WE MOVED TO WWW.LIBERATEDYET.COM

I recently picked up a book on recommendation from Chris Corrigan called Theory U: Leading from the Future As It Emerges by C. Otto Scharmer. In my up and coming work on community dialogue, emerging leadership, and break down barriers of systems in creative change, I asked him for suggested reading. The opening forward from Peter Senge nailed everything I’m experiencing with my world and my “anxiety about the future, growing dissatisfaction with and distrust of virtually all social institutions”.

I am only part way through the introduction, but felt necessary to share something that sparked my thoughts, and to document my discourse throughout reading this book because I have a sense I will harvest and learn much from it. (Chris, I think it’s time I change my question I follow and harvest!)


My growing “anxiety about the future, growing dissatisfaction with and distrust of virtually all social institutions” is in nearly all things.

I’ve become mistrustful of the Band Council governance system, to it’s whole machine operations. I once said to a friend, “I’m tired of working with that government and the Squamish Nation, and think I won’t anymore right now”, and his response was, “If everyone did that, nothing would happen”. I responded to that and said, “If no one does that, the same thing will keep on happening”. It’s a viewpoint of mine that the “Squamish Nation” is an illegitimate government

I’m skeptical of the “traditional” leadership, what ever that is supposed to mean. What I believe is that the Amalgamation is more myth than fact. In the late 1800’s, the Indian Agents assigned who were the “chiefs” over the reserves, and these became the “hereditary chiefs”. Within the Canadian government, and the Indian Act, they became the controller of a government designated land base; the reserves. In 1923, someone signed an amalgamation for bring the 16 reserves under one body, the Squamish Nation. It has been done before in British Columbia where the government arbitrarily brought multiple reserves under one name to make it easy for control and oppression.

I question the legitimacy of the old ways having precedence in modern times. Violence occurred every so often among our young people. What comes afterward is more fear-based response to increase policing and monitoring, and create a Police-guided security force to do their dirty work. I’m thinking, “Where are the elders in this?”. Some will say to outsiders that our culture is still alive, but is my mind crazy to deduce that if our young people were doing something they shouldn’t be doing, the community leaders, and the elders, would sit that person down and talk to them. That this type of justice was about restoring balance to the community. Within there lies the double standard because some will go after certain individuals presuming a “cultural” privilege to “teach” some young people, and to “judge” them worthy of said “justice”. Yes, you’ll go after them because it’s easier, convenient, and less difficult.

Perhaps I’m out of line for calling on these hypocritical social institutions within our community. It may come from my need to contemplatively be critical of all of which does not make sense to me. Don’t worry, I do it to myself quite frequently. I also hold up supposed “traditions” and “teachings” the same way to see if they are true and valid, but most that they make sense. Maybe our community needs this kind of vigorous critical analyses because you “can’t change or heal what you do not acknowledge”.

I’m told that this may be the role of the young people. To keep the older ones honest, and true, for they may have lost that sense of belief in what is right and wrong some time ago. Perhaps my knowledge of our history and culture, and my experience with our current community leads me to try to see if everything around here is true and honest. I know some of you will say, “Your in your head too much, need to come from you heart”, which I could probably debate with you for hours on whether that is true (that I need to come from my heart), I think many of the people who support me would be worried if I wasn’t thinking about these things. haha.


If all social institutions are failing, crumbling, and becoming so infected on what it’s supposed to be, what do we do then?


To put things in perspective, most social institutions worldwide are failing and crumbling. They are unsustainable. The Squamish Nation Band Council governance is unsustainable. 100 years from now, will we still make decisions (as a community) the way we are now?

I have no answers here, just questions. Curious questions that I haven’t heard anyone else ask.

With my new iPhone, I installed an RSS reader (Learn what RSS is by clicking here) and get prepetual updates from my favorite blogs, websites, and other web publications. Over the past few weeks I decided to do this over reading the bland myranderings of a coglomerated Canadian media (both in Vancouver, and Canada as a whole). Blogs and citizen media present an amazing way to communicate with the world in an easy access and free resource. Hey, it's why I do it!

Here is a quote from a blog I read this morning called Life Without School. They have different unschooling parrents and sometimes unschoolers blogs about all things unschooling related. In today's post A Look at Interest-led Learning, I really appreciated this quote.

Public schoolers look at life and learning differently than we do, and that's why they come to this conclusion. To most everyone in our society, learning is scripted and preprogrammed by someone else. Learning is like a machine you enter, have things done to you, and when you come out the other end, you are "educated." Some of those prescripted things are fun, some aren't, and if you could possibly refuse to partake in some elements, you would come out "defective."

I dropped out of high school when I was supposed to be in grade 12. Stange eh? In all actuality, I was more like in grade 10, 11, and 12. I had only 32 credits, where I needed 80. I was becoming more lost in terms of things with my life. My instincts and sense of self where at a contractdiction to what was actually happening to me. Something felt off. I attended a Leadership Conference hosted by the BC AFN where the facilitator posted an idea that stuck with me ever since.

If you are not in a place of contributing or learning,
move to a place where you can contribute or learn.

It struck me so hard. I started ditching classes more and attended other conferences, speaking at schools and youth forums, attended ceremonies, being apart of First Nation Youth Caucus's. Although my paradigm of "learning" hadn't completely changed by then, it begun the process. It wasn't until he passed on a book called The Teenage Liberation Handbook: How to Quit School and Get a Real Life and Education. Simply put, it changed my life. It has changed my family. Hopefully, it will change my community.

I rebelled and was at odds with the establishment of the school since grade 8. I was indignant (at age 13!) about the treatment of my people (native youth) and our education. I've cared deeply about education since I was in grade 6. And by education, I mean what we learn, how we learn, and how that knowledge is used. I only now realized I lacked the self-confidence or self-esteem to effect real change at the time. It's different now.

But that quote just reminded me of what's really at play in the hearts and minds of schools and parents who were schoolers. As the school season starts, or the process of eliminated passion, inquisitiveness and talent from our young people begin, I am happily reminded of the strong choice I made for myself, and how damn right I was in that choice.

In Chris Corrigan's latest blog (Parking Lot), he brings up the wonderful challenge to us. Chris is a life learning, experiencing the waves in which life comes at or through us. His latest challenge is about "try(ing) this approach out and see if there is something that gathers your attention and piques your curiosity enough that you’d be willing to engage in a a somewhat public 30 day research project". The question I will ask myself is "In decolonization, liberation, and resurgence, what are the habits that I need to create or foster, and the ones I need to relinquish and dissolve, in order to be a "good" leader, for myself, my family, and my people?"

Chris brings up in this post a concept we had chats about before. Goal setting is something that's always evaded me, despite frequent attempts by School educators. In my recent projects, I've taken up a mentorship with a good friend, Aaron Nelson-Moody, in traditional arts. His first assignment: "Draw. Draw. Draw. Draw, draw, draw." I've picked up "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" a few months ago on the advice of Grace Llywellyn in "The Teenage Liberation Handbook". I have both the workbook and the actual book. I've done a couple of the challenge or tasks and it has greatly changed the way I think. I also found the Right Brain vs. Left Brain Creativity Test. Turns out, they are pretty even. My final numbers were 57% Right Brain, 52% Left Brain.

But what my mentor brought up about goals and passion, is how sometime when we share that passion through telling others of what we are working on, that passion tends to dissipate. I've experienced it myself with story idea's for short stories, or projects I want to get started. So lately, I've been more secretive about them. Not successfully because I still tell most of my friends about my projects, but I've also been recording them so they don't disappear and can find that passion once more. Because regardless if I tell them, my passion may go, but because the project hasn't started or isn't going, I'll find that passion again because I'll be the only one with it.

The other thing my mentor brought up was setting goals for myself, and keeping to them. Even if they are small goals, in a measurable sense. "I'll accomplish this many drawings this week", "I'll read this many chapters this day." Although I think this works for some, I'm finding that it's not apart of my decolonization or deschooling way I want to live my life. I'll ask to talk to him more about "goals"...lol. But for all intents and purposes, this way of, exploration, and inquisitive inqurery into the fabrics of life feels more natural and fulfilling. I don't have a goal, I have question. And I want to see that question answered. But in doing so, I'll return to a child-mind and see where life takes me. As a child-mind, I'll find out some thing don't work, and move around fluid-like to a way that does work. When a child, uncorrupted by school-style learning, goes places with their mind, they keep going in any direction that works. Not judgment or blocks in terms of the acquiring of knowledge. Open, fully, to the things that may come through my mind, and possibly stay there.

So Chris, game is on. 30 day of this question, "In decolonization, liberation, and resurgence, what are the habits that I need to create or foster, and the ones I need to relinquish and dissolve, in order to be a "good" leader, for myself, my family, and my people?"