She didn't make herself a chieftess...

Picture is from BRF Powwow, 2013.  Good to go back home every now and then.  I feel like I am returning home or perhaps at least somewhere comfortable and familiar.  I have been going to this powwow for over 40 years and it is still apparent to see that people are from different clans, know their kinships, know the songs of our ancestors, and know who the Chiefs or clan leaders were/are.  As I take in the powwow and hear the familiar songs, even to me who does not speak fluently, I often wonder about my place in the tribe.  There are many descendants from GOM, primarily following the Decorah line.  One can argue that it should be down the patrilineal line, but women are so vital to the Creator's plan that how can anyone dismiss a woman's lineage?  My line goes back to GOM through White Woman (first born) > Shachipkaka (first born) > Spoon (first born) > GOM.  I am a first born.  I feel connected, and yet not.

I raised Choka's flag this Memorial Day.  It felt good.  There are very few Decorah's in this celebration and from what I understand through oral tradition, there still is some reluctance to accept us Decorah's.  Some say it dates back to GOM and that would be around 1610 or 11, when she was born, and about 1628 or 1629, when she was elected Peace Chief at a Grand Council meeting after Chief Thunder died.  She was his only child as oral tradition goes.  There was no one qualified to take his place.  When Choka related the story of GOM, he retold the story he had heard from his grandmother Elizabeth Decorah, who was married to Doctor Decorah.  Doctor's mother was White Woman Decorah.  Choka laughed when he said GOM was a Chieftess, he didn't think it was right that a woman should be a Chief, but true to oral tradition, he recounted our family's and tribe's history to me; stating that GOM was a Chief.  My earliest recollection of Choka talking about our family history was when I was in Kindergarten or just 5 years old.  The last time he recounted the story to me was in November of 1994, and it was the same story.  He died the following month just before Christmas.

As I struggle to find my place in the tribe and in the world, I know that GOM didn't make herself a Chieftess.  No, she had to be elected.  She had to have the approval of the various clan leaders.  (Up to one half of the tribe split at Doty Island over this decision, 7 to 5).  She had to be of good character, strong and true.  She had to be fair, peace loving and enterprising.  These traits common among the Ho-Chunk women that I admire: Bonnie Clairmont, Myrtle Long, Adelia, Alvina Foss, Juanita Cleveland,  Buelah Sayers, Maxine Kohlner, and so many more.  It is easy for me to see the leadership qualities in these women, and I personally would have no problem if by some miraculous means one of them were to become a Peace Chief.  It has happened before.

I have tried to teach my children that standing for what is right, is more important than standing for what is popular.  I did that yesterday and while it is true, it hurts too.  It hurts and I hope I never forget that when my kids knuckle under peer pressure.

This is what GOM must have felt like when she was elected Peace Chief of the Ho-Chunk prior to their split at Doty Island.  She stood alone many times in her long years.  The pressure must have caused some tremendous hurt.  She was hurt by her people, abandoned by up to 1/2 the once united tribe.  She stood alone when the French raided their crops and villages because she married a French man.  She stood alone when her husband Joseph left to fight in the Battle of St. Foye.  She stood alone when the tribal members treated her sons as outcasts.

Last night at a Heritage Preservation Meeting in DMC, I stood alone and called the Chair into question when he made a behind closed doors political move against me at the request of the History Center of Olmsted County Board Chair.  A chair to chair type of male bonding.  I did this at the suggestion of the City Attorney for DMC.  

Why?  I wear several hats in this DMC community.  I am a member of the GRADS group,  I was a member of the Advisory Committee for the History Center, and I am on the Heritage Preservation Committee.  The HPC unanimously voted to have me inquire about how the HCOC could help us with our research of sites and properties in DMC at our end of April meeting.  A day later I made an appointment to see the librarian at the HCOC and within hours of that phone call, the HPC chair ordered me to stand down from my assignment that the body of the HPC voted in favor of.  Confused I agreed to do this, but I wanted answers.  What had a done wrong?  What where the accusations?

A few weeks prior to this meeting, I went to a meeting at the History Center.  We were to meet Cara Clarey, the Curator.  She, Museology and our Advisory Committee wrote a grant to plan for a permanent Dakota Ho-Chunk Exhibit.  The Minnesota Historical Society declined the grant at first because there were NO INDIANS on the committee.  Our Advisory Committee was born.  Anyway, in mid April our GRADS group went to meet Cara at the History Center and we were met by the new Executive Director and she was NOT happy.  She said Cara participated in some illegal activity and introduced us to the NEW Curator.  We were all in shock.  The New Director feigned that she did not know why we were there.  She denied any knowledge of Cara's activities with our group.  It was terrible.  A gentleman from the Museology group said that he detected a great deal of hostility from the new director and she said with gritted teeth and distended neck veins, "Why do you think I am hostile?"  Within a few feet from where we started our meeting she told her first lie.  She boasted how she went to Mayo Clinic and IBM and got money from them and asked them how they would like their story told in the museum.  She also went to the Sisters of Assisi Heights and asked them how they would like to be portrayed at the history center.  Our GRADS President Betty Smith caught this and said, "You didn't ask us how we wanted to be portrayed."  She said, "I knew Cara was talking with you people."  She took us on a little tour and we found out that there was to be no planning for a permanent exhibit.  There was to be no research involving our Elders.  There would just be a tiny display of our ancestors "pre-contact."  

When I left the encounter, I fired of a letter to the board and recounted the entire incident and asked them what they planned to do with all of their artifacts.  I asked them it they would repatriate the items back to the tribes that they belong to.

Within a few days, the HCOC Chair called me and said that they planned to revise the grant.  He said it was he and Mr. Suk, the President Elect, that told the director to tell us about the illegal activity Cara was involved in relative to the grant.  He said he was just a construction worker and didn't know about museums or history.  I thanked him for the information and fired off another letter that said despite how we were treated, despite our sadness at the firing of Cara Clarey, we would try to work with them in the spirit of reconciliation so that our people would be presented accurately in their revised exhibit.

Now back to the order to stand down issued from Jeff Alleman.  I asked the City Attorney two times what I should do because I did not understand why the HCOC, namely Lisa Baldus and Jim Suk would do this to me.  Bring it to the group and ask for direction.  I contacted the Planning and Zoning group, John Harford and asked to be put on the agenda.  When Jeff learned about this, he went ballistic.  He threatened me, intimidated me, and hung up on me when we did speak on the phone with each other.  He did his level best to dissuade me from talking about his punitive action against me in the public forum, namely at our next HPC meeting.  The last straw came for me when he threatened me and stated, "Upon your insistence, and against my strong recommendation, we added your item to Tuesday's agenda.  I believe your antagonizing both me and the HCOC distract the HPC from its mission and reduces any potential for celebration of your Dakota heritage with either group."

Despite the private support I had from the City Attorney, Mayor Brede, and other Commissioners, when it came time for the public forum, I stood alone.  Jeff was excellent in this management of the meeting.  I was last on the agenda of 9 items.  We have never had 9 items.  We have never had an agenda so loaded with actual HPC work.  Jeff was actually kind to the "preservationist" as he calls them.  He rushed me through my presentation, which was a letter addressed solely to the Commissioners with no public comments by me.  I decided to take his suggestion and met him half way.  Lo and behold, he whipped out a letter from a vacationing Jim Suk which said that he didn't want me at the HCOC because I wrote an "antagonistic" letter to the Board.  Jeff made a plea to the body that he did this (changed the vote of the body) because he was thinking about the good of the HPC.  He said I failed to disclose this (the antagonistc letter to the HCOC Board) to the HPC group.  No comment from the commissioners when I asked for some action on the matter.  No comments other than poor Justin Voss who said that perhaps next time this happens there could be full disclosure.

Great!  This was just great.  No comment when I said that this has implications for all of us.  Anyone could call and talk with the Chair and be unhappy with us for any reason and we could have our role diminished.  No comment from anyone.  Jeff was in his glory.  He said, "Does anyone have anything they want to say?"  No comment.  He went on to say that I tried to have Valerie not bring this up.  I tried to talk with her.  After several emails, telephone calls, she hung up on me...she didn't disclose her conflict of interest.  I denied any conflict of interest.  I didn't tell the group that Jeff contacted me in the 11th hour.  He gave me just one day to respond.  I had nothing to gain from making an inquiry at the Library at the HCOC.  I had dealings with the HCOC Board not the Librarian.  No Ho-Chunk luck as my Choka would say.  As I was about to bring up the next issue on the agenda, Indian Heights Park and how Jeff threatened me, he cut me off.  Chairmen can do that.

The meeting ended on a good note though, despite his threats, Indian Heights Park was added to the Stark List.  Jeff and Justin tried to thwart it, but the silent partners were silent no more and it passed.  Thanks silent partners.  Yet, you must realize that someday you will have to stand for truth no matter of public of political opinion or support.  Yet I thank you for your vote.

I have sent a letter of resignation to the Mayor and Jeff.  I will resign effective September 1, 2014.  I stood alone for one meeting, but I am not fond of masochism.  I will stand alone until September. I do not need to feel a part of my community in this destructive and dysfunctional manner.  I am the only woman of color on this commission.  I was the only woman until this meeting.  I can do more for my people away from these men, who happen to be all white, and keep my sanity.

I was hurt last night.  Jeff made a mockery of my truth seeking.  He made being truthful and forthright seem passe'. He used his political maneuvering quite effectively. I didn't speak ill of anyone.  I wanted the group to make sure this never happens again, to anyone.  While I will likely stand alone until I resign, I take heart that I am in good company.  GOM stood alone through so much worse than I, yet she lived to govern her people in wisdom for years.  I am grateful for her example and the example of my Gram who also stood alone so many times in her life time.  I pale in comparison to these great women, yet I am hopeful that I can bear up under all the adversity that is yet to come.

Irony

A word about irony.  I think it is one of the most intriguing and unsettling phenomenon of our time.  I have felt it at various time of my life, but cast into the miasma thinking there was really nothing we can do to change our circumstances in these cases.

During my study of GOM, as I was sorting through my data, interviews and archival accounts, I was stunned to learn that white people readily embraced GOM'S story, while many Ho-Chunks did not.  GOM's descendants believed the accounts and those Ho-Chunks who did not, railed on GOM, and her descendants to this very day.  My research was not to prove or disprove her status of a peace chief, but rather I used the Vasina Model designed my Jan himself and myself, to learn if her story was within the threads of our oral traditions, and it was.  Her story was found among her descendants, in various clans and in the general population of the Ho-Chunk people.

Another case of irony is my work with the History Center of Olmsted County.  I worked with the staff of this organization to secure a planning grant for a Dakota-Ho-Chunk Exhibit.  One of the staff members, Cara Clarey worked tireless on the grant with the help of GRADS (my group) and Museology, plus several Dakota and Ho-Chunk experts.  The HCOC received a 10K planning grant, but in the process Cara and another co-worker were fired because they did not secure the "proper signatures" and now the planning grant will be revised and resubmitted so that the Board will have "more control" and the exhibit will be "more manageable."  The Board was always in control as they would have to approve all phases of the planning through the exhibit.  Now the ALL WHITE  Board will determine who will work on the exhibit.  This just reeks with irony.  Can you smell it? 

This next example from my life hurts.  My tears have stopped for now, but my heart is still aching.  Son was discriminated against at Century High School while he played soccer in 8th grade because he made the C Squad and while he was a freshman.  In academics, the English teacher/soccer coach did not follow son's 504 plan and did not put the assignments on the board or anywhere where son could access them.  His math teacher also failed to consistently follow his 504 plan.  Finally, someone at Century HS said, "Here is your 504 plan just tell the teachers they have to follow it."  The MN DOE, 504 compliance officer said this was terrible and contacted someone at the Edison Building to try and change how RPS complies with the law.

In soccer, all the kids of color are placed on the bench or on C Squad.  All the WHITE kids get to play on JV or Varsity no matter their skill level.  True to the stories, if you are a kid of color you better be really good or you won't play JV or Varsity.  Son made JV, but was immediately dropped to allow some WHITE kid to play.  He was dropped down to C Squad, wasn't given a whole uniform, and when he questioned the coach because he was a good player, they railed on him and belittled him. 

Enter me, Bear Clan mother.  The more I questioned their actions, the more they clammed up until son got hurt.  In Rosemount, son got injured.  He was playing goalie and was getting hammered in the goalie box.  Calls to the coach yielded no help.  The coach didn't respond to him until blood was running down his leg. 

Bear Clan Mother had enough and called for a meeting of the WHITE men in charge and it was there that they lied.  It was woefully apparent to me, with 20 years of Human Rights experience, that they were NOT accustomed to having a woman, a woman of color question them.  An interesting side note, when we waited to speak with the administration at Century, all white men, we couldn't help but notice that all the kids of color were squeezed into one side of the cafeteria and all of the white kids were on the wide open side of the cafeteria with wide windows and high seated tables.  It looked like a picture from the 50s'.

At this meeting, lie after lie was spoken by these men: son was never on JV, son didn't show up for JV tryouts, son was never hurt, son was never railed on or belittled.  I had proof of his position on JV (an email one of the coaches sent me stating that he was on JV - fools).  We had parents and team mates ready to state that son was at try outs and practice.  Paulo dad even met the coach to talk to him at one of the practice sessions, but Coach Drew went along with Coach Houghton and said, "I made a mistake, Paulo was never at tryouts."   We brought son to the doctor (even tho Paulo is a doctor and I am a nurse) to see about his wound.  Century HS wanted to see proof of the wound and we had to bring him to the PT to see if there was anything she could do.  What the...no, we will treat the wound ourselves with the help of our pediatrician thank you! Finally Coach Fogarty, oops Principal Fogarty said, "If you have proof that your son was on JV, send me the email."  I sent that email ASAP and nothing was ever done.  All of these grown men lied and used my young son to cover their failings, to cover up their institutional and individual racism.  Shame on them!

On and on this trickery went until they crucified themselves.  Son attended a party at the Thornburg residence where alcohol and marijuana were allowed.  The PARENTS WERE HOME!!!  He did not partake.  Of course we didn't know this, son was scared, but lucky for him or us or God is just looking after us in our many trials, son got sick that night.  We took him to the ER and standard procedure give the times we live in, I guess, is to run a drug screen.  They did and it was clean.  He was sick. 

One week later, we got a letter from the activities director saying that son could not play sports for 50% of the next season BECAUSE HE INGESTED a harmful substance.  What the ...?  We had a right to due process and could appeal the decision, but we had to put it in writing AND we had just one day to respond.  Did they time this just right or what?  When I called the director, he refused to take my calls.  My emails were unanswered.  I wrote a letter and my husband hand carried it to the directors office because if we wanted DUE PROCESS we had a time line.  We waited and there was nothing.  Days went by.  Calls were not returned.  Finally we got a letter from Century HS saying they made a mistake.  What?

Bear Clan Mother (though I should say that Choka said I was Eagle Clan) was done.  A complaint was filed with the MDE OCR, the complaint was accepted because they had jurisdiction and the claim had merit.  Son was taken out of Century HS. 

He is at Lourdes HS and is doing well.  He is still a struggling freshman, unorganized and constantly plugged in, but son hurt himself at track practice yesterday while pushing off the starting blocks.  He shaved his mile time down from 4:17 to 4:12.  No one at his old HS or even at our church for that matter believed his time, but we have proof.  The coach at Lourdes took a video of son running the mile and breaking the school record.  Today son is limping, using hot and cold packs intermittently, but he may not be able to run.  To come this far through all of the HELL he had to go through at Century, to go through HELL and trials at our church because he his Mormon attending a Catholic school, to finally be able to shine in track, and now he might not be able to run.  Irony hurts.

The picture I chose to head up this rant, blog, purging, cleansing is one of me and my oldest daughter.  She too went through so much trial.  Abused by her biological father, struggled with and still struggles with depression and addiction, but today she is doing well.  She is doing better than ever before.  She is my counter to such hurtful irony.  She is my hope that no matter how embattled one is, you can still smile, laugh,  and live to triumph another day.  Irony is with me, almost my constant companion these days, yet I know that if I hold on, keep moving forward, irony will be replaced by other feelings of a life well lived.

Colonial Greed Resurfaces in DMC

Ever amazed at the limited view Europeans and Colonialists have regarding American Indians.  I met with the new Director of the HCOC yesterday and it was pathetic.  We have $10K to develop a new exhibit that would feature the Dakota and Ho-Chunk peoples.  Mind you this is just the preliminary stage.  We have a great possibility of procuring even more money for the exhibit itself.

Space, space, space.  DMC, DMC, DMC.  For those who don't know Rochester-ese, DMC = Destination Medical Center.  The new Director of the HCOC would rather tell the story of some Indian killer who was run out of town in Wisconsin, who landed in Rochester and strapped a log to his back and made the first street in the colonial town.  Whereas, we, the Dakota and Ho-Chunk, would like to tell the story about the trade route that existed from where the sacred pipestone is located, that travels through Indian Heights Park in Rochester, that continues to Jackson County, Wisconsin where the only known source of a particular stone is located that was used by our ancient ancestors to make tools out of that are similar to the tools found in the Schumann Cache housed in HCOC.  Perhaps both stories can co-exit at the HCOC, but only one story bespeaks of Rochester's continued importance on the history continuum.

It was my research into the life of GOM that led me to become knowledgeable about my people and the history of both the Dakota and Ho-Chunk peoples.  These are my grandparents people.  It is at times ironic to possess the limited knowledge that I do have, be able to back that up with funds and not have a place to share this knowledge of our ancestors.  

Of a truth, I think DMC has tainted the minds and hearts of these Europeans.  They have become befuddled by greed once again.  Their eyes have become filled with themselves and their hoped for gain that they can not see the value in the missing narratives of the peoples that will soon outnumber them in just a few short years. 

Descendants march on

This is a picture of Adelia and Hokie taken last summer when we went to visit GOM sites.  Dee lives in Belgium, WI.  I say Dee because Hokie passed two weeks ago.  Adelia sounds sad, but still the strong, feisty woman I know and love.  She is one of the oldest Decorah women in our tribe and family.  Adelia was Choka's niece.  Her father, Russius was Choka's brother in our way.  Not sure what kinship we are and that is my fault.  My Choka taught me what he could.  He told me all of our relatives as we traveled across WI, IL, SD and IA.  We are related to the Thunders', Greengrass', Little Soldiers', so many Decorahs' and the list goes on.  He introduced me to each relative and told me his kinship and mine, but I do not remember.  Of course there are those who will not help me learn or who will tell me how we are related, but that is okay.  I know we are related and that is all that matters now.  I will learn the kinships in time.

Adelia told me about GOM.  She told me that she was indeed the first and only female Peace Chief of the Ho-Chunk Nation that resided on Doty Island.  She felt that many tribal members were jealous of GOM's status.  She said many tribal members shun Decorah's today because of GOM.  She did not care.  She said she didn't maker herself a chief, so there!  I can assure you that Dee does not mind these naysayers, and if you cross her, she will give you a piece of her mind!  She did her own extensive research into GOM just as I did.  She followed every piece of archival information and as I did, grew up with the stories about GOM. 

Now that Hokie has passed, just as when so many of our Elders pass on, it reminds me of my gratitude for these amazing Elders.  How grateful I am for a Choka who tried to teach me the language and who my relatives were.  I wish I listened and learned more!  

I spoke with Adelia last week and it was good to hear her voice.  Her tone is sad, but one mention of GOM or our relatives and she was immediately strengthened.  She is a treasure!  We plan to meet up in Black River Falls this Memorial Day.

May Adelia be comforted in her loneliness for Hokie and her youth.

The map is hard to read, but it shows that my Dakota and Ho-Chunk ancestors lived in these lands.  There is no doubt about it.  We know this from oral tradition, and we can also learn about it from maps rendered by the Europeans who migrated here. 

Every now and then I am stunned, literally stopped in my tracks about some things.  For instance, my son's school, Century High School, ISD 535.  There are dishonorable men at this school.  They lied to my son and to me and to my husband.  They are not living up to their charge relative to his 504 plan/law.  One man is twisting the law so that the school will not have to do anything to equal the playing field for my son so he can participate in extra curricular activities.  Last season, they invited him to  play up a level, but didn't tell him that there were two practice times each day.  He only attended the afternoon session.  After two days of this, Coach Houghton called our house to say that my son never showed up for practice.  This was not true.  My husband, along with my son, spoke to Coach Drew because Coach Houghton was busy.  My husband said that our son has ADD and he often misses general announcements, it would help if you just check with him to see that he understands your expectations of him.  Coach Drew said yes.  My husband then said Coach Houghton called our home and said our son missed practice, he didn't.  He didn't understand that there were morning and afternoon practices.  Coach Drew said no problem,  he saw our son at practice and he would talk to Coach Houghton.  Later, in a serious meeting, wherein I stated that my son was being held to a higher or different standard than that of his peers, after more inconsistencies by these men, Coach Drew recanted his story and Couch Houghton prevailed; our son never attended JV practice.  My son was hurt.  I was mad and my husband was in disbelief that grown men would lie. 

Since my son has his heart set on being a Century Panther, I attempted to have 504 accommodations added to his plan that specifically addresses extra curricular activities.  The school would not budge.  NO they wouldn't add anything.  Why?  Ms. Molly Murphy said, "What will you do if we don't live up to the accommodations?"  I would call Ms. Strabala-Backus, my son's advisor and we would discuss how we can improve upon the accommodations or change some things.  Again, Ms. Murphy, "We know you still have some animosity from last soccer season, so I am asking you, what will you do if we do not live up to the accommodations?"  Oh, I get it!  The school is afraid that we might sue them.  Ah, I understand.  "We would sue, naturally.  That is all we care about.  We don't care about our son.  We just want to sue you. Honestly!  Is that what you are afraid of?  Is that why you won't add any accommodations so that he can have an equal opportunity to play sports to the best of his ability?"  Ms. Murphy, "I resent that!" 

Oh really? You're offended, how do you think we feel?

After another serious meeting, the principal wants it understood that if we play ball that there will be no suing.  My husband said, "You can not take away our due process, however we would like to work together so that my son can participate in extra curricular activities.  Confident of their position to thwart our efforts, the school district pulls out an expert on IEP and 504 plans, I think from their lower torso, because he was not very knowledgeable at all.  He didn't know that 504 plans are to be written by the school for the student to show what the school will do to level the playing field for my son.  You know what they get federal dollars for?  No, he said that he had 11 years of experience working with 504 plans and nothing would be added that would address my son's ADD.  No they would not add any accommodations that had an adult tell my son directly, changes that were made to the practice times, event line ups that directly involved him.  Uh, that is what happened before and look where it got us.  No, just tell the coach that he has  ADD and he will respond. 

Uh, no, that is what we did last time and he ended up lying.  Hello?

They sent a revised 504 plan using some of our suggestions, but omitting the school's responsibility in the plan.  Instead it spoke of things we can do as parents, things my son could do as a student, but nothing the school would do.  SAD.

I contacted the MDE compliance office and Adele was in total agreement with my take on 504 plans, and she spoke with Mr. Bakken from the lower torso of ISD 535, and he did not heed her advice.  SAD. 

Now it is on to the MDE-OCR.  Complaint has been filed.  Oh, and what is our resolution to this whole affair?  Is it money like the mighty Europeans thought?  No, it is that Century High School will add accommodations so that my son can play sports; Century will sponsor an information night for parents of students with IEP and 504 plans who want to participate in extra curricular activities; and lastly, that the school district will be required to view two presentations on system racism and persons with disabilities.

My ancestors roamed this lands freely.  They skirmished with other tribes at times, but there was honor, at least on our part, even with other tribes.   It is sad to see that these lands, my land, at least according to Corbell, are in the hands of so many dishonorable European people and they still see fit to treat us with little dignity.  To think that we will accept their rule of law or at least their interpretation of the law, which is twisted in their favor, and give up our due process, as long as they toss a few crumbs our way. 

I don't think so!

My gram, a full blooded Dakota woman who was exiled to Crow Creek and then to Niobrara and then to Santee, always told me that I was just as good as any white person, and I was no better than anyone else.  Be good.  Be honest.  Don't be afraid of hard work and don't let anybody push you around.  Don't fight.  Test their laws that they are so fond of and see where it gets you first.  Don't ever give up.  These were your lands first!

Amen, Gram.

My Choka did what he could to negotiate terms with Europeans, but when they were "crooked" as my grandparents would say, my Choka let my Gram take it from there.  She spouted off the law and was not afraid to speak her mind.

Thank you for your example!

I think GOM would be no different.  She was a  Peace Chief, but she was tough!  She did what she could for her people and so will I.  My people are my family and I will do what I must.

A descendant of Glory of the Morning, Vera DeCora Kingbird, my mother.  Father Henry Decorah and Edna Rave and Marie Edith Crow.  

I often wonder what our ancestors must think about the powwows of today.  I am sure that they revel in the fact that we can all gather together and visit, that we can compete or skirmish one another, and that so many people native and non-native come to see the gathering.  Yet, I can't help but wonder what they would think about the prize money. Scoffing at the same old winners, same old judges, all in beautiful regalia, powwows are all about the money, I said, "Powwows today seem to be all about the prize money.  You don't see hundreds of dancers at a traditional powwow."  Irritated with my comment, my mother said, "There are a lot of people out there who don't work, who can't get jobs.  They have degrees and everything.  There is a pharmacist out there, dancing.  You shouldn't say anything, if you don't know how it is for them!"  Not giving up, I countered with, "Do the same people have to win all the time? How is that helping the many people out there that are out of a job?"

When I was a young girl, I traveled to many powwows with my grandparents.  We went to Tama, Sisseton, Winnebago, Lake Andes, Crow Fair, Des Moines, Sioux City, Black River Falls and so on.  The reservations gave all the people breakfast, lunch and supper.  I still remember the old melmac powwow dishes that we used.  There was well water for everyone and a place to camp, no fee, with an electrical hook-up if you wanted it.  The MC wasn't crude or vulgar.  They talked and talked all day, telling of the news in Indian Country or telling clean jokes.  They would visit with people on the mic, announce who was here and where they came from.  We had contest dances that would NOT monopolize the entire powwow because we had the green corn dance, the snake dance, and others that helped us young ones learn how to do these time honored dances.  There were give aways to honor someone, a princess contests, and other special dances.  At the end of it all, if you didn't place in the contest, the hosting tribe would give you #100 pounds of potatoes or some money to get home on.  Now that was classy.

Little golf carts to transport you to and from your car is nice, but giving everyone something so they don't go away feeling bad or have a little money to get home on...well, that was classy.

Black River Falls, when they have a traditional powwow, well that is as close to the old ways as I can remember.  They feed you, sing the thank you song after every meal.  Someone is always feeding someone or honoring someone for something.  Water and electricity are there for anyone to use.  They have social dances and it almost makes me cry when I see the young ones trailing behind the long line of dancers.  They are teaching them the ways.  Once they had the gourd dance.  I remember doing that as a kid.  An older woman handed me a gourd and boy did I scrub.  I passed it off to another kid, but the older woman took it from me.  I guess it was up to her to decide who was going to dance.  BRF always had a round dance too.  Now that is old time.

I would say that GOM would enjoy the big gatherings, the contests, the magnificent over the top regalia, but she would insist that everyone learn the dances and go home with a little something to help them along their way too.  I am grateful that BRF, the Ho-Chunks have not forgotten the old ways.  Pinagigi!

The Indian Agent is alive and well and he lives in Rochester, MN

Just when you thought it was safe and we were free of Indian Agents, they returned.  They returned to us in the form of administrators, school teachers, principals, counselors, specialized administrators, and other well known professionals. 

We had a 504 meeting today.  The administrators wanted to "play ball with us," only if we rescinded our right to due process.  For the lay person out there, they wanted an assurance that we wouldn't "sue" if they didn't live up to the 504 plan and so therefore, they would not be adding any accommodations for my son because wouldn't  make any such promise.  Then they started to twist the law as specified in IDEA as if we couldn't read the law or didn't study it in depth before we asked for accommodations to be written to ensure that our son had an equal opportunity to participate in sports despite his disability.

It is just like the old days, we will put you on this little strip of land and you can't leave unless we give you permission.  There is no food on your land and you can't get your own food.  If you leave your little strip of land, we can shoot you.  If we shoot you, you can't retaliate against us or help yourself in any way because that will nullify the treaty we made with you.

The principal said, "there was a mention of suing us if we didn't live up to the 504 plan."  I want to be clear that we can still play ball with you..."

Yes, I said the word "sue" as I detected that you are very fearful of us and I do not know why.  I wanted to get the elephant out of the room and so that maybe there would be room to help us focus on my son.  We are not out for blood.  We want to exercise our right to add accommodations to the already existing 504 plan so my son can play sports. We will not give up our right to due process.  What does due process mean to you?

A lot of chatter with no substance ensued.

I said, it is hard to play ball with you when you own the equipment (balls, the bat, the mitts) and arrange the game schedules and can decide to tell our son about the game plan or not.  Yet, if we still  want to play ball with you because we have been taught that we are just as capable of playing ball as anyone else and we should never think that we are better than any other player, but you want to control when my son can play ball.  You  want him dressed and ready to play, but you may or may not play him. You want you dressed and ready to play, but you don't want to tell him when the game is going to be or talk to him if there are any changes made to the schedule.  Does this seem fair to you?

I don't think we are asking for anything unreasonable.  Give him the schedule, directly discuss any changes to the schedule with him, and initiate communication with him and/or us if there are concerns relative to his participation.

A lot of chatter with no substance or relevance.

Again, here is your little strip of land.  Stay on the land.  Do not leave the land.  Do not retaliate against us if we fail to live up to the treaty we made with you.

No, I am sorry Indian Agent.  I know my rights.  The old days are gone. You have to add the accommodations that we have discussed with you or we can work together to craft new accommodations that will help you meet the needs of my son so that he can have an equal opportunity to play sports.  If you chose not to add the accommodations, please give it to us in writing and we will take it from there.

Where is there?  We will appeal to the OCR and file a complaint of non compliance.  The old days are truly gone Indian Agent.

GOM: Her influence continues

My research of Glory of the Morning has led to me many paths.  All of these paths have led to me help my people.  It started with Indian Heights Park and it has just flourished such that I am overwhelmed with opportunities to help my people.  There are times, like now, that I feel that I can not go on.  There is so much opposition in this town, mainly from the non-native group NAC of SE MN.  A group of wannabees that feel GRADS is treading on their turf...uh; you're white, right?  Then there are the non native groups that feel that we must be inclusive of ALL people, even those that are not native when it comes to OUR decision making.  Sigh!  The opportunities are American Indian Day for the Rochester Public School District.  We will be having our first powwow in May 2014, but non natives want to take it over.  Hey, I wrote the grant and TARGET will be sponsoring the event and the Prairie Island Dance Troupe will help us.  I think Shakopee will help us too!  I want to shout PLEASE let the Indian people plan the powwow!!!! Sigh!  Another opportunity is the Give Them Hope Project that I have started.  I funnel the thank you letters from my presentations about Dakota and Ho-Chunk history to the Indian children on certain reservations so they can feel proud of their heritage.  These thank you letters are so sweet as they are from children.  They are letters from the heart and I want the Indian children to hear the many kind comments I receive about our heritage.  It has been slow starting, yet I plod on.  Sigh.  Lastly, I am now on the Heritage Preservation Commission for a two year term and my main objective is to have Indian Heights Park listed as a significant historic site for the City of Rochester.  Everyone else on this commission is concerned about man made edifices, I am not.  There are a few sacred sites of our people around town and I aim to preserve them!

All of this, plus my family and church responsibilities make for one tired not so young woman.  Sigh.

Now for a spot on GRADS:

GRADS is a real grass roots group committed to reconciliation and healing.  We came about at the time of the 150th Anniversary of the Dakota Conflict and Mankato 38, and the Park Board's quandary about whether or not to preserve Indian Heights Park.  The park fell into obscurity mainly because of the exile of the Dakota (and the Ho-Chunk) in 1862-63.  However, records show that the Dakota returned to the park after the order of exile, at the peril of their own lives!  Mainly because of the efforts of GRADS members and with the help of Mr. Leonard Wabasha, in 2010-11 the Park Board unanimously voted to preserve the site because of the Dakota history of the park.  GRADS members arranged to restore the park's proper dignity and its reconnection with the Dakota people through ceremonies in 2011, 2012 and 2013, led by Mr. Dave Larsen.  Elders from the last known Dakota bands (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton and Sisseton) were invited back to Indian Heights Park to share their wisdom about the Dakota history of this area.  We are eternally grateful for Mr. Dave Larsen, Mr. Danny Seaboy, Mrs. Betty GreenCrow and Dr. Clifford Canku.

The members of GRADS all have Dakota heritage and/or ancestry.  We are a not profit group registered with the State of MN, but we are NOT a 501 (c) 3 organization because it costs about $1500 to make this so.  How can the many non profit groups afford to become a 501 (c) 3 organization?  We are less than a year old, but we have been unofficially organized since 2010 -11.  We have given numerous presentations on Dakota history and culture, Ho-Chunk history and culture, we have sponsored Dakota cultural events, and sponsored American Indian Day for the Rochester Public School District with the help of our many friends, namely the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the Prairie Island Sioux Community.  Our GRADS organization could use your support. With your help, together we can make a difference.

GOM and the story line

Story line for the book I want to write about GOM is finished.  Smoldering. Stewing.

Put it down for a while so that I can think about it and other things.  Other things have taken over and I am trying to clear my desk of other things so I can write about GOM.  The biggest thing is the grant that brought Dakota Elders back to Indian Heights Park.  The final report is due October 1st.  Yikes.

Next is son's soccer.  Discrimination abounds and I am just sick about it.  Why does this have to happen now?  There is NO way I am backing down on this one.  I didn't spend hours and hours on the Core Planning Team to make sure kids of color were included in ALL aspects of education and that includes sports!!!

Of course there is the usual nonsense in the Indian Heights Park issue.  FOIH, NAC and other people from the Average White Band trying to monopolize our efforts to bring our  Dakota history to the forefront.  Man that band just keeps playing even though the world is trying to move on.  Dang!  Thankfully, the NPS is keeping an open mind and realizes just how important it is to have the Dakota perspective in the park's history.  After all people from the AWB, it is because of the Dakota that the park was preserved in the first place.

Then there is the GRADS group that I am a part of.  These ladies are nice, but they work for Mayo and let's face it,  Mayo has held our history and our people down long enough!  It is time to move on and start making a different for OUR people not Mayo.  Geez.

Maybe GOM is where I need to be.  All these other things are bringing me down.  GOM did what she needed to do and lived until she died.  GOM has left this earth over 200 years ago and she is still taking me to school.  Gotta love that!

Another look at Doty Island

Another look at Doty Island.  This was home to Glory of the Morning and her people.  As my two year study of GOM and the Nation's history and research about the roles and cultural practices of contemporary Ho-Chunk women comes to a close, it is important to for me to state that this period of study was intense, difficult, and terribly sad, but very rewarding.  My research brought me closer to the Nation and its Elders.  This was the greatest accomplishment of my studies.  I took the Elders for granted and I hope to never do it again.  They are a treasure! 

My studies took me to Doty Island, Green Lake, Wisconsin Dells, LaCrosse, Green Bay, Belgium, Madison, Mausten, Camp Douglas, Black River Falls, Bangor, Onalaska, Baraboo, Prairie du Chien, Winona, and home to Rochester.  This study brought me closer to the land.  I will never look at this places in the same way.  As I drove from Rochester to Black River Falls one spring day, I started to cry.  I imagined our people traveling to see family, hunt, mine, gather, and make new villages. Their lives were changed forever with each successive invasion by first, the French and then the British colonists.  They were scattered and smitten and suffered all manner of brutality that man can inflict on man, yet Mauna allowed them to survive. We are still striving to attain our sovereignty as granted to us by the Creator, but He obviously has not forsaken us.

I visited libraries in Wisconsin, Minnesota and and thanks to the Internet I visited the archives in Canada at the University of Ottawa.  I ventured into the archives of various newspapers, museums and genealogical centers. I had a unique opportunity to visit with family and Dr. Jan Vansina, father of oral history in historical research.  How fortunate I was to obtain his insights on the Ho-Chunk culture and have my research design approved by him.  He also approved of the final conclusions of my study.  He was a very intelligent and gracious man.

I had the rare opportunity to have two Elders on my thesis team, Betty Greencrow and Anna R. Funmaker.  What amazing and unconventional women.  The Nation should be proud to have these women as ambassadors of our people.  They have been very helpful in my studies and research.  They offered encouragement and candid comments about my findings.  They pushed me to learn more about our people, especially the history and the language.

I am grateful to the Ho-Chunk Nation who granted me permission to conduct my study among the Elders of our people.  Their approval, by the IRB was most appreciated.

After all of this, I have learned that GOM was indeed a Chieftess of a body of Ho-Chunk that resided at Doty Island.  Her election by the grand council split the tribe, roughly in half, with a large portion of the tribe going to live near the Mississippi.  This is known at the first split among our people.  Glory of the Morning's election was a rare break from tradition.  Our people were under great duress.  The loss of Walking Thunder was a terrible loss.  The impending attack from the French, namely Ligney and his men loomed over the people at a time when the tribe was vulnerable.  Glory of the Morning and the Ho-Chunk people at Doty Island weathered the attack and in time became allies of the French.  

Glory of the Morning met and married Joseph Sabrevior Descaris.  He was the third son of Michele Descaris and Marie Cullier from Montreal.  He was an officer in the French Army who gave up his commission to live the life of a voyageur until the Battle of St. Foye.  He and Glory of the Morning married in Indian custom.  He was welcomed into the tribe, given a name and took part in the Medicine Society.  Together they had two sons and a daughter.  The sons and their posterity went on to lead a body of the Ho-Chunk people as Chiefs through their birthright as members of the Thunder Clan and Eagle Clan.  Their only daughter was taken to Montreal by Descaris and she was raised by his family until she married Laurent Filey.

Glory of the Morning was a Chieftess until her sons could take their rightful place as Chiefs.  By the time Carver came upon Doty Island and the Ho-Chunks who resided there, Glory of the Morning was still a high status woman, but unlikely the principal Chief.  She lived to an old age as described by Kinzie when they lived near Fort Winnebago.  It is said that Glory of the Morning walked in the woods one day and as she walked she heard an owl call her name.  Later, her sons found her in her wigwam wrapped in her furs with a smile on her lips.  She was buried in all of her finery and her final resting place is not known, though if it were, out of respect it would not be shared.

Here is a picture of the Ho-Chunk Nation Tribal "Headquarters" as my grandfather used to say.  Most people call it the "Complex" but he was a military man.  I dropped off my study of the Roles and Cultural Practices of Contemporary Ho-Chunk Women at the office of one of the members of the Internal Review Board for the Ho-Chunk Nation.  Sixty-nine pages of information from research done from 2011-2012.  It was a good feeling, though it was done with some trepidation.  I would like to have the approval of the IRB as this would mean that the content cuts cultural mustard.  We shall see.

As I wrote this behemoth it occurred to me that no one has recorded any information about Ho-Chunk women since Paul Radin (1923).  He was a man who obtained his information from other men (usually Ho-Chunk or who spoke Ho-Chunk) who reported their own observations or interpretations about the women.  I am blazing, perhaps that is too strong...how about embarking?  I am embarking on new territory and my research was sorely needed.  My research came from the women themselves via interviews and questionnaires, though I would say that the interviews were more revealing.  For me, my research reflected their voice first and then I synthesized their voice into themes.  The analysis was very revealing as well.

The upshot was this: The Ho-Chunk women I interviewed would do anything to protect their families, their ways and cultural traditions.  The women were from their 20s' to 90s', from all educational levels (normal school to Ph.D.), some spoke Ho-Chunk while others did not, all engaged in some form of cultural practices, some lived on ancestral lands and others did not, they were married, widowed and single and of the twelve women used in this study, four of the twelve heard of GOM.  These women viewed family, language and traditions are their primary concerns and worth every effort to protect, defend and sustain them.  Some of the women in the study SACRIFICED all they had to care for families, immediate and extended.

There were several themes in the study and while I will not go into all of them, one intriguing theme was that there were several women who would not speak ill of their male relatives.  Let me explain.  While their men struggled with finding a job, alcohol or drugs, many of the women would not pass judgement or assign blame to the men.  Instead these women felt that our extreme history was at the root of most if not all of their problems.  Aculturation, cultural appropriation, assimilation, or genocide, call it what you will, but these atrocities are at the root of many a cultural and /or personal identity crises across the Indian nations.

One last theme that surfaced was that today's Ho-Chunk women do not know how to treat a man.  This actually startled me!  This view was held by several women between the ages of 93 - 62.  Nor did they feel that today's Ho-Chunk women knew how to be Ho-Chunk women.  Very interesting!  There are certain cultural and clan teachings that guide the interaction between men and women and also that guide each gender.  Many of these women felt assimilation was at the root of this problem as well.

Much insight was gained.  

What does this have to do with GOM?  The roles and cultural practices of contemporary Ho-Chunk women helped me to understand why GOM would marry outside of her tribe.  She did it to protect her people and her ways.  Marrying outside of the tribe was not uncommon in her day.  The Menominee, the Anishinabe, the Huron, the Pottowatami, the Ottawa, and the Sauk and Fox, also inter-married with the French.  As their landscape was changing, with the fur trade and new people encroaching on their lands, it was evident to see that change was coming, and at times this change at least initially was seen as a benefit for the tribes.  Now, as for her role as chief, well the research plods on.

New info available at the University of Ottawa Archives

It is exciting to know that the French kept records about their activities with the Ho-Chunk as early as the 1712'.  The events that David Smith wrote about in the Winnebago Indian News (no references) regarding the early Ho-Chunk/Winnebagos and GOM in 1737, have been recorded in French by Beauharnois himself.  Awesome.  Though preliminary reviews have not shown GOM's name, there is info about "Puant chefs" and the described events that Smith discussed in his articles compare well with the French writings and the Wisconsin Historical Society (Kellogg) writings.  Not sure where this will lead me since I have sent for 100 pages of information from the University of Ottawa regarding "Puant chefs" and I have over 30 letters written by Beauharnois when he was Governor of New France to pour over using the BING translator.  Additionally, there are several other letters written by the commanders, Lintot and Hacquart, who were at an outpost and heavily engaged in the Fox War, Mesquaki War and so on.

What I have managed to translate so far reveals that the French gave the early Ho-Chunk at Doty Island (GOM) a lot of "marchandise" to gain their favor and maintain relations.  I have come across a permit and a record of Joseph Decarries (spelled differently again!) who was engaged to take said "marchandise" down river into the "baie et Puants".  Amazing!  Is this how he met GOM?  It seems Joseph gave up his commission in the French Military to be a voyageur > GOM though it has been recorded that he was in the French Military > GOM > voyageur.  Perhaps there are some military records that would reveal a clearer picture.  New France certainly used soldiers to carry these provisions into what is now Wisconsin.  The Ho-Chunk were at Green Bay when they first met us and then we moved westward and spent time at Three Rivers, St. Joseph River, and Doty Island, but the bay near Green Bay continued to be called the  "baie et Puants" throughout the French Regime.

More to decipher!

Search for GOM has taken me to the University of Ottawa

There is little written about GOM.  Carver and Kinzie are the only first-hand accounts in the literature.  David Smith wrote about her in his book Folklore of the Winnebago Tribe.  He also wrote several articles in the Winnebago Indian News over the past decade about GOM and Ho-Chunk History.  The Winnebago Indian News (WIN) is the tribal newspaper from Winnebago, Nebraska.  He described in great detail the events that surrounded the Mesquaki  War of the 1730s' and Governor Beauharnois of New France.  Smith details GOM acting as a peace chief, while married to Joseph Descaris and a mother of two sons and a daughter, during the Meskquaki War.

My continued search of GOM acting in the capacity of a Chieftess has brought me to Canada.  I have 74 sources to examine regarding Governor Beauharnois and the Puants.  Puant is what the French called the Ho-Chunk.  It means 'stinkard'.  Not very friendly, but that is what they called us.  The marshes where we lived attributed to the name Puant.  It will be daunting to go through 74 sources as they are in French.  I can get the gist of the meaning of the letters that Beauharnois exchanged between he and his various commanders at a fort near Lake Pepin in which he describes the interaction between the various tribes.  The fort in Lake Pepin is one of the forts that Smith describes in some detail.  It would be nice if he listed his sources.  He doesn't exactly say  oral tradition, but I think that is what he is drawing from as well as the documentation in the Wisconsin Historical Society and beyond.

I also received some help from the WHS archive director again.  He gave me several links to consider, through he thinks I have exhausted the sources about GOM housed at the WHS.  Possibly.  At any rate, he said that there were two people that mined info regarding "colonial"history in Wisconsin/US.  Wow, the word colonial shook up my brain.  Here I am deep in the Fur Trade and Ho-Chunk History and I completely forgot that the time period from 1700 to 1800, is called the colonial period (by non-natives).  It was a good place to be.

A good omen today

I am currently studying Ho-Chunk history, beginning of all things to 1634 to 1900.  Too much, I know, but my thesis team members said it was time that I learned about our history.  While I considered the voluminous material and resources I felt that there was no way to do it justice.  As I finished the beginning to 1634, it dawned on me that my Choka used to talk about what it must have been like to live in the old days.  I added his thoughts to the end of the section in narrative form.  Suddenly I had an epiphany.  Why not do this for each section?  So I did.  I added the stories and comments and oral history that I have garnered at the end of each time period.  It was great!

Later in the day after spending hours on this paper having gotten through the 1700s' to 1800s', I went to pick up Amalia from school.  As I traveled down River Road Parkway I saw an eagle.  I was traveling west to east and it was traveling south to north.  I felt so invigorated at seeing this eagle and grateful that I made a breakthrough in my massive paper, that I rolled down my window and let out a ladies war hoop.  The eagle turned 180 degrees and circled so that it was over my car.  Seeing that I had its attention I yelled out again.  It hovered over me, flapping its enormous wings.  I sped along my way and didn't see it again.  I felt as if my ancestors were saying something to me.  It was as if they were spurning me on.

It was a good day.

Ho-Chunk History

A wonderful break this semester!  I get a chance to explore in depth the history of my people and GOM's people.  Oral tradition is at the forefront of my studies and my myopic view has been expanded.  My study has been hastened a bit because I have an opportunity to present "The Ho-Chunk Nation in Minnesota: A Historical Perspective" on February 28, 2012.  Let's hope I can keep all of my sources, historical facts and oral tradition facts straight.

Dakota Journalist

I am attending a Dakota History Serious of lectures which revisits the Dakota Conflict and the events surround the conflict.  The latest lecture I attended was a more spiritual one.  It was presented very thoughtfully and brought out several points that were salient to my work on GOM.  Glen Wasicuna is the Director of Dakota Studies at a tribal college in Shakopee.

The main points were, first that the Creator gave the Dakota three sacred things: the feather, pipe and language.  All were to be used as vehicles to worship Him: one feather, one pipe and the Dakota language. He went on to show how the people have changed these sacred objects.  Today people have many feathers and dance for entertainment.  He did not elaborate on the pipe, other than to say that the people have strayed from its original purpose.  One example he did give was that the pipe was like the Bible, communication from and between God.  What if people were to put the pages of the Bible on and dance?  OUCH.  Lastly, the Dakota language.  He said that he used to think it was a difficult language to learn, but now he doesn't think so.  Instead he has come to the conclusion that until one reconciles with their own history, individually and collectively, and until one is ready to become clean then the language will be easy to learn.  That is to say until the Dakota people are ready to face their brutal history, not find fault but to understand it, and then they will have a desire to learn the language and it will be easy for them to learn it.

This message really hit home.  My thesis team members want to me understand Ho-Chunk history first and then get busy and learn the language.  Maybe this is what they were telling me...

The last take home point for me was this, Glen thanked people in the audience if they ever wrote about the Dakota people. He said, "Bless you for writing about us.  Now it is our turn to write about our history.  It is our history to tell."  AMEN!!!  Haven't I been saying this all along???  I even got so bold and told this to THREE HO-CHUNK ELDERS, in a very respectful way, that we need not ever apologize for our oral tradition and history.  It is ours to tell.  If we with hold it from the young people ( I am included in this) it will be lost, forever.

Glen felt as I do, that the language, the culture, the people, the traditions will be "all right and they won't be lost" so long there are elders willing to share it and there are young people willing to learn about their history and "become clean" and live as the Creator intended.

Dr. John Peacock Lecture

I heard a lecture by Dr. John Peacock about his latest endeavor, the 80 Dakota letters written by the Dakota in Fort McClellan to a Father Riggs.  These Dakota were placed in prison just after the Dakota Conflict.  He made several salient comments that resonated with my work on GOM.  First, marriages between the Dakota and the French were considered alliances between the nations.  This is quite true between GOM and Joseph Decaris.  Second, written history will trump oral history every time.  I whole heartedly disagree with this statement.  It will if we let it. There is a magnificent cache of oral tradition that has been stored waiting to emerge.  We need to decolonized and deconstruct the methodologies that have kept us and our history suppressed because NO ONE LIKES TO HAVE THE TRUTH THROWN AT THEM.  Especially those who have been the suppressors.  Third, the history that Dr. Peacock wants to share was at first frowned upon by the Dakota elders whose help he secured.  Dr. Peacock wanted to translate the letters in modern day english, imagine.  The Dakota elders convinced him to use Dakota English.  It it a step between Dakota < Dakota English < English.  Actually, it is probably two steps away.  The gist of the message isn't lost, but I would have preferred the Dakota translation.  The elders know best and this is what I have discovered in my work.  If you secure the approval of the elders, even the Nation as I have, it is for the best.

These letters are still being translated and will hopefully be available in book form yet this year, 2012, which marks the 150th anniversary of the Dakota 38.  There is no doubt about it, our history is brutal, no matter if you are Ho-Chunk or Dakota.

The elders say that we (Dakota and the Ho-Chunk, perhaps more) were one many, many years ago.  I feel that every time I hear a lecture or an elder speak.  It brings me back to my childhood when my grandparents would sit in the evening and talk to each other.  I was planted in front of the TV, but listening to them speak..."What do you say for sugar? "  "Nee-sku" "Isn't that funny we say almost the same thing."  They would go on like this for hours; talking about their language and the old times.

Glory of the Morning: History does repeat itself, but you have to know t...

Glory of the Morning: History does repeat itself, but you have to know t...: Yesterday I had an interesting meeting. Surprisingly I was made aware that I have offended some people who are following my blog, therefore...

History does repeat itself, but you have to know that it is happening for it to count.

Yesterday I had an interesting meeting.  Surprisingly I was made aware that I have offended some people who are following my blog, therefore, I will be as general as possible.

Someone at this meeting said they didn't like being called an Indian Agent and wanted me to stop calling people names...hmm.  First of all  I didn't call them an Indian Agent as I wasn't referring to them.  They are more akin to the evil enterprising overlord who saw to it that we Indians were kept in our place either through indebtedness (money) or fear or through other controlling measures.  The Indian Agent in my previous blog and other articles is the poor token Indian who sat on a big important committee who did the evil overlord's bidding.  While this may seem mean to you, this is all too real for me as it happened to my ancestors in the 1700s', 1800s', 1900s', and it is happening to me, today in 2011.  This is the whole point of my observation!

My ancestors signed the treaty at Prairie du Chien which removed the last of the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.  They were duped, signed out of fear for their peoples/families lives.  Some of my ancestors had homesteads and didn't have to leave Wisconsin during the forced removals because they were Decaris (half white).  Some of my ancestors who stayed near Prairie du Chien (a place given to half bloods) were without a home or food or with no means of securing food; who had to wait for the White Father to honor his treaty.  Some tired of waiting took to drinking, so much so that when annuity payments were made they owed the store keeps or enterprising settlers quite a sum of money that they had little money left to get needed food and clothing.  Indian Agents and the early leaders of Wisconsin and the US,  knew what was best for us and employed Indian Agents to help us.  Some were white, though they kept a few of my ancestors on and considered them to be better than others because they were half bloods (though they had married back into the tribe and they didn't understand genetics),  and offered them a little power through this title of Indian Agent.  One of my ancestors got out of the Indian Agent business all together and moved to Oshkosh to start his own business and family.

I do not judge my ancestors as I was not in their shoes.

This pattern continued among the Anishnabe and the Dakota.

Explain I did my use of the term Indian Agent to my critic.  I also explained the history behind it and it was to no avail.  I was accused of attacking people (doesn't that sound familiar?) with no discussion of what led up to the alleged attack (doesn't that sound familiar too?).  History has been whole heartedly embraced from the view from the top though there is some tiny incremental advances in native peoples recapturing their history, but I wonder if it will be enough.

How can we help others feel what we have felt from our grandmother's and grandfather's stories of injustices, genocide, forced removals, relocation, treaties, and discrimination?  Their very lives were affected through these means.  How can others understand what we have experienced for generations because we have the cultural advantage of oral tradition in our everyday lives.

I recognized that history was repeating itself here in Rochester.  The evil overlord offered the poor starving Indians a little power (or alcohol of the old days) and now they have become addicted.  They have become so addicted that they no longer see the need to help their people or other Indians and seek to misrepresent other Indians to feel the rush of power again.  Sad.  It is hard to stand against or with someone who has an addiction.  Perhaps I have been too hard on the token Indian.

When I first heard the phrase or cliche "history repeats itself" I doubted it.  I was young and filled with optimism.  Surely, no one would ever go back to the treaty days!  We can all become educated, self reliant and then, we can make our own destinies.  We are the master's of our fate, right?  Now I am older and filled with some wisdom, some pessimism and a little hope among other things.  There are obstacles in the path of our people and it will take time to overcome them.  There will be incremental evidences of change.  There will be victories won, look at Indian Heights Park!

To my critic or rather critics as I am sure there are more than the one, I say that I am sorry, but my grandmother didn't tell me her experiences of injustices like being punished for speaking her native language at boarding school for nothing.  She didn't want me sitting passively by because she made peace with the dominant society about being forced to go to boarding school.  Nor did leave me the example of her telling Clyde Bellecourt and Russell Means to call her "Delicious" because they likened her to an "Apple Indian" because she believed in education, so that I could let others decide my fate for me.  No, she left me quite a legacy and I still draw power from today as a wife, mother, community member, church member, tribal member and clan member.

As for GOM.  She was a woman, who may or may not have been a Chieftess, but she made a conscious decision to marry outside of the tribe; Jospeh Decaris.  From them came numerous chiefs and other descendants whom historians, military men, early Wisconsin businessmen wrote about in their memoirs, narrative writings and papers.  My journey to discover her world has enlightened me beyond measure and I am grateful.