Imagine for just a moment that you have chosen to cease from
doing everything you currently are taking on in your life right at this moment.
You quit your job, you left your home, community family and everything and
anything you know that provides you with the feeling of being safe. I want you to also take into consideration
that with this choice you made, it will be for several months of your life
which will mean that you no longer have the luxuries that you enjoy each day.
The ability to log onto the internet and communicate with others or wakeup each
morning and know for sure that you can walk into your bathroom and enjoy a nice
warm shower to cleanse your body. With this choice you made you also have to
realize that you will not enjoy anymore of the comforts that your home provides
such as a comfy bed, heating or cooling at the flip of a switch or entertaining
past times like hockey, football or the show some what titled “I Can Dance/Sing
Better Than You” which in fact are misleading shows because I have visited many
communities where traditions are still alive and let me tell you, there are
hundreds of beautiful songs and dances many of you will probably never
experience.
What I have just described above is a small part of what a
Peace & Dignity Journeys runner will take on in the choice to carry a
prayer across the continent. And I want to stress that word “prayer” which we
are carrying because upon my fourth time taking on this prayer, I often ask
myself “Are we really praying?” or is it all in vein. Now hold on don’t go
answering this question just yet because I have a lot to say that many of you
keep bugging me and all the other runners about when you ask “How are things
going?” or the common “Is everyone doing well?” and the reality is hell no things
are not going the way they should go, and all is not well. Usually the concern
is about we as runners and our injuries and health, yet I see an even deeper
question that never gets asked which if I could figure it out might be
something like “Hell yes we runners are alright but its you folks we left
behind in our homes which we should be concerned about….are you guys alright?
And I truly mean to look at your everyday actions…are you really alright?”
So allow me to discuss in brief how this writing will be put
together. First I will share with you my perspective on what I think “praying”
is all about. You don’t have to agree with what I say, however if you still
don’t agree somewhat with what I am sharing then I think I have failed to
challenge your own thoughts on whether or not you think you are really praying.
After I put “prayer” into perspective for the sake of this article, I will then
discuss some very specific communities and events that have happened so far
since May 1st, 2012 and although I cannot share them all, the ones I
discuss are those which have led me to think about whether or not we, as people
or communities are really praying. Each community I discuss will begin with a
heading of the name and other details that will help you identify it and
possibly encourage you to venture out on your own to research the issues I will
bring up with each community. Please note that some communities have their own
traditional names and I will respectfully try my best to include those names. I
will also suggest other areas of research for those of you reading this if you
choose to learn more of the communities I mention. Again, everything I write is
of my own experience and knowledge and I challenge you to look further into the
issues I discuss and educate yourself on the matters. Let us begin with:
When I think of praying I think of it in two basic ways. I
think there are those of us who might pray for things we want or expect for god
to give us in life. In this form of prayer we expect those things we pray for
to come to us and we truly believe that they will if we live a good life and
treat others well and are very giving. Sometimes I feel many of us subscribe to
this form of prayer. The type where I might believe that if I pray for a car,
it will fall from the heavens above and land in my front yard (not literally)
or if I pray for the love of my life to fall into my arms it will happen if I
pray really hard and just be patient and good (like donate to other causes and
help others and so on). Then there is the other form of prayer which I am a
strong subscriber to. I think that the only way to pray is to ask the creator
for what it is that is being asked for and then you go into your life taking
action at all you can to increase the chances of your prayer being successful.
The best example I can give actually comes from preparing for Peace &
Dignity Journeys. Prior to coming to Alaska
We eventually got two vans which are currently with us now
on the west coast route and I must share that the vans were not acquired by me
alone, Jose Malvido, another organizer and I took a trip to his home n Arizona
to recover one van we used from 2008 run and California PDJ committees in San
Diego, LA, San Francisco, Fresno, and Watsonville came together to donate
partial funds towards purchase of another van. The rest of the money came from
a project I worked on during my last week on the job and Ta-Da! We had two
vans. The story is actually much more complicated than described yet this was a
prayer and it was successful. In summary, the prayer I am discussing for
this article can be summed up by doing exactly that, praying and/or
meditating for what your seeking to achieve with the creators help, then taking
action to go forth and make the prayer become successful. Your thoughts and
actions are your prayers. They cannot be separated.
In no way, shape or form do I think creator just gives us
what we ask for no matter how good, pure or wholesome we think we live our
lives. Life is never that easy and if it was I would be the richest, sexiest
and most powerful man on the planet. That is a joke by the way, you can lol
anytime now.
Chickaloon is small. Matter of fact I would consider it tiny
that once again I begin this prayer from yet I could also feel something
massive and strong in the environment. Parts of this feeling I sensed were
somewhat joyful as the Harrison bros. hosted
us once again at the Chickaloon Hatchery yet at the same time there was
somewhat of a tension that I knew we would learn about in our few days at
Chickaloon. The Chickaloon hatchery from my understanding was started some many
years ago by Chief Gary Harrison and other community members who wanted to
revive the salmon in Chickaloon
River Chickaloon
River
But Chickaloon and its surrounding communities have
something evil lurking upon them. There is an open pit mine known as Wishbone
Hill Coal Mine being forced upon the residents of Alaska Japan
"Open pit mines put holes in the earth where they never should have been"
And if you’re reading this and you might think there is an
environmentally friendly way to have “Clean Coal” you might want to ask
yourself if you’re losing your spirit. There is no such thing as clean coal.
Those who advocate for clean coal must have never been to Chickaloon Alaska Alaska with Wishbone Coal Mine is known as Usibelli, a U.S.
Allow me to pull way from the discussion of land and water
and share with you about culture. Each passing I have made through Alaska
Let me share with you what happened in Tanacross. We
arrived, and we were fed by people from the village who also believe in the
power of prayer. They just didn’t tell us they would pray for us, they put
action behind their words and prepared a good meal, then they energized us by
pulling us out of our chairs and sharing their dances with us, but that was not
just it, they invited us to dance and we danced. This is the way creator made
life, to share and dance and sing together for one another. This prayer was brought
to life where the exchange of cultures between the people of Tanacross and we
the runners, truly had meaning. There was no competing for who can be the most
beautiful, graceful couple, or who could get the most txt votes. None of that
mattered and it should never matter ever to anyone. I think that when we
ourselves allow our lives to get such pleasure out of this type of entertainment,
we are losing the prayer.
Think about this for a minute…..there are shows that exist
to pull you away from the sacredness of life. People come out on a stage and
compete to see who the best is. During breaks your mind is bombarded with tons
of messages of what you should buy, what you should eat and what you should
drink. These are obviously not gifts from the creator, they are fake products
made from toxic materials, for you to buy. You are bombarded over and over to buy
these things that were mined, exploited or transformed from their original form
into chemically transformed products that will poison you. Now the break is
over and you are back to see who is the best on the show….but you are reminded
again, look behind the stage, the company of the soda pop that is telling you
to buy their poison, and as the judge tells America whether or not the dancer
or singer sucks, you are reminded one more time to buy the poisonous water if
you look closely at the judges cup. Look closely, you are being told what to
buy.
Come back to the prayer. In Tanacross this village knows how
to pray. They have not allowed such corporations that bombard us every day with
what to buy and who we should be to break their tradition. Their prayer is
powerful and I ask myself or better yet I ask you who are reading this… do you
now the song and dance of your people? Not just know them, but do you really
know them? How often do you share those songs and dance with your family and
friends? When the youth of our homes are allowed to spend more time practicing
to kill people on video games (and believe me they are practicing to kill
people) or using this computer to “learn” things and “communicate” I think
there is lack of prayer. I have had my share or such video games and favorite
shows in my lifetime and it was a waste of time. In fact it had no prayer or
meaning to it. I was not using the gifts that the creator blessed me with. I
think in Tanacross I realized that we runners are doing fine as we are hosted
by such communities. How are you all doing back home? Are you ok? Are you
praying?
Kluane First Nation, Burwash
Landing - Yukon Canada
There is a conversation that resonates in my heart that I
will never forget took place in Kluane First Nation. We were well received by
the Chief and her family, given food and a nice place to stay at their gym and
community center. It was not any of those things that are the reason this
community is being mentioned. I will tell you why in just a bit.
Most runners had gone to shower or were in the other part of
the building where we were going to rest. I chose to stay behind in the gym
area where it was cold and dark. After some time had passed a short dark
skinned native man with short black hair came walking in. He saw me and waved
hello and walked towards the main gathering room where the other runners were,
then after about 5 minutes he came over into the gym for reason that I think
the other runners were just not too into talking with community members (that
happens a lot at the start of this journey where runners seem to forget to
engage with community). So then this man walked over to the Gym and said hello
to me and started asking questions about the run and what we are doing. I
shared with him we are doing a prayer run and this time around it is for the
water, etc. etc. you know the usual Peace & Dignity FYI. This time it was
different. This man said to me, “Let me ask you something since you say this is
a healing run also to heal nations…” and I thought for a minute and said, “Sure
go ahead.” and he said, “I always ask people this and I like to see what kind
of response I get and I heard you mention the word healing so I thought I would
ask you….what is healing to you, what does that mean to be healed?”
I told this man, “Wow you caught me off guard there, and no
one has really asked me that in the way you are doing, but I will tell you what
my thoughts are.”
“Ok let’s hear it.” he said.
“For me healing begins when the person who is suffering from
whatever it is they are having a hard time with, first admits and identifies
that they are hurting and that the person is in pain, then there is another
part after that where the person not only figures out that they are hurting but
they admit it and speak up about it and they share it with someone and finally,
healing can only begin when that person ask for help or seeks help to that
pain. Only then do I think that healing can happen. That is how I see it.”
The man stared at me and said, “That is very good…let me ask
you, have you ever heard of the name Willie Blackwater?” I was not sure why he
asked me this, cause it was very familiar and I connected it with residential
schools in Canada (I may be U.S.
I was astounded; I was actually having a discussion with
Willie Blackwater. I only heard of the case but never thought I would meet the
man. He went on to add that what I thought was my way of starting the healing
process was a good way to look at it however he added something more powerful
than I could imagine yet simple. He went on to share that when he came forward
with all the suffering he went through in Residential Schools, he had to go
through that process and identify those things that were hurting him, and ask
for help and come forward. And he did. Willie Blackwater came forward and
started the movement in Canada Canada
Forgiving the people that caused him so much pain was the
final step Willie said would heal him. He shared with me that he came to
realize during all of the court hearings and the testimonies, that no lump sum
of compensation would heal him, in the end he had to realize that his life was
going to continue and the people who hurt him could either remain a pain to
dwell on and let life pass him by, or forgive those persons as they too might
need healing, and he can then go on enjoying his life knowing that he has to
live his life for himself and not anyone can do it for him.
If you are reading this here is a clear message to you from
me. If you have ever been a victim of sexual abuse, violence or any form of
pain in your life, only you can choose to heal or not. If you want to be happy
in your life but a pain from your past continues to resurface, you must first
identify what that pain is and who caused it to you. If you now know what it is
that is causing you pain, the next step is to choose whether you want to seek
help or not and to do so you must talk about it to begin that healing. Finally,
as I learned from my discussion with Willie Blackwater, you must forgive that
person. Truly forgive that person and let them go so that you can continue to
live your life the way creator intended it to be. Only then do I think someone
can heal themselves. It was an honor to meet Willie and I hope this message
stays engraved in your mind, whoever you are!
I mention this community because this was the next community
after leaving Kluane First Nation where I met Willie Blackwater; I saw the
exact process of the healing we discussed. As the runners arrived, we were
hosted in the village community hall which was a place for healing and others
who were trying to recover from substance abuse. One man in particular came to
our closing circle and as comments were being made from the local community
members, one man very thin slender but also very stern looking, spoke up a bit
and said he wanted to talk and share some things too. He said it very
confidently and then hesitated… he was quiet for a long time then began to look
about the room and look up and around and took a deep breath. He then looked at
all the sacred staffs and continued to do this and again mentioned there is a
lot he wants to say but there is some things he cant talk about…he was very
quiet for a long time and out of respect we all stood there in silence but also
I could sense that he had been through a lot of pain. I could also sense that
this man wanted to heal and he was doing that by trying to talk about it but he
couldn’t….then he almost wanted to cry and said, “Ahh forget it.” and he walked
away from the circle, some of the people in the circle encouraged him to come
back but he went outside and walked away from the circle.
It didn’t matter that this man walked away. That was his
strength. He was trying to heal and talk about it but he couldn’t arrive to
that place yet. After our ceremony was over I went outside to greet him and
said that he was a strong person for at least speaking up and sharing that he
is hurting…he then said, “Can we talk about this somewhere else not here but
like in private?” and I said “Sure.” which only meant take a few more steps
away from the door. He said that he is still having a hard time from all the
things done to him in residential school. Later this man found it in himself to
come spend time with us, have dinner and just enjoy the evening talking and
laughing. He is on this path to healing.
One day the goal is to bring back the school and protect those springs in the
region that are still clean. Some of the watersheds are already contaminated
but the community members are trying their best to produce well minded leaders
that will assist in protecting those lands but it’s hard without a school. Multinational
corporations are just waiting to bring jobs to the community at the cost of
poisoning the region in Good
Hope Lake Good
Hope Lake Good Hope Lake
Iskut First Nation, British Columbia - Canada
Before I begin to discuss Iskut, I want to say that if you
really want to buy something, don’t buy smokes, coffee or those DVDs. Buy a
book called, The Sacred Headwaters: The Right to save the Skeena, Stikine and the Nass. It is a book by a man named
Wade Davis and contains some of the most beautiful landscapes of what the Peace
& Dignity runners encounter when we run through northern B.C. and keep in
mind this book is not costly. It is about $30 and it can be ordered online. I
am not trying to make anyone rich by promoting this book; I am merely trying to
make the land of the Tahltan
Territory
Iskut
is a name everyone who cares to protect the land should know about. In 2004 we
ran through Iskut and we were well received. The youth all ran with us through
their village and community. It was like nothing ever before I had seen this
far north. In 2008 I expected to see the same type of community involvement but
I was taught a hard lesson. 2008, there was no community to receive us in Iskut
like before because there was a major stealing of the land that was taking
place. Shell Gas & Oil was making an attempt to drill for gas in the
traditional region of the people of Iskut. This drilling would pollute the
sacred headwaters, bringing in the salmon from the ocean all the way to the
people so they can harvest for food. Not only do the people depend on the
salmon but so do bears, eagles and many other animals and creatures we take for
granted. In 2008 we were told this was happening and that a large group of
elders known as the Klabona Keepers created a blockade. They literally dressed
up in their traditional regalia, brought their drums and blocked the road from
heavy trucks and equipment trying to make their way to destroy their
traditional land. Much has changed. Iskut is still fighting the same greedy
corporations this time one called Imperial Metals. Imperial Metals is based in Canada
Their action and energy is spent on calculating
how much money they will make per year, by the amount of tonnes (1 tonne =1000
Kg) of metals they can dig out of the ground, which does not include the tonnes
of dirt rock and gravel they will tear out of the earth to get to it. Did I
also mention the water they will use to wash and clean the metals and then take
that water and dump it into the watersheds that surround Iskut? When we arrived
to Iskut I was reminded of the Chickaloon community fighting to keep a dirty
coal mine out of their territory. A company such as Imperial Metals comes in
and promises riches and wealth and great things, but in reality, they are only
replicating the same lies since the landing of Christopher Columbus.
When the
Peace & Dignity runners arrived to Iskut in 2008, an elder name Bertha
Louie asked us to pray for her community, after telling us the story of the
blockade against Shell. I honored my prayer by making sure I never purchased
Shell gas which I am guilty of doing only twice in the past 4 years. When we
arrived to Iskut this year for 2012, Shell was gone but another threat is alive
in Iskut, that is the Red Chris gold and copper mine owned by Imperial Metals.
It was meant for us to be there at the time we arrived because those members of the Iskut
community that still want to protect the sacred headwaters, were having a
potluck at the site of the blockade and all I knew was that we could possibly
camp out at that location, and we brought hope back to the community. The staff
from 2008 has run across the continent and I have shared the story of Iskut
with many. Just as we were celebrating in ceremony together, there was a loud
machine noise outside of the wooden house made at the blockade campsite. It was
a huge truck bringing in a bulldozing machine to take up the road to start the
mine. Also later that day a huge gas tanker arrived that would fuel the
machines in their journey towards destruction of the earth. All of this
happened while the members of Iskut community thought their own elected
officials were representing them well to protect the sacred headwaters and
their traditional territory. In the 2011 annual report of Imperial Metals, J. Brian Kynoch writes his President’s
Message to show how much success and money they have made over the year. His
letter includes comments such as;
“The mill throughput was maintained near the
2010 record level of 21,629 tonnes per day” or others similar comments “At the Red Chris property, 102 shallow
reconnaissance drill holes and 14 diamond drill holes totalling 16,500 metres
were completed in 2011.”
These
are merely smokescreen words, sugar coated phrases in order to refrain from
telling the truth. The actual translation of these words results in the fact
that this corporation is tearing down mountains, clear cutting trees, poisoning
communities and literally destroying precious resources. Towards the end of his
letter he also writes that;
“These operations and developments would not
have been possible without the efforts and support of our many employees,
suppliers and stakeholders.”
Did
you get that? Stakeholders are the key persons for such evil doing to our
communities. People like you and me. People who invest and put their money
towards these projects and expect a higher return each year for their money
being put at stake, thus the term stakeholders. Stake holders are what makes a
corporation function and in regards to Iskut and other communities that do not
want mining to poison their community, stakeholders who guilty of putting their
money into such investments and funding the destruction and contamination of
the land and water. How do you think these stakeholders are praying? Are they praying
to destroy and kill communities? I think they are. How do you as a person
reading this, think the people at Iskut are praying? How about you? Do you feel
communities like Iskut should have their water poisoned and way of life
destroyed so that a small group of stake holders can get rich? I ask you again,
are we really praying?
Gitxsan First Nation,
Old Hazelton - British Columbia Canada
Nothing is more powerful than a group of hereditary Chiefs exercising
their sacred and traditional right to tell a corporation known as Enbridge, NO!
I will come back to this in a bit but for sake of sharing the history of Gitxsan
First Nation, I recall the first arrival here in 2000 to a campground known as
‘Ksan. It is the location of an ancient gathering place between the Skeena and Bulkley rivers. I recall meeting a woman in
2000 who was married to a man from Jalisco Mexico Canada Canada
These news sources are also good at spreading their lies.
The Gitxsan Unity Movement is the Gitxsan people, and non-native people who
wish to preserve the land and water. It seems that Enbridge is making back door
deals with the supposed elected leadership of the Gitxsan but the elders, the
traditional chiefs do not support this as I think they know what would happen
to the land if it is allowed. There is power in this Unity group saying NO! to
Enbridge because when they say NO! they are telling Enbridge, their President
and stakeholders that they do not want to gamble the sacredness of the land
over a bet on who will give in and who will not.
Remember that stakeholders are
people like you and me, maybe a bit more rich with money but they too are
human. When these stakeholders are buying stock from Canadian based corporation
know as Enbridge, they are playing a game with your life. They are making a bet
like in a casino that the money they put at stake to Enbridge will be used to
do whatever it takes to poison that land and construct a pipeline, and if it
happens they win the bet and receive their rewards while the losers receive the
toxic oil runoff into their water and food. The way I see it, Enbridge is no
different than the first colonizers that came from Europe .
It is a war, and the winners get the gold and riches if they can loot the
community of Hazelton and the Gitxsan Unity Movement to give up and allow this
rape of the earth. Yet they say NO! What will the stakeholders do ensure they
win their bet? Well I will leave that up
to you to research that, but I can assure you that the Enbridge commercials I
see here in Canada
I encourage you to research who Enbridge is and learn what
they will do with the $264 Million they earned as reported in the Enbridge 2012
first quarter report for shareholders.
The project Enbridge is proposing is known as the Northern
Gateway Project. Of all the billions of dollars this corporation claims to
spend on its projects, why is there no one willing to actually create and
produce sustainable clean projects? Does every way of gathering material have
to include a process where we poison the land thus poison ourselves? The status
of the Gitxsan Unity Movement was to board up the Treaty office and hold setup
a blockade to the Gitxsan Treaty Office. A fire has been lit outside and the
hereditary Chiefs and other members of the community seem to be keeping guard.
By doing this I think they have exercised their traditional and sacred right to
tell corporations such as Enbridge, that they are not welcome and that Gitxsan
Treaty Office does not support Enbridge at all. So If you read anywhere that
Enbridge is supported by the Gitxsan Nation, you are being lied to again and
again. You ant make deals when the office is closed and we runners have
witnessed this first hand. Saying NO! to Enbridge is sends a clear message that
the Gitxsan pray for the land and that they choose the way of love and care for
the gifts given by the creator. When we ran through this community, we felt the
power that is on the side of those who stand up against such evil corporations.
That feeling is the feeling of god! It was very clear to me that the Gitxsan
Unity Movement is praying for us and for the land and water; they proved that
to us by their actions. They refuse money in exchange for poison. How about
you? Are you aware of the poisons being dumped or proposed to be dumped in your
community? Are you supporting such destruction? Are you sure? Think again. Are
you really praying?
To close this portion of this writing I want to say that i
am not sure if I will give another update. It is not easy to maintain so many
things on the Peace & Dignity Journeys but I will say that if another
update might depend on the feedback I receive.
If this reading makes you think, i am glad it did. I wanted
to give a different perspective on how we are doing and what we encounter as
Peace & Dignity runners from another lens rather than the cut and dry, “Oh
we are doing great running lots of miles” cause that is the obvious. What I am
realizing as time passes is that I am wondering how you are doing back home in
civilization. Of all the things I mentioned I wonder who the people are that
are leading these sick, evil projects.
How sick are some of these decision makers that they have to
be told by those below them that the decision they are making is sick and
destroying the water?
I can live without the computer, the cell phone, the 9-5
job, the loud city, and the disgusting trash filled civilization. The question
is... can you do the same? Can you do the same if it means saving the earth and
preserving the land and water for all the communities I mentioned and even
more? What is your prayer? If many of us are still addicted and can’t live
without many of sicknesses I mentioned above, then what are you really praying
for? Again I ask you whoever you are reading this….are we really praying?
