For standing up for ourselves, our beliefs, and folks we love, women are often called a bitch.
When we demand social justice, women are often called a crazy bitch.
Just goes to show you conservative men lack both imagination and decent comeback lines.
I just tripped across this item from the Daily Press and thought it was sweet and fabulous and wanted to share it. It reminded me of one of my friend's stories romanticizing "weiner soup." For me it was grilled cheeses (actually healthier that weiner soup, but still with processed cheese). All these things that were such treats back in the day... and hey I grew up in a middle class family. But as my folks put it, cheese is damn expensive.
Now a few years ago I read my kid that book "Farm Boy" by Laura Ingalls Wilder which details what it was like for her husband to grow up on a farm in the 1800s. For Christmas Farmboy got a sled made by his day, a pair of leather boots (a big deal because 'men' wore boots, boys wore 'shoes') and 2 oranges. At this point in the story my kid stopped me, seriously angry saying "that sucks what kind of Christmas present is an orange?" Times have changed, kids are spoiled these days and me? Well I have turned into my kokum sittting in my chair and shaking my head at it all. And let me just say I don't care much for that rude language in that hippity hop music all these kids seem to listen to nowadays either. Now I have to go yell at those kids stepping on my front lawn, but please enjoy, the recollection below.
I sat down to have breakfast at a highway restaurant stop in Northern Ontario with a friend of mine this week. I had fried eggs and bologna.
Of course, most of us realize what a poor choice this type of meal is on many levels, but still it is like a treat to me. When I was a boy back home in Attawapiskat, on rare occasions I would be treated to fried eggs and bologna. Eggs and processed meats like sausage, bacon or bologna was available but it was far too expensive for our large family.
During our sinful breakfast at the local restaurant, we reminisced about our days as bologna eaters. My friend recalled lunches of bologna sandwiches with mayo, mustard and lettuce. This sandwich seemed to be a big hit with non-Native people when they were young.
Bologna was far too precious for us to simply cut up and put into sandwiches.
I first experienced the popular bologna sandwich when I was attending high school in Timmins and I lived with a non-Native family. My regular bagged lunch for school consisted of a bologna sandwich, an apple and a box drink. Most students took this little lunch for granted but it was a luxury in my mind.
I really was amazed at the wealth of a family that could afford to provide such a wonderful lunch for so many in the household.
It was not that my family up North was desperately poor or poverty-stricken to the point we could not buy bologna. As a matter of fact, mom and dad were very efficient with the way they fed our family. Along with our two parents, there were nine children and a grandparent living in our small five bedroom home. Mom and dad never bought merely a few items at the grocery store. They ordered in bulk products so that mom could prepare huge platters of spaghetti, lasagna, stews and soups.
Every morning, rather than the honoured meal of bacon and eggs or cold cereal with fresh milk, mom boiled tea and prepared a pot of porridge which we ate with watered down canned milk and sugar. We also supplemented our diet with wild meats like caribou, fish, moose and goose and mom prepared recipes by baking, frying or cooking these traditional foods.
It was not easy to feed such a large family and grocery products were always very expensive because of the remote location of Attawapiskat. Groceries came to us by barge, the winter road or aircraft.
Once in a blue moon a package of bologna made its way to our house. It did not last long my brothers, sisters and I would compete for every last tasty morsel.
It was confusing for me when I started high school and I was introduced to the non-Native world. My world was turned upside down. Everything was new and it was all I could do to adapt to the speed and competitiveness of my new world. All of a sudden the coveted bologna sandwich became a lunch that I had routinely. After thinking for many years that bologna was a luxury item here, I was downing sandwiches made with this pink packaged meat on a regular basis. It was a real surprise to find out that in the non-Native world bologna was considered a poor man's lunch.
Back home in Attawapiskat we never thought of the origins of bologna. It simply tasted great and was easy to carry and cook. That made it valuable.
In Timmins, in the high school lunch room cafeteria, conversations regularly centred around most of the student's disgust at continually eating bologna sandwiches. These were the days of food awareness and everybody joked about the mysterious meat syndrome as related to bologna. Bologna was demoted on my list of favourite foods.
These days I realize the dangers of eating processed foods and I worry about my people up the James Bay Coast who eat too much prepared meats. They are high in sodium and saturated fats and have a risk of contamination.
Still, at times my appetite for this sweet meat gets the best of me.
Australia has reversed its position on the UND. New Zealand and the US are showing signs of reconsidering but not Canada. Canada's excuse has been that the UND would supercede laws protecting non-natives - a postion that no legal expert agrees with. Naturally FN Inuit and Metis folks here in Canada tend to take this personally. But according to this article it ain't all about us. Cut throught the government spin and it turns out the Canadian government is tryng to protect multi-nationals who are interested in exploiting Indigenous peoples in other lands.
Momentum slowly builds behind UN Indigenous Declaration ....On Monday, the forum kicked off with a special discussion on the relationship between indigenous peoples and industrial corporations. Extractive industries -- gas, oil, and mineral extraction -- disproportionately impact the world's 400 million indigenous peoples, according to experts who met in The Philippines in March during a conference on extractive industries and indigenous peoples.
As it turns out, many of the indigenous peoples who attended that extractive industry workshop complained that Canadian companies were not respecting their rights, Tauli-Corpuz told Xinhua. In just one example, Canadian mining company Nautilus Mining Inc. is planning the first deep-sea mining expedition off the coast of Papa New Guinea. A small group of indigenous peoples there, the Bismarck-Solomon Seas Indigenous Peoples Council, has claimed they have not been fairly consulted for a project they saywill endanger their villages and destroy a rare ecosystem.
The H1N1 virus was the first time I've seen Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq quoted in the news since her appointment. For the most part she seems content to let her press secretary Josée Bellemare do her public speaking for her. I am not the only one to notice: Rookie minister praised for quick, open response Globe and Mail OTTAWA — It is the first test for the rookie health minister: a flu, with early cases reported in Canada, that could evolve into the pandemic predicted by medical experts for so many years. Leona Aglukkaq has been one of the least visible cabinet ministers since her swearing-in last winter. She rarely gives interviews. She has made few national policy announcements. She has seemed content to let other ministers take the limelight.
So while I agree with the Globe and Mail that Leona Aglukkaq has been invisible, I fail to understand their interpretation that her behaviour is some how a cutesy/endearing/bashful/modest attempt to allow others to take the limelight. It's not cute at all. It's irresponsible, unaccountabile, and inept. She needs to step up and do her job and address the issues.
Allow me to give a few examples. Ottawa leaves marijuana issue in limbo The federal government is not saying when it is going to comply with a court ruling nearly 16 months ago that struck down a section of its regulations regarding the medical use of marijuana.The regulations restricted designated producers to growing cannabis for no more than a single approved user of marijuana.Federal Court Justice Barry Strayer ruled in January, 2008, that the restriction is "arbitrary," not "rationally related to legitimate state interests" and violates the principles of fundamental justice. It is estimated that more than 400,000 people in Canada use marijuana for medical reasons, according to evidence presented in a case in British Columbia. Less than 20% of the nearly 3,000 people approved to smoke marijuana for medical reasons access it from the government-approved supplier, because of complaints about the quality."Our government is now looking at a range of legal options and will come forward with a policy response very soon," said Josee Bellemare.
Chief begs Ottawa for better health care Another infant from Garden Hill is fighting for her life in a Winnipeg hospital under similar circumstances that contributed to the death last month of a six-month-old baby from the northern reserve.The incident occurred less than a month after six-month-old Chace Barkman died of meningitis. His parents were sent home from the nursing station repeatedly with instructions to treat his fever with a cool bath and Tylenol. By the time he was finally medivaced to Winnipeg it was too late and he died eight days later, on March 27. On Tuesday, the parents of the year-old baby tried repeatedly to have their daughter seen by nurses at the nursing station in Garden Hill, but the overworked staff sent her home. Harper said he has repeatedly asked Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq to visit Garden Hill and see for herself the poor state of health care delivery but the invitations have been ignored. He hoped to meet with her in Ottawa but instead met with Health Canada bureaucrats and Aglukkaq's chief of staff. Aglukkaq's spokeswoman, Josee Bellemare, said the government is committed to providing quality health care in Garden Hill. "We are currently looking into Chief David Harper's concerns," she said. She said Garden Hill has a new nursing station, built in 2004, which provides primary health care, public health and emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Toronto to host global meeting on fighting TB ...And the Inuit, their TB rate is 90 times higher The most recent numbers from Statistics Canada suggest at least 70 people died across Canada in 2004 of TB-related causes. Newly minted federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who hails from Nunavut, knows the issue all too well. "She does recognize that tuberculosis is a big problem," said her press secretary, Josee Bellemare.
Wakey wakey Ms. Aglukkaq. Do your job or resign and gve your job to Bellemare. And while we're at it let's give the Globe and Mail a shake too. Since when did it become their job to write government press releases instead of news?
Well, it wasn't me, but someone finally updated the Brazman's wikipedia entry. Hats off to the author. Was it you wideye?
The Brazman was back in the news this week with an update on the harrassment complaint. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feds must hear senator harassment case: tribunal The Canadian Press May 7, 2009 Ottawa -- Ontario's Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that a sexual harassment complaint against Senator Patrick Brazeau must be heard at the federal level. The tribunal says it has no jurisdiction to hear the case because the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, once led by Mr. Brazeau, is federally regulated. The case can now proceed before the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Mr. Brazeau says an independent report cleared him of misconduct. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's rumoured that CP Reporter Sue Bailey had more to write, but being as the allegations against Brazeau are not proven yet, other details didn't get past lawyers at CP.
In related gossip, a number of First Nations leaders appeared before the Senate Committee on Human Rights. Naturally the conversation turned to the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.It's still a sore spot for most native leaders that Canada remains one of 3 countries that refuse to endorse the Declaration. (New Zealand is holding out. The US is reconsidering its position, following the example of Australia.)
What the conservatives hate, Brazman hates. So despite the fact that every other First Nation, Metis, and Inuit leader want Canada to sign, Brazeau is against it. There was a cool exchange between Brazeau and Ellen Gabriel of the Quebec Native Women's Association over the issue.
Senator Brazeau: There was the question about what exactly and specifically the declaration would do to better the life of an indigenous person in Canada.
Ms. Gabriel: Maybe we could all drive Porsche 4-by-4s.
"Q:In the last month, same-sex marriage has become legal in Iowa and Vermont. What do you think about same-sex marriage at a state level?
A: At a state level, it's up to them. I don't want it to be a federal thing. I personally still think it's wrong. People don't understand the dictionary—it's called queer. Queer means strange and unusual. It's not like a slur, like you would call a white person a honky or something like that. You know, God is pretty explicit in what we're supposed to do—what man and woman are for. Now, at the same time, we're supposed to love everybody and accept people, and preach against the sins. ..."
But the primo portion of his idiocy... he goes on:
"I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children. "
More than birds, rain, or melting snow to me the true signal that of Spring has returned is seeing these marvellous tiny and miraculous creatures back at work. With the warm weather and bright sunshine outside, I feel the need to praise and celebrate the return of ants!
Check out my top ten reasons to love the world's most diverse, wondrous and altruistic organisms - ants. Plus – for people of faith ants are praised in traditional native teachings, the Bible, the Quran. These traditional teachings are posted here too.
10. Ants are cute. Their variety of colours, wiggly little antennae and love of honey and sweets. What’s not to love?
9. We have little to fear from ants. While it is true that a few species of ants become irate when their nests are attacked and bite, sting or spray chemicals in self-defense, very few species are poisonous and these stings are rarely fatal, usually only dangerous to hypersensitive people. We have much more to fear from venomous spiders, who are predatory and use their venom to paralyze or kill prey. 20 species of spiders have venom toxic to humans, in quantities that can kill in a single bite. They live in almost all parts of the world except those that are coldest.
8. Ants are nice Ants live in colonies, can communicate and they work as a team for the collective benfit of their community. Ants behave just plain nice to each other. They share information and teach each other how to be better ants. At the University of Bristol, ants placed along a tabletop foraged for food. Rather than selfishly keeping the hoard for themselves they returned to guide other ants. Time and again, followers trailed behind leaders, darting this way and that along the route, presumably to memorize landmarks. Once a follower got its bearings, it tapped the leader with its antennae, prompting the lesson to literally proceed to the next step. The ants were only looking for food, but the researchers said the careful way the leaders led followers -- thereby turning them into leaders in their own right -- marked the Temnothorax albipennis ant as the very first example of a non-human animal exhibiting teaching behaviour.
7. Ants make good role models Ants are polite, calm and this contributes to a very efficient strategy for dealing with crowd control and avoiding panic. If humans can learn to mimic ant’s behaviour we can vastly improve our ability to cope during mass evacuations. Martin Burd of Melbourne's Monash University, says Argentinian ants are apparently masters at managing stressful 'evacuations' by acting calmly and rationally. He built a series of barriers which he put in the ants' way, then scared them into seeking an exit. The barriers made them escape faster, and instead of panicking, the ants were calm and cooperative. "They were not trying to save their own lives but were behaving for the good of the group," he said.
6. Ants are interesting to observe; they also help us understand ourselves I’m not jut taking about ant farms, or watching a trail of leafcutter ants as they travel along ant-highways to their underground gardens. These are fascinating to watch, but scientific observation of ants is helping us better understand our own lives, behaviour and brain development. Ants are helping researchers discover whether changes in the brain and behaviour occur as a consequence of living in a particular type of environment. "I truly believe that this project will open the door for my next 20 years of science," said Dr. Reinberg, who is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher at NYU and lead investigator for the Howard Hughes Institute of Medicine Collaborative Innovation Award.
5. Ants may be responsible for teaching humans to farm Farming is critical to human survival, almost every culture and every pocket of humanity has relied on farming for at least a portion of our food supply. It is doubtful that we would have survived without farming. But how did we learn to do it? Could it be early humans learned this skill by observing ants? Quite possibly. Research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says ants began farming some 50 million years ago, far before the first humans developed agriculture. Agriculture is rare in the animal world, aside form ants and humans only two other species do it: termites and bark beetles.
4. Ants protect humans Ants are scavengers, they clean up by eating dead plants and animals. You'll often see ants swarming around dead insects or even carrying them back to the anthill. This clean up helps remove bacteria from our surroundings and prevents sickness.
3. Ants can prevent human traffic accidents According to Audrey Dussutour, a University of Sydney entomologist who studies leafcutter ants, the ability of ants to organize their traffic activities is more sophisticated and efficient than humans. Studying how ants manage this could provide the basis for a system of driverless cars running on ant traffic algorithms. In recent years, scientists have turned ant traffic flows into algorithms applicable to data transmission and vehicular traffic. If humans agreed to let a computer network take the wheel, the principle learned from ants could alleviate congested traffic and get us to destinations more quickly and more safely according to Marcus Randall, a Bond University software mathematician. Any why are ants travel systems superior to humans? It appears aunts are more patient than humans. Ants slow down, which avoids traffic jams, and take turns which increasing efficiency and safety.
2. Ants are good for our health Trials in a Sydney hospital have already shown that antibiotics produced by ants are effective against a wide range of organisms, especially fungi, that cause diseases in humans. In particular, they kill the fungus Candida albicans, which is common in humans and, causes 'thrush', an infection of the mucous membranes.
1. Ants may save humanity An international team of scientists believe ants can help save humans from the next super-bug. Scientists have found new strains of drug-resistance viruses, like tuberculosis. This has created concern about new waves of pandemics. But ants may help save the day. Some ants harvest gardens of fungus carry on their bodies a secret weapon, an antibiotic-producing bacteria, which works against the parasites that invade their crops. Scientists believe that the fact that the bacteria and ants have coexisted for thousands of years means there may something there which decreases the rate of antibiotic resistance. Further study could help modern medicine solve the problem of antibiotic –resistant bugs. THANK YOU ANTS!
TEACHINGS ABOUT ANTS
The Quran and Ants:
The story of King Solomon and the ants is mentioned in chapter 27:18-19. These two verses tell how ants detected the approach of King Solomon and hid underground lest they be trampled. King Solomon over heard the ants and ordered his people to pause so that the ants might escape safely. This teachign tells us ants are rational caring intellegent creatures and we should treat them with mercy.
ThE Bible and ants:
Acording to the bible, ants have an intellegence that rivals mans. We are told to look at ants as role models in wisdon and thrift.
Proverbs 30:24-28 says-- “There are four things which are little upon the earth but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.”
While Proverbs 6:6-8 says-- “Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise; Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”
First Nations TraditionNative peoples also have many traditional teachings about ants, telling us to be respectful of them, that the creator loves them, as well as keen observations about the role of woman as leaders in a complex society.
A Choctaw Legend
The great Spirit made the very first people at the same time he made the grasshoppers, and both from yellow clay. They were born in an underground cave and then walked to the surface through a large tunnel. People and grasshoppers emerged together and traveled off in all directions. But the people were much bigger than the insects and trampled many of them... Some even killed the great mother grasshopper who lived in the cave! Fearing they would be wiped out, the grasshoppers called out to Hashtali and asked that no more people be allowed to come forth. Now, the Great Spirit hears the cries of all living things and he took pity on the grasshoppers. He made the tunnel much smaller and turned the remaining people into ants so that they could no longer trample the grasshoppers. The ants you see today are those people. Don't step on them!
Ant Woman and Bear Legend
When the earth and all things upon it were created, there was only darkness. The Ant people were being eaten by Bear and it was feared they will all be eaten. The ants go to the smartest ant (Ant Woman) and seek her help for their very lives.
Ant Woman prays and fasts for 3 days and then says she will go to Creator to ask for light. She meets Bear on way to see Creator. Bear demands to know where she is going and Ant Woman tells him why she will speak to Creator. Bear says, "I will come too. I want to keep the dark as it is."
Creator listens to Ant Woman pleading for her people. Bear then explains why there is no need for Ant Woman's people to have light. Creator says a Dance contest will be held. The best dancer between Ant Woman and Bear will get what they want.
A huge feast is planned -- everyone is invited. (They all gather from the 4 corners -- the winged, and 4-legged, and 2-legged)
Ant Woman continues praying and fasting (tightens belt). Bear feasts. He is so sure he will win the dance contest he does not worry. He then sleeps and when he wakes he eats more.
The contest is held. Ant Woman faces Creator and those watching and says, "I, Ant Woman, dance for light." Bear says, "I, Bear, dance for darkness to remain."
Ant Woman dances very well, but so does Bear. They both spin and twirl in intricate patterns for hours and stop dancing only when the drums stop. The Creator cannot decide a winner and says, "Ant Woman and Bear will dance again tomorrow."
Ant Woman continues praying and fasting (She tightens belt for she is growing weak from hunger). Bear feasts and cheerfully stuffs himself full of the good food laid out.
Contest is held. Ant Woman faces Creator and says, "I, Ant Woman, dance for light." Bear says, "I, Bear, dance for darkness to remain."
Both Ant Woman and Bear dance and dance, spinning and dipping until the drums stop after several hours. But still Creator cannot decide winner and says there will be one more day of dancing to see who is the best.
Ant woman continues praying and fasting (She again tightens belt to stop the hunger pangs) .. Bear gorges himself on the food saying he must keep up his strength to dance. Then throws himself down for a long nap.
Contest held. Ant Woman faces Creator and says, "I, Ant Woman, dance for light." Bear says, "I, Bear, dance for darkness to remain."
Bear begins dancing but soon he staggers around from all the food he has eaten and finally he falls down, groaning. Ant woman, although very weak from fasting, dances the best she has ever danced and wins the contest.
Then the Creator said, "I love all of my children. I cannot give all to one and not the other and divides time into day and night. Creator explains to all that during day, ants can gather food for themselves and their children and can escape if bear approaches. Bear will hunt at night.
Even today you see the effects from Ant Woman saving her people.
Bear still gorges self -- and walks as if too stuffed. Bears hunts mostly at night.
Ants come out in the day light and busy themselves gathering food until it grows dark. And now you know why Ants have very narrow waists.
It appears the Ant People still celebrate what Ant Woman accomplished for them by lifting the best dancer ant high into the air after the dance contest was held!
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