Descended From the Mediocre
Tonight’s PBS news coverage on the dismal economy in Greece elicited a very interesting response from one economist. He felt that the incredibly prestigious ancestry of all Greeks is somehow an impediment to being able to buckle under and do what the International Monetary Fund or the European Union. He said he wished that his ancestors were more mediocre. It would make life easier in these hards times!
Wow and I know what he feels like. For years Native Peoples have been urged to give up the old ways and get with the newest program being promoted by whatever governmental agency that happens to have the microphone that day. I recall being given advice by a rancher-land owner from Willow Creek when I was in college. ‘The problem with Indian People is that they are hanging onto the past. They don’t adopt the modern ways.’ I listened to him as he tipped back his cowboy. ‘Poor soul’, I thought, ‘living in the past.’
But it is true. The Greek economist, Manos Matsagonis, is onto something. When you are descended from people like those ancestors from who Native People are descended–well, it’s hard to take half-baked ideas and policies as anything more than empty promises. We are, afterall, descended from ancestors who had the wisdom of the ages as their guide to living on this earth. Why would we listen to a bureacrat whose main goal in life was to retire from society and live in their own particular past?
You can see the news video here: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/module.html?s=news01s419dqf1c
Great thoughts, Julian, and well delivered.
Dear Brother Julian (you are one year older than me), Thank you for your good words and dedication to preserving the ways of araar, the People. I have been a fan of your writings for a long time and was delighted to find this site. I agree that it seems that it is the non-natives who are living in the past, both in their view of Indian people (taken from museums and Hollywood movies)and in the Euro-American preoccupation with their own history. The elders who I have had the honor of knowing see history like a great river, going back in time to the source, and forwards to the seventh generation and beyond. Thoughts offered with respect.
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