Why the 2016 Peace & Dignity Journey run should be dedicated to men!

Did I catch your attention with the title of this blog? I hope so although that is not the only theme that might be possible as I have 2 other themes in mind that 2016 could be dedicated to. But first I will focus on why I think the 2016 run should be dedicated to men.

In just a few days, a group of Indigenous representatives from various parts of the western hemisphere which include North, Central and South America will gather in Yunque National Rain Forest in Boriken, also known as Puerto Rico. The purpose of this gathering will be to prepare for the 2016 Peace & Dignity Journey run. I will not be present at that gathering due to other commitments, however as a 16 year veteran organizer and runner of Peace & Dignity Journeys, I write this blog to strongly suggest to any one that plans to be part of the 2016 PDJ run, that the discussions surrounding the next theme should be dedicated to men.

If you recall any previous journeys since 1992, we have dedicated the runs to our elders, children, the family, and women. We eventually agreed in 2008 to dedicate the run to scared sites and 2012 for water. Back in 2004 I think we forgot to incorporate into our discussions one of the most important parts of our family unit and our nations and that is our men. All parts of the family unit including women, children and elders have been prayed for but I ask you all out there, why not our men?

I think that we must not be afraid to dedicate the 2016 run to our men especially when it might seem that our society has been absorbed into a so-called “patriarchal” system. I argue that this patriarchy system that many might think exists is that from the white man’s world sort of speak, that which came from the colonizer’s mindset. This patriarchal system we suffer from is not ours however when we begin to discuss and focus our energy towards a re-introduction of healthy warrior based patriarchal values that stem from our own Native teachings, only then can we begin to heal our nations.

Dedicating the 2016 run to our men can create a space for us to remind our men which include grandfathers, fathers, grandsons, sons, brothers, uncles, nephews and so many other male roles of our Native family unit to take back their responsibility to their nations but most importantly to their family.

If you live in California like I do, you may already be aware that our prison population is overcrowded with….men. And yes I do understand there are women also incarcerated too but these prisons particularly house vast amounts of men of color which include our Native Indigenous relatives from all parts of the earth. Young men of color also have a higher rate of suffering a violent death when compared to other populations, which many communities in California are working to heal through an initiative known as Boys and Men of Color. We must also keep in mind that a vast amount of men are returning home from combat in wars taking place in the middle east such as Iraq and/or Afghanistan, and while I have my personal opinions about the armed forces and disagree with the imperialism and conquest that I believe our United States armed forces are taking part in, we cannot ignore the fact that men are coming back to our communities with trauma and injuries that they must learn how to cope with and they cannot re-integrate back into our communities if we do not support them with the proper resources and help remind them their responsibility of being a man to their wives, daughters, sons, sisters, girlfriends or any other part of their family.

When Peace & Dignity Journeys began in 1992, it began praying for the specific parts of the family that make up our nations, but somewhere we forgot to pray for our men. Again for those considering the commitment to take part in 2016, I ask you, why did we forget such an integral part of our family unit?

DEDICATE 2016 TO TRADITIONAL FOODS AND MEDICINES

In past runs, many communities have shared their struggles protecting or accessing sacred sites which include rivers, mountains or specific geographical locations not only because of historical connection of living on that land but particularly because these specific locations contain foods and herbs that are harvested for healing and sustenance.

Currently there is much social movement around genetically modified foods and seeds and because this momentum is growing I think 2016 could also be an opportune moment to begin a dialogue on practicing proper self-nutritional care. I also strongly encourage this possible theme for 2016 to be well thought out and decided exactly how to send a clear message about traditional medicines and food particularly because I think there is a mass of fraudulent practice and exploitation of the word “medicine” when it applies to Native people. This is common among people who claim to “heal” yet I argue that the best “medicine” healers I have ever met was those who did not claim to see my future, pray over me with feathers or lead me to believe they had special healing powers. The best “medicine” people I met have taught me where to get the traditional foods and herbs that the human body appreciates alongside with the importance of teaching me the connectedness of that food and medicine to the land it was harvested from.

Seeds are also part of this theme although if this becomes a discussion we must all remember that while seeds are major parts of foods and medicine for many people of the South, our relatives of the North rely heavily on salmon, caribou, moose, elk, grouse and many other foods that do not originate from seeds. This is why I think the second possible theme for 2016 could be dedicated to traditional foods and medicines.

DEDICATE 2016 TO LOVED ONES THAT HAVE PASSED AWAY

The third and final theme I think the 2016 run could be dedicated to I will simply put towards honoring the memory of people of our communities that have passed on. Not to be confused with dedicating to ancestors, dedicating the 2016 run to possibly have a theme to pray for our loved ones that passed on would help create a discussion to re-visit the legacy that important people of our communities have left behind for us to keep alive. We must never forget some of the people of all ages that have passed away in recent years that taught us all.

I hope that this blog has you the reader thinking about what the next 2016 run should be dedicated to, and for those attending the upcoming gathering in Boriken, these themes should be taken into strong consideration. Thank you for reading.