GIVE ME>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Good morning....
what we have in mind is breakfast in bed for...tribal security.

There is rumblings on the horizon. There may be freedoms ring tramppled under foot of tribal interest. They corner for where curry used to write may be demolished. There is rumblings underfoot that the new faces of Tribal Council may be killing curry corner. The issue that "its not fair that Marty gets an opinion column and I have to pay $500.00 to express my opinion."
My response to that issuee...."YOUR DAMN RIGHT". In my tenure as journalist and former Tribal Observer staff member; the discussions that needed to happen had to happen behind closed doors. I remember many a staff meeeting where the line had to be drawn regarding "what was fit to print and what was not." This was happening in during political transition and the Observer was trying to finally open up in terms of letting it be a sounding board of the community. The issue of having to pay for political speech is criminal and the tribe is not benfiting from the disucssions that COULD BE HAPPENING. The notion that the Tribal Council would squash the only opinion column is hilarious. It kicks the dead dog of freedom that used to run the rez like a ravenous spirit, devouring fear...and now you have to pay 500 bones to raise the spirit.
But there is more. Lets not forget that Councilwoman Benz also used to write for the TRibal Observer. It was only after her refusal to accept editorial standards for her great pieces from WIKI that she stopped writing. She was under contract and never renewed...and now? How will she vote? If she votes to demolish the Curry Corner, she is a hypocrit for wanting freedom of press when it benefited her and against Freedom of the Press when it stands to hurt her. Michelle Stanley's big beef is that she wants to railroad the paper to hold her seat against Frank Cloutier who is the better fit for the needs of At Large. Fred uses the paper to launch a bible campaign to appeal to the Christian Coalition there by securing the Next Election. It is what is is....but it is not free.

If someone has a beef about the right and time to express opinion Tribal Members should not have to pay. No one should. We get so mad about the Morning Sun airing out dirty laundry and yet we are not willing to take the steps to secure out freedom of press...or of speech. This is indicative of larger problems. mi'iw.

more.

One of the biggest gripes I have about the Tribe is our inability to accept emotional responsibility for our future. There is this ownership of oppression that is occurring and it sickens and disgusts me. There is the notion that if you didn’t grow up on Rez that somehow you are not entitled to “an Indian experience.” All the stories about “commodity cheese this…” and “commodity cheese that…” take on less magic when you say “ I was living on commodity cheese in the city.” As if to suggest that I am less of a Saginaw Chippewa than you because I grew up off Rez. There are individuals and collectives that OWN INDIAN and if you ‘aint a part of the club; then yous shit. I for one cannot stand it.

In the recent tirade in the Morning Sun online article “Tribal Members Protest…” he feedback was fiery. All the hallmarks of emotional distrust and immaturity one would expect in a high school fight; except no class rings. I had to put in my two sense because the article confused me. It was about both police brutality and protest over the appointment of a council member. In joining the gossip wheel I had to launch my campaign for election in a public forum. Some politicians hold rallies and press conferences; I just had to get online. The big issue that was subverted…both of them but for arguments sake lets say the police brutality issue.

We have a public safety force comprised of Federal/Tribal law enforcement that is supposed to be looking out for the greater good. There is a multi million dollar casino right next door and thusly warrants some security. There are members of the community who like to drink and party. There are others who choose not to. Sometimes the cops get called to break up a party, or stop some domestic violence or to maybe pull someone over. Sometimes they deal with bomb threats. There are good people looking out for the interest of the Tribal Community.

There is an over response issue with in the police community around the country. Black kids in NYC shot 30 sometimes for having a wallet that was mistaken for a gun. A black man on his bachelor party shot 60 something times for a minor infraction. Too many times the level of response is not justified. Sometimes it is.

There is a time for boot toes to the head…especially in self-defense. And that is the line.

When is it good to fight? The liberals want to ban war and the conservatives want to clone the still born fetus of war all the way to Armageddon. How did we live to be so young a species with extremes like that? I am a gun owner and neither a republican or a democrat. The Dems don’t want me because I am pro-gun and pro gun and the Pubs don’t want me because I am pro-social liberation movement in all things they want to bust on, like telling some folks who they can marry and who their supposed to love and all that Shiite. The Green Party looked good when Winona LaDuke was in the mix and the Libertarians are ratcheting up the game to get more candidates in the mix…bravo…but whose gonna be in it for the long haul? The concept of gun rights on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation hasn’t been addressed. They exist on the Rez and even though we have our own sovereign law, I still have to go through the State to apply for a concealed weapon permit. Hows that and how is it that they wont let you have a CCW if you have applied for a PPO? Isn’t that the best time to have a CCW?

I saw bumper sticker on the back of an old rusted down Ford truck with a black topper. On the back right window it said “I’m Licensed and I Carry.” Fuck Yeah. Put a couple of those on the Rez and one of two things are gonna happen. 1. The neighborhoods are gonna get a lot quieter and less rowdy….or 2. The neighborhoods are gonna get a lot noisier and more rowdy.

Who can say?

Guns are a part of our heritage. They are the tool for equality and harvest. The tool of self- preservation and sustinance. It is “cavalry killer” and lodge protector. The fire stick. And our rights as both American Citizens and Tribal Citizens shall not be infringed.

I need some more coffee.

Freak Power in Indian Country

My favorite political expression is “ We should not be playing partisan politics”

It begs the question “Isn’t that what you were elected for?”

America has been, and in some corners, thrives on partisanship and our tribal communities, as a microcosm of America, hold true to that as well. From the way we talk about (or don’t) talk about social issues, to the way we choose to have discussions in a loud and confrontational manner…the Hatfield and McCoy’s…it gets emotionally violent. America is the bully pulpit of “might makes right” and Tribes should not be so bold as to adopt this way. It has cost us dearly both at home and around the world.

From the “good day-bad day” US foreign relations to the “bad day-worse day” scenarios we face here in Indian Country, the important dialog isn’t happening on Avenue Q or at the tribal community centers. Our oratory is failing us in a time when it has the power to save our political lives; our spiritual lives and a lot of other people in the process. My Tribe is in its death throes and as rigor mortis sets in…the business of bully special interest government prevails over something different…something new...something that has the power to inject the body politic with high doses of epinepherine and adrenaline. Can the system handle it?

Perhaps the fault is mine and viewing Indian Country and my community from a distance (through the storm colored glasses) doesn’t serve the need inside myself to feel “a part” of the club. Maybe even in Indian Country there are still outsiders; a part of the community much akin to “the Silent Majority” of the Nixon Era. Where self-determination is being relegated to “political and economic” assimilation in minutiae. We had a clean slate to make ANY government we wanted; and we chose to model it on a system that is as corrupt and exclusionary as the feds…and the states…where the corporate (and familial) ruling of some Tribal communities excludes those of us with small families? Being left out of the discussion we ask…are our elected leaders the best ones for the job?

America was looking for change. The critics and the cynics chide those who voted for change and even now the bumper stickers are pasted; “How’s that HOPE and CHANGE working for ya?” Indian Country is much the same way…looking for a change and it is going to take more and more struggle against the dominant structures on one level and against our cousins and family on another. It is Civil War on a tribal level and it will cost us more HOPE. And the divisions will become chasms… I think it is time to inject the freak power vote in Indian Country…on the Sag Chip Reservation…for mother, god and country.

America is being forced to embrace that there are more harmonious ways of living on the planet; pulling away from coal and exposing the disasters of epic proportions (see TAR SANDS!) to embracing massive engineering projects at a local level to capture the wind and the sun; realizing the need for clean water and sustainable local food production. We as Tribal people should feel good that we won that round. We shouldn’t stick out our tongue and NYAH NYAH…(or should we) and I am not sure who is keeping score, but a one-victory season is not a lost season. As the issue of climate change and respecting the land, the air and the water…is moved forward (for better or worse depending on which side of the fence you stand) we can only hope that this GREEN INJUN-UITY… it works and we haven’t been thrown in with the others in a canoe that can’t float.

We live day by day. We pray hard. Curry for Council 09.

Bamaa.