Pow wow honor guard as we know it is a phenomenon that came about at the time of the first world war. Pow wow itself was derived from the Wild West show. Dancing was outlawed by colonists. They felt it was in league with the devil. (If you ever wondered why they can’t dance this is why) When we were able to dance again it was for profit and to be seen as a spectaclefor colonists to be entertained by. Influence for the modern pow wow came from a Pawnee War dance called the Iruska. The Iruska which has a history of warrior societies and sacred visions as the one by Crow Feather. If we remember history it was the Pawnee who sided with the U.S. Cavalry against the Lakota, Arapaho, Cheyenne confederacy. A war dance and this explains the honor guard of the grand entry which is what i will unpack here before i give a call to action. We must understand where the honor guard came from to understand where it should go. This was part of how our people were made to fight the wars of the colonizer and conditioned to exploit ourselves. I had a relative who fought in WW2, Korea and Vietnam. My grandfather was the bodyguard to the general in the Korean war. I hold membership in Akicita Heyoka (Fool Soldiers) a spiritual warrior society. I of anyone am correct to unleash this healing upon the continent. The u.s has not fought an honorable war since WW2 and its time for us to take our honor back.
AIM at Pow Wow: Now that we understand that pow wow is a modern pan indigenous phenominon lets acknowlede on a correct time line the way that the American Indian Movement of which my grandfather and Great Uncle were both senior members were the force that continued powow and functioned parralel to pow wow from 1960 around the time of the PNF Fishing Wars, through Wounded Knee in the 1970s and on into the 1980s and beyond. This is crucial because of its effectiveness in communications and dialectics in networking beyond computers and tech. We MUST reclaim this. Counter revolutionaries must not force the revolution out of the pow wow scene when we helped carry it for over 40 years! Take our rightful place back amongst the people! Its likely the greatest minds are in the resistance the color guard takes the prize for biggest bellies every year. (Crazy horse reference)
Whats happening now: The veterans are trying to exclude and forbid people with AIM backgrouds, actual members of ancient warrior societies that are older than the u.s and land defenders and water protectors. They will try to say “active duty only” this has been a response of theirs because they are trying to find out how to shut down the resistance and keep the honor guard for bolstering the colonial empire alone. They are putting their minds together to find ways to greater hoist their own oppressor at the expense of the true warriors of their people. They have so controlled this false narrative that you would more expect to see Marines in a grand entry than sacred warrior societies. I once experienced a woman who gave every veteran a gift and when she came to me in the line she said. ” for you, i have nothing”. She did this to undermine a true warriors efforts to decolonize the honor guard. These vetrans are benefitting from the ontinued efforts to keep indigenous resistance invisible. It teaches the youth to lick the boots of our oppressor even though theres no longer a draft. We continue to be the race with the highest per capita that throw their lives away for them. This stockholms syndrom is responsible for a massive body count but it seems nobody has had the political spine our wherewithall too challenge it. Ive spent a decade trying to unravel it myself. In actuallity these veterans should not really be in the place of honor. This torment of the real revolution is happening at Grand Ronde annual pow wow which is one of the largest pow wows on the west coast. Its important to say the location for healing and accountability. The people involved thnk that outside eyes will never reach them but today the eyes of 94 nations can see. A spotlight has been shown on this counterrevoultionary and anti indigenous behavior. From witnessing this injustice other land defenders have started to put themselves in the grand entry to be honored. Especially this increased after Standing Rock. This is correct and appropriate. I have since seen it disapear and it is my guess that the pro empire natives were succsesful in making the land defenders so uncomfortable they never returned to seek the honor that truely belonged to them. This is a case of stolen valor. The newer generations thanks to I.S.R unity politic will seek allegiance with the earth not the war machine. Stockholm’s syndrome is slowly losing its popularity amongst the indigenous. There is a terrible injustice being perpetrated by these bootlicking veterans who have used this to gatekeep their communities and receive undo praise and material support. It is my observation that the honor guard gets smaller and smaller. Its dying. Nobody wants to serve them anymore. The way to bring integrity to the honor guard is to let the real warriors of the people finally return to the forefront of the minds and hearts of the people. These imperialists have even stolen your prayers which also belong to the true warriors of the people. Instead the prayers have been laid across the alter of Stockholm’s. Who is sponsoring them to inflict this diminishment? Who is ok’ing this lack of understanding and ability to implement culture? We are the reason the culture exists in the first place. If these veterans think this way they should openly try to ban all warrior societies including the, Fool Soldiers, Stronghearts, and Tokalas. See how far they can get. It would be better than sneaking around trying to be geriatric bullies for a time gone past.
“The existence of a nation is not proved by culture, but in the peoples struggle against the forces of occupation”. Frantz Fannon
Massive Call To Action: All warrior societies, all movement, AIM, Brown Berets, Land Defenders, Water Protectors heres your instructions. Go to pow wow, in groups preferably. Plave yourself at the head of grand entry. Participate in grand entry and if you get to introduce yourself on the mic or in person tell them proudly that you’re not a war veteran and that you proudly served here on turtle island defending turtle island not harming people in other nations for oil and empire. We have to do this to restore honor to the honor guard. Fill as many spots in the honor guard as you possibly can to continue to heighten the contradiction. Above all is to solve the material contradiction and physically impose ourselves on a space that belongs to us that we have been exiled and embargoed from. Its up to us to show the youth right from wrong. Theres an evolution in revolution and we choose where we go from here. This is the healing of the nations. Follow me staunchly and emphatically as we overturn this ugly and persistent contradiction once and for all. To the extent that we even phase out the flags. No more. If we assert ourselves persistently in numbers, we will prevail.
As the dams have been breached and the salmon return to the rivers the real warriors MUST return to a place of honor. Reverse the curse. #HonorBack
Written By: War Chief Mko
Illahee Spirit Runners 