semi-daily journal of my thoughts and feelings(hopefully) On my life living in the Rocky Mountains...
.
|
|
| rkymtnmusings semi-daily journal of my thoughts and feelings(hopefully) On my life living in the Rocky Mountains... .
|
|
|
12/10/2009 A possible political statement over Norway as the Peace Prize is about to be received by Barack Obama. Read More posted by David | 12/10/2009 07:17:00 AM 12/03/2009 I am reading a book, Indians in Unexpected Places, be Philip J. Deloria. As I read this book I am aware of the strangest feelings and thoughts percolating up into my consciousness, surprisingly, and apparently, not "long dormant" as I would like to think, attitudes-prejudices-that come from I do-not-know-where...words like "uppity"...thoughts in the back of my mind standing up like the hair on the back of my neck..."over-educated intellectuals strutting their stuff"..."that's what I get for pulling books off the shelf cold"...and the truth is that much of the book speaks to and about people just like me...I am tempted to use an exclamation point after that last "me" because there isn't a punctuation point that denotes "sinking sadness". I want to go into a bit of jag here and talk about my upbringing and positive interaction with-who? -minorities? but I will spare you-for now, and instead take Deloria's lead and examine this "involuntary prejudice" a little bit. Several years ago we went to South Dakota for a vacation, staying in Custer (home of Bedrock and the Flintstones!) While there we took a day trip to Deadwood (the famous) so Shirley could try the slots and we could try the go-cart track, and we happened upon the Bison Interpretive Center, a project that was primarily financed by Kevin Costner to the tune of 5 million dollars ( http://www.storyofthebison.com ). While there we heard a Native American gentleman in authentic 19th century Lakota garb speak on Tatanka and it's importance to the Native American Plains Indian, and afterward he singled out my family and spoke very frankly about his growing up in Hawaii and Southern California, and one of the things he said stuck with me...he talked about the fact that when he was watching T.V. or went to the movies, when he was watching a western, he wanted to be the (always winning) cowboy! That struck me as strange, simply because I remember as a kid that the Indian was, in my opinion, misrepresented as inordinately and impossibly mean. I thought all Native Americans were more like Tonto, The Lone Ranger's sidekick. I always thought Tonto knew more than he let on, purposely played it low key, flew under the radar so as to attract less attention to himself in the white man's world, and I thought that was, although unfair, resourceful and wise under the circumstances. How deep and subtle and pervasive and constant these prejudices must come to us if a "real live Indian" boy would rather be a cowboy than himself, and a young white boy, influenced as he was by Soldier Blue, Walking Tall, 60's peace marches in San Francisco, Woodstock, and all the other forms of media and other living experiences that were supposedly enlightening him in a positive way would look down his nose at anyone. I can only hope that, even if the changes for the better (i.e. being color/gender...label blind !) that I and others of my generation may have been minute and glacier-like, that we-I might affect my children in some good way, and they theirs that it will one day be bred out of all of us. But even at that level I see my children disappointingly showing prejudices of their own, (much of which I want to attribute to their mom's attitudes), and yet at least one of my daughters seems to have a heart like mine-seems to want to, more than the others, come from a place of Love-which is the same direction that lack of prejudice comes from. And I'm getting the feeling that these things all intersect at some point with knowledge...knowing replaces fearing-fear of the unknown causes prejudice...choosing to love one's self more than knowledge of another person leaves a fertile field for any hatred...stepping out of self enough to learn about and care for another person creates compassion...empathy... And so I finish this post, embarrassed in my lapses into racial profiling,a sort of, I think, cultural abuse,not knowing what sort of cultural legacy I will leave this world thus far... whether I have lessened ignorance and therefore bigotry, even in just myself... scratching my head in consternation, but still hoping there is hope... Labels: American Indian, bias, bigotry, Kevin Costner, Philip J. Deloria, prejudice, racial profiling posted by David | 12/03/2009 06:32:00 AM11/22/2009 ...Just a few days before Thanksgiving day and a few after my birthday, both days appropriate for reflecting on the past, which is hard to do without peering into the future-both of which I do with heavy heart...It seems as though I (and, consequently, my immediate family is drug along with me) have been in this tunnel for a very, very long time, with not a hint of light at the end of it...legs and arms weary from this incessant dog-paddling and no point of land on the horizon that might bring some sort of help. I am almost to the point of, in spite of fears borne from being raised in the ocean and having the utmost respect for it-nearly losing my life several times in riptides, saved, no doubt from training I received in Junior Lifeguard, that sharks will come and put me out of my misery...It seems there is no training to get through this literal minefield-of-a-life. Even my attempts to shield my family from my poverty of hope by avoidance, literally hiding under the covers-attempts to sleep broken only by a shower and a meal here and there, has the unintended effect of heaping more pain on them-they actually, occasionally, enjoy my company !!! God I'm looking for your guidance...I am humbled and willing to do anything you ask-work as many hours as it takes in any capacity...you know I have cast my pride aside...I just want to make life better for my family, instead of wondering each month what is going to be taken away next...and all I have to do is look at the calendar and see that the hardest part of winter is still to come... posted by David | 11/22/2009 06:35:00 AM 7/28/2009 I have been reading lately about the Native American culture, most recently about the Hopi and Lakota tribes. I was reading a biography about Jimi Hendrix, who was (I think) 1/4 Cherokee, and his music, both lyrics and sound were greatly influenced by his interest and exposure to his Native American roots. Much of what he wrote that, on the surface, seems "psychedelically" influenced (3rd Stone from the Sun, etc) was, in fact, woven from his studies of the origins of the Hopi tribes along with his beliefs and his view of the world. If you get a chance I would incourage you to pick up a book or two about American Indians from the library and look into these cultures, and after doing a little bit of homework go back and listen to some of Jimi's interviews, and I think you'll find that much of what he says makes perfect sense!!! Labels: American Indian, Jimi Hendrix, Lakota, Native American posted by David | 7/28/2009 12:32:00 AM11/09/2008     Yes I have been absent for a long time... Working two full-time jobs is not conducive to blogging by any means...I'm averaging about 4.5 hours of sleep a day...I nap on my lunch breaks and catch what I can between jobs. I'm supposed to be starting my Santa gigs but already had to turn one down because it conflicted with my schedule at Ace hardware. I wanted to share some pictures I took at my night job at The Pinnacle Lodge. These are of a fox that comes by to visit. I first met her last year when she had two kits with her. They now live together up on top of the hill near Greenmeadows, while she stays closer down along the creek that runs along beside The Pinnacle, near the trailer park not far away. It may be circumstancial, but it appears that she comes sometimes when I whistle... 5/10/2008 Well, here it is May 10 and I look outside the dining room of the Pinnacle Lodge were I work nights, and guess what I see...snow, snow, and more snow!!! Wet, fluffy, huge flakes of snow, the kind that, this time of year pulls power lines down and leaves us without electricity-which, in our neck of the woods means without water(most folks around here use well water, pumped from the ground with electric motors), heat (God bless my wood stove!) for some, groceries, mail, gas...and the list goes on... And so it's dumping outside-4 inches in the last two hours-with no sign that it's going to let up anytime soon. We have a wedding party in house-I wonder if they were planning an outside wedding...if so, I hope they brought their galoshes!!! posted by David | 5/10/2008 01:23:00 AM 5/02/2008 Well, here it is, May 2nd and we are still getting snow!!! We are up to about 6-8 inches in the last two days and it's still coming down! Some folks are upset because most of the ski areas are closed, but most because they have bad cases of cabin fever and want to get out and plant gardens (like me) work outside the house, painting, that sort of thing. I have taken Noah, our dog out the last few warm days we have had, and now every time I go near the door he whines to go out, or even worse, has been trying to escape!!! The cat is back in her favorite place-under the house, but has to come out at night because it's still too cold (approx. 18 degrees F.) at night. I'm going to buy seeds and stuff to start planting indoors, just so we can have flowers by June. Later on... posted by David | 5/02/2008 07:07:00 AM |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
 |
||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
