SWEPT AWAY BY LIFE, STRUGGLE AND PARTISAN DELUSION Re-Establishing My Political Voice As Aboriginal people, we are born into the politics of oppression. I, like so many others in my generation, was swept away in the euphoria of struggle; of making those big changes that would result in new political relationships, in developing indigenous institutions that worked for us; in ways that we treat ourselves as members within our nations. History did not work out the way. I let that history beat me spiritually, psychologically and indeed physically. I am not good at “accept[ing] the things I cannot change” as it were! In perceiving my loss of political voice, passion and direction, the cycle of self-pity, victim thinking and addiction took its form quite organically in my life. I have worked hard to suppress the racism I feel and the anger resulting from western pressure to conform. The tension inherent in seeing a slow painful destruction of a people’s way of life and values as part of the global reality – led by coopted aboriginal delusionaries – is nothing more than a 21st century strategy of destroying our people and ending the fiduciary responsibility of the Crown. BUT, I am learning how to fight again. My passion is politics and building strong and inclusive communities; yet I have failed to do anything productive in many years. In my mind and my heart our struggle to regain control over our lives, lands and resources remains clear. The struggle – which is my life call – may have been on the periphery of my discouragement, but the vision has never left. What became latent was a purposeful head with the skills and leadership that I am so capable of providing. My words up to now share the context for my decision to throw everything I know about politics out the window and to radically redefine what it is that I believe and what I don’t. When I became an NDP member I did it because my father was NDP not because I came to any logical or researched conclusion but from a conviction in 1986 that the NDP shared the best interest of Aboriginal communities; a concept that I am not sure exists in these times. The first step in fighting again is to know where I stand and who stands with me. As a result I plan to do research for about a year to make a decision on a) whether involvement in western politics minimizes our sovereignty as indigenous nations b) what are my values and beliefs given the wisdom of my life experience, c) relearn my political skills and d) decide which party to engage myself within. Any feedback is welcome.
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 02:36:05 +0000
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