Thanksgiving 2018 Messages

David Walsh at wsws.org this morning brings us:

Donald Trump’s Thanksgiving Day Proclamation:

 “We are especially reminded on Thanksgiving of how the virtue of gratitude enables us to recognize, even in adverse situations, the love of God in every person, every creature, and throughout nature. Let us be mindful of the reasons we are grateful for our lives, for those around us, and for our communities. We also commit to treating all with charity and mutual respect, spreading the spirit of Thanksgiving throughout our country and across the world.”

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! AMERICA FIRST! …

“There are a lot of CRIMINALS in the [immigrant] Caravan. We will stop them. Catch and Detain! Judicial Activism, by people who know nothing about security and the safety of our citizens, is putting our country in great danger. Not good!” (Donald J. Trump’s tweets, November 21)”

Walsh writes at length of the insane levels of current wealth inequality in Amerika, and features heart-rending stories from the poor and homeless on the ground in various locations.  A Tale of Two Cities: ever-increasing needs, but empty food banks, while the Old Homestead restaurant in NYC is serving a Thanksgiving dinner priced at $150,000.

Friend of Café Babylon J of 9, homeless in Oly tells us the despicable things done to the homeless all over Washington, but most especially in Olympia, while noting that it’s all Capitalism 101.

From United American Indians of New England’s (unaine.org) National Day of Mourning:
“Since 1970, Native Americans and our supporters have gathered at noon on Cole’s Hill in Plymouth to commemorate a National Day of Mourning on the US thanksgiving holiday. Many Native Americans do not celebrate the arrival of the Pilgrims and other European settlers. Thanksgiving day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the theft of Native lands, and the relentless assault on Native culture. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today. It is a day of remembrance and spiritual connection as well as a protest of the racism and oppression which Native Americans continue to experience.” [snip]

“This year’s NDOM is dedicated to our thousands of relatives who are migrants and are being abused by ICE and other government agencies, including having their children stolen from them. We didn’t cross the border – The border crossed us! #NoJusticeOnStolenLand”

Stolen Lands – In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, “Songs for Leonard Peltier”

Unthanksgiving Day, also known as the Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Ceremony, is an annual event that takes place on Alcatraz Island on the fourth Thursday in November, coinciding with Thanksgiving. It is designed to honor Native Americans and promote their rights. On November 20, 1969, a group of Native Americans, mostly college students, occupied the island of Alcatraz. They claimed the island according to the Treaty of Fort Laramie, also known as the Sioux Treaty of 1868.The occupation lasted for nineteen months. During the occupation, many indigenous Americans joined the civil rights movement and spoke out for their rights. The occupation was forcefully ended by the United States government on June 11, 1971.The first Unthanksgiving Day was held on November 27, 1975. It was established to commemorate the survival of the indigenous peoples of the Americas following European colonization. The organizers chose the fourth Thursday of November with intent. While most people in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving, Native Americans want to remind about the losses Indians had to suffer because the arrival of Europeans.The ceremony is organized by the International Indian Treaty Council and American Indian Contemporary Arts. The celebration takes place before sunrise and is open to public.”


John Trudell, AIM Leader

From Leonard Peltier, CP.org today:
“Well here it is, sorry to say, another year, and I’m still writing to you from a prison cell. I am still in pain from my illnesses with no knowledge of whether I will ever get treatments for them. But I’m alive and still breathing hoping, wishing, praying for not just my pains, but for all Native Nations and the People of the World who care and have positive feelings about what is happening to Mother Earth and against the evils committed by Wasi’chu in their greed for HER natural resources .

“It doesn’t seem as if any changes for the good or safety of Mother Earth will happen soon. But the good-hearted People are fighting back, and some good People are winning in the struggles to beat back some of this evil and to make THE Changes, the safety networks, we need for our grandchildren and great grandchildren so that they will be able to live happy successful lives, at least decent lives, that most of the poor underprivileged in my generation never got to experience or enjoy in our short lives.

So, I sit back and look at the world, and I wonder if I will ever get to see the outside world again, free from this prison cell? At 74 it is not looking too good for that to happen. But I keep my hopes alive and pray as hard as I can that it will happen. If not, when they bury me I want to be laid to rest face down and with a note pinned to my ass with the words in large bold letters, ‘KISS MY ASS!!’… just in case someone wants to study my bones years from now :)!!”  [snip]

“My thoughts are also with the youth such as the Water Protectors and all people young and old who are working to protect Mother Earth. I hope someday in the near future to be with you and part of this march and join you in the feast prepared by Native People and wonderful supporters who have joined together today to honor our Ancestors.

~In The Spirit of Crazy Horse.”

John Trudell (February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015) was a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes’ takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


From sott.net, Nov. 2016:

“The people who have created this system, and who perpetuate this system, they are out of balance. They have made us out of balance. They have come into our minds and they have come into our hearts and they’ve programmed us. Because we live in this society, and it has put us out of balance. And because we are out of balance we no longer have the power to deal with them…
We are a natural part of the creation, we were put here on the sacred mother Earth to serve a purpose. And somewhere in the history of people we’re forgetting what the purpose is. The purpose is to honor the earth, to protect the earth, to live in balance with the Earth. And we will never free ourselves until we address the issue of how we live in balance with the Earth. Because I don’t care who it is, any child who turns on their mother is living in a terrible, terrible confusion. The Earth is our mother, we must take care of the Earth.”

~ John Trudell, 1980

The following are excerpts from John Trudell’s Thanksgiving Day Address, made in 1980…  (it’s long and revolutionarily inspirational; he’d opened with):

“I’d like to thank all of you for coming here tonight and sharing this evening with us. And tonight I’d like to talk in honor of the water and the earth and our brother Leonard Peltier.
We’re faced with a very serious situation in this generation. There are insane people who wish to rule the world. They wish to continue to rule the world on violence and repression, and we are all the victims of that violence and repression.
We as the indigenous people of the western hemisphere have been resisting this oppression for 500 years. We know that the black people have been resisting it for at least that long. And we know that the white people have had to endure it thousands of years. And now it’s come full swing to this generation that we live in..
You see, this cannot be. We cannot allow this to go on. We cannot do it. We cannot expect that the pro-nuclear oppressor, that other side, we cannot expect that they’re going to change for us.”

 They are going to become more brutal. They are going to become more repressive because it’s a matter of dollars and their illusionary concepts of power.
We have to re-establish our identity. We have to understand who we are and where we fit in the natural order of the world, because our oppressor deals in illusions.
They tell us that it is power, but it is not power. They may have all the guns, and they may have all the racist laws and judges, and they may control all the money, but that is not power.”

the end.

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Big Al's picture

"there are insane people trying to rule the world".
Trying to get me going wd? Before I go to a T-day dinner with some Trump supporters attending?

I've been going at it already this am. First time I was greeted with a Happy Thanksgiving (by my daughter), I said, "Happy Native American Genocide Day".
She knew that was coming.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

heart's journey today, big al. so no, i wasn't thinkin' of you nor any wasichu descendants whatsoever, not even myownself. ; )

maybe the T-day dinner will feature corn, squash, beans and berries? now and again i used to make pueblo food for for T-Day, although our adopted first american kids hated it; go figure.

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@Big Al calling it happy genocide celebration day, close enough.
It's Good to be png'd!

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

formerly of orchestrated pulse drew franklin:

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mimi's picture

14057498275_327687f3a9_z.jpg

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wendy davis's picture

@mimi

i hope you've been having a good day, miz mimi.

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wendy davis's picture

is moar john trudell!

Crazy Horse, from Bone Days by John Trudell. To those who have gone on before us. Wounded Knee Massacre December 29, 1890.

[video:https://youtu.be/Ku8ga-krBe4]

John’s ‘ride came for him’ (as he’d put it) on Dec 08, 2015; the world was a far better place with him in it.

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janis b's picture

We are a natural part of the creation, we were put here on the sacred mother Earth to serve a purpose. And somewhere in the history of people we’re forgetting what the purpose is. The purpose is to honor the earth, to protect the earth, to live in balance with the Earth. And we will never free ourselves until we address the issue of how we live in balance with the Earth. Because I don’t care who it is, any child who turns on their mother is living in a terrible, terrible confusion. The Earth is our mother, we must take care of the Earth.”
~ John Trudell, 1980

Thank you for reminding us of what is true power and what is not, especially on this day.

[video:https://youtu.be/x1uJidwo77s]

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

bringing more trudell. 'out of balance' is much like 'out of harmony' hozhro (spelling?) in the dineh healing ceremonies. not necessarily to rid a disease, etc., but to be in harmony with Life, as i understand it.

i know i've said it before here, but john turned some of the worst poison in his, anyone's life...into medicine in the most glorious ways. this is his bio at johntrudell.com.

the song was lovely, janis b, but i'd thought i'd seen many more tribes represented in the mix tape, even hopi and apache, but who can say? but yes, dineh galore. ; )

i'm so pleased that you feel trudell's and other tribes sense of being tied to the mother, and what actual power that brings. bless your heart.

i'll be back after a bit for a closing lullaby; i haven't decided among three possibilities yet. sleep well, dream well if you can.

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janis b's picture

@wendy davis

Thanks for Trudell's bio, and I'm looking forward to your lullaby. Interesting musical connections. I'll look for aka graffiti man.

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

gave them. they call themselves 'dineh', roughly 'the people'. this is troubador larry long's homage to the navajo/dineh beauty way healing ceremony chant. hope you like it. they used it on the 'songs for leonard peltier' fundraiser album.

on morning edit: i'd blown the embed.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGm5pa1Bv7A]

best heart to you.

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wendy davis's picture

lullaby, i'll bring two. this is the last song john recorded w/ quiltman and the pines before he transitioned. when i'd typed john's closing date of dec. 2015, both mr wd and i were sucked into the vortex of time, as neither of us could fathom that so much time had passed. thus: time dreams.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTMe_EPgSM]

this is one of my favorites, although i can't say why it exerts so much power, but it's as though i'm bathed with the emotions and memories of it.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE-NGGP_dOo&list=PLUUstg03X-ZGXewo-GtH8d...

Rest in Power, john; i'm sure you're kickin' ass wherever you are.

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janis b's picture

@wendy davis

"outside and inside ... we are part of that".

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

i think it should come with a warning label: Don't Operate Heavy Machinery while taking this song...

and mr. wd said that he reckons that AKA graffiti man is his favorite trudell album.

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janis b's picture

@wendy davis @wendy davis

and enjoyed it so much I ordered a CD directly from the John Trudell site.

Thank you for all the information you've related here, and other references, including a couple documentaries I'd like to see.

Have a good weekend wendy and mr. wd

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wendy davis's picture

@janis b

and i appreciate your deep interest, as does mr. wd, who'd first turned me on to john trudell. while i couldn't get it on the home radio, he could hear trudell on a public radio station east of durango, co. he takes close listening, eh?

poison into medicine?

"In 1979 that war took a terrible personal toll on John Trudell, in the form of an unspeable tragedy that changed his life forever.

On February 11, 1979 Trudell had burned an American flag during a demonstration in front of the J.Edgar Hoover building, the headquarters of the F.B.I. In Washington, DC, Trudell explained his motives for the flag-burning. “In the military, they said if the flag has been desecrated, the only way to properly dispose of it is to burn it. But they defined desecration of the flag as if it drops on the earth. I say injustice and racism and classism and your whole way of life desecrates whatever you say this thing’s supposed to mean.”

About 12 hours after the flag incident, in the early morning of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, a fire “of suspicious origin” burned down Trudell’s home on the Shoshone Palute reservation in Nevada, killing Trudell’s wife, Tina, their three children and Tina’s mother. Not surprisingly, the F.B.I. declined to investigate, and the blaze was officially ruled an “accident.” But Trudell flatly stated “It was murder; they were murdered as an act of war.”

Devastated by the tragedy, Trudell withdrew from the world for a time, and it was during this period of grief and exile that Trudell discovered his poetic gift. “It was when I was looking for something to hang on to, to keep me connected to this reality, that I started writing. I did not write poetry prior to that…Tina was the writer. She wrote poetry. And almost six months after the fire, when I was looking for help — I was looking to cut any spiritual deal. I was pissed off at God, at the Great Spirit, at all of ’em because this was a betrayal to me… And then the lines came. The lines were my bombs, my explosions, my tears, they were my everything.”

jeezum crow.

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wendy davis's picture

from the guardian:

"At 4.30am on Thanksgiving morning, the sun had yet to rise over Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. Yet more than 5,000 people were gathered in a hushed circle around a burning pyre, as Native American dancers moved and swayed in the flickering light.
Welcome to the Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Day, formerly known as Unthanksgiving Day. While most Americans are still asleep, this annual tradition commemorates the 19-month occupation of Alcatraz – famed for its now disused prison – by Native American activists from 1969-1971.

The ceremony began before dawn in the prison’s main courtyard. “We give thanks everyday and today. We have ceremonies to the sun to give thanks for our lives, for the beatings of our heart,” said Andrea Carmen, the director of the International Indian Treaty Council, who joined fellow Native Americans, other indigenous tribes and “citizen allies”.
Dancing, prayers and speeches celebrated the occupation’s history alongside modern political battles: Standing Rock, family separation at the US-Mexico border, and the need to protect the Earth from climate change.

“It’s not so easy to get up early in the morning,” said Carmen. “But I hope people can take that commitment and see there’s energy to make a change. Everyone can do something.”

now in his historical narrative of the 19 month occupation of alcatraz, he'd never mentioned john trudell (who'd also occupied wounded knee 1973 in the photo in the OP)

the photos are spiritually breathtaking, what a great ceremony to wake up to. the rising sun lighting quetzcoatl aztec headdresses, well...whooosh; bless them all, as well as josé fermoso who'd covered it.

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@wendy davis
Indigenous ceremonies for thanks and prayers amid the ruins of one of the most notorious federal prisons.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

wendy davis's picture

@Timmethy2.0

isn't it? as well as the power of the hoop, the circle, the drumbeats echoing the sound of the human and mother earth's heartbeats.

i'm trying to remember the best view in SF to really see alcatraz. is it coit tower? so long ago that i've forgotten. but i loved that they had turned 'doctrine of discovery' back on the genocidaires.

and of course there's a hashtag, and i'd meant to bring this earlier:

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@wendy davis @wendy davis @wendy davis
It's a fairly major street that aligns perfectly with Alcatraz island. As you drive west from the hills to the bay you get a lot of views of the street with Alcatraz dead center. I was looking for an image of that on google but was a having a hard time finding one. I might have to take my own picture of it. The view from Coit tower is a lot better though. The SF waterfront is a top notch walk with constant views of Alcatraz and the rest of the bay.

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wendy davis's picture

@Timmethy2.0

but the city by the bay and coit tower: yes. in any event, i loved the shit out the fact that during the original 19 months (?) of alcatraz, they'd claimed 'doctrine of discovery' as the basis of their ownership. iirc, that was the claim for the colonizers right to commit massive genocide of the turtle island indigenous as an 'unoccupied land'). 'manifest destiny' was a theo-political claim.

that also echoes the reason that many Occupy general assemblies made it clear that they were "De-colonize...oakland, wherever, ABQ? i've forgotten.

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@wendy davis
For the Alcatraz occupation. The case seems to make sense to me but I'm sure it was somehow derailed.

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wendy davis's picture

@Timmethy2.0

legal case, but a 'claim' of ownership. but i'm quite glad you asked since your Q caused me to go a-bingling. now this is the history told by natives of unknown sort, and their history is quite different than the guardian's, although some of the facts do jibe. it's very long, and it does describe factionalization and 'utopian clans', for lack of a better word. but the star power cheering them on was apparently sincerely awesome.

but back to your Q (and i've already forgotten at what point the water and electricity was turned off), but toward the end of the history by thenativepress.com:

(they'd ask for the island to build a native park, cultural and education center.)

"By the final two weeks of the occupation, the Indians of Alcatraz had gotten little of what they had demanded, especially the island itself. Although, a leading faction turned down an offer to take control of nearby Fort Mason in exchange for leaving Alcatraz. Following that refusal, frustrated White House officials were determined to get the Indians off the island at almost any cost. Some officials even proposed an armed invasion. Nixon aides quickly dismissed the latter as too damaging to Republicans.

A fire, not political unrest, signaled the end of the occupation. On June 1, 1971, four historical buildings on the island went up in flames. Because the buildings were far apart from each other, occupiers concluded that government agents had set the fires to discredit the occupation. Government leaders shot back that rowdy occupiers had set the fires.
Officials increased calls to remove the occupiers. Alcatraz, one said, had become an "island ghetto."

Most of the occupiers began to leave on their own, anxious to return to schools and jobs. Only fourteen remained on June 11, 1971, when U.S. Marshals in three-piece suits arrived to reclaim the island.

After the occupation, Trudell became one of the American Indian Movement's most vocal and militant leaders, helping organize the February 1973 armed occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and the takeover of BIA headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Of the AIM activities, Trudell says, "We would have been better saying, 'We're Native and humble,' rather than, 'We're Native and militant.' Genocide often is a result of out-of-control pride and militancy."

Like Trudell, Wilma Mankiller emerged to prominence out of Alcatraz. She became principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in the 1980s and one of the most powerful and popular American Indian leaders this century. In 1969, Mankiller was a 23-year-old Bay Area housewife when she visited the island. Mankiller says that the occupation "gave me the sense that anything was possible."

"It was idealistic, and the generosity of the spirit of the people proved that we could change anything. Who I am and how I governed was influenced by Alcatraz. The way I viewed dissent was totally influenced by Alcatraz. People on the island were very strong about freedom of speech, freedom of dissent. I saw the importance of dissent in government."

iirc, and i'd only listen to the FBI reports on the radio at the little general store in which i worked in clark, colorado, the middle of nowhere: it's not even covered on google earth, or wasn't, lol. but they really thought wounded knee was the red nations rising in revolution, and issues all kinds of panicked bulletins. but largely, the 'negotiations' were yelled between the occupiers and the armed feds. my memory is quite hazy, though, as to which of the occupiers (russell means? another one or two?) to parley with the feds under a white flag.

crazy. did someone make a film of it? i'll have to look it up, as i have these images lodges somewhere in my noggin. anyhoo...bingling 'best view of alcatraz from SF', it kicked up 'pier 39'.

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@wendy davis @wendy davis

A fire, not political unrest, signaled the end of the occupation. On June 1, 1971, four historical buildings on the island went up in flames. Because the buildings were far apart from each other, occupiers concluded that government agents had set the fires to discredit the occupation. Government leaders shot back that rowdy occupiers had set the fires.
Officials increased calls to remove the occupiers. Alcatraz, one said, had become an "island ghetto."

Maybe Nixon's plumbers had something to do with it.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

wendy davis's picture

@Timmethy2.0

sounds like gummit work to me. yeppers. "Alcatraz, one said, had become an "island ghetto."
much like the stated reasons for shutting down occupy zuccotti park: rape, disease, vermin...and tossing everything (including their library) into dumpsters.

by the by, i'd meant to give you this link earlier to remove the extra @s on edit, or 'de-clutterfy (invented word) comments'.

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wendy davis's picture

first, from the rev billy talen (of the 'stop shopping choir'):

and this gut-wrenching one from david swanson, world beyond war:

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wendy davis's picture

know why leonard peltier's been in prison for 40-some years or so. this documentary has the short version: ‘Incident at Ogalala’, 1992, from robert redford & michael apted (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104504/)

Storyline

'On June 26, 1975, during a period of high tensions on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, two FBI agents were killed in a shootout with a group of Indians. Although several men were charged with killing the agents, only one, Leonard Peltier, was found guilty. This film describes the events surrounding the shootout and suggests that Peltier was unjustly convicted.'

there's actually no 'maybe' about it, but as hillary clinton told me in answer to my please for her hubbie to grant him clemency: 'these were fibbies, someone has to pay the politica price' (or close, but on heavy vellum paper)

it costs 3.99 amerikan dollahs to watch the whole thing on youtube (pffft), but here's the trailer: trudell and a hella lot of other induns are in it...

[video:https://youtu.be/oNmnpmQZ7Yo]

this is trudell in a scene from apted's thunderheart (Imdb): 'A young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation. i'd call it feel-good magical realism for the lakota.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrCOFUpRg8w]

this is the best of the 'feel goods'; hang in there it's only 4+ minutes:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCxkKYPlkkc]

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wendy davis's picture

wounded knee’, 2009, a documentary with historical footage, imdb, stanley nelson, marcia smith

pbs had aired it in their ‘we shall remain’ series. we watched some of those, but i can't swear i remember it scrolling through the whole hour and fifteen or whatever it is. but an insane military response by the US marshals et.al., over 500,000 rounds fired, tanks, and tra la la. but yes, the other spox was dennis banks, how could i have forgotten?

they struck a deal with the gummint after a number of induns were shot, some kiled, including promises to look into the many murders of the traditionals at pine ridge by the evil x 12 dickie wilson and his aptly named GOONs (guardians of the ogalala nation. but at the core of his evil doings was...tada! uranium mining cronyism.

thunderheart had some of it according to wikipedia, but

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opbxnuw0Dw0]

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wendy davis's picture

tonight's un-lullaby is larry long's 'water in the rain'. from the blurb (updated):

'2018 marks the 156th anniversary of the largest mass hanging in United States history by President Abraham Lincoln’s decree. from below the video:

“(English Translation) Grandfather, I come to you this day in my humble way to offer my prayers for the thirty-eight Dakota who perished in Mankato in the year of 1862. To the West, I pray to the Horse Nation, and to the North, I pray to the Elk People. To the East, I pray to the Buffalo Nation, and to the South, the Spirit People. To the Heavens, I pray to the Great Spirit and to the Spotted Eagle. And Below, I pray to Mother Earth to help us in this time of reconciliation. Grandfather, I offer these prayers in my humble way. To all my relations Amos Owen (Wiyohpeyata Hoksina)

38 eagles flew...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex_wMqm-hKU]

g'night all. la luna bella is full tonight.

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