Post by Feral & Sober on May 2, 2014 12:18:03 GMT -7
Giibwanisi Dizhnikaaz of the Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp on Sobriety, Reclamation and Healing
thefruitlands.com/post/48365951224/interview-giibwanisi-dizhnikaaz-of-the-oshkimaadziig
One thing I dream of is compiling the stories and interviews of organizers who are introducing radical ideas of sobriety and community healing and publishing it. It was a no brainer to reach out to Giibwanisi Dizhnikaaz (Richard Peters) to talk about the issue as the Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp is based around this idea and presents an amazing vision of strength, unity and joy - all while confronting some extremely serious and horrific things; genocide, settler colonialism, environmental degredation, etc.
I hope this interview adds to and continues a dialogue around what community healing looks like, across various communities, and also adds to a dialogue around what it looks like to be an ally to some of those communities. I encourage folks to get up to Oshkimaadziig and/or send some support and love their way.
When you set out to plan around Oshkimaadziig how important was a sober policy?
When we set out to plan Oshkimaadziig, the first thing that I asked Kaikaikons (aka Johnny Hawk) was if this was going to be a sober thing or not. If it wasn’t, then I had no interest in partaking in it. I have been sober for almost 2 years now, and a sober policy was instrumental to my involvement. You have to remember also, that when we first set out to do Oshkimaadziig, we moved onto a museum property in a town called Coldwater. If folks had been drinking and partying, it would have negated any credibility we would have had and most likely we would have been dismissed as “drunken, indians” and the police would have promptly removed us for ‘open alcohol’. When we moved into Awenda Provincial Park, the sober policy stayed.
Sober policies at reclamation sites are pretty common, especially at the beginning of reclamations or at times of heightened repression. It seems harder to enforce these policies the long reclamations continue. I wonder about your thoughts on that and how to organize against it in the long term.
This was the first time that I have ever been involved with a land reclamation, so I can’t comment on how others have gone down in the past. My personal relationship with Oshkimaadziig and my own sobriety go hand in hand. I first made a reclamation on my life, and that was to rise above the alcohol and drugs, and to focus on the cultural side side of my identity. From my perspective, and that of the Elders I seek out, drugs and alcohol have no business in our way of life. Oshkimaadziig to me, is a way of life. It is road to everything that we have lost due to colonization. In my opinion we can not try to decolonize ourselves, while still using the tools of oppression which were used as weapon against us. On the land reclamation site we have a no drug no alcohol policy. Meaning we don’t want people deliberately bringing these things on to our Sacred grounds. However, having been down the long hard road to recovery, I would be loathe to turn someone away who was under the influence who was looking for help.
I am wondering if you see the process of reclamation as part of an attempt at community healing? As in, the hope that through the process of being involved folks will begin to heal.
I definitely see the process of the reclamation as a deliberate attempt at community healing. Our word for decolonization is “biiskaabiiyang” which loosely translates to “we are returning”. We are returning to the good way of life in which was lost. The land reclamation is resounding and emphatic reclamation of the warrior spirit. But its much more than just being warriors. It more about the way of life, the warriors are protecting. We are protecting a way of life, that the oppressors have always sought out to destroy. When we come together on the reclamation site, and walk the “biiskaabiiyang”, we are actually building community. Just that very act alone, is healing.
As someone who has done solidarity organizing I have been told by other ally organizers and also Onkwehonwe folks that I should use drugs or alcohol as a way to build relationships with other people and that it is rude to decline. What would you say to that?
I don’t agree with the use of drug/alcohol use, endorsed by both allies or Onkwehonwe, as a way of building relationships. As an Anishinabek/Onkwehonwe person, I have seen the disastrous effects of drugs/alcohol on both myself, and my people. Alcoholism is a symptom of colonialism. Whether Onkwehonwe people know it or not, the continued use of drugs/alcohol, is continuing the genocide of our people. I heard an elder say, “What has alcohol done for our people? It has destroyed our people, it has destroyed our lives, relationships with each others, it has destroyed entire nations. Alcohol has done nothing but destroy our people. There is no place for it in our way of life.” As an ally, this concept must be fully and fundamentally understood and practiced. As an Ally doing solidarity work, that work should be about assisting in the decolonization process, and not the continued genocide of our people. If an ally wants to build relationship using drugs and alcohol with Onkwehonwe, perhaps they might want to try the local pubs or bars. Having said that, It is not really my place to tell allies how to conduct themselves in their boat, or to tell Onkwehonwe people what to do, in their canoes, in their own territory. I am merely reflecting on what I think and feel with my One Good Mind, and One Good Heart.
So much of the use of social media that I have seen around Oshkimaadziig has been focused on using humor to convey a message and a critique. This is something that I really enjoyed because sober policies are usually related to sternness and seriousness and typical not seen as something that can be “joyful.” I am wondering how much of that is intentional and how much of that is just the personalities of the people involved.
Most of the humor that is used by Oshkimaadziig is both intentional and natural. Anishinabek peoples have longs since employed humor as a teaching tool. I remember listening to an elder once and he said that it was the way we learn. People will always remember what made them laugh. Kaikaikons identifies himself as being a “Windigokaan”, which in our culture are the “backwards” people, or even the “clown” people. Some of their responsibilities were to do the opposite of the norm. They might be required to bust a gut laughing at a funeral or something. But mostly is about bringing balance. Kaikaikons stresses “Its about bringing the dark to the light, the light to the dark.” Myself, I have always been some sort of a comedian. Its just my nature. But in actuality I think its just being Anishinabek or Onkwehonwe. One does not simply last 500 years of genocide with out having some sort of humorous side. Its what has sustained us for so long. Life is short, we have to enjoy it. All peoples enjoy laughing. What is the point of life without enjoyment?
thefruitlands.com/post/48365951224/interview-giibwanisi-dizhnikaaz-of-the-oshkimaadziig
One thing I dream of is compiling the stories and interviews of organizers who are introducing radical ideas of sobriety and community healing and publishing it. It was a no brainer to reach out to Giibwanisi Dizhnikaaz (Richard Peters) to talk about the issue as the Oshkimaadziig Unity Camp is based around this idea and presents an amazing vision of strength, unity and joy - all while confronting some extremely serious and horrific things; genocide, settler colonialism, environmental degredation, etc.
I hope this interview adds to and continues a dialogue around what community healing looks like, across various communities, and also adds to a dialogue around what it looks like to be an ally to some of those communities. I encourage folks to get up to Oshkimaadziig and/or send some support and love their way.
When you set out to plan around Oshkimaadziig how important was a sober policy?
When we set out to plan Oshkimaadziig, the first thing that I asked Kaikaikons (aka Johnny Hawk) was if this was going to be a sober thing or not. If it wasn’t, then I had no interest in partaking in it. I have been sober for almost 2 years now, and a sober policy was instrumental to my involvement. You have to remember also, that when we first set out to do Oshkimaadziig, we moved onto a museum property in a town called Coldwater. If folks had been drinking and partying, it would have negated any credibility we would have had and most likely we would have been dismissed as “drunken, indians” and the police would have promptly removed us for ‘open alcohol’. When we moved into Awenda Provincial Park, the sober policy stayed.
Sober policies at reclamation sites are pretty common, especially at the beginning of reclamations or at times of heightened repression. It seems harder to enforce these policies the long reclamations continue. I wonder about your thoughts on that and how to organize against it in the long term.
This was the first time that I have ever been involved with a land reclamation, so I can’t comment on how others have gone down in the past. My personal relationship with Oshkimaadziig and my own sobriety go hand in hand. I first made a reclamation on my life, and that was to rise above the alcohol and drugs, and to focus on the cultural side side of my identity. From my perspective, and that of the Elders I seek out, drugs and alcohol have no business in our way of life. Oshkimaadziig to me, is a way of life. It is road to everything that we have lost due to colonization. In my opinion we can not try to decolonize ourselves, while still using the tools of oppression which were used as weapon against us. On the land reclamation site we have a no drug no alcohol policy. Meaning we don’t want people deliberately bringing these things on to our Sacred grounds. However, having been down the long hard road to recovery, I would be loathe to turn someone away who was under the influence who was looking for help.
I am wondering if you see the process of reclamation as part of an attempt at community healing? As in, the hope that through the process of being involved folks will begin to heal.
I definitely see the process of the reclamation as a deliberate attempt at community healing. Our word for decolonization is “biiskaabiiyang” which loosely translates to “we are returning”. We are returning to the good way of life in which was lost. The land reclamation is resounding and emphatic reclamation of the warrior spirit. But its much more than just being warriors. It more about the way of life, the warriors are protecting. We are protecting a way of life, that the oppressors have always sought out to destroy. When we come together on the reclamation site, and walk the “biiskaabiiyang”, we are actually building community. Just that very act alone, is healing.
As someone who has done solidarity organizing I have been told by other ally organizers and also Onkwehonwe folks that I should use drugs or alcohol as a way to build relationships with other people and that it is rude to decline. What would you say to that?
I don’t agree with the use of drug/alcohol use, endorsed by both allies or Onkwehonwe, as a way of building relationships. As an Anishinabek/Onkwehonwe person, I have seen the disastrous effects of drugs/alcohol on both myself, and my people. Alcoholism is a symptom of colonialism. Whether Onkwehonwe people know it or not, the continued use of drugs/alcohol, is continuing the genocide of our people. I heard an elder say, “What has alcohol done for our people? It has destroyed our people, it has destroyed our lives, relationships with each others, it has destroyed entire nations. Alcohol has done nothing but destroy our people. There is no place for it in our way of life.” As an ally, this concept must be fully and fundamentally understood and practiced. As an Ally doing solidarity work, that work should be about assisting in the decolonization process, and not the continued genocide of our people. If an ally wants to build relationship using drugs and alcohol with Onkwehonwe, perhaps they might want to try the local pubs or bars. Having said that, It is not really my place to tell allies how to conduct themselves in their boat, or to tell Onkwehonwe people what to do, in their canoes, in their own territory. I am merely reflecting on what I think and feel with my One Good Mind, and One Good Heart.
So much of the use of social media that I have seen around Oshkimaadziig has been focused on using humor to convey a message and a critique. This is something that I really enjoyed because sober policies are usually related to sternness and seriousness and typical not seen as something that can be “joyful.” I am wondering how much of that is intentional and how much of that is just the personalities of the people involved.
Most of the humor that is used by Oshkimaadziig is both intentional and natural. Anishinabek peoples have longs since employed humor as a teaching tool. I remember listening to an elder once and he said that it was the way we learn. People will always remember what made them laugh. Kaikaikons identifies himself as being a “Windigokaan”, which in our culture are the “backwards” people, or even the “clown” people. Some of their responsibilities were to do the opposite of the norm. They might be required to bust a gut laughing at a funeral or something. But mostly is about bringing balance. Kaikaikons stresses “Its about bringing the dark to the light, the light to the dark.” Myself, I have always been some sort of a comedian. Its just my nature. But in actuality I think its just being Anishinabek or Onkwehonwe. One does not simply last 500 years of genocide with out having some sort of humorous side. Its what has sustained us for so long. Life is short, we have to enjoy it. All peoples enjoy laughing. What is the point of life without enjoyment?