Ziinzibaakwadooke Giizis (Maple Sugar Making Moon ) - March 30, 2023
Updated: Bibooni-giizis (Winter Moon) - December 11, 2024
Boozhoo,
Today, we won't have any aadizookewin, or storytelling. Instead, I'd like to share a thought that's been on my mind recently.
Let's refer to it as a reflection from the heart.
Indigenous cultures throughout Turtle Island are facing a perilous trend. This trend mirrors a monster, a contemporary wiindigoo that has embedded itself within us, gradually consuming us from the inside. Is this an exaggeration? Definitely not. This monster, a cannibalistic spirit haunting social media and causing chaos in our hearts and minds, represents a serious threat that must not be overlooked.
I call it the harsh wind of polarization.
People commonly refer to it as lateral violence.
Some have described lateral violence as an attempt to 'feel powerful in a powerless situation.' Such actions create new power structures within colonized groups that imitate those of the colonizers. Attacking others to advance a socio-political agenda is a clear instance of lateral violence and goes against the traditional teachings, principles, and values passed down by our ancestors. This wiindigoo behavior arises from a mindset oppressed and controlled by centuries of colonialism. It is characterized by a severe form of what I am inclined to call SBD: spiritual borderline disorder.
Isabel Wilkerson argues in her book 'Caste: The Origins of our Discontents' that racial tensions in the United States are better comprehended through the lens of caste rather than race—a system that has persisted for 400 years, placing people of European descent at the top and African American individuals at the bottom. I concur with her. This Indigenous lateral violence we see today? The hysterical "Pretendian" trend, which is the latest branch of the call-out culture tree?
It's simply another hierarchical system that people seem driven to create over and over again.
Undoubtedly, the era we live in is neither the first nor the last in which Indigenous people endure colonial disruption and the erosion of their cultures—physically, mentally, and spiritually—from both external and internal sources. For centuries, Indigenous societies have faced significant challenges in preserving their cultural heritage. Since Columbus's arrival, Indigenous cultures have been at serious risk. Nevertheless, this should never deter us from upholding our traditions and adhering to our ancestral teachings. The principles of humility and mutual respect should always remain central, both in addressing our own and in engaging with those we do not consider our own. Embracing these teachings is essential for supporting and preserving the web of social relationships, which is crucial for our survival as a people.
The current trend involves publicly and confrontationally calling out others on social media in a demanding and aggressive manner that is highly damaging. While cruelty is not new, the technologically enhanced shaming online is. Joining in with the crowd—howling with the wolves in the forest—has become the new norm. This might be the most significant modern threat we face—besides ongoing land theft, environmental poisoning, and the social deprivation and intergenerational traumas that have left deep marks of collective heartbreak and various forms of abuse and disorders in our communities. It is a negative, toxic behavior inherited from colonizers, leading only to further division and confusion. It fuels the climate of suspicion and hostility that is already prevalent on social media, seriously undermining trust, self-worth, internal communication, and all the positive values we so desperately strive to uphold and protect.
Individuals who employ this confrontational approach, openly criticizing and shaming ("exposing") those who don't visibly display a tribal affiliation or carry proof of it—or, especially, those with lighter skin tones—believe they are rightly defending their cultural identity as advocates of truth. However, they overlook the fact that their actions create more conflict, hatred, and self-shame, thereby considerably undermining the culture and values they passionately seek to safeguard.
This call-out culture is the modern wiindigoo.
No. Your culture never taught you to create division. It instructs you to carry yourself with dignity, wherever you are. It emphasizes self-respect and respect for others, regardless of their skin or eye color. Instead of confronting those you SUSPECT of harming (or stealing from) your culture through harassment, public ridicule, or defamation reminiscent of 17th-century colonial witch-hunts, these issues should be addressed appropriately. This involves engaging others (especially Elders!) with the traditional protocol of politeness, using respectful language, speaking to them respectfully, ASKING them privately rather than publicly DEMANDING an explanation, and involving them in a circular conversation to achieve the respectful communication our ancestors would have endorsed.
Are you striving to be a true Anishinaabe? Do you desire to be a warrior protecting Anishinaabe culture and values? Are you looking to stop the theft of culture and put an end to cultural appropriation? Do you want your community to recover from the traumas and self-hatred inflicted by colonizers? Then cease adopting their ways of thinking and speaking.
Break free from their polarizing mindset. Move beyond their divisive way of thinking.
Begin embodying true humanity. Be an authentic ogichidaa—someone with a generous spirit. Live, act, and breathe according to the fundamental Anishinaabe teachings: humility and respect. These are the core principles of mino-bimaadiziwin. These teachings are the only genuine values we have remaining. Embracing self-respect may indeed drive away those who don't share this perspective. However, it will also draw in those who follow the same path and, hopefully, those who initially criticized or mocked you. Healing cannot occur without humility and respecting others. You must personify respect in your thoughts, feelings, and actions, within your home, community, public spaces, geget, and even on social media. Respect is mashkiki, a type of medicine. Disregard respect, and you disregard self-respect. Without this mashkiki, our culture risks disappearing, becoming merely a footnote in the history books of the colonizers.
Mii'iw. Miigwech gii bizindawiyeg.
That's all, thank you for listening.
Illustration: The Wiindigoo of Polarization ©2023 Zhaawano Giizhik
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