A Perfect Storm Of U.S. Political Extremism, Calmed By Homegrown Indigenous Wisdom

The story of what happened between MAGA hats and Native elders in our nation's capital last week turns out to be weirder than my post yesterday indicated.

A perfect storm of U.S. political extremism was brewing on January 18 at the Lincoln memorial.

First of all, Native people had come to Washington for the first ever Indigenous Peoples March. Organizing under the climate change slogan, "If the waters are rising, then so must we," and bringing attention to the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, their presence was healing and wise. You can read coverage of that event here.

Smoke dance another angle. The moves my relatives! Those moves! #IPMDC19 #IndigenousPeoplesMarch pic.twitter.com/Ulqp8TfFyV

— Prairie Rose (@msprairierose) January 18, 2019

Today we remember the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. #IndigenousPeoplesMarch #IPMDC19 #WaterIsLife pic.twitter.com/icU7csfV78

— PFAW (@peoplefor) January 18, 201

Next, a radical Christian group called Black Hebrew Israelites -- which the Southern Poverty Law Center tracks as a hate group -- began preaching their aggressive brand of monotheism. You can see them and hear them in this video made on January 18.

You can hear them mocking Native people for "worshiping totem poles" (?!), eagles, buffalo and other forms of what they characterize as "idolatry."

They also claim Natives lost their land because of their incorrect spiritual practices and beliefs (which the Israelites give every indication of near total ignorance of).

Screenshot from video

A couple of women approach them and clap back. One is led gently away by an elder woman. The other resists another woman's attempt to turn her away. She persists offering education and a reasoned argument until the Israelites begin dissing her for being a female who uses her voice.

Meanwhile, a knot of MAGA hat boys is gathering; they have been bused in from Kentucky's Covington Catholic High School to attend an annual event aimed at denying women and girls access to reproductive health care.

As the Israelite group and the MAGA hats become more confrontational and agitated, Native elder Nathan Phillips steps between the two groups with his drum. According to his own account, he attempts to climb the steps of the Lincoln memorial intending to pray from that vantage point, but he is blogged by a grinning 16 year old who won't let him pass.

Nathan keeps drumming and is joined by another drummer as the crowd of boys chant "build the wall" and jump around mocking the Native prayer song demonstration. They also offer their political views, as nurtured by their politicized religious education.

Here is another infuriating clip from the MAGA mob of kids from #CovingtonCatholic

An indigenous man politely reminds them they are on stolen land and a student responds, “Land gets stolen. That’s how it works. It’s the way of the world.” via @ka_ya11 IG #IndigenousPeoplesMarch pic.twitter.com/SYun9wkzpY

— Andrew Kimmel (@andrewkimmel) January 19, 2019

Some viewers say they see chaperones behind the large group of boys.

So we have religious fanatics, white supremacists, and Native people still in possession of their non-coercive system of spiritual beliefs. An elder peacekeeper who was in the military during the Vietnam War era and who doesn't believe in walls, doesn't believe in prisons. (Thank you, Nathan Phillips.)

Photo credit: Perez Hilton

Some of the questions I'm left with: who bought all the matching MAGA gear for the teenage boys? Why weren't they in school on a Friday?

Who knew I would find common ground with a group preaching that I'm headed for eternal damnation because I don't worship Yahweh? (The Hebrew Israelites are angry, as I am, about the federal government shutdown.)

A more comprehensive account of the day with additional videos can be seen here on Indian Country Today.

Indigenous Wisdom, White Boys' Bullshit, Defined My Yesterday

Graphic credit: Native Lives Matter

Yesterday was an interesting day full of indigenous wisdom and white boys' bullshit.

(There was a lot of white people's wisdom, too, and Black wisdom, and young women's wisdom, too, so keep reading.)

I had been invited to Waterville, Maine to share the words my sister Hope wrote for the Skowhegan school board meeting back in November, asking them to retire their "Indian" mascot. Hope's poetic speech, "I Listened," has now been viewed over 7,000 times on this blog. It was well-received in Waterville.

My former colleague and friend Maryellen Dunn had helped organize an Equality Rally and it was held despite bitter cold. We heard from 4th and 5th grade girls who belong to the Albert Hall Elementary School Civil Rights Team. We heard from high school girls who had attended the Seeds of Peace camp.

Photo credit: Maryellen Dunn

Amaryllis Charles, a Waterville High School student, was especially memorable describing what it's like to be a lone Black girl in white central Maine, and how the camp helped her find her voice.

There were several excellent speakers, and you can read more about them here in the Portland Press Herald article by Meg Robbins, "Waterville Equality Rally aims to foster community compassion."

My photo, taken with permission

The rally ended with the strong spiritual presence of Native women elders who shared their drumming and singing. 

Tracey Tinyhouse Elohi, indentified in the newspaper as a Cherokee woman, who works as a "wildlife rehabber" for Maine fish and other critters, brought her drum and her strong voice. Along with her elders, her songs reminded me that by standing in Waterville we were standing in indigenous territory.

Then, I came home to this horrifying display of bullying and mockery at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington DC from Friday.

Screenshot from YouTube video "Indigenous Peoples March in Washington DC" posted by KC Noland

A large group of Catholic high school boys who had been bused in to attend an anti-abortion rally began jeering at, mocking and physically confronting some Native men who were drumming and singing.

You can hear Nathan Phillips, one of the men the boys targeted, talking afterwards about what happened here on CNN: "Native American man harassed and mocked by teens speaks out."

Covington Catholic High School appears to have shut down its email account (mine bounced back) but you can still contact the Catholic diocese in Kentucky that runs the school at this link: https://www.covdio.org/contact/. Or telephone them at (859) 491-2247.

As an educator watching teenage white boys acting out in public, here's what I wrote:

Covington Catholic High School

Covington Archdiocese of Kentucky

1125 Madison Ave.
Covington, KY 41011 

To whom it may concern:

The nation has been shocked and appalled by the behavior of the students of Covington Catholic High School during their field trip to Washington DC. I refer to this video evidence of their harassment of a group of indigenous people performing a song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIG5ZB0fw1k

As an educator myself, I know that it can be difficult to supervise teenagers on field trips. I'm not sure what the boys were in Washington DC to learn, but it's clear that there is a pressing need to address their moral education. Can the the Diocese do no better than this at educating young boys?

I urge you to investigate this incident and, in the future, to do better by these students.

Sincerely,

Lisa Savage

A comment on Facebook provided the current events context for the boys' bad behavior.

Indigenous wisdom built no walls, jails, or reform schools. Native people seemed to understand far better than European colonizers how to respect autonomy and raise children without coercion. I am grateful to keep learning from them.