Benefit helps send Native trip to Cuba
By
Gloria La Riva
San Francisco
It was a night to remember: Native youth dancers and
drummers from this continent honoring their cultures and paying
tribute to Cuba. The International Peace for Cuba Appeal hosted
a special benefit on Dec. 11 for a delegation of 25 Native
people who will travel to Cuba in February 2000.
The delegation, sponsored by IPCA, includes the Apache War
Dance Group of 12 high school students from Mescalero Apache
Indian Reservation, and members of the Navajo, Pomo, Blackfeet,
Lakota, Anishinabe, Paiute and other Native nations.
Laura Harlan emceed the night's cultural event. Harlan, a
young Omaha, Winnebago, Paiute and Papago woman from Ft.
Bidwell Reservation in California, has been working hard to
make this trip a reality. She spoke of her reason for
going.
"I want to go to Cuba because I feel like I could learn from
them. I can look to Cuba as an example of a people who have
held on to their beliefs under extremely hostile
circumstances.
"I used to be sad about my history because I thought we
lost. But we're not gone, we were not totally exterminated, we
are still here. I support this trip to Cuba because these
people are in the same circumstances that my people were in. I
don't want to stand by and watch these people die because of
the embargo when I can do something about it."
Harry Goodwolf Kindness, of the Green Bay Band of the
Oneida, traveled 15 hours by bus from Las Vegas, Nevada, to
attend the benefit. He said, "We've been working on this trip
for two years, and we're finally going to make it happen!"
First Thomas Yellow Horse, Lakota youth and traditional
dancer, opened up with a prayer for well-being for all present
and the Cuban people. He and his friend, Gilbert Blacksmith, a
fancy dancer, danced to the accompaniment of the American
Indian Movement drum led by Fred Short.
Two brothers, 10-year-old Jordan Bran zuela and 6-year-old
Joey, performed with their 6-year-old cousin, Josh Gibson, Jr.
They are both Blackfeet and Pomo, and they perform Blackfeet
traditional and grass dances. Both are accomplished dancers and
perform at almost every pow wow in the region.
Tori Nakai, 27, Ute and Dine from New Mexico, came from Salt
Lake City to be part of the night's benefit. She was
accompanied in jingle dances by Aurora Mamea, 18-year-old
Blackfeet woman from Browning, Montana.
Several of these youth are friends of Laura Harlan's. They
originally volunteered to participate in the benefit to help
her out. By the end of the evening, they all decided they want
to go to Cuba, too.
Dennis Banks: `U.S. hypocrisy'
Then Dennis Banks, Anishinabe from Minnesota and founder of
American Indian Movement, gave a moving talk relating his life
as a Native youth in the U.S., and the need for Native youth to
experience Cuba as a sovereign and free nation for
themselves.
"When I was 5 years old on the reservation, I was taken from
my parents and put into a military boarding school. I was not
allowed to go home, for 11 years I was not allowed to see my
mother and my father," Banks explained.
And so, he said, it was hypocritical of the U.S. government
to feign concern for the 6-year-old Cuban boy, Elián
Gonzalez. "That little boy belongs home with his family in
Cuba."
In April 1993, Banks went to Cuba on a medical-aid
delegation sponsored by Peace for Cuba, along with Ramsey Clark
and author Alice Walker. He and the 10-person group met with
Cuban President Fidel Castro for three hours. "Fidel Castro
knew many facts about Indigenous people in the U.S., he was
very knowledgeable.
"President Castro has kept his principles for 40 years. He
has never wavered, that is something we have to respect.
"I want to return to Cuba. I want young people to go with
us. I want you to help us. And these young people who now told
us they want to go, give them your support. Native and Cuban
people--we will learn a lot from each other."
For information on how to participate in the Native trip to
Cuba, call Peace for Cuba at 415-821-6545.
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