An Anti-Traditional Incident

Hanh mitakuyapi / Hello my relatives. I trust this finds you all well & happy, or getting there.
I just figured out now how to do this, or you'd have heard from me before. Not that that's a big deal, but it is 'so'.
Recently, I was cleaning in one of the local public schools, (n in Bismarck) as a temp or contract worker. Such work is way below my skills level, but it's suitably humble & it fills in blanks in the "bills paid" column of my life from time to time.
I nearly always wear a hat with 4 Channunpa on it, partly because it is my spirituality & I'm proud of it; partly because I Sun Dance, & am proud of that' & partly to remind people that not all of us have knuckled under to the whiteman's ways, but still follow our authentic Traditional Ways. That we Indns have no "acculturated" or "assimilated" & we are still here & so are our cultures. The Channunpa are central to our cultures up here on the Northern Plains, after all.
Someone in official-dumb asked me to remove my hat & not wear it, on the grounds that "it makes some people uncomfortable". Well, hooo-eeee, ain't that a sad thing; that reminders of the Holy Pipe make "some people uncomfortable". I asked who & was told I didn't need to know. ( ! )
My expectation is, it's some of the considerable over-supply we have around here of "born-agains" who call themselves part of the majority culture's supposed religious way. You know - the one where they're forever trying to stuff those 10 "commandments" they don't keep, down our throats.. Well, hey, takoszja, I'm a born-again, too! A born-again Pagan, through the Sun Dance, & way proud of it. It takes a lot of hard work & courage & determination to Sun Dance successfully. We earn our rightful pride about it.. the humble kind. But that does not mean we should hide it! Not hardly. All those who wander lost & in misery need to be reminded that some are keeping these Ways, & so be encouraged to do so, too.
Therefore, I refused, on the grounds of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the EEOA, and the Constitution & Bill of Rights - specifically the First Amendment, the sections about religious freedom & freedom of expression. This person complained to my supervisors at the temp agency, who actually asked if the hat & the Pipe & making this essentially silent statement are all that important!
Yes, they are. How many millions of us died for the Sun Dance & other Sacred Ceremonies, doing them in secret & getting hauled to prisons & mental institutions for it? It happened to me, in 1994. That's not particularly long a go. So - Yes, they most certainly are.
I complained to the School Board, the local Human Relations Commission, & the mayor about this. So far, everyone is ducking & trying not to address the "issue". Denying hard & hearty that there was - or is - any discrimination or bigotry involved.. One has even said, "You misunderstood.." HAH!
Considering that the Bismarck Public School system "prefers I not work in the schools" (& the temp agency is knuckling under to them on this), I most certainly have hit the nail squarely on the thumb.
I'm a grandmother, takoszja - I most surely do "understand". I did then, I do now, & I will into the future. I've walked the earth awhile, but I'm nowhere near senile. And they know it; which apparently scares them pea-green or they wouldn't make such an issue of it.
The truth being the most powerful weapon there is to deal with reigns of terror & general bigotry, and the Internet being such a terrific tool for spreading the truth about such things, I write it down here for you so you will know about it. Perhaps some of you will want to do something about it. After all, if you don't speak up, you can't be heard!
Mitakuye oiasin. All, my relatives.

Hire EXPERIENCE!

Hanh mitakuyapi. Since March 7, 2009, I've been applying for jobs. As many as 6in one day ( ! ). I recently began listing mycurrent occupation as "job applicant" as a result. Why? Because of short-sighted & just plain stupid perspectives among the hirers. Among them: I'm over 40. or 50. or 21. It doesn't matter how long you hung around the fort; what matters is what you've done! Having walked the earth as long as I have, I should have acquired a wealth of experience. This therefore should be a plus to a prospective employer, not a minus.
Talk about head-in-posterior-defolade "thinking" of the part of hirers! Or, there's the nonsense that "young people need jobs more than older people". Why?!? We are not disposable as of a certain age, but it certainly explains the myths about "death panels" in the press of late... And aren't these boneheads who are carrying on about "the youth" & "their needs" also the ones who decry a woman's Right to privacy in the matter of her reproductive organs? Lessee here - they want to commit statutory rape on women, but they also want us older ones - the ones with the wisdom & experience they really need - to live on air or disappear or.... Does not compute.
My resume could easily fill 7 - 8 pages; & no, of course I don't list all myexperience &/or expertise. I call it a "pick-&-choose" resume. And even so, it's "so0o impressive" the hirers say they can't decide what to focus on.
CRAP! They lie.
It's just like the menu in a restaurant. You don't go in & buy everything on the menu; you pick one or 2 things & pay for them. Hiring someone like me is identical to that.
The upside to this appears to be, after much prayer & meditation, I am to resurrect an old product of mine & put it back in the marketplace & see what comes of it. I made money with it the first time; perhaps it willsupport me now. With luck, in a style far better than what I currently have, so I can do more to help fulfill my SunDance vow's focus.
And when I need to hire help, you can be sure I'll hire old fogies, not "youth". We need to eat & such, too.