JC> JK> It took awhile for me to realize that I had to assume the
JC> JK> responsiblity for filling in my own blanks.
JC> It appears that many people _never_ reach that point. They want the
JC> "responsibility" to be someone else's even if it can be bought with a
JC> credit card. (The old "I paid $250 for personal peace and didn't get 
.")
We have been carefully taught NOT to accept personal responsiblity for
our own actions for some years now.  Not at all how Indian children were
raised long ago according to some folks I have talked with and I can
assure you that not at all how children were raised by my grandparents,
either!
JC> JK> They want the magic back, Jim.  The magic of Merlin and others that
JC> JK> was once in all religion.
JC>  I just wrapped up a college course about "King Arthur".  I 
found
JC> it interesting that an "English Lit" class would tend to promote the 
myth
JC> and fantasy" taught by so many History Departments. Thereby causing
JC> "incorrect" American History teaching to be perpetuated. The old "Oh, 
t's
JC> O.K. that King Arthur wasn't as real or as great as all the legends make 
hi
JC> out to be, it's the 'magic' and 'fantasy' that's important."
It is also the myths and fantasy that is important in religion.  The
same stories, the same myths are repeated over and over again by
different cultures time and time again.
JC> JK> Mostly the kids.  They look in the wrong places for the magic today.
JC> JK> What they find is the black arts.
JC> Well, if they accept what they find, then doesn't that say they "knew" 
what
JC> they were "looking" for? So when they find "it" (whatever "it" _is_), 
hey
JC> can say: "YES!!! This _IS_ 'IT'".
What they find depends upon who shows them what and where "it" is too
many times.
JC> JK> All of them are followers rather than those who can make a solo
JC> JK> journey.
JC> Absolutely. Which is why I have chosen to reject them (those beliefs that
JC> would require me to be a follower).
There are some folks who are born with the ability to think for
themselves and then there are "the others".
JC> Then have you heard of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI),
JC> part of the Smithsonian with a branch already located in New York City? 
The
JC> NMAI has been an ongoing project from the federal government as well as 
the
JC> private sector for probably at least three or four years now. The 
uilding
JC> (in D.C.) will occupy the last vacant piece of land on the Mall. The wife
JC> and I will make a trip to the East Coast when it is completed in 2002 or
JC> 2003.
No, but I cannot help wondering if Aunt Victoria had anything to do with
this.  She was principal of a fancy private school in New York City
until she retired some years ago.  The head of the group she was in was
some psychiatrist, I think.  The group had something to do with Indian
education, I think.  Not certain as this was some years back.  She would
know about it if she were still out of the nursing home she finally went
to a couple of years ago.
JC> JK> acknowledgement to the Iroquois Nation.  As a child in New York state
JC> JK> years ago, we learned about that rather than gay parents.
JC> My, how times change.
Frankly, I prefered the subject matter I had.
JC> Well, I am learning whilst doing some research for my paper on 
Washington
JC> v. Yakima - 1979".
So few years ago?  What was the general idea of what went on?
JC> Actually, what shocks (maybe "shocks" isn't the right word... "mystifies"
JC> might be better) me more than anything is the fact that many NAs don't 
have
JC> any interest. But.... neither do many non-NAs. I remember one Anthro prof
JC> (American) that said she couldn't care less about _her_ ancestry/heritage
JC> she wanted to learn about others. So, she specializes in Asian 
Anthropology
JC> adopted a child of Asian birth, etc.
Hmmmm, one wonders about her parents.
JC> JK> You would go find someone to talk to that was more interesting, not
JC> JK> being either stupid or needing to punish yourself :).
JC> I think you figured out the "real me".  BTW, just in case you were
JC> wondering (actually, even if you weren't )... I am not one of those
JC> that can sit around and "chat" about the "mundane". You won't catch me in
JC> a discussion about last night's episode of "Friends" or "Melrose Place". 
 I was never one of those that could sit and talk for _hours_ on the
JC> telephone, either. 
I'm chuckling as I look at other women who are having conversations in
pure bewilderment.  Most of what some of them say just doesn't compute.
But then, I used to hang around the living room and listen to my father
and his friends when they planned out the village I was living in. Much
more interesting than my mother's conversations were.
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--- JCQWK
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