My Son Cuts His Braid

‘Will those police be mean to me when we get out there?’

Bottom Line: An ICTMN correspondent who has reported regularly from the front lines of the water protectors movement now offers a more personal account.

Prior to the water protector action, Maangozit had his phone number written on his arm in case legal assistance was needed.

Mary Annette Pember

We pointed our rental war pony west and rode hard into the sun, stopping only for cheeseburgers. Thus began my 2,200-mile, weeklong journey with my 12-year-old son, Maangozit, to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to meet with folks at the water protector camps opposing the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL). This was a far more relevant history lesson than Maangozit would ever learn in his sixth-grade class, so I agreed to take him. He was delighted.

During a stopover, I caught him talking to his buddy Lucas on Facetime. He held his open mouth close to the screen, tongue out. “Ha, ha, haaaa, no school, dude!” he gloated.

“They have school at the water protector camps,” I told him.

He was quiet for much of the next day’s drive. It is during such drives, with those long silences, that we have our best conversations. The drone of the road and passing scenery give him time to process his thoughts into words.

“Will those police be mean to me when we get out there?” he asked.

The National Guardsmen manning the stop wore combat gear and carried automatic weapons. Maangozit was visibly shaken, although we were told we were “clear to go.” It was unclear how that determination had been made.

“What would have happened?” he wanted to know, if we hadn’t been cleared. I couldn’t answer for sure.

My years of carrying heavy equipment as a newspaper photographer compressed several discs in my back, so I can no longer carry two camera bodies with heavy lenses, which is what I’d brought. Maangozit made a deal that he would function as my right arm, carrying one camera body with my beloved 80-200mm f 2.8 lens, my big glass. He drove a hard bargain: $5 per day and $2.50 for travel days.

* * *

Once at the water protector camps, I went into reporter mode and sometimes forgot about my new right arm. We met with people working humbly to meet the everyday needs of the camp—dishwashers, woodchoppers and a man who rode his bike around the Oceti Sakowin camp all day long just picking up trash.

Some people grabbed us, desperate to tell their stories of how they came to be at the camps. A young Native man from the Meskwaki Nation begged us to meet with a Shango chief from Trinidad. The chief and his colleague had traveled to the Meskwaki Nation’s home in Iowa, insisting that he and other leaders in his Shango religion had visions and dreams of the great Comanche Chief Ten Bears directing them to make their way to the water protector camps. The Meskwaki tribe had aided their travel, and they sat before me with great dignity in folding chairs, wearing white dress shoes even though they were camped on the dusty prairie.

An elder wandered near the main Oceti Sakowin fire as he lovingly cradled his tiny pet poodle, which was dressed in a sweet little pink sweater. Over his thinning gray hair he wore a hat identifying himself as a Vietnam veteran. He walked carefully along the uneven ground as he searched for something or someone. We saw him again several hours later. This time the poodle wore a different sweater, but the vet was still searching. He asked if we knew where the veterans were. We apologized that we didn’t.

My new right arm stood by quietly, taking it all in, his forehead often furrowed in thought. There was an unsettling yet thrilling energy in the air.

* * *

The long line of tribal flags flapping alongside both sides of the main road into camp created a magnificent grand entry spot. Men and women from the Havasupai tribe, the people of the blue-green water, prepared to enter wearing regalia the likes of which we’d never seen before. The men wore enormous ram’s horns and shouted a call to the crowd that alerted the camp to their entrance. The women’s faces were painted with red ochre. After their entrance, they danced and feasted by the camp’s sacred fire.

“We called for the spirits to be here with us,” said Jahmisa Manakaja, one of 20 people from the Havasupai Reservation, located on the bottom of the Grand Canyon. “That’s why our men are wearing the ram’s horns. We heard the cries of families here and have come to stand beside them in their struggle.” She became agitated as she spoke of her tribe’s fight with uranium mining and the struggle to protect their water.

“What’s wrong with these people who want to treat the earth like this? I’m starting to think they aren’t human anymore.”

We later joined a group of protectors heading out to an action on the frontlines of the pipeline construction. We saw angry young men thrusting their fists in the air. People hollered at us for taking pictures. A shirtless young man shouted obscenities at a low-flying crop duster that dropped an unidentified liquid over a nearby field. Later during a water protector action against the pipeline, we saw him wrestled to the ground by police, his face contorted in anger.

* * *

When scores of heavily armed police and armored vehicles appeared at the crest of the hill blocking the road, it seemed possible we might be arrested. It was scary and unsettling. Maangozit’s eyes widened. He couldn’t understand. “Other than hollering, what did the people do wrong?” he asked.

Eventually the police let us leave the area. Later that night, he asked to snuggle with me. “Mom, can we find my birth mother?”

I was surprised. Although I know she is often on his mind, he seldom speaks of her; his abandonment is too frightening and shameful to discuss. I told him we could but that he would have to be prepared, that it might be painful.

“I know,” he said, “but I’m afraid she’ll be dead before I’m grown up.”

My husband and I worry terribly over Maangozit’s cognitive abilities, which have been affected by what we know about his birth mother’s lifestyle. We agonize over his performance on reading and intelligence tests. But I see now that his wisdom and courage go far deeper than what can be measured by I.Q. and reading tests.

He understands “the heart way,” the most sacred of our Ojibwe ceremonies in which he participated this past summer. That wisdom eludes even most educated and successful non-Native business executives, who seem unable to understand why short-term profits can never buy off our human need for a healthy planet and clean water.

“Yes, my son. I’ll help you find her.”

“I love you mom, more than Swudge [the puppy], even.”

“I love you too, son.”

* * *

Before we drifted off to sleep he asked if he could cut off his braid. I had begged him to keep his long hair until after the ceremony but have felt saddened that teasing at school has pressured him to cut it. He explained that his hair is thick and snarly and that he has grown tired of its constant presence in his eyes—and the daily fight of combing and braiding.

“Let’s leave my braid here at the camp,” he said sleepily.

“Okay,” I said.

The next day we asked our Lakota friend Marla Bull Bear about Maagnozit’s wish, if it would be appropriate here on Lakota land.

“You know that for us, our hair holds more than our DNA,” she told us. “It carries our life stories, it keeps us strong.” She agreed, however, that if Maangozit felt strongly about it, it would be okay to leave his braid here.

We sat on the ground at Oceti Sakowin camp and, using the tiny scissors that are part of my utility knife, I slowly cut through his thick hair. The braid, cut free from his head, was heavier than I’d imagined. It was a thrilling, sensuous delight to hold it in my hand. But it was simply hair, after all.

We made a small fire and burned the braid, as is our way. Its ashes were grabbed quickly by the hungry prairie wind. Preparing to leave, we pointed our rental pony east towards home. The remains of the braid, Maangozit’s DNA, remained behind mixed with the earth and water at Standing Rock, part of a land and story he was just beginning to understand. http://bit.ly/2fksCmV

Salmon At Stake

‘We are forced to ask courts to do what our politicians seem unable to do’

Bottom Line: Lelu Island and its critical salmon habitat are under threat of development, but First Nations and activists are rising to the challenge.

Legal showdowns are looming over Canada’s second largest salmon run.

Pacific NorthWest LNG

First Nations and environmental groups have recently launched legal challenges to the recent federal approval of the $11.4 billion Pacific Northwest LNG (PNW LNG) project, just south of Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

The challenges follow repeated attempts by the Allied Tsimshian Tribes of Lax Kw’alaams to relocate the project site. The tribes are concerned that the facility and tanker berth would destroy Lelu Island and its critical salmon habitat—Canada’s second largest salmon run—in the estuary of the Skeena River.

“Once again, we are forced to ask courts to do what our politicians seem unable to do—honor Canada’s obligations to its indigenous communities, and to protect our environment from catastrophic harm,” said Chief Yahaan (Donnie Wesley) of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe.

The Gitwilgyoots, Gitanyow First Nation and the SkeenaWild Conservation Trust all launched separate judicial review challenges of the Petronas-backed project, which still has not received a final investment decision. The groups emphasized their commitment to their litigation efforts in a letter to Petronas chairman Tan Sri Mohd Sidek just days before legal documents were filed. (Petronas did not respond to ICTMN’s requests for a comment.)

The Gitanyow constitute an upstream community 124 miles from the project site; the territory of the Gitwilgyoots encompasses Lelu Island and Flora Bank. They feel that meaningful consultation is a fiduciary obligation of the federal cabinet but that it never took place.

In addition, the conservation group SkeenaWild argues that the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA)—as well as decision makers in Ottawa—ignored crucial science regarding the impacts that PNW LNG would have on already struggling salmon stocks in the area.

The CEAA said that Ottawa is standing behind its decision to approve PNW LNG.

“This project underwent a three-year rigorous and thorough science-based process that evaluated and incorporated mitigation measures that will minimize the environmental impacts,” the CEAA said. “The government’s decision shows that the environment and the economy go hand in hand with over 190 conditions to protect the environment including the first ever cap on emissions for a project.”

Many First Nations, however, viewed the approval as an affront after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s repeated pledges to rebuild nation-to-nation relationships with Canada’s aboriginal peoples.

“We’re beginning to recognize and acknowledge the fact that the Trudeau government is not the least bit committed to following through with promises and commitments made in the last federal election campaign,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs. “Consistently there has been an absolute betrayal of those commitments.”

Chief Phillip said the decisions made by the Trudeau administration to forge ahead with industrial projects like PNW LNG and the Site C dam have forced many groups to resort to direct action protests, asserting their hereditary rights by building occupation camps in strategic areas to protect their traditional territories and the environment.

“As time moves forward we’re going to see more and more First Nations filing legal challenges,” Phillip said. “I think we’re going to have a far more contentious relationship with the Trudeau government than with the Harper government.”

Earlier this year the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that the government did not adequately consult with First Nations during Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline review and overturned the government’s approval of that project. The lawyer for the Gitwilgyoots, Richard Overstall, is hoping for the same outcome.

“Essentially [the challenge] will be similar to the arguments that aboriginal applicants made against Enbridge,” Overstall said. “Saying that the federal government at all levels failed to adequately consult the Gitwilgyoots. The application is to quash the EA report, quash the ministers’ decision and quash the federal Cabinet decision. And hopefully the court will issue a similar order as in the Northern Gateway decision.”

For more than a year, Chief Yahaan and several others have been building a resistance camp on Lelu Island. Although it will be several months until they see their day in court, he remains committed to protecting the island and the Skeena Estuary.

“We have never been opposed to development,” Chief Yahaan said. “But we have always opposed industrial development on top of the most important salmon habitat we have on our coast.” http://bit.ly/2eZzfbu

The Path To The Gridiron

‘I do it for the Native community’

Bottom Line: Antonio Rosales (Tohono O’odham) holds forth about college football, what pumps him up and where he stands on the Dakota Access pipeline.

Antonio Rosales (Tohono O’odham) is a rising starting right guard at San Diego State University.

Courtesy Ernie Anderson, SDSU Media Relations

Three seasons ago, Antonio Rosales was his high school’s star athlete. He was 6-foot-4 and weighed 240 pounds. Some schools saw the potential in the Tohono O’odham tribal member; San Diego State was one of them. Upon joining the team, Rosales had to gain weight so he could compete with defensive linemen 40 to 50 pounds heavier than he was.

But did he have to cut out foods like frybread?

“Oh no,” Rosales says. “I actually had frybread last night, as a matter of fact. They just say, ‘Eat whatever I want.’”

So he unleashed his inner beast on the practice field and at the dinner table. With a loose diet he added 50 pounds over the next two seasons. He is now the starting right guard on a team that began the season 6-1 and is in the running for the Mountain West Conference championship.

* * *

What does it mean for you to be able to represent Indian country at college football’s highest level?

Things like this . . . it doesn’t happen often. So to be someone who’s able to do it and let other kids in the community know that we can do it just feels real good.

What kind of goals do you have for this season?

Just be the best player I can be. Help my team out the best I can. Help us win the Mountain West Championship.

What’s the San Xavier Indian reservation like?

It’s quiet. Peaceful place. It’s not really that far from the city, but once you cross that reservation line you can definitely tell you’re on the reservation. People are just very together out there.

Have you or your family endured any hardships?

We didn’t always live on the reservation. We lived in the city. My mother was a police officer for the tribe. She ended up getting hurt at work. She had to get medically released. Unfortunately, they didn’t pay her what they were supposed to pay her. It put us really in a hole. It made us have to move from the city back to the rez, just because we couldn’t pay for our house.

You helped turn things around at Tucson Magnet High School as far as football goes. How’d that happen?

Before I showed up there the program hadn’t won very many games. They’re not known for sending guys out to Division I schools. The last guy was in 1998 and before that it was a long time.

How do you get pumped up for a game?

In the hotel before the games I just kind of keep to myself, keep my headphones in. Just do a lot of Northern Cree. Lot of Black Lodge Singers. Pretty much powwow music. Warrior music. Also watch a lot of Native movies. I’ll watch Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, get some anger in my system. I’ll look at history, Manifest Destiny; it really gets me going for games.

What are your thoughts on #NoDAPL?

I have a lot of family on the front lines over in the Dakotas. I don’t want [the Dakota Access Pipeline] to happen. Water is life. Gotta stop breaking all these treaties. Just stop. That’s basically it. Thank you for everyone that’s down there. If I wasn’t here, I would definitely be there.

Anything you want to say to those following your career?

Just that I do it for them; I do it for the Native community. They’re my biggest motivation. Being able to have kids know that it’s possible. That anything’s possible, no matter if it’s playing sports, becoming an artist, owning a business. Anything they want to do they’re able to make it happen no matter how much society tells us we can’t. We’re able to do it.

[Playing professional football] was my dream since second grade. I always told myself this is what I wanted to do. What really got me going the most was when people found out my ethnicity and tell me I probably won’t be able to do it because not many, not any of us end up being able to do what I do today.

I want to change that and be able to let kids know that all that’s said about us not being able to do anything is bullshit and we’re actually going to do something. http://bit.ly/2emqsUs

How Did I Miss That?

Dead men on the ballot, koalas in backpacks and
the troubles of Toblerone

The West Texas Hummingbird Cam captured the first amethyst-throated hummingbird ever sighted in the U.S. The rare rascal is native to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The bird posed for the camera twice and then moved on, leaving video evidence.

“There is no truth to the rumor,” my cousin Ray Sixkiller said, “that this video has caused President Trump to redesign that wall Mexico is going to pay for.”

* * *

Police in Brisbane, Australia were arresting a 50-year-old woman when they found in her backpack a baby koala, estimated to be not more than six months old. Phascolarctos cinereus is sometimes called a “koala bear,” but these cute little buggers are in fact marsupials. They are considered “vulnerable” and so are no longer being hunted for their fur. The main threat to koalas is habitat destruction.

“Unless,” Cousin Ray interjected, “you count humans carting babies off in backpacks.”

* * *

WREG reported that Peggy Rose, 74, died of injuries sustained in a Wal-Mart parking lot when she ran over herself with her own car. She was backing up at high speed with the driver side door open when she hit a pedestrian. The collision caused her to fall out of the open door, and she was run over. The pedestrian was hospitalized but is expected to recover.

 * * *

The tasty Graham cracker, Great Big Story has reminded us, was originally created by a minister, Sylvester Graham, for the purpose of slowing down the sex drive of lascivious Americans. It’s ironic that the quest for a bland flavor thought not to stir the libido uncovered a principal ingredient in S’mores.

* * *

I broke my usual self-imposed rule of not giving investment advice to suggest that people ought not to sell into the market panic that was sure to attend election of The Donald. I expected that failure to sell a reasonably balanced portfolio would, at worst, result in a couple of years of dead money. It turned out I was right for a different reason. The market came back more quickly than is normal. I predict the market will remain skittish until Trump proves he’s not as crazy as he sounded during the campaign.

* * *

Voters in Oceanside, California, reelected City Treasurer Gary Ernst by six points over his challenger in spite of the fact that Ernst has been dead since September. Cousin Ray wanted to know if a dead treasurer would be responsible for keeping track of dead money.

* * *

The Yakima Herald reported that Rhonda Crawford has been elected as an Illinois trial court judge. The hitch is that she is currently banned from assuming the robe because of because a prior conviction for (wait for it) impersonating a judge.

* * *

The Daily Beast notes that the Trump team is having a hard time recruiting his national security team, having put off the Republican establishment with his best imitation of a loose cannon during the campaign. The Beast quoted one of the people trolling for candidates as saying that it is “going to be very difficult to fill positions in that space because everybody that had any experience was a never-Trumper.”

* * *

Britons should lay in a supply of Hershey bars; Brexit has destroyed Toblerone. The iconic Swiss chocolate bar has gotten a physical makeover effective only within the United Kingdom. A Toblerone is a series of triangular pieces. The British version now has a lot more air between the pieces, reducing the amount of chocolate in the 14-ounce bar to 12.6 ounces and the 6-ounce bar to 5.3 ounces. Don’t blame the Swiss or even the Brits, since Toblerone is now the property of Mondelēz International, a U.S. corporation formerly known as Kraft.

“So,” Cousin Ray wanted to know, “who owns Hershey bars?”

* * *

Another code talker has walked on. George James, Sr., aged 92, enlisted in the Marines at age 17 and fought though some of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific theater: Iwo Jima, Saipan, and Okinawa. There are reported to be only 14 surviving code talkers. R.I.P. http://bit.ly/2fM31Ux