December 7, 2008
Conversing with the nation
Since September, I have had a question follow me around like a shadow. "What are the conversations that need to happen in my nation" not only placed in the position to host some wonderful conversations, but also put me through struggles to understand the dimensions in some of the darkest area's of my nation. Dark area's where injustice is the air and it's wind are embezzlement, corruption, and political manipulation of the firm kind.
Despite that, I've also realized many area's where my people haven't convened together to hold space in deep thought and feeling about very important issues. It comes back to the most important question of "Why host conversations that matter?"
I think when I say "hosting conversations that matter", I'm speaking about delving deeply and meaningfully into area's of our society that we may either think of individually, or carry short conversations between one or two other people, but don't. The problem is we are separated and individual in our thoughts to either revive, remodel, or transform the present situation of things. These things range from all kinds of area's like the violence among indigenous youth, to the effect of salmon health on community health.
So in searching for "What conversations need to happen", I'm looking for the focal point or "issue" of that question and conversation. Many years ago, the Squamish Nation had a couple general meetings and decided on an agenda that would be followed for the next few general meetings (each subject being devoted to a General Meeting). We never got further then number 5, mostly because the way the conversations are hosted in SN General Meetings. The highest issues were things like Finance, Housing, Children and Community Safety, Land, and others.
I think those are labels for the deeper issues. I want to find the conversations that need to happen in all of the issues in the community. I find those through the questions that come to mind that would be posed to the community, or the stakeholders (individuals who have a stake in any given issue) that should be brought together to convene about something. For me, so far, it's been about one of those two.
Here is a few of the conversations that I think need to happen in my nation:
- Inter-generational Dialogue between Youth and Elders
- Community: Artist in Dialogue
- Youth in Dialogue: Violence
- Is one form of leadership intrinsically better than another? By what criteria can we discern a leader of quality? (Taken from Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto by Taiaiake Alfred)
- The Need in Indigenous Media
- Confronting Salmon Health and Community Survival
- What 'time' is it in our nation?
- Towards a Sustainable Legacy from the 2010 Olympics
- The Ghosts of Economic-Development Future
- Reflections on the Mother Language
My weakness and where I will ask for what I want is I need help. I desperately need help from others to see these through. If you don't know what that help will be or look like, it doesn't matter to me. I just need the feeling of "I'm not alone in my thoughts".
But I also want to know, what conversations do you need to host?
2 comments:
I think your partially right in that your wrong about me. I agree that the "First Nation" that was originaly called the "Squamish Band" but later changed to "Squamish Nation" is a Indian Act organization, not something that derives or is rooted in our indigenous ways of governance or principles. I firmly believe this.
It's mostly a corporation, except where I see it provides necessary services to the people that are an absolute must.
When I say nation, I am speaking of the collective people who identify as Sḵwx̱wú7mesh. A nation with it's own history, laws, language, governance, and social structure. The terminology around "First Nation" corrupted, or at the very least, perverted the actual meaning behind it, even if some of our own people believe it to be a thing of pride to identify as a "First Nation" instead of a "Indian Band".
So when I say "Conversing with the Nation", and everything when I speak about my nation, I am speaking of my peoples collective identity, history, knowledge, and society. My only mistake is that the capital "N" in this blog's title should probably be a lower case one.
It's mostly a corporation, except where I see it provides necessary services to the people that are an absolute must.
When I say nation, I am speaking of the collective people who identify as Sḵwx̱wú7mesh. A nation with it's own history, laws, language, governance, and social structure. The terminology around "First Nation" corrupted, or at the very least, perverted the actual meaning behind it, even if some of our own people believe it to be a thing of pride to identify as a "First Nation" instead of a "Indian Band".
So when I say "Conversing with the Nation", and everything when I speak about my nation, I am speaking of my peoples collective identity, history, knowledge, and society. My only mistake is that the capital "N" in this blog's title should probably be a lower case one.
What you believe is a nation is nothing but a corporation under the direct mandate of INAC.
The "elected" chiefs and council take their orders from their bosses. The same as you or anyone else takes orders from their bosses at work.
To them, your people that you talk about are nothing more than numbers, part of a calculation and expenditure sheet.
The sooner you begin to see their structure and methods of operation, the sooner you will understand that there is no change that can come from within. Change can only come from outside of this structure. It was founded upon fraud, it can only operate on fraud.