| July 29, 2005 Why R.U.N.? Alaskan Zine Aims To Unite Revolutionary Urban Natives by Randi Madison, alaskanplumbline.info  revolutionary adj 1: markedly new or introducing radical change; "a revolutionary discovery"; "radical political views" [syn: radical] 2: relating to or having the nature of a revolution; "revolutionary wars"; "the Revolutionary era" 3: advocating or engaged in revolution; "revolutionary pamphlets"; "a revolutionary junta" [ant: counterrevolutionary] n :a radical supporter of political or social revolution [syn: revolutionist, subversive, subverter]-Webster's Dictionary Why do we need to foster a community of like-minded urban Natives who are interested in seeing change? There are countless historical reasons. As Alaska Natives have been incorporated into their current status as American citizens since statehood in 1959, they have encountered radical and traumatic changes. The rate, pace and types of changes have been fast and intense. Changes that may naturally occur over multiple generations or even eras in a society have been compressed into one generation or less in the case of Alaska Natives. Much of these changes were the results of assimilation into the “Western” way of life, and were not the direct choices of the Alaska Native people. Over the last 50 years we have seen drastic changes in lifestyle, which has altered our culture. Things such as more advanced technology, reliance on fossil fuels, fast food consumption, movement from subsistence to a cash economy (reliance upon employment for survival), and being forced into a multi-layered and philosophically different governance structure. These have been dramatic and severe. To put it into perspective let us look at the time prior to statehood. Perhaps the most traumatic course of events is known as the “Great Deaths”. Prior to Western contact, there were thought to be over 100,000 Alaska Natives, and at the time just prior to statehood, there were approximately 20,000. You do the math. That is a loss of 80 thousand of our family and friends. Because of this history, taking place prior to the additional lifestyle changes that have been instituted since statehood, the Alaska Natives found themselves traumatized with intense inter-generational grief. If you are not an Alaska Native, or even if you are and did not know of this history, I ask you to imagine yourself coming from a “sharing” value system (survival depends on community participation) and adapting gracefully to the imposed acculturation into a “takers” value system where survival depends upon the individual meeting all of her needs. Meanwhile you try to learn a new language and heal from the feelings of loss, abandonment, anger, sadness, and confusion at the decimation of 4/5 of the people you identify with. What would happen? Would you turn to drugs and alcohol to ease your pain? Would you have some anger control issues? How would you deal with learning about your new way of life while in a state of shock? Would you give in to the new system without a fight? Would you learn to depend upon it for survival? Would you be homeless? Would you continue to know yourself as an integral part of your community? What would happen? The mass confusion did not stop with the passage of legislation such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. In fact, in many ways it made the situation worse. We'll get into this in up-coming issues. The plight of Alaska Natives continues. They are moving out of small villages, the mainstay of their culture and identity, into urban settings in large numbers. It has been projected that by the year 2020 over half of the Alaska Native population will be living in urban settings, which in Alaska means Anchorage, Fairbanks or Juneau. Once in this urban setting the web of support from their traditional community is gone, and individuals and families are left on their own, disconnected, to survive in the vastly different, Westernized culture of the city. In the course of Native events in the state of Alaska the imposition of Western-style political, educational, social and religious systems upon Alaska Natives have not worked to our benefit. In some cases it has improved, but in most it has brought on inter-generational traumas that have decimated our numbers and created a system of dependence upon the western systems for survival. Due to the vast changes that have swept the Alaska Native people over the last fifty years, our indigenous cultures have been put to sleep, our people have been reprogrammed and assimilated and because of this loss of identity, our Native communities suffer in disproportionate numbers from societal ills such as depression, suicides, alcoholism and violence. This current system cannot stand to be permitted to continue. As citizens of this state and country, we find ourselves in a unique position. Our culture has obviously changed, and is changing still. But at this point in history, we have learned that we are not powerless. We have been too quiet. We need to find our voice and scream! And sing! And write! And produce films! And become revolutionary leaders in our community! We can do one of two things. We can continue to struggle within our acculturation, trying to make ourselves fit into a system and continue to try to appease the powers that be, or we can find our voices again, working within our own culture's values to create a revolution amongst our people, urging each other to take back our identities. Integration can work both ways. We are strong enough to turn the tables and integrate our own traditional belief systems into the larger society. Now is the time when it has become necessary for Alaska Natives to dissolve the political bands that have connected us to these traumas, and to introduce a markedly different or radical approach at advocating for more Native political representation (infiltration), more Native leadership roles (education), more Native community activists (action), and more Native filmmakers, artists, writers, and performers (storytelling) to make a strong unified voice for positive social change. We must make our voices heard in an organized, peaceful and unprecedented way. This is why this publication has been developed. We would like to initiate the discovery of a community of Revolutionary Urban Natives through this “zine”. I know you are out there. Come on, let us know what you are doing! We welcome you to our zine and urge you to join our community. There is power in numbers and we can make a difference. We need you to get off your ass and RUN! Randi Madison is editor of Revolutionary Urban Native magazine. The next issue of R.U.N. is due to hit Anchorage on August 6th. You may contact Randi by email at run_zine@mac.com |
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2005
Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
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