In remembrance of The People as they were
of Customs, of Pride, of Rituals

In remembrance of the Animals as they were
of Substance shared, of Teachings offered

In remembrance of the Birds as they were
of Grace, of Majesty, of Mystery

In remembrance of the Insects as they were
of Living Wisdom, of Necessary order

In remembrance of the Plants as they were
of Flowers, of Grasses, of Trees

In remembrance of the Reptiles as they were
of Eerie Beauty, of Natural Purpose

In remembrance of the Heavens as they were
of Clarity, of Seasons, of Spirit World

In remembrance of the Waters as they were
Of Abundant Life, of Sacred Purity

In remembrance of the Lands as they were
of Freedom, of Harmony, of Oneness

Shirley Loatman Pharis 1995

---

Whites came here and claimed this land by right of discovery. They immediately began to settle a land that was already settled. From the beginning, they used lies and trickery to solicit our help. All done in the name of god, white man's god. Millions of our people died at the hands of white men or by his diseases. Their deaths were in the name of the same god. Then as now, we find it hard to imagine a god who would sanction what was done to us.

[Note: "In spite of the overtures made in recent years by Christina denominations toward traditional Indian religions and practices - such as bishops wearing warbonnets at services, pipes and other traditional objects used to bless congregations, and occassional prayers for the earth - ond fundamental facet of Christianity must always detour any effort to come to grips with reality. Christianity was not designed to explain anything about this planet or the meaning of human life.

"Every single ceremonial act of the Christian tradition is based on the belief that history was coming to an end, that the believers would be taken up to heaven, a place radically different from this Earth - and about human society and societies - was evil. Since the expectations of a dramatic judgement day have not been fulfilled, and since Western technology has done a pretty decent job of creating heaven here on Earth, Christina preachers can no longer instill fear into people, and the traditional ceremonies have become empty forms, creating the need for most churches to borrow from American entertainment media in order to fill their pews.

"Christianity has been the curse of all cultures into which it has intruded. It has offered eternal life somewhere else and produced sicial and individual disintegration. Even today its chief personalities fall one after another into disrepute. Catholic priests prey on their parishoners; televangelists engage in fraudulent financial practices or are seen in the seedy parts of town on sexual escapades. Clergy extol the virtues of 'the church' but rarely speak of God, and today we have large numbers of them desperately trying to get into Indian ceremonies to experience 'spirituality.'" Red Earth, White Lies, Vine Deloria, Jr.]

We were a proud and honorable people, deserving of the truth. We found out too late the white man's plans for us. Had the truth been known from the start, we would have fought with our last breath and history would read a little differently today. Better for a race such as ours to have died fighting the white take-over than to suffer the indignities forced upon us.

From pre-exposure to 1889 the count of The People went from five million (conservative) to two hundred-fifty thousand. In the same time frame to the white count went from zero to eighty-five million. Today the Native American count is about one percent of the total population of this country.

[Note: As a result of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hirsoshima it has been estimated that 130,000 people died. Within 5 years the death toll reached 200,000 persons. Within 21 years of the landing of Columbus 8,000,000 of The People were dead from violence, disease, and despair. The ratio of Native survivorship in the Americas following European contact was less than half of what the human survivorship ratio would be in the United States today if every single white person and every single black person died. Facing West: The Metaphysics of Indian Hating and Empire Building, William Drinnon]

The conditions that brought about the near extinction of The People were largely due to the colonizers government with a few more factors added:

• 1. Federal, State and Local Government established by the whites for the whites.
  
• 2. Planned extermination of The People and fostering their demise by setting tribe against tribe and nurturing the fear settlers had of us.
  
• 3. Deliberate destruction of the game The People depended on. Deliberate destruction of the crops and food sources. Deliberate destruction of dwelling places.

  [Note:"In 1871, an eastern tannery had developed a method to produce a superior leather from buffalo hides, creating a sudden demand for the hides. The price of buffalo hides had shot up, and almost overnight the southern plains had filled with hide hunters, killing buffalo by the hundreds of thousands. It was an obscene period. Between 1872 and 1874, the hunters, many with new, high-powered Sharps rifles, slaughtered almost four million of the great beasts, shipping their hides east and leaving the unused carcasses rotting on the plains. The slaughter of the huge buffalo herds destroyed the economic and cultural base of the Plains Indian nations. Without the buffalo, the Plains tribes had no choice but to submit to the U.S. Army, on which they became dependent for food and supplies. 500 Nations, An Illustrated History of the North American Indians, Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.]

• 4. Massacres of men, women and children regardless of their peace status.
  
• 5.The Trail of Broken Treaties with every single treaty broken by the government and the whites.
  
• 6. Separation of The People from their land ties.
  
• 7. Forced round-ups and marches in conditions The People were not equipped to survive and not expected to survive. The deliberate murder of anyone of anyone who could not march and the murder of those too slow, too sick, too old, too anything...
  
• 8. Placing The People on barren land without license to leave and then withholding food and supplies to already sick and starving people.
  
• 9. Withholding medical supplies when The People contracted the white man's contagious diseases. Trying to foster the diseases by exposing supplies to them before distribution to The People.
  
• 10. Distributing tainted meat and rotting food.
  
• 11. The rape of our women and children. The degradation of our people. The mutilation of our people.
  
• 12. Desecration of our graves.
  
• 13. Distribution of liquor.
  
• 14. We were told, the christian god sanctioned what was done to us. We were then expected to embrace that same god and discard ours. Our worship was censored and rituals were outlawed and deemed offensive to decent society. If what was done to my people is any example, one can only wonder how white society could possibly be offended by anything, much less consider themselves decent society.
  
• 15. Setting up government schools to house our children and teaching them to spurn our ways. Encouraging our children to assimilate into white society and become like whites. Just so this does not escape your notice, this is genocide plain and simple. Also, the sterilizing of our women without their knowledge or growth of The People.
  
• 16. Separation of The People from cultural ties.
  
• 17. Destruction of our Tribal Order.
  
• 18. Presenting American History in the public schools and colleges in such a way that it appears The People were the villains and the whites the justified.
  
• 19. The continuing refusal by the American Government to grant us true sovereignty

There is not a way to make up for what we lost and suffered, there just is not. I guess what puzzles and angers me the most is that no one will admit to it. No one is responsible. Today, as when white men first appeared here, all we get is words. No one was held accountable then and no one is held accountable now. To point out our plight to the average citizen, you are basically told they were unaware or you are asked where you heard this in a tone that implies you must be uninformed. To point out our plight to the government (who damn well knows our plight), we're given promises or accused of making problems. The press is useless as they only seem to print things that are not controversial or that have a negative connotation for The People. The courts say there is no injustice in their system regardless of evidence to the contrary. The ones looking and listening are the people and the governments outside of America. The United Nations is trying to obtain sovereignty for Indigenous People. The United States Government and the Canadian Government against it as sovereignty would diminish their control over us.

Our numbers are steadily increasing regardless of our oppression. We are trying to take back our ways and our beliefs. Our eyes are now open to the truth. We are progressing in our way and in our time. This is fine as our priorities are not the same as the white mans. We are The People and we do not aspire to be anything but ourselves.

My blood line is one half Tsalagi and one half white. Thanks to the American Governments sanctioned conditioning of my father, he left his people as a boy and never looked back. He was made to be ashamed of his people and he did not want that for us. Although his looks were Native American, he had no problem becoming a white man on paper. This creates a dilemma for me as I am not white nor do I want to be white. My heart belongs to The People. I have been trying for years to find my people and can not. My family is but one case of assimilation onto white society that may have worked for the government but does not work for us. Of the four children born to my parents only one has bought into the benevolence of the white government. We are misplaced in this society.

I say this, for now.

Shirley Loatman Pharis    

HONORING NATIVE AMERICAN CAREGIVERS

 

Traditional Native American community values help make caregiving very special.

Caregiving is seen as a journey toward wisdom that provides an opportunity to develop a deep and trusting connection to our elders. It also bestows on us the honor of learning about life through the strengths and experiences of our ancestors. Caregivers who focus on the qualities of caring, connection, and respect can find strengths within the helping relationship that will assist them in providing quality home-based care for a longer and healthier period of time.

Healing Through Spirituality

Caring for our elders is one of the traditions that strengthen tribal communities, and it is part of the daily cultural practices that connect caregivers to the past, present, and future of their people. Spirituality is the basis of healing in Native American culture and is strongly connected to the continuation of traditional healing practices such as herbal medicine, ceremonies, and purification practices. Elders remain our greatest resource for understanding traditional ways towards harmony and health, and caregivers who take the time to sit and quietly listen will be well-trained for the challenges of providing care.

Native American Caregivers

Native American caregivers (family members, nurses, and other health care providers) bring unique values to their work that helps increase the overall effectiveness and quality of their care. Drawn from common cultural norms and experiences, these values shape the way healthcare is provided in Native American communities.  These values also support Native American caregivers in finding a place of balance, harmony, and connectedness through the action of providing care for our elders, and others who are in need of health care.

Native American Nursing Values

In a recent study of Nursing in Native American Culture, members of the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association identified common cultural values and attitudes that are central to the quality of their care. Two hundred and thirty Native American nurses from a variety of tribal backgrounds participated in the focus groups that assisted Native American nursing scholars* in identifying qualities that were common in their caregiving. These qualities and values are as follows:

• Caring
• Connection
• Trust
• Respect
• Holism (Caring for the whole being)
• Spirituality
• Traditions

* Source: John Lowe, R.N., Ph.D., and Roxanne Struthers, R.N., Ph.D.

Caring

The quality of caring (first on the list above), is the foundation of Native American health care, with the role of the caregiver being seen as an honor and/or a calling in many tribal communities.

Caregiving is also understood as an active partnership between the family member and the caregiver, with the ability to listen being one of the primary qualities needed for this work. Drawing on the cultural values of silence and patience, the ability to listen and reflect allows caregivers to develop a two-way exchange of healing that is an important part of care.

Connection, Holism, Trust, Respect

This kind of caring leads to connection, and the ability to see the strengths and values of the person that we care for, as well as our own. Understanding health as a process of holism, and the ability to develop a relationship based on trust and respect, allows the caregiver to assist their family member in working towards balance. It also helps them connect their family member to resources for health that exist around them. 

Spirituality, Traditions

A caregiving plan that is based on this level of trust and respect allows the caregiver to draw upon the wisdom from the care receiver, and to learn lessons that will assist them in maintaining their own state of balance and health. In this way, caregiving goes beyond the care of a family member’s physical needs to care for the whole family. This leads to a deeper understanding and connection to the health, spirituality, and cultural traditions of the family as a whole.

 

John Lowe, RN, PhD (Cherokee)