Paid a visit to the Manitoba Education Centre and checked out the provincial school curriculum. I remember in grade school reading about Hurons and Algonquins. Guess what? Its still the same. How are canadians going to take native people seriously if all they learn is indian history? By that I mean the derogatory perception that we all grunted and are berries mindlessly following animals around. Around the world there are archaeological sites that are showcased and studied, shown in documentaries etc. Why not showcase our archeological sites. We have proof that we navigated using the stars 2 000 years before Galileo figured out the world was round. (Remember the pictures that showed ships falling off the edge of the ocean into a burning pit with dragons?) The 2 billion dollar First Nations Education Act that PM Harper tried pass included a clause that only the provincial curriculum could be taught in order to qualify for this funding. Ask your children to bring their history books home with them and read for yourself. Just as an example of how government licensed anthropologists operate, there are circular rock formations in the ground all over the prairies. Theyll be found on hilltops and open areas. These circular formations are used by our Dakota people for ceremonial and spiritual purposes. They also are used for navigation. Two of the rocks will point North South and two will point East West. Other formations are more detailed and will work as calendars. They identify summer and winter solstice sun rise and sun sets, rising stars on the horizon in different constellations. The government archaeologists tried for years to tell us that these rocks were used to hold down our tipis. This is why they are called tipi rings. Common sense eludes these university trained anthropologists. Who would put a tipi on a hill or out in the open away from protection and water? The reason why the government orders their archaeologists to report in this way is to dumb down their actual purposes. If the rocks are only used for residential purposes, then pipelines or industry can obliterate them as they have no historic value. Our Dakota people created these things and have been verified by our own anthropologists but there is no way the government will acknowledge them. A university professor stated that in order for any of his students to be able to create an identical formation, they would need a masters degree in astronomy. We have all these things and more documented and certified using GPS equipment and state of the art computer technology. The green spots you see on rocks is called lichen. Check out how long it takes for a square inch to grow and youll have an idea the time periods involved. Rocks arranged to show buffalo skulls half the size of a football field with tipi rings as the eyes. These formations are on varying elevations in prairie grass so they arent easily identifiable. Even our tipi, a Dakota word for home, is considered an engineering marvel. Theyll withstand 100 MPH winds because of their aerodynamic design. We used trade as our currency. We had our own economy. We had our own lives. Sure we didnt have picket fences and paper money but our primary concern was family. Food clothing and shelter is all we need to survive, even today. Family provided waounshida, love, compassion and caring. Prayer also provided this. Whats important in todays world? We are not mindless indians. We are Dakota. We are Anishnabe. We are Nehiyew. We are Haudenausenne. We are who we say we are. Its time our people made a stand against the indian act legislations. We are human beings with human children and human grandchildren.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 17:34:07 +0000