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Questions to consider:How many times have you asked yourself or simply thought about the following questions?
Who am I, really? What is my truth? How do my actions reveal what I really feel and believe? What would I do with my life if I could do anything? What is my passion? Why am I here? How can I discover answers to any of these questions? If you have considered any of these questions, I hope that my experiences and writing will give you some guidance. Please read my blog and comment and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you! Archives
December 2019
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