(July 2, 1950 - November 11, 2021)
Sto:lo Author, Poet, Instructor [University of Toronto - INS] and Traditional Teacher First Nations House.
“Creation is not passive. The birth, rebirth process of the earth, her storms,
eruptions, tidal waves, floods, droughts,
and the coming of periodic ice ages
attest to the total lack of passivity. The
birth process of the plant and animal
kingdom is not passive. Individually,
every living thing on earth must labour
to re-create itself. Seeds burst from
shell to regenerate and the process of
birth for mammals is accomplished
only with much bloodshed.
The re-birth of any social order also
is not passive. We cannot live in the
world the way it is. What is it when the
mayor of a foreign town can come into
your backyard and propose to play golf
on the graves of your dead? What is it
when that foreign country forms its
internal laws to make this despicable
act legal? At no time in history have
Europeans ever suggested played golf
on their own graves. Yet gravesite after
gravesite of our dead is considered
accessible for the most ridiculous of
pastimes.
“They/we are refusing to be obedient.
From July 11th onward, we will listen
to one instruction only – love our
own. We have been busy over the past
summer deciding who “our own” are.
They are a range of colours: black,
red, brown, yellow and white. And we
can recognize them by their loyalty to
justice, peace, and solidarity.”
An excerpt from "Oka Peace Camp -
September 9, 1990" from Bobbi Lee,
Indian Rebel (Women's Press, 1990)
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