Believe What You Like But Know What You Must

People are free to be consumed with contemplating their existence, their origins, the origins of the universe, supreme beings, controllers of destiny or anything else. But solving "the Great Mystery" is neither a requirement of being Ohnkwe Ohnwe nor does it provide a path to righteousness. I maintain that spirituality does not require faith or the leaps that faith requires but rather awareness. If it helps to believe that "God has a plan" and we just must have faith that "He" knows what "He" is doing, then walk that path. My interest is in taking the mystery out of life by pointing to the obvious that is ignored everyday in the midst of fanatical ideology and the sometimes not too subtle influences of promoting beliefs over knowledge. I have said it before: “beliefs are what you are told, knowledge is what you experience”. I support a culture that prepares us to receive knowledge and to live a life with purpose. I am certainly not suggesting there is only one way to do that.

"Let's Talk Native..." on the LTN Radio Network

"Let's Talk Native..." on the LTN Radio Network
Click the LTN Banner above for a link to the "Let's Talk Native…" feed on Unity Stream
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________

Donate to "Let's Talk Native"

Monday, July 6, 2009

Day 36: Confusion and Indecision Shown by U.S. Customs

In the wake of Canada's Canada Day celebrations and on the United States' Independence Day, cracks began showing through on the US side of the blockade at Akwesasne. It was inevitable that with any number of normal events and occurrences that could fan the flames of the current standoff between the Kanienkehaka and the US and Canadian Borders Services that such an event would occur.
This event was as natural as life itself: a death of an elder in the community. The issue in this instance is that the Longhouse is on the south side of the River and the Longhouse cemetery is on the Island. After approaching US Customs multiple times to cease their illegal blockade of the bridge to Kawenoke, otherwise known as Cornwall Island, and allow this funeral to proceed as they have for generations, Customs refused to yield to the friends and family of the lost loved one. As the funeral was underway more and more People from the community of Akwesasne became disturbed by the refusal of the US authorities to back down from its ridiculous stance.
US Customs officials began to see more and more Mohawk People assembling at their door step and became concerned about being approached from the Island side as well. As the thirty to forty men came down from the bridge on foot to the customs booth rumors of hundreds more were sweeping through the crowd. As these men approached they noted the Border Patrol assembled under the bridge with their K-9 units. The New York State Police arrived to back up the customs agents and border patrol as the numbers of gathering Kanienkehaka continued to grow.
The first crack appeared when the border agents suggested that only the body of the passed on elder would be allowed to pass and that all others would have to enter through other border crossings. This concession must have sounded as stupid to those offering it as those rejecting it.
Finally, as the Longhouse funeral ceremony was finishing, the agents conceded, claiming they had gotten approval to allow the procession access to the bridge that had been blocked for 34 days.
The good decision to stand down and allow the funeral to proceed to the cemetery only stands now to confuse the issue. Will US Customs continue to be doormen or security guards for Canada? Is this, in their view, a one-time event? If so, then why would a funeral justify access from one part of our community to another, but not the need to check on a loved one or a child going to and from school. Is it just a numbers game? So what is the punch line to: How many Mohawks does it take to cross a bridge?
We should all thank Dave Richmond. He may have once again shown us the importance of our numbers. Even as the logs and embers were scattered we gathered to stand together not just to honor his life but to oppose the actions that dishonor all our lives. The United States didn't show compassion to the Kanienkehaka on the 4th of July. It showed that there is no justification for the role they are playing. All the bullshit about International policy and protocol turns out to be just as we suspected: bullshit. The events of this weekend established clearly that denying Onkwe Ohnwe access to Kawenoke is an arbitrary judgement call. Today between noon and 1PM a group of ten to twenty community residents crossed again to the Island from the South. It may be premature to suggest that our people have regained full access to the island portion of Akwesasne, but Dave may have started the beginning of the end of the blockade and for that we thank him.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Apparently some gullible fools in Akwesasne believe the punch line to your question is; "only one if he has a camel eye". Why do a few always have to embarrass the rest of us? I hope this blog doesn't dignify this crap LT is pushing.

Billy Douthwright said...

I clicked the link to the petition to sign about the mailing of Tobacco- and noted the wording in the petition, or the reasoning for it, is saying that we should sign this to let 'our' senators know that we want our rights protected, AND, I did not sign it because this view that U.S. senators have anything to do with us is a false statement/false recognition of them.

John Kane said...

Billy, you make an excellent point. The petition text is not clear. It appears that it is intended for white people, but it reads like a directive to Americans to send a message to their senators rather than the petition being the message from all those concerned. Good observation and I don't blame you for not signing it.