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Decolonization of Schools and Trauma<br>
<br>
This might be the darkest hour in recent memory, but, for Native
people,<br>
our removal from and occupation of our lands is still the darkest
hour<br>
in our collective history. The analysis of "What went wrong at
Red<br>
Lake?" fed to us by the mainstream media is superficial and
dismissive.<br>
The usual diagnosis is applied: the shooter was into heavy metal
music,<br>
Goth culture (dressed in black), had racial supremacist leanings
(never<br>
mind that the preoccupation with blood quantum/racial purity has
been<br>
imposed on us by the federal government to ensure our biological<br>
extinction), and other students picked on him, with the additional<br>
problems of living in a high poverty area and going to a low
performing<br>
school. Problem analyzed, riddle solved, and on to the next news
item;<br>
while WE still have the dead, the wounded, and a shaken and
traumatized<br>
community to care for. <br>
<br>
It seems that with all the mounting violence in schools, increased<br>
security, and declining quality someone should have by now examined
the<br>
school system itself as a possible suspect in this problem. This
would<br>
be the most logical direction for any astute and concerned school<br>
district, parents and community. The fact that no one has bothered
to<br>
make available how schools disguise their agendas should be
examined.<br>
For example, the No Child Left Behind Act has hidden clauses that<br>
stipulate that the funded are required to disclose personal
students'<br>
information to military recruiters (with an opt out clause that
schools<br>
are even more secretive about). Also, the schools must take
performance<br>
tests and if those are not up to a standard the schools lose money.<br>
These facts are probably not well known because schools remain
closed<br>
communities, resistant to any real promising changes to their
territory.<br>
This puts undue pressure on almost all of those attending schools<br>
nationwide. Indian Schools, under funded and with high military<br>
recruitment rates, are the most to feel the weight with possible<br>
long-term impact for those that enter the military and end up in
combat.<br>
In a perverse twist, the students at Red Lake, in their grief and<br>
desperation, have become perfect targets for military recruiters.<br>
<br>
To add insult to injury the FBI is in charge of investigating this<br>
tragedy. This is the same agency that unleashed a reign of terror on<br>
Native reservations in general and Pine Ridge, SD, in particular,
pulled<br>
every possible trick to incarcerate Leonard Peltier (also an
Anishinabe)<br>
and keep him in prison, killed Joe Stuntz, and executed a vicious<br>
campaign to hunt down "AIM terrorists". The FBI's involvement
is due to<br>
create even more trauma in the Red Lake community that the people
will<br>
have to cope with.<br>
<br>
The economic condition, so heavily underscored by the media, found
on<br>
most reservations should not be the main focus in this time of grief
for<br>
the Red Lake community and all the so closely knit Native communities
in<br>
this country. It should only be mentioned as one of the many
hardships<br>
brought about by U.S. colonial policies imposed on our indigenous<br>
peoples. This continuous focus on our material poverty does an<br>
injustice to our issues as human beings. Nonetheless, we are rich in
our<br>
sense of who we are and wealthy in our understanding of our culture,
our<br>
ceremonies, and our resistance. This is what will help the families,<br>
devastated Anishinabe community, and greater indigenous community. <br>
<br>
Until there is an approach that addresses the issues of historical
and<br>
current contemporary traumas, relevant to our histories and that<br>
supports our humanity, we will see our students impaired further by<br>
their collective experiences in these school systems. They remain in<br>
jeopardy and at serious risks for outbreaks like this in the future.<br>
The school system is the catalyst for these eruptions, and for
Native<br>
students this adds to a legacy of forced 'education' that more
resembled<br>
"re-education camps" than the benign system that is pro-offered
by the<br>
mainstream. Also, placing all of our trust in the security apparatus
is<br>
not enough. People power and security in forms other than punitive
have<br>
to be exercised. Re-addressing interventions, from a
healthier<br>
perspective, is the best practice approach. <br>
<br>
Schools produce this trauma in their methodologies and strict
adherence<br>
to a system of enforced conformity. Those most resistant to this<br>
indoctrinational approach are the most at-risk, although all students
in<br>
this system are at-risk. The first bully is the system and its<br>
enforcers. The trauma is perpetrated by the methods of
enforcement,<br>
unattainable goals under current conditions, and for the Native<br>
population, a colonial curriculum that negates our humanity.
In<br>
addition, we must recognize the additional trauma from the past,
still<br>
passed on generation to generation, in which the schools were used
to<br>
remove our children, destroy our families, and beat our language and<br>
cultures out of us. The damage these policies have done to us is<br>
incalculable and it remains to be addressed as our families remain<br>
broken, our children are still being removed at disproportionate
rates,<br>
and our cultures have significant gaps that keep us from following
the<br>
original instructions given to each of our Nations by the Creator.
<br>
<br>
Mitakuye Oyasin<br>
Wanbli Watakpe (aka Russ Redner, MSW)<br>
<br>
Contact information:<br>
cheruss@hotmail.com<br>
(360) 456-4283<br>
10905 Kuhlman Road # B<br>
Olympia, WA 98513<br>
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