Created and uploaded by Maximilian Forte
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A Note From The Gull
"They are homeless in a land that was theirs." --Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez
Oh, I LOVE this video! I hope there is much more on this to come. There are so many facets to our amazing country that are often overlooked and I rejoiced to see highlighted in this video so much that is familiar to me.
Although I have never heard it suggested, I think that Maximilian Forte is among the best friends of the First Nations peoples of Trinidad and Tobago. Although I have seldom heard his work being credited in Trinidad and Tobago, he has spent many years distilling and generously sharing his research findings via many publications in traditional formats and on the Internet. Although Maximilian Forte is not a national of Trinidad and Tobago, I consider him a Trinbagonian because he quietly persists, like many unsung Trinbagonians, to hold up his end for this country.
I believe that he was was the first to brush aside the extinction myth and the tendency to talk about First Nations peoples as artifacts and to document in the present, the resurgence of the Carib Community, to attempt to clarify land rights issues, to explore the relations of that community with the Catholic Church, the state [as coloured by various political parties], the media and the growing interaction between our indigenous peoples with an international network of indigenous groups and movements.
Maximilian Forte, thanks for the love!
American Indian Prayer
[As recited by Chief Ricardo Bharath Hernandez - Video position 20:15]
Oh, Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me, I am small and weak,
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have
made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the things
you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have
hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy - myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my Spirit may come to you without shame.
(translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887)
published in Native American Prayers - by the Episcopal Church. Source
"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.
Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.
Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare
2 comments:
I am very moved by your words Guanaguanare. Over these past years you yourself have been a source of tremendous encouragement, inspiration, and guidance, which is why among the many people I could have thanked--but forgot to (embarrassed now)--you were not one of those I omitted.
I am also very thankful for the very kind words coming from within the community in response to this video:
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=223116147732704&id=103180106406247
Many thanks again and keep up your great work, please.
Bowing low to all Trinbagonians - the ancestors of the future and the descendants of the past. We all remember home. Ce n'est pas du sang qui coule dans nos veines, c'est la rivière de notre mémoire. It is not blood that runs in our veins, it is the river of our memory. Thank you for witnessing.
Blessings
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