Photo: Tammi Tiger (Choctaw) of UNLV Native Alumni Association
A quiet, peaceful, culturally enriching natural gathering of humans came together on Kumeyaay ancestral land in Balboa Park at the annual Balboa Park Powwow. Appropriately this ideology-free event took place during Mental Health Month.
While the world's population is engaged in a cerebral balancing act, dealing with phobias and other adjustments which have taken a toll on many of us, it is reassuring to know that sanity prevails on Kumeyaay land and that storytelling is the ultimate form of communication.
The secure and balanced have taken a lead in dealing with the task of life within the context of normalcy. It is a challenging task. A growing number of our fellows are not holding up nearly as well and becoming incarcerated, institutionalized, over medicated, and downright miserable while falling victim to power mongers who are perpetuating and busy making a cottage industry from human discord. The visionary academics are trying to change course by encouraging dialogue and discourse to Stop the Hate. The great Democratic experiment inspired by the Indigenous vision and worldview of the Seneca nation is being tested. As a people, we are forced into regurgitating and ingesting the vestigial remains of a culture that stubbornly refuses to yield power to tomorrow’s legion of youthful, compassionate, educated and spirited leaders, who are respectfully and patiently waiting in the wings.
Thankfully we are endowed by the Creator with the ability to walk in two worlds with strength to guide others.
It is refreshing to witness humans practicing civility and patient kindness in asea of in hospitality.
Awareness is creeping into the collective consciousness in spite of an obstinate duplicitous cowardly media. Each one Teach One is the communication methodology that inspires the enlightened worker bees inside the governmental structure to walk the righteous path.
Universities are networking with the youth. Mark Wheeler at Sacramento State is keeping hope alive. Tamara Strohauer and the Native American Resource Center at SDSU are keeping the Indigenous cultural a reality. UNLV is a hub of cultural activity thanks to Tammi Tiger. Las Vegas is our natural ally.
We wait. Change is in the air and Indian Voices is getting our house in order to meet our obligations to fulfill our mission.
We are creating a new outreach committee to re-establish relationships, networking and amplifying our pride in America and in being American.
We thank all who have been supporters and look forward to rekindling our connections with the business community and encourage them to reach out to us.
We are fortifying ourselves with good ole American Can Do Horse Sense and Indigenous Wisdom.
We are especially stimulated by those in the governmental bureaucracies such as the Dept of Housing and Urban Development who have reached out to us demonstrating that there are no barriers to cultural advancement.
Additionally community and local newspaper reporting is experiencing a revival, shining alight on the opportunity to establish an Indigenous Media Platform.
In keeping with Crazy Horse’s prophecy, ‘a change is coming and it is indeed a beautiful thing’.
