What is Chief Midegah doing?
I ran across Chief Midegah a few weeks ago. It looks as if he is meeting with anyone who would like to talk so he can share his message with them, but that message seems different from many others. Unlike the critical theory folks who bring accusations with a "therefore" that demands that you feel bad for the reinvented original sin of your ancestors, Midegah brings what still includes an accusatory message, but it comes with an invitation to change what has been and to be at peace.
It is extremely unfortunate that the message of Christian Nationalism has replaced the peace of Christ within us with the nation's love of war and trust in our weapons. If there were one thing that would make me worry about Christians at large refusing peace and reconciliation with our Indian neighbors it is their love of our government. In this country we do a great job of identifying with our government such that any accusation of bad behavior in our government institutions becomes an accusation against ourselves. This doesn't need to be so, if we can't describe evil in our own government how are we to ever address it and change for the better?
What's the message?
For a number of years, when I have read the Book of Mormon I have wanted to reach out to our native tribes to see if anyone was interested in what the book had to say. I never started in earnest because I was afraid to look foolish and I really didn't know what to say. Besides, I'm just some white european descendant from Utah, who am I to initiate such things?
I recognize that I am merely a peasant, a comfortable peasant, but still just a peasant. While I do enjoy a number of comforts because I have useful skills I recognize that I have no significant power to change the course of events. When I watch government corruption destroy the value of the money I am required to use to participate in the economy there is nothing I can do to get them to stop let alone convince the well propagandized that it is actually the federal reserve's money printing and our structures we have built around it that is causing the problem at all.
Chief Midegah is taking a different approach. While he speaks for the rights and unhonored obligations to the native people of this land and he has even more to say about who we are in relation to God. He speaks of a river watering the land on both sides, I take this to mean that the spirit of God is available to everyone in their own language and that instead of demanding that everyone align to one tradition and one baptism we perhaps need to understand each other's traditions better. I think this is amazing because even in our LDS tradition I feel like we have so culturally accepted our place in the nations of the world that there are simply some areas in the river that we refuse to drink from. If we were to seriously consider the way of the Ojibwe people we may fill in gaps in our understanding, but in order to do so we have to let go of the idea that we have the restoration, the whole restoration, and nothing but the restoration of God's kingdom on the earth.
Reconciling what has been lost
Things are still missing and if we are to find them listening to the Ojibwe may be a good start. One area where we are really missing things is the topic of the Mother. When I hear Midegah describe coming from the mother and the partnership between the masculine and the feminine in the metaphor of the feather I see that we are still suffering the disintegration from the denial of the mother. Not that we don't know anything about her, but that we appear to be expected to not talk about her. There is conjecture that she's hidden for "protection" or "out of respect", but the further I go down this path of reasoning the less sensible that is to me. It strikes me that she may represent more of an uncomfortable truth and because she hasn't been a part of the christian cannon for over a thousand years we're afraid to be too different from the other christians and bring her back now. I have experienced a representation of her in my dreams and I tell you, we need her more now than ever. Hers is the power that turns chaos into life and problems into gifts. When evil people fall into the pit that they digged to trap the followers of God it will be the expression of her power that makes that reversal happen.
The opportunity
The thing that interests me the most with the message Midegah is bringing is that his people are in a unique position to claim sovereignty. Reading through the Project 2024 Political Platform as published on his website really reinforces the unique standing his people have to claim their independence as a nation and if they found it on the 7 grandfather teachings they may be able to found a nation that isn't just another state that rests upon a core of feudalism where the state itself subsides upon what it can extract from its citizens, eventually cannibalizing them as ours is doing now. Project 2024 has the potential to build something on a foundation of voluntary association instead of control through threats of violence.
At this stage nothing is certain. I see conversations and small events that have the potential to grow into something great. I know I want to find any way I can to help whatever this is develop. For years I have wanted to find some way to help build a place where people can live in peace, but there has simply never been any place or entry point I could find for doing it. I would recommend that if we want to build a society founded on mutual respect and love for each other then we must should pay attention to what is going on here and lend a hand in whatever way we can.
As our leaders stress the institutions of government we use to maintain order in the United States through their shenanigans I continue to ponder the story in 3rd Nephi. This is the one where the chief judge is murdered and it turns out to be the last straw and the entire system of government by judges falls down. I think that story is a warning to us of where our current path as a society is leading. If we want to have any groups around with any kind of order to them when the people jockeying for power in our government finally break the whole game then we will do well to start supporting alternatives now.
Conclusion
It is still too early to see the fruit that may come from this effort, but this tree looks like the right kind of tree to water and care for in hopes of accessing this particular kind of fruit. Right now there isn't much fruit because it is too early, but any farmer can tell you that if you give up in the spring and stop caring for your crop because you don't see fruit yet then there definitely won't be much in the fall.