Opinion

Wambli Sina Win: Embracing your indestructible Indian identity

Monday, August 1, 2011

From the moment of birth, a baby bear (mato) knows who he is. This baby bear is aggressively protected by his parents who are ready to defend him with their lives. The bear is a part of the Great Mystery, encircled by the bear culture and kinship system to ensure his survival.

Those who have studied the bear know that even when a wild bear is imprisoned behind iron bars, his spirit will never be truly civilized or tamed. The Great Mystery gave this bear all the tools and the strength for survival and life within the bear culture. The foundation of the bear’s identity was established at birth and the bear knows he will have bear cubs not calves and he knows who his “kinfolks” are within his society.

The bear’s indestructible individuality and his spiritual essence were gifted to him by the Great Mystery who imparted this knowledge so he would know how to behave, survive and be a bear. Some would call this knowledge “animal instinct” but it is much more than that. For the Indian, this knowledge is “culture” which cannot be learned out of textbooks, especially those which are developed and taught by Non-Indians. Culture must be lived and experienced.

Just as certain species of the bear are endangered, there is another species much endangered who represents the Native identity found within traditionalism and spirituality. It is the brotherhood and sisterhood of traditionalists who are the keepers of our sacred fires.

This family (tiyospaye) though dispersed throughout the United States, collectively carries on with unbreakable spiritual strength which has allowed us to exist for hundreds of years. Though this brotherhood and sisterhood may speak different languages and call to the Great Spirit by different names, all of us are united, nevertheless by faith, blood and spiritual kinship ties.

The mind, spirit and thoughts of a Native American traditionalist who stubbornly clings to his Native American identity, culture, and spirituality cannot be remade or changed, much like the elements of nature. As traditionalists, the Great Mystery has gifted us with ancient teachings which move within our thoughts and flow within our veins. This essence is forged into our souls and is indelible within our spirits. We represent the unbreakable connection between Creator and creation and we are one with the past, present and future.

Who amongst your tribal leadership has represented these indestructible souls? Was it Geronimo, Tecumseh, Dragging Canoe, Sitting Bull or others, part of the branches of the Red tree of life who were assassinated, undermined and pruned by the vessels of treason and the white man? These unbreakable leaders and our Red People were given a place upon this earth for the Great Mystery spoke life and gave each species a part of creation, its task and place.

Just as water is a natural element which cannot be destroyed, our Native American culture and spirituality are also elements of nature. One cannot take over another human being without first destroying that person’s bloodline, language, culture and spirit. It is those unbreakable Native Americans who have been the “hold outs,” unchanging, resistant and mentally unconquered who have refused to enslaved by the lifestyle or control system of the white man.

Traditionalists have much the same instincts as a wild eagle. Though a wild eagle may be held in captivity, the eagle will defiantly use his wings to fly away once the door is opened. He will return to his own eagle culture. Our culture, language, and spirituality existed long before the white man. Our spirituality came from a pure source but the white man has characterized it as inferior, “paganistic” and “devil worship.”

In truth, when the white man first introduced and warned us about the devil in his book, was he not talking about himself? We owe much to the indestructible traditionalists who were able to keep our sacred fires alive in spite of the prohibition and banning of our sacred ceremonies.

It is the traditional “non-traditionals” who are the worst. They have Indian faces yet they are “scouts” or representatives of the white man. Every tribe has these “sellouts,” those who are unworthy to be called “Native Americans” for they have become so assimilated, acculturated that they have turned on their own people. A red man who is white on the inside is an “apple” who has fallen far from the Red tree. Many apples in our history have signed away our lands and way of life through treacherous treaties.

We have all suffered because of the treachery of those tribes who were quick to sneak around and negotiate self serving compacts. Within tribes today, it is not unusual for minimal bloods to denounce the traditionals for hanging on to their culture while these minimal bloods promote themselves as “business minded” or “progressive.”

The government loves this kind of division, by feeding one tribe while starving another, favoring the “friendly Indians” while disfavoring the “uncivilized” Indians. Tribes should realize by now that eventually, both are destined for destruction in the government’s quest to gain control over the remaining Indian lands and natural resources through the legal system which favors the white man.

Some tribes today have lost their roots. They may have a pow wow once a year and call this pow wow a “sacred ceremony.” However, I am reminded that a monkey who “performs” and dances to an organ grinder’s tune is still nothing more than a monkey. Those who straddle themselves on a fence between two winds are on a path that leads to nowhere.

Pretendians are their own creation and more akin to the New Agers or wiccans. Ultimately, the Indian is the immune system within the Red man, the ancient body of the Great Mystery. It is the brotherhood and sisterhood of traditionalists who carry on the sacred knowledge, the wisdom and way of life gifted to them as the original “sons of the Great Mystery.” These courageous souls have not been recognized for their sacrifices and prayers. The time has come for tribes to promote their own heroes instead of the white man’s heroes.

Are there any traditionalists among your tribe? Do they represent your people as Chief or within the Council Fires? If not, is it because they are outnumbered? Traditionalists are indestructible but they bear many scars. Some scars are battle scars from racism, abuse at Indian boarding schools or from imperfect lives which did not fit into “civilized” society’s criteria.

The family of our greatest Lakota holy man, Chief Frank Fools Crow, aggressively protected him by keeping him away from the negative influence of the white man’s schools. The same was true of a Lakota relative of mine, Godfrey Chipps. Their families wanted them to retain their Indian identity and their sacred spiritual integrity. If some say that Christianity is the solution, how many “traditionalists” are in prison compared to “Christians”?

Traditionalists (Indians) have been judged by many books. First the bible and then by white man’s laws, all of which were written by foreigners. They have tried to bury the Indian within a mountain of books. Throughout history, the white man has “thrown the book” at the Indian, in fact many books, all designed to remake, recreate and reprogram the Indian into an unnatural creature.

As traditionalists, our mind, spirits and thoughts are as strong as the elements and cannot be remade or changed. Neither the white man nor his traitorous vessels have been able to destroy the defiant unconquerable creation of the Great Mystery, the brotherhood and sisterhood of the indestructible,inter-tribal, Indian identity of the traditionalists.

We will continue to exist, rebelliously, independent but collectively as traditionalists whose will cannot be broken. We will continue to speak to the Creator in our own way, undeterred and undefeated, despite time, geographical distance or tribal affiliation. Yesterday’s storm, yesterday’s lightning will renew its face above your communities. Heed the words of a Thunder Dreamer and embrace your indestructible Indian identity. (Dedicated to Tammy and Mato).

Wambli Sina Win (Eagle Shawl Woman) is currently an Associate Professor and Director of the Bacone College Criminal Justice Studies Department in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Her grandfather was John Fire, Chief Lame Deer Tahca Uste, a well known Lakota Holy Man from the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. One of her sons is also a medicine man. She has served as a Tribal Judge for the Oglala Sioux Tribal Court, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a Tribal Attorney and as a legal Instructor for the U.S. Indian Police Academy at Artesia, N.M. You may contact Wambli Sina Win, J.D. at wamblisinawin@yahoo.com She can be reached at wamblisinawin@yahoo.com.