[Vision2020] Spokane celebrates first Indigenous Peoples’ Day with a gathering in Riverfront Park

Dr. S.M. Ghazanfar ghazi at uidaho.edu
Wed Oct 12 21:17:57 PDT 2016


There are indeed parallels between the Columbus/Indigenous Peoples' 
story and Israeli oppression of Palestinians ("apocalyptic vision," 
"end-times," "exceptionalism," "manifest destiny," etc.;)--see the 
following article coming from Europe ......
http://europalforum.org.uk/en/post/1527/Why+we+must+see+Israeli+policies+as+a+form+of+settler+colonialism+By%3A+Ben+White+?mc_cid=8a8b987ed5&mc_eid=14f2b0f47d
Also see a 2003 article on this subject:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2003/01/14/palestinians-and-native-americans/
And here is another piece on Columbus......
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/10/christopher-columbus-myth-giving-161005051835083.html
Best wishes....


On 10/11/2016 8:20 AM, Moscow Cares wrote:
> Courtesy of today's (October 11, 2016) Spokesman-Review
>
> ---------------------------------
>
>
>   Spokane celebrates first Indigenous Peoples’ Day with a gathering in
>   Riverfront Park
>
> Through song, dance and prayer, the indigenous peoples of the Inland 
> Northwest sent a clear message during a celebration Monday: We’re 
> still here.
>
> At a gathering that began outside Spokane City Hall and ended on 
> Riverfront Park’s Canada Island, a group of over 100 people celebrated 
> the first Indigenous Peoples’ Day since the City Council voted in 
> August to rename Columbus Day 
> <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/aug/29/city-council-changes-columbus-day-to-indigineous-p/>.
>
> “That acknowledges for us that we’re still here and we have a future,” 
> said Dave BrownEagle, a Spokane tribal member who opened the celebration.
>
> Spokane is home to one of the largest urban indigenous populations in 
> the U.S. There are 14,286 enrolled tribal members in Spokane County 
> according to Toni Lodge, CEO of the Native Project, representing about 
> 300 tribes.
>
> The celebration included drumming and song from the Salish School of 
> Spokane, intertribal dances, prayer and reflection.
>
> “We celebrate the resilience, the fight, the stamina, the love that 
> carried each and every ancestor forward,” said Jo Ann Kauffman in an 
> opening prayer.
>
> The gathering mixed joyful celebration of indigenous cultures with 
> sober reflection on healing from the trauma of genocide. Outside City 
> Hall, about two dozen people of all ages dressed for fancy dancing, 
> grass dance and jingle dance stepped in a circle to the beat of a drum.
>
> On Canada Island, many young people tried their hand at Powwow Sweat 
> <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/sep/28/coeur-dalene-tribes-powwow-sweat-exercise-video-fe/>, 
> a program developed by the Coeur d’Alene Tribe that reimagines 
> traditional dances as cardio exercise routines. The island is due to 
> be renamed and reimagined by the Spokane Tribe of Indians 
> <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/sep/19/spokane-tribe-given-chance-to-rename-reimagine-can/> as 
> part of the larger Riverfront Park redesign.
>
> Kauffman, a Nez Perce tribal member, approached the City Council 
> <http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2016/aug/25/spokane-council-to-consider-exchanging-columbus-da/> about 
> changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day earlier this year. 
> She said Monday that truth and reconciliation were a first step to 
> healing relationships between indigenous people and settlers.
>
> “He brought an era of genocide to the Western Hemisphere,” she said of 
> Columbus.
>
> Many spoke about the common connection local tribes have with water 
> and salmon.
>
> Lovina Louie, a member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, had tears in her 
> eyes as she talked about the Spokane River.
>
> “Because we were put on reservations, we were taken away from the 
> water. A lot of us are coming back,” she said.
>
> Tribal leaders carried a traditional Salish sturgeon-nosed canoe built 
> by local artist Shawn Brigman to Canada Island on Monday as part of 
> the celebration. Brigman, a member of the Spokane Tribe, has built 16 
> canoes for local tribes. Some of the canoes traveled with local tribal 
> members to North Dakota in support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s 
> protest of a planned oil pipeline across sacred sites 
> <http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-court-denies-tribe-s-request-halt-dakota-access-pipeline-n662926>. 
>
>
> Louie’s was one of six families on the Coeur d’Alene Reservation 
> recently selected to build their own canoe through a workshop with 
> Brigman.
>
> “When that canoe touched our water, I could feel our ancestors 
> welcoming us home,” Louie told the crowd.
>
> ---------------------------------
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares"
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
>
> =======================================================
>   List services made available by First Step Internet,
>   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                 http://www.fsr.net
>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================

-- 
S.(Ghazi) Ghazanfar, Ph.D., Economics Prof. [(1968-02), Emeritus, 2002;
    Dept.Chair-79-81/93-02; Director, In'l Studies-89-93; Adj.Prof.03-08;
    Univ. of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho 83843-USA]
Acworth, GA 30101 (Ph.770-575-2994)
Homepage:www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~ghazi
Albert Einstein: "Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind"
Aldous Huxley: "By selective information, or lack of information, we create a new paradigm."
Voltaire: "Identify the real rulers of a country? Ask: who it is that one can't criticize?"

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20161013/2667372e/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the Vision2020 mailing list