August 21st RAPP Movie

[anni]

Dear Friends,

This month we have a more serious selection lined up. In June, Pastor Steve and I had the honor of hearing Dr. Rev. George “Tink” Tinker speak at our Annual Conference in Redlands. Tinker is an Osage spiritual leader and an ordained Lutheran pastor. He is a professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. In his academic career he has critiqued Western economic, political, religious and social systems. When he addressed our gathering of pastors and lay leaders, he spoke frankly and eloquently about the genocide of indigenous peoples carried out during Western expansion. His deep knowledge of both cultures and a wry sense of humor make for a powerfully enlightening presentation.

There are some compelling reasons for you to come hear the recordings of Dr. Tinker’s teachings. Most of us have inherited spoils of the the Euro-American conquest of these lands. Some of us are a part of Christianity which provided a rationale for the conquest. It is important for us to learn the history and acknowledge our connection to it. And it will be good for those of us who are not Christians to know what we are learning. Dr. Tinker speaks truth with love and offers hope for healing.

I hope that you’ll come and hear his words with us next Friday night, August 21, at 2700 Montrose Avenue, Montrose. Doors open at 7 PM, film at 7:30.

Peace, Jeanne

[Oss Rae]

This looks VERY interesting.

It looks like it's going to be a busy weekend for me.

[Brian]

A short segment of George Tinker's talk about repentance at the United Methodist 2012 General Conference.

In my You Tube search, I found a nearly 90-minute presentation by Tink last year, titled "How the West Was Lost:  An Indian Take on the American Romance of the West."  I also got the half-hour sermon in Redlands last June that Jeanne mentioned.  I only watched the first few minutes of each -- one of them could be the RAPP (Read and Practice Peacemaking) group's video next Friday.

That didn't stop me from pursuing other searches, and everything I learn about Dr. Tinker only intrigues me more, since his topic always seems to include peace and justice. This is his page on the Iliff School of Theology website:

www.iliff.edu/learn/your-faculty/george-e-tink-tinker/

[Jeanne]

Thanks for the link,Brian. It's the Redlands talk that we will be hearing. There are three parts. I think that the first part is the only one on youtube.

[Sharon W]

Details on a couple things we mentioned last night. The Little Landers Historical Society September 12 program is on the Kizh Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians - it starts at 1 pm and is at Bolton Hall, 10110 Commerce Ave., Tujunga.

For more info see: www.littlelandershistoricalsociety.org/

This is the Haramokngna American Indian Culture Center link: www.haramokngna.org/

It occurred to me this morning that being mindful of the first human inhabitants of this area is so much a part of my personal narrative that I forgot to mention last night that we say Crescenta Valley Community Association covers the territory from Tujunga to Hahamongna. We've been told those are both Tongva place names and we use that to illustrate that the interests of the valley cross the current jurisdictional boundaries that have been artificially drawn by European settlers.

Here's more on a historic local Native American, Toypurina, articles.latimes.com/2001/jun/10/local/me-8853/2 and a great more recent article I wouldn't have found without this program - thanks so much, Jeanne, for arranging this program! I grew up in El Monte and we never learned any of this in public school - we got the Ramona play - essentially what would be the Disney version these days. tropicsofmeta.wordpress.com/2014/01/23/toypurina-a-legend-etched-in-the-landscape/

When the new Library on Foothill and La Crescenta was built the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley contributed a bronze plaque in for the lobby floor. Toypurina is on it to depict the Native American era, along with Jose Maria Verdugo for the Spanish era and Dr. Benjamin Briggs for the American era. Here's a newspaper article about it when it opened in 2010: www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/news/02/04/2010/now-it%E2%80%99s-official-%E2%80%93-our-library-is-open/

Turned out to not be a quick reply!

[Oss Rae]

Thank you for the info. about the event on Sept. 12th. As I was leaving last night I was sorry I didn't get more details about it. I'm also glad to know of the Toypurina statue. (It must've been a different Toypurina statue (?) in SoCal that caused the S.O.S. people to come out and protest eight or nine years ago, which brought out a huge number of counter demonstrators. I guess the S.O.S. considered Toypurina an illegal immigrant. (How do these people get through 12 years of school?)

Did you see the stage play about Toypurina that played last fall in San Gabriel? I tried to get tickets, but it sold out fast. I see at the website that it's going to be traveling through California in 2016. You can see snippets of the play here: www.toypurina.org/2015/01/toypurina-trailer/

Maybe you know this, but according to the book The First Angelinos by William McCawley, the name Tujunga is said to mean "old woman" and may refer to "'a rock shaped like an old woman' in Little Tujunga Canyon."

McCawley also mentions another village, which appears to be east of Tujunga, called Muuhonga. The most likely meaning of the name appears to be "place of the owls."

I'm looking forward to learning more at that event in September you mentioned.

I've only started learning original Indigenous placenames (and Tongva vocabulary) in recent years. There's a common sentiment in the U.S. that when in someone else's country, one should learn the language. I agree: and I think we Euro Americans should've started learning from the Indigenous from the outset--rather than thinking we've had things to teach them.

[Oss Rae]

Buffy Ste. Marie has described this as Indian History 101 condensed into a song:

[Sharon W]

Too bad I didn't know about this action when this screening happened. www.credomobilize.com/petitions/tell-congress-to-give-native-americans-back-their-sacred-land?sp_ref=152867442.4.15732.f.65173.2&source=fb_share_sp

But it's not too late to sign the petition!

[Oss Rae]

I signed a petition about this but apparently not this one. (It can be difficult for me to sign petitions since my first name has two parts separated by a space. This is pretty unusual in our culture. I'll give it a try.)

[Sharon W]

Examples just keep coming: www.yahoo.com/movies/petition-demands-maze-runner-cast-apologize-for-200158156.html - another petition about White Privilage run amok on tribal land.

I'm not surprised that a Fox movie would desecrate sacred native burial grounds or that a Disney owned talk show would make light of it, after all we're the people who let the Autry Museum buy the Southwest.