Ive made the Choice not Cut my Hair. I trimmed 1/2 of my long locks, in 2003, trying Corporate America and found, in the Tropics not necessary...Dont even need a Suit.. Professionals wear Aloha Shirts and Khakis. Now on the Mainland again in Washington, since 2013, Ive found if I want those high paying Jobs: Compromise and look the part...Play the Game? In Indian Country this isnt so, youre able to be an Indian, representing Indians and Indian interests... That is a win..win..situation: Sad, we Men, so well Trained in Business, Finance, Economics and Marketing even have to choice, them our us? Darn, and I lost my Hawaiian Tan: The market economy speaks of individualism, but it produces assimilation. As Webster and Scott say, Native men and women often cut their hair stating reasons of opportunities for better jobs. We dress up in business suits without question because we want to appear presentable in our careers. But whose standard are we attempting to meet, and who determines what is deemed presentable? They add, We are conforming to a system which was designed to exclude us entirely. Despite understanding this, we continue to allow others to choose the standards for us. We need to openly challenge these imposed standards. The market economy does exclude ways of life that impede the flow of capital. When a People defend their lands against capitalist resource extraction, the market sees an enemy. The market system knows no holy ground. Likewise, the market has no room for human relations based on sacredness. Traditional societies get in the way of the market, because they do not value money above all else. The market can deal with traditional crafts and can turn a ceremony into a tourist attraction. But when a People insist on maintaining traditional relations, which often—maybe always—involve sharing the necessities of life, the market sees another enemy. Colonialism aims at imposing the market system on traditional communities, destroying traditional sharing economies and forcing people to make a living by selling their labor. A central principle of the allotment process, which was encouraged and supported by the Christian missions—was to civilize Indians by breaking their social relations of sharing and coercing them into individual self-reliance. The boarding school program aimed explicitly at that goal. Though the boarding school regime no longer dominates Native education, the civilizing mission continues, in other guises. As Webster and Scott put it, We continue to push Western education upon our children year after year, just as it was pushed upon us, and those before. We tell them education is the future. You must be educated. It has been said that we must know our enemy if we are to defeat them, to beat them at their own game. We can appreciate that sentiment, but what about the other side? We might know our enemy now, but how well do we know ourselves? Webster and Scott conclude, It would be a powerful statement for our future generations if we dedicated as much effort to success in our own tribal institutions as we dedicate to the Western one. Their call echoes the words of Patrice Lumumba, a great anti-colonial leader of the 20th century, who led the Congolese independence movement against Belgium and was elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo. Lumumbas government survived only twelve weeks, when a rival who conspired with the Belgians to take control of the mineral mines ousted him from power. The US CIA and Britains MI6 were both implicated in Lumumbas assassination, as part of Cold War maneuvering in the former European colonies. One of the most famous statements Lumumba ever made, as he spoke to the opening session of the Pan-African Congress in August 1960, explained that no matter what standards of living the colonized enjoy, the anti-colonial struggle was to restore the dignity of…people. He added, Our aim is to restore Africas cultural, philosophical, ethical, and social values, and to safeguard our resources. Webster and Scott speak in a similar powerful voice, calling for Native peoples to maintain who we are and remain distinct in our tribal nations. Lumumba described the effort to undo colonialism—what Webster and Scott refer to as dedication to success in our own tribal institutions—saying, We…have to review everything we had done, and think everything through again by ourselves…. We knew that we would have to…revise the methods that had been forced upon us, and above all to rediscover our most intimate selves and rid ourselves of mental attitudes and complexes and habits that colonization had trapped us in for centuries. May it be so. Peter d’Errico graduated from Yale Law School in 1968. He was staff attorney in Dinebeiina Nahiilna Be Agaditahe Navajo Legal Services, 1968-1970, in Shiprock. He taught Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1970-2002. He is a consulting attorney on indigenous issues. Read more at indiancountrytodaymedianetwork/2015/01/06/ending-mental-attitudes-colonization
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 02:30:58 +0000