A FEW THINGS WE'VE LEARNED IN OJIBWE CLASS

The news from Indian Country is ugly these days. An 11-year girl dies
of cocaine overdose in Minneapolis. A young man kills another in Cass
Lake. Death following arrest near Duluth produces outrage. A rural
Clearwater County arrest turns deadly. It's too much to process. How
can the news be always so horribly bad?

First, we are shocked. It's uncomfortable to hear about distress,
especially when it is so close to home. Then we wonder, why should I
care about these people who don't seem to care about themselves or
their families or their children. It's not my fault.

StarTribune columnist Nick Coleman has been documenting this news
story and the response to it. First, he called for a communal
response to the death of Sidney Mahkuk. His readers objected: "Being
poor is not an excuse for not loving your child." As a newspaper
columnist, Coleman views the story from a broad perspective that
instructs the community to care for its most desperate members. His
readers view the story through the filter of the lives they lead.

For five weeks, about 30 folks from Walker have been attending
classes in Ojibwe culture at Hope Lutheran Church. These classes
remind that many things contribute to the difference between how
individuals act and what society believes. The point is not to
demonize those who fail to live by society's instructions, but to
learn how those failures occur.

Joe Day taught us that Indians are not just another ethnic minority
in the American melting pot. Tribes are sovereign nations with
original rights that are protected in the treaty system. As a
consequence, Indians were not granted citizenship until after World
War I. Practicing Indian religion was outlawed until 1978. Resources
provided to reservations and Indian people come not from white people
but from lands and resources ceded by Indians to the U.S. government
first in treaties and more recently in lawsuits when the treaties
have not been honored.

Larry Smallwood recounted his early days as a "first speaker" -- a
young child who spoke only Ojibwe when he was enrolled in a nearby
school. When his school lessons contradicted what he had learned at
home, he went to his mother. His mother answered, that's their way;
you have your way. Learn their way, but keep yours. He's fortunate to
have had a parent who was able to give him guidance and direction.

Lorraine Norrgaard's video programs showed us how the federal
government literally took apart Indian culture, by taking Indian
children from their homes and placing them in boarding schools where
speaking the native language was forbidden. The goal of this policy
may have been to bring the Indian into society. But, the effect was
to eliminate the opportunity to learn how to act from one's parents
and extended family.

The schedule of the Ojibwe classes has conflicted with Sons of Norway
meetings this fall -- it's been a conflict of space and people --
many of the Ojibwe class "students" are also members of Sons of
Norway. It makes sense that the Ojibwe classes, which are dedicating
to understanding another culture, occur in the same place where the
sons and daughters of Norwegian immigrants celebrate their culture.
Often, the people who left Norway had no choice -- they had to
emigrate to support themselves. They have a family history of
displacement, sorrow and anger, for the homeland and families left
long ago. Small wonder that now that we can, we hold on to that culture.

When Lorraine spoke about how children were not allowed to speak
Ojibwe, we remembered that immigrants also were told to "speak English!"

Lorraine reminded us of a critical difference: speaking Ojibwe
language and practicing Ojibwe religion were against the law. Taking
Ojibwe children from home and putting them in boarding schools broke
the Ojibwe family, she said. We learn how to be parents from how our
parents raise us. If you take a child from his family he or she will
never learn how to be a parent.

Indian children attended boarding schools from the 1880s into the
1960s -- which means generations of people were robbed of the
opportunity to learn within the family.

Addressing parenting in Indian families requires restoring belief
that an Indian can be a parent.

Folks who participated in this summer's Good Neighbor's meetings were
asked to finish the sentence, "We can demonstrate that there is a
positive relationship between the white and Native American
communities ..." The two answers selected by the most number of
respondents were: "When Native American kids graduate from high
school at the same rate as white kids," and "When Native Americans
own businesses on Walker's Main Street."

At last week's class, John Thompson shared his dream of creating a
middle class of Indian people. It's when people have jobs and create
jobs that they can literally support themselves and their community.
And John reminded us that it's easy to look away from the poor and
the helpless, but that when one of us hurt, we all hurt. He said
that's an Ojibwe philosophy, but it's also at the core of our beliefs
as Christians.

The tragedy of alcohol and drug use among children does require a
community response. And, all parents should be leaders in that
effort. Now we are challenged to assure that all people start from
the same foundation to build a life. It's time to acknowledge the
strength of the community comes from all members being able to
support themselves and their families.

P.S. There is one more Ojibwe culture class at Hope Thursday. Don
Day, president of Fond du Lac Tribal College, speaks about education.
The class starts at 6:30 p.m. Molly MacGregor lives in Walker and
will be writing a regular column for The Pilot-Independent about our
community, taking a closer look at some of the events and issues that
concern us.