When we gaze into an advancing landscape, forgetting about the rest of what surrounds us, we become lost in its features, coming to life as though it were climbing out of a hazy abyss, momentarily alive in its relative motion, its features expressing detail and meaning in the shifting shadows…we come to know the earth at a personal level…what stands out to me; what stands out to you…we view the…
The mask of airborne vapor rolls back to reveal the dreamscape in the arid desert below. Red earth giving way to the Red Rock Cliffs and the tearful flow of the Adeii Eichii Cliffs beyond…an unearthly scene, yet every drift and crenellation revealing the mystical soul of this place and fortifying our imaginations. This is a place of dreams layered upon earth.
I love stuff like this. Didn’t a tribe in Africa send America some cows after 9/11? Like this is holy and the most valuable thing we have. We hear your suffering and want to do anything in our power to help
It was not a potato famine. The famine didn’t happen because of the potato yeald failing. Ireland was actually producing more than enough food. However it was almost all land owned by Brittish landowners, who took all of the food out of the country to sell in UK. Potato was what the Irish farmers ate, because it was cheep and could be produced in worst parts of the land, where more profitable food couldn’t be grown. When there were no longer potatos, the decision for the farmers was to either starve and sent the food as rent to the landlords or loose their homes and then starve.
The Brittish goverment was unwilling to do anything for two reasons. First was the laissez-faire capitalistic ideology, that put the rights of property owners to make profits above human lives. Rent freeze was unthinkable and they even were unwilling to do proper relief efforts as free food would lower the cost of food. The second reason was distain for the Irish, and the thought that they were “breeding too much” and the famine was a natural way to trim down the population, aka genocidal reasoning.
This is why it’s important to stress it was not a potato famine. The potato blinght was all over Europe but only in Ireland there was a famine. The reasons behind it had nothing to do with potatos and everything to do with the Brittish.
Apparently what made Choctaw want to offer relief to Irish was the news about the Doolough Tragedy. Hundreds of starving people were gathered for inspection to verify they were entitled to recieve relief. The officials would for *some reason* not do that and instead left to a hunting lodge 19 kilometers away to spend the night and said to the starvqing people they would have to walk there by morning to be inspected. The weather conditions were terrible and many of them died completely needlessly during the walk thoroung day and night.
This apparently reminded the Choctaw of their own very recent (and much more explicit and bigger scale) experiences of ethnic clensing, where they were forcibly relocated. It was basically a death march and thousands of Choctaw died from the terrible conditions also completely needlessly.
In 2015 a memorial named Kindred Spirits was installed in Southern Ireland to commemorate the Chactow donation.
“Stevens adds, “We don’t know if the lake is ever going to rise this high again, with the climate changes and all that, so maybe there’s an opportunity here for the Navajo people”—an opportunity to take a good look at what was destroyed when the reservoir filled, and what can be saved now, as it empties.”
For all of us who are married, were married, wish you were married, or wish you weren’t married, this is something to smile about the next time you see a bottle of wine:
Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road.
As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman if she would like a ride.
With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car.
Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking intently at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a brown bag on the seat next to Sally.
‘What in bag?’ asked the old woman.
Sally looked down at the brown bag and said, 'It’s a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband.’
The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two. Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said:
New dnd oc for a comic strip that patrons voted for (will be drawing that soon)!
36 y/o
bday: Nov 6th
bounty hunter
serial eye-roller
“I’m not angry just disappointed…but also angry” energy
Respectfully borrowed Navajo imagery as reference, and wanted to share the link to the Navajo Nation gofundme for covid relief. I donated some money and it would be great if you could too! If not, please share the fundraiser link!
Está amaneciendo sobre el Valle de las Rocas. El sol en su lenta ascensión va tiñendo de rojo la morada del pueblo navajo. Una extensa llanura salpicada de grandes cerros piedra arenisca.
Jádi, jefe del poblado, ha salido de caza. Su objetivo principal es abastecerse. El invierno ha sido duro y la despensa está vacía. No obstante tendrá que conformarse con lo que la suerte le depare. No quiere alejarse mucho de su hogar. El peligro acecha.
Sin embargo, algo más importante ha impulsado hoy al curtido guerrero. Sabe que ha llegado la hora de enfrentarse al hechicero que ha estado instigando a su pueblo desde hace mucho tiempo. Hataalii, el antiguo hombre-medicina, se apartó de las reglas chamánicas para convertirse en lo que los navajos denominan “Skin-walkeroCambia-pieles” (Yee Naaldlooshii). Seres maléficos que tienen la capacidad de cambiar de forma y adoptar la de cualquier animal.
De repente, Jádi se da cuenta de la súbita aparición en el cielo raso, justo sobre él, de una extraña y amenazadora nube de tormenta. –¡Hataalii, muéstrate! Se que eres tú. Al instante, un coloso con el rostro cubierto, aparece ante él. –Aquí estoy Jádi –responde el gigante con voz ronca, distorsionada por la máscara. –No me impresionan tus tretas, chamán. He venido a destruirte. –No me hagas reír. ¿Cómo vas a luchar contra mis poderes? –Eres un fanfarrón Hataalii. Dame una muestra de tu magia. Se dice que puedes convertirte en el animal que desees. Ante los ojos de Jádi, impresionado a su pesar, desfilan sucesivamente un lobo, un coyote y un oso. –Ciertamente, no puedo negar que son buenos trucos. No obstante están al alcance de otros. Demuéstrame que eres capaz de algo especial. ¿Serías capaz de transformarte en un animal pequeño? ¿Una hormiga, por ejemplo? –sugiere ladinamente el jefe. Hataalii no puede resistir la tentación de exhibirse y, con una carcajada estentórea, se convierte en una hormiga que inmediatamente aplasta Jádi con su pie. –La soberbia te ha perdido, cambiapieles –dice el astuto jefe, esbozando una sonrisa.
Significado de los nombres en lengua navajo:
•Jádi (antílope) •Hataalii (mago) • “Skin-walker o Cambia-pieles” (Yee Naaldlooshii)
La pequeña abraza amorosamente una de las ovejas del rebaño de su madre. Para Mai, a sus cinco años, los lanudos animales, no son solo fuente de alimento. Para la solitaria niña de la tribu navajo, las ovejas son además compañeras de juego.
Observa con atención a las reses, siguiendo las indicaciones de su madre. Dentro de poco se ocupará ella sola de la tarea. Bueno, no del todo, con la inestimable ayuda de Niyol, su perro. En la cultura de los navajos las mujeres ocupan socialmente un lugar muy especial. Ellas cuidan el rebaño de ovejas, cardan la lana, hilan y tejen y, ante conflictos entre familias, ellas deciden y juzgan.
De pronto Mai percibe la agitación del rebaño. Instintivamente, en lugar de llamar a su madre, se acerca a las ovejas. Al principio no se da cuenta, pero cuando los animales empiezan a dar saltos y a dispersarse en todas direcciones, puede escuchar claramente el tintineo característico de una serpiente de cascabel.
Está aterrorizada, pero sabe que debe mantenerse inmóvil. Cualquier movimiento puede ser mortal. El reptil se mueve hipnóticamente agitando su cola. Sus ojos clavados en la niña que tensa sus músculos esperando el inminente ataque…
Justo en ese momento el batir de unas alas rasga el aire y una imponente águila atrapa de un zarpazo a la sorprendida serpiente, alejándose de nuevo, tan vertiginosamente como ha aparecido. La madre de Mai que ha contemplado la escena impotente, corre a abrazar a su hija. Ambas alzan la vista contemplando el majestuoso vuelo de la rapaz que se lleva la víbora como alimento de sus pequeños.
El Gran Espíritu ha devuelto la paz al valle. Ahora queda la tarea de recuperar una a una las ovejas enloquecidas. Pero eso es ya otra historia.
NDN RELATIVES, STAY HOME + SAVE LIVES! We love you. We need you. Please, protect yourselves and support one another from a safe distance. XO!
The image above is a map from 1933 that shows the Navajo and Hopi tribals lands.
Art by RISE: Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment. The following text is taken from a post by Klee Benally and Indigenous Action and features Diné and English translations (by Alfredo Yazzie) on how to protect yourselves throughout and beyond this pandemic:
Wash your hands! Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol- based hand sanitizer.
Trip of a lifetime! We finally got to see Antelope Canyon & Monument Valley, both within the Navajo Nation (the rez had been closed for years due to Covid & still requires masks). Words can’t do these magnificent sites justice! And the kindness of the Navajo people always touches our hearts ☀️
I love stuff like this. Didn’t a tribe in Africa send America some cows after 9/11? Like this is holy and the most valuable thing we have. We hear your suffering and want to do anything in our power to help
It was not a potato famine. The famine didn’t happen because of the potato yeald failing. Ireland was actually producing more than enough food. However it was almost all land owned by Brittish landowners, who took all of the food out of the country to sell in UK. Potato was what the Irish farmers ate, because it was cheep and could be produced in worst parts of the land, where more profitable food couldn’t be grown. When there were no longer potatos, the decision for the farmers was to either starve and sent the food as rent to the landlords or loose their homes and then starve.
The Brittish goverment was unwilling to do anything for two reasons. First was the laissez-faire capitalistic ideology, that put the rights of property owners to make profits above human lives. Rent freeze was unthinkable and they even were unwilling to do proper relief efforts as free food would lower the cost of food. The second reason was distain for the Irish, and the thought that they were “breeding too much” and the famine was a natural way to trim down the population, aka genocidal reasoning.
This is why it’s important to stress it was not a potato famine. The potato blinght was all over Europe but only in Ireland there was a famine. The reasons behind it had nothing to do with potatos and everything to do with the Brittish.
Apparently what made Choctaw want to offer relief to Irish was the news about the Doolough Tragedy. Hundreds of starving people were gathered for inspection to verify they were entitled to recieve relief. The officials would for *some reason* not do that and instead left to a hunting lodge 19 kilometers away to spend the night and said to the starvqing people they would have to walk there by morning to be inspected. The weather conditions were terrible and many of them died completely needlessly during the walk thoroung day and night.
This apparently reminded the Choctaw of their own very recent (and much more explicit and bigger scale) experiences of ethnic clensing, where they were forcibly relocated. It was basically a death march and thousands of Choctaw died from the terrible conditions also completely needlessly.
In 2015 a memorial named Kindred Spirits was installed in Southern Ireland to commemorate the Chactow donation.
