Is it just me, or is invoking the deity of a people who were slaughtered by forces of the American government to protest alleged fraud in the American government's voting system kind of, I don't know, odd.

Seriously: Would the Great Spirit have been placated for the slaughter of his people if there had been a hand recount in Dade and dimpled chads counted in Broward?

Florida was the catalyst for this event, no?

I mean, did this gentleman invoke the Great Spirit for the '92 and '96 "counter-inaugarations"?

Maybe you just gotta be from LA to get some of this stuff.

I guess a picture can tell 1000 words, but can also prompt a thousand questions.

In response to Mr. Daly's question about the relevance of the participation by Native American people in the recent protest in L.A. against the inauguration of George W. Bush to the presidency, I offer the following. First of all, putting aside your very rude and condescending tone when speaking about Native American spirituality, I am truly amazed that you would have the audacity to publicly display your incredible ignorance. As an American Indian myself, let me be the first to remind you that First Nation people are the original landlords (caretakers) of this great continent, and as such have not only a right but an obligation to defend this land and all of its inhabitants, "tourists", "squatters", and "visitors" like yourself included. Let me break it down for you: Mr. Bush is an enemy of the environment. Our native spirituality reveres the Earth as our Mother. Ergo, Mr. Bush is an enemy of Mother Earth. No one understands this concept better than the First inhabitants of this hemisphere. Furthermore, as Governor of the state of Texas, Mr. Bush has time and again acted in direct opposition to the efforts of the Tigua Indians of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo whose tiny reservation is located in el Paso, Texas. (Bet you didn't even know there are Indians in Texas!) Indian people are well acquainted with the Bush anti-environment, anti-Indian agenda. Would you have us remain silent in the background in the face of such impending danger to the planet and our people? I say our people because Indians of all nations and tribes consider themselves brothers and sisters. Furthermore, Our "deity" as you put it is the one and same Creator called upon by many names whether it be Allah, Yahweh, God, or Ometeotl. In closing, rather than shake your head in surprise, you should seek to familiarize your self with Indian people around you. I assure you that just as the Mexica Elder declared before the cheering crowd that day, "We are alive!!!!" Far from shrinking back from civic duty, Native Peoples of all countries in this hemisphere are coming into the forefront in the fight to preserve and protect this planet and all humanity. May the Creator open your eyes and heart to understand what I have written. Ignorance breeds fear, and from fear comes discrimination.

than to think I could say anything other than "how beautiful" about the Native American's display without being called an ignorant White Devil.

Oh well.

Here's why I my comment may have seemed somewhat condescending:

It seems to me that the white politicians, be they Democrat or Republican, has done a first class, grade A job of dumping on the Native Peoples of this continent.

So, for a Native American to back Gore over Bush seems to odd to me. Is it better to be dumped on by a Democrat than a Republican?

Or, and this would shock me, have Native American's decided that there are some white politicians they can trust?

Mr. Daly,

If you carefully re-read my response to your initial comments you will note that at no point did I ever call you a "white devil". Were you at the rally and march? It seems unlikely, because if you had been present you would have seen that the event was not a "pro-Gore" rally. The Elder leading the ceremony is someone I personally know. He never said his group was there to support Al Gore nor the Democratic Party. The crowd had its share of Greens, Socialists, Anarchists as well as Democrats, etc. The point was that everyone present was united in their rejection of the Bush presidency. I tried to explain to you why Indians take an interest in this latest political development but you seem blinded by sarcasm. Indians are interested in direct action but our actions are rooted first and foremost in our spirituality. Mind, body, spirit must act in harmony. We neither expect nor need for you nor anyone to call our ceremonies "beautiful". Your affirmation/approval are not required to give our ceremonies validity. All that we hope for is basic respect, just as much as any Jewish Rabbi, Moslem Elder, or leader of any faith community would. Would you have been stirred to comment if a ceremony of blessing had been offered by some other religious group? It is absolutely true that all people have a right to reject any and all spirituality but conversely all people have the right to celebrate and uphold the spiritual traditions handed down to them by the Ancient Ones. The crowd observing this particular ceremony seemed genuinely appreciative of what the Elder and his group were doing on that stage. Native spirituality centers on three basic principles: Pride, Honor, and Respect. Anyone out there who wants to know a deeper explanation of these principles can e-mail. I will happily respond. I would also like to see comments from other people out there in cyber world about this discussion.

Tlazohcamate,

Armida Pedraza Price

Tigua/Mexica Nation

PD thinks of this as some kind of "contest" between Teams D and R, or perhaps ethnic groups W B R Y and B. His logic reduces things to sets and subsets, conflicts and competitions. It's never that simple in the real world, where conflicts usually result in contradictions.

The Amerindian has prayed for the protest, and in the tangled conundrum, if you know how to look, you will find the logical thread.

Sometimes, though, the situation is so confusing that some people resort to watching sports, or going to war, so that our thoughts can be simplified, and our moral condition sorted out for us. Perhaps, by learning to ignore the lines we must read between, we may be one step closer to really understanding each other.

Get it?

You know, I guess I am big enough to admit a mistake once in a while.

Going through the pix of the counter-inaugral protests -- I was struck by the way in which many of protestors chose to express their message.

Many of the pix depicted expressions which it seemed to me were more designed to annoy and antagonize the majority of Americans; the sit-com watching bourgeois and Joe Six Packs of the world, if you will. The protests did not, in my view, seemed geared toward persuading the masses of American's to join in the protestors views.

I wanted to express that point. I also wanted to question whether the protestors agreed with my perception. If so, I wanted to find out the thought process behind antagonizing the people you will need to win over if you are to have a populist type movement.

I chose the picture of the Native American his form of expression struck me as the kind of thing that would cause Bob and Joan from Minnesota to say "what the fuck is going on here!"

It seems pretty clear to me now that (a) I did not make my point clearly and (b) I did not make my point respectfully.

I'm emailing this to those who commented and left addresses.

Please accept this as my apology.

THIS IS NOT A WAR ON DRUGS OR COMMUNIST IS THE TAKING OF THE LAND FROMM THE CHIAPAZ PEOPLE AND RACE EXTERMINATION.

this picture is PURE BULLSHIT!!!!

he is not any kind of native american.!!

hell hes not even american!!!!

this is a stupid ass IMPOSTER who has

been running around CLAIMING to be associatied with

native people , but belive me , he is not.



This is sort of any acting out of his demented

fanticies about native culture.

this guy should be staked out in the desert on top

of a ant hill for this outrage.

fuck this asshole all to hell.

tell him to get back on the boat