Congrats to the Haitian Voodoo Association

Hanh mitakuyapi. Whether you know it by now or not, I absolutely hate, detest, & abhor 'missionaries'. They are responsible for more misery among Indigenous Peoples around the world than any other cultural aspect.

On NPR this morning, there was a piece about a dozen or so Baptist missionaries having been jailed in Haiti for trying to take a large number of children - age 2 - 12 - out of Haiti illegally. The missionaries claim they were "only" taking the children to a brand new orphanage their group had just had built in another country.
After all, it needs occupants, right? So how better to get them than by stealing children from Haitians, who are in need of 'help' of all kinds, they figured. And in the process, they would convert these children from their Native Spiritual Way (wonderfully Pagan) to Baptist Christianity.

The parents of many of these children have been found, & were in the process of collecting their children from whatever camps they were already in, when the missionaries swooped down on the scene & tried to make off with the children. Luckily, the people of the Haiti Voodo Association were on the watch for just this kind of outrageous behavior, and they stopped the missionaries.

I rattle my tongue for the HVA people! I send my strongest prayers to aid them. As a Sun Dancer with a most public Prayer, I am therefore a Pipe Carrier. I know full well, up close & personal, about the outrages committed by missionaries against Indigenous People of Turtle Island these past 500+ years. You haven't lived until you've been accosted by one of these low-lifes - with their superiority complex - & had the distinct non-pleasure of being told that you - a grandmother, college-educated, speaker of 9 languages, with a lifetime of accomplishments - are "misguided", 'misinformed', 'duped', & ' a devil-worshipper' or 'in league with devils'.

While I am a rabid supporter of the Constitution & Bill of Rights, I have no doubt whatsoever that this applies first & foremost to my & my Peoples' Right - not privilege - to worship as we please, without any interference, or efforts at interference - from anyone, any time, anywhere, in any way. That definitely includes Indigenous People the world over as well.

For anyone who has an axe to grind with Voodoo - I know almost nothing about it. It is not my place to attack a spiritual Way that has been seen as valid by thousands of people for years uncountable - and it is no one else's place to do so, either, particularly by stealing children on the pretext of helping them. We IndigenUs People of Turtle Island are still seeing the terrible effects of the soul-collection efforts of missionaries, from the Boarding School Days, to the entire Reservation Period (which is still going on), on & off our Rezs. It's up to us and our Traditional Spiritual leaders to stop these outrages against our Ways - especially via our children.

The single most intimate thing any of us ever does is commune & connect with our individual, personal vision of All That Is Holy; there fore, it is the single most important thing we ever do, either. I hope the Haitian government slaps the Baptists hard for this outrageous assault on their Traditional Spiritual Ways.
Mitakuye oiasin - All, my relatives.