Re: spirits 4 sale

For those of you who haven’t read the post Spirits For Sale, I suggest you go there and read it alongside the comments that were added…

Since I posted it there have been a flurry of commentaries from both sides of the argument. Initially, I let them go up in the interests of preserving freedom of speech and ideas. The original article was sent to me, and I thought it interesting enough to warrant posting. I am familiar with the struggles the First Nations People of Americas have, and I have a few friends over there quite involved in all of this.

However, as of this morning I will no longer post any comments that are negative, derogatory, or slanderous in their nature and intent.

I have just returned from a Gathering of the Yorta Yorta people up in Northern Victoria (Australia - right on the Murray River), where there were Elders and other folk from many different nations, cultures, and tribes. This was a Gathering that fostered understanding, peace, tolerance, and most importantly respect for the ideas, traditions, and practices of ALL peoples!

Having read over some of the comments that were waiting for moderation this morning, I decided enough is enough!

This kind of bickering does nothing to serve us as a race, and it does nothing to serve the way of good health and happiness amongst all creatures of the Earth. I for one am sorry I have allowed this infantile, schoolyard ‘he-said, she-said’ behaviour.

The Lakota have a phrase: mitakuye oyasin - it translates to mean something along the lines of “we are all related” or “everything is in relation to everything else”.

Does it matter what colour your skin is?

Does it matter what tribe you are part of, or who your mother’s/father’s clan was?

On one level, it is important - it is important for the individual to know their ancestry and to follow and continue the sacred traditions handed down to them. These points are however irrelevant to the wider community. I don’t care whether you are white, red, black, or yellow - if you are a good person with a good heart, with love, respect and honour I am happy to be your friend. If your intentions however are short of these things, and you seek to harm me or the ones I love, then I will ignore you and keep you away from my circle.

If this Al Carroll guy wants to pretend he’s a Native American, let him! Ultimately, he knows the truth behind his lies, and so does Creator. He will have to live with it, he will have to sleep at night knowing he is lying to other people. Ignore him and his behaviour, and he will no longer have an influence over your world. And what if he is telling the truth? Then all this reaction will have been for nought, and quite damaging and slanderous.

Where do we want to put our energies? To bickering about the legitimacy of someone’s blood-lines? Isn’t that rather racist, somewhat akin to what Hitler did in Nazi Germany? Why does it matter what colour someone’s skin is (and this question goes out to both sides of the argument)?

To Al Carroll (and friends), I ask you: why does it matter (to us) what your ancestry is? To his disbelievers, I ask you: why does it matter whether Al Carroll is white or Indian?

I would prefer if people made comments that added to a debate, rather than just point fingers of blame and nasty comments about other people. If you have nothing intelligent to say, then don’t say anything at all.

Mitakuye oyasin - we are all related!!!!