Birthday Wishes for Mom

My Mom. Where do I start? She loves us kids so much It's overwhelming but certainly appreciated. She inspires me to become a parent myself, and not just so she can have more grandchildren but to share life experiences and unconditional love...sigh. I am a fortunate son indeed. And she still spoils me. Last week while we were at Costco, she told me to pick out some stuff for my return to student life, that she was going to pay for. Of course it being Costco, I ended up with 12 bars of soap, 4 tubes of toothpaste, two giant bottles of shampoo and 16 of the lastest, snazziest 5-blade razor refills. I can't even begin to start how much this woman does for me and my sister and her husband and my new nephew. We are truly blessed.

Mom, you are my foundation and support and I will be forever grateful to have been born your son. You are a constant source of love, encouragement and inspiration. I appreciate your patience and understanding and the way you listen to my wacky points of view and love me anyway. I love that you worry when CSIS sends an agent to talk to me but you still support my desire for truth and justice for our people. I love that you encourage me to stay positive and not give in to the dark feelings and depression that so often accompanies this lonely road. I know that I will never be alone with a mom like you.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today my pops, Wickaninnish of Ahousaht is 62. He is truly one of my heroes. Like all heroes he has made his share of mistakes but he is a man of principle and integrity and I could not be more proud to be his son. About 19 months ago we almost lost him - he suffered a heart attack. Today he is the epitome of physical health, watching what he eats and walking my dogs twice a day. Last August he became the proud grandparent of my sister and Gord's son, Kashus.

Especially during these times of political pragmatism, I am honoured to have a father who is committed to authentic Nuu-chah-nulth principles. He inspires me to do the right thing, even if it hurts financially or otherwise. He has the spirit of a warrior and a strong love for our Nuu-chah-nulth ways, teaching us the language of our ancestors.

Dad, I love and respect you dearly and look forward to the day when you can share your teachings with my children as well.

Your son, Na'cha'uaht

Dad

Kleco Allah C'est Friday!

It's Friday afternoon and as far as I can tell, the quietest time on the internet. I'm listening to Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." These songs don't bother me anymore. :D Progress! It's a wonderful tune...gotta love that old soul music. Once again it reminds me of Sunday mornings when I was still running around in PJs. Imagine it's about 9am and you hear music coming from upstairs. My father has the stereo cranked up and he's listening to Al Green, Sam Cooke, The Four Tops, Temptations, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye. He's groovin' on the couch reading the newspaper and mom is in the kitchen frying bacon (hey, it was the 70s!) The sun is shining. You run upstairs, hair all messy, sleep in your eyes and get some love from the 'rents. Next you go see if you can bug your older sister. Despite your ability to annoy her, one day you will both grow older and the love between you is stronger than you ever imagined possible, but for the moment there can nothing more fun than to make her mad while she tries to catch a few more winks, until you get chased around the house screaming and laughing with glee and fear at the same time. Just some fond memories.

What a week. Last weekend my buddy, Scott got married. It was beautiful and I was moved...Yes stoic W is capable of shedding a tear or two in the name of beautiful things :.I And then Pirate W took over, a little vino and old high school mates and underlying thoughts of Hezbollah/Israel/Lebanon/Palestine/The Godfather (not sure where that came from) and dancing to 80s and 90s tunes...yikes. I am humbled and plan on seeking reinstatement to the Jedi Order...lol.

Today at work, I was reminded of this poem I wrote last September. It made me smile. I've actually been in a really good mood the last two days. I had a good chat with my father yesterday as well as my friend Lahalawutsaa't. It's important for like minds to keep working together and reminding each other "what it's all for." Even us true believers get down from time to time (see the last 8 months or so of W's life). It is important to remember that there is a better way and that there is a difference between acknowledging reality and accepting it. Viva la rebellion!

O calm, dishonourable, vile submission!

I don't know why I thought of such an obscure reference. I'm speaking of Act 3, scene 1 from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Perhaps the themes of doomed romance and tragedy still resonate with me. The line by Mercutio in response to Romeo's bended-knee placating of his enemy Tybalt accurately captures how I feel about my father's home community Ahousaht, giving Premier Campbell a Nuu-chah-nulth name.

I'm trying to work through the logic of the move, and of course my cousin, A-in-chut (AFN Regional Chief and Ha'wiilth) has provided some reasoning. He states the honour is not without consequence and is intended to push him the right direction. I hope so. And unlike so many other times with "aboriginal leaders" where the talk is big and the action is absent, I hope everyone is sincere about this.

I guess I am not the diplomat that people have always thought I would be. Am I regressing or just fulfilling my role? Perhaps I will feel different in time. I don't know. What would happen if we all compromised? Would we all get along? It sounds like it might make sense. Yet I can't ignore this profound sense of indignation. I once wrote that amongst all the things that younger (perhaps naive and immature) Indigenous people detest about the behaviour of our mainstream aboriginal politicians, it's the submission and seeming indignity that is hardest to take. Perhaps I will feel differently in time. Perhaps.

fyi...websites updated...

kumtux and the Nuu-chah-nulth Stop The Violence websites have been updated. I can't believe it has been almost three months since I updated kumtux, but today I announce the launch of Wasase a larger movement that I have been involved with, in addition to the local stuff. Regarding the local stuff, if you go the updates page on the Stop The Violence website you will see we are attempting to keep the ball rolling on this important initiative to end internal violence and promote a return to balance in our families and communities. Whew, someday I'm going to have to consolidate these webs...

July 11th - Fish's Revolutionary Birthday

On this day in 1990, my buddy Fish says he was born. Today is the anniversary of the beginning of the so-called Oka Crisis. Specifically, it is the anniversary of the failed SQ raid on the Mohawk barricades at Kahnesatake and the immediate set up of the Kahnawake sympathy blockade of the Mercier Bridge. Hard to believe I was 17 at the time and as apolitical as I may have been, the stand taken by our Kanien'kehaka sisters and brothers will always resonate with me and inspire me. Someday soon, I hope inspire other 17 year olds to stand up with dignity and respect.

kleco, kleco!

[I recommend York and Pindera's People of the Pines for a detailed account of the history and crisis.]

#48 - Completed

Number 48 on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days was, "Not use my mobile phone for a whole week (7 days = 168 hours)." Well as some of you may have noticed I was a little hard to get a hold of - Risky even went so far as to leave an excessively profane yet humourous message - at least I was laughing even if he wasn't - on my voice mail on the last day (yesterday). Actually it was kinda nice to not have one electronic leash on for a whole week. As it relates to organizing and da revolution, I often wonder what life was like before MSN, Gmail, e-mail, listserves, news groups, message boards, cell phones, text messaging, chatting, faxing and morse code...are we really more plugged in or are we unplugging from RL (real life)? Certainly organizing the last lil shindig I participated in was made easier by e-mail, but there's also something irreplacable about live, human contact. At the very least, I recommend unplugging as often as you can and connecting with real, live flesh and blood peeps - ironic to make such a statement on my BLOG, I know. btw, imo :p lol, lmao, ttyl

dubya dubya dubya

Viva la Nuu-chah-nulth rebellion!

brrrrrr......

Fake smiles after Roots and I take a 6am dip in the Pacific Ocean in Tla-o-qui-aht territory.