tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81646500340214866842024-03-24T04:13:36.960-07:00NativeWritesNowMedia, Politics, Passion by Miles Morrisseau Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.comBlogger79125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-68675108609722575522022-06-22T10:37:00.004-07:002024-03-22T17:39:10.206-07:00The Spirit that could Never be Satisfied <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-43780439352983736622022-03-01T04:58:00.003-08:002022-03-07T05:03:14.186-08:00Eagle and Hawk's "Another September" - An Indigenous Rock n Roll Classic <p></p><br />It has all the elements of a Canadian pop music classic.
From it's folky and hummable melody with regional southern Manitoba lyrical references to
it's rousing singalong chorus Eagle and Hawk’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlPKMPY01wQ" target="_blank">Another September</a> is a song that
you should know but you don't.<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The recent passing of Vince Fontaine founding member of Eagle
and Hawk has caused me to reflect on their outstanding collection of Indigenous
rock and roll. For those who know songs like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBBT9JLemuw" target="_blank">Sundancer,</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6pjTRstg94">Cowboys and Indians</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hm5yubLsrc">I SeeRed</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdFuuIC_gVM" target="_blank">Indian city</a> and their cover of Keith Secola’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn1IObt0L0I" target="_blank">Indian Car</a> are the top songs in the Eagle
and Hawk canon . And they all deserve to be heard because they are wonderful
examples of contemporary Indigenous music that speak to Indigenous issues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another September is a song that doesn't reference Indigenous
identity but is about love, regret, broken hearts and getting through one more
day. It’s not for kids. It’s not someone singing about how they used to go driving
back in high school. This is about a grown up who has seen some things “The
Children are all married, another Soldier’s been buried.” Then the kicker, “The
Jets moved to Phoenix too.” <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is no reference to sex in this song. It is all about
having a partner. Having someone that just wants to be with you. “We used to
drive on up to Winnipeg Beach, You used to laugh at all my bad jokes.”<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ofPLNECWIh0" width="320" youtube-src-id="ofPLNECWIh0"></iframe></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Songs that work for you do so on all kinds of levels. When I
first fell for this track the opening line, which does put you in a place was
one that I didn’t like. “There's still a dark stain where you spilled your
Pepsi that day.” I got it but I also didn’t like it. As the song grew and the
images in the song and the story that was taking place within in it became clear.
I began to feel that Pepsi stain. It was a fight they had. They argued about
it. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she was absolutely wrong. But he still had to be
such a dick about it. It was just some goddamn spilled pepsi. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If there is a reference that I feel personally is Indigenous
but is also universal it is the line. “I still wear your daddy’s old coat.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To get the old man’s coat is a generous gift and if it is one
that is still being worn after all these years it suggest something well made
like a leather or buckskin jacket or a working man’s coat like a mackinaw. It
speaks to the larger connection that has been lost that he was once considered
worthy to walk in her father’s moccasins. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Interweaved into the song are very specific references to
municipal corruption “The city's got bigger, he's got two terms go figure” in
the beginning and “Another mayor's been busted, they still cant be trusted”
towards the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It all adds up to
creating a complete universe. A moment in time in a real world that is so specific
in details in creates an emotional response in the listener. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Pepsi stain isn’t just the mess in your life that you
can’t clean up it represents that piece of your life that you can’t let go. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I still stare at the stain on the floor. And your silver
bracelet is still in the top drawer, Oh Hear me Know”.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">*</p><p class="MsoNormal">If Indigenous artists like Eagle and Hawk would receive the kind of radio support from Canadian and Indigenous radio that they deserve more of these songs would be known. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://nativewritesnow.blogspot.com/2015/08/true-natcon-should-be-cancon-with-soul.html" target="_blank">Native Content (NATCON)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">-30-</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-43224014705681752132021-09-10T07:53:00.001-07:002022-06-27T12:45:06.955-07:00Conservative Governments have been good for Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation<p>I remember
the day that Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for Canada’s role in
operating the Indian Residential School System. The sky was overcast and ready
to cry and the trees were leaning in.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We were on
our way to Sundance and were now parked on the gravel shoulder of highway
number 6 listening to his speech live on the car radio in the middle of
Manitoba’s boreal forest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am
travelling with a Residential School Survivor who isn’t much older than I am. I
didn’t know that. Not <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>until I returned
home to Grand Rapids and started working with Survivors at the Misipawistik
Wechetowin Healing Program. I didn’t know that it happened to people in my
generation. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I can tell
you that my travel companion was tough and did not like Stephen Harper. It
seemed that not many Indigenous peoples were fans of Stephen Harper and his
Conservative Government. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Nevertheless,
here we sat on the side of the highway one hundred kilometres from where we
were coming from and over 400 kilometres from where we were going waiting to
hear him speak. We rolled down the windows and smoked. I didn’t smoke much until
I started working with Survivors but I was smoking a lot then, sometimes you
needed a smoke to talk, sometimes you needed one to listen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There were
few other vehicles on the highway that morning somewhere near Devil’s Lake where
the bush is thick and the only thing on the radio is CBC. The grey sky lowed
and hugged the tops of the tamarack and pine. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The silence
lifted that lone voice in the wilderness up to the sky with the smoke of our
tobacco. It was clear that no matter what we had thought of this man the
sincerity in his voice and his apology that morning was true. When his voice
broke, my tough friend whispered, “he’s going to cry”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It mattered
and I will never forget that day. It is one of my “Do you remember where you
were when you heard?” moments. In the days and years since people and history
will say whatever and parse words but I remember where I was and what I felt
when I heard Prime Minister Stephen Harper Apologize in the House of Commons to
the Survivors of the Indian Residential Schools System. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It should
be regarded as one of the high points in Canadian Indigenous reconciliation,
but it isn’t and it is this bizzarro world called Canada in which the
Conservative government’s Indigenous record is ignored or forgotten.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It is
though the Conservatives can only be judged on John A. McDonald’s record
despite the fact that Liberals have been running the country for the majority
of its modern history and bear the responsibility for maintaining the Indian
Residential School System during their time in power.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Taking a
historical analysis of post war Canada shows that a Conservative government has
been good for Indigenous rights and reconciliation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
Conservatives did not get into power after World War II until 1957 after 22
years of Liberal rule. In 1960, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker granted First
Nations the right to vote. Until then a First Nations person would have to
enfranchise or give up their Indigenous Rights in order to vote. Diefenbaker’s
defense of equality for Indigenous Peoples was something he expressed as a
young lawyer defending First Nations and Metis people back home in Saskatchewan.
His actions noted in the groundbreaking autobiography Halfbreed by Metis author
Maria Campbell. “He would represent anyone rich or poor, red or white. If they
had a case and no money he would help,” wrote Campbell about Diefenbaker
adding. “He helped us and the important thing was he did so when no one else
would.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Nine years
later in 1969, Pierre Elliot Trudeau and the Liberals ruling with a majority
government tried a bureaucratic Genocide called the White Paper that would have
enfranchised all First Nations people with a stroke of a pen. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Conservatives
would not have a chance to form a truly ruling government for decades, ignoring
the brief and impotent reign of Joe Clark. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brian Mulroney brought them back into majority
rule and in 1991 Mulroney’s government launched the Royal Commission on
Aboriginal Peoples with a goal to a take an exhaustive and critical look at the
relationship between Canada and Indigenous Peoples. The RCAP report is a
defining document in Canada and serves as academic and legal foundation
throughout the country and around the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 1985, Mulroney's government passed Bill C-31 which would remove the gender bias in the Indian Act which removed First Nations status from any woman who married a non-First Nations man. This could be an Indigenous man included Metis, Inuit or a First Nations Man who had already lost his status. It was one of the most heinous means of bureaucratic genocide and it was upheld for almost a century before a majority Conservative government changed the law.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In one of Mulroney’s
last official Acts he signed the Nunuvut Land Agreement on May 25, 1993
creating the largest Indigenous controlled territory in North America. The
Nunuvut Territory would become official under a Liberal government but this was
when it was made. It is a day, I would imagine, that some Inuit remember “where
they were the day that they heard”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On June 12,
2008, it was a Conservative Prime Minister who gave me the grandchild of a
Residential survivor and a Survivor a moment of healing and reconciliation. It
was that same Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper who 10 days earlier on
June 2, 2008 launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission an act that to
this day defines who we are as a country. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am not
going to defend all the actions or policies of the past Conservative Governments
but I do think it is important to look at these facts in their real time and
historical context. The belief that a Conservative government is always bad for
Indigenous rights and reconciliation is not accurate. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-30-<o:p></o:p></span></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-57084922698720210882021-04-28T11:42:00.003-07:002021-04-29T06:40:10.002-07:00Me and the Mandalorian<p>Me and the Mandalorian</p><p>Were riding in a Delorian</p><p>He said you want to go Exploreean</p><p>I said Yeah</p><p>I said Yeah, Yeah, Yeah</p><p><br /></p><p>Me and the Mandalorian</p><p>We were singing Gloria and</p><p>We picked up Van Morrison</p><p>We said La</p><p>We said La La La</p><p><br /></p><p>It's True The Mandalorian</p><p>Is quite the historian</p><p>He'll teach everything you missed</p><p>Everything Indigenous</p><p>Heya Hey</p><p>Heya Hey Hey Ya</p><p>Yeah, Yeah, Yeah</p><p>Yeah Yeah Yeah</p><p>Yeah YEAH</p><p>La La LA</p><p>La LA la</p><p>La LA</p><p>Heya Hey</p><p>Heya Hey Hey Ya</p><p>Heya Hey</p><p>Heya Hey Hey Ya</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-16746378022669159642021-04-23T04:54:00.000-07:002021-04-23T04:54:40.433-07:00In the service of the Lord<p>(Chorus)</p><p>In the service of the Lord, Lord, Lord</p><p>In the service of the Lord </p><p>In the service of the Lord, Lord, Lord</p><p>Living in the service of the Lord</p><p><br /></p><p>When I did not want to walk no more</p><p>I started walking in the service of the Lord</p><p>(repeat)</p><p>(Chorus)</p><p><br /></p><p>I could not stand a life of just Me, Me, Me</p><p>I started living in the service of the Lord</p><p>(repeat )</p><p><br /></p><p>(Chorus)</p><p><br /></p><p>When I did not want to Live no more</p><p>I started living in the service of the Lord</p><p>(repeat )</p><p><br /></p><p>(Chorus)</p><p>I started</p><p>Living</p><p>In</p><p>The Service of</p><p>The Lord</p><p><br /></p><p>Amen</p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-77572541141109408962021-04-20T18:08:00.000-07:002021-04-20T18:08:44.202-07:00The Power of the FlowerI believe in the power of the flower<br />
but it can trip you up<br />
when you overuse and abuse<br />
then it's not enough<br />
then it's on to stronger stuff<br />
<br />
Delicate minds of all vintage<br />
On this ground carefully tread<br />
Use what works for the body<br />
and not so much for the head<br />
<br />
Big Business<br />
Big Money<br />
Big Industry<br />
What grew for free<br />
Making air clean<br />
Now Big and Dirty<br />
<br />
Shatter and vapes<br />
what does it take<br />
chasing dragons now<br />
instead of chilling out.<br />
Wow, man. Wow.<br />
<br />
We have to be careful<br />
When we use medicine<br />
Want to be right living<br />
Want to do the right thing<br />
<br />
Temperance Break<br />
is all it takes<br />
to get it back to full power<br />
I believe in the power of the flower<br />
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-72044985557265551912021-04-20T18:05:00.002-07:002021-04-20T18:07:16.844-07:00Another Decade older and What have we done?Another Decade Older and What have we done<br />
More pollution and waste and wars that can't be won<br />
<br />
No one left but what we've become<br />
Another decade older and What have we done<br />
<br />
Songs that cannot be unsung<br />
we are twisted and wrung<br />
You are right and you are wrong<br />
<br />
Take this bad mind<br />
and put it down<br />
Just Stop<br />
Take a breath<br />
Stop moving<br />
everyone<br />
<br />
Take a deep breath<br />
Stop all the running<br />
and consuming<br />
until all is consumed.<br />
What do you pay for those shoes?<br />
<br />
Lets see how long it will take<br />
When they are not using everyone<br />
To do what they say can't be done<br />
<br />
Lets turn away<br />
Stop giving it power<br />
Take one day<br />
Take one more hour<br />
It is all the same<br />
We have to stop<br />
Giving it power<br />
This insatiable growl<br />
It's here to devour<br />
Yours, mine and ours<br />
rushed into the final hour<br />
Feed the right wolf in ourselves<br />
and in one another<br />
<br />
Do not feed the spirit that cannot be satisfied.<br />
A parasite of the soul and of the mind<br />
Pack up in the night and leave it behind<div><br /></div><div>(written January 2020)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-89830659574838709532021-04-18T23:21:00.000-07:002021-04-18T23:21:27.720-07:00We have to protect our Metis Nation Territories Lands Air and WaterWe have to protect our Metis Nation Territories<div>Lands Air and Water</div><div><br />
We have to express our Aboriginal and Indigenous Rights<br />
We need to create our future with more than memories<br />
Living within our lands and hunting and trade territories<div><br />
1.4 Million acres<br />
In the Manitoba Act<br />Respect the Canadian Constitution<br />
and reconcile our restitution<br />
<br />
*<br />
<br />
Exercise your Aboriginal and Indigenous Rights<br />
Protect the Land, Air and Water</div><div><br /></div><div>Protect Mother Earth</div><div>
Protect Mother Earth<br />
Exercise your Aboriginal and Indigenous Responsibilities<br />
Protect the Land, The Air, The Water <br />
Protect Mother Earth<br />
Protect Mother Earth</div></div><div><br /></div><div>*</div><div><br /></div><div>I am where</div><div>I am from</div><div><br /></div><div>Occupy the Homeland</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-2260062572809684112021-04-16T15:57:00.008-07:002023-08-28T07:51:43.779-07:00Sunshine Sketches of the Rez<div class="MsoNormal">(No longer available)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-36677028038757587222021-04-01T04:09:00.000-07:002021-04-01T04:09:55.112-07:00Clearwater Clarity<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know why I had to go<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I had the time that day<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That much I can say<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I would make an offering<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Place tobacco on the ice before the break<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before solid becomes liquid on Clearwater Lake<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is two days after spring<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The transformation begins<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today I can walk on the water<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Soon I will swim<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It is my wife’s teaching<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Anishinaabe ways<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I carry all those good things<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With me to this day<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tobacco on ice<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not clear crystalline <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Prayers giving thanks<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For my life, my wife and all our children<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Asking strength for the sick<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sick from affliction<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sick from confliction<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sick from addiction<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Still Frozen Clearwater Lake<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did what I was told<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I made my offering and prayer<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now it was time to drive home<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Standing on frozen sand and a sudden wave of memory<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6 years old sitting in a wooden Adirondack deck chair for
the first time it comes to me <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Metis families and new friends laughing and mingling about
in bright colors and sunshine and the clearest water in the world and laughter
and laughter<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was some kind of Metis thing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some kind of Metis thing. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t just us. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just our family. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was the first time I knew that the Metis Nation was bigger
than us.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was my parents work and others in the early days of the MMF<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An expression of the dreams of a dozen or so people not so
many years ago<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That brought us together and created that moment of sun
speckled unity in a glorious pastel rainbow <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I knew that I would be applying for membership<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To go and speak about a Federation<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is for all of us<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Without Historic Metis Communities we will have no rights<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Without Land there is no Homeland<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No Land No Nation. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is where you are from<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Said My Mom<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After the hospital in The Pas<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is where we went<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We were living in that unheated cabin <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With ice coming through the walls<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Clearwater Lake<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Where in our poverty<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She broke from the contemporary colonial orthodoxy <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That formula is best for babies<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They made people believe that powder produced in the factory
is the future and proper path <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mom breastfed me out of desperation like John Steinbeck’s
Rose O’Sharon in Grapes of Wrath<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was breast fed rebellion <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Clearwater Lake<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It has been half a century<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am finally awake<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">-30-<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-41565464578899343202021-03-23T06:43:00.001-07:002021-04-17T12:38:27.543-07:00Marked Down and Discounted<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">One month after The Chief died</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">His jersey was marked down and discounted to half price<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Less than half price on the official Toronto Maple Leafs' online store<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">George Armstrong was a Toronto Maple Leaf for 21 years<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was captain for 13 and he led the team to 4 Stanley Cups<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I stole that from a Wikipedia page <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And that line from the Hip <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was the greatest captain during the greatest run in the
greatest franchise in English Canadian Hockey History.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was the Chief<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And when the broadcasters eulogized on his nickname they
suggest it was a simpler time back then<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t meant as an insult. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It wasn’t racist. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That is the subtext to what they were really saying<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Classic Canadian Erasure<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a simpler time back then.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First Nations were still being restricted by an Apartheid
like Pass system when he became a Leaf in 1950<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a simpler time back then<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Children were being dragged away to residential schools and
ads in newspapers are selling 60’s scoops to rich White folks around the
country and south of the border. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a simpler time back then<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He played the first 10 years with no right to vote for First
Nations across the country represented by the Maple Leaf he wore on his chest.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a simpler time back then<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Indigenous Veterans were being neglected on the streets of
the city, the gravel roads and bush trails across the country after serving in World War II.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even Tommy Prince, Canada’s greatest Warrior would not be
treated Equal as Canada’s greatest cowards.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They sold their rights to be Indian to fight for Canadian
Freedom and were discounted after their service. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Marked down and discounted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Marked down and discounted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Marked down and discounted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They should not have said that they called him Chief because
it was a simpler time back then.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They should have said the truth. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They called him Chief <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Because he was the Chief.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He had been through more than anyone in that room. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was hardened. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hard as flint scraping and scorching shards of steel into
molten balls of fire. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was the Man. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was the Leader. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was the Captain. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He was the Chief.<o:p></o:p></p>
<br />
<p class="MsoNormal">***<o:p></o:p></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-13888829892067981562021-03-18T05:42:00.008-07:002021-04-22T03:37:34.223-07:00Kettle and Stoney Spring<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">I swear.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once I heard an Oriole<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Riffing with John Coltrane on a sunny day<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just outside our open window<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was the first day of spring<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Equinox was the song <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here in the swamp <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back da bush<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The frogs are incessant<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Incessant in their song of life<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">*<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sing me into this new world<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been resurrected again<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Waking up from the dream world <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I rise from the frozen mud<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite once indistinguishable <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Only moments ago<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One and the same<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From Mother Earth<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Only moments ago<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Silent as death<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yet I rise and sing to the sun<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing to the clouds<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing to the rain<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing for the water creatures<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing for the land creatures<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing for the in-betweens<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing for the creatures in this world<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing for the creatures in the Dream World<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing for myself and for life<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I sing the blossoms exploding<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">**<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Flowers light the way to Medicine Plants and berries <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wild roses follow along the trail and then<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those myriad tiny orchid blossoms tangerine with bright red tips<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The wind blows and they dance like schools of angel fish<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">White flowers amongst thorns promise luscious blackcaps<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ready to be picked just before Powwow song and dance<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rivulets of sweet joy run down Sugar Maple and Black Walnut<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Maple reveals golden amber delight<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the Black Walnut - decadent dark chocolate ambrosia
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Molasses thick with sweet medicine and magic<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Smoke fills the sugar shack<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Children share memories of the Forest Fall Fair<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Steam clouds filled with the aroma of cotton candy float
in the air<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">***<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The robins flock and boss their way around the yards <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The crimson cardinal, the blue of the Jay, the yellow
of finches flash<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The trumpet of the swans, the whoop of the cranes beckon beyond<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The revealing patterns in the drumming of the woodpecker’s version
of song<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The tickety tick tap tapping of little striped ones feverishly
hopping from this branch to the next one<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The feisty red heads that find a branch that can boom and spend
the day pounding on it like the reincarnation of Keith Moon <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Pileated that is the size of a duck but rarely seen revealed
only by its distinct heavy hammering knock knock<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though last spring with my 3 red headed grandchildren in truck<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We saw 3 Pileated Woodpeckers all sitting together on that
stump<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I could practically touch the trio they were that near<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps one day the legendary Ghost Bird will appear<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">***<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Word will soon come that old so and so hooked some bass out where
no will say<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Springtime explodes in Kettle and Stoney Point in a glorious
way<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Explodes with color, sweetness, song, magic and life<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Explodes like thousands of frogs singing after a warm spring
rain<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Explodes like Orioles riffing to Equinox with John Coltrane.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">-30-<o:p></o:p></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-10788350368172595332020-11-02T02:50:00.001-08:002020-11-02T02:50:32.597-08:00Alcohol is the root of it allAlchohol<br />
is the root of it all<br />
<br />
It will make you crow<br />
It will make you crawl<br />
It will make you blow<br />
It will make you brawl<br />
It will make you fail<br />
It will make you fall<br />
It will make you feel big<br />
It will make you small<div><br />
It will make you act rich<br />
It will make you poor</div><div>Everyday<br />It takes more and more</div><div><br /><div>It will make you feel smart</div><div>It will empty your head</div><div>Fill it with the shameful things</div><div>That you did and you said</div><div>It will make you feel full of life</div><div>It will make you wish </div><div>you were dead</div><div>
<br />
Alcohol</div><div>The root of it all<br />
<br />
*<br />
<br />
When you howl<br />
that you can't<br />
take it<br />
no more<br />
It will not let you go<br />
That is for sure<br />
<br />
It is living on you<br />
It is feeding on you<br />
When you are drinking<br />
It is drinking out of you<br />
<br />
**<br />
<br />
Let it go<br />
<br />
Take it slow<br />
Take it easy<br />
One day at a time<br />
<br />
You will be fine<br />
You can do it<br />
<br />
Let it go<br />
<br />
Take it slow<br />
Take it easy<br />
One day at a time<br />
<br />
We will get through<br />
One day at a time<br />
<br />
***</div></div>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-39186760964796842482020-11-01T13:47:00.009-08:002022-05-30T06:52:29.864-07:00Skeletons of Poetic Genocide in the Closet of Canada's Literary Elite<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw-rm03Qel9HfkaACCqXhGYbmN-vIMvyUL_m5hBOFT5B-d_GBQ8URCSXHKY1LNws_awCJBJEuCZ_j7ajcOUuTx5VUeCzkY2wQmzy3dd0MRRfyo7zl3REA-ELh_Hs2EPH_MDMGg-VJZuHy/s2048/pocc+cover.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1232" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikw-rm03Qel9HfkaACCqXhGYbmN-vIMvyUL_m5hBOFT5B-d_GBQ8URCSXHKY1LNws_awCJBJEuCZ_j7ajcOUuTx5VUeCzkY2wQmzy3dd0MRRfyo7zl3REA-ELh_Hs2EPH_MDMGg-VJZuHy/s320/pocc+cover.jpg" width="193" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A Chippewa woman</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">With her sick baby,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">
<span style="background: white;">Crouched in the last hours</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; color: #484848; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Of a great storm.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #484848; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;">The Forsaken – Duncan Campbell Scott <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #484848; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Deputy Superintendent Indian Affairs 1913-1932</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">I picked it up in London, Ontario at that Goodwill bookstore
on Wellington near the 402 with an eclectic selection and cheap prices. It is the bookstore you love to wander into when you have a handful of minutes to spare and a
couple of toonies in your pocket. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Among other scores, I purchased a scuffed but well preserved
47-year old paperback copy of<i> Poets of Contemporary Canada 1960-1970</i> for
50 cents, a two-dollar saving from its 1972 price. The poets listed on the
cover included Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen, Michaeal Ondaatje and the
legendary Al Purdy. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was just what I was looking for, I was returning to
northern Manitoba and a vintage paperback is the perfect travel companion,
lightweight, well-made and small enough to fit into any bag and most pockets. New Canadian
Library books have a nostalgic vibe that long time Canadian readers or readers
of Canadiana will know. The iconic covers often featured inscrutable artwork with experimental color combinations. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This one is metallic blue and army green with artwork that
is mostly black with the metallic blue highlighting a woman and who I thought
was some kind of mountain scene until about 5 minutes ago. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I know the imprint from hours scouring bookshelves in Sally
Annes, VV’s and Goodie shops. The nostalgia is real here, the look and feel of
the NCL title in my hand connects me to my final year of high school. I am reading
Stephen Leacock’s <i>Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town</i> late at night on my
bunk in residence of the Frontier Collegiate Institute, Cranberry Portage, Manitoba in the winter of 1980. <br />
<br />
I skipped immediately to the contributions of Cohen, the only poet that had
been included in earlier collections of The New Poetry series. It is of course,
magnificent and heard in that unforgettable baritone especially on works widely known as songs such as “Suzanne Takes You Down” and “I Believe You Heard
your Master Sing”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my perusal of the book I soon came across Al
Purdy’s “Beothuk skeleton behind Glass Case” and was disturbed by poem and poet. It led me to examine all the work and reveal the skeletons of Genocide in the closet
of Canada’s most revered poets.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The collection begins with the late Purdy a touchstone of
contemporary Canadian poetry and who in this slim selection has written some of the
most well known poetic acknowledgements of Genocide.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In “INNUIT” Purdy describes witnessing the ancient that once
existed. Purdy sees the Indigenous spirit in an Inuit carver and declares that
the person is a ghost of his greater self.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">An old man carving soapstone<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">With the race-soul of the people<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">THE PEOPLE<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Moving somewhere<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Behind his eyes<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He returns to similar territory in “Lament for the
Dorsets” but it is “Beothuk Indian Behind a Glass Case” that speaks Canada's truth. It is the cold-blooded detachment which he expresses towards a trophy of real and grotesque Genocide that reveals the hidden story within.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">I ought to feel sadness here<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">But I can’t <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Only a slight amazement<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">At the gawking tourists<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">That these specimens survived<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">And this man behind the glass
case did not<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Purdy contribution ends fittingly with “Remains of an
Indian Village” published in 1961, one year after First Nations received the
right to vote. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Milton Acorn follows and his contribution “Poem for the
Astronauts” is complimentary but the positive perspective is given to one who
no longer exists. The sexualization of the exotic other is another trope
favoured by poets on both sides of the border. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">An Indian running the desert<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Kept a stone under his tongue<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">To drink the saliva, and<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">His skin remembered a thousand
light touches<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>-the
fingers of his beloved.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">George Bowering’s Indian Summer includes lines that should
be widely considered among the most offensive in Canadian Literature.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
Indians I think <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Are dead, you cant<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Immortalize them, a<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Leaf presst between <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Pages becomes a <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Page<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John Newlove places Indigenous Peoples in some Manifest
Destiny Circle of Hell in his ode to another First White Man to See tale, “Samuel
Hearne in Wintertime”.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Hell smeared with manure,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Hell half-full of raw hides,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Hell of sweat, Indians, stale
fat,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Meat-hell, fear-hell, hell of
cold. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The poem ends in a brutal stanza that speaks to the inbred Canadian scourge of Murder and Missing Indigenous women and girls. Newlove describes the
agonizing death of an Indigenous girl like some creature commonly hunted. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">There was that Eskimo girl<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">At Bloody Falls at your feet<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Samuel Hearne, with two spears in
her<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">You helpless before your helpers<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">And she twisted about them like<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">an eel, dying, never to know <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Newlove’s lengthy “Pride” tries to capture the romantic past
of Indigenous Peoples and concludes with the spirit of Indigenous people
being eaten alive. The parasitic desire to swallow another culture is lovingly expressed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">In our mouths,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">In our bodies entire, until at
last<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">We become them <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>Margaret Atwood follows in the footsteps of Purdy in “A
Night in the Royal Ontario Museum”.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>And further confronting me</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">With a skeleton child, preserved <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">In the desert air, curled<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">beside a clay pot and some beads<span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt;">The younger version of the Grande Dame of Canadian
Literature is suitably disturbed although one would be hard pressed to find a
reflection of Canada’s true history in her work unless "A Handmaiden’s Tale" was
inspired by the Indian Residential Schools System. (The schools were in full operation when the book was published.) </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes; text-indent: 36pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Gwendolyn MacEwen is the discovery of the collection for me I
can well imagine that small joy that would fill me to one day come across a collection
of her works in a second-hand store. Her reference to Indigenous peoples is
again complimentary but the reference is to a distant past and lingers with the sexual exotic stereotype in “The Last Breakfast”. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">You think of dark men running
through the earth<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">On their naked, splendid feet. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Reports in These Killed” from Michael Ondaatje award
winning <i>The Collected Works of Billy the Kid</i> again treat Indigenous men
as less than other humans. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Joe Bernstain, 3 Indians<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">A blacksmith when I was twelve,
with a knife.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">5 Indians in self-defence (behind
a very safe rock)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That very safe rock has always been the vantage point for
many Canadians when viewing their history and the responsibility of their ancestors
and governments for the Genocide of Indigenous Peoples.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It takes work to maintain the illusion of Canada versus the
reality. For years Canadians have looked down their noses at their American
cousins and the horrific history of Native Americans. As the true history of
Canada becomes unveiled can they look at themselves with an equally critical
eye. The schools, the churches and the government have been held accountable to
some degree; but a hidden Genocide requires more than perpetrators perhaps it
needs poets. <o:p></o:p></p>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-57449404697291596602020-06-21T13:36:00.003-07:002020-06-21T13:36:48.969-07:00The Meanest Daddy in the Whole Wide World<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There was a
single Dad who was raising his daughter as best as he could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And sometimes his daughter did not think her dad was doing very good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it was
time to come in from play he would say.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Time to
come in, My Girl.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She would respond,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You t</span>he Meanest Daddy in the Whole Wide World.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When it was
supper time and the Dad would say,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Eat all your
vegetables, My Girl”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She would respond,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You’re t</span>he Meanest Daddy in the Whole Wide World.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When it was
time to do homework the Dad would day,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Time to
study, My Girl".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She would respond,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You’re the </span>Meanest Daddy in the Whole Wide World.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When the
sun had gone dad, the Dad would say,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"Time to go
to bed My Girl".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She would respond,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You’re the
meanest Daddy in the whole wide world."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">n the morning,
when the girl was all snug and comfy <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Dad
would say,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Time to get
up and go to school, My Girl</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She would respond,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You’re the</span> Meanest Daddy in the Whole Wide World.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Before he knew it his daughter was a young woman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And when graduating honours she did say,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">"I want to
give thanks to my Dad from Your Girl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To the best
daddy in the Whole Wide World."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
-30-<br />
<br />
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-79759886093240138352020-05-14T15:21:00.000-07:002020-05-14T15:21:22.811-07:00Indigenous Rights and Responsibilities What are Indigenous Rights<br />
What are Indigenous Responsibilities<br />
There are no rights<br />
Without land, water and territory<br />
Dependence on the land is how it should be<br />
It is our future not only our history<br />
<br />
Protect our rights and protect the land<br />
Rights and Responsibilities go hand in hand<br />
<br />
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-29791593087703002062020-05-09T13:29:00.002-07:002020-05-09T13:29:51.165-07:00I.M.M.I.AIndigenous Men, MIA<br />
Indigenous Men, What Can I Say<br />
<br />
Are my aunties and sisters and daughters safe<br />
Are you there for protection<br />
Are you working for the Man<br />
Implementing that centuries old plan<br />
To remove us from our lands<br />
By breaking the heart of the Nations<br />
<br />
That's what it looks like<br />
That's what it is<br />
<br />
Why is there no safe place to go<br />
When women and girls are on their own<br />
And they can't go home<br />
And they can't go to a brother<br />
Who has become the other<br />
<br />
Indigenous Men, MIA<br />
Indigenous Men, What Can I Say<br />
<br />
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-76820590758968723132020-04-30T12:48:00.002-07:002020-04-30T12:48:59.083-07:00It was February 2020<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was February 2020 <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We were not ready<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For what was happening<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Trump unleashed <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Biblical Beast<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not the least <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Openly Orwellian<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Fracking pipelining<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Human Trafficking <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wasting Dumping<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People disappearing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The price of the job<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be a small cog<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the insatiable machine<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That we are feeding<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Locusts unleashed<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flying and Feasting<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the green living<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The green living <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We all need<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To eat and to drink<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To keep breathing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another virus<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Divides us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Conspires inside us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Splitting us in two<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Making one <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
me<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Making one <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
you<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Land protectors took to the land<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Took to the water<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To make a stand<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All nations <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All people<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Children women and men<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reached out a hand<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Round Dance<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reconciliation<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the movement<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Completes a circle<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is a revolution<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Australia burned<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
California learned<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s us <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s not hearing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seeing <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not believing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What our prophets<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And our scientists<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Have been preaching<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stop it now<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Slow it down<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stop moving around<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unless you really <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
have to move<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stop watching<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stop buying<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clean up<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Be Clean<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Plant trees <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Plant that garden<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The one we were born in<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The one <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We all want to die in<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-71855696701039542142020-03-09T19:16:00.002-07:002020-03-09T19:17:36.576-07:00Health of Mother Earth (HOME) - Survival AppsHow can we be responsible?<br />
What does walking in protest in the safe streets of Canada make to the overall health of the planet? It has some value in awareness and education and that could be tracked on the Health of Mother Earth (HOME) App.<br />
<br />
HOME, an APP that tracks all our contributions to the Health of Mother Earth.<br />
Points for recycling, reusing, reforesting and action education points and points against wasteful use of non-renewable resources.<br />
<br />
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-9310552893952110952019-11-16T13:18:00.001-08:002019-11-16T13:18:24.386-08:00Riel's sacrifice is being squandered
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<br />
<div class="p1">
Louis Riel is probably turning in his grave. Despite his ultimate sacrifice to unite the Metis Nation and defend the rights of Metis People our people are more divided than ever and our hard earned rights are being squandered. How did things go so wrong?</div>
<div class="p1">
In recent years there have been victories at the Supreme Court of Canada which should have brought in a new day for the Metis Nation and the vindication of Riel’s work and ultimate sacrifice.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
First there was The Powley Decision in 2003. It was this case that established the legal right for Metis People to Harvest. It also established The Powley Test which would need to be passed for Metis people to exercise that right. The key to the test was the right to harvest was a collective right connected to a historic Metis community. I was witness to this historic date serving as Director of Communications of the Metis National Council. It was the zenith of my experience working with Metis organizations.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
I know that when I sat amongst the Presidents, lawyers and other key individuals to celebrate the Powley decision the discussion was not a celebration as we feasted on steak at one of Ottawa’s finest restaurants the discussion was focussed on keeping the Council of Aboriginal Peoples out of the process. I remember feeling sick to my stomach.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
A few months later the MNC would be cleaning out people who had connection to historic Metis communities including myself, Frankie Berland and my cousin Duane Morrisseau-Beck. I avoided my firing by President Clem Chartier’s girlfriend who had been put into the role of Chief of Staff. I had another job and I gave my two weeks notice at the same meeting that they were going to do the deed. </div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
I sat in on one of my last meetings when a new hire was introducing himself with a story about how his family had always been ashamed of being Metis and that they only began to talk about being Metis in the last few years. He concluded with a statement that this was a common story with most Metis people. (In recent years this is becoming the accepted narrative.) I had no idea what this person was talking about, I grew up in two Historic Metis Communities - Grand Rapids and Crane River, MB - and everyone who was Metis was a Metis. That was it. No one was pretending to be white, unless they wanted people to laugh at them. In those days if you said your were Metis you were golden because there was absolutely no benefit to it. You were what you were. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
It was though people who always identified as Metis and came from Historic Communities (Which is an essential part of the Powley Test) were being pushed out in favour of non-Native people and Metis Come Lately who declared their heritage only when there were potential rights and financial benefits.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> People who had no context and no reason to rock the boat.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
In the months following Powley the federal government provided funding to the Metis National Council to take the message to the communities about the implications of the Supreme Court's decision. What should have been done was Metis communities should have been declaring themselves Historic Metis Communities and communities should have been selected to take the test and confirm their harvesting rights across the Metis Homeland. Instead we saw the expansion of the kind of “treadmill at the trough” negotiations and funding. The treadmill gives the illusion of advancement but the goal is to keep your head in the trough. Helping people in the communities is not as important as keeping the money flowing to that select group who travel to the big cities of the country and around the world staying in the best hotels and collecting per diem cheques, consulting fees and honorarium.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Ten years later, the Supreme Court made its ruling on the long running Metis Land Claims related to the 1.4 million acres of land promised to the Metis and their children in the Manitoba Act, which created the province of Manitoba and was entrenched in the Canadian Constitution. In the six years since that ruling in 2003 there is no evidence that any specific land claims have been launched, the fear is that the home office in Winnipeg is negotiating away our land for a lump sum settlement to keep the trough full for years to come.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Three years have no passed since the Supreme Court put down the Daniels Decision in 2016. It was almost hilarious to see Manitoba Metis Federation President David Chartrand and Metis National Council President whoop and holler this great victory in a case launched by their declared enemy the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. Nevertheless the decision that Metis and non-Status people were included in Section 91(24) of the Canadian Constitution means that the federal government could no longer deflect responsibility for dealing with the Metis Nation on a nation to nation basis. It did not mean there was a fiduciary responsibility, a duty to consult or to negotiate land claims. It was another legal tool to work towards these goals.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Despite these significant legal victories very little has been seen at the community level. The pattern of exclusion and keeping the government sponsored gravy train going seems to be the only motivation. Despite declarations of the establishment of Metis Governments we have seem the rise of authoritarian institutions. David Chartrand, President of The Manitoba Metis Federation has not faced an election for years. No one dares to stand against him. Clem Chartier, the President of the Metis National Council is voted into power by a few dozen.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
According to CBC reports earlier this year, the MNC is being audited<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>following an investigation by the RCMP. This is the second audit of the organization in the last seven years and is about the misuse of funds. In the earlier investigation the MNC gave over half a million dollars to a company that was registered as a non-profit that helped Chinese immigrants do business in Canada. In the current investigation the CBC reports that “The complaint alleged that some federal funds transferred to the organization for Métis programs were redirected through double payments for travel, expenses and equipment and through contracts to a select group of companies and consultants.”</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
As such the old axiom that Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely has come into play. These men only support actions of their own device and those who speak up or stand out are exiled. I cannot speak for other communities but my home communities are beginning to fade away despite the clear decision reflected in Powley that these communities hold the key to the full recognition and expression of our Metis Rights and more importantly make up lands that should be settled with any Metis land settlement.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Today is Louis Riel Day 2019 and as our unelected and under investigation leaders stand over his grave, I wonder if they can hear him spinning.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></div>
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-61857713267575552132019-03-04T08:00:00.003-08:002019-03-10T05:23:50.947-07:00Time to Move<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Things
started to go bad when we stopped moving. When we could no longer pick up what
we really needed, leave what we could live without or find again and move on to
the next place.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When we give
up that freedom of body we give up our freedom of mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I cannot
tell another person how to live and cannot accept anyone telling me how to
live. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I am old enough to know that reacting out of spite, anger to
anyone’s advice or criticism will lead to allowing that person to control your
actions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I live by
the will or whim of the Creator. I don’t know if my days will end today or this
very moment (pause…not yet), later today a bus could<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>run me over or a blood vessel could burst in
my brain. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I have no control over anything but I have control over me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I try to
remain stoic in the classic sense. </span>I understand that my place in this universe
is to accept the realities of the natural world.<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I understand the desire to be free of the tyranny
of other’s opinions. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I acknowledge the most powerful thing I have is my own opinion
for I can change that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How then
could Indigenous Peoples have complex highly integrated societies made up of
Individuals with free minds?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
really know. I have seen how people pull together in hard times and I have also
seen hundreds of people from many nations come together and build a lodge and
hold a Sundance ceremony with nearly a 100 dancers at the Blacksmith Sundance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The key was
consensus. We are told that consensus is arrived after long discussions when
all voices are heard. What we are led to believe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(and this has much to do with limits and
duplicity of the English language) that consensus results in universal
acceptance which would be impossible among free thinking people. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I believe that consensus was based upon trust of the majority not surrender of one’s beliefs. The decisions of the collective were connected to the natural world and were reinforced by reality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The time to
begin the sunrise ceremony did not require consensus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was time to move to the winter camp when the signs are all around. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The reality
of the natural world meant no need to question anyone’s life choices and the lessons that may come. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you were not ready to move when it was time to move
camp no one could make you, no one would carry you, no one could force you to do
anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In the
light of the rising sun, which always comes, the camp would gone and you would
be free to live alone with your own decisions. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">-30-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-31438054821970261732019-02-28T12:05:00.004-08:002024-03-22T16:56:31.862-07:00<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br />
<br />
<br /></div>Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-37477980361346273592018-12-14T22:34:00.000-08:002018-12-14T22:34:32.136-08:00What I write about when I write about the White ManIt is not about race<br />
It is about greed<br />
It is not<br />
about greed<br />
It is belief<br />
<br />
That it<br />
will all be<br />
over soon<br />
and<br />
you get<br />
what you can<br />
Fill pockets with money<br />
and your heart with judgement<br />
<br />
a cold blooded thing<br />
a disconnect from<br />
what is<br />
happening<br />
<br />
to all<br />
and in the<br />
in and in between<br />
we are Alien<br />
<br />
Alien to the Earth<br />
and all Life around us<br />
Dead to the life<br />
All around us<br />
Dead to one another<br />
<br />
Zombies and aliens<br />
our making<br />
<br />
When too many<br />
people dream<br />
the same bad<br />
dream, it becomes reality<br />
<br />
We made this<br />
<br />
White Man<br />
<br />
*Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-42761522268368172992018-09-01T10:42:00.000-07:002018-09-01T11:48:24.152-07:00Regina Vs Miles MorrisseauOn July 31, 2018. I was arrested and charged with Possession with Intent to Traffic. I was handcuffed and put in the back of a police cruiser. I was taken to the Kettle and Stony Point Police Detachment and put in a cell. I was interrogated without a lawyer present by a member of the OPP's information department who offered me money and a chance for revenge.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvm3KH7OZ1kSSoSdHd5ErM-FlqOCu1PkRgih6L_T3rvlINbi_AWPww2zfuGMTdNbq6OGpdEfcpaBvb0Ts-4UaWBTod3nCa9sKHPZyiiffpCynr1IUIEfAes-gBgrT8wyV1VTSBsZW8op2/s1600/Scan0010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvm3KH7OZ1kSSoSdHd5ErM-FlqOCu1PkRgih6L_T3rvlINbi_AWPww2zfuGMTdNbq6OGpdEfcpaBvb0Ts-4UaWBTod3nCa9sKHPZyiiffpCynr1IUIEfAes-gBgrT8wyV1VTSBsZW8op2/s320/Scan0010.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Digital Stain<br />
<br />
As of this moment when I google "Miles Morrisseau" it is the 6th link that comes up and when I click on images, pot plants come up among Norval Morrisseau paintings. I tell a friend, this is going to be with me my whole life and show up long after I am gone.<br />
<br />
I understand that I made a personal decision and I have to live with the choices I make.<br />
<br />
I do not think people should look down and judge and it would be nice not to feel shame but that is not the way it is.<br />
<br />
The Anishinaabek Police Services sent out a press release in less than 48 hours and on the morning of August 2, 2018 Blackburn News began to run the story of the alleged pot bust and the four people who were charged were named over and over again.<br />
<br />
"Miles Morrisseau is charged with Possession with Intent to Traffic."<br />
<br />
Blackburn News<b><i> IS</i></b> the media in Sarnia and Lambton Shores. It is a complete radio monopoly - 106.3 - Hard Rock, 99.9 The Fox - Middle of the Road Pop, 103.9.- Country, CHOK 1070 - Talk and Live Sports and they own the only newspaper The Sarnia Observer.<br />
<br />
It was all over the community almost immediately and all over our entire region within two days.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://blackburnnews.com/sarnia/sarnia-news/2018/08/02/alleged-kettle-point-pot-club-busted/" target="_blank">Alleged Pot Club Busted</a><br />
<br />
-<br />
<br />
<br />
I did not believe what I was doing was illegal. I was a member of Heal Me Leaf Cannabis Club. I joined on June 21, 2018 - Solidarity Day. I was very impressed with the intellect and philosophy of the club founder Ken Wolfe Jr.<br />
<br />
The declaration that each member is asked to make, sounded like the proper protocols regarding operating a comfort shop. Members were acting on their right to chose how to treat their medical conditions. Upon leaving the club they were responsible to store the medicine securely, not to share, not to drive and to make those who enter your home aware that you have medicinal marijuana and it is stored in a safe and secure location.<br />
<br />
Clubs were popping up all over First Nations and without a doubt I expected the First Nation to act in a manner similar to cigarettes. Those operations are all illegal in the eyes of the province and the feds.<br />
<br />
There was a major difference. Where the tobacco trade had become one of the biggest killers in the world this was a chance to make a difference. It was the philosophy on healing that was hook. We can use this moment in history to help and to heal.<br />
<br />
But also let's be real. I needed a job. All the other things that followed after I started at the club are as true as I can make them, but the basic impetus was for me to make a living on the First Nation. I am not very employable. I do this mostly and no one pays for that.<br />
<br />
-<br />
<br />
In the spirit of doing this I began to write a diary starting on Day 1. I called it My Weed Diary - The Last Days of Prohibition. Over the next 11 days, I recorded as much as I could and as honestly as I could.<br />
<br />
I have been writing for many years and I never had a "Diary - Diary". I began to be more confessional. Fights with my partner and passionate make-up sex were detailed. I was writing a diary. I also had lots of weed to smoke and an occasional edible and that medicine can open you up.<br />
<br />
On July 31, 2018, the APS along with the Kettle and Stoney Point First Nations Police executed a search warrant at the club and I was arrested.<br />
<br />
My Weed Diary was confiscated.<br />
<br />
I told my partner about some of the things that were in that black hard cover book with the label Aboriginal Healing Foundation - Director of Communications.<br />
<br />
She grabbed me by the collar and shook me as hard as she could, which was not very hard.<br />
<br />
"Why?" she said.<br />
<br />
I told her about experimenting with the form and she looked at me in a way that made me appreciate that she did not have a stick in hand.<br />
<br />
She went off on a rant about the officers up at the station reading such personal stories.<br />
<br />
I told her that I could not stop writing. I was going to continue writing in my diary up until the end of prohibition - October 17, 2018.<br />
<br />
I also told her that I want to connect that notion of shame between marijuana and sex and also how marijuana in various strains is a sexual enhancement.<br />
<br />
We had this discussion many times, Native Peoples need to bring out more healthy sexuality and understand that we need to break the chain of assimilation in all aspects of our lives. I would not share any greater details that what was already in the hands of the KSP Police.<br />
<br />
-<br />
<br />
I went to court on August 29, 2018. Charges of conspiracy were dropped against the others accused. I now face two charges of Trafficking - an additional one was added before my appearance.<br />
<br />
I received disclosure on August 31, 2108.<br />
<br />
101 pages just like stolen Dalmations.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
-30-Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8164650034021486684.post-37786013349526369892018-08-13T06:51:00.002-07:002020-08-30T15:25:43.724-07:00Statue? Not me.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t care about statues. I don’t feel that tearing down
statues of John A. Mcdonald is going to do anything for me as an Indigenous
person or for my rights as a Metis Person. It isn't going to do anything in the communities and out on the land and the water. We don't have a big problem with John. A. statues we got a lot more important things to deal with.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are a few statues that matter to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The statue of Louis Riel that was erected at the Manitoba Legislature in the 1970's. That
statue, a twisted naked abstract of a man, raised controversy. I knew my parents were upset. "They are making him look crazy". My mom said referencing the twisted metal body as the state of his mind. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was so important to my parents. They had to push back against that assault. The mainstream narrative, "that he was not a great man, that he was crazy". It was in the statue, it was in the movie and in the books. My parents had to stand strong in that onslaught. Statues in the hurricane. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I walked those legislative grounds a hundred times. My father worked in the legislature and for years before that I had friends that lived in an apartment building overlooking the grounds. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I camped on those
grounds for almost a week when my parents, Nellie and John<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrisseau, were protesting the devastating losses to Metis during the building of the Grand Rapids Hydroelectric Project. They
camped on those grounds for 47 days and received no support except from family a few friends and dozens of non-Native youth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked the
grounds many times during the day and during the night and passed many statues and I don’t remember one of them. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My parents and their last few
supporters left the legislative grounds with a tear stained letter from then Minister
Responsible for Manitoba Hydro Dave Chomiak. He got them off the property and did nothing after that perhaps his tears turned him to stone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other big one for me has always been the Goose at Lundar. I would be upset if they took down the Goose at Lundar. Even though Canadian geese are starting to be a problem. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also remember the Bull in the town of Ste. Rose Du Lac
near our home in the historic Metis community of Crane River. Every year the
graduating class in the small town would paint the Bull’s balls blue. That would be the highlight of the 45 mile gravel road ride to town.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I lived in Ottawa for about 5 years and I walked all over
that town and there are statues everywhere and the only piece I can remember is
the one for Indigenous veterans by Cree artist Lloyd Pinay. We took pictures in front of it. I remembers walking in slowly and respectfully on a few occasions thinking about the sacrifices of my Metis Uncles in World War II.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The dozens and
dozens of other statues that I walked by in those year have no place in my memory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But to get back to John A. What does the A stand for?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This business of tearing down statues and acting like this
is something for me as an Indigenous person is not accepted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I never heard
anyone. Ever. Say. Tear down this statue.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I feel like someone has taken capital earned from the hard work and
sacrifices of our ancestors, parents and grandparents and pissed it away on this action that will only build animosity towards
Indigenous Peoples and little else. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story line that is coming across the media is that John A. Mcdonald’s
statue is being taken down because of his role in setting up the Indian
Residential School System and this has something to do with reconciliation. I am not aware of Mcdonald having a leadership
role in creating that system. In fact, Indian Residential Schools existed before there was a Canada. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anyone asked me why Mcdonald’s statue should be taken down. It would be for his persecution
of the Metis and for the hanging of Louis
Riel, the Father of Manitoba and a Father of Canadian Confederation. Nobody asked me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They say it's for reconciliation, but there is no reference to tearing down statues in the TRC's 94 calls to action. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps some people in these institutions didn't like looking at old John A. because he made them think about themselves and not us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of those academic institutions need to hire some living breathing Native people and let them teach instead of worrying about a statue to another dead white man.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Miles Morrisseauhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04261513102252816193noreply@blogger.com0