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Gilbert Oskaboose In the Moon of Changing Leaves

by Gilbert Oskaboose

Well, another month has come and gone...a beautiful Fall month filled with the rich and vibrant colors of Autumn...the sounds of migrating birds gathering... a nip in the air...nothing exciting to write about but a lovely month just the same..not even too sure which day it is, but it was a lovely month.

Former Prime Minister Pierre Eliot Trudeau passed on. Never met the man so don't really know him, and really too stupid and politically unaware to really appreciate his impact on Canada , on other Canadians and on the rest of the world.. Shed a few tears for those incapable of tears. Guess the way I chose to remember him is the picture of him somewhere out in the wilderness, in a beautiful buckskin jacket, stroking along silently in a canoe. Guess our love of lost and lonely places was one of the few things we held in common. A great Canadian, if there is such a thing as great Canadians....

Keep breaking out in song while alone in the van. Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda, I'll come a'waltzing, Matilda, with you.... The Olympics from Australia made quite a splash. A damn shame the way Canada treats it's amateur athletes. I heard one horror story about a Canadian rower selling pins door to door in Toronto to raise the money to attend the Olympics. I kept hoping for another Thorpe or Longboat to show up - to get me fired up - but I guess Indian Country doesn't raise them like that anymore. A damn shame - on each and every one of us - for our short-sighted and piss -poor attitudes towards amateur sport in Canada. Ignore the athletes for years and then expect tons of gold medals every fourth year. Ridiculous! Inherently stupid and short-sighted!

According the television coverage of the Olympics there are only two aboriginal people left in all of Australia - a pot-bellied and painted old-timer doing his "unga- bunga" thingy for the cameras and a terrified young lady totally devastated at winning a gold medal for the fastest time in the 400 meter run. Frightened big eyes, like a deer caught in the headlights. Wonder why? Where were all the rest of the aboriginals? Killed off already? Relegated to the sidelines somewhere... somehow? Forgotten?

Went down to see her one cold and rainy day...toyed with the idea of making a pass and then as quickly dropped the notion. Too old and tired for that kind of bullshit. Reminded me of what one leading lady of Quebec used to always say to Trudeau " what are you going to do when you grow up, Pierre?" Don't think I ever want to grow up, whatever the hell that means.

Jews and the Arabs still killing each other in Jerusalem. Damn, that has to be the most unholy place on the entire planet. Both sides sure seemed to have missed the boat on understanding the teachings of Jesus Christ when he was around. If they would only stop, just for a tiny second even, they would come to understand that was not the message He left behind. Never mind the so-called minute of silence, just take one single damn second to "t'ink" about it.

The crap is still coming down on the First Nations folk of Burnt Church, Nova Scotia. Makes you wonder what the white folks of the area would do if they were only allowed "sustenance fishing." How long would they last if they were only allowed to keep enough for themselves and their immediate families. What the hell is so unacceptable or foreign about natives having a small share of resources for themselves? Honor the goddamn treaties, if you're capable of anything other than talking about honor.

Quit smoking a month ago and lasted until yesterday. Started up again and feel like a million bucks today - all soiled, green and wrinkly!

Got to see the back of Mohawk Waneek Horn's head as she made goals for Canada in the women's waterpolo matches. Guess it wasn't entirely a lost month. If she is only half as pretty as her mother - the lovely and luscious Kahn Tenata Horn - then the loss is all mine to bear.


Gilbert Oskaboose, a retired Ojibway journalist from the Serpent River First Nation in Northern Ontario wrote a weekly column here on FirstNations.com. With the permission of his family, we are privileged to continue to present Gib's words and stories, many of which are still relevant today.

Gib is a residential school survivor. During his retirement, Gib was engaged in a class action law suit against the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the federal Department of Indian Affairs for their respective contributions to a residential school lost childhood.

In 2000, Gib suffered a stroke and he was no longer able to continue writing.. He his mind and spirit are still strong though his body is now weak. Gib is currently living in an nursing home in Ontario. Thanks and well wishes go out to him and his family.

As Gib would say, "Write on, young native writer, write on...." His hope is that young writers will pick up their pens and use their voice to comment and describe the world we live in.

The pen has been now been passed to you, the next generation.

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