Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Winter Moons

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's New Year's Eve, the last day of this span of time we've been calling 2014. It's also the last in this season's Wednesday series of winter-themed posts at The NDN Silver Blog. To wrap it up, we have winter moons for you, with some truly amazing photographic imagery and silverwork (and even a link to some beautiful music in the same theme). 

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are much needed now, and are welcomed with our thanks.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Turquoise Tuesday: Upcoming Attractions for 2015

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's the final edition of Turquoise Tuesday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's something entirely fun: some of the truly outstanding turquoise cabochons in Wings's inventory, and some possibilities as to what might be done with them.

As I said yesterday, shares are very much needed right now, so please hit the widgets (or copy and paste the URLs) on the post itself, and on Wings's main page. Thanks, everybody.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Holiday Gifts: For a Prosperous New Year

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
At long last, today's post is up at The NDN Silver Blog, and it's the last entry in our Monday seasonal series on small holiday gifts. Not easy to stay focused today; too many markers of loss this month, and another added only yesterday.

I hate asking this, but in light of the economy, there's really no choice. We're winding up the worst holiday season, sales-wise, that we've ever had. And it's not just us; the entire region is hurting. I had to go into town a couple of days before Christmas, and I've never seen it so thoroughly dead. But that means that we have none of our usual, if small, cushion for getting through the winter months, and the bills come relentlessly due regardless. I'm going to have to push shares in the weeks to come with every bit as much effort as during the holidays, in hopes of generating enough online business to keep us going through the winter. 

So here's the post for today, and here's Wings's main page. Rather than sharing my own Facebook posts, please go to those two links and share them, either via the widgets at the bottom of each page, or by copying and pasting the URLs. And if you feel like offering a testimonial when you do, that'd be welcome, too.  Thanks, everybody, from both of us.

Sunday, December 28, 2014

When a Beautiful Spirit Rides the Light

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
Early this morning, I was wasting time feeling sorry for myself. Sub-zero actual temperatures, frozen lines, seemingly endless inconvenience, all aggravating and aggravated by my apparent new normal, which is a significant hike in degree, intensity, and permanence of pain. Did I have cause? Of course. But it was still self-pity.

And then I learned that a friend from an online community, a beautiful soul if ever there was one, has entered hospice.

I've been so wrapped up in the busyness of our own lives, in my own pain, that I didn't even know she was sick. 

Had I bothered to poke my head out of my shell long enough to participate in another online community, I would have had some warning. My absence is all on me.

But this is not about me, except by way of offering a heartfelt apology for my own negligence, my carelessness, my thoughtlessness.

We met online, but somehow I always thought that someday I'd have the chance to hug her slender shoulders in person. She looked so delicate, but in my experience of her, she's always been so strong. She exudes gentleness and love — and a fierceness that manifests in her staunch support of her loved ones, a will of solid iron that I so admire.

We learned that we shared a history, or rather, an aspect of our respective histories, that I think neither of us especially cared to recall, much less to dwell on it, but it was another link of common cause between us. She also shared with me, and with the other members of our online community, the painful dance of her beloved niece with the cancer that would take that young woman's life at far too young an age. We were privileged to witness it, and to witness our friend's great love for and unwavering support of her niece through a time when there was no escape from pain and when it was clear that there would be no fairy-tale ending, and even to offer a tiny token to help her provide a distraction from the unrelenting physical distress.

For a while, we both were consumed with other things, but we reconnected again a couple of years later in that second online community. It was there that I learned that she and her husband celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary earlier this year — complete with before and after photos of her beautiful, beautiful face. 

This is a woman who prayed for my horse when he was dying.

He survived.

And J, I want you to know that I went out and spoke with that horse a little while ago. I asked him to send you some of his strength to buttress your own, now weakened by illness. I asked him, and the beloved warrior whose spirit he sometimes carries on his back, to guide you, to help you to the place you want to be now. I asked him to carry some of his strength to your loved ones, as well.

I don't know what the future, however long that is in this context, holds for you. I want to believe, desperately, that it is too soon, that it is not your time, that there is a miracle in the offing, just waiting to descend like the light in the winter sky. 

I know that's not realistic, and that you may not want it anyway. So all I will ask of Spirit, and of our spirit horse for whom you once prayed, is that whatever you, in the depths of your heart and soul, most want to happen is the gift that you are given. 

And so Wings and I send our prayers to Spirit, our strength to you and your family, our deepest thanks to you for your appearance in our lives, and our great love to you, all on the back of a horse named Ice riding the day's golden winter light.

 

 

One Year On


Yesterday was a difficult day here: in practical terms, because virtually the entire day was spent thawing frozen things and clearing snow in the bitter cold; in other terms, because it was an especially poignant anniversary. I was never able to set aside enough time to focus properly on its meaning.

One year ago yesterday, Carter Camp walked on. It's a loss that will not grow less acute with time. As I said of him then, he was so much to us:
Warrior — for his own Ponca nation, and for all of us. Hero. Leader. Teacher. Elder. Friend. Brother. 
Wings and I loved him, and if we mourn him as we do, I can only imagine the depths of the grief and the sense of loss that those closest to him must still feel.

And so, on these cold winter days, when the world is a little colder yet for his absence, we are burning cedar for him, sending the smoke and our prayers skyward, bearing our love and respect for his life, his legacy, his towering spirit.




Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Clay Pots and Chimneys

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the final installment in our holiday weekend feature series for 2014. It's also the logical follow-up to yesterday's post, and something to warm your soul on this bitterly cold morning.

Seven below here this morning; a wind chill of 22 below. Things will take much longer in these temperatures, so I need to get cracking. In the meantime, shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are much needed and welcomed with our thanks.

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Catkins In the Snow

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the first day of our final holiday weekend feature series for 2014. This weekend, we return to one of our favorite artists ("favorite" for many reasons). Today's featured piece is one that speaks to me on several fundamental levels, but the most obvious is the one from which the title of today's post is taken.

I awakened to a temperature of five below (with wind chills of 19 below), and so it's going to take much longer than usual to get everything done today. Which, of course, means, that I'd better get at it. Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are much needed and are welcomed with our thanks.

Friday, December 26, 2014

Friday Feature: The Spirit Bowl

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
This week's Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog gives us a chance to share one of our holiday traditions: the spirit bowl (or spirit plate, as it's sometimes called). It's not just for holidays, though; it's a way of life.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. To our clients, friends, and family who celebrated yesterday, we hope you had a beautiful Christmas; to those for whom it is not a part of your tradition, we hope you simply had a beautiful day. 

Thursday, December 25, 2014

#ThrowbackChristmasThursday: Spirit and Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's spirit and light, and perhaps even a Deer Dancer. Mostly, though, it's holiday wishes for our clients, friends, and family.

A Merry Christmas to those who celebrate this day; a beautiful and blessed ordinary day to those who don't. We'll be marking the day with love and laughter, with good food and a renewed appreciation for the gifts of Spirit, today and every day.

And even with a Charlie Brown Christmas tree:

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.


Wednesday, December 24, 2014

One Year On: Gift of a White Horse


I took these today, on the one-year anniversary, almost to the very moment, of this boy's arrival on our land. Either Monday or Tuesday was the anniversary of his first appearance in the area; he had materialized, seemingly out of nowhere, on the north side of the fence. It took him until late afternoon on Christmas Eve to work up the courage to cross onto our side.

He never left.

Winter Green

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's Christmas Eve, and the the wind is pure ice. Over at The NDN Silver Blog, though, we have warmer images for you (along with a couple of icicles). It's the latest in our Wednesday feature series for the month of December, Wings's art in the context of a winter theme, and today it's Winter Green (and a little wintergreen). It's the color of Christmas, after all.

I don't handle this kind of cold so well anymore; yesterday was rough, and last night a lot rougher yet. I've got to get moving, because there's still a lot to do today and I'm much slower in this kind of weather than I used to be. Shares of today's post, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks.

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Turquoise Tuesday: Choosing Your Stones

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
What a day. Is Christmas here yet? No? Then I've still got two more days of running full out. Bah.

Humbug.

For now, it's still Turquoise Tuesday at The NDN Silver Blog, and in keeping with the seasonal frenzy, the focus is on shopping. Not particularly for Thursday's festivities; more a general guide to which you can refer at your leisure if and when you find yourself in the market for turquoise, whether loose stones or set in jewelry.

Shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. And now, I still have a bunch of tasks ahead of me before evening's end . . . .

Monday, December 22, 2014

Holiday Gifts: Medicine Miniatures

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the latest in our Monday series on smaller, modestly-priced holiday gifts. Today, it's gifts that carry gifts of their own, in the form of healing and harmony.

Today will be particularly frenetic for me, so I need to get going so that I have a chance to take my own advice (as expressed in today's post) later in the day. Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are very much needed and welcomed with our thanks.



Sunday, December 21, 2014

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Longhair Youth

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's a continuation of our holiday weekend feature series — this weekend, of Longhairs. Today, it's the training of youth.

Busybusybusy few days ahead, and I'll be on the run all day.  Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are much-needed and welcomed with our thanks.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: The Longhairs

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the latest in our holiday weekend features series, in which we highlight the work of a single artist over the course of both days. This weekend, it's Josh Aragon and his gorgeous katsinam — specifically, the Longhairs.

Yes, that's what they're called. No, you didn't just take a 40-year bad trip back to your parents' living room. "Longhair" has a very specific meaning and symbolism, and it's an important one. We cover that in today's post; tomorrow, we'll have another version from another tradition.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are of course much needed and welcomed with our thanks.

Friday, December 19, 2014

Friday Feature: A Pair of Red-Hot Smokin' Horses

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

This week's Friday Feature is now up at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, we use a little light humor to look at something that can be very holy indeed. Today's featured items are not, of course; they're art replicas. But there's a little history linked within the piece, a little mineralogy, a little on Native sovereignty, and even a little about a runaway horse (he's back, safe and sound).

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are of course very much needed and are welcomed with our thanks.


Thursday, December 18, 2014

#TBT: Wrapping a Blanket Around the Year

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's a piece by one of our master carvers in a color and style appropriate to the season.

it's been one of those days — down to the escaped horse and the asthma attack subsequent to his retrieval (that's what happens when you're my age and go running full-tilt in the freezing air) — and since I've been under the weather as it is, I'm not going to add anything other than our usual request for much-needed shares (leading, we can hope, to much-needed sales). So here's the link to the post itself, and especially to Wings's main page.

And, yes, the horse is fine.  He's stuffing his face at the trough as I type this, the big ingrate.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Winter Light

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the latest in our December Wednesday series centered around a winter theme. It also happens to be a day with particular (and particularly poignant) significance. So while today's post features Wings's work, it's also a meditation on and memory of a great man, a man we both loved very much. I think that's all that needs to be said.



Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Turquoise Tuesday: Alteration, Enhancement, Preservation, Treatments

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's Turquoise Tuesday again at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's a look at "treatments." In other words, it's a look at how turquoise is handled, processed, preserved, and often turned into something synthetic. We cover what's a legitimate process, what's not, and what's something else entirely: good information to have when shopping for turquoise as a holiday gift.

We're approaching the end of this particular series, with only a couple of editions still to go. In the meantime, shares of this post, and especially of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Holiday Gifts: Leather and Wood

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's this week's edition of our series on small, modestly priced holiday gifts at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's stocking stuffers!  Or ordinary gifts in their own right. A couple would even make great gag gifts for that dreary office party, provided you can keep them out of the wrong hands.

At any rate, today it's all gifts $50 and under, some half that. Beautiful work, all by members of Wings's family, too, so shares of the post itself, in addition to Wings's main page, are especially welcome. Thanks, everyone. 

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Willow Ice

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
That's what it looked like 3.5 hours ago. About a half a foot of snow on the ground, melting fast early on, freezing hard overnight. It's going to get very cold tonight.

I know I owe e-mails to a bunch of y'all.  I promise to try to get to as many as possible tomorrow. I still seem to be fighting this bug, and between that and the effects of drastic weather changes on my AI disease, everything takes me longer right now. And, of course, there are all the time pressures of this season for us. Just bear with me.

For now, I'm about ready to pack it in. I've got gallery-related stuff to write before I fall asleep over my laptop. I'll have more posts to be shared starting tomorrow morning, and of course, we hope that makes a few much-needed holiday sales. See you in the morning, after I've set up strong coffee on an IV drip.

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Poppies In Winter

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved. 
Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the second entry in our second week of our special holiday season weekend feature series, profiling the work of one specific artist over both days of each weekend. This time, it's the pottery of Camille Bernal.

Yesterday, we looked at one of her pieces with historical resonance from multiple artistic traditions. Today, it's a modestly-priced miniature, but one that's perfect for bringing color and warmth and light to such a cold and snowy day.

Shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, are much needed and welcomed with our thanks. And now, it's time to start shoveling . . . . 

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Native Art Deco

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
Today at The NDN Silver Blog, it's the start of our second holiday-season weekend series. This weekend, we're featuring some of the work of Wings's niece, Taos Pueblo potter Camille Bernal. 

It's positively subversive, so come and find out how. Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are welcomed with our thanks. [And for whomever ultimately becomes the steward of today's featured piece: I envy you.]

  

Friday, December 12, 2014

Friday Feature: Capturing Culture On Canvas

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.

This week's Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog is a deceptively simple little landscape, one that packs a lot into a single scene. History, culture, art, spirit — it's all here, and all from one very unique perspective.

Shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, are much needed and welcomed with our thanks.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

#TBT: Hammering It Home

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, the subject is tools. Old ones. 

So what do you get that do-it-yourself-er who has every shiny high-tech tool out there? Sometimes the oldest ones work just fine. Of course, it's great for kids of all ages, too; just don't let them go around cracking heads with it.

I won't be online again until late today; too much on the schedule for today. In the meantime, if you're so inclined, please share the post itself, as well as Wings's main page. Thanks.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Winter Blues

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's second in our new Wednesday winter feature series at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's the Winter Blues. No, not those kind of blues; this is the kind designed to make someone very, very happy. It's also an exploration of Wings's use of the color in his work, and its connection to the sacred.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are much needed and are welcomed with our thanks.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Flying On

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
A friend gave me the news earlier today: A strong activist voice is quiet tonight; a strong activist woman has walked on.

I knew her as Robinswing. The Blackwoman, as she called herself, was beautiful, powerful, a bird whose song was sung in ringing tones that spoke of equal parts passion and principle, conviction and triumph. She never gave ground or backed down; she called it like she saw it, and she took it straight to the weakest, most vulnerable hidden hearts of those who failed to stand up.

Wings caught the photo above in October: on a dark and dusky day, a lone robin in dim silhouette, far out of season. Alighting for a moment, just before a sundown shrouded in clouds, it balanced delicately but confidently, apparently not noticing the seeming precariousness of its perch in the slightest.

Much the like the woman who was its namesake.

i never got to meet her in person. I never got to deliver a final greeting to this fierce woman warrior before she walked on, as we would say it.

But I don't think she's walked on so much as she's flying on: onward, upward, soaring on the currents of eternity. Perhaps her namesake will deliver that greeting for me one day, after all.

Now run and tell that.


Turquoise Tuesday: Pretenders, Impostors, Mimics, and Multiple Identities

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

It's Turquoise Tuesday at The NDN Silver Blog, and we're approaching the end of the series along with the end of the year. This week, it's a cautionary look at pretenders, impostors, mimics, and multiple identities: real stones that are regularly faked up as [non-real] turquoise.

Off and running again (and much in need of sales right now), so shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, are needed and welcomed with our thanks.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Native Solidarity: #BlackLivesMatter


Yes, that's 31 degrees below zero. Because Natives get it. 

#BlackLivesMatter.

Holiday Gifts: Small Paintings

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
Now posted at The NDN Silver Blog, it's this week's entry in our current Monday series on small holiday gifts at modest prices. Today, it's wall art in the genre of "small paintings" (yes, that is a thing). And, yes, the photos in today's post were taken by me, which explains how they look.

Much on today's agenda for both of us, so it's time to get at it.  Shares of today's post, and especially of Wings's main page, are much needed and are welcomed with our thanks.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

And while we're on the subject . . .


From cartoonist @riksansone it's a reminder of why #WeCantBreathe.

#BlackLivesMatter.

And so the life of a young Native man is worth one year.

Powwow Singer Nicholas (Sul) Concha

That's it. One lousy year. Plus two years of "supervised release" afterward.

This article is an absolute travesty, with its unquestioning references to "marijuana" and an much-disputed characterization of the "attack" and its warping of the facts, now cast in a wholly different light from how they were originally reported. 

So twisted now as to be unrecognizeable. Certainly nothing that could reasonably be called, with any degree of confidence, a fact.

The facts are that a young Native man, a good and talented traditional young man, one valued by his community and loved by his family, is gone, while the dominant culture does its level best to destroy his reputation posthumously. It won't work.

Of course, that's what I expect from the local rag, which is one of the reasons why we boycott it now. After they endorsed Martinez back in October, Wings swore he'd never buy another as long as the present absentee owners, who know nothing of and care less for the real community here, retain any financial stake.

But this? This is not journalism, not that I expect it. This is stenography. And it dutifully transcribes both the federal public defender's account, which I wold of course expect to try to smear the victim in order to get a win for his client. But the federal prosecutor engages in victim-blaming and victim-shaming, as well, with apparently no mention of, or regard for, the facts as originally reported. Of course, it is exactly what I'd expect of federal entities charged with "protecting" the lives and welfare of Indians (which is to say, no protection at all).

In this day of open season on men of color, it's shattering to realize that open season extends beyond law enforcement perps to the garden-variety sort, too, at least when the dead men happen to Black or Red.

R.I.P., Nicholas (Sul) Concha.

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Sandstone Spirits

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's Day 2 of our inaugural holiday weekend feature series at The NDN Silver Blog. We've begun the month by highlighting the work of Mark Swazo-Hinds — yesterday, his massive sandstone medicine bear; today, a series of four spirit beings of a different sort.

Lots on the agenda again today, so I'm off and running (okay, hobbling; same thing). Shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, are much needed right now and welcomed with thanks.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

In Symbol and In Fact


#ICan'tBreathe  #BlackLivesMatter 

Holiday Season Weekend Feature: Mark's Medicine Bear

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

At long last, today's post is up at The NDN Silver Blog. For this month, we'll be taking a bit of a different approach each Saturday and Sunday, with a two-part Holiday Season Weekend Feature. Today and tomorrow, we're highlighting the sandstone work of Mark Swazo-Hinds, and I figured we might as well begin with his most expensive piece (of his work that we carry; it's likewise the most expensive piece of art currently in our inventory). It's the sort of thing that comes along rarely, but it will someday find its home.

I am beat. Short days, far too much telescoped into them, and a local trade that is nonexistent for everyone (yesterday's trip into town was not merely depressing, but downright frightening). So shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, are very much needed and are welcomed with our thanks.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Dear Santa:


Courtesy of Cole at Balloon Juice.

Don't worry; I'm safe. I was never allowed to believe in the big guy anyway. OTOH, that other judgmental dude . . . .



Friday Feature: Of Hawks and Other Spirits

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
This week's Friday Feature at The NDN Silver Blog is a visitant (as opposed to merely a visitor). There's a photo of the actual visitant (although its quality isn't great), in addition to the embodiment show  above.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are much needed and are welcomed with thanks.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

The Visitor

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
Our latest.

It first appeared on Tuesday; returned yesterday. No sign of it today, but it's poured most of the time.

With any luck, I'll have its story posted here in a day or so for those who haven't already seen it on Facebook.

For now, we're both battling exhaustion. I'm testing She-Wolf's BG and administering her insulin, and then I'm going to bed. Here's hoping for more energy tomorrow. 



#TBT: Storytelling Beads

Photo copyright Aji, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's #ThrowbackThursday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, it's a very special melding of media and tradition. Very modestly-priced, too, but one of our storyteller artisans.

It's also another hugely busy day here, so I'll just end with my usual request for shares of the post itself, and especially of Wings's main page, and with our thanks in advance.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

No Words.


None needed.

Winter Snow

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.

At long last, today's post is up at The NDN Silver Blog (an extremely busy day, and no time for editing until now). It's the start of a new, limited-run feature for Wednesdays: small ad hoc collections of some of Wings's best work that remains in inventory, all joined around a winter theme. Today, it's snow.

Shares of the post itself, and of Wings's main page, are needed and welcomed with thanks.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

It's "Giving Tuesday." Beware Fake "Native Charities."


I'm starting to feel like this logo needs a "buster" symbol through it.

So I guess this is really a thing: "Giving Tuesday." Because we go from Thanksgiving [Thurs]Day to Black Friday to Small Business Saturday to . . . what's Sunday? Is there a [Something] Sunday? . . . to Cyber Monday, and I guess we have to keep the theme going as long as possible. Or something.

But it does bring up an issue that troubles me, especially at this time of year. 

'T'is the season when "charitable" organizations of all colors and stripes launch their year-end fundraising push: at least equal parts greed and guilt, a stick trying to snare and tug at those heartstrings while holding out the carrot of a nice fat tax deduction, for those with enough income to itemize in the first place.

It's also the season when unscrupulous groups make a killing.

It's worse when they make their killing on the backs of our peoples, using, exploiting, robbing, and even shaming them.

It happens all over the country, and it needs to stop. But it won't stop as long as well-meaning white folks, susceptible to sad stories, allow themselves to be manipulated into parting with their dollars under the guise of "helping poor Indians."  

Courtesy of my friend Neeta, comes now news of a particularly scandalous turn of events involving one of those organizations that's long been on my "never give under any circumstances" list.

CNN reported on it a couple of weeks ago, and it's truly sickening. It involves the so-called St. Joseph's Indian School, which pretends to be affiliated, and likewise pretends to "help," Lakota children and their families from a variety of reservations, including Pine Ridge, which represents one of the single most economically stricken demographics in the entire country. With a median income of $3,750 annually, an unemployment rate that exceeds 85%, and a life expectancy that parallels that of Somalia, people there need real help, not more colonialist exploitation.

So what's the problem? Well, the threshold problem is that the school even exists. Native children should be in their own communities, in schools run by their tribal nations, not in white-run private schools that exist to profit (both financially and psychically) their white overseers. Schools like St. Joseph, which reportedly sucked up a whopping $51 million in charitable contributions last year alone, divert attention, resources, and desperately-needed funds from actual tribal programs that should be not merely in place but thriving and supporting their communities in traditional ways.

Second, In places like Pine Ridge,Rosebud, Crow Creek, Cheyenne River, and other area tribal communities, tribal members badly need a better economic base, and broader opportunities to support themselves. Many are talented artists, writers, people with all sorts of skills and expertise who could benefit greatly from having their work highlighted and sold. Mass-produced items of often seemingly-questionable provenance, with no artist named and clearly no Native artisan earning either the promotion from it or the profit is not "supporting tribal artists" (or writers, or musicians, or whatever).

But worst is the latest: outright fabrications. I've always suspected this, because their fundraising appeals have never been anything more than what I've long called poverty porn, a term echoed in the CNN piece by Michael Roberts, president of the First Nations Development Institute. CNN uncovered a couple of clear examples of such "appeals" in the form of "letters" written by "children at the school . . . children who don't exist.

From the fictional Josh Little Bear:
"My dad drinks and hits me ... my mom chose drugs over me ... my home on the reservation isn't a safe place for me to be," wrote Josh Little Bear. His request seems reasonable -- send a few dollars to help St. Joseph's Indian School to keep "kids like me safe ... so we don't have to live this way anymore."
This . . . .  This is obscene. It is racist. It is one of the most repugnant bits of exploitation by white people that I have had the misfortune to see in a long time.

This is evil.

These sorry excuses for human beings at St. Joseph's are willing to dummy up accounts of fake children designed to appeal to the bases, most poisonous, most viciously racist stereotypes in order to line their own damn pockets and flulff their own damn reputations.

The drunk Indian?  The drug-addicted Native mother? Domestic violence against our children?

REALLY?

In what conceivable universe does this actually help Indian children?

Here's a newsflash for you fat-taking bloody-knifed assholes: It doesn't. It hurts our children (and our adults, too).

There's nothing Christ-like about what you're doing; it's criminal, and it's evil.

According to CNN, they think the money is actually being used properly, saying that the children at the school "seem happy, well-fed, and housed." Well, that's a pretty damn low bar. Of course, the CNN piece is done by white folks for white folks, people with no knowledge of our histories, much less our present, and who have not the slightest comprehension of our cultures and identities.

This genocide by other means. It is stealing our children's identities, their souls and spirits, selling them for profit and selling them out for personal self-aggrandizement.

Sadly, this is the norm when it comes to so-called "Native charities."

What to do? Here's what we do. It's really pretty basic, and astonishingly easy. The first step is the most important of all:

1. DO NOT EVER, AND I MEAN EVER, GIVE TO AN ORGANIZATION THAT BILLS ITSELF AS NATIVE OR "FOR NATIVE" IF IT'S FOUNDED AND.OR ADMINISTERED BY WHITE PEOPLE.  

This is non-negotiable. If it's not Native-founded and Native-run, it's by definition a hindrance and not a help. Yes, in every case. And, yes, I'm saying "white people" straight out, because in my experience, they're not founded and run by other people of color; this is entirely a colonialist mindset, and colonialist exploitation.

2. Only give to actual Native-founded and Native-run programs.

This can get trickier, because many non-Native programs hire figureheads or token officers to make it appear that they are Native programs. Do your due diligence.

3. Check into actual tribal programs FIRST.

Who is it that you want to help? Is it just "Indians generally?" Then take the time to do a little research. What tribal nations are in your area, and what are their needs? Most tribal nations today have some sort of Web presence, at a minimum; many will have fairly sophisticated programs of their own. Some cannot accept outside support for various reasons, but this is not true of all of them. And sometimes cash is less important to these programs' survival than is in-kind help: driving people to medical appointments; delivering food; organizing propane drives.

4. ASK.

Always, ALWAYS ask first. Do not charge in headlong, attempting to be yet another in a long line of Great White Saviors. Contact the tribal administration and find out what help they need — and what help they want. There are some things outsiders cannot do, and that's a good thing. Don't argue; just ask what they do need, and go from there. 

And, as always, give for the right reasons. After all, the ultimate recipients of your help very likely have never asked your for a cent. Give to help, not for thanks or public credit or to get something in return. We've had more than enough of the other kind of "giving" over the last 500+ years to last us all an eternity. And then some.
 

Turquoise Tuesday: The Skystone Along the Great Silk Road

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
It's Turquoise Tuesday at The NDN Silver Blog, and today, we take you on a very special journey. It's also a very ancient journey, one that dates back more than two thousands years, and spans a distance of some 4,000 miles:  It's the Great Silk Road, and today, we look at stops along it where turquoise is still mined to this day.

Here, however, it is an extraordinarily busy day, and so I'll simply make my usual request for shares of the post itself, and for much-needed shares of Wings's main page, with our thanks in advance. 

Monday, December 1, 2014

#BlackLivesMatter


Hands up; don't shoot.

It's an image I can't get out of my head; a phrase I can't repeat aloud without my voice breaking.

It's rare that a simple phrase erodes my defenses so. But in the aftermath of the lynching of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the sight of children holding their hands up in frightened pleading supplication just destroys me.

Because these children matter. Their lives matter. Black lives matter.

And so when I learned that five members of the St. Louis Rams decided to seize the opportunity presented by yesterday's holiday-weekend football game to show solidarity with Ferguson's Black population, a population occupied by an invading [para]military force, I cheered.

Then I cried.

Tonight, I need to thank those five players, however symbolically, and however invisibly. They (and by extension, their team), have taken a metric ton of racist crap, toxic sewage dumped on them via social media and other venues. The comments on the team's Facebook page, predictably, turned into a cesspool immediately. Jeff Roorda, spokesperson for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, issued a nasty, vicious, openly racist "statement" that amounted to nothing more than a series of bullying attacks and virtually entirely-unveiled threats to the safety of the players. The SLPOA is demanding apologies, suspension, firings, more.

The SLPOA can shove it.

These men, some of whom have children of their own, took a courageous step yesterday. One of them, Kenny Britt, made a photo of his hand wraps available:


On the right: "Mike Brown." On the left: "My Kids Matter."

Yes. They do. All our children do.

So thank you, Kenny Britt (@kennybritt_18). 

Thank you, Tavon Austin (@Tayaustin01). 

Thank you, Stedman Bailey, Sr. (@iamSB3). 

Thank you, Jared Cook (@JaredCook89). 

Thank you, Chris Givens (@CG1three). 

Thank you, Tre Mason (@TreMason).

Thank you for choosing to #StepUp and say, publicly, that #BlackLivesMatter.