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GROUNDCOVER NEWS
EARTH DAY
Water for life: a message from the Kogi
Years ago, back in 1999, I came across
a powerful film, “From the Heart of the
World, the Elder Brothers Warning, Kogi
Message to Humanity. Big Brother talks
to Little Brother,” that shook my world
perspective to the core. As an Indian,
forced modern through adoption, I have
tried to come to terms with this modern
hypocrisy around mass consumption —
trying to divorce ourselves from our
excesses while at the same time crying
“Save the Planet, Save the Earth.”
We play games with our mind once a
year on Earth Day, as we give to this
charity or that organization, and in the
end we can say “I did my part.” Yet, all
the while, the plastic island out in the
ocean is becoming a new continent of
insanity.
Kogi Message To Humanity
I now take out segments of this film
with my own ideas and my own thoughts.
The Kogi lived for thousands of years
in Colombia — both the coastal regions
and the high Sierra mountains. The Kogi
Indians lived in a holistic balance with
other nations known as the Tianu. These
nations lived in peace and harmony.
In the words of the Kogi: Little Brother
once lived here, but was removed by Creator.
Away to his own lands, far away
across the Big Waters away from Big
Brother. But you came back, and with
this, all was destroyed.
Within Native American natural
worldview, we are the guardians of
Mother Earth. We feel like the Kogi — so
the Hopi, the Kaska and Havasapi, too.
Across the Americas, our voice has never
been heard, because of the harshness of
the truth.
The Sacred Message is: We all need
water. Humans need water. They must
have water to live. The Earth is the same,
water is sacred, but now it's weak and
diseased. The animals are dying, the
trees are drying up, becoming ill; new illnesses
will appear with absolutely no
cures or medicines. For them the reason
is Younger Brother’s modern humanity:
Violations of fundamental principles,
total drilling into the Earth. Mining
extraction of petrol, minerals stripped
away from within the world. This is in fact
destroying all of the world, and damaging
the Earth. “BBC, tell Younger Brother
to open your eyes.”
You, Younger Brother, you have
returned — you have come back to our
high mountain lands. We wish to be
apart from you, like the beams of our
bridge. Apart, away, but you have
returned and now we must speak to you.
The Last Kaska family
emerged from the woods in
1970
CINDY GERE
Groundcover vendor No. 279
In 1970, the last Kaska Dene Nation
family of Shamans emerged from out of
the forest of the Yukon, surprising even
the most seasoned Royal Canadian
Mounted Police at that time.
They became known as the Greenway
family. They had lived high in the backcountry
of the bush, on a plateau
between two big mountains, living off
the land and choosing to live a life of
serenity and peace in contrast to modern
ways. Hunting, fishing and trapping, with
only 35 members of the family, ages one
to 75. When the harsh abusive boarding
schools were abolished, this family
emerged out of the bush, choosing a new
time with modern ways.
The Kogi choose to stay modern,
many tribes wish they had the same
legacy of the Kogi nation. But the message
is the same…
I once had the privilege to drink pure
crystal clear aquifer water, I never tasted
anything so clean in my whole life. My
Nahe mother gave it to me on our Tribal
Lands. She showed me this cabin deep
in the woods of the road. She told me
"You, come here. You live here. The water
is the best in this place." It was her old
childhood home. I often dream of
moving home, to that small strip of land.
But like so many, it’s just a dream.
Water is life
The Kogi message is real. We are
losing our water now faster than ever,
and nobody understands more than
the Kogi.
We are now seeing what the Kogi were,
in fact, talking about. The lands of the
Kogi are drying up in their high Sierra
mountains, where there were once glacial
waters and vast snow plains. In the
last five years, it has been truly challenging.
To say we are in fact in a water crisis
is putting it mildly. All last year, we
watched as the Hoover Dam water line
went lower than it has ever been in years.
This has affected millions of people in
five states.
I feel that in the next five to 20 years,
we will see real water shortages. This
sacred planet has a finite amount of this
resource. Yet we still use it with great
disrespect. Water is running out and the
Kogi tried to warn us in 1992 … yet we
choose not to listen. When shall we
listen to the warning? When no one can
drink a drop of water?
Let us see, water is truly sacred, the
same way we see our religions. Perhaps
then we could truly care as we do
for God.
APRIL 21, 2023
Awakening sound
Years ago (in college), when I read of
Thoreau putting his whole body on the
ground — immersed deeply in the grass
and bathing in the sun and sky and
earth — I never dreamt that one day I
would be living an adventure that
would, in an unusual way, allow me to
realize the gift of the earth. When I
became "homeless" however, after
18-plus years of a difficult living situation,
and two low-income rental situations
that were beyond less than ideal,
the beautiful, peaceful haven of the
woods I now reside in received me.
I have literally hugged and slept
under trees; looked up to find stars and
bats and birds already fondly or curiously
noticing me; and have been cradled
by higher ground and low-lying
trees and bushes. Sure, I have not
neglected to use the resources from my
earnings to wisely create an all-weather-proof
habitation to always have
warmth in the cold and dry in the rain.
Also, I do have life goals that likely eventually
will bring my person and life back
living in "my woods." It's a special, magical
world of its own that deserves to be
loved and respected. The air is even
much lighter, healthier and easier to
breathe. There, in "my" woods, I am not
"homeless."
I'm
AMANDA GALE
Groundcover vendor No. 573
to traditional "indoors." However, I am
doing my best to imbue my every
moment really living amidst and with
nature.
I feel God's presence and experience
the joy and friendship of those trees,
grass blades, bugs, chipmunks and
squirrels. (My pet turtle Ticia is convinced
that from her I must've realized
the advantages of living in her natural
environment.)
There is an untouched beauty and
peace and tranquility that is found
experiencing God,
being
renewed, energizing and seeking the
next fresh experiences and life adventures
that I'm asking God to ultimately
bring me to. I am so empowered, as I
seek more paid work hours, continuing
those I have now and my
volunteering.
Did I ever really hear before here? The
enchanting sounds of amphibians
barking out their own telegraphy; birds
singing exotically, the chorus of the
wind — fierce at times, gentle at other
quiet moments.
I pause seeking to being as best I can
to receive these calls, to return to what
these trees and stars and creatures are
saying: praise to God and care deeply
for these woods, animals and our fellow
humans.
After all, I've had the privilege of getting
"up close and personal" with the
awe and beauty of ice storms. Each day
is revealing, inviting, full of wonder,
grace and mystery. There is a mystical
quality to the semi-hidden pathways,
the very ground itself and the play of
light or surround of dark. There is an
aura — whether misty or clear.
I am strengthened, healed, renewed,
re-invigorated and recommissioned to
bring what these woods are giving me,
to others also. This conscience tempers
my ecstatic discoveries with the desire to
find ways to reach out and connect with
others, giving and receiving to enrich
our lives from and for each other, in ways
that can't otherwise occur. Didn't Frost
seek to persuade us, "We were the land's,
before the land was ours"?
The moon reaches her beams down
at nightfall, assuring me I am hearing
and heard. I just feel plain GRATEFUL!
I just think; I would never have had the
opportunity for this BLESSING if I
hadn't been "homeless."
APRIL 21, 2023
HASH BASH
50th annual Hash Bash 'protest'
disappoints
The Hash Bash, most recently held
on April 1, 2023, is no April Fool’s joke
— activists fought for our rights to
marijuana. This started when John
Sinclair was arrested for two joints
and then sentenced to two years in
prison. This was his fight first. Local
activists immediately jumped in with
support from around the country.
The John Sinclair Freedom rally
held in Crisler Arena on December
10, 1971, is one of the most memorable
concerts in Ann Arbor history
and one of the most significant in the
history of Rock and Roll. This was
due in large part to John Lennon's
decision to appear in support of radical
White Panther leader, John Sinclair,
who was currently serving 8.5
to 10 years in prison for the possession
of two marijuana joints.
15,000 people attended the rally,
all blatantly smoking pot during the
concert. Three days after the concert,
the Michigan Supreme Court
issued an order releasing Sinclair on
bond, which had been denied by the
lower courts; and on March 9, 1972
the court held the state’s marijuana
laws were unconstitutional (cruel
and unusual
sentence;
illegal
entrapment; and misclassification of
marijuana as a narcotic drug) and
freed John Sinclair! The first Hash
Bash, a continuation of the protest,
was held at the Diag on April 1, 1972.
For 22 days in 1972, marijuana was
legal in the state of Michigan. It is 52
years since it became the first legalization
of marijuana in the United
States.
You don't need specific directions
to Hash Bash— just follow the natural
smell of weed (flower) wafting
from the activist festival.
I would especially like to see a designated
area just for the Older Pioneer
Hippies. That's who I'm hoping
to share this with … I want to see who
didn't give up the fight — for "Peace,
Love, and Understanding," said the
Hippies that I loved as a child.
Ann Arbor was incredible in the
1960s and 70s, in all the best ways. I
wish I never had to leave when I was
young.
Ann Arbor, the University of Michigan
(I was lost in Michigan Stadium
at three years old in 1968 and they
had to announce to me over game to
find my parents, actually my sister),
the state of Michigan, and yes “The
Big D" (Detroit) — I still find a lot to
be proud of in all of the above but,
most of all, the people here, there and
everywhere from Michigan.
The special people of this state
in over 20,000 years of proven use ...
or ever.
Now this actual, current Hash Bash,
MARKONA LOVE
Groundcover vendor No. 590
made it what it was — we've been
through a lot lately but, there's always
time. Even time doesn't really exist,
it's only conceptual and that's exactly
how we need to change … with a
shared concept as to how we as a
whole want it to be in Michigan. It will
only work if we all compromise, and
come to one common agreement.
Let's be the first state to show how it's
done. The full combination of the
experienced (uneducated) and the
educated to use their strengths
together.
So here is step one:
Let’s start by getting the Marijuana
Initiative taken completely off the
Drug Schedule List for Michigan. This
benefits everyone in the state.
Why would we want such a contrary
law conflicting with another old
one that wasn't ever helpful? Anyways,
fewer Michigan lives destroyed
by unnecessary arrest,
reduced
prison populations, reduced load on
enforcement agencies. And then it
supports a consistent tax influx into
our state system!
People already know about all the
physical and mental attributes of this
natural flower. Yes, it can be abused,
so can a box of donuts. But, no death
by alcohol poisoning, or violence.
There has never been any proof of a
death solely attributed to marijuana
I personally attended and was disappointed.
Bash started briefly with a
few talks at the beginning from U.S
Representative Debbie Dingell,
County Commissioner Youdef Rahbi,
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli
Savit, John Sinclair, Matthew Abel
and other activists. That was followed
by no activism — not even a party. All
I saw was commercialization in all
forms, including illegal sale. I didn't
see any sign of actual intent to create
change, or proclaim our rights. Even
the Bash party was lame.
On a good note: I did run into a
popular activist/politician from Chicago,
Maryann Loncar. She was here
to support other activists, here and
nationally. She is trying to help us
pass bills that protect patients from
medical marijuana corruption from
corporations like Curaleaf (abusive
corporate practices) that was the
largest sponsor of this Hash Bash.
I would fill you in on details from
an incredible interview but, the video
of the interview was mysteriously
wiped, like the previous interview of
Lama Karma from the Dance for
Mother Earth Powwow. So all I have
left to end with is that in Michigan
marijuana is a schedule 2 narcotic
even though it is legal for recreational
use by adults, and under federal law
(Washington D.C.) marijuana is still
a schedule one narcotic — alongside
heroin.
There's a long way to go; illegally
panhandling and the over-commercialization
of Hash Bash is not helping.
Maybe next year we could
actually do some activism and make
some change for good.
Smoke On! Weed over Greed!
PEACE!
GROUNDCOVER NEWS
What’s
Happening
at the Ann
Arbor
District
Library
Open 10am–8pm Daily
Hang out in any of our five
locations across town, browsing
books, magazines, newspapers,
and more, or check out movies,
CDs, art prints, musical
instruments, and science tools—
you name it! Study and meeting
rooms, fast and free WiFi, and
plenty of places to sit and hang out.
Print Stuff at AADL
Need to print forms, essential
documents, applications, or
homework? We can help! We can
print up to 30 pages per person
per week at no charge and have
your items ready to pick up at the
library of your choice the next
weekday. For more information,
visit: AADL.org/printing
Bookable Meeting Rooms
Book a meeting room with your
AADL card. We have 10 available
meeting rooms across the system
that you can reserve for up to
two hours per day, 12 times
per calendar year. They’re also
available on a first-come firstserved
basis. To book a room,
visit AADL.org/rooms
FEATURED EVENT
5
Sunday, May 21
11am–5pm • Downtown Library
The Gardening & DIY Fest is
back! It’s a daylong celebration of
gardening, nature, and getting
hands-on and active! AADL
plans to feature an artisan
market emphasizing handmade
clothes, jewelry, bath products,
fibers, art, flowers, and plants.
Participants can also engage in
learning sessions and hands-on
opportunities! AADL.org/diyfest
Vendors and shoppers on South University during Hash Bash.
