Well, I can say it's been an adventure, after attempting to export media files for DVD authoring of my latest new works my external HD decided it didn't want to stop spinning somewhere in the middle of exporting and thus has not been accessible. So, four new pieces sit somewhere in a spinning HD unable to be located for writing. Although, after taking some time off of work I was able to reconstruct two of the four pieces for my upcoming exhibit in Santa Fe: Round-UP (originally established by the Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg in October of 2009). I always like to get new pieces out there and thought this new showing of Round-UP would be a great opportunity were it not for the rejection of technology.
I hope to get the other two and another possible piece reconstructed by end of August and sent back to the Museum of Contemporary Native Art first thing in September so they have what I intended to be shown. The two pieces I was unable to reconstruct in time are Kemosabe version 2.0 (with additional title) and an as of yet untitled F-Troop piece and another piece I was working on that's a bit of a departure for me entitled, Cayuga. So, I have a month to re-access my brain and reconstruct what/how I remember the pieces to be. My job has afforded me a G5 tower and 20 inch monitor to bring home, now I can wake up or come home and power it up and create without having to head into the office at all hours after working 8 hours just to use a more powerful machine than my PowerBook G4 from 2005--I love this little laptop (it's served me well traveling with me through the country and internationally), but it's time for a new Intel powered device, sometime when I have the money.
It's been a difficult month struggling after attempting to author my DVD for the exhibit. I was right there. I sat on the pieces for a month and came back to them to tweak them where I thought necessary, and then moved on to export them for the DVD and then the doomsday scenario hit. Now I can get some rest, recoup and come at the work from a more focused, less stressed mind.
7.18.2010
Access Denied--The Iroquois Nationals
The saga is over for the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team this 2010 tourney, while maintaining sovereignty and their identity as individuals from sovereign nations as Indigenous people living within a colonized state (read as country) on their own territory or within the greater U.S., they bowed out of the games with dignity, grace and power.
After having received verification that the team would be granted reentry back into the U.S. by Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, the English government denied them entry into the UK in the end, going back on their word. It started with the English government's seeming concern that Our team wouldn't be allowed to gain reentry back into the U.S. while traveling on their own passports, the Haudenosaunee passport, which was apparently being denied by the U.S. government due to "security measures" and possibly a new stance against tribal sovereignty--as well as the team not being in possession of a reentry visa that is a U.S. document--which conflicts with the entire concept of sovereignty as well as their own passport. This has never stopped individuals from traversing borders utilizing the Haudenosaunee passport before, although that is not to say no one has had difficulty in the past.
What was clearly evident during this entire debacle was a lack of support from other federation member teams and an absence of any official stance from the FIL (Federation of International Lacrosse, the games global governing body). Maybe it was befitting that the U.S. lost to Canada and England lost to Australia on day 3, both countries responsible for the delay and ultimate forfeiture of the Iroquois Nationals.
Although this is only a sport, what was and is at stake goes much deeper than a lacrosse stick, cleats, pads and a helmet. Sovereignty and identity are at the root of this international incident that the U.S. and British deemed an issue of importance and a battle to be fought in keeping the Iroquois Nationals from participating in these global games. An issue that the U.S. claims is one of security, on a national level that is definitely debatable given past events that have allowed two individuals to have gotten close enough to the President of the U.S. at a State dinner to have posed more of a threat than the reentry of a sporting team back into the borders of the U.S. on their own passport (contemporary security measures in place on said passport or not).
This is the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team, which was recognized by the FIL and invited to participate as a team back in 1990, if I remember my lacrosse history. This is why I think the silence of FIL may have jeopardized Our team from attending in the long run. They could have threatened to revoke England's membership or the U.S.'s for that matter simply as a sign of solidarity with the struggle the Iroquois had to endure to eventually not attend. Not only that, but team members of the U.S. could have spoken out themselves, many have been teammates of individual Iroquois members at the collegiate level and within the U.S. professional arena of lacrosse (MLL and NLL). It seems we have entered an era where there is no apparent political or moral conscience by the individual athlete.
A great article out of Alaska:
http://www.adn.com/2010/07/15/1368823_iroquois-nationals-stopped-by.html
After having received verification that the team would be granted reentry back into the U.S. by Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton, the English government denied them entry into the UK in the end, going back on their word. It started with the English government's seeming concern that Our team wouldn't be allowed to gain reentry back into the U.S. while traveling on their own passports, the Haudenosaunee passport, which was apparently being denied by the U.S. government due to "security measures" and possibly a new stance against tribal sovereignty--as well as the team not being in possession of a reentry visa that is a U.S. document--which conflicts with the entire concept of sovereignty as well as their own passport. This has never stopped individuals from traversing borders utilizing the Haudenosaunee passport before, although that is not to say no one has had difficulty in the past.
What was clearly evident during this entire debacle was a lack of support from other federation member teams and an absence of any official stance from the FIL (Federation of International Lacrosse, the games global governing body). Maybe it was befitting that the U.S. lost to Canada and England lost to Australia on day 3, both countries responsible for the delay and ultimate forfeiture of the Iroquois Nationals.
Although this is only a sport, what was and is at stake goes much deeper than a lacrosse stick, cleats, pads and a helmet. Sovereignty and identity are at the root of this international incident that the U.S. and British deemed an issue of importance and a battle to be fought in keeping the Iroquois Nationals from participating in these global games. An issue that the U.S. claims is one of security, on a national level that is definitely debatable given past events that have allowed two individuals to have gotten close enough to the President of the U.S. at a State dinner to have posed more of a threat than the reentry of a sporting team back into the borders of the U.S. on their own passport (contemporary security measures in place on said passport or not).
This is the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team, which was recognized by the FIL and invited to participate as a team back in 1990, if I remember my lacrosse history. This is why I think the silence of FIL may have jeopardized Our team from attending in the long run. They could have threatened to revoke England's membership or the U.S.'s for that matter simply as a sign of solidarity with the struggle the Iroquois had to endure to eventually not attend. Not only that, but team members of the U.S. could have spoken out themselves, many have been teammates of individual Iroquois members at the collegiate level and within the U.S. professional arena of lacrosse (MLL and NLL). It seems we have entered an era where there is no apparent political or moral conscience by the individual athlete.
A great article out of Alaska:
http://www.adn.com/2010/07/15/1368823_iroquois-nationals-stopped-by.html
7.15.2010
Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse
This is bigger than just lacrosse. If anyone out there has been following the news recently this is the year that the World Lacrosse Championships are being held in England, which only happens every four years. Well, the Iroquois Nationals are ranked fourth in the world and are being refused entry or reentry, however you want to look at it because they are traveling on their own passports, which they have been doing for some time now. I know faithkeeper Oren Lyons travels internationally with his Haudenosaunee passport, and the countries he visits honors that document. The last time I knew he traveled on that passport was back in 2006/07 (if memory serves) when I was responsible for recording, editing, and the DVD authoring of a yearlong educational lecture series entitled, The Onondaga Land Rights and Our Common Future, part I. Oren said so in his own words that he just made it back in time for the lecture having flown back to the US and going through customs, the customs agent said he hadn't seen, "one of these passports" in a long time. Now, this happened five or six years after the infamous 9/11 that got the U.S. all diligent about homeland security, if he could reenter the U.S. with the Haudenosaunee passport why can't Our lacrosse team exit and enter? Maybe Oren had a reentry visa? I'm not sure of that detail. I digress.
Whether the Iroquois Nationals make it to England to play in the World Lacrosse Championships is really only part of the issue. I haven't heard word one of any other country standing in solidarity with the Haudenosaunee and not attending the games. It would seem at least Ireland would be supportive given their plight with colonization. What's at stake here are the issues of sovereignty and identity. The U.S. says the team can travel to England on a U.S. passport that the U.S. would be more than happy to supply, but in doing so they negate the nationality of the individual players, which was protected by the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 allowing Native Americans the right to vote in effect making them citizens of three sovereigns (tribal, federal, state), that wasn't granted in the fourteenth amendment, and the Indian Reorganization Act 1934 reestablished or appears to have reestablished tribal governments. These are U.S. laws that maintain Indigenous identity and sovereignty, which at this point in time are being challenged and reinterpreted by the U.S. to block a group of world class athletes from competing. They definitely are very menacing individuals and prove threatening to the international security of the U.S., which, let's not forget, allowed Tareq and Michaele Salahi entry into a Presidential State dinner in 2009. I'm all for secure borders, whatever that lofty and intangible concept may be, but denying access to the Iroquois Nationals to compete in England is not a battle one would think the U.S. would have chosen to fight, given the true asinine aspect of the entire issue. The Iroquois Nationals want to maintain their identity and sovereignty by not falling victim to colonization once again. Most people probably don't even realize that colonization exists, given the term post-colonial, but in effect it does exist, this recent issue is proof positive that colonization is working strong in America. Post-colonialism is a fallacy in the U.S.
Even with the assistance of Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton intervening with a letter previously requested by England for the reentry of the team back into the U.S. England has now changed its mind pertaining to that specific stipulation. Thank you England for not keeping your word.
Let Our players traverse the borders so they can compete, they aren't a national security threat, they will never end up on a terrorist watch list, nor do they want anything to do with harming the U.S., many of these players' relatives were here helping the colonialists battle against the crown, some may have fought with the French, some with the crown its self, but their relations have also fought in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, protecting the very same borders these wars were waged to protect and the very same borders they are being denied travel.
News Articles pertaining to this specific situation:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/iroquois_nationals_our_plan_is.html
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/14/sport.iroquois.passport.controversy/index.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/12/2010-07-12_iroquois_lacrosse_team_banned_from_flying_overseas_us_refuses_to_recognize_tribe.html
http://www.longislandpress.com/2010/07/14/iroquois-nationals-lacrosse-team-vsiroquois-nationals-lacrosse-team-vs-america/
http://iroquoisnationals.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:nationals-media-re-&catid=35:statistics
Whether the Iroquois Nationals make it to England to play in the World Lacrosse Championships is really only part of the issue. I haven't heard word one of any other country standing in solidarity with the Haudenosaunee and not attending the games. It would seem at least Ireland would be supportive given their plight with colonization. What's at stake here are the issues of sovereignty and identity. The U.S. says the team can travel to England on a U.S. passport that the U.S. would be more than happy to supply, but in doing so they negate the nationality of the individual players, which was protected by the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 allowing Native Americans the right to vote in effect making them citizens of three sovereigns (tribal, federal, state), that wasn't granted in the fourteenth amendment, and the Indian Reorganization Act 1934 reestablished or appears to have reestablished tribal governments. These are U.S. laws that maintain Indigenous identity and sovereignty, which at this point in time are being challenged and reinterpreted by the U.S. to block a group of world class athletes from competing. They definitely are very menacing individuals and prove threatening to the international security of the U.S., which, let's not forget, allowed Tareq and Michaele Salahi entry into a Presidential State dinner in 2009. I'm all for secure borders, whatever that lofty and intangible concept may be, but denying access to the Iroquois Nationals to compete in England is not a battle one would think the U.S. would have chosen to fight, given the true asinine aspect of the entire issue. The Iroquois Nationals want to maintain their identity and sovereignty by not falling victim to colonization once again. Most people probably don't even realize that colonization exists, given the term post-colonial, but in effect it does exist, this recent issue is proof positive that colonization is working strong in America. Post-colonialism is a fallacy in the U.S.
Even with the assistance of Secretary of State, Hilary Rodham Clinton intervening with a letter previously requested by England for the reentry of the team back into the U.S. England has now changed its mind pertaining to that specific stipulation. Thank you England for not keeping your word.
Let Our players traverse the borders so they can compete, they aren't a national security threat, they will never end up on a terrorist watch list, nor do they want anything to do with harming the U.S., many of these players' relatives were here helping the colonialists battle against the crown, some may have fought with the French, some with the crown its self, but their relations have also fought in both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and Iraq, protecting the very same borders these wars were waged to protect and the very same borders they are being denied travel.
News Articles pertaining to this specific situation:
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/iroquois_nationals_our_plan_is.html
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/14/sport.iroquois.passport.controversy/index.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/12/2010-07-12_iroquois_lacrosse_team_banned_from_flying_overseas_us_refuses_to_recognize_tribe.html
http://www.longislandpress.com/2010/07/14/iroquois-nationals-lacrosse-team-vsiroquois-nationals-lacrosse-team-vs-america/
http://iroquoisnationals.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:nationals-media-re-&catid=35:statistics
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