‘Raise Your Voice’ Archives
The Great Bdote
By Peter Molenaar To the near southeast of this part of the world lies the vista of the Minnesota and Mississippi river valleys. The span of this bdote (a place where two waters come together) is central to our indigenous spirituality. Presently, the Mendota (bdote) Bridge is a convenient way to cross over. It is also known that Franklin Avenue rests upon an ancient path from the Mississippi to lakes west of here. One may follow this path beyond its ending (and back through time some 35,000 years) to the foothills of the Altai Mountains of Central Asia. You will find there a place where the Sapien people encountered the Neanderthal. The Sapiens, late arrivals that they were, wisely chose to offer gifts. As it happened, a young woman named Tanya was brought forward. Indeed, she did embrace her destiny. The dwelling of initial procreation was entered through an archway of Mammoth tusks. The domed framework of skeletal remains glowed magically in the light of flickering fire. [...]
Native Sons
By Peter Molenaar What happens to people who drive west on Franklin Avenue to the point where it ceases to exist? It is likely they will turn south on Penn Avenue and discover Birchbark Books one block away. That”'s what happened to me. Birchbark is locally our best store of Native American Indian literature. I did purchase one of Louise Erdrich”'s fourteen novels while there. But it was by chance that I perused a geography book which revealed a park named after our state”'s second governor. There exists within this park, on a tributary of the Minnesota River, a lovely waterfall now called Ramsey Falls”¦ another Dakota sacred site named in honor of a shameless conqueror. Is the true name lost? What happens to people who drive southeast for eight hours? They will find the land where wild garlic once grew in great abundance. “Shikaakwa” was the Illiniwek word for this medicine plant. From the tongues of early French explorers, the word became [...]
Too Much To Ask?
by Peter Molenaar March 10”¦ Lord knows that the industrial grinding wheel imposes an arduous task upon a worker. Nonetheless, I am happy to have returned to Smith Foundry in the aftermath of hip replacement surgery. It is, after all, $20 / hour plus benefits. Note: in Minnesota, 137,000 children live with parents who earn the minimum wage. February 25”¦ Hundreds gathered at the capitol rotunda to demand: “Raise the Wage.” Lead by Organized Labor, representatives of constituent nationalities were the featured speakers. The finale featured the song of Ojibwe drums. March 3rd”¦ (more…)
