One Dream

03-20-08

ONE DREAM

Should I live for another ten years I will feel very fortunate, but it was not long ago, at the time of European intrusion into this hemisphere, that indigenous upon this entire continent lived a balanced life for 300 snows or more. I was born on the northern half of this western hemisphere. At that time the Elders among us were few and scattered. The diaspora and genocide of indigenous that began at first contact with evil assault tactics birthed upon the European continent and transported here, continues in the year 2008 and there is no solution upon the political horizon that will allow this thought to recede, fade, or vanish: Divide and Conquer. This tactic promoted the invasion and assault of the world, by various Kingdoms demanding gold. In the instance of the initial invaders assaulting this hemisphere, gold in sufficient amounts that would allow the Spanish Crown to purchase an army. That activity of “finding” this hemisphere was first an accident, then grew to become a discovery and land-claim, then was fed to Historians by the crowns to manipulate history to continue the justification of The Doctrine of Discovery.

When I was in grade one, beginning my academic journey, I explained to my Elders how Columbus “found” us. A Grandmother looked long at me then asked. “Did this person find the sun, too? This land was never ‘lost’ any more than the sun was lost.”

Should one explore “discovery” and “doctrine” in a worthy dictionary and with a clear mind, s/he will find that the Doctrine of Discovery means that two people can happen upon anything and the first who claims to see it first is the discoverer. In the instance of the western hemisphere, the “discovery was a vast land-area inhabited by 100-million beings. For the “doctrine” to bear legitimate fruit, one must assume that the 100- millions of indigenous inhabitants upon this western continent were blind! One “civilized” way to fortify this societal myopia is to change the languages of the indigenous and distort their habits and world-views through the process of assimilation/acculturation. An alteration that damages indigenous much is the political strategy of changing our languages and encouraging us to identify a language other than the one we were colonized with as “foreign.” \

The history of the penetration of pirates from the European continent, written by the assaulting forces, is accepted by too many history scholars, both foreign and indigenous. That poorly reported and often fabricated chronicle must be questioned, particularly its divide-and-maintain-control mentality that pits languages and cultures
against each other in the indigenous arena while dividing families at their spiritual roots.

There are strange, intruding language-forces yet dominating this hemisphere and the indigenous upon this hemisphere, causing one indigenous camp to look askance at the other. The strange languages are English and Spanish. The arrogance of the English language reinforced by the presence of God, and the power of the Spanish language reinforced with the strength of the Catholic Church, are formidable structures to confront, causing an immense division among the indigenous. By employing this strange formula, the English-speaking native and the Spanish speaking native often hold each suspect of being foreign! A colonized English-speaking native from the north will hold the Spanish colonized Spanish-speaking native from the south in the “foreign” arena even though the Spanish speaking native is a full-blood-native Spanish-speaker and is to a greater degree original native than the English-speaker making the crude and hasty judgment-accusation emulating from tijtawa (real) foreigners that the indigenous choose to emulate, protect and promote.

This confusion is accomplished by distorting the native languages and world-views. This distortion is accomplished to promote and protect the assumption of “truths” residing in the act of assimilation, and to invite indigenous loyalty to strange beings and their strange habits, actions that continue to erode the gentle spirit among indigenous peoples everywhere. Those invading and foreign habits devoid of protection and promotion would, like an autumn leaf, dry and fall from the present to be raked and discarded in the abyss of uselessness.

Our unblemished ancient ancestors that learned from their ancient ancestors who studied this hemisphere and cherished the life-forces said, “Hamis hidatsi (One heart), hamis Aw’te (one people), hamis himal (one mind), hamis ahti (one blood), hamis telamji (one spirit), hamis tasoqjami (one dream), from tip to tip” (meaning from the tip of South America to the North Pole). In order for the indigenous inhabitants of this western hemisphere to appreciate the boundless love of our Ancient beings and to begin to conduct our lives and its purpose issued to us as an undamaged dream, this generation must lift the curtain of prejudice smothering our instincts, cast it off, and follow the foot steps of our ancestors, for that path leads to the dawning of our respect and responsibilities as original indigenous dwelling upon this earth. It is a good path. This path awaits our happy laughter, our delicate songs, our dedicated dances. Hayyaw, (younger brother) Enunja (little sister) it is a dream of Pukemuka (wonderful wise people of our history), therefore it is tijtawa (genuine).

Gedn’ch’lumnu (This must be so).

Sul’ma’ejote

Turquoise Little Eagle

PSUKITOK
(early spring)

AZTECA MEXICA
ANO NUEVO
National Hispanic University,
San Jose, CA
Mar 15-16, 2008
By
Sul’ma’ejote

It is true, brother sun smiled across eternity
Morning wind whipped across the valley from the hundred-hill-Sierra country
Sun listened hearing the rattles, the drums, the soft thunder of dancing feet
caressing sweet earth
He parted the clouds of morning
Looking with the eyes of his heart he saw earth-children casting sterling thoughts to outer-world as is our way
He saw a rainbow dancing around the hissing fire
Blue, purple, red, orange green, gold and silver
Sage perfume moved the good-heart-thoughts past the billowing clouds
Rain ceased
Dance to Universal Powers continued
Sun saw bronze bodies flashing in a great dance of happiness
and a baby sleeping, dreaming secrets to Aponi’ha* that we may never know
Sun also saw a turquoise eagle sparkling under the rain drops

As one, a thousand bronze-feathered Quetzalcoatl’s knelt before
the Great Powers governing life
The ancient song, the ancient rhythm, the ancient dream, the ancient thought moved north, south, east and west closer still
to mingle with Aponi’ha at sunrise
Rainbow thunder from earth came in a mist of spinning colors, feet touching Earth,
feathers caressing Universe
Rattle promises of tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Sun whispered across forever, “There is but one,
One heart, one blood,
One people, one mind, one dream”
At that moment the seasons seemed younger than the dreaming baby

Under the snows upon the mountain Grandfather spoke saying

“It is true. Annikadel** sent hummingbird to sun
to place a bouquet there so rainbows,
the symbol of love, would forever arch across earth.
Love must be forever remembered as amazing, delicate, wonderful,
and above all things, precious”

And so it is
As Brother Sun and the Great Powers listened with one heart
they revealed a dream of the baby sleeping,
that rain would fall upon the flowers and blossoms of earth
And so it came to be
Colors flashed and feathers sparkled under the rain
Children dreamed of a greater goodness,
under the splashing sun and dripping rain of Psukitok

The outer-world watched Brother Sun cry for his heart was happy
Mother Earth promised to love all people for as long as the dance and the dream are in motion
Gedin’ch’lumnu (this must be so)


* Great Wonder, Great Mystery, Great Spirit, Great Power
** A great dreamer who dreamed the earth into being


For
Turquoise Little Eagle,
The Rumsen-Ohlone dancers,
and all of the dancers and dreamers of earth

DON'T TURN A LEAF

“DON’T TURN A LEAF”

At this time of confused and slanted American History, particularly that part where original natives were contacted by lost Europeans, as the Europeans bobbed around on the ocean, having no direction or destination and no provisions to go home, and their survival from moment to moment was questionable, history as presented should be questioned by some indigenous academic authority. At some point in native history some indigenous historian should get the “adventure” correct and in proper order. The floaters and bobbers were trying to reach India or China, but their real mission was to find gold for the Sovereigns – no matter whose gold it was. The Queen, contrary to history books, was not interested in finding land and owning the world. Manifest Destiny, imported personal greed, and massive American over-population accomplished that. The Sovereign’s needed gold. The need for gold stemmed from a desire to invade Palestine and to pacify it, once and for all. The Sovereigns needed an army. Armies require much money. An army of 5,000 mounted and 50,000 foot soldiers was terribly expensive. The Palestinians had to be invaded and their voice quelled. The Muslims occupied the Queen’s homeland and had to perish for the insult.
That activity required gold to put it into motion. Thus the journey of Columbus and the crews of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, Hernan Cortes, and other plunderer’s and pillager’s. They were commanded upon the oceans to bring the crown gold because gold was somewhere in the world. It surely was not in Europe. What little there was in Europe, the Kings and Queens had it all, but they also had an army with spears and swords, shields and helmets, chains and iron balls with steel spikes sticking in every direction, catapults, cavalry, and a ruthlessness that made thousands quake at the mention of their name. Soon ships were going out of Europe a dozen at a time in a dozen directions.
Columbus and Cortes penetrated this homeland and there were beautiful people living here. They gave gifts of food and fine jewelry to the pillagers. The indigenous were unarmed, friendly, healthy, naked and strong but delicate, their bodies never needing an immune system because there was no disease. They were vulnerable. Neither was there a need for implements of war because war could not be imagined. They were friendly. They were so friendly and vulnerable it was damning to the natives but delightful to the plunder-mentality.
The indigenous dwelled in a paradise because they were governed by dreams of wonder and strict laws and rules of etiquette and personal conduct emanating from those dreams. The laws came in dreams to the Elders from the Great Mysteries of the universe. The rules came to the great leaders in dreams, also. Emerging from those dreams were instructions that make no common sense to those of the plunder-mentality invading this continent from Europe, a mentality that emerged from constant conflict and war, nation against nation, biggest most ruthless army the victor and the plunderer. Those victorious in slaughter and destruction were encouraged by the notion of victory to attack and plunder other nations. Thus, the Europeans were honed in the “first strike” mentality. The natives were honed in the “first give,” “first share” mentality.
A native historian should read Columbus’ log book and begin American History from there and discontinue siphoning American history from the propaganda tanks of the American establishment.
I am neither historian nor scholar, but In my feeble attempt to piece history together I can see a societal law that was there when the indigenous met the disease infested Columbus and other pirates, a societal law that may never find rest from European violation, a law coming to our Elders in their deeper dreams:

“WHEN IN THE LAND OF ANOTHER PEOPLE, DO NOT TURN A LEAF, DO NOT BREAK A BRANCH.”

“A WARRIOR OFFERS PEACE, FIRST.”

The Elders issued these rules to the many people of this vast hemispheric homeland long ago and this is how we have lived through all of the seasons and the great migrations that we interpreted as “time.” In our lessons we were instructed to sing sweet songs to Mother Earth and to the Great Universal Mysteries and to always respect all people and all life, everywhere.
Then one day evil spirits came from beyond the sunrise. Their hearts empty of dreams and respect, they brought death and destruction. They, for centuries, have thought only about more destruction and their diseases have mutated and strengthened and now threaten humanity. Earth is sick. Earth is damaged. The strangers have not yet learned that their hearts and habits are not healthy.
Because the invading forces refuse to correct their habits and their hearts, earth may perish, soon. Legend says it will. Elder wisdom says the children will save earth from its final collision with an uncertain destiny by singing Ye’ja (love songs) to Mother Earth at dawn.
According to legend we will divide into two great camps, the “destruct-o,” “Me only” mentality in one camp, children’s dreams about future in the other. We shall see whether child-love or destruction-driven imbalance prevails.

For information concerning Columbus’ first voyage, look in his “Letter to the Sovereigns,” and his log book of that time.

Sulma’ejote