my plans....futuristic
I have made my first major life decision. I am really scared, excited, anxious and whatever kind of emotion you would expect, its a bit of an impulse decision. (not in a bad way)
I am gonna teach Okanogan Salish next year (Sept-June) for Spokane Falls Community College and EWU (most likely) part time.
Its strange because i planned on going into Americorps for a year, do some work on the rez or just something in portland but that all changed. I guess the fact that many of our dialects are very close to dying off that scares me, the fact that i do have had the opportunity to learn and want to be fluent is another reason. I have the responsibility to myself, my family and friends to learn, its been a long time coming. I figure that there needs to be a influence of decolonization work among native people, its sad to see that our priorities are locked in financial prosperity while our lives are without true substance. And what is sad about this is, that we are in a crisis on the Colville rez with authority issues, mainly money, firings and legal issues, but we cannot stand to see that the system that is creating these problems is BROKEN! YES OUR TRIBAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN.
i cant stand to see that we focus more on our false sense of financial prosperity or lack there of, when we could be saving our language and culture. And those who say that those things are in tact are delusional in my eyes, because our traditional practices are not being taught to younger generations but we sacrifice them with pan-indian, pan-cultural/religious celebrations. We need to prioritize an ideal prosperity, not the instant soup variety in the means of money.
....anyway.....Those are some of the reasons why i chose to pursue this next year, im just tired of my own excuses, and those of many others. Im tired of thinking of my future financial status, i need to act on things that are truly pertinent in my life (or what should be) and decolonize. I am not gonna look for the job that will pay the most, but will fulfill a priority/goal in my life, and that is what means more to me now. Graduate or law school will have to wait a year or two, and although that kind of saddens me, i am content that here in the next few years i will be fluent in Okanogan.
I am gonna teach Okanogan Salish next year (Sept-June) for Spokane Falls Community College and EWU (most likely) part time.
Its strange because i planned on going into Americorps for a year, do some work on the rez or just something in portland but that all changed. I guess the fact that many of our dialects are very close to dying off that scares me, the fact that i do have had the opportunity to learn and want to be fluent is another reason. I have the responsibility to myself, my family and friends to learn, its been a long time coming. I figure that there needs to be a influence of decolonization work among native people, its sad to see that our priorities are locked in financial prosperity while our lives are without true substance. And what is sad about this is, that we are in a crisis on the Colville rez with authority issues, mainly money, firings and legal issues, but we cannot stand to see that the system that is creating these problems is BROKEN! YES OUR TRIBAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT IS BROKEN.
i cant stand to see that we focus more on our false sense of financial prosperity or lack there of, when we could be saving our language and culture. And those who say that those things are in tact are delusional in my eyes, because our traditional practices are not being taught to younger generations but we sacrifice them with pan-indian, pan-cultural/religious celebrations. We need to prioritize an ideal prosperity, not the instant soup variety in the means of money.
....anyway.....Those are some of the reasons why i chose to pursue this next year, im just tired of my own excuses, and those of many others. Im tired of thinking of my future financial status, i need to act on things that are truly pertinent in my life (or what should be) and decolonize. I am not gonna look for the job that will pay the most, but will fulfill a priority/goal in my life, and that is what means more to me now. Graduate or law school will have to wait a year or two, and although that kind of saddens me, i am content that here in the next few years i will be fluent in Okanogan.