Juaneno Unity - The Real Struggle Is Not Federal Recognition
by Robert Bracamontes
May 14, 2006
When my grandfather, Anise Bracamontes, passed away, I always felt his presence. My pinky finger would fold down as if it was broken, just like his was for years. The rest of my fingers would follow and start falling as if they were going to close. I thought about his wishes, his hopes and dreams. One he shared with me, one I am sure many Elders shared with their families before they died, was tribal unity.
It was not federal recognition they saw as the most important goal, it was what recent immigrants have accomplished with millions marching in the streets: unity inspired by oppression and neglect. The years of back-breaking labor has created billions of dollars of profit, but it is not recognized by those who buy and control legislators' votes. The possible passage of laws to criminalize undocumented workers is what brought them together.
For us, it is a federal government that has failed to acknowledge our very existence, hasexcluded us from their history books and nearly exterminated us. When will we be inspired to unite?Over the years our Juaneno tribe has ended up in three groups. All of them have failed in bringing us together. We have let the rich government wave false promises of recognizing our existence, false hopes of gold and prestige, come between us. The government has failed to recognize many tribes across our land for hundreds of years.
And yet, we read their hypocritical criticisms of the newly, democratically-elected Palestinian government for not recognizing the existence of Israel. Have they forgotten about the many indigenous tribes that remain “persona non gratis” here, in Amerca.Each of our splintered groups has had grand visions of the blessings of casino money pouring in, which will aid our material wealth, but will not define us. Any federal recognition by the government will not make us more, or better, Juanenos. The only true way to define ourselves is by accomplishing what has been missing, what escaped our Elders, what is essential and what our Elders wanted all of us to understand: come together.
We are not alone in this endeavor. All of humankind struggles to accomplish coming together to make the world, our lives, our children's lives an example of unity under the banner of peace and love.
If we remain divided, without all of us sitting at the same table, federal recognition will be a hollow victory. I, for one, see us chasing federal recognition before we are unified. How sad, not for us, but for all those who dreamt a dream of youand I holding hands, ending hundreds of years of neglect and lies that were preceded by our near extermination. A dream in which we are told, "You are all here and the federal government recognizes the Juaneno Tribe."
We are indebted to our great ancestors like Many Horses, who was a great dancer, for showing us our true worth and the meaning of being Juaneno. He knew that it was about self-definition, not money, not recognition, but our acceptanceof all our people, united as one. And he did not have to put it in words. One merely had to watch him dance at the hundreds of powwows where he stomped his feet.
And if we are denied federal recognition, who will we be? A divided group of people who failed to stand up together and leave a real legacy for our children to remember, for history to record. Merely the fact that they were not united. Is this what we want?
There must be a reason why I feel Anise touching my hand, my finger and my soul. It is about a message from the past to the future. A message about the desire for all Juanenos to come together, to step in stride, much like my fingers wanting to close together. Our Elders' hopes and dreams can come true today, even if the front page reads, "Juanenos Not Federally Recognized....but they stand united as one."
Robert Bracamontes
www.onlinewithbob.com
Update On Alyssa Macy!
Dear Friends,
I hope this finds all of you doing well. I recently launched a website for my photography and wanted to share that with you. I am currently working to make available prints of my work for those who would like to purchase.
The site gets updated frequently with new photos and blogs. There is a series of blogs that you might be interested in that highlight the work done at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May which I documented on behalf of theInternational Indian Treaty Council. I hope that you have the opportunity to visit the site!
The website can be accessed by visiting: www.indigeniusmedia.com
I am currently working as the Campaign Manager for an organization called Four Directions. FD is a nonprofiit organization focused on increasing electoral participation of Native American people in MN andMT. I will be documenting the FD effort through photos and possibly internet podcasting and am currently working on setting up the structure to do so. Please contact me if you interested in assisting with that effort. I look forward to a very busy and successful campaign season!
Again, I hope all of you are doing well. Please stay in touch!
Sincerely, Alyssa
Alyssa MacyPolitical/Media Consultant
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon
Indigenius Media
http://www.indigeniusmedia.com
NativeShare - Educational Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples (2000+ Strong)http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeShare
Native Voter listserv - Sign up for the Native Voter listserv for the most up to date information on civic engagement work in IndianCountry. Visit: http://www.ccp.org/resources/lists.html
TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.
May 14, 2006
When my grandfather, Anise Bracamontes, passed away, I always felt his presence. My pinky finger would fold down as if it was broken, just like his was for years. The rest of my fingers would follow and start falling as if they were going to close. I thought about his wishes, his hopes and dreams. One he shared with me, one I am sure many Elders shared with their families before they died, was tribal unity.
It was not federal recognition they saw as the most important goal, it was what recent immigrants have accomplished with millions marching in the streets: unity inspired by oppression and neglect. The years of back-breaking labor has created billions of dollars of profit, but it is not recognized by those who buy and control legislators' votes. The possible passage of laws to criminalize undocumented workers is what brought them together.
For us, it is a federal government that has failed to acknowledge our very existence, hasexcluded us from their history books and nearly exterminated us. When will we be inspired to unite?Over the years our Juaneno tribe has ended up in three groups. All of them have failed in bringing us together. We have let the rich government wave false promises of recognizing our existence, false hopes of gold and prestige, come between us. The government has failed to recognize many tribes across our land for hundreds of years.
And yet, we read their hypocritical criticisms of the newly, democratically-elected Palestinian government for not recognizing the existence of Israel. Have they forgotten about the many indigenous tribes that remain “persona non gratis” here, in Amerca.Each of our splintered groups has had grand visions of the blessings of casino money pouring in, which will aid our material wealth, but will not define us. Any federal recognition by the government will not make us more, or better, Juanenos. The only true way to define ourselves is by accomplishing what has been missing, what escaped our Elders, what is essential and what our Elders wanted all of us to understand: come together.
We are not alone in this endeavor. All of humankind struggles to accomplish coming together to make the world, our lives, our children's lives an example of unity under the banner of peace and love.
If we remain divided, without all of us sitting at the same table, federal recognition will be a hollow victory. I, for one, see us chasing federal recognition before we are unified. How sad, not for us, but for all those who dreamt a dream of youand I holding hands, ending hundreds of years of neglect and lies that were preceded by our near extermination. A dream in which we are told, "You are all here and the federal government recognizes the Juaneno Tribe."
We are indebted to our great ancestors like Many Horses, who was a great dancer, for showing us our true worth and the meaning of being Juaneno. He knew that it was about self-definition, not money, not recognition, but our acceptanceof all our people, united as one. And he did not have to put it in words. One merely had to watch him dance at the hundreds of powwows where he stomped his feet.
And if we are denied federal recognition, who will we be? A divided group of people who failed to stand up together and leave a real legacy for our children to remember, for history to record. Merely the fact that they were not united. Is this what we want?
There must be a reason why I feel Anise touching my hand, my finger and my soul. It is about a message from the past to the future. A message about the desire for all Juanenos to come together, to step in stride, much like my fingers wanting to close together. Our Elders' hopes and dreams can come true today, even if the front page reads, "Juanenos Not Federally Recognized....but they stand united as one."
Robert Bracamontes
www.onlinewithbob.com
Update On Alyssa Macy!
Dear Friends,
I hope this finds all of you doing well. I recently launched a website for my photography and wanted to share that with you. I am currently working to make available prints of my work for those who would like to purchase.
The site gets updated frequently with new photos and blogs. There is a series of blogs that you might be interested in that highlight the work done at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in May which I documented on behalf of theInternational Indian Treaty Council. I hope that you have the opportunity to visit the site!
The website can be accessed by visiting: www.indigeniusmedia.com
I am currently working as the Campaign Manager for an organization called Four Directions. FD is a nonprofiit organization focused on increasing electoral participation of Native American people in MN andMT. I will be documenting the FD effort through photos and possibly internet podcasting and am currently working on setting up the structure to do so. Please contact me if you interested in assisting with that effort. I look forward to a very busy and successful campaign season!
Again, I hope all of you are doing well. Please stay in touch!
Sincerely, Alyssa
Alyssa MacyPolitical/Media Consultant
Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon
Indigenius Media
http://www.indigeniusmedia.com
NativeShare - Educational Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples (2000+ Strong)http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NativeShare
Native Voter listserv - Sign up for the Native Voter listserv for the most up to date information on civic engagement work in IndianCountry. Visit: http://www.ccp.org/resources/lists.html
TO SUBMIT an ARTICLE or OPINION PIECE to the Native Unity Digest, e-mail bobbieo@digitaldune.net.
NATIVE UNITY - A place for Native American Peoples to solidify their tribes to make a positive impact on the cultural, social, economic and political fabric of American society and a place for non-Natives to better understand the ways of the American Indian.
Visit Vietnam Vet. Larry Mitchell at http://www.potawatomivet.com and click on his blog at the site.
posted by Bobbie Hart O'Neill @ 4:54 PM
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