A Revised “Injun Summer": A Call to Create A “Summer” of Reflection, Reconciliation and Reparation

The blog post below is a contemporary reworking of the classic celebration of autumn composed by John T. McCutcheon, first published in The Chicago Tribune on September 30, 1907.

Those raised in the Midwest may remember seeing the original publication each year on the front page of that newspaper until October 25, 1992. Perhaps, like it did for me, this piece inspired a sense of nostalgia in those innocent days before we grew out of the period of revisionist history that glorified the "Winning of the West" and of the childhood times of playing "Cowboys and Indians." The beginning of the usage of the phrase dates back to our beautiful New England, but from Wikipedia to the Old Farmers' Almanac, there is no definitive word about its origin.

I choose not to publish the original text, now considered offensive. I offer, instead, this reworking I composed at the dawn of the new millennium. I chose to begin the composition in the same plain-spoken homespun language as the original in an homage to the author who can be forgiven his use, in his day, of references which today might be considered at best unenlightened in writing about indigenous peoples.

The original text may be found at Injun Summer

Background on the original composition is at Chicago Tribune's McCutcheon

 

Yep, sonny, this is certainly the time that’s been called “Injun Summer” for more than a couple centuries. That’s the phrase people have been used to describe this time of year when warm weather returns after the first frost of Autumn. It was said that the spirits of the “homesick Injuns come back to play” and the burning leaves were the “campfires and the Injuns a hoppin’ ‘round  ‘em” in the haze of the autumn nights. The red leaves of fall were seen as “jest another sign o’ redskins,” the red of the leaves being “war paint rubbed off an Injun ghost.” 

But, y’ know, today it’s clear that term “Indian Summer” is a name full of contradiction. We appreciate the yearly return of the season we’ve named for peoples we have badly abused. It wasn’t that the Native American Peoples just “all went away and died, so there ain’t no more left.” You see, sonny, in the name of progress, the White Man drove the Native American peoples from their own lands, the lands of their ancestors. The greed and ambition of these rich land grabbers employed the legislators of Congress to make laws about where the tribes of the Native American peoples were allowed to live and sent its armies to back up the unjust laws against these people. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act empowering Andrew Jackson to send General Winfield Scott, in an infamous enforcement of the law, to drive the five nations living east of the Mississippi from their rich rolling Appalachian lands to the dry flat Oklahoma reservations. The Cherokee, in particular, suffered greatly after successfully taking the law all the way to the Supreme Court. Though the court ruled in their favor, they were nevertheless forced at gun point from their lands. Placed under forced migration, thousands died along the route these people followed, which became known as the “Trail of Tears." These are remembered by those who count this devastation—along with Wounded Knee and the bloody retaliatory aftermath of Little Big Horn [the Battle of Greasy Grass Creek]—as significant chapters in the history of bias and prejudice against them as peoples who inhabited this land before the Age of Discovery.

 The spirits of those dead do not rest easily. Indeed, their bones are not even left in peace as museums battle to hold on to what they call historical artifacts, while the indigenous peoples of this land must use the White Man’s legal system to sue for the return of the sacred remains of their ancestors. We need to rethink this Indian Summer, then. It should be a time for us to reflect on the spirits of those who are our models of environmental stewardship. The peoples who lived on these lands before Europeans arrived cared for the land because the Great Spirit had put them on it to care for it. In our time we need to look over our harvest fields and reflect on the spirits of those indigenous peoples whose environmental principles of respect for the land and waters of this great nation are only now being discovered and adopted as sane stewardship of the land. And while some tribes have discovered successful enterprise in the gaming industry, the white man’s attitude seems to be “How can we curb their success?” All the while peoples of all ethnic backgrounds flock to these palaces of chance to indulge what seems to be their addiction. Ironically, it was the white man’s addictive “fire water’ that was often used by unprincipled white traders and others to beguile their Indian customers into exploitative prices for trade goods.

It’s up to those who enter into this corrected Indian Summer reflection to begin creating an attitude that will allow the spirits of the ancestors of these proud and punished peoples to truly rest. Maybe it’s only with this kind of reflection that we’ll take the action to create a change in attitude that will replace reservation casinos with land reparations, paternalism with respect, and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs with a national council of indigenous promotion of self-determination. Then the imagined “homesick injuns” dancing around smoldering campfires will no longer need to long for their homeland. Then, their spirits, no longer restless, will not need to return from the happy hunting ground. Then, in that day, we pray, they will rest forever in the knowledge that justice and peace have been established for the indigenous tribes of this land.

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If you'd like to take an advocacy action on service to one tribe of indigenous people, join me in watching a 2-minute video of her work, and then go to http://heroes.cnn.com/ and vote for the Rochelle Ripley, one of ten "CNN Heroes of 2015." She is a descendant of the Lakota people and lives in my town of Glastonbury, Connecticut. Her dedicated service to the Lakota people benefits them with the results of her drives for goods, like toys, school supplies, library books, clothing, appliances and whole lot more. Voting for her makes her eligible to receive $10,000 for her work if she receives the most votes. You can vote once a day up to November 15th, for her or for any others of the 10 Heroes.

© 2000 - John P. Wentland

Don't Be Afraid of New Thngs

The pope-ification of the daily news reports has ended, and Pope Francis’ departure will bring the usual event amnesia that infects the national scene at the end of any news cycle.

But Pope Francis offered parting words, as reported by Joshua J. McElwee, that call us to remember: “Don’t be afraid of new things!”:

Jesus encountered hostility from people who did not accept what he said and did. . . For them, his openness to the honest and sincere faith of many men and women who were not part of God’s chosen people seemed intolerable. . . The disciples, for their part, acted in good faith, but the temptation to be scandalized by the freedom of God, who sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike, bypassing bureaucracy, officialdom and inner circles, threatens the authenticity of faith. Hence it must be vigorously rejected. For Jesus, the truly 'intolerable' scandal consists in everything that breaks down and destroys our trust in the working of the Spirit! God will not be outdone in generosity and he continues to scatter seeds. He scatters the seeds of his presence in our world, for 'love consists in this, not that we have loved God but that he loved us' first. That love gives us a profound certainty: We are sought by God; he waits for us.

It is this confidence that makes disciples encourage, support and nurture the good things happening all around them. To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not 'part of our group,' who are not 'like us,' is a dangerous temptation. Not only does it block conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!

That admonition needs to be taken to heart everyone, including, as his demeanor during this visit would seem to indicate, himself.

Yet he ignores the 59% of Catholics a Pew Opinion Research Survey indicates favoring the ordination of women.

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/09/02/chapter-4-expectations-of-the-church/

And in Philadelphia the week before Francis’ visit, hundreds gathered for the Women’s Ordination Worldwide (WOW) Conference in Philadelphia in a "call to action for Catholics and to get Francis' attention". "We want more Catholics to see women's rights as a justice issue," the leader of the WOW conference, Miriam Duignan said.

The conference was scheduled just before the World Meeting of Families, where Pope Francis is speaking, The Pope has said the topic of ordination of women is a closed book.

I readily acknowledge that many women share pastoral responsibilities with priests, helping to guide people, families and groups and offering new contributions to theological reflection," the Pope wrote in in his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium. 

Despite this, he maintains that "The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion." 

Women are told they cannot be priests because they do not physically resemble Christ and therefore cannot stand on the altar to represent Him to the Church.

WOW says that the denial of female priesthood on physical grounds is damaging. 

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/pope.francis.says.its.a.closed.book.but.some.catholic.women.are.getting.ordained.anyway/65057.htm

Earlier last week as he visited in New York, actions by some representing 59% of Catholic, calling for the ordination of women got them arrested. Hostility from people within the power structure, not only of the Church but also civil authority, shows they do not accept or respect the opinion of this majority. As reported on September 25^th  in truth-out.org:

Seven activists have been arrested in a civil disobedience in Washington, DC, to call for Pope Francis to recognize the rights of women to be ordained. Among those arrested were four women priests who staged a die-in near St. Matthew's Church. We speak to Janice Sevre-Duszynska, an ordained priest with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.    

More at:  http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32952-female-priests-stage-die-in-urging-pope-francis-to-open-priesthood-to-women

Anyone who denies that the Spirit is speaking through these actions runs the risk of falling into the “dangerous temptation” Francis mentions as giving “the impression that it cannot take place in those who are not 'part of our group,' who are not 'like us.'” And that not only “blocks conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith!”

Finally, a kind of coming back to the beginning, I extend an invitation to view a short video in which Kate McElwee, the wife of the journalist who wrote the article cited at the beginning of this blog post, appears. See it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjFw3dovvqk

Galatians 3, 28. . . Afraid of new things, indeed!

Considering Violent Crime An Epidemic

Today in Hartford, where there have been 25 homicides this year, John Dankosky on his daily WNPR program Where We Live, offered food for thought discussing violence as resulting from a contagion:

Violent crime in America has been dropping for years, reaching a point in 2012 that was roughly half of what it was in 1993. But that may be changing. The New York Times reported last week that violent crime was rising sharply in cities like Milwaukee and St. Louis. In Hartford, homicides jumped to 25 so far this year, up from 19 in 2014.

Read more at: http://wnpr.org/post/violence-contagious

Whenever cities experience violent crime increasing above the number of the previous year’s homicides, city administration, other authorities and the public there is often a tendency to see greater police presence as a solution. The commentary on Where we Live on which professional academics offer another element to consider in seeking solutions demands our attention. One of the comments went something like this:

When we see an outbreak of a contagious disease—think Ebola—all kinds of measures are put in place to contain it. Community hospitals in major cities are inundated with victims of shootings and other violence threatening the life of citizens, and yet there is no healthcare measures implemented.

On the TED Radio Hour, Gary Slutkin, an epidemiologist, an innovator in violence reduction and the founder/executive director of Cure Violence, addresses the question about increases in violence in cities:

“What if it could be treated like a communicable disease?” at:

http://www.npr.org/2015/02/06/379185265/why-should-we-treat-violence-like-a-contagious-disease

This is not the place to attempt a total summary of the commentary on these presentations. But in the light of national discussion on gun control and growing concern in our major cities, this important topic seems to call us to pay attention when seeking community responses.

Citizenry who call for greater police presence as a measure to prevent gun violence are looking for a way to assure safety for themselves and their children. Those who live in communities where gun violence is almost non-existent cannot imagine what it is to live in neighborhoods that can only be compared to a war zone. Community activists in our area have commented on the effect on children who walk through their neighborhood to school past crime scene tape, and even see residue of blood on the sidewalk, terming that effect as “Yellow Tape Syndrome.”

And it’s only natural for people in a war zone to seek militaristic solutions like law enforcement. Even in communities where law enforcement places a strong emphasis on community policing, city administrations, especially in an election year, want to be seen as addressing violence in their city. People see more police presence, no matter how that impacts the municipal budget, as a measure that will immediately reduce the number of homicides and thus make them feel safe and more confident about where they allow their children to play.

The recognition of the nature of violence as a kind of epidemic presents people with an added element to consider. If the commentary about violence as an epidemic is considered, the question arises: What is the part that we all play in bringing this element to the gun control debate? While consideration of this question can only lead to a long-term process toward a solution, it’s one that demands attention.

Videos of the Arrest of Freddie Gray, Mother and Son, State’s Attorney and Police Union: A Lesson in Looking Deeper

We have watched the videos of the arrest of Freddie Gray, the videographer of one, Kevin Moore, later arrested. We have seen the video of the mother beating on her son to get him away from the protest. We have heard Baltimore State’s Attorney Mosby’s announcement of the indictment of six police officers. And more recently we hear the denials by Baltimore Fraternal Order of Police of any wrong doing.

Thanks to David Horsey and the LA Times for the insightful political cartoon

There are human values at work in these videoed incidents viewed nationally and around the world. And perhaps we considered the first response that came into our heads as we watched. 

In the wake of the announcement of the indictment of 6 Baltimore police officers in the Freddie Gray case, the video of the mother forcing her son to leave the demonstration has great positive value, once we hear the interview of mother and son.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/04/28/mom-caught-on-video-hitting-son-taking-part-in-baltimore-riots/

Toya Graham, having recently lost her job, says she always tries to show her 16-year-old son, Michael Singlton, what is right. She was seen on footage that went viral forcing him to leave the area of the protests, which later turned violent. Her actions brought debating commentary on the YouTube posting of the footage.

Whatever the opinion, the viewer hears in the interview that human values were at play here, not just a knee-jerk reaction to participation in the aftermath of the violence following the death of Freddie Gray.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/30/mother-son-baltimore-protests-confrontation-tv-viral/26628207/

We watch with relief as we witness the human values at play in the announcement of indictment following the work of the office of Baltimore’s States Attorney. The announcement yesterday by Baltimore City’s States Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby's that Gray had been illegally arrested and suffered a spinal injury while unrestrained in a police transport wagon led to joyous outbursts in many parts of a city that has been under heavy police and National Guard watch and a 10 p.m. curfew following Monday's rioting.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/05/01/city-states-attorney-says-freddie-grays-arrest-illegal-has-enough-evidence-for-charges/

The police union made public a letter to States Attorney Mosby from Baltimore FOP’s president, Gene Ryan, requesting she appoint an independent prosecutor.

https://twitter.com/fop3/status/594147983731490820

Following the announcement of the indictments, Ryan has decried the State’s Attorney actions are “an egregious rush to judgment.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-riots/bs-md-fop-letter-20150501-story.html

And now the report that the arresting officer, Lt. Brian Rice, has had mental health issues adds a new element to the events surrounding Gray’s death. A Business Insider article reports that “Rice, who initially pursued Gray on a Baltimore street when Gray fled after Rice made eye contact April 12th, declared three years ago that he ‘could not continue to go on like this’ and threatened to commit an act that was censored in the public version of a report obtained by the AP from the Carroll County, Maryland, Sheriff's Office.”

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/indicted-baltimore-police-officers-has-mental-health-issues-2015-5#ixzz3YzSstnnt

There are differing reactions to the videos linked above. We view the video of the arrest of Freddie Gray in horror at the treatment shown, and have deep pain in imagining what happened in that police van as we here the detailed description of the indictment read by States Attorney Mosby.  We see mother and son, Toya and Michael, with varied emotional response—from “You go, Girl!” and “That boy needs to listen to his Mama” to “That kind of video gives  ammunition to those who say we don’t know how to act in public” and “He has a right to protest.”

In these human exchanges—Toya/Michael and Mosby/Police Union—there are differing points of view working against one another that, once  .

What we are witnessing is not a Baltimore thing. It’s an “us” thing. What we are judging as a Black-and-White thing is a human thing.

In these incidents we are struck with our own first reaction to what we see. Rush to judgment? Or perhaps what we have here is a view of the facts with a need to look deeper into the national plague of racial prejudice.