(In this second part, Daybreak Star's Phil Lane outlines how a new world path can be achieved through "The Fourth Way" - empowerment.)
The term "fourth way" refers to Lane's ideas about the several ways that indigenous peoples respond to the overwhelming influence of a dominant culture.
Lane said that in his talks with indigenous leaders, he identified four ways of responding to the breakdown of traditional indigenous culture: assimilation, or to give up one's traditions to blend into mainstream culture; resignation, or to give up and fall into despair; resistance, or to organize against the dominant culture with anything from nonviolent protest to armed conflict; and, finally, what Lane calls empowerment and constructive development - "the fourth way."
According to Lane, such a movement would be nonviolent, broadly democratic and founded in diplomacy, with a long view to cultural and environmental sustainability. It is a response to the historic degradation of indigenous populations in North and South America - the poverty, cycles of violence and addiction, loss of land and ways of being - and so seeks to re-empower those populations by improving the fundamentals of a "healthy" life through better education, health care, economic development and participation in social and political structures.
"It's time to rebuild this hemisphere," Lane said. "It's time to come home."
A crucial element of the movement, he added, is that it provides an alternative response to the threat of global terrorism. Lane said there's a striking similarity to indigenous populations in the Americas and those in the Middle East, Africa and Australia.
Many terrorists, he pointed out, feel powerless in the face of Western hegemony. By allowing those in power to see through the eyes of disenfranchised populations, the fourth way brings a greater understanding of the hostility so much of the world feels toward Western powers such as the United States.(In this second part, Daybreak Star's Phil Lane outlines how a new world path can be achieved through "The Fourth Way" - empowerment.)
The term "fourth way" refers to Lane's ideas about the several ways that indigenous peoples respond to the overwhelming influence of a dominant culture.
Lane said that in his talks with indigenous leaders, he identified four ways of responding to the breakdown of traditional indigenous culture: assimilation, or to give up one's traditions to blend into mainstream culture; resignation, or to give up and fall into despair; resistance, or to organize against the dominant culture with anything from nonviolent protest to armed conflict; and, finally, what Lane calls empowerment and constructive development - "the fourth way."
According to Lane, such a movement would be nonviolent, broadly democratic and founded in diplomacy, with a long view to cultural and environmental sustainability. It is a response to the historic degradation of indigenous populations in North and South America - the poverty, cycles of violence and addiction, loss of land and ways of being - and so seeks to re-empower those populations by improving the fundamentals of a "healthy" life through better education, health care, economic development and participation in social and political structures.
"It's time to rebuild this hemisphere," Lane said. "It's time to come home."
A crucial element of the movement, he added, is that it provides an alternative response to the threat of global terrorism. Lane said there's a striking similarity to indigenous populations in the Americas and those in the Middle East, Africa and Australia.
Many terrorists, he pointed out, feel powerless in the face of Western hegemony. By allowing those in power to see through the eyes of disenfranchised populations, the fourth way brings a greater understanding of the hostility so much of the world feels toward Western powers such as the United States.
Colville tribal member Mel Tona-sket, who has a leadership history in Native American affairs, said that Native American experiences of perfidy at the hands of the United States government - extermination, termination, relocation - along with reinvigoration of the traditional wisdom of ancient Indian culture, provide for a unique perspective on how unity can be reached through peace and empowerment.
"We have an experience to share," Tonasket said, "and it's not through bullets. Most of us want peace - how we go there is another matter."
Media and message
According to Lane, one of the greatest obstacles to the actualization of "The Fourth Way" is not political hostility, social apathy or cultural ignorance: It's the media.
He said he worries that the message will get skewed, slanted or otherwise misrepresented by a modern mass media given to cynicism, sensationalism and easily digestible sound bites that reduce stories to the lowest common denominator.
It's for this reason that he brought aboard Tonasket, a man with first-hand experience of fourth-estate manipulation.
Tonasket said it was during his stint in politics during the '70s that he witnessed the way the media would create the impression that this one sensationalistic moment represents the whole of the event in question.
For instance, he said, during the American Indian Movement (AIM) occupation in 1973 of Wounded Knee on the South Dakota Pine Ridge Reservation, some of the Indian activists were armed in self-defense. Tonasket said the media focused primarily on the armed militancy of the event, which, he added, gave the public the impression that all Native American tribes were toting guns and preparing for bloody insurgency.
In fact, Tonasket was part of a contingency that met with AIM leaders and convinced them to put down their arms and to highlight instead the group's "passion for justice," as he put it.
"They throw us all in one bag," he said of media coverage of Native Americans.
One of the ways to avoid having their message manipulated, he said, is to form powerful alliances that will give the movement recourse to a hierarchy of organizations, such as the United Nations, fighting for justice.
To combat the threat of misrepresentation and misunderstanding, Lane and Tonasket don't want to give the press anything negative or sensationalistic to exploit. The best way to do this, he said, is to channel the anxiety and anger indigenous people feel - anger that often leads to armed conflict - into a peaceful and constructive force for change.
"They've got to focus that energy, not go wildly about it," Tonasket said.
The idea, he added, is to make sure "The Fourth Way" remains the focus, and that the message remains clear enough that those in power are provided every opportunity to hear what they have to say.
"We can talk to those other entities and explain that these are our other options and hope to God that they listen," he said.
The text of "The Fourth Way: An Indigenous Contribution for Building Sustainable and Harmonious Prosperity in the Americas" can be viewed on the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation website, www.unitedindians.com.
Rick Levin can be reached at needitor@nwlink.com.
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