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Guest
Contributions
do not necessarily reflect my own opinions. I am trying to create an
open forum. I reserve the right to include any
submitted article or not, with or without saying why. If you
wish to reproduce any of these writings or graphics you must ask permission of the
author. At the bottom of each article will be contact information for
the author when it is available. ~Snow Owl |
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A couple of months ago I
attended a conference in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The topic was
“Plurality in Europe”. I had no prior contact with either
the organizers or the participants of the conference but for
the basic information I received through my electronic post
along with the invitation. The participants, mainly
academics and theologians, came from various European
countries, the United States and Canada. One of the main
purposes of the conference was to address the positive role
religion can play in enhancing the peace process in a
conflict area. At the conference I represented the peace
process in Cyprus and the Genocide of the Native children in
Canada.
I had no intention to fuel fires at the conference. But
I was left with no other option. Some speakers, people who
claimed to support a colorful Europe, were actually
demonizing one of the colors. How can you support the
coexistence of all colors but with one exception? How can
you say, “I accept all the colors of the rainbow but one”?
“The main threat in Europe nowadays is neo-communism” was
the argument advanced not by a few of the speakers.
Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Hindus, can coexist in
perfect harmony but with the evil Communists, not in a
thousand years.
I was rather astonished. When it was my turn came to
speak I asked if they believed that it would be reasonable
to throw the communists in the lake of fire, for I could and
still cannot see any other way by which the communists can
be “eliminated”. A friend next to me wore a red t-shirt
baring the old Soviet logo, CCCP. Later, during a break, the
chair of that session, a scholar from the US, told him that
this was tantamount to wearing the Nazi swastika. I took a
step towards him and looked deeply into his eyes. “No”, I
said to him, “it could have been worse, it could have been a
t-shirt bearing the flag of the United States”. It’s been
years since I last saw a person foaming, but it was the
first time I actually enjoyed seeing a person steaming from
the ears. I went to my hotel room and laughed with my soul.
The counter-attack came in the final session. The
panelists removed their swords from their carriages. One of
them spoke about the time he was imprisoned and tortured by
the communist regime. Another spoke about Stalin and the
tyranny imposed on people under communistic regimes. They
spoke truths. But only half-truths. One after the other
commented on my earlier remarks, sometimes with sarcasm and
not a little irony. The space around me was narrowing. "You
little vagrant" I said to myself, "you came hundreds of
miles away from home and now you are trying to take these
great academics down single-handed?"
At the closing of the session I took the platform to
defend my position. I stood upright and next to me I saw
those who identified with my argument. Not many. On my right
there were 500 Indian tribes and the 50,000 native children
that disappeared in Canada’s residential schools. These
schools were run by priests and theologians as the ones
standing before me ready to crucify me. Theologians are
experts in crucifixions. To my left stood hundreds of
Cypriots that saw and continue to see their basic human
rights being trampled upon. We are never alone even if
sometimes those next to us are invisible.
"Yes, Russia’s communism did all that you say, but CIA
did similar things when it backed with millions of dollars
bloodthirsty dictators like Pinochet in Chile. They financed
the fascists in Cyprus to exterminate communists. Yes you
were imprisoned by communists, just as in Cyprus, in Turkey
and in Greece the communists were imprisoned, tortured and
murdered. It was not just a "cold war" – it was a bloody
war. If I must demonize communism I must also demonize the
American way of life… and death. I must also speak about the
church that for centuries under the inquisition made worse
crimes than those Hitler did in Europe and later on the
Europeans in the American Continent. "
As I went on to explain Canada’s genocide, thousands of
little Indian children marched before their eyes showing the
wounds marked on their bodies as they were tortured to
death. No theologian stood up to defend their church. They
knew I was speaking the truth and they could see the blood
tripping from their hand as I was talking. There were tears
in my eyes as I looked at them and asked, “Where did you
bury our children, what have you done to our people”.
If the US Senate wants to condemn the genocide of the
Armenians I have no problem, but it must also recognize and
condemn the genocide of the Native Americans. History cannot
change but it can certainly teach us. Personally I have been
taught by history that we are all one, like leaves from the
same branch. We are all connected, no matter what race,
color or political and religious convictions. Like the
rainbow, it is impossible to separate the unity of the
colors, you can only distinguish them. We are all
responsible for one another and we must acknowledge the past
to walk united into a better future.
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Tony
“Night Eagle” Angastiniotis -from his website
http://fcms.emu.edu.tr/tony/ Email:
peacewalk@hotmail.com
Peace activist, journalist and
documentarist. Turning point to his career was in
2004 when he produced the controversial documentary
“Voice of Blood” exposing crimes committed by his
own community, Greek Cypriot, against the Turkish
Cypriots in 1974. What was for some an act of
acknowledgment and apology to promote
reconciliation, for others was an act of treason.
His book “Trapped in the Green Line” has become one
of the most popular books in the north side of the
island for the encouragement of peace. Circulation
of the book in the south side was not possible
through main stream distributors and bookshops. Tony
often slandered by local media without given the
equal opportunity to defend himself. His documentary
was never shown by any TV station in the South and
he has been a recipient of many death threats by
Greek nationalists. Today he is teaching “Peace
Journalism” at Eastern Mediterranean University in
Famagusta and is a writer in Afrika newspaper.
His Work today is more focused on bringing awareness
about the Genocide of 50,000 native children
murdered in the Residential schools of Canada. Tony
demands the opening of the mass graves and a
reasonable compensation to be given to all survivors
of the Residential Schools.
Tony is a member of the United Cherokee Nation and
was appointed Clan Chief by the Elders on the 10th
of October 2007, and considers this position the
greatest honor a person can receive, but also a
great responsibility not to be taken lightly. His
spiritual believes are rooted in the Cherokee
spiritual ways known as the White Path. His native
name, Night Eagle, was given to him by his spiritual
mother and elder of the Cree nation, Morning Star.
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| If you like
what you read above, visit this
Website from Cyprus
to read more from Tony “Night Eagle” Angastiniotis. ~ Stone
Woman |
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Other articles by Tony “Night Eagle” Angastiniotis-
[ Like the Rainbow ] [ Trail of Tears ] [ Morning Star ] |
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Below are Links to Other
Guest
Contributions-
[ Up ] [ Iktomi and Hovercraft-Daniel Bingamon ] [ Heart Quest-Rita and mr b ] [ Ghost Dance-Running Bear ] [ Imanukfila Chito & The Owl of the Chanta People - ‘Tuscumasomi’ ] [ Man and Creature ] [ Dec. 30, '07- Seneca Grandmother Wins Book Award ] [ Trail of Tears-Tony “Night Eagle” Angastiniotis ] [ Like the Rainbow-Tony “Night Eagle” Angastiniotis ] [ Remembering The Great Chiefs ] [ Turtle Talk-Name for the Creator ] [ Turtle Talk-When I Dance ] [ Turtle Talk-Free Will ] [ The News Scam: Silencing Genocide ] [ Turtle Talk-In the Old Days ] [ Turtle Wisdom II ] [ The Blood Wars Continue-Forgiven Wolf ] [ Empty Mocassins-An Honoring to My Old Friend SnowwOwl ] [ Poems by Snowy Owl Spirit ] [ Cherokee Blood-Poem ] [ Poem-The Ride-Opal Moon ] [ There is a Crime-Poem ] [ Poems by White Sparrow ] [ Poem-Spirit Riders ] [ Old Postcards ] [ Untitled Poem ] [ Good Things to Think About ] [ We Are A Throw-Away Society ] [ Not Quite an Apology ] [ How the Cedar Tree Came to Be ] [ The Mayonnaise Jar and Coffee ] [ Steal Thunder ] [ Winter Comment ] [ Turtle Wisdom ] [ The First Virginians ] [ One Day-The Story of Taps ] [ Chief Joseph and the Never Ending Trail ] [ White Buffalo Calf Woman ] [ The Bears and Coyote ] [ A Grain of Sand to Ponder ] [ Poems by Vette M. White Dove ] [ Coyote and the Little Girl Lost ] [ Fighting Wolves ] [ The Indian Card ] [ Lakota Stronghold, in Defense of the Ghost Dancers ] [ The Splashes of Life...A sioux Indian Story ] [ Wambli Okiye-Eagle Helps Him ] [ Coyote and the Greatest Cry Heard Around the World ] [ United We Stand ] [ The Many Things ] [ Tipis ] [ Crystal Eagles ] [ Snowy Owl Spirit Art ] [ The Words of Grandfather ] [ Little Fawn ] [ What is Freedom ] [ A Poem for Talon and the Little ones Within Us All ] [ Coyote, the Artist and the Big Fat Bunnies ] [ The Great Tree of Peace ] [ Peace Mocassins ] [ Are you an Indian? ] [ The Wild Rose ] [ Poems by Sharmagne ]
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Updated December 7, 2007
Created December 7, 2007 |
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