July 2008 Archives

There is a puzzle in the front page of the current Quest,  Marjorie Skwire is quoting Howard Mansfied:

"I know a farmer who says he has had the same ax his whole life. . . .he has only changed the handle three times and the head two times. Does he still have the same ax?"

This question could be applied to us.  As we grow and change we tend to put on, and take off identities as if they were clothing.   I was my mother's boy, my father's son, a school child, a football player, a scout leader, a Liberal Religious Youth, a young radical, a trade union organizer, a college teacher, a community organizer, a married man, a divorcee, again a married man, and now a widower.  I was young, middle aged, and now I am called an elder, and I get discounts once again.  

I once was called a "half breed,"  and that hurt.  I now call myself an Indian and proud.  Since the merger of the Unitarians and the Universalists, I have been a Unitarian Universalist but that is a very elastic identity, since it has contained a lot of different theological understandings and spiritual practices as I have grown and changed.  Oh yes, I wrote a lot of reflection papers back in theological school as I acquired my "ministerial identity."  I guess that being clergy has become part of who I am.

I eat like a vegan, and check that box of when I go to a retreat, but I support indigenous hunting and fishing rights.  I vote Democratic, but call myself an Independent.  

Of course, the person changes as our identities change, especially as we become more aware of our  selves and less subject to the definitions of others.

Howard Mansfield who possed the question:

"Does the farmer have the same ax?  Yes...he possesses the same ax even more than a neighboring farmer who may have never repaired his own ax.  To remake a thing correctly is to discover its essence."

In the era of European world conquest and colonialism and its aftermath we have experienced the imposition of the concept of race.  While race is a social construction, not a biological fact, race nevertheless becomes part of our understanding of who the "I" is in the "I."   We can say for most people in the United States "race" helps to define them,  yet it is possible to become aware of how this social construction called "race" functions, and join in deconstructing racism.  In subsequent entries,  I will continue to reflect on the subject of identity and race.  

David Korten author of The Great Turning writes:

[We are] "blessed to have a surviving storehouse of Earth Community wisdom and experience that indigenous people have managed to preserve despite all the best efforts of the institutions of Empire to eliminate it. 

Indigenous peoples lived close to Earth and were deeply aware that their security and survival as individuals depended on their deep bond to tribe and nature. As modern societies awaken to the reality that for all our technologies our security and even our survival depends on reconnecting to one another and Earth, we are just beginning to realize that we have much to learn from the indigenous wisdom and experience. 

We must join with indigenous peoples in a common effort to create a new Earth Community synthesis of indigenous wisdom and values with the capabilities of beneficial modern technologies."

In People So Bold!, I will periodically offer examples of Indigenous Wisdom.  On can find some of my entries related to learning from indigenous peoples by clicking the Tag "Indigenous Wisdom."

"Today represents a milestone in our nation's efforts to remedy the ills of our past," said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Congress has issued apologies before - to Japanese-Americans for their internment during World War II and to native Hawaiians for the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. In 2005, the Senate apologized for failing to pass anti-lynching laws.

We just got hit by a earthquake.  It was supposed to be a large one, they say 5.8, which is supposed to be a big enough to shake the groceries of the shelves in supper market or the books of my shelves, crack the street, and put it a scare into people.

The news report says the center of the quake was 45 miles Southeast of us.  We are getting after shocks right now.  

I am relatively new to Los Angeles, I experienced quakes when I was a young adult in San Francisco but it has been a few years.  When it first hit I thought "there is a bear on my porch."  I spent three years in serving a church in rural Quebec, and I had bears on the porch every once and a while.   Guess I embodied the experience of bears shaking my little house.

Contemporary North Americans are a people who like to fill their minds with facts and their lives with things.  Our culture of achievement urges us to hurry from activity to activity, to fly jet planes to cities so close that take off and landing  makes up most of the trip, our culture of consumption teaches to acquire more and more commodities, and convinces us that personal security  is achieved by risking our fortune on a volatile market, and Thoreau tells us to simplify,  simplify, simplify.  Yes, simplify if we wish to live, by which he means to live with deliberation, with awareness, then we must live without being enslaved by time and things.

Thoreau echos ancient sages and prophets.  For example, Socrates challenges his students to look beyond the artifacts to the ideal, he argues that the unexamined life is not worth living, to live with wisdom is his ideal,  seeking riches or power are a diversion.

The Palestinian Rabbi Jesus also makes makes a Walden like point in the Sermon on the Mountain.

This is how he puts it,  "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet the Source of All provides for them. Are you not as worthy as they?  Which of you by worrying can add one inch to his stature?
 

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of who trusts so little?
  

The Buddha tells us that all suffering stems from attachment, to relational objects that are transient.  We cling to the thing, or to the form of a relationship, and invariably there is change.  We hug the object of our devotion,  hoping that it will be with us forever,  and the object disappoints us,  instead Buddha advises us to pay attention to being present to the moment  and to do that we must live with wisdom the eight fold path constituting giving us practical advice of living lives that enable deep reflection. awareness and wisdom.

There are thousands of prophets, and poets,  and who that similar stances, and while their cultural contexts vary, and while their cosmological references may be diverse, the wisdom traditions of the world,  weave this common theme:  that which is important in life is found in the living  not not the accumulating,  the meaningful life, is found in being aware of what is present and what is given rather than seeking after that which is fleeting and not yet attained,  and that which makes life purposeful is found in the power of relationship, the being with,  rather than the power of mastery, or control, the being over and against.

Wisdom traditions, with their wisdom teachers and students of wisdom all exist in societies of men and women who are make livings, and raise children whether the society be an indigenous sustainable community or consumer society caught up in commodity fetishism, whether agrarian or urban,  and whatever their technological achievements, or status as a world power stand in variance to dominant culture's standard's of success.

Native American Indians considered tobacco to be a sacred drug to be used only for ceremonial purposes.  The way the conquering peoples have come to use tobacco violates its purpose and spirit. Perhaps cultural misappropriation is fatal.

The Hurons tell this story:

When the land was barren and the people were starving, the Great Spirit sent forth a woman to save humanity. As she traveled over the world, everywhere her right hand touched the soil, there grew potatoes. And everywhere her left hand touched the soil, there grew corn. And when the world was rich and fertile, she sat down and rested. When she arose, there grew tobacco . . .

Jim Adkisson, filled with hatred against "liberals," and  armed with a shotgun entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., yesterday morning and opened fire as congregants were watching a youth performance, killing two people and leaving at least seven others wounded before he was subdued by church members.  He was a stranger to the church.

Amira Parkey, 16, had just uttered her first lines as Miss Hannigan in "Annie, Jr." when she heard a loud pop.  "We were just, 'Oh, my God, that's not part of the play,' " Amira said, adding that she saw a man standing near the door of the sanctuary and firing into the room.

"The music director realized what was going on and she yelled, 'Get the hell out of here, everybody,' " said Sheila Bowen, 70, a church member.  The cast of young actors, some of them as young as 6, was quickly herded out of the sanctuary.  The nearby Presbyterian church found children wandering around on their grounds, and gave them hospitality until they could be reunited with their parents.

Gregory McKendry Jr., 60, a church board member and usher. was killed when he tried to shield his fellow congregants from the assailant.  The other person killed was Linda Kraeger, 61, who died at the University of Tennessee Medical Center a few hours after the shooting.  

Systemic violence arises in societies based on class, gender, and ethnic inequality in order to maintain the power of the privileged.  This violence is organized and continuously encouraged so that the people will be ready to fight wars.   There is no random violence,  what we see here is the violence at the root of our society gone awry.  Jim Adkisson had been prepared by this society for his whole life for this attack.

William Sinkford,  the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association responded:

A tragedy such as this makes us acutely conscious of the beauty and fragility of our lives and those of our loved ones. I am especially saddened by this intrusion of violence into a worship service involving children and youth. I know that many people, both in Knoxville and around the country, are struggling with shock and grief right now. I pray that those so affected will find strength and comfort.

Members of the Unitarian Universalist Trauma Response Ministry are on their way to Knoxville to offer additional ministry to the congregation as it grieves. And Unitarian Universalists around the world are sending love and prayers to the Tennessee Valley congregation to tell them they are not alone on this dark day.

When all was water, the animals lived above in Galunlati but it was very crowded and they wanted more room. Dayunisi, the little Water-beetle, offered to go see what was below the water.

It repeatedly dived to the bottom and came up with soft mud eventually forming the island we call earth. The island was suspended by cords at each of the cardinal points to the sky vault, which is solid rock.

Birds were sent down to find a dry place to live but none could be found. The Great Buzzard, the father of all buzzards we see now, flew down close to the earth while it was still soft. He became tired and his wings began to strike the ground. Where they struck the earth became a valley and where they rose up again became a mountain and thus the Cherokee country was created.

The animals came down after the earth dried but all was dark so they set the sun in a track to go every day across the island from east to west. At first the sun was too close to the island and too hot. They raised the sun again and again, seven times, until it was the right height just under the sky arch. The highest place, Gulkwagine Digalunlatiyun, is "the seventh height".

The animals and plants were told to keep watch for seven nights but as the days passed many begin to fall asleep until on the seventh night only the owl, panther, and a couple of others were still awake. These were given the power to see in the dark and prey on the birds and animals that sleep at night. Of the plants, only the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the holly, and the laurel were awake to the end and were therefore given the power to be always green and to be the greatest medicine, but to the others it was said: "Because you have not endured to the end you shall lose your hair every winter."

Men came after animals and plants. At first there were only a brother and sister until he struck her with a fish and told her to multiply, and so it was. In seven days a child was born to her and thereafter every seven days another until there was danger that the world could not keep up with them. Then it was made that a woman should have only one child in a year, and it has been so ever since.

From James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee 

I emerged from shafts of the first sacred corn:

From Me,and My Husband

Kanati the Hunter
People are descended.

I return again in each ear of corn.
I dance in the summer fields
I dance the sun and the earth
I dance for all children
I dance for the rainbow
I dance for you

by Christy Salo

I live in Southern California, so this article in Indian Country Times was very interesting to me.  There is much agriculture in Southern California, but it depends on massive amounts of water that is brought in from elsewhere.  People build homes in valleys and on hills that are vulnerable to wild fires.  This is a region that needs to begin to revision itself for a sustainable future.

 In one of the most barren regions in the world, an indigenous farmer, Jesus Leon Santos of Nochixtlan, Oaxaca, Mexico, using ancient Mixteca traditions helped to conserve more than 4,000 acres of farmland, prevent massive soil erosion, increase local farm productivity, create more economic growth and, among other things, plant 2 million trees. 

For these efforts and others, was awarded the $150,000 Goldman Environmental Prize for sustainable development for 2008.  Here is what the award givers have to say:

"Jesus Leon Santos leads an unprecedented land renewal and economic development program that employs ancient indigenous agricultural practices to transform this barren, highly eroded area into rich, arable land,'' according to the Goldman Award press statement. ''With his organization, the Center for Integral Small Farmer Development in the Mixteca [CEDICAM], Leon has united the area's small farmers. Together, they have planted more than one million native-variety trees, built hundreds of miles of ditches to retain water and prevent soil eroding, and adapted traditional Mixteca indigenous practices to restore the regional ecosystem.'' 

Gbemisola Olujobi writing in truthdig points to racist stereotypes about Africans as oversexed and promiscuous are hampering the efforts of international health organizations to effectively battle the AIDS epidemic.  So we get quotes like this from a participant in the 10th International AIDS Conference:

"AIDS would be brought under control only if Africans restrain their sexual cravings."--Dr. Yuichi Shiokawa;

or this, "Sex, love and disease do not mean the same thing to Africans as they do to West Europeans [because] the notion of guilt doesn't exist in the same way as it does in the Judeo-Christian culture of the West."--Professor Nathan Clumeck of the Universite Libre in Brussels, quoted in Le Monde section of The Manchester Guardian Weekly, Dec. 14, 1993.

Olujobi argues that this stereotype prevents the world community from focusing on the true cause of AIDS "such as poverty and the conditions that poverty creates--malnutrition, low immunity, stress, poor sanitation, overcrowding, poor access to health care, substandard health care, rural deprivation and urban squalor--all of which will facilitate the spread of AIDS or, indeed, any other disease."

At the time of the English invasion the Cherokee (Tsalagi) were organized in villages that mutually supported each other but had no central overlords.  Each village had an elected council and elected chiefs and an empowered women's council.  But was it always this way?  Were pre-Columbian indigenous people "prehistoric" in the sense that nothing happened to fundamentally change society, so people lived more or less as they had since the beginning of time.

The dominant cultures romantic notion of "people without history" is disputed by the evidence of highly centralized commercial empires that existed in North America, empires that become organized and conquered more and more people and then for reasons that historians are still researching collapsed.  Commodities were traded across North America while Europe had collapsed into warring feudal states during its Dark Ages.

The most recent of these commercial empires was the Mississippian culture, or so called mound builders.  This empire has its center at Cahokia, in Illinois. It is clear that while the ties that bound the various peoples together in this empire were commercial, the form of organization was a theocracy.  One of the legacies of the Mississippians is common rituals, and common symbols among many different Native American Indian communities who speak rather different languages and have different cultures.

The Mississippian culture extended from Wisconsin to Florida and included the Cherokee as one of the participating or subject peoples.  Here is a story that helps explain why this empire fell, and perhaps gives us insight into how democratic institutions are formed in response to (sometimes bitter) experience.

From MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE

By James Mooney

Among other perishing traditions is that relating to the Ani'-Kuta'nï or Ani'-Kwäta'nï (the priest people), concerning whom the modern Cherokee know so little that their very identity is now a matter of dispute, a few holding that they were in ancient people who preceded the Cherokee and built the mounds, while others, with more authority, claim that they were a clan or society in the tribe and were destroyed long ago by pestilence or other calamity. Fortunately, we are not left to depend entirety upon surmise in the matter, as the tradition was noted by Haywood some seventy years ago, and by another writer some forty years later, while the connected story could still be obtained from competent authorities. From the various statements it would seem that the Ani'-Kuta'nï were a priestly clan, having hereditary supervision of all religious ceremonies among the Cherokee, until, in consequence of having abused their sacred privileges, they were attacked and completely exterminated by the rest of the tribe, leaving the priestly functions to be assumed thereafter by individual doctors and conjurers.

Haywood says., without giving name or details, "The Cherokees are addicted to conjuration to ascertain whether a sick person will recover. This custom arose after the destruction of their priests. Tradition states that such person lived among their ancestors and were deemed superior to others, and were extirpated long ago, in consequence of the misconduct of one of the priests, who attempted to take the wife of a man who was the brother of the leading chief of the nation."[1]

A more detailed statement, on the authority of Chief John Ross (first Principal Chief of the Modern Cherokee Nation) and Dr J. B. Evans, is given in 1866 by a writer who speaks of the massacre as having occurred about a century before, although from the dimness of the tradition it is evident that it must have been much earlier:

"The facts, though few, are interesting. The order was hereditary; in this respect peculiar, for among Indians seldom, and among the Cherokees never, does power pertain to any family as a matter of right. Yet the family of the Nicotani--for it seems to have been a family or clan--enjoyed this privilege. The power that they exercised was not, however, political, nor does it appear that chiefs were elected from among them.

"The Nicotani were a mystical, religious body, of whom the people stood in great awe, and seem to have been somewhat like the Brahmins of India. By what means they attained their ascendancy, or how long it was maintained, can never be ascertained. Their extinction by massacre is nearly all that can be discovered concerning them. They became haughty, insolent, overbearing, and licentious to an intolerable degree. Relying on their hereditary privileges and the strange awe which they inspired, they did not hesitate by fraud or violence to rend asunder the tender relations of husband and wife when a beautiful woman excited their passions. The people long brooded in silence over the oppressions and outrages of this high caste, whom they deeply hated but greatly feared. 

At length a daring young man, a member of an influential family, organized a conspiracy among the people for the massacre of the priesthood. The immediate provocation was the abduction of the wife of the young leader of the conspiracy. His wife was remarkable for her beauty, and was forcibly abducted and violated by one of the Nicotani while he was absent on the chase. On his return he found no difficulty in exciting in others the resentment which he himself experienced. So many had suffered in the same way, so many feared that they might be made to suffer, that nothing was wanted but a leader. A leader appearing in the person of the young brave whom we have named, the people rose under his direction and killed every Nicotani, young and old. 

Thus perished a hereditary secret society, since which time no hereditary privileges have been tolerated among the Cherokees."

This is a rewrite of a Journey Toward Wholeness statement on our work from several years ago, adapted for the present stage of our work. 

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Among Unitarian Universalists the soul work of anti-racism has been  based of the premise that racism and its effects are embedded in all social institutions as well as in us and won't change without deliberate engagement in both analysis and action.

In our community of faith there have been advocates for three different ways of overcoming racism.

1. Anti-bias or prejudice reduction

2. Diversity or multiculturalism

3. Anti-racism based on a power analysis of systemic oppression

Those who diagnose racism as personal prejudice would have us create programs to reduce prejudice. If we think that racism continues because whites don't understand or appreciate people of color, then we develop programs to foster diversity and promote interaction between different races and cultures.  We promote multiculturalism as a means to overcoming racism And if we perceive that racism is caused by the systemic misuse of power then we must become aware of who that power privileges and who that power oppresses, and work to create both awareness and change in the relations of power.

It is good that many Unitarian Universalists have been working to reduce their  personal prejudices and develop multicultural competency.  We need to be aware of our prejudices and we need to learn to appreciate other cultures, both are essential efforts but because they do not address the systemic misuse of power and the  imbalances of power in our institutions they do address the structures that give rise to racism in generation after generation. 

To deal more effectively with systemic racism it is important to have an accurate diagnosis of racism and to use terms that have clearly understood meanings in our common analysis. The Unitarian Universalist anti racism effort has been premised on the following analysis: 

The definition: Racism is prejudice in the context of the systemic misuse of power. 

That racism operates at the personal, institutional, and cultural levels.

That we need to understand our history so that we may understand the historical context of race and racism in our nation, in our denomination, in the local church, and community.

We must extend the work to include a power analysis of the dynamics of racism so that we realize that racism not only has devastating consequences for people of color but it also provides undue privilege and power for white people in our society.

We must seek to understand the power of racism to shape our personal, social, and spiritual identities.

This is hard work, it is "soul work" -- because when we engaged in it with our whole being we find ourselves transformed at the most basic level.   Agreeing on a common language concerning racism is a challenging task. People need time to struggle with core concepts in order for that to happen. This process can be especially challenging for those of us who are white.  It calls us to again and again do the work of reflection.

As Marjorie Bowens Wheatley wrote:

"Once one acknowledges white privilege, it is both easier and more difficult to be intentional and committed to taking a proactive stance against racism. It is easier because white people are more informed and aware of what racism is, how it works, and its insidious nature. 

It is more difficult for the same reason because whites now have to face their own demons, and their own struggles about what it means to be a racist."

This old story tells about how diseases came to dwell among human beings and how medicine came to help people overcome those diseases.  The story reveals the Cherokee understanding that animals are relatives and are not to be mistreated or used for selfish purposes.  It also reveals an ancient intuition, most medicine does come from understanding plants and cultivating their curative possibilities.

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In the old days the beasts, birds, fishes, insects, and plants could all talk, and they and the people lived together in peace and friendship. But as time went on the people increased so rapidly that their settlements spread over the whole earth, and the poor animals found themselves beginning to be cramped for room. This was bad enough, but to make it worse Man invented bows, knives, blowguns, spears, and hooks, and began to slaughter the larger animals, birds, and fishes for their flesh or their skins, while the smaller creatures, such as the frogs and worms, were crushed and trodden upon without thought, out of pure carelessness or contempt. So the animals resolved to consult upon measures for their common safety.

The Bears were the first to meet in council in their townhouse under Kuwâ'hï mountain, the "Mulberry place," and the old White Bear chief presided. After each in turn had complained of the way in which Man killed their friends, ate their flesh, and used their skins for his own purposes, it was decided to begin war at once against him. Some one asked what weapons Man used to destroy them. "Bows and arrows, of course, cried all the Bears in chorus. "And what are they made of?" was the next question. "The bow of wood, and the string of our entrails," replied one of the Bears. It was then proposed that they make a bow and some arrows and see if they, could not use the same weapons against Man himself. So one Bear got a nice piece of locust wood and another sacrificed himself for the good of the rest in order to furnish a piece of his entrails for the string. But when everything was ready and the first Bear stepped up to make the trial, it was found that in letting the arrow fly after drawing back the bow, his long claws caught the string and spoiled the shot. This was annoying, but some one suggested that they might trim his claws, which was accordingly done, and on a second trial it was found that the arrow went straight to the mark. But here the chief, the old White Bear, objected, saying it was necessary that they should have long claws in order to be able to climb trees. "One of us has already died to furnish the bowstring, and if we now cut off our claws we must all starve together. It is better to trust to the teeth and claws that nature gave us, for it is plain that man's weapons were not intended for us."

No one could think of any better plan, so the old chief dismissed the council and the Bears dispersed to the woods and thickets without having concerted any way to prevent the increase of the human race. Had the result of the council been otherwise, we should now be at war with the Bears, but as it is, the hunter does not even ask the Bear's pardon when he kills one.

The Deer next held a council under their chief, the Little Deer, and after some talk decided to send rheumatism to every hunter who should kill one of them unless he took care to ask their pardon for the offense. They sent notice of their decision to the nearest settlement of Indians and told them at the same time what to do when necessity forced them to kill one of the Deer tribe. Now, whenever the hunter shoots a Deer, the Little Deer, who is swift as the wind and can not be wounded, runs quickly up to the spot and, bending over the blood-stains, asks the spirit of the Deer if it has heard the prayer of the hunter for pardon. If the reply be "Yes," all is well, and the Little Deer goes on his way; but if the reply be "No," he follows on the trail of the hunter, guided by the drops of blood on the ground, until he arrives at his cabin in the settlement, when the Little Deer enters invisibly and strikes the hunter with rheumatism, so that he becomes at once a helpless cripple. No hunter who has regard for his health ever fails to ask pardon of the Deer for killing it, although some hunters who have not learned the prayer may try to turn aside the Little Deer from his pursuit by building a fire behind them in the trail.

Next came the Fishes and Reptiles, who had their own complaints against Man. They held their council together and determined to make their victims dream of snakes twining about them in slimy folds and blowing foul breath in their faces, or to make them dream of eating raw or decaying fish, so that they would lose appetite, sicken, and die. This is why people dream about snakes and fish.

Finally the Birds, Insects, and smaller animals came together for the same purpose, and the Grubworm was chief of the council. It was decided that each in turn should give an opinion, and then they would vote on the question as to whether or not Man was guilty. Seven votes should be enough to condemn him. One after another denounced Man's cruelty and injustice toward the other animals and voted in favor of his death. The Frog spoke first, saying: "We must do something to check the increase of the race, or people will become so numerous that we shall be crowded from off the earth. See how they have kicked me about because I'm ugly, as they say, until my back is covered with sores;" and here he showed the spots on his skin. Next came the Bird--no one remembers now which one it was--who condemned Man "because he burns my feet off," meaning the way in which the hunter barbecues birds by impaling them on a stick set over the fire, so that their feathers and tender feet are singed off. Others followed in the same strain. The Ground-squirrel alone ventured to say a good word for Man, who seldom hurt him because he was so small, but this made the others so angry that they fell upon the Ground-squirrel and tore him with their claws, and the stripes are on his back to this day.

They began then to devise and name so many new diseases, one after another, that had not their invention at last failed them, no one of the human race would have been able to survive. The worm grew constantly more pleased as the name of each disease was called off, until at last they reached the end of the list, when some one proposed to make menstruation sometimes fatal to women. On this he rose-up in his place and cried: "Wadâñ'! [Thanks!] I'm glad some more of them will die, for they are getting so thick that they tread on me." The thought fairly made him shake with joy, so that he fell over backward and could not get on his feet again, but had to wriggle off on his back, as the worm has done ever since.

When the Plants, who were friendly to Man, heard what had been done by the animals, they determined to defeat the latter's evil designs. Each Tree, Shrub, and Herb, down even to the Grasses and Mosses, agreed to furnish a cure for some one of the diseases named, and each said: "I shall appear to help two legged one when she calls upon me in her need." Thus came medicine; and the plants, every one of which has its use if we only knew it, furnish the remedy to counteract the evil wrought by the revengeful animals. Even weeds were made for some good purpose, which we must find out for ourselves. When the doctor does not know what medicine to use for a sick man the spirit of the plant tells her.

Adapted  from MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE  By James Mooney

 Maize or corn was first cultivated in what is now Mexico about 5,000 years ago, and spread rapidly to became the most important food crop in Central and North America.  Throughout the continent, indigenous Americans told stories about how corn originated, why it is planted the way it is, and how honor can be given to this important crop.

While dominant culture academics have interpreted the characters in these stories as gods and goddesses,  most Indians find this understanding of their stories offensive.  The majority of stories told by different American Indian nations have a character whose name is the same as that peoples word for corn and often this character is depicted as woman.    Corn dances are held to raise the corn, but the Corn Mother is not worshipped in the sense that a god or goddess is worshipped. 

The Cherokee story of Selu  or the Corn Motherm and the story of  Ilyatiku of the Keresan people of the American Southwest function differently than Chicomecoatl,  the female symbol of maize who was worshiped by the Aztecs of Mexico and her male consort Centeotl, to whom they offered their blood each year.

 The Seminole tell have a story of Fas-ta-chee, a male dwarf whose hair and body were made of corn.   He carried a bag of corn and taught the people how to grow, grind, and store corn for food. 

The Zunis tell a story about eight corn maidens. The young women are invisible, but their beautiful dancing movements can be seen when they dance with the growing corn as it waves in the wind. One day a young man Paiyatemu fales in love with the maidens, and they fled from him. While they were gone, a terrible famine spread across the land. Paiyatemu begged the maidens to turn back, and they returned to the Zuni and resumed their dance. As a result, the corn started to grow again.

In a story, told by the Creeks and other tribes of the southeastern United States, the Corn Woman is an old woman living with a family that does not know who she is. Every day she feeds the family corn dishes, but the members of the family cannot figure out where she gets the food.

One day, wanting to discover where the old woman gets the corn, the sons spy on her. Depending on the version of the story, the corn is either scabs or sores that she rubs off her body, washings from her feet, nail clippings, or even her feces. In all versions, the origin of the corn is disgusting, and once the family members know its origin, they refuse to eat it.

The Corn Mother wins over the disgusted sons in all the stories, but each story has a variation of how she does it. In the Cherokee story, Selu tells the sons to clear a large piece of ground, kill her, and drag her body around the clearing seven times. However, the sons clear only seven small spaces, cut off her head, and drag it around the seven spots. Wherever her blood fell, corn grew. According to the story, this is why corn only grows in some places and not all over the world.

In another account, the Corn Woman tells the boys to build a corn crib and lock her inside it for four days. At the end of that time, they open the crib and find it filled with corn. The Corn Woman then shows them how to use the corn.

Other stories of the origin of corn involve goddesses who choose men to teach the uses of corn and to spread the knowledge to their people. The Seneca Indians of the Northeast tell of a beautiful woman who lived on a cliff and sang to the village below. Her song told an old man to climb to the top and be her husband. At first, he refused because the climb was so steep, but the villagers persuaded him to go.

When the old man reached the top, the woman asked him to make love to her. She also taught him how to care for a young plant that would grow on the spot where they made love. The old man fainted as he embraced the woman, and when he awoke, the woman was gone. Five days later, he returned to the spot to find a corn plant. He husked the corn and gave some grains to each member of the tribe. The Seneca then shared their knowledge with other tribes, spreading corn around the world.

I once witnessed a place where there were a bunch of people fishing.  What was special about this pond was that the pond was full of fish, because fish were put in that pond, so that the fishers could fish them.  The only rule was that the fishers had to throw the fish back after they caught them.

Isn't having impeachment hearings given the  wealth of evidence that Bush administration has committed high crimes and misdemeanors and having instructions not to take a vote on impeachment sort of like fishing in a stocked pond, and then having to throw the fish back.

I recently committed People So Bold! to publicizing the work of a group of lawyers.  Several years ago, the Unitarian Universalist Association had an Independent Affiliate called Unitarian Universalist Network for Indigenous Affairs, which helped educate Unitarian Universalists about the problems and promise of Native American Indians and let UUs know about specific things they could do help.  In 2007 a new effort calling itself Unitarian Universalist Network for Indigenous Affairs has been established which presents educational website on world wide indigenous cultures.  It does not appear to be an advocacy organization for Native American Indian rights.  What should Unitarian Universalist who want to provide support for Native peoples do?  There are several organizations which I believe that we can and should support and our support could make a real difference.  First, let me introduce the lawyers.  

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is an non profit law firm that is committed the rights of Native people, its team of attorneys take cases and engage in publicizing other ongoing legal cases that are defending Native American tribes and organizations with

Founded in 1970, the Native American Rights Fund  is the oldest and largest nonprofit law firm dedicated to asserting and defending the rights of Indian tribes, organizations and individuals nationwide. The firm focuses its legal work on helping to realize these five mission areas.

Preservation of tribal existence

The future existence of the remaining Indian tribes in this country depends ultimately upon secure and permanent land bases, and the rights of self- determination necessary to preserve traditional customs and ways of life. Learn more.


Protection of tribal natural resources 

The natural resources found on Indian lands vary greatly. NARF concentrates its efforts in asserting tribal resource rights and protecting them from loss and exploitation by non-Indians. Major resource protection includes land rights; water rights; hunting, fishing and gathering rights; environmental protection; timber rights; and prudent development of mineral resources.


Promotion of Native American human rights 

The Native American Rights Fund is concerned with securing basic human rights for Native Americans in such areas as education, health, housing and religious freedom rights.



Accountability of governments to Native Americans

NARF focuses much of its efforts on guaranteeing that the federal and state governments are accountable for the proper recognition and enforcement of the many laws and regulations which govern the lives of Indian people.

Development of Indian law and educating the public about Indian rights, laws, and issues 

This involves not only the establishment of favorable court precedents in major areas of Indian law, but also the compilation and distribution of Indian law resources to everyone working on behalf of Indian rights. 

In the future I will be talking about the activities of Native American Rights Fund.

It takes courage to be crocus-minded. 

...I'd rather wait until June, 

Like wild roses, 

When the hazards of winter are 

Safely behind and I'm expected, 

And everything's ready for roses. 

But crocuses? 

Highly irregular. 

Knifing up through hard-frozen ground and snow, 

Sticking their necks out 

Because they believe in spring 

And have something personal and emphatic to say about it. 

...I'm not by nature crocus-minded. 

Even when I have studied the 

Situation, and know there 

Are wrongs that need righting, 

Affirmations that need stating, 

And know that my speaking out may offend, 

For it rocks the boat - 

Well, I'd rather wait until June. 

Maybe later things will work themselves out, 

And we won't have to make an issue of it. 

Forgive me. 

Wrongs won't work themselves out. 

Injustices and inequities and hurt 

Don't just dissolve. 

Somebody has to stick their neck out; 

Somebody who 

Cares enough to think through 

And work through 

Hard ground, 

Because they believe 

And they have something personal 

And emphatic to say about it. 

Me - Crocus-minded? 

Could it be that there are 

things that need to be said, 

And I need to say them? 

I pray for courage. Amen 

Do you recall the notion that was sometimes taught in our anti-racism trainings? It was argued that since People of Color didn't have power they couldn't be racists.  The problem is power is relative with the system of racism in the United States.  The present administration of the Cherokee Nation (Oklahoma) presided over by Principal Chief Chad Smith illustrates that oppressed people can be oppressors as well.  As a righteous young Cherokee named Shannon Prince writes in Indian Country Today ;