July 18, 2003
Awakened Woman's Circle is working for peace
PLEAS FROM BIG MOUNTAIN
by swaneagle harijan
When i visited with Pauline Whitesinger last February, she gave me 2 small rugs her grand daughters wove that she is asking $200 each. The weaving is what supports what is left of the resistance to the largest forced relocation of traditional indigenous people since the late 1800's. Pauline is one of a handful of Dineh who never compromised with the federal government, the corporations and the U.S. imposed tribal councils in this longtime struggle to defend sacred land from being devoured by the largest coal strip mine in north amerikkka.
Recently she sent me a letter expressing her difficulties as she continues living her ancient way of life, now complicated by the devastation relocation and economic development have wrought.
At one time, support for the resisters at Big Mountain/Black Mesa was strong. NonIndians would commit to spending a month or longer helping with the daily survival chores. Herding sheep, chopping wood, hauling water, working in the cornfields, repairing roads, mudding hogans, etc. But the hardship involved has seriously diminished essential presence of outsiders of conscience.
In January, under circumstances still not clear, Pauline's grandson shot and killed the son of Louise Benally who is Pauline's niece. The children of resister families endure incredible pressure from being ostracized in school due to greater levels of poverty to being burdened with the isolation of their grandmothers' demanding way of life. The children of those who have relocated have the highest suicide rate in the nation. Also, it has only been over the past few years that the destruction of alcohol has made inroads into the lives of the youth. It is taking it's toll.
Pauline has been suffering from a bladder infection making it nearly impossible for her to herd the sheep. One of her grand children is helping her, but she has asked for supporters who would be willing to help with the sheep and someone to camp near the cornfield to keep it safe and weeded.
She has also asked me to return the rugs as i have not been able to sell them. I am making one last effort before i mail them back to see if anyone has interest in either of these rugs. Her daughter Bonnie, who suffers from kidney failure and is on dialysis, sent a saddle blanket she wove to my son asking $585 for it. The money is needed for ceremonies and car parts. The rugged roads are hard on vehicles that must be used for everything from transportation to hauling wood, water and supplies.
My ability to go and be of service on the land has diminished severely over the past few years. I usually spend 4 months or so living there, but was only able to help deliver a 4 wheel drive truck in February, then returned home. So i am putting out this call in the hopes someone will be so moved to respond as able.
Having been an on-the-land supporter for over 20 years, i have witnessed the military harassment by fighter jets and Apache helicopters, armed rangers and "land monitors" telling resisters they must have permits to gather wood, herbs and live in their customary manner. I have witnessed tribal officials pressuring elderly women to sign papers diminishing their claim to their ancestral homesites. Many traditional people have died in the past 2 decades before their time of broken hearts and stress related illnesses. Of over 12,000 people relocated, half have died and countless are homeless on the streets of racist border towns. Many more have been tortured and murdered in Gallup, Winslow, Shiprock and Farmington. In retrospect, the tragedy of this situation will be seen as the major human rights violation of the 20th century within U.S. borders.
I wonder each day at the privilege i still enjoy regardless of my own struggles with poverty. I feel perched on the edge of a precipice that is swallowing up all those who cannot rise to the top of the capitialistic sour cream. I have this computer and can get the word out to people already overwhelmed by the desperation of the growing numbers of global downtrodden. What else can be done?
When i was in Seattle til a week ago, i learned there are 50,000 millionaires living there. Yet, the numbers of homeless grows. Street kids crowd the sidewalks on Broadway looking for their next fix. Single mothers verge on prostitution as they grapple to support their children. Yet, the fancy gourmet vegetarian restaurants are crowded. The Puget Consumer Co-op that once were the accomplished work of the hippie visionaries chase away the homeless vendors selling "Real Change", the magazine of the very poor. The co-op baord is nortorious for it's lack of compassion and conscience and it's strivings towards profit. It is no longer a true co-op. This is also the case with REI, also a onetime example of a co-op. I am so sorry to see the culture that grew out of the inspired dreams of the 60's capitulate to greed, fascism and corporate inhumane style. All around the values i have upheld for so many years are marginalized. I wonder what is yet to come.....
In peaceful struggle, swaneagle