Tag Archives: warrior spirit

Surviving The Crush

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

December 22, 2022- On the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Oglala Sioux Reservations, in west central South Dakota, people are faced with piles of snow, thirty inches deep in some places, made even more impassible by the deep freeze that has followed Winter Storm Diaz, and has impacted an area from central Alberta to Orlando, Florida. There are people stranded, far from home, along the Missouri River, in both Dakotas and into Nebraska and Iowa. Drones are dropping infant formula and other necessities, as best they can, in rural areas where other transport is presently impossible.

I will be sending some money to help, through whatever avenue that will help the people of the worst-affected region, who are nearly destitute in the best of times. I have been to Pine Ridge, Wanblee, Martin and Rosebud. I have seen suffering and seen the joy that shines in the eyes of the people, when their humanity is acknowledged by those with no agenda. The warrior spirit of the First Nations people, like that of the people of Ukraine, will carry them through this, and the assistance of those fortunate enough to live in an area not as affected by the crushing cold and snow is more than warranted. Thankfully, also, there is an outreach by the State of South Dakota to the Tribal lands. This is an earnest recognition that there is no longer any daylight between the two entities. The Governor is a rancher, whose family has seen this type of horror before, albeit not to this degree. She has had her differences with the tribes, in the past, but weather has erased ideology as a basis for deciding who gets what.

Leave it to calamity to show humans that banding together is the only way any of us can survive.

The Summer of the Rising Tides, Day 41: They, Too, Will Walk Tall

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 11, 2020-

Every people has its heroes.

One of the great revelations that has come out of COVID19 is the resurgence of Dineh (Navajo) and Hopi people, who are standing up and taking responsibility in providing for their fellows-especially for the elders. There are those who go out each day, without much rest, and tend to the needs of those in remote parts of the Navajo Nation, bringing critical clean water and other items that are necessary, in fighting the virus. There are those, in the Hopi villages, who bring key items to thei elders, as well, and who watch out for people from outside, who may bring the dreaded pandemic.

These are people with a courageous warrior past, who know how to face even an invisible enemy. They have been hit hard, both by the virus and by the infighting between people inside their respective tribal governments. The people, though, are collectively noticing, and will face down those who are not putting their needs first. They will honour the pandemic warriors, who have swept beyond tribal politics.

There is another part of the world, also with several strong warrior traditions, where people are facing both types of plagues: Africa. I have had several people from that continent approach me as friends-most genuinely, some as mendicants. I have chosen to assist two of the genuine friends, in a concrete and limited manner. Others, as I have anticipated, are emerging-dropping subtle hints that they, too, would like specific assistance.

I am not taking on these additional cases; indeed, as an individual, whose resources are not unlimited, aiding the entire continent-or even more than those with whom I am already involved, is not practical. As a researcher, though, I will post links to organizations which could be contacted by anyone who wishes to rise as a warrior for peace, and assist the people of his/her nation.

Here are several; so my Facebook friends who see this, please take note. I am only one person, and am in late middle age, at that. These organizations, though, are likely to address your personal or communal concerns and issues:

http://www.aag.org/cs/programs/international/developingregions/africa/NGOs

https://www.ongood.ngo/info/resources/25-must-follow-ngos-in-africa

https://ironline.american.edu/five-innovative-ngos-agriculture/

https://www.aidforafrica.org/?cat=85&type=member-charities

https://www.farmafrica.org/

http://www.raptim.org

I believe that many of those who are approaching people in the West, in a sincere belief that we have individual fortunes, which can be tapped to the advantage of African peasants, will find it far more advantageous to follow the lead of the continent’s many rising entrepreneurs, several of whom may be found in the organizations listed above.

May every nation find its path to prosperity.