The big election, visiting, and operations!

Well, the November election is fast approaching.  Although Obama won’t capture the  six electoral votes in Kansas, he should win the over-all Presidential election. A man of color has little chance in Kansas. They brought some national attention to Kansas by attempting to keep Obama off the ballot, which makes no sense because it is an entrenched Republican state and the six votes will go to Romney.  Yet, like him or not, it is rare for a sitting president to lose a reelection.  I personally may never vote again in these elections with the new restrictions in place:  “show me a driver’s license guy of color or we won’t let you vote in our election.”  I remember covering stuff like this in my political science classes at Washburn, but all of that b.s. was directed at the black folk.  They had all these literacy exams and other hurdles for them to fight through and for years they never got to vote. It’s history revisited. Oh, well my vote wouldn’t mean anything anyway. 

 

I recently drove to a meeting north of Minneapolis, so I stopped by to see my brother Larry’s final resting place at Fort Snelling Military Cemetery.  It is only the second time I went there since he died in 2007.  That was because of my own internal confusion.  I think sometimes I haven’t accepted his passing, but by going there it is working out.  It’s pretty damn hard to not have a twin brother around anymore and it sure took the fun out of golf.  I stopped playing that, too.  Somewhere along the line, I need to move on and I will.

My grandson, Hooty, had his third eye operation in less than six months.  It is a stressful time for all of us.  My girl has to constantly worry and deal with other people's hate and on top of that, she has to think about her son and his health.  We were there after the operation and will always be there for him and my other grandchildren. I would much prefer these things happen to me than them.

That’s why I never worry about racism from the outside. I don't say that lightly because I've seen some horrible conduct in my life.  In fact, I can understand that better, but it makes me shake my head to see Indians go after their own with a vengeance in our current system.  That goes against our value system in a big way.

This weekend we have our veteran’s pow-wow at our park.  It is usually well-attended and the weather is going to be great.  I may go or not, but the three-day weekend will be a break from all this stress and a chance to spend more time with Hooty and of course my great-granddaughter, Shuggie.  She is the star of the show for our family.  Hooty loves her, I love her and the rest of the family loves her.  Hard to beat that, huh?

 

It never stops in Kansas!

Kevin Yoder has brought the fine up-standing state of Kansas into the national spotlight.  But that's nothing new for these local politicos.  Now keep in mind when you are reading this that Kansas is part of the Bible-Belt.

Yoder swam naked in the Sea of Galilee. Most people would say:  the nerve of the guy to swim naked in the area where the Man walked on water.  True, he did have some nerve, but he also found out that politicians can't walk on water. Some say he should be crucified on the cross of politics and sent back to the farm.  Maybe he is not worthy to be in the sinful halls of Congress or maybe he is, only time will tell. A Republican today, a Democrat tomorrow - somehow they fight for that 15 minutes of fame.

Yoder brought further attention to Kansas by making David Letterman’s top 10 list, titled "Congressman Kevin Yoder Excuses."

10. "What's the big deal, I was naked the whole trip."

9. "It was spring break; chill out."

8. "People in the Middle East are pretty easygoing about nudity."

7. "In my defense, I had been drinking heavily."

6. "Trying to take the focus off Mitt Romney's taxes."

5. "It had been days since a congressman did something embarrassing."

4. "It's Obama's fault."

3. "Putting the 'junk' in 'congressional junket.'"

2. "I can't swim naked, but Barney Frank can walk around like this?" (Picture Frank in a blue sweater and jacket.)

1. "That's how we party in Kansas."

And in the comment section of the local paper, a guy said “Kansas has arrived, when we made Letterman’s top 10 list.”

Another was a bit more concise, he said:  “Forget nude swimming, we should be asking why our elected officials are taking these trips which are paid for by lobbying organizations in the first place. Do you really think that this was a "Fact-Finding Mission?" No, this is a luxury leisure tour meant to buy influence. 10k per person is what the AIEF paid for this "Congressional Delegation." Heck, bring the wife and kids and a entourage of staff members too! 10k per person is a bargain compared to the BILLIONS Israel receives as a result of these lobbying efforts. Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II. To date,the United States has provided Israel $115 billion in assistance, -all with the help of some well orchestrated lobbying efforts.” 

Oh, don't ask me why the U.S. gives them that much money.  I took a history class "The History of the Middle East," while I attended the local U and when it was all said and done, I still didn't know what they were fighting about over there. As for this incident, this swimming adventure happened August 18, 2011 and it's just now making the news.  Um, wonder why?

I guess what he’s done isn’t worse than that Moss guy did in Topeka.  He is a principal of a high school there and on this particular day, he spent the day working with the kids of East Topeka and when the  school bell whistled, he promptly went on the prowl looking for a woman of the night to satisfy his illicit desires, but the gal just happened to be a cop in disguise.  So much for his career of teaching kids! He is now at home wondering how he didn’t know she was a cop.  One consolation for him:  he is on leave with pay. 

I'm not passing judgement on either one of these fine gentleman, I'm just telling you the news of the day! 

Sunday rides, politics and the heat, of course!

I took a Sunday drive to the Kickapoo Reservation for a birthday meal.  All of the fields were burned brown and many trees looked like they were dead or dying.  The experts say this is the hottest summer since 1934 and that Missouri and Kansas could lose up to a billion trees (my yard looks bad also which shoots down years of work.  In other words, the blood, sweat and tears were to no avail).  Plus the pond levels have dropped a bunch and some have dried up entirely.

On the way back, we drove through Horton, Muscotah, Larkenburg and one other small town.  These places used to have several businesses on their main streets, now the only thing left is a post office.  Times have changed for the little town in this area.  I guess they are victims of migration to the big city, the economy and Wal Mart. They will never recover!

Although they rate only a passing thought for most of us, one can only be amazed at how our reservation had been transformed.  Ours, like so many other reservations were poverty-stricken. Who would have thought we would have a green plush golf course, a big casino and hotel, black-top roads, and jobs.  Yet with this new wealth, there is political unrest.  A case in point:  Look at how I reacted to voting in our run-off election this coming Saturday.

I laid out my ballot.  I looked at it long and hard, my hands kinda shook, sweat broke out on my forehead, a tear developed but never quite went over the proverbial high Indian cheekbone, then I called the local holy men to smoke my ballot but they were still asleep so I said hell I will wait till my nerves calm down. That night while sitting on the front steps,, one candidate, T. Wabnum drove by my house and honked at me, so I will probably vote for him because he acknowledged my humble presence in this life,  plus he publicly stated he was going to treat us Indians right. I hope he continues to wave and honk after election day.  Okay, that’s one down. I rarely see the other candidates. They don’t look at me or talk to me. I just don’t know. I may have to pow wow with the holy men here for guidance. I will keep you updated, and while the actual election is still a few days away- the fate of our fine tribe hangs in the balance!  But somewhere in all of that, I found the courage to do it and the voting dilemma is finally over: I filled out that paper and only I will know if I made a mistake, but we have such low expectations anyway that we shouldn't be disappointed at all. Sorry tribe, after Saturday: forever hold your peace! (you can't see it but tears did make it over that proverbial high cheekbone).

Today had my mother lived, it would have been her birthday.  We would have had a big meal, had cake and bought her a gift for being the best mother possible.  It ain’t going to happen, but it would have been great to have that meal with her.  It would have been better yet to learn a few more Indian words from her. We had to move on and learn to live without her loving and caring ways – such is life.

It's a Heat Wave!

We are in a humdinger of a heat wave.  It almost prevents any outside work, maybe early and late in the day but not in between.  I still say we are being punished for non-Indians making fun of Indians doing a dance to make it rain.  We all have to suffer now.

My wife had her birthday on Sunday.  My girl had a great meal for her.  Her day was one spent in pain because she had slipped on the steps and fell.  We are both so careful, but accidents happen and she was in pain all day and that’s not the way to spend a birthday.  Voncile enjoyed the meal though and to see her kids, grandchildren and Shuggie come to our house to celebrate.  I said that she was traditional before it became fashionable and that is true.  I probably would not have gone to our tribal ceremonies but because of her dedication, I tagged along and pretty soon I became almost as dedicated as her.  My role is diminishing every year, but I will still go and sit in the corner by her.  I was beaten so many times in boarding school that I didn’t think I would ever go back to any church. 

We will have two action packed weeks here.  On Saturday it’s “General Council Time” and that is always an adventure, but we keep democracy by scrutiny.  A friend of mine said once that these political beatings only last eight hours and it’s over.  Our meeting usually only goes five hours so anybody can take it that long, I think. And the week after, it’s election time.  Many said they want change.  Somebody said there’s no tyranny like petty tyranny, so elections are mean’t to correct that problem. That’s another aspect of politics –people get tired of looking at somebody and then it’s time for them to hit the pavement running – running as fast as they can back to where they came from. Sometimes people aren’t legends among mere mortals, like they think. 

It’s getting late in this political process and I haven't voted yet. I need to find the local holy men to smoke off my ballot so I won't vote in evil! Or maybe I should just give up and say the hell with it, after all one vote don’t mean anything, does it? Nonetheless,It will be an interesting two weeks if we survive the heat.

The weather, religion, politics, elections and gatherings!

Here is another picture of my great-granddaughter Shuggie.  She was sick for awhile there but as you can see, she is much better and that makes me feel better. The weather is blazing and the humidity  can take your breath away.  In fact, I went to Topeka with my daughter and she drove her truck.  We had intentions of picking up some lumber that I needed for a project of mine, but the heat was so oppressive that we just ate and came on home.  It was 103 degrees. She had no a/c in her truck so I learned humility too.  Heck even with the windows down and going down the highway at a 70 mph clip, it was still blazing hot.  In the near future there is hope.  The weather people say we will get a break in the weather about Sunday.  I won't complain.  We had a couple of days of rain in this spell and boy I was like a little kid, I had to sit outside and watch it come down.
In the last few weeks we've concluded our various services:  namings, adoption and our Summer Dance.  My grandson Hooty will have surgery toward the end of the month.  He will be alright after that.  Now we have a quarterly General Council coming up soon that will also be hotter than a pistola, it always is, sometimes it's best to figure on it, take it and move on.  It makes you wonder how some politicians are so sensitive after listening to these sessions all day, but of course it's a quarterly thing and many things said are forgotten the next moment. Oh, and there is an election, with bright futures promised by all the candidates, in three weeks. It will be worth watching from the sidelines. After that it will be brotherly and sisterly love at the Potawatomi Gathering.  We are going, hopefully the weather will be good there.

A scorcher update!

I had the opportunity to speak at a conference yesterday at Kansas University.  I enjoyed talking about our history, language and gaming to a crowd of about 40-50 people.  I guess they were from all over the place, this state, that state, this country, and that country.  The session lasted about 45 minutes and I welcomed the change in a work week, plus I got to meet some new people some who were right friendly.

Trying my best to be “country,” I went to the wrong building and the people said I need to climb this mountain of a hill to get to the right location, so I did.  I’m lucky I left a little bit early because I made it to conference only a few minutes late.  I thought this is why KU has such great athletes because they have to fight these hills every day, but of course they are a lot younger and in hell of lot better shape than I am.  To make it worse when I got done, I went back down that big hill, but it wasn’t as bad as climbing it and I tried to get out of the parking garage but it only accepted Visa credit cards, not Discover, but a Visa card.  I had let my granddaughter use my Visa for a gas purchase and the little girl hasn’t returned the little evil card.  Well anyway I finally found a machine that took cash and I was able to get out of that parking garage, but not before I had gotten completely flustered over modern technology.  Geez, we don’t have that on the rez.  After all this, I passed go and proceeded directly back to the reservation where I belong. 

Speaking of KU, they added another guard, 6’4 Milton Doyle from Chicago.  I’m so looking forward to watching this young team in the coming year.  KU reloads, they don’t rebuild and watch for that to happen this year again.

We are absolutely burning up here on our reservation.  I said in the past those idiots making fun of Indians doing rain dances should have to pay for those stupid remarks and not get any rain until they apologize.  Maybe we should all ask for rain and forget those transgressions.  I’m lucky I moved some of my garden closer to my house so I can water it more or it would have all burned up.  The ground is cracking up and it’s like the blazing hot days of August.  Oh, well we will hang in there, because what other choice do we have?

The heat, the pow-wow and a good weekend!

The 2012 PBP Pow-Wow has come and gone. As usual, it was a scorcher. I didn’t dance or sing or volunteer for anything, but I came home tired every night. I should have just camped and I could have rested there during the day or hung around there during the slow times.  Oh, well maybe next year. The pow-wow was well-attended and some said we had 427 dancers, a bunch for sure and a new record.  Rest assured when you offer $100,000 in prize money, they will come. The whole pow-wow was an organized event, but the specials can take up oodles of time which can cause things to go late into the night.  Also when you offer that much cash, people don't come to see you, or your grounds or really give a damn on how it's run, it's all about the cash. That too is the name of the game these days!

We sat behind the bleachers under some small trees, and it was good shade but it wasn’t good for watching the dancers.  It was good for watching aspiring politicians work the crowd.  We are having an election this July and the campaign is on and the pow-wow was the time to catch voter attention. Some said what they hope to do, others didn’t say, evidently confident in the final outcome.  Some gave gifts away and they weren’t incumbents.  And the candidates did many acts of kindness throughout the weekend.  It’s too bad that can’t last for four years.

Our seating, although not in the front row, also gave us a chance to visit people as they went by.  I must have looked hungry because my niece Soga brought me a plate of catfish - top of the line cooking and Larry Cole, the man from Texas brought me 12 Cd's of all kind of music. They made my day!

At the end, an elderly lady started to tear down her vendor tent.  We were right there and she was working away and at first we thought somebody was going to help her, but that never happened so we got up and did our good deed for the week.  My brother, me, my wife and my sister helped her.  It was a struggle at times but it got done. Many young people just watched us without offering a hand, that was troubling, but it was more troubling that a candidate didn’t run across the arena to lend a hand.  Geez, I hope that isn’t an indictment on the work we will see out of them for the next four years. Flip Wilson used to say “what you see is what you get.”  Sometimes politics is like that!

I hang around the pow-wow to watch my grandson, Pat ko shuk, dance.  The boy loves to dance.  He doesn't win, he is disappointed, but just moves on to the next pow-wow and dances again.  He's a winner in my heart though.