when we’re all sisters
When I think of International women’s day, I think of the women of my own heritage, from Iran. Women of my heritage shaped my way of being, thinking and to this day I am so grateful I grew up in Tehran watching the extraordinary women during the first twelve formative years of my life.
For the past six years, after attending a ceremony held by Dakota elders__on what is the land that belongs to the Dakota__at the Walker Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis; I set out to understand how it is possible, in 2017, for a most progressive group of artists/curators/museum directors/philanthropists/CEO’s of creative and powerful companies to think it okay for an artist to represent and be the voice of a culture he does not know? Using the very symbol that represents trauma in their history?
Sam Durant is a sculptor based in Los Angeles. The sculpture that was built for the opening of the new Walker Sculpture Garden was called Scaffold. An exact replica of the gallow on which 38 Dakota Indians were executed in Mankato in 1862. The largest mass execution in America! Not taught in our schools. I’m quite certain most of us in Minnesota learned about this dark part of our history because so many people of the Dakota tribe showed up and raised their voices against making a playground out of a structure that brings so much pain to their people.
The structure was dismantled and the artist who could have been reactionary and standoffish like so many people who make mistakes, put himself out in the world that was angry at him. While he most likely felt lots of pain and shame for really stealing a whole culture’s story and causing so much pain, he showed up. I was so moved by his sincerity, despite my initial anger towards his righteous voice. So much of my own unexamined reaction was the four decade long misrepresentation of my culture of origin in the U.S. It was a reaction that I too had to pay attention to, as I also focus mostly on so many people and voices that have guided me into my voice.
Sam Durant sat in a healing circle held by Dakota elders, mediators and others from Walker Art Center. After that event he wrote with an open heart and a deep understanding of how much privilege you automatically have if you have lived and experienced a life in a white body. Most of the time unaware of how much has been taken from many. His interviews show the healing power of communication and the generosity with which he was educated by the Dakota elders that day. When asked if he feels censored, he responded by saying “I don’t think that I can’t take up any subject that I want to. The question is how do I do it?”
Today, I am moved by the lived history of patience, commitment, and focus of the Dakota peoples in my city. Recently I sat in a conversation led by five leaders of the Native cultures here in Minneapolis during a conversation on reperations on Mississippi. A land acknowledgement and a circle where all of us were listeners to the point of view and leadership of these people of much dignity and resilience.
After that conversation I thought for days as to why in America we’re so encouraged to study and learn the spiritual ways of people in far off places. Ironically the wisdom we search for is right here, in our cities, guided by a culture who’s mostly been ignored from the beginning of our history.
“You gotta dance with the one who brung you.”
This southern aphorism which I first heard from Brene Brown twelve years ago was a part of the language Brene was gifting us in shaming and vulnerability. The shaming didn’t stick with me, this aphorism struck a deep cord in me. While my Iranian heritage has always kept the fire in my belly alive to stay true to the wisdom of my heritage; that aphorism pushed me to listen and be engaged, searching, uncovering the buried history of America.
The more I learn, the more I see the pattern of running. Running is the coping mechansim encouraged in America, in the shape of competition and busy-ness; as opposed to the slow movement of studying the past in order to understand the present. It is that slow work which leads to healing and forgiveness and then to a clear voice and a new direction. Only then do we move forward not making the same mistakes over and over again.
As my wise teacher, Angeles Arrien taught, “healing takes place in nature’s rhythm which is, medium to slow.”
thank you Rosita, Angeles, Rachel, Krista, Ellen, Eva, Maureen, Mary, Marie-Luise, Mary Ellen, Lise, Tracy, Roli, Karen, Anita, Jen, Zena, Pat, Aileen, Clare, Susan, Beth, Bridget, Kerry, Karin, Krin….and so many more__all my sisters and elders on this new land who’ve held me, listened to me, seen me, and generously shared their wisdom
Thank you Steven for your voice, vision and the peace and beauty you embody despite all the pain your ancestors and family have endured. For your humor. For sharing the stories of the missing and murdered indigenous women. The sisters we’ve neglected to protect and highlight in America.
