The Power of Four...

Hi Friends

I have heard the call from many of our leaders, both at the reserve and national level, espouse the desire to return to our past forms of governing. Something is wrong in Indian country and we want it fixed. "We need it to be fixed" is more how I look at it.

As a blogger I am on the internet a good deal of the time and have encountered many other like minded bloggers trying to enlighten our readers to our collective struggles. We are all, in our own ways, trying to educate as well as seeking our own answers, to ultimately free our communities from the colonized and colonizing ways that were imposed on us. Along with that we are also using the social networking sites to exchange ideas and opine on a variety of topics, all around the state of Indigenous culture.

Many of the so called " facebook warriors " are of the opinion that we must re-invent the wheel , or so it would seem to me, to the end goal of self governance.
Not so, in my opinion. Nor do we have to piece meal our cultures together to find a workable solution.
By that I mean, I have heard plenty of others, who would embrace a hereditary chief system, (not ever having had one in their past) while others want the clan system brought back. Here I must say, these were all workable systems for the past, when all the citizens of any Nation were located in one area. Not so today. We who live off territory, are as concerned for the welfare of our communities as any community member, living on reserve. Their (on reserve) history is our history as well, their discrimination is what we have all experienced, here I will say our struggles are the same! Your wins will be all of ours collectively! We are your community too!

One thing we all do have, both on and off are the four pillars. Our elders, as well as our youth, need the support of the women and our men need the responsibility of interactions with all the others.
This was what the Indigenous culture had, and can have again.


Not all women are nurturing, nor are all youth thirsty for knowledge, and not all elders are wise, neither are all men brave...enough are however to make a nice start.

Years ago I had opportunity to hear a discussion of what makes for the better elder. Is it the elder who has always lived an exemplary life or is it the one who in his/her youth fell off the path and caroused in a more hedonistic manner? It was decided that both had their place. Some wanted to see the end result of good kind living, while others needed someone who had visited the realms they themselves were looking to crawl out of.

There are lessons we could learn from our past, and ways to incorporate them into our society today! Giving and getting respect for and from all pillars within the communities!

regards Debra