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Friday, February 10, 2012
NEWS LETTER
I think are own news letter is a great idea, iam in .I grew up with a father who was a writer and he all ways said the pen is mighty er the the sword. And if you don't ask questions you will never no. He fought all his life for the things he believe in. the enviornement. clean water veteran's issues etc. He as i believed in free speech and Human rights for all. That no one is different and people should be treated equal. To fight for what you believe and never give up we can change things. So if anyone is into a news letter get a hold of me i will help.
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good idea...so when u ask a leader a "sensitive" question and they say "no comment" you can put THAT in your newsletter....it will look funny after a while that the people appointed to work on problems just "wont comment" talk. and the ones most affected by the B.S. will finally be heard : )
ReplyDeleteA news letter could also teach are children you no. get them to take part and talk to Ojbway Elders who no are history and story, Elder who no are teachings. what we have now in culture is people who add to stores add make up there own. But most of all the dont walk the Red Road.
ReplyDeleteWho ever you are, you have no clue on what your saying.
DeleteIn case you haven't noticed, traditional elders have been dying off. Those that grew up FORCED not to speak their language and punished for when they did, remain silent. Everyone is feeling the effects of Colonialism and the Governments original intent to civillize the "Indians". Just for your own information, this is not a new problem, this has been going on for generations now.
Those that seek the teachings and traditions, see the elders, go to ceremony.
Before you say something so aweful and so misleading about the Elders, you yourself must make the effort and find these things out. This so called "Red Road" you speak of is not Anishinabe way but its nice to see you falling in with the latest "Buzz Words" and Trends, something you probably saw on the Internet.
I am just FURIOUS that you speak of Elders so badly and so wrong. Thats mighty "WHITE" of you.
Yes every Dept. needs to be looked at...The culture Dept is a joke along with the people running it , surely we can do better things with that building . Like maybe a training center.
ReplyDeleteThey don,t put any effort in teaching are culture or history, are true history Story tellers are just that and we need to tell are teaching. But we need to hire the right people in order for this to happen.
ReplyDeleteWho ever you are, you have no dam clue on whats been going on with the Culture Department and you certainly don't see all the work they been doing.
DeleteOh yea, being cut down to Two Staff by Rama Chief and Council sure don't help things either.
So, before you start shooting your mouth off, get off your ass and do something. Its everyones responsibility to pass on the techings.
We don't need to 'hire the right people'. Passing on teachings and story's is something our people did when we still walked the red road, and lived our lives according to the life cycle teachings. Nowadays we don't even get together for tea or coffee over the kitchen table and people would just as soon talk about you behind your back then support you, or support each others families. The sad reality is we've internalized colonization and made it our own. Our own special brand of colonization, where we hurt and blame each other. Nobody has to do it for us anymore, we do it to ourselves. So no, we don't need to hire the right people. The right people are the ones who are still willing to talk and share without getting paid to do it, who still do it despite being told to shut up, or ostracized for not 'being from here'. I'm grateful for the likes of people like Ernie Sandy, who speak and share truth from the heart, who still visits and still speaks the language, and yet our administration never misses an opportunity to remind him that he's not from here. How quickly we forget our ancestry, that in fact we were all one and from what I've heard we were quite the success story when we were united as one, so much so that the government had to put a stop to it. And now, we embrace what the government did to us and use it against each other. Ernie Sandy is a teacher and an elder and a story teller and he doesn't work for Rama. He does it because he knows it's right. And yet nobody in this community listens to him. Take a look around. We hype it up in the media last summer when we were willing to take evacuees, but yet there are brothers and sisters from communities all over Canada who need help. Did anyone offer to do anything to help Attawapiskat? No. Cheryle is the only one who collected donations to do anything to help these northern communities, and others like Pine Ridge. When there is no photo op or government pat on the head, Rama Administration aka Chief and Council, don't do anything to help others, not even their own. It's a sad waste of space to see that market/gas bar in the condition it's in. To have that restaurant space sitting empty is a sad shame.
DeleteThe first Anonymous reply and Kwe are correct and have made excellent comments to this posters comment.
DeleteThose of you that are shooting down the Culture Department and all the initiatives they have been doing must have to really take a look at what you said. Just from those wrongful statements show's your ignorance.
The teachings, traditions and the ways of the Anishinabe is an oral tradition. Its not written down in books. It is everyones responsibility to learn, practice and pass this on. The men, the women, veterines, elders, the clans, ceremony, scrolls, the people and the nation, all have this responsibility for the Anishinabe. This was given by the Creator.
Having a culture department in Rama is only a big bonus. In case you didn't know, this department is also guided by members of the Rama community.
Did you know that the culture department is in the Rama school teaching the young upcoming men (young boys right now) the songs and teachings of the drum.
Did you konw that the culture department is in the Rama school teaching the young upcoming womeon (young girls right now) the songs and teachings of the Hand Drum.
Did you know that the culture department is in the Rama school teaching and passing on to these young people the history of Rama, and now many cultural ways.
Did you know that the culture department is documenting much of the Rama History, teachings and even doing video documentation of Elders
Please find out the facts before you make incorrect statements. If you had children in the school, you would know these things.
Those of you that wish to shoot down Rama, the people in Rama, Rama's history, please stop.
My name is James Simcoe, I am from Rama and live here.
One teaching that needs to go is MNJIKANING Fish Fence . Well it should not be called a teaching thats for sure, That was just invented by small group it was never part of the chippewas of lake huron and simcoe. Never heard in the history of Rama people.
ReplyDeleteOnly the Chief can do interviews and all questions have to be approved first.
ReplyDeleteWho ever you are its up to are forgotten Elders to pass on the teaching, And from what i no no one is teaching Rama,s history to are youth, Whos telling them to be a dancer or drummer you don,t do drugs or drink no one the culture department puts on a pow wow once a year which are people are left out of . what eles are they doing wont be long before no one can talk ojibway.Our kids dont even no where they can from. OH YES they can from the Narrows and built the fish fence that,s what there being told SAD.
ReplyDeleteI think what is trying to to said here is that E have people teaching our children , and say they are traidional but don.t walk the talk, And i agree that our kids are not being told our correct history and also that our Elders are forgotten yes many have past but when they ere here is when we should have had a Elders Council some thing the people in power would never do, And talk to them to late now. As for talking Ojibway we need to do more. The name change Was Rama and our people are proud of that name the other word is made up so make sure all when you are teaching the kids to drumm and dance that we don,t put bad things into are body .And i live here.
ReplyDeleteI concur, I do agree that anyone who works with children in any capacity has the responsibility to be clean and sober and that includes the weekends. Some might argue that what a person does on the weekends is their business, fine if you are a corporation, but we're a Community first and foremost, and I agree that I don't want anyone working with my children to be using and abusing on the weekends or any time. It's a sensitive matter though, that's for sure and with privacy and human rights and all that others stuff we have to be cognizant of now a days, it's a delicate situation to be handled with care and discretion. If someone who works with kids is using on the weekends or even occasionally that person needs to be reminded of their role and responsibility, not so much as an employee first, but as a community member. Nothing makes me sadder or more disillusioned than to see someone who's supposed to be a role model to the community and our kids drinking and partying. It used to be you had to be a partyer to see who was out partying, now with Facebook all over the place, chances are if you got drunk on the weekend your picture is going to be on the internet before too long. Think about it before you make those kinds of decisions, especially if you work with kids.
ReplyDeleteShawna
It is referred to as walking the Good Red road. A book used in schools every one should read Anishnaba 101. an under standing of are culture , tradition and philosophy. They use this book in college, or university, in native history.
ReplyDelete