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In the course on Indigenous history/philosophy that I am taking we have read in three different areas so far. The first week, we read about the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) system of government, also known as the great binding law. Some scholars trace the founding document of their Confederacy (between 5 nations, now 6) back to the year 1142. I’m not sure what I have to say about the document itself, other than that it is very detailed, and contains a number of checks and balances to ensure smooth and equitable relations between the nations of the confederacy.

That week we also read about Handsome Lake, a Seneca religious figure from the late 18th/early 19th century. After a life of alcohol abuse lack of personal fulfilment, near death, he had a vision, which inspired a new religion called Gaiwiio. This religion was/is basically Christian in content, though it sees European Christians as corrupted largely as a result of the evils that they brought to and encouraged in the “New World.” The movement helped to ensure the survival of Iroquois traditions and values (albeit with a new Christian dimension) in the face of increasing alcoholism linked to the pressures of expanding white settlement. The religion is still prominent within several six nations communities to this day.

More interesting, to me at least on a personal level, was the reading from this week (now last week), a book called Wisdom Sits in Places, by Keith Basso. Where to begin…Basically Basso is a white ethnographer (anthropologist) who spent many years living with the Western Apaches around a town called Cibecue. Over the course of his time there he discovered that the Apaches some different ideas about wisdom and its relationship to “the land.” I want to get this post done now, so I will summarize. Basically the Apache’s attach descriptive names to specific places. These names evoke a story, and this story will have some moral wieght to it. So, if someone is acting out and the community needs to remind him or her of the community’s values, they would just say the name of a place to that person, for example, Tree-by-water-over-rocks. Then that person will think of the story attached to that place, and hopefully remedy his/her actions appropriately. Not only this, but whenever the person is near Tree-by-water-over-rocks in the future she will remember her previous indiscretion. An interesting aspect though is that the stories of places are believed to be sacred in a way because when you tell a story you are imagining yourself in the place where ancestors would have experienced the story originally and using the words that they would have used to describe the event, thus you are in a way channeling the ancestors. Also, because if you are reprimanded by a place-name-story you see it there for the rest of your life, and so they refer to stories as “stalking” or hunting people, because they follow you around for the rest of your life. Also, the title of the book “wisdom sits in places” refers to the way in which community members can achieve wisdom, namely by learning the names-stories of many many places and being able to call up appropriate stories, and thus the wisdom of the ancestors. This can give wise people predictive abilities. More importantly, the connection between place-name-stories and wisdom, shows the literal connection between community knowledge and physical places. I am not capturing very well the essence of the concept, but people can borrow the book from me if they want to learn more…

Blow by blow of ongoing resistance:
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/

Here is a biography of “Canada’s Greatest Canadian.” The fact that Tommy was voted ( albeit, i assume, by a biased pool of CBC listeners) best Canadian, gives me hope in the face of the other group of Canadians–the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who vote for Stephen Harper. But the real value of this book is that, as the title suggest, it situates T.D. in the context of the various major political events and issues during his long political carreer. From the Great Depression and support for food relief and labour efforts, to early condemnation of Trudeau’s use of the War Measures Act, the book shows how T.D., while he had his faults, was generally ahead of the curve.

Douglas’s unflinching committment to making political decisions based on moral and ethical factors (i.e. the wellbeing of his fellow men and women) is an inspiration to me, as a young person interested in politics, but repulsed by the pettyness of party politics, and the lack of moral leadership/righteousness displayed by our ’socialist’ party, the NDP.

I read this book a little while ago. It is a graphic novel biography of Loius Riel. I thought it was well done, the graphics are great and the narrative flows along. But i think perhaps Brown focused too much on the religious fanaticism of Riel, portraying him as mad and delusional, and not as an inspired political mind and leader. Despite his religious views, i think that Riel must have had an inpressive political intellect in order to have accomplished the things that he did (leading the rebellion, anticipating numerous government moves, strategizing, becoming elected to parliament in Ottawa while an outlaw, etc.). I would have liked to have read more about the political context of the time, and perhaps less about Riel’s personal inner turmoil and revelations…

I recently finished  A People’s History of American Empire by Howard Zinn, which is a graphic novel adaptation of part of his larger book A People’s History of the United States. The book covers the history of American “adventures,” from the indian wars and the American domination of the continent marked by the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 to the invasion of Iraq and Afganistan following 9/11. One general comment of mine is that I was surprised to learn that American corporations had been for so long tied into American imperialism and general warmongering. For example, the invasions of the Phillipines and Cuba in 1898 were encouraged by american business interests…

This book to me reinforces the value of “people’s history,” which I would define as the telling of history through the actions of average people acting in extraordinary ways against state or military power. As opposed to conventional history, which seeks to make forgotten the stories of the people who were there on the ground. Lately, in my studies of the Canadian working class during the years 1930-36, I have been amazed by how little I (and presumably that average person) know about what actually happened to average people during this time. Or more so, shocked by the incompassionate, selfish, violent, and occasionally murderous actions of the political class and their main weapon, the RCMP.

Recently finished Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-95, by Joe Sacco. This is a graphic novel that came out in 2000 detailing the experiences of the author in Gorazde, a predominantly Muslim area in eastern Bosnia that was entirely surrounded by the Serbian army during the war.

Joe Sacco visited Gorazde near the end of the war and listens to the stories of the local people who have lived through the trials of war. He writes their history, somewhat confusedly, as though he were there as well, which he wasn’t (he came at the end) and this is slightly confusing…However, Sacco tells of the peaceful times in Yugoslavia under Tito (a communist) who united the country’s three different cultural-linguistic groups, the Serbs (christian orthodox), the Muslims, and the Croats (roman catholic). After Tito’s death, the peace began to fall apart as pro-nationalist agitators on all sides fomented separatism along racial/religious lines. Anyhow, when Serbia invaded Bosnia there were several muslim pockets left in the east, the largest of which was Gorazde. Various attrocities took place in the town as Serbian militias attacked the town, including schools, hospitals, etc. The format of graphic novel is excellent for (literally) illustrating the devastation of places and people. The story, as toldand drawn by Sacco, is a truly mesmerizing and devastating example of the hardship and evilness of war as lived by the average citizen. Now, some criticism.

Before reading this book, I knew very little about the war in Yugoslavia, indeed I would still claim to know very little. However, as I was reading the book I was struck by the very positive light which was shone upon the NATO airstrikes. They were, to the people of Gorazde, a saviour from above, driving away the serbian militias which were penning the survivors into an increasingly small area. But, as far as I knew or remembered, there was great controversy around the NATO airstrikes, and as far as I know, the left was critical of them. So I asked GPS about it.

Though the war took place after the fall of the USSR, it can still be seen in the light of the cold war. Aparently, the Serbian leaders (including Milosovic?), had an anti-western pro-socialist stance whereas the Croats had a pro-western stance (and backing). As well, attrocities were committed on both sides. So it seems that neither side was objectively “right” and thus the decision by NATO to back the pro-western Croats can be seen as an anti-communist move, and as fitting into their general domino theory of international aggression.

That being said, Sacco’s story has a decidedly anti-serbian stance and it may well be justified since wikipedia tells me that in the war 83% of the civilian casualties were Bosniks (muslims). But still, little mention is given to the politics of the Bosnik leaders, nor to the evil acts comitted by the Croats against Serbs. Who knows. Read it.

From October 29, 2007:

“Am reading Malcolm X Speaks (George Breitman, Ed.) and while I feel awkward reading it and being white, I am captivated by the truth he speaks, which I imagine is why he was silenced. It is reminding me of what I have heard from Ward Churchill, and also of the slogan “speak truth to power”** I just read a good passage by Malcolm X, his analogy of the march on Washington to black coffee:

“It’s just like when you’ve got some coffee that’s too black, which means it’s too strong. What do you do? You integrate it with cream, you make it weak. But if you pour too much cream in it, you won’t even know you ever had coffee. It used to be hot, it becomes cool. It used to be strong, it becomes weak. It used to wake you up, now it puts you to sleep. This is what they did with the march on Washington. They joined it. They didn’t integrate it, they infiltrated it…

**I now think that this slogan is naive, after reading an article by Chris Floyd where he says:

“I have always disliked this phrase “speaking truth to power” (although I’m sure I’ve lazily employed it myself on several occasions). No one needs to speak truth to power: power knows the truth well enough, it knows what it is doing, and to whom, and why. What we need, most desperately, are people who will speak truth about power, and speak it to people who might not have heard that truth through the howling cacophony of media diversion, corporate spin and political manipulation.”

From December 17, 2008:

“Just finished reading Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell. Though repetitive, confusing, and rambling in style, it is still a very interesting book about fighting for one’s ideals and the realities of war. It is also a window into a time when other political systems were available options in the West, i.e. communism, anarchism, and fascism, which is interesting to me because communism and anarchism now are dismissed as impossible or dead, though I suppose “socialism” is alive and well. [interestingly, in some left-history and writing on that time period, i.e. early to mid 20th century, socialism or social democrats are disparaged as sellouts or collaborator, mostly because they are anti-revolutionary, unlike the anarchists and communists. In this light, it is disappointing that social democracy seems to have emerged from the left as the victor, disappointing in so far as it is the most accepting of capitalism, the least threatening towards it....] The book is also interesting to me because it talks about Spain and Spaniards and makes me think of recent experiences in Tegucigalpa with Spaniards. Orwell’s portrait of them resonates with me: paradoxical, romantic, passionate, giving and friendly, in an unassuming way, almost blind or ignorant in that exuberance, full of a joie de vivre. I feel that I expected to have more thoughts related to the book, and even while reading it I didn’t. It just sits there. It is what it is, an account of a young man going to fight. But the Spanish war experience was different. The war comes across as necessary but disappointing due to the infighting between anarchists and communists, and the general (and later aggressive) anti-revolutionary policy adopted (by the communists) as time went on. Though, Orwell says that the big hope was to stop fascism in Spain, as an example to the rest of the world, and by setting this example perhaps stop the looming WWII.

It is strange to me to read of intra left wing fighting, the 3rd International, the anarchists, the Trotskyists, etc.  It seems so petty and distracting to me having grown ip in a time when destructive capitalism has prevailed, and the right is so powerful. The luxury of having debates and rivalries within the left!”

That being said, I recently read something by Naomi Klein arguing that it is important to have debate within the left, or rather that it is important to voice opinions that are farther to the left in order to try to shift the centre leftwards, rather than to subdue one’s political views with the hope of attracting a wider audience of people closer to the centre….

Was reminded of this when digging through old jottings…

http://www.rhizomecollective.org/rust.html

and also: the beehive collective

quoted from the above website:

Beth Ferguson and Juan Martinez have been part of the ecological art movement on many fronts. They started working together by organizing 20 person bicycle circus tours. They co-founded Bikes Across Borders, an Austin-based organization that has sent over 600 bikes to community groups on the US/Mexico border, in Chiapas, Mexico, and Cuba. Juan has produced illustrations for the last six years with the Beehive Collective (www.beehivecollective.org) Beth has been working with the Green Map System, which promotes ecological and cultural resources, as a graphic designer and special projects coordinator. She earned a BA in Ecological Design and Community Development from Hampshire College

The work of the beehive collective, which I saw at couple of different demonstrations in Halifax, reminds me of the work of Jose Guadalupe Posada about whom I recently received a book. Posada was a Mexican graphic artist aroudn the turn of the 20th century, and an inspiration for the famous Mexican muralists, including Diego Rivera, who would follow soon after…

Examples.
Beehive

Posada

From April 19, 2008:

“Just finished Sibir by Farley Mowat, It is a good book and makes me want to go to Siberia. The book chronicles Mowat’s travels to the area first in 1966 with Claire (his wife) and then again in ‘69 with a photographer friend John de Vissiers. *(I wonder if it is possible to find photos from the trip?)

They travel to Lake Baikal, Irkutsk, Yakutsk a place on the arctic ocean called Thersky, etc. The most frustrating to me is that it is potentially (almost certainly) outdated, the story being 40 years old and during the Soviet era. So, on top of the normal extra-cultural and geographic curiosity (what is it like over there?) there is the added the temporal curiosity (what is it like now?/ How has it changed?).

Mowat paints a picture of Siberia that is full of hearty, loving people in touch with the land and their futures(the native peoples or “small peoples” anyways) and of Russians who have wandered Northwards and Eastwards and fallen in love with a challenging and rewarding life. He also paints a positive image of Soviet government types, party members that is. Everyone is working with nature to build sustainable human settlements. This includes conservation related to lake Baikal, fish stocks off the east coast, study and use of permafrost, advanced animal breeding techniques (reindeer), food self-sufficiency to limit transit-intensive imports, encouraging traditional knowledge and ways of life, etc. I am incredibly, curious about what happened in the next 20 years of Soviet era and then the 20 years since. A friend of mine who was in Russia suggested that Siberia may not have been hugely effected by the fall of the Soviets because it is so isolated. But i am skeptical of this hypothesis because the area seemed to receive a lot of support from Moscow in subsidies and in providing a market for goods that were being produced in the north. On the other hand, the people as described by Mowat seemed to have internalized the values of the Soviets, or maybe not, in the sense that the values of Communism perhaps weren’t taught by Soviets but were there all along…

But still the question remains: How did the fall of the Soviet government affect the political consciousness/ideology of the people where Mowat visited? How did it affect their hopes and plans, and their ability to achieve them?