Truthsgiving

November 21, 2023 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again. Thanksgiving is upon us. I encourage you to read a piece I wrote for The Nation magazine and watch my segment on CNN arguing that we should scrap this holiday and replace it with “Truthsgiving.” (Note that the CNN segment starts after the ads about four minutes and ten seconds in.) This is not, perhaps, an entirely novel idea. We’ve tried it before — a popular rebranding of Thanksgiving as “Thankstaking,” communicating that there should be no pride in genocide. But this year I am committing to the concept of Truthsgiving, which I feel better embodies the right spirit of generous sharing and listening.

Watch: I appeared on CNN to discuss changing the Thanksgiving holiday to Truthsgiving.

Here’s some truth: gathered around our tables, we still eat turkey, corn, beans, squash, cranberries, and mashed potatoes. All these are Indigenous foods. In fact, 60 percent of all the food consumed by the human species has been created by Indigenous nations. Please understand that (despite the headline in The Nation), I am not trying to cancel Thanksgiving — for we give thanks every day!

Our celebrations, however, should also honor real history. We must tell the truth. The truth is a fire that burns all lies in its way. It is no secret that colonial project countries (e.g. the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) have hidden important truths from us. It’s no surprise settlers like governor Kristi Noem fight so hard to hide historical facts from students taught in South Dakota schools. How fragile the American settler identity is that it cannot abide teaching the truth. But until the truth is shared, there can be no justice. And if there is no justice, then peace is beyond our reach.

We have to tell the hard truths, painful as they may sometimes be. We must recognize that genocide is not a “dark chapter in our nation’s history,” but that it’s still imposed on tribal nations in the present. The first Americans are still denied real nationhood. In all ways “legal,” political, and economic, Indigenous nations across Turtle Island and around the globe remain captive to outdated institutional systems carrying out the centuries old Doctrine of Christian “Discovery.”

Let us, then, meet each other where we stand today. We don’t have to turn back the clock, but we must be truthful with each other in the here and now. It’s our mandate — as Native and allied activists — to reinvigorate the quest for truth. We have to show up and reorganize the very symbols of our culture and our shared identity. Like Columbus Day, Thanksgiving is one of these symbols, one of those rituals, a place where worldviews collide. That’s not a bad thing. Let us use these collisions to move forward, knowing in our hearts that we are all in a conscious evolution together.

Wopila tanka — my gratitude for your investment in truth!
Chase Iron Eyes
Director and Lead Counsel
The Lakota People’s Law Project

P.S. Our desire to share both the giving of thanks and the telling of truth is one reason we initiated our live-streamed Wopila (Gratitude) Gathering every year around Truthsgiving. Please RSVP now to join us online on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 28, and spread the word about this annual event to honor, inspire, and activate. The citizens of the Lakota Nation conduct wopila ceremonies to give back as a practice of gratitude, and this is our way of bringing you into the circle.

Lakota People’s Law Project
547 South 7th Street #149
Bismarck, ND 58504-5859

The Lakota People’s Law Project is part of the Romero Institute, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) law and policy center. All donations are tax-deductible.

Thanksgiving Day 2019

November 29, 2019 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

I am fasting today in support of the Extinction Rebellion hunger strikers. Extinction Rebellion is global. Find out more here: https://rebellion.global/

Extinction Rebellion is a leaderless, decentralised, international and apolitical network using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency.

We have the following three demands in most of our territories:

Tell The Truth
Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
Act Now
Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
Beyond Politics
Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

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‘There should be no medals for massacres’

https://newsmaven.io/indiancountrytoday/news/there-should-be-no-medals-for-massacres-9Ft7OEHwkkODfKv-0bFYrg/

Wounded Knee

byJourdan Bennett-Begaye

1 day–edited

Remove the Stain Act to be considered by Senate too; House has a version as well

Presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, released the Senate companion to the Remove the Stain Act. (**Note: is Warren doing this to clean up her act after not supporting the water protectors at Standing Rock even as she claimed to be a Native?)

Rep. Deb Haaland, Laguna Pueblo and D-New Mexico, and Rep. Denny Heck, D-Washington, introduced the House with the Remove Stain Act in June.

Both bills strip for the Congressional Medals of Honor that was awarded to the 20 men in the U.S. 7th Cavalry. The soldiers murdered defenseless and unarmed Lakota men, women and children on December 29, 1890. Also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3467/text

H. R. 3467

To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 25, 2019

Mr. Heck (for himself, Mr. Cook, Ms. Haaland, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Kildee, and Mr. Luján) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Remove the Stain Act”.

SEC. 2. Findings.

Congress finds as follows:

(1) The Medal of Honor is the highest military award of the United States.

(2) Congress found that to earn the Medal of Honor “the deed of the person … must be so outstanding that it clearly distinguishes his gallantry beyond the call of duty from lesser forms of bravery”.

(3) The actions of Medal of Honor recipients inspire bravery in those currently serving in the Armed Forces and those who will come to serve in the future.

(4) Those listed on the Medal of Honor Roll have come to exemplify the best traits of members of the Armed Forces, a long and proud lineage of those who went beyond the call of service to the United States of America.

(5) To date the Medal of Honor has been awarded only 3,522 times, including only 145 times for the Korean War, 126 times in World War I, 23 times during the Global War on Terror, and 20 times for the massacre at Wounded Knee.

(6) The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress.

(7) As found in Senate Concurring Resolution 153 of the 101st Congress, on December 29, 1890 the 7th Cavalry of the United States engaged a tribal community “resulting in the tragic death and injury of approximately 350–375 Indian men, women, and children” led by Lakota Chief Spotted Elk of the Miniconjou band at “Cankpe’ Opi Wakpa” or “Wounded Knee Creek”.

(8) This engagement became known as the “Wounded Knee Massacre”, and took place between unarmed Native Americans and soldiers, heavily armed with standard issue army rifles as well as four “Hotchkiss guns” with five 37 mm barrels capable of firing 43 rounds per minute.

(9) Nearly two-thirds of the Native Americans killed during the Massacre were unarmed women and children who were participating in a ceremony to restore their traditional homelands prior to the arrival of European settlers.

(10) Poor tactical emplacement of the soldiers meant that most of the casualties suffered by the United States troops were inflicted by friendly fire.

(11) On January 1st, 1891, Major General Nelson A. Miles, Commander of the Division of Missouri, telegraphed Major General John M. Schofield, Commander-in-Chief of the Army notifying him that “[I]t is stated that the disposition of four hundred soldiers and four pieces of artillery was fatally defective and large number of soldiers were killed and wounded by the fire from their own ranks and a very large number of women and children were killed in addition to the Indian men”.

(12) The United States awarded 20 Medals of Honor to soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry following their participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre.

(13) In 2001, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, a member Tribe of the Great Sioux Nation, upon information provided by Lakota elders and by veterans, passed Tribal Council Resolution No. 132–01, requesting that the Federal Government revoke the Medals of Honor from the soldiers of the United States Army, 7th Cavalry issued following the massacre of unarmed men, women, children, and elderly of the Great Sioux Nation on December 29, 1890, on Tribal Lands near Wounded Knee Creek.

(14) The National Congress of American Indians requested in a 2007 Resolution that the Congress “renounce the issuance of said medals, and/or to proclaim that the medals are null and void, given the atrocities committed upon unarmed men, women, children and elderly of the Great Sioux Nation”.

(15) General Miles contemporaneously stated that a “[w]holesale massacre occurred and I have never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee”.

(16) Allowing any Medal of Honor, the United States highest and most prestigious military decoration, to recognize a member of the Armed Forces for distinguished service for participating in the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Native Americans is a disservice to the integrity of the United States and its citizens, and impinges on the integrity of the award and those who have earned the Medal since.

SEC. 3. Rescission of Medals of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890.

(a) In general.—Each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890, is rescinded.

(b) Medal of Honor Roll.—The Secretary concerned shall remove the name of each individual awarded a Medal of Honor for acts described in subsection (a) from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll maintained under section 1134a of title 10, United States Code.

(c) Return of medal not required.—No person may be required to return to the Federal Government a Medal of Honor rescinded under subsection (a).

(d) No denial of benefits.—This Act shall not be construed to deny any individual any benefit from the Federal Government.

***Note: my personal opinion – the medals should be returned and any benefits cut. Too bad these men are not alive today- they should have faced trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Climate Change

February 3, 2019February 3, 2019 / aztec8888 / Leave a comment

For many Indigenous communities climate change is not a distant problem

The inability or laziness of people to not take the time and research their sources is killing our ability to act proactively. We are constantly mired in misinformation, diversions, faulty logic, and lies.

From posts on another forum:

By Renee Michel

13 Oct at 15:41

Replies

294

Last reply

13:07

Views

1151

For years we have been in a war on misinformation. The misinformation about our radically changing climate is now being exposed. If you do not believe it, it just has not effected you personally yet. The problems are here now, people are dying now, crops are beginning to fail now. What can we do, what are you doing, what is the plan in your community?

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“N” Post:

How much colder would North America, Russia and Europe be without a warmer planet?..
But seriously, nothing can change the fact the IPCC is on record as saying global warming will produce milder, warmer winters. 🤔
The opposite seems true…

Renee Michel

— edited

Nan, please provide the evidence of your statement. https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/ What page?

“B” Post:

In Michigan, Hell has literally frozen over!
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-31/polar-vortex-leaves-11-states-colder-north-pole-hell-literally-freezes-over

Some of the comments on that link are quite funny. This one: “Al Gore is not accepting any calls at this time..” And this one: “I’ve finally got it figured out. If it’s colder than normal, it’s weather; and if it’s hotter than normal, it’s climate. What do I win?”

And this one that’s a bit more serious: “Not that I want to push weather doom and gloom, but our current solar minumin has not bottomed out yet – it will bottom out in 2023 which means more (and colder) polar vortacies till 2023 and then it will cycle slowly back up.”

Renee Michel

This thread is not about my opinion, it is about facts from scientists, scientific journals, peer reviewed research papers, scientific organizations, climate experts, and educators. In addition, I have provided information from reputable news sources and organizations. The point is – the climate is changing – it is not an opinion to be argued about, it is real and it is killing people and causing billions of dollars in damage to our infrastructure. The point to discuss is – what are we going to do about it, how are we going to adapt, how are we going to survive, what changes can we make, how are we going to cope?

“N” Post:

Renee, this thread does indeed seem to be about your opinion ( more than half the posts are yours), and whenever anyone disagrees with you or provides evidence to the contrary, you seem to get upset…

Renee Michel

Regarding South Africa. https://350africa.org/

Nan, there are exactly three people who pop on and try to turn this thread into an argument denying climate change. I have thanked all other commenters for their contributions and there have been many. V just made excellent points today that brought up the issue of how people get confused. In addition, as per the premise of this thread, I post as many articles and sources as I can. I am retired and have all the time in the world to read, research, and make posts. I try to write a post or two everyday. Almost every time I post something, I have provided a link to the information- so no – it is not all about my personal opinion. It is about sharing information about what we can do about the climate crisis. You made a statement about the IPCC and I asked you to share where you got that information from and provided even the link to the IPCC report. That is not being upset, that is asking you to back up what you stated. Otherwise it is you who are merely stating your opinion. So, are you going to answer? This is a serious thread, not a place to just say stuff without any back up. If we are to share valuable information with the aim of helping people we need to be making sure that information is valid. Regarding “evidence to the contrary”, if someone is trying to post evidence contrary to the premise of this thread, yes, I shut them down. We don’t have time for climate change deniers here. Those people can create their own thread in the forum. To post here, you agree with the premise as stated. Again, we do not have time for denial, too many people are dying. We need to get on with sharing information and finding solutions. For the record, I have many family members in Chicago and in the eastern part of the U.S. The extreme weather is no joke, it is not funny to me. The crazy fires in California this summer were not funny to me. The Climate Crisis, or as some have begun to call it, the Climate Emergency is real, it is dangerous, and it is becoming personal for many people. It is why I created this thread, to try and share what we can do about it.

Renee Michel

For people like me who like visuals, here is a good video to explain how the jet stream works : https://youtu.be/AV_FVs8RYxw

“N” Post:

— edited

“Snowless winters” forecast by the IPCC in 2001, and countless other doomsday forecasts since global cooling in the 60’s- 70’s, that have not yet eventuated:

https://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/22289-climate-alarmists-have-been-wrong-about-virtually-everything

I back up everything l say, but you always ignore the links- see, the IPCC continually update their narrative to fit their political agenda.
As your president said: “It’s called weather,” and almost totally governed by solar activity.
He won the last election easily as many of your fellow Americans also overwhelming agree with him on this topic and others…
Ninety odd percent of climate scientists around the world toe the human induced climate change line because they lose their funding and jobs otherwise…
The thing with you alarmists is you want to frighten and shut down any debate because you believe you are right; the ultimate act of arrogance.
So, despite your protestations, the science is FAR from settled…

Renee Michel

— edited

Your link: The New American. The New American (TNA) is a print magazine published twice a month by American Opinion Publishing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the John Birch Society (JBS), a far-right organization.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-new-american/
I am very familiar with the John Birch Society. And as I pointed out, so called “climate change deniers” have their source in far-right political organizations.
I have looked at and read every source anyone posts here. And instead of scientific sources for your comments about science, you are posting the John Birch Society.

Scientists around the world are very conservative in their statements. They are very wedded to research and scientific observation. They have been wrong, on that you are correct. But on how they have been wrong, you are not correct. Instead of extreme collapse of climate systems happening in a century, it is happening within the decade, it is happening now.
This thread is not based on political ideology. The premise was set, this thread is not about opinion, it is about what is happening to our climate and suggestions on how we might prepare and cope with it.
The man currently president is not “my president” and far from being a scientist, he has been called out for not knowing the difference between weather and climate. These are things taught in elementary school science, of which I know a lot about because I taught science for 27 years.
This is obviously the wrong thread for you to comment in and you are more than welcome to create a thread for climate change denial.

Again: This thread is not about my opinion, it is about facts from scientists, scientific journals, peer reviewed research papers, scientific organizations, climate experts, and educators. In addition, I have provided information from reputable news sources and organizations. The point is – the climate is changing – it is not an opinion to be argued about, it is real and it is killing people and causing billions of dollars in damage to our infrastructure. The point to discuss is – what are we going to do about it, how are we going to adapt, how are we going to survive, what changes can we make, how are we going to cope?

Renee Michel

https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2018/07/SR15_SPM_High_Res.pdf Referenced, data driven, scientific- the original documentation to read yourself.

Renee Michel

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/ipcc-report-climate-change-impacts-forests-emissions/ A summary of IPCC report.

01 Feb at 08:19 |

“N” Post:

…don’t shoot the messenger, they’re just reporting the documented facts- none of what was reported was fictional…
And as for the “far right organisations,” (sounds very conspirational itself!), if it’s OK for yourself to continually quote left wing sources, l reserve my right to quote your so- called far right “organisations .”
Good luck to your president…
P.S: if you in fact taught science for as long as you say, you would not deny the sun is the major driving factor in climate…
Again, this thread IS about your opinions, and anyone who differs from them is belittled, much like the left do in general…

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2015/02/25/cold-and-snow-destroy-global-warming-claims/amp/

Renee Michel

Regarding the naming of winter storms:
https://m.accuweather.com/en/press/84520

Extreme weather events: Intense, heavy snow storms does not equate to a greater winter snowpack. One must look to the overall measurements of seasonal precipitation.
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/does-global-warming-mean-more-or-less-snow/

https://abc7news.com/weather/2nd-snowpack-measurement-results-for-2018-far-below-average/3018818/
https://m.phys.org/news/2018-12-declining-snowpack-western-finer-scale.html
Link to research paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018GL079621

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-04-impact-climate-snowpack.html
http://medialibrary.climatecentral.org/resources/by-tag/snow+and+ice

Renee Michel

More information on the jet stream: https://youtu.be/yObanrslYME

01 Feb at 09:22 | San José

Renee Michel

https://youtu.be/uJYWvnuA9w8 Paul Beckwith teaches in Ottawa and gives short informative videos that explain climate and weather. Here is one about the jet stream. He always provides links to the data so you can study it yourself.

Renee Michel

For those of you looking for information that is not biased to the left or the right – this is a good source for a search. You will notice that I have used many of the listed sources in my posts. If I posted a source by a left or even a right leaning source, it was because it was aligned with a **scientific** point of view. Most importantly, statements are backed up with factual data.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/pro-science/

ZeroHedge.com is on the https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/conspiracy/ conspiracy-pseudoscience list.
The New American https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/the-new-american/ is on the right-biased list.

Why is this important? If we are looking for information about science, information about data and facts – then it makes sense to look at sources that are packed with that sort of information. Then – as someone said – “don’t shoot the messenger” you analyze what is actually said. Yes – in this case – I shoot the messenger.

Here is what is said about Forbes.com – “A factual search reveals that Forbes has produced a misleading claim according to an IFCN fact checker. Although Forbes is usually evidence based when it comes to science, they do not always support the consensus when it comes to climate change. For example, they have employed James Taylor as a columnist who writes anti-climate science propaganda and has connections to the questionable Heartland Institute and Exxon-Mobil. They have also published articles by Roy Spencer, who has a long track record of climate change denial. Spencer has also been a speaker for the Heartland Institute and has connections to the fossil fuel industry. Lastly, Forbes has published several articles that are rated Very Low for Science Credibility by IFCN fact checker Climate Feedback.”
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/forbes/

The statements made were vague with no data to support them. This is what was meant in my very first sentence “For years we have been in a war on misinformation.” I have actually done my own fact checking on James Taylor and Roy Spencer – I did not take mediafactcheck.com at face value. They are right in what they have reported.

So, one has to ask ones self – where do you look for the most factual information on this topic that is so important to our lives?

Once again, someone has posted something about climate change denial and I am not here to waste time arguing the point. However, they continue to prove my point over and over again. When one looks close at climate change denial it always is sourced back to right-leaning think-tanks that are supported by fossil fuel and oil corporations. Why? Because those groups have everything to gain in maintaining the status quo.

Then one has to ask oneself, why would someone come on a thread about climate change, where the premise is clearly stated at the beginning, and write posts that attack or try to debunk the very topic?

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-internet-trolling-3485891

“Forums: Forums are made for discussing topics with like-minded people, but every once in a while, a troll will come in and start spewing negative words all over the place. If forum moderators don’t ban them, other members will often respond and before you know it, the thread gets thrown completely off topic and becomes nothing but one big pointless argument.”

I have read some other posts in other threads in the Forum and I have witnessed a perfectly great discussion be reduced to nothing but snarky remarks back and forth. I will not let this discussion digress to those depths. I have met numerous people who like reading this one for the information.
So my post today will be all that I will say on the matter. I hope this information will help everyone in looking for factual unbiased data. The three people who are acting like trolls are welcome to join this discussion if they contribute to the discussion. Otherwise, I have them on ignore.

“Nan”Post:

— edited

Who is going to document and publsh the now long debunked claims and predictions about the global warming hoax ? Certainly not the majority left leaning media outlets, so when a right leaning medium publishes documented events, you want to re- write history by denying it ever happened, or at best, simply ignore it. All sounds very 1984 to me…
A good read for you if you are a science teacher: Heaven And Earth by Professor Ian Plimer; or if you prefer not to read: The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary ( lauded by CNN and Washington Times, BTW )…

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/6679082/Climate-change-this-is-the-worst-scientific-scandal-of-our-generation.html

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/11/29/climategate-ii-more-smoking-guns-from-the-global-warming-establishment/amp/

Renee Michel

— edited

https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Ian_Plimer

So my post today will be all that I will say on the matter. I hope this information will help everyone in looking for factual unbiased data. The three people who are acting like trolls are welcome to join this discussion if they contribute to the discussion. Otherwise, I have them on ignore.

For a reminder – The premise of this discussion is: For years we have been in a war on misinformation. The misinformation about our radically changing climate is now being exposed. If you do not believe it, it just has not effected you personally yet. The problems are here now, people are dying now, crops are beginning to fail now. What can we do, what are you doing, what is the plan in your community?

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This is only a small sample of what the social media discussion is on climate change. Notice the person never answered where the IPCC comment is in the report. I do not think they even read the report – they get all of their information from a right-wing news rag. And this is the problem. Instead of taking the time to read the report for themselves, people are led around by opinion articles in corporate owned news outlets.Those corporations do not want anyone to change. So, we have a stagnation on critical action and people trying to argue that there is no such thing as climate change while Australia burns and the poles melt and the eastern part of the U.S. gets hit with polar temperatures. The indigenous people of the world know about climate change, they have experienced it and have struggled to adapt. If there is any hope in salvaging anything on this planet, indigenous people know because they have an intimate knowledge of earth’s systems.