Comments on: On the rez in Oregon http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/ Listen to stories on anything from honeymoons to WWII, from award-winning journalists to first-time writers alike, from anywhere in the world. Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:12:49 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Robert http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-9844 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 08:24:58 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-9844 I am part Indian. I don't look it, I look as white as you can get. When I was younger I would look at my grandfather, my uncles and cousins and never realize I didn't look like them, never thought about it. One day when I was in my late twenties I was sitting around drinking with this Indian guy I just met (yep you know how this is going). I we were talking and I was feeling the kinship I always felt around my family. Well this guy started to turn into Mr. Hyde. When I wasn't looking he lambasted me in the side of the head knocking me down where he continued to kick me in the head until another man pulled him off me. His reason for his actions was because I was white. I am now 40 years old and have friends of about every color in the melting pot. I know one thing is for sure. If there is anyone in this country more racist then an old black man it is going to be an Indian. I still love the people of my GrandFather, but I have learned to be wary. I enjoyed this blog a great deal, thanks for taking the time to put it out here for other s learn from. I am part Indian. I don’t look it, I look as white as you can get. When I was younger I would look at my grandfather, my uncles and cousins and never realize I didn’t look like them, never thought about it.

One day when I was in my late twenties I was sitting around drinking with this Indian guy I just met (yep you know how this is going). I we were talking and I was feeling the kinship I always felt around my family. Well this guy started to turn into Mr. Hyde.

When I wasn’t looking he lambasted me in the side of the head knocking me down where he continued to kick me in the head until another man pulled him off me. His reason for his actions was because I was white.

I am now 40 years old and have friends of about every color in the melting pot. I know one thing is for sure. If there is anyone in this country more racist then an old black man it is going to be an Indian.

I still love the people of my GrandFather, but I have learned to be wary.

I enjoyed this blog a great deal, thanks for taking the time to put it out here for other s learn from.

]]> by: Cherokee Indians http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-975 Sat, 16 Dec 2006 18:26:50 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-975 <strong>Elena...</strong> Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Some of them are really interesting... Elena…

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Some of them are really interesting…

]]> by: Nicole Richie http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-928 Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:06:25 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-928 <strong>the simple life nicole...</strong> I Googled for something completely different, but found your page...and have to say thanks. nice read.... the simple life nicole…

I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….

]]> by: mathyu http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-211 Mon, 30 Oct 2006 09:29:14 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-211 in schools in the west before we mature we want to make our identity known, we want to distinguish ourselves from others, we see divisions, it's all ego.... death to ego!!, some grow up and realize we're all the same, reincarnation means you were probably a different shade of skin in a past life, perhaps you were a horse, or a ladybug or a bat, i pray that one day we will all realize that all beings are equal, even the plants and the rocks, god is not some grey haired dude in the sky, god is everything i enjoyed hearing this nice man's voice in schools in the west before we mature we want to make our identity known, we want to distinguish ourselves from others, we see divisions, it’s all ego…. death to ego!!,

some grow up and realize we’re all the same, reincarnation means you were probably a different shade of skin in a past life, perhaps you were a horse, or a ladybug or a bat, i pray that one day we will all realize that all beings are equal, even the plants and the rocks, god is not some grey haired dude in the sky, god is everything

i enjoyed hearing this nice man’s voice

]]> by: Jo http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-115 Fri, 06 Oct 2006 19:09:58 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-115 Great - thank you to John Bevis for being so honest about so many real issues and topics and for sharing his time. Dispelling the mainstream American myths about life on the Rez and being Native American one sentence at a time, with real (honest) history lessons. Excellent. Great - thank you to John Bevis for being so honest about so many real issues and topics and for sharing his time. Dispelling the mainstream American myths about life on the Rez and being Native American one sentence at a time, with real (honest) history lessons. Excellent.

]]> by: Tom http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-102 Sat, 30 Sep 2006 18:54:40 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-102 This blog was very inspiring to me because me being of black/cherokee/blackfoot/domincan/irish ancestry I can totally understand where he is coming from. tohindu This blog was very inspiring to me because me being of black/cherokee/blackfoot/domincan/irish ancestry I can totally understand where he is coming from.

tohindu

]]> by: andrew g http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-97 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:40:01 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-97 In the audio piece entitled "Growing up Poor" I think Mr. Bevis provides an interesting metaphor with the story of making his own kites. I am trying to resist the platitude of saying some nonsense like, "When life gives you lemons..." But at the same time, some of the most profound moments of my life have come from seeing the improvised imaginative devices of empoverished children. Whether it be the children of Auschwitz and Birkenau, or the children of the slums outside Rio, seeing the artifacts of these children's collective drive to play at all odds is inspiring to me. They literally dance in the jaws of the dragon. Every day. And the elements of their lack, in their little hands, become the tools of their emotional and spiritual escape. The poet Jack Gilbert writes, in "A Brief for the Defense": "The poor women at the fountain are laughing together between the suffering they have known and the awfulness in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody in the village is very sick. There is laughter every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta, and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay. If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction, we lessen the importance of their deprivation. We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world. To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil." Fly your kite, Mr. Bevis. And we will all watch in wonder. In the audio piece entitled “Growing up Poor” I think Mr. Bevis provides an interesting metaphor with the story of making his own kites. I am trying to resist the platitude of saying some nonsense like, “When life gives you lemons…” But at the same time, some of the most profound moments of my life have come from seeing the improvised imaginative devices of empoverished children. Whether it be the children of Auschwitz and Birkenau, or the children of the slums outside Rio, seeing the artifacts of these children’s collective drive to play at all odds is inspiring to me. They literally dance in the jaws of the dragon. Every day. And the elements of their lack, in their little hands, become the tools of their emotional and spiritual escape.

The poet Jack Gilbert writes, in “A Brief for the Defense”:

“The poor women
at the fountain are laughing together between
the suffering they have known and the awfulness
in their future, smiling and laughing while somebody
in the village is very sick. There is laughter
every day in the terrible streets of Calcutta,
and the women laugh in the cages of Bombay.
If we deny our happiness, resist our satisfaction,
we lessen the importance of their deprivation.
We must risk delight. We can do without pleasure,
but not delight. Not enjoyment. We must have
the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless
furnace of this world. To make injustice the only
measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.”

Fly your kite, Mr. Bevis. And we will all watch in wonder.

]]> by: andrew g http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-96 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:27:47 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-96 Again, I was truly moved by this piece. The audio is essential for the simple reason that it acomplishes what several hundred years of domestic policy has not, namely to give voice to the native cause, the native identity. I'm reminded of what Marilyn Manson said in "Bowling for Columbine" when he was asked what he would say to the shooters at Littleton. He said he would say nothing, but rahter listen to them, since apparently no one else ever did. What Mr. Bevis says is profound in that it can easily serve as a metaphor for the plight of a neglected community. Most of us have never spoken with a native or heard, in their own voice, the cracks, the pauses, and the stamina of this forgotten struggle. Nor have most of us considered that in this oppression we can hear the birth pangs of ressurection. Of hope. Of a new dawn for America's lost Americans. Thanks for reminding us all of the bloody realities of our past, and hopefully also of the redeeming possibilities of our future. Again, I was truly moved by this piece. The audio is essential for the simple reason that it acomplishes what several hundred years of domestic policy has not, namely to give voice to the native cause, the native identity. I’m reminded of what Marilyn Manson said in “Bowling for Columbine” when he was asked what he would say to the shooters at Littleton. He said he would say nothing, but rahter listen to them, since apparently no one else ever did.

What Mr. Bevis says is profound in that it can easily serve as a metaphor for the plight of a neglected community. Most of us have never spoken with a native or heard, in their own voice, the cracks, the pauses, and the stamina of this forgotten struggle. Nor have most of us considered that in this oppression we can hear the birth pangs of ressurection. Of hope. Of a new dawn for America’s lost Americans. Thanks for reminding us all of the bloody realities of our past, and hopefully also of the redeeming possibilities of our future.

]]> by: Shannan Williams http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-82 Wed, 27 Sep 2006 19:07:27 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-82 Mr. Bevis I unstand your fellings about racism because I am handicaped. I would like to bring attention to this issue that I feel strongly!! Tell me how I can help!! Shannan Williams Mr. Bevis I unstand your fellings about racism because I am handicaped. I would like to bring attention to this issue that I feel strongly!! Tell me how I can help!!
Shannan Williams

]]> by: Trey Kirk http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-81 Wed, 27 Sep 2006 19:07:04 +0000 http://www.commonties.com/blog/2006/09/25/on-the-res-in-oregon/#comment-81 I think that it was a good story that was true and to here that you could be wiped at a school I am so happy that I am at cherry creek. When you said that all of the Indians were races. When john said he was poor I thought he had a good idea about when he saw a person have a cool toy he would go home and make is own toy. It sound really said that he was there for Kennedy\'s death and Martin Luther King but before they died he was able to see them do great things. All in all I really enjoy the speech. I think that it was a good story that was true and to here that you could be wiped at a school I am so happy that I am at cherry creek. When you said that all of the Indians were races. When john said he was poor I thought he had a good idea about when he saw a person have a cool toy he would go home and make is own toy. It sound really said that he was there for Kennedy\’s death and Martin Luther King but before they died he was able to see them do great things. All in all I really enjoy the speech.

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