‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
Raise Your Voice – Upholding native languages
BY PETER MOLENAAR I have again had the opportunity to meet with Anita Gates at the Pow Wow Grounds Coffee Shop on Franklin Ave. Anita has an advanced degree in the field of education and is certified to teach the Dakota language. The local American Indian Parents Committee actively shares her concerns regarding the status of Native education. They are all willfully determined, even if feigning submissiveness is occasionally deployed for navigational purposes. The preservation and promotion of Native languages is a priority. Should the rest of us care? About a hundred years ago, Lenin addressed the chauvinism imbued to Russian workers. He stated, in essence: If you intend to build a new world from the ashes of the old, abrogate your own nationalism while making concessions to the nationalism of oppressed peoples. Actually, this is a fundamental principle. What good are the Ojibwa and Dakota languages in today”'s world? When the Indian was taken from the man (stolen from the [...]
Raise Your Voice – Soil & water & spirit
BY PETER MOLENAAR From time to time, some of us venture south of Lake Street to visit the Powderhorn people. Should you turn west from Bloomington Avenue onto 35th Street, look to the right to view their lovely park. Glance left, as you approach Chicago Avenue and you will spot the old fire station which houses their neighborhood association. But, how many know that this old station houses another splendid organization? Via a side entrance, offices of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) can be found on the second floor. These dedicated folks believe that, in conjunction with family farmers, culturally and racially diverse rural and urban people can promote responsible stewardship of agricultural land, along with healthy food for all. To take one example, as Congress attempted to pass the 2018 farm bill, LSP was tuned in to defend the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Of course, issues regarding land stewardship have been with us for some time. It was in the mid-19th Century [...]
Raise Your Voice – Two prophecies
By PETER MOLENAAR Acquaintances from the Occupy Movement of the Great Recession were, by chance, encountered recently at the Pow Wow Grounds Coffee shop on Franklin Avenue. Anita and Troy are a Dakota mother and son. As it happened, Anita would offer her take on my May Alley piece: “Seven Generations”. In Anita”'s view, ”˜seven generations”' invokes a prophecy more so than a moral premise. Pointing to her son, a medical student, she declared: “Here is the seventh generation!” Such is the nature of the first of our two prophecies. Note: We are now seven generations removed from the concentration camp at Fort Snelling. (more…)
