The Spirit of All Nations.
The only Native radio talk show in Western New York. Let’s Talk Native…with John Kane broadcasts on the legendary WWKB 1520AM with its 50,000 watt signal.
Writes for the Two Row Times · letstalknativepride.blogspot.com · @letstalknative
“The most consistent theme in the descriptions penned about the New World was amazement at the Indians’ personal liberty, in particular their freedom from rulers and from social classes based on ownership of property. For the first time the French and the British became aware of the possibility of living in social harmony and prosperity without the rule of a king.” – Jack Weatherford, “Indian Givers”
Although I cannot embrace the rape of the planet and obscene support for the rich lords of capitalism that seems bound to Republican DNA, there is no question that some of the worst actions and most aggressive policies our people have seen toward our trade and commerce has come from a Democrat as Governor of New York State and a Democrat as President of the United States.
On my “Let’s Talk Native…” radio show on Sunday, March 9, I announced my new campaign. No, I am not running for office. My campaign is about truth telling and clearing away false assumptions about what the United States and Canada believe they have reduced us to — namely, their subjects.
I haven’t weighed in much on Canada’s Bill C-10 issues but in the overall scheme of things it is no different than any of the others on the long list of anti-Native laws, regulations and policies that Canada and the U.S. have attempted to impose on our people and lands for centuries and, of course, this includes their provinces and states, as well. It all boils down to an attempt to control, marginalize and criminalize our people.
I really like the expression, (Remove the Dust.) Its most basic meaning evokes the image of sweeping away the dust accumulated over years of neglect from our wampum belts or any other reminders of our shelved knowledge. We use it as an expression that is generally associated with maintaining our culture.
Now wait a minute. Tell me, how do any resources on our lands get tallied up as a percentage of someone else’s resources?
Last week two stories about the ongoing battle by New York State and the U.S. federal government against the Native tobacco trade hit the papers.
I am never quite sure if there is a real difference. “Latent” is defined as not visible or dormant. Well, to those of us who feel the effects of this sentiment, almost nothing is missed or ‘not visible.’ Even the dormant talk in their sleep.
Over the past 11 years that WBAI-FM 99.5 in New York City has been airing “First Voices Indigenous Radio” (FVIR), the show’s host and executive producer Tiokasin Ghosthorse has slowly turned his weekly live one-hour radio show into an international broadcast with re-airings of this program on 45 stations in 15 states and one Canadian province.
It’s not a prison sentence. It just feels like one. And I’m sure it feels the same to many others. It’s the cost for gaining “recognition” by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. And $33 million is what it cost the Shinnecock people. However, as exorbitant – and unbelievable – as this sounds they are actually the lucky ones.
Many of us are familiar with our expression Ohnkwe Ohnwe. It is what we use to describe ourselves as the original people of Turtle Island. The approximate translation is “real human being, forever.”
I’m sorry, but I can’t resist the temptation. As we rip open a new calendar I can’t help but reflect on the past year and the one that is now before us.
The story of the executions in Mankato, Minnesota that would be the final chapter of the Dakota War of 1862 seems to always miss the mark, at least for me.
We are hearing much about this new Pope and his radical support for the poor, but the truth is there will remain a gaping hole in his posture until the papal bulls responsible for the Doctrine of Christian Discovery are addressed.
The embarrassing failure of the U.S. prosecutor in the Three Feathers Casino trial is not a win. It’s not even a draw! Surviving the persecution and prosecution of their law enforcement agents, lawyers, judges and juries is a good thing, but it is not justice.
