Contact us at: whispernthunder1@gmail.comAnother New Year
~ Debby Ball
Another new year and symbolic "new"
beginnings are upon us. For many, it
is a time we take stock, look at our
dreams, goals, past actions, behaviors.
In this way of thinking, it is a good time
to recognize past hurts and redress them.
Time is circular. History is a part of our
"now", our present and our future. History
is a part of us, it determines steps toward
our future and reminds us, through
sometimes hard lessons, what happens
to our humanity when we forget to act with love and compassion and "do unto others".
It is interesting to note that many, including Christians, hold steadfastly to the concept of original sin. They feel that mankind be held responsible for the decisions of Adam and Eve, yet some of those very people deny any culpability to the wrongs done by their ancestors to the First Nations that lived and thrived in this land. They rationalize that those wrongs took place in the past, long before them, so...get over it, they retort. And then commit current transgressions through cultural appropriation, through denial, through stereotyping, through demoralizing, through attempts at reducing those people to cartoon characters or logos.
Yet the harms of the past can be redressed by acknowledging the realities of all peoples and no longer denying those whose history is wrought with trauma. Healing can begin once people stop saying, "it's in the past", "get over it" or "it was so many years ago, I didn't do it to you, my ancestors did". History lives deep within each of us. We are connected to the ancestors and the past. They live within us, they speak through us. It is in our DNA. Of course the past cannot be changed, but the continued transgressions against people with different cultural/ethnic backgrounds, against people with different spiritual beliefs can, and must, stop. People must understand and change the way they "honor" others. Treat all people with honor and dignity, through understanding those concepts as held by others. As well, understand the connection that many Indigenous People have with the earth, the understanding of our interconnectedness, the traditions, the history.
So how do we move forward? How do we move past the transgressions of the past? How do we move beyond the division of people? We can begin by acknowledging that the past happened, that history still lives in each of us and we can begin by honoring, as a people, all people. We can all learn from each other the way of true honor. We can all learn by spending time with and hearing our elders, listening to the storytellers, watching the dancers, feeling the drums, listening to nature and sitting in our silence. And then perhaps we can all heal.