BRANDO REJECTED OSCAR

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MNN. Mar. 2, 2014. In the 1960s one of the top actors in Hollywood was involved with the burgeoning American Indian Movement AIM. He was constantly seeking knowledge about our true history and rights. He invited Mohawk activist at the time, Kahentinetha Horn, to visit him at his home in Beverly Hills. A limousine  drove her to his lavish heavily guarded hilltop home. Nourishing food was served at the poolside. He was an honest man and she felt comfortable with him. He wanted to learn everything he could about how the colonizers treat the Indigenous people of Great Turtle Island. He learned about the role of the Kanionkehaka in helping to spread the Great Law of Peace to everybody in the world. 

"I got an offer I couldn't refuse" to stand up for the Indians!

“I got an offer I couldn’t refuse” to stand up for the Indians!

Later both were asked frequently by the press about their discrete relationship. He was in his forties and she was in her twenties. Neither kissed nor told.

The Indian Fish Wars were going on at the time in Puget Sound. The US government was violating the 1855 fishing rights treaty. The Indigenous People were removed from their lands but kept these rights and constantly resisted. Marlon Brando, Buffy Sainte Marie and Dick Gregory joined the resistance. In March 1964 Brando was arrested with members of the Puyallup Nation for taking two steelhead trout. That was his awakening.

Because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

In effect, Don Corleone said, “They stand up for their family because they’re real men.”

In 1973 Brando received an Oscar for his role in the Godfather”. He refused it and sent an Indigenous women to deliver a message for him. Later he told talk show host, Dick Cavett, why he did it.

“The motion picture community has been as responsible as any for degrading the Indian and making a mockery of his character, describing him as savage, hostile and evil. It’s hard enough for children to grow up in this world. When Indian children … see their race depicted as they are in films, their minds become injured in ways we can never know.”

“Why Brando Rejected the Oscar”.

“Dick Cavett interviews Marlon Brando”.

Once again the millionaires-patting-each-other-on-the-back show [the Oscars] is on. We wonder who the next Marlon Brando will be for the American Indian!

As Jim Morrison laments: Ride the snake, ride the snake/To the lake, the ancient lake, baby/The snake is long, seven miles/Ride the snake/…he’s old, and his skin is cold.. Jim Morrison. “The End”.

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L thahoketoteh@hotmail.com for original Mohawk music visit thahoketoteh.ws

 

 

OWNER’S MANUAL

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MNN. Jan. 3, 2014. Oneida comedian and American Indian Movement AIM advocate, Charlie Hill, left us with many great insights. He said that we Indigenous have the “owner’s manual” to Turtle Island. We can fix it because It’s ours. The Kiainerekowa, Great Law of Peace, is our owner’s manual. Our job is to pass along the peace to the rest of the people in the world. We lay out the white roots for people to find for themselves, to trace them to their source.

CH: "Spiritual energy is strongest .. we never do anything nice and easy!"

CH: “Spiritual energy is strongest .. we never do anything nice and easy!”

Dekanawida, the greatest teacher to ever come to this planet, taught each person how to figure out the path in their own mind. He knew we would never get it if he just told us everything. The Great Peace will bring everyone to one mind and put an end to all war. As warriors, we chose the weapons of natural truth, equality and a voice for everyone.  

Cutting our will and minds from control by the ruling hierarchy can be done. By design people are dependent on the system that controls every aspect of our lives. People wait to be rescued, which the system teaches them. Those who resist are an anomaly.

Devastation surrounds them. Branches lie on the ground, on top of cars and in the middle of their houses. When a camera approaches, they start crying for help. They are taught to ask for prayers so that some magical help will arrive as long as they actually believe.   

Do they have a prayer?

Do they have a prayer?

Cold winters and hot summers are natural and many of us enjoy them. In the winter Mother Earth provides herself with a good blanket of snow and enjoys a deep sleep so that she can heal herself. She is always in the process of balancing everything.   

Chinese proverb: When wee have a problem, the first thing we do is get p out of our chair".

Chinese proverb: “When we have a problem, the first thing we do is get up out of our chair”.

As Blind Faith sings about belief versus knowledge: Following the shadows of the skies or are they only figments of my eyes?/And I’m feeling close to where the race is run/Waiting in our boats to set sail, sea of joy/ … “Sea of Joy”. Blind Faith.

 

 

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0

   

 

 

MNN: US ‘TERMINATOR’ ACT IN CANADA

mnnlogo1US ‘TERMINATOR’ ACT IN CANADA 

MNN.  Jan. 14, 2013.  Canadian Prime Minister Harper has adopted the US “Termination Act” of 1953.  [Public Law 280]  C-45 copies the US version of Hitler’s “Enabling Act” 1933.  Indigenous were deemed a burden. Congress ended federal recognition, sovereignty and all obligations to 109 Indigenous nations.  Previous treaties and agreements were revoked.  2.5 million acres of land was no longer protected. The Federal government took over tribal land rich in resources, turning much of it into national parks and refuge systems.Another legal precedent

AIM against 'termination'

AIM resists ‘termination’

Co-operative “White” chiefs [tribal councils] helped the termination process to ”encourage assimilation into a modern individualist society rather than a savage tribal mentality”.  

Indigenous lands were converted to private ownership without their consent.  They could be sold by individuals to non-natives.  Indigenous jurisdiction was ended.   

They had to pay taxes and were governed by state laws.  States did not provide services for lack of funds. Health, education, economic development, policing, housing and fire fighting obligations were ended as they were no longer Indians.  

Money was withheld until they agreed to termination.  Afterwards the land and money was transferred to a corporation. Natives became shareholders, receiving 100 shares of stock. Much went to lawyers.  

Children could receive shares only through inheritance, which could be inherited by non-natives.  Shares could be sold.  Non-natives controlled the corporations. Corporations owned the surface and regional corporations owned the resources.    

Taxes put native enterprises out of business, falling below the poverty line. 40% were unemployed. If they were given something from the forced sale, they were not eligible for welfare. More land was sold to buy food.  Valuable resources made them not eligible for benefits.    

Termination was devastating, forcing them onto welfare; 75% school drop out, states closed down schools in communities. Termination caused alcoholism, suicide, low education, family break ups, poor housing, high drop out, high imprisonment, and decreased life expectancy.  

Indigenous were excluded from the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ higher Indian education funds as they were no longer “Indians’.   Hospitals and clinics were closed as they did not meet state standards.  Infant mortality rose by 300%.  No dental or eye care were available.  

US army APCs at Wounded Knee.

US Army APCs at Wounded Knee.

Youth resistance groups like American Indian Movement AIM rose up to protest termination.  [AIM song A.I.M. song

Presidents Nixon and Johnson declared that forced termination was clearly devastating. On July 8, 1970 an anti-termination bill was signed.   

Mel Thom, Paiute said:  “The opposition to Indians is a monstrosity which cannot be beaten by any single action, unless we as Indian people could literally rise up, in unison, and take what is ours by force.  We are fighting for the lives of future Indian generations.  

Against termination.

Resistance to Indian termination.

 

MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com  For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go to www.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L 1B0