Written and sung by Woody Guthrie, some have called "This Land Is Your Land" an alternative national anthem. Others say it's a Marxist response to Irving Berlin’s, "God Bless America," and some Native Americans consider it “tone deaf” in reference to their “stolen land.”
Last month we observed Indigenous Peoples Day, in November we commemorate American Indian Heritage Month, and next week we will celebrate Thanksgiving.
Native Americans will observe the 4th Thursday of November as a National Day of Mourning. Gatherings will take place to remember fallen ancestors, and to tell the Native American version of Thanksgiving that includes accounts of genocide, the spread of disease and the theft of their land.
As we celebrate our freedom and bounty it is an appropriate time to remember indigenous people not only in America but throughout the world who are still struggling to hold onto their land, their rights and their dignity.
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The Aboriginal Dharug tribes who lived in Western Sydney, Australia called the forests and rivers Parramatta which means "head of waters", "the place where the eels lie down.” By the late 1790s, the area was claimed by more than 400 British settlers who put up barriers that cut off the river and the food supply of the Dharug people.
Link to Parramatta by Jeff Key: _____________________________________________________________________________ |
It is estimated that there are more than 476 million indigenous people spread across 90 countries worldwide.The United Nations defines indigenous peoples as “the holders of unique languages, knowledge systems and beliefs. They have a special relation to and use of their traditional land. Their ancestral land has a fundamental importance for their collective physical and cultural survival as peoples.” (Source: UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, 2021).
Conflicts over disputed land, natural resources and ethnic/religious ideology
continue to rage throughout the world today—
"Vessel #32—Beacon"
Wood, Flax, Paper Pulp & Stone 20" x 8" x 10" Treaties, covenants, accusations, appeals, logic, irony, seduction, anthems, epithets, sermons, elegies, declaration, defamation, deification—written on parchment—etched in stone—signed with the wind.
Vessel #15—Tapper” Wood, 24" x 30" x 48"
—For Chico Mendes, (1944-1988), President of the Xapuri Rubber Tappers' Union in Brazil. Known as the "Gandhi of the Rain Forest," Mendes was assassinated by cattle ranchers angered by his efforts to stop them from exploiting indigenous land in the Amazon jungle.
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Indigenous people throughout the world have risen up physically to resist persecution— but being under constant duress has also resulted in psychological damage.
Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart, a Native American mental health professional has developed a model for the historical trauma caused by the long-term subjugation of indigenous people. Her model recognizes intergenerational, emotional and psychological damage and offers methods use to heal including confronting the trauma, embracing history, and moving from “victim” to “survivor.”
As we head into Thanksgiving and the Holiday season I conclude with an Aboriginal proverb that hopefully will help set the tone for a kinder, more peaceful world:
“We are all visitors to this time—this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home.”
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