Natives Rising: How to Deal with White People

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Thoughts on how to deal with White People~ Can we hold a person alive today accountable for the actions of their ancestors long dead? Can we hold against them any advantages they themselves did not earn but were bestowed upon them by those same ancestors. Yes and no.

Yes because if my ancestors are correct, no one ever really dies. We go to the other side and after a time we come back picking up a new body and a new identity. And so, according to this tradition the people alive today were at some point other people we regard as being alive in historical times.

No, because in their tradition people only live once and they do not believe they are their ancestors, as do my people, and can't be persuaded they ever were. They can not take responsibility for actions taken in previous generations because they do not believe it was them and because we really can't be sure it was. Maybe Joe White Guy next door was a Chinese peasant in his last lifetime who had never even heard of White Privilege.

There is also, in my mind, the very remote possibility my ancestors were mistaken and Joe White Guy didn't exist prior to his most recent birth and will not exist after he walks into the forest. Since I have vague memories of previous existences I personally do not think this is correct; but, I am in no position to dictate my certainty to anyone else.

Regardless, my forefathers passed on the material wealth they accumulated when they died to a next generation that were clearly separate individuals from themselves and they were expected in a next lifetime to start over again with a new identity and nothing they owned but what might have been given to the new baby just born.

They were honored or not honored according to what they did in the current lifetime and not held to account for what they might have done in a previous one. Death canceled out all debts which probably explains the concept of revenge killings. Further, they were not prevented from inheriting anything in the current lifetime from a family member who had recently walked out into the forest.

This seems wise to me. There are an infinite number of ways for an NDN living today to improve his life and make a better one for his children. I see no profit in spending much time, energy and attention on what Joe White Guy might be doing.

Its one thing if he is standing on our front yard burning a cross or sexually harassing our daughters. We should act in such cases but not assume his cousin Fred has any responsibility for it. Only Joe White Guy; not his cousin, his uncle or his best friend from Kindergarten. If he is just trying to live his life on the other hand, I believe we will get farther along in our own paying more attention to what we are trying to do than what he is.

Your friendly neighborhood Ravenspeaker