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NVision + MTV = 4Real !!!

BunkHaus
Date:	Feb 23, 2008 12:33 PM
Subject:	NVision + MTV = 4Real !!! [ please repost! ]
Body:	Nawa All . . . We're so pleased to bring the following news from the NVision camp! Please check it out, and repost it! Big things only in 2008! b-HAUS N V I S I O N an affiliate of the seventh generation fund w w w . N V i s i o n I t . o r g NVision to be Featured on International TV Series NVision is excited to announce the premiere of the 4REAL TV series on CTV and MTV in Canada and the National Geographic Channel globally. 4REAL is a series of half-hour episodes hosted by Sol Guy that takes celebrity guests on adventures around the world to connect with young leaders who, under extreme circumstances, are affecting real change on some of the most pressing issues of our time. NVision was selected to be featured with actor Casey Affleck ("Ocean's Thirteen" & "Gone Baby Gone") in one of the eight episodes produced. In 4REAL Pawnee, host Sol Guy takes Casey Affleck to the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma to meet NVision. NVision is a collective of Native artists and community leaders who use hip hop, popular culture, film and visual and performing arts to empower Native youth. Sol and Casey check out the launch of the NVision tour that will travel to Native reservations and cities with urban Native populations. The tour, which includes workshops and concerts, promotes the message of the importance of leadership, empowerment and cultural pride. Sol and Casey also witness the challenges of reservation life that are often invisible to mainstream society. They are inspired not only by NVision’s passionate effort to combat despair, but by the overall pride and resilience of the Pawnee community. 4REAL airs nationally on MTV and CTV starting April 2008. Also in April, 4REAL will air globally on National Geographic Channels International (not including Canada, U.S., and U.K.) in 166 countries and 35 languages. Beyond the exposure that 4REAL provides, these young leaders are partners in the show, with 50 per cent of the show's profits going directly to their initiatives. Other Celebrity guests for Season One are Cameron Diaz, Mos Def, Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Casey Affleck, K'NAAN, M.I.A. and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The shows take you on unique adventures with these celebrities, but ultimately it's the young leaders who emerge as the stars. 4REAL inspires viewers with stories of their courage, creativity and dedication to tackling issues such as poverty, environment, health, children's and indigenous rights, drugs and violence in their communities and beyond. To learn more about 4REAL, NVision's episode and join 4REAL's network of people worldwide committed to youth, social justice and change, visit 4Real.com. To learn more about NVision and the NVision Tour, visit on the world wide web or on myspace. Canadian Television - Coming in mid-March to CTV All 8 episodes of Season One will air on MTV in Canada starting Monday, April 14 at 8 PM. 4REAL will air globally in April 2008 on National Geographic International Channels (not including Canada, U.S., and U.K.) in 166 countries and 35 languages. 4REAL Pawnee Nat Geo Adventure Asia April 23, 2008 Wednesday 10:30 PM 4REAL Pawnee Nat Geo Adventure Italy April 9, 2008 Wednesday 10:30 PM 4REAL Pawnee NGC Brazil/Portugal April 23, 2008 Wednesday 10:00 PM 4REAL Pawnee NGC Latin America April 23, 2008 Wednesday 10:00 PM 4REAL Pawnee NGC Spain April 16,2008 Wednesday 11:00 PM

N8V, Bunky Echo-Hawk, Vaughn Eaglebear, & Ben-Alex - 3/28/08 For Longest Walk

	N8V
Date:	Feb 21, 2008 8:44 AM
Subject:	N8V, Bunky Echo-Hawk, Vaughn Eaglebear, & Ben-Alex - 3/28/08

You to Be The Change! by Nakota Designs

Australia Apologizes to Aborigines

From:	TANKA BAR
Date:	Feb 22, 2008 10:44 AM
:	Australia Apologizes to Aborigines
	Hello from Tanka Bar! Here is an interesting news story that caught my eye last week and I have been thinking about this. Australia's government has apologized for the mistreatment of its native people at the highest level of office possible. I find this very interesting because many of Australia's policies and tactics dealing with its "Native Problem" have been directly copied and pasted from the history of the United States. They have gone through attempted extermination to assimilation using the same style of boarding schools that once plagued our own country and that we still see the effects of even today. You could easily say that words are not worth the paper they are printed on, but many great ideas and dreams begin with words. With the Prime Minister truly confronting this tragic history head on, perhaps they can now begin to heal. In a weird switch of roles, maybe our government can learn from the positive steps of Australia. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/australia.aborgines/ (CNN) -- The Australian government apologized Wednesday for years of "mistreatment" that inflicted "profound grief, suffering and loss" on the country's Aboriginal people. New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd read the apology Wednesday to Aborigines and the "Stolen Generations" of children who were taken from their families. "To the mothers and fathers, to the brothers and sisters we say sorry. And for the indignity and degradation on a proud people and a proud culture we say sorry." For 60 years, until 1970, the Australian government took mixed-race Aboriginal children from their families and put them in dormitories or industrial schools, claiming it was protecting them. As a result of the policy, "stolen" children lost contact with their families and heritage, received poor education, lived in harsh conditions, and often endured abuse. "There is nothing I can say today that will take away the pain... Words are not that powerful," Rudd said in the Australian Parliament. He said that the apology was the start of a new approach towards Aborigines which included helping them find their lost families, closing pay gaps and a 17-year difference in life expectancy between Aborigines and white Australians" Some food for thought. There is a presidential candidate who has said similar words regarding Native people in this country. For an honest and bold approach to this subject, you can always look toward the comedians to pull no punches and go for the jugular. I love those guys over at The Onion. http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/australia_apologizes_to_aborigines As always, we would love to hear what you all think about this. Wopila.

Car Spinning on our MO Highway I-44

If this doesn't scare you.. well it should: One more good reason not to take driving for granted.
Watch how the driver tries to steer away from the skid, then when that fails hits the brakes. Didn't read the drivers manual.

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=5842106&version=8&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Buffalohair Free Burma: SURVIVING THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

SURVIVING THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

From the jungles of Burma to the concrete jungle of modern America has become a challenge for the new arrivals to say the very least. I spoke with a Karen refugee woman, through my interpretor, and I was saddened by what she told me. Though she survived the ethnic cleansing of the military junta in Burma and managed to survive 10 years of hardships in a refugee camp on the Thai border, she was hard pressed to survive in modern America.

Given three months from the time she arrived in America she was supposed to learn English, find a job and then pursue the America Dream. For immigrants from Europe this would not be much of a problem. Granted there is always the language barrier that must be conquered as well. But imagine, if you will, the refugee who lived in the jungles of Burma then dropped into modern American society. It's a culture shock to say the least. Three months truly was not enough time to assimilate with our complex culture for her and the multitude of refugees who've come to America with hopes and dreams.

She told me of how she used to dream of this place of freedom called America. She and other Burmese who lived their entire lives in the jungles never ventured to any urban areas even in their own country. They were jungle people who lived their lives hunting and gathering as well as farm their land. Never did they want nor have the desire to go to any city. Free from the complexities of modern life they lived with nature for the most part. Their lives where likened to living in a Garden of Eden where the jungle provided all their needs. They were children of the jungle who lived in paradise until a military junta decided to gather them up and place them in bondage and forced labor camps or simply raped and murdered.

What a sad and horrific introduction to the 21st Century to be hunted down and in many cases murdered in cold blood by rockets, bullets and bombs. Their crime, being a simple and peaceful people who had no need for modern ways or ideologies. Quickly they learned the harsh realities of this modern era of greed as soldiers came to their villages, burned down their homes, raped their women and killed anyone who opposed this new iron fisted rule. Their only salvation was to find sanctuary in one of the many refugee camps along the Thai border.

Naïve to the ways of modern society they fell pray to unscrupulous and fast talking people. Stripped of their innocence their only hope was to find a host country who would offer them salvation from the horrors of living as a refugee in this ambivalent world. Their dream, to live in America the land of the free. Eagerly they drank up all that was American. They heard stories about this land of “Milk and Honey”. Oh how they dreamed of living in such a free place, America. Hmmmmmmmmm...

It's been eight months since she and her family left Thailand and only 5 months since the US government stopped giving them assistance. With 10 people living in this household sharing a two bedroom apartment, life has not been quite the American Dream from legends told in the refugee camps. Totally ill prepared to deal with modern American society has made them targets again to say the very least. In this household there is only one person who managed to find work, her husband. He found work but it has fallen short of the hopes and dreams they once conjured. They were given three months to assimilate and enter American society, gads. Now he works out of town for minimum wage and lives with other refugees in an effort to support his family.

Others tell me of how relations have been maimed and injured by lawn mowers, hedge cutters and other common garden tools. Many who have been injured are fearful of reprisal and never report these events. Some work for far less than minimum wage and are not aware of laws that protect workers in the work place. Thankful they are not being hunted down and killed they press forward though almost impossible odds. “We thought this land was free but you have to pay money just to sit” one tribesman told me.

Sadly rape still follows the women of the jungle like so many other ethnic minority women. One woman told me of how she was held captive and raped repeatedly for days until she was made to go to the bank and withdraw all her funds by the perpetrator. Undaunted she went into the bank and immediately notified authorities. The culprit was quickly dispatched and eventually placed in prison, you go girl. But this is not always the case and rape is still a very real reality for minority woman. This has been the case for Native women as well. Statistically speaking 7 out of 10 assaults on Native women were perpetrated by non Native men. This horrific statistic is shared by Canada as well.

Social issues ranging from alcohol abuse to spousal abuse have been largely ignored. Despair and sorrow also haunt these people since this new world is so foreign to them. Funny, I find this to be the case with my people living on the reservation. Many live in poverty on the rez rather than endure racism and hatred from non Natives. My brother was a roofer but quit when his employer refused to give him more than half his promised wage. I can imagine how much worse it is for a refugee who does not know the language or the labor laws.

Unscrupulous business owners have taken full advantage of the ignorance of these innocent people and have literally placed some of them in indentured servitude. They work 20 hour days for less than minimum wage and are kept is squalor. Ironically some of these ruthless businessmen are educated Burmese. Again another mirror reflection from the Native American world fore it's been my observation the cruelest people I've encountered was our very own. We expect others to be cruel to us but when it's one of our own people it is the ultimate betrayal.

From the Maori, Aborigines, Native American's, Mayan, Cambodians, Nigerians and other ethnic minorities, assimilation has been quite a disaster from the onset. Tribal people in general have had to struggle with a society that was not groomed for life but groomed for material gain. It has become a crime of sorts not to have this material lusting and desire to have “stuff” like this modern age seems to require. Why is it such a crime to be truly free? How come everything has a price tag in modern society? What has this world become when you can't simply sit by a stream and enjoy the day? Civilization? Show me where it is and I'll find the contradiction fore there is nothing civil about this modern culture, nothing.

When I was a child assimilation was a very real issue for my mom and I. We just did not understand this strange new world. The fact my ma and I were from an ethnic group other than the status quo placed us in such a negative light I still suffer the emotional consequences (PTSD) from the hatred we endured. I remember men coming up to my mother and propositioning her in my presence. I can still remember this line, “Do you want a new pa pa little boy?”, and we were US citizens. The feel of warm spittle on my face from non Native people who used to spit on us still haunts me to this day. I will never forget how we were treated. I can just imagine how these little chubby cheek Burmese kids feel when their mothers are accosted and asked for sexual favors simply because they are minorities.

Guess it is only apparent that I've taken a personal vested interest in the plight of these human beings. I've allied myself with Kachin, Karen, Burmese officials and ex political prisoners who are true champions of their people. I am honored to call them my friends. They are a wealth of knowledge and are my key to the secret world of the refugee communities they serve both nationally and internationally. We all agree there is a serious lacking in educating and preparing people from the jungle to face the challenges of this modern and complex society. Many refugees never had an electric appliance in their lives let alone electricity. And for some refugees this has become a living nightmare from which they will never awaken from. Sadly they ponder if death from the military junta would have been a more humane way to die.

Your Devil's Advocate
Buffalohair
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Creativity is the byproduct of a fertile mind