CPTnet
April 21, 2004
ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG: Once upon a time
by Lisa Martens
Once upon a time, there was a space with trees and waterways, wind-storms,
forest fires, animals and plants. There were people in that space who had
conflicts and celebrations. They killed animals and plants for food and
shelter. They didn't own land privately. The wealth-difference between the
rich and poor in their communities was minimal if it existed. They are
still here. They have names for themselves and names other people made for
them like Indigenous, Indians, First Nations, Anishnaabe, Cree, Mayan. I'll
call them What They Call Themselves.
Then, there were people who moved to the space where What They Call
Themselves live. Those new-comers had conflicts and celebrations. They
killed plants and animals for food and shelter. They were people who took
their well being into their own hands. They owned land privately. They
accumulated wealth. Many worked to live and let live, but others killed and
oversaw the deaths--with violence and disease--of about 90% of What They
Call Themselves across the hemisphere. They were the Takers who took their
welfare into their own hands in ways that were sometimes beautiful and
sometimes deadly.
The Takers named part of the space Canada and within Canada a smaller area
Ontario. The Takers governed Ontario and one governmental department was
called The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR.) Not only did the Takers
govern other Takers, but the MNR also tried to govern What They Call
Themselves. Throughout time immemorial, What They Call Themselves had
trapped animals for food, furs and medicines. The Takers tried, and continue
to try, to govern and control that trapping of animals.
One woman who is What She Calls Herself and a trapper explained, "MNR calls
for Safety, conservation and humane-ness. All those things are covered if
we trap in our traditional way. It used to be that trapper-training started
at birth through stories and songs and then observing our parents at work.
A hundred years ago, our children were taken away to residential schools and
forced to look at the world in a different way. That was my mother's
generation. Since the time of the residential schools family units going
out to trap became fewer and fewer in number.
Today, if a Taker logging company clear-cuts the trees on the trapline of
What They Call Themselves the logging company ignores the cut trapline or
compensates the trapper with money, individually, thereby perpetuating the
teaching of private property.
She continued, "This was different from us. Look for example at possessive
pronouns 'our' and 'my.' In Anishnaabe words they don't mean ownership.
'My friend,' 'My husband,' 'My land' describes a special relationship, not
ownership. Even our clothing and things are not ours. If we can't return it
the same way it was before we touched it that's why we have ceremonies."
And so, What They Call Themselves continue teaching their ways to
themselves, and the Takers continue trying to teach their ways to absolutely
everyone.
_______________
To stop receiving messages from CPTNET on MennoLink, send a message with
only the word, "suspend," in the body to server@MennoLink.org.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative of the historic peace churches
(Mennonites, Church of the Brethren, and Quakers) with support and
membership from a range of Catholic and Protestant denominations.
Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.
Contact CPT, POB 6508 Chicago, IL 60680; Telephone: 773-277-0253 Fax:
773-277-0291; e-mail: guest.903627@MennoLink.org.
To receive news or discussion of CPT issues by e-mail, fill out the form
found on our WEB page at http://www.cpt.org/subscribe.php
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon May 03 2004 - 11:31:33 EDT