Monday, March 8, 2021

A Prophesy Wrapped in an Opportunity - Haaland Nomination Could be a Turning Point

A Prophesy Wrapped in an Opportunity

Haaland Nomination Could be a Turning Point

“Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops

Sail over the canyons and up to the stars

And reach for the heavens and hope for the future

And all that we can be and not what we are.” ~ John Denver

March . . . the month that some native cultures refer to as the Sore Eyes Moon or the Squint Eye moon. You may have noticed that a mid-day walk on a sunny day requires sunglasses or squinting to avoid the glare that can actually bring tears to your eyes.

Mornings feel different as well.

With all the seasons I have lived here in the Northcountry I have become attuned to subtle cues that herald the changes of the seasons. In the coldest part of winter the sound symphony of morning includes the crows, jays, an occasional raven, following the booming basso profundo of the barred owls calling through the night, “who, who cooks - who cooks for you?”

Then this week, still two weeks ahead of the vernal equinox with which we humans officially welcome spring, the sweet - and varied - melodies of the chickadees have joined the chorus. It’s as if they are excited children unable to constrain themselves in the face of evidence of the coming spring. Eager to lounge in the sun, run through the fields, jump in the puddles of a spring shower.

Not that the tiny boreal banditos weren’t around all along, it’s just that they were less vocal, conserving themselves in virtual puffballs of feathers and air, marshaling their energy. Suddenly now, all that conserved energy is rushing to the surface. Even the red squirrels and the bluejays can’t help but alter their melodies and join in.

These changes - the sudden symphony of hope - has its own parallels, in ways seen and unseen, across the landscapes of our lives.

Today, as I wander in the midst of that symphony, my thoughts turn to my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather. Three generations of Native Americans who lived their lives hidden from their Iroquois roots. Great grandfather who was, perhaps saved, but certainly wrested from his heritage by the orphanage that severed his tribal identity from those who would follow him. The mystery of whether he was Mohawk or Oneida or Seneca will likely never be revealed. But what we do know is that his ancestors birthed Democracy in this land. Midwived by the Peacemaker and Hiawatha and entrusted to the leadership of the strong and capable women of the Haudenosaunee people, the backbone of the Iroquois Confederacy. Yet, even though much is shrouded from their past, somehow I know that they too experienced the euphoria of this vernal moment, this symphony of hope and it ties me to them . . . gives me hope.

There is an oft-told prophecy among the Lakota (Sioux), who began their North American journey not far from the lands of the Haudenosaunee, in the Great Lakes Region, but migrated to the plains in the 1700s to become people of the horse. It is a prophecy about the White Buffalo Calf Woman, their most Sacred symbol who - in a time of terrible famine - brought to them their Sacred Pipe and Bundle that for 19 generations has been a talisman to the Lakota. Hundreds of years ago she told them that the White Buffalo would return as both a symbol of opportunity and a warning of crisis; A symbol of the opportunity for the unity of all humanity and the planet and a warning of the dangers ahead if we fail to adapt to the needs of the planet.

The White Buffalo Calf Woman, and a host of other similar prophesies from other Indian nations tell of a great spiritual springtime that would emerge to unite the entire human family but it will be wrapped in a challenge to all humanity. For the Lakota, that time would be presaged by the appearance of a white buffalo calf.

25 years ago the first documented white buffalo calf was born on a farm in Wisconsin and for almost 25 years now a white buffalo has walked on this earth.

It would have been easy for Native American people to see this as an opportunity to parochially declare this as the season of their own rebirth. Through generations of pain and genocide, they would have the right to direct their focus inward. But today their message embraces all of humanity and the need to heal the planet. As John Denver put it in his short but prophetic song “The Eagle and the Hawk” - to “reach for the heavens and hope for the future and all that we can be and not what we are.”

The nomination of Congresswoman Debra Haaland, the first Native American woman to be nominated for a cabinet-level position - Secretary of the Interior - may be the next step in fulfilling the hopes of all those who long for a just and sustainable future.

Haaland is a bridge-builder: Fearless and empathic, charitable and wise. All of the things we need to run one of the largest and far-reaching agencies in American government encompassing everything from our National Park system to grazing rights for farmers on public lands; from the Bureau of Indian Affairs to the US Geological Survey and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She has, over the years, developed a reputation for reaching across the aisle, even during this most partisan of times, to create consensus between competing interests. Haaland’s confirmation would be a game-changer. Not because she would usher in radical change but because she would bring measured change with a vision and a future.

Her nomination process has been, thankfully, without controversy regarding her heritage but the seeds of contention have largely been sown along the lines of those who see their primary role as protecting the interests of the fossil fuel industries in the face of ongoing pressure over climate change. Ironically, many of the companies - with the notable exception of ExxonMobil - that these elected officials believe themselves to be representing are already well on their way to embracing a new era of sustainable energy tied to a smart grid. Many of the big oil companies have begun the process of divesting of their fossil fuel dependence toward a greener, more sustainable energy economy. Secretary Haaland would be just the person to help them with the path along the way to this transition. In those rare cases where a company fails to see the future, I believe she would hold them to account, relying on the evidence of cooperation among the more thoughtful companies.

The world is changing and those companies that fail to recognize and respond to the existential threat imposed by climate change are doomed to suffer the consequences. If for no other reason than the fact that 70% of young people under 35 feel that Global Climate Change is an existential threat to their future, any company that fails to see the sword of Damocles hovering above its head must have it buried in the tar sands.

Representative Haaland has the rare opportunity to help lead this evolution. It will be a powerful economic force that will gain strength as the jobs of the future replace the fossil fools of the past. In her capable hands we will have a leader who understands that we may try to ignore the need to heal our planet, but we must never forget that the earth has the power to bring us into submission if we continue to ignore the natural laws that provide balance to life.

Wayne King is an author, artist, activist and recovering politician. A three-term State Senator, he was the 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor and most recently the CEO of MOP Environmental Solutions Inc., a public company in the environmental cleanup space. His art (WayneDKing.com) is exhibited nationally in galleries and he has published three books of his images with another, "New Hampshire - a Love Story", on the way. His most recent novel "Sacred Trust" a vicarious, high voltage adventure to stop a private powerline is available on Amazon.com. He lives in Thornton, between Rattlesnake Ridge and the Waterville Range. He proudly flies both the American and Iroquois Flags. His website is: http://bit.ly/WayneDKing

Links to further reading and listening:

The White Buffalo Prophecy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8QrNBPqo3g

Chief Arvol Looking Horse Speaks of White Buffalo Prophecy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHqVdZmpRgI

2007 Sol Kanee Lecture - Chief Oren Lyons

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiA4_e4YwZE

Chief Oren Lyons delivered the 5th Annual Sol Kanee Lecture "The Politics of Human Beings: The Nature of Global Warming", presented by the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at St. Paul's College.