CONTEMPORARY MIWOKS

The First People all over the world be they the Masai in Kenya herding their cattle below the plains of Kilamanjaro, the Muwekma Ohlone in San Francisco by San Bruno Mountains or the Miwoks starring at the Yosemite Mountains and the beautiful waterfalls - these indigenous people are very dear to my heart. The are the children of the Spirit. The Great Spirit who watches all things even as the Masai invoke the name of Mungu and the Jews Yahweh some where along the line the GREED the God of all Whites has shoved aside compassion and killed the First People for some little land and money. The even killed Mother Earth - the Buffalo and all things pure and dear and nature.

Elders Helen Coats and Amy Rhoan.

The Miwoks are but one Native American Tribe and their plight has not been told. It really cannot be told in words. How can anyone describe the killing and bloodshed of young children and women - taken from their land and slaughtered? How can one describe in words Miwok men killed by bullets when all they had on them was the pride they were born with and unharmed. Cowards stole with guilt in their hearts. Today Miwok Elders try in ways painful but hold on to the Spirit of their ancestors some hope that their children will learn and pass on simple, yet important ways passed on generation to generation for thousands of years. The Great Spirit hovers and all is good. Elders like Helen Coats and Amy Rhoan I have not met and I do not need to meet them. We are connected in ways more then one and deep in my mind heart I know that they will speak the truth and pass on the light that is given to those the Spirit loves the most. Deep in the Acorn, the morning rays of the sun, the waters in the spring, the dew drops, the early berries, the majestic tall trees we call the Sequoia, the birds and butterflies, the deer and that brown bear we see no more in plenty, the salmon of yester years, the tule grass, and all things natural which was and are no more in plenty - the Spirit protected the people loved for thousands of years - the most blessed in all the Earth.

Elders Bill Leonard and Jay Johnson.

Bill Leonard and Jay Johnson are two great of many great men who follow the footsteps of Chief Tenaya. There was once Crazy Horse and there was Chief Joseph - no one worth their salt will fill those shoes. Every tribe including the Miwoks had great women warriors too. These names all mentioned above in some measure have taken on the evil that the Whites brought at the door of compassion, good living, and innocence. Whites promise some and take away more and more. In my life I have met and meet great women and men but the ones I love the most are children. I see in them what I see no where and even though age may bring wisdom from the mouth of babes with no words I see and hear a lot of love and non bias that I cannot find mostly in circles - adult. Larry Yepez I contact at times and a moment no one expects me to contact and that is all good. Larry won his Purple Heart fighting a war on foreign land for the United States of America. I know this man and he knows what I say and hears me loud and clear. We speak in NO fork tongue nor will we - if what has to be done and won and accomplished has to take place in 3 years. Larry Yepez is but a messenger. Paul Vasquez I have not met but it really does not matter. He sent me some words using cyber space and photographs that I will use in this article - where words will try picture the facts of cruelty, love, killings, and the joy of having a children live and hear from the heart throbs of the Elders - Helen Coats, Jay Johnson, Bill Leonard, Amy Rhoan, Kevin Day, Janice Mendez, Charlotte Lange, Monte Bengochia, Delores Roberts, Tony Broccini - the drum beat must go on and fear must be relegated to the back burner to fight the battle for the future as willed by the Great Spirit. Some years ago I chose to spend some time around the Sequoia Trees all alone and I know what I learn that day to be true and ever lasting. I had gone all-alone to spend a day but I chose to spend a night. Bedtime using branches and leaves at the foot of the tree as my bed. The night was cold and that I expected. The crickets sung to me all night and that I expected. I saw the Sequoia trees talk at night and the whisper of the wind rustle the branches and that was all good. Within this forest once lived the indigenous people and I knew their spirits were there. They did not leave this world freely and so they inspired me to fight for them. Where will you begin and how will you carry on the struggle? Once there was John Muir and believe you me he was a White. He saw the truth at Yosemite Valley and never ever spoke, saw, nor wrote like a White anymore. He fought to stop some crooks from flooding the Valley and he fought a good fight but died heart broken. In the years gone by since the early 1800 thousands of Miwoks have died - all fighting the good fight. Now is the time to stand up tall and take up the clarion call of those who had no support in numbers. These Miwok women and men warriors did not die in vain and today we will see that the fight they kindled enlighten many - we have a vision and a strategy that will overcome those evil designs that the Great Spirit has implanted in good women, children, and men of good faith. It is my desire that the American Indian Council of Mariposa County stands tall and states your platform that has been sent to you through recent happenings. Hetch Hetchy and the Raiker Act was signed in 1913 that was 90 years ago. We have now come to a place and time to sign our own RAKER Act and be the key stakeholders. This is our time to RAKE the evil that was done and bring our compassion and healing to the table. The Great Spirit will reveal secrets slowly and when the time in ripe. We cannot speed ahead and fail - this time victory is ours and those who are not spiritual will fail. Within the hearts and souls of each and every Miwok child, woman, and man - the Great Spirit will speak to you. The Council must gather and gather again and come to a consensus. We must RAKE the Raiker Act and bring harmony to the skies, the land, the waters and all living beings that make their abode with the space that is and is not. It is not in books that you will find our inspiration but in the deep forests, by the river, and in the midst of the tall trees that have stood the test of time. Let us not be afraid of men who speak in fork tongues and that are not worth their salt. Miwok children warriors will stare into the eyes of those who have done evil and the evil will take flight. The Council cannot see division when the time for unity in now and forever. The Great Spirit and the Spirit of the Ancestors put NO credibility in materialism and greed. It was in sharing and compassion that the nobility of the clans was built. Now is the time to go very deep into our hearts that have links to those times and moments spreading thousands of years. Even as the wings of the Eagle that is the symbol of all justice. Spirituality that goes thousands or years will win over corruption, bullets, and trickery. Our signs and designs will come from nature but only the PURE will see it and only those that have gone through the FIRE will read the signs and only those who are TOUCHED will lead and win this contemporary battle for survival.

top - back