[MD] DQU and Rudy James (No relation to William)

[John Carl]

Ian,

from an article<http://www.mediaisland.org/en/deganawidah-quetzalcoatl-university-students-and-elders-arrested-early-morning>my
wife found,

"In response to this neglect, the community has united with the students
to implement a new board. The current Student Leaders hold numerous
programs and workshops such as the Indigenous Perma-culture Program,
bio-diesel workshops and bi-weekly ceremony on campus, despite constant
harassment from former board members. Students are actively searching
for teachers who can further develop a new curriculum and new board
members to apply for membership."

Permaculture, bio-diesel, alternative education... all passions of mine.
 The idea of a non-SOM school trying to earn back it's accreditation is
fascinating to me.  The idea of a community creating an institution of
LEARNING rather than an institution of conferred degrees is fascinating to
me.

But I notice a bit of flailing around and failure because those who are in
favor of such ideas are saddled with an intrinsically inferior metaphysical
system and they don't have the philosophy to handle it.  Sorta like Pirsig's
problem when he encountered SOM - centered anthropology.

"Sorta"??  Nah, that's too weak.  It's the EXACT same problem with the same
daunting prospects.  Daunting, but fascinating.

I like the idea of an idealistic intellectual framework, ala Plato's
Republic, but with a real place and real possibility.  It helps keep
discussion grounded when reality is a possibility.

I like that the factors that contribute to the schools's malfunction, also
contribute to the possibility of something new and interesting being born.
 While it's all in an uproar, there's a chance to lobby for a new way of
looking at things.

So how does one approach the intellectual domination of the MoQ over the
social patterns of a school?  That's question one.  My suggestion is to
consider the question, answer it as best as I can, and then go from there.

And talk to Rudy some more.




On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:40 AM, Ian Glendinning
<ian.glendinning at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi John,
> Oh my, my, my, my, my ...
>
> So what are you suggesting ?
>
> Ian
>
> On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 12:30 PM, John Carl <ridgecoyote at gmail.com> wrote:
> > well...
> >
> >
> > That was interesting.  And amazing.  I went to my mom's place to work a
> bit,
> > install a pocket door and talk to her friend Rudy who was visiting.  Rudy
> > had left the night before and was still gone when I got there, but as I
> was
> > unloading my tools he pulled up.  He said he'd gone to a friend's house
> in
> > Woodland and had spent the night playing Chess.  A chess playing Indian,
> my
> > kind of guy.  I asked him if he knew about DQ University - I was hopeful
> > because not only is Rudy an Indian, he's an Indian activist and leader
> and
> > DQ University is near Woodland so I figured he might know a bit about it.
> >
> >
> > He did.  He knows ALL about it.  So I had to sit down with him and spend
> the
> > morning explaining who Robert Pirsig is and what DQ means to the MoQ and
> why
> > I was so interested.   In the back of my mind I was thinking about the
> huge
> > freeway sign, DQ UNIVERSITY which perches on I-505, a normal, large
> > California Freeway sign, pointing out the offramp way  to a place that
> only
> > operates in imagination.
> >
> >
> > So  I learned a lot about the actual DQ University.  Rudy was invited to
> be
> > a teacher there while he was on faculty at UC Davis and he had some
> > first-hand experience wrangling with the board.  His comment to me, after
> > we'd been discussing for a while is "Those BIA Indians don't care much
> for
> > me.  They think I'm a trouble maker."
> >
> >
> > Well, he is.  I didn't realize how much until I got home and started
> > googling.  Up to this point I didn't even know Rudy's last name, just
> that
> > he's been invited to a lot of world leadership conference things and has
> > some standing at the UN as a leader of indigenous people.  He said his
> main
> > plea to the board was in bringing in more practical   vocational training
> > and they didn't want to listen. Demeaning physical labor was what they
> > heard.  They wanted to train Indians to be doctors, not truck drivers.
>  Rudy
> > says the board is not very educated themselves and they are a bit hard to
> > reason with.   But I've always known Rudy and I were on a similar
> wavelength
> > and this confirmed it for me.  If I'd had questions about how to contact
> > whatever board was in charge of the place, I now knew how to do it.  And
> > that it would probably be futile.
> >
> >
> > Probably, not definitely tho.  I asked Rudy, "Now that they've lost their
> > accreditation, do you think they might be more open to new ideas?"  And
> he
> > thought they would.
> >
> >
> > He mentioned someone named Grace who'd jumped the fence with a bunch of
> > other Indians when the land was being acquired, the daughter of Jim
> >
> > Thorpe, evidently, who'd expressed to Rudy that she was willing to jump a
> > fence again.  Evidently another real firecracker, I can picture a bunch
> of
> > people milling around, uncertain what to do, and then this grandmotherly
> > woman climbs the official fence, a bunch of people follow, and then
> > officialdom caves.    Too bad she
> > died<
> http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/04/07/grace_thorpe_tribal_judge_and_daughter_of_jim_thorpe/
> >last
> > year.
> >
> >
> >
> > The buildings are insubstantial, but the land is one square mile.  You
> can
> > do a lot in a square mile.
> >
> >
> > So, all I need to do is work out a plan, hand it to Rudy over a chess
> game,
> > and have him send it on to the board for consideration.    No problem.
> >
> >
> > yeah.  right.
> >
> >
> > The most fascinating aspects of learning all this, is googling and
> reading
> > the wild life and times of Rudy James, Tlinket Judge, leader and
> sometimes
> > accused of being a con man.  He made national and international news back
> in
> > 1994 over a case of two Tlingets who were charged with robbery whom Rudy
> > talked a judge into handing over to tribal justices, representing himself
> as
> > a tribal judge.  The more I read his story the more I was reminded of the
> > Zuni in Lila, a guy who is first vilified by his people and then ends up
>  as
> > leader.
> >
> >
> > Ok... fascinating links to Rudy's story and snippets from my research:
> >
> >
> > A review<
> http://www.colorado.edu/journals/standards/V6N2Pride/REVIEWS/raven.html>of
> > a book he wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > A long-time Native Rights activist and advocate of the Traditional Tribal
> > Law and Justice systems, the political work of Rudy James has made
> > international headlines. His Tlingit name and title were foretold in
> dreams,
> > and only James may act as First and Oldest Raven during his life-time.
> >
> > Devilfish Bay honors both the present-day work of James and his people,
> as
> > well as the ancestral heritage from which it stems.
> >
> >
> > NY Times Article<
> http://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/31/us/indian-boys-exile-turns-out-to-be-hoax.html?pagewanted=1
> >
> >
> > When two young convicted robbers were released last week to a man who
> said
> > he was an Indian tribal judge empowered to punish the boys by banishing
> them
> > to a pair of remote islands in Alaska, the case drew international
> > attention.
> >
> > Never before had an American court allowed defendants to be punished by
> > banishment. But a judge here in Snohomish County, north of Seattle, was
> > assured that it was a traditional form of Tlingit justice, and it was
> hailed
> > by some as a bold and innovative move in a criminal justice system gone
> > awry.
> >
> > Now it turns out that there is no such thing as banishment in Tlingit
> > culture, according to tribal leaders and elders in Alaska. And
> prosecutors
> > say the self-styled tribal judge is a con man with a history of bad debt.
> >
> > As for the boys, nearly a week after they were supposed to show up in the
> > southeastern Alaskan town of Klawock for processing, their whereabouts
> are
> > unknown; the prosecutor fears they have fled to Canada. Judge? What
> Judge?
> >
> >
> >
> > Description <
> http://www.amazon.com/Devilfish-Bay-Giant-Story/dp/1891081004>of
> > Rudy and his book from Amazon:
> >
> > A captivating storyteller and lecturer, Kuiu Tribal Spokesman and
> Historian,
> > Rudy James draws from a rich Oral Tradition. He began life in a remote SE
> > Alaska Tlingit Indian village. Dreams foretold his birth, his gender, and
> > the leadership name or title that he would carry. ThlauGooYailthThlee
> means
> > The First and Oldest Raven, and no one else can hold that name while he
> is
> > alive. Rudy James is a member of the Raven Moiety, Thleenadih, the First
> > House of the Dog Salmon Clan, the Teedgth Hit, the Shakan Kwaan. He is
> also
> > a member of the Kuiu Kwaan. James remembers the years before Alaska
> > statehood when members of his tribe lived close to their traditional
> lands,
> > waters and resources and knew each other by their Indian names. His
> Tlingit
> > name means the First and Oldest Raven, a name and title that no one else
> can
> > hold while he is alive. His birth, gender and name were foretold in
> dreams.
> > Rudy James grew up in a traditional Tlingit home, hunting, fishing and
> > gathering to help put food on the table. As the sixth of fifteen
> children,
> > this was no small task.
> >
> >
> > Time mag article:<
> http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,981427-2,00.html>
> >
> > The mythologies of many Native American tribes feature a character known
> to
> > anthropologists as the trickster. He is both good and bad; a creator but
> > also a mischief maker. Above all, he is duplicitous: joyously,
> energetically
> > deceptive. Among the Tlingit people of western Alaska, the trickster
> figure
> > is known as the Raven. At the moment, however, someone bearing a striking
> > resemblance to him is roaming the Ketchikan area under another name.
> >
> > **
> >
> > Last Thursday marked the first day of what is without question the most
> > widely publicized legal proceeding in Tlingit history. In the 750-person
> > lumber and fishing town of Klawock, Alaska, 12 self-proclaimed tribal
> judges
> > pondered the fate of two young criminals. The "tribal court" had the
> > trappings of authenticity: the hall had been ritually purified with a
> > "devil's club" branch, and some of the judges wore red and black
> ceremonial
> > blankets and gestured with eagle and raven feathers. But there were
> abundant
> > reasons for skepticism, both of the tribunal and the sentence it was
> likely
> > to mete out. Not least of which was its presiding magistrate: one of the
> > more creative cross-cultural jurists in recent legal history, Rudy James.
> >
> >
> > Really good article<
> http://articles.latimes.com/1995-06-21/news/mn-15520_1_tlingit-indians
> >from
> > LA Times
> >
> >
> > Ever since, a small army of Tlingits has been donating time and money
> they
> > can ill afford to carry out what has become the most costly and divisive
> > undertaking in the tribe's recent history.
> >
> > Thus far, Tlingit fishermen, lumberjacks and tribal leaders have spent
> more
> > than $60,000 and an estimated 10,000 man-hours on the legal work, food,
> > bedding, tools, fishing trawlers and muscle needed to settle the wayward
> > youths on separate islands in southeastern Alaska's vast Alexander
> > Archipelago.
> >
> > Relatives of the two 18-year-olds have given $5,000 in cash to
> Whittlesey,
> > who suffered permanent damage to his hearing and eyesight in the attack,
> > toward restitution they say will not be complete until they buy him a
> duplex
> > home in this seaside community about 26 miles north of Seattle.
> >
> > But what once appeared as an entire tribe coming together to take
> > responsibility for the actions of its youths has devolved into
> intra-tribal
> > squabbling. Some say it is a clash between traditionalists, who insist
> > banishment and restitution are crucial to the rehabilitation of both the
> > victim and criminals, and assimilationists who are not all that unhappy
> with
> > the American system of justice.
> >
> > There also are rumbles from Snohomish County prosecutors, who argue that
> > Allendoerfer is treating Native Americans differently from other
> defendants.
> > They also were incensed that the youths initially were placed on U.S.
> Forest
> > Service land and armed with high-powered rifles.
> >
> > "Is the banishment worth it? Yes," said Tlingit Tribal Court Judge Rudy
> > James, 59, who shepherded the novel arrangement with his wife, Diana, and
> a
> > handful of tribal elders.
> >
> > "The point is not just restitution and rehabilitation," James said. "This
> is
> > an act of sovereignty that stands for the continuation of our people and
> our
> > ways."
> >
> > A thousand miles to the north, the teen-agers have spent the last eight
> > months on separate islands foraging for berries and firewood in the
> forest,
> > scouring beaches for edible shellfish and carving wooden halibut hooks
> for
> > sale toward restitution.
> >
> > Tlingits hope the youths will discover their heritage and honor in the
> > process. With only two books to read--the Bible and a treatise on Tlingit
> > culture--there also will be plenty of time to reflect on their crime.
> >
> > In a videotaped interview conducted last October at his banishment site,
> > Guthrie conceded that while "everyone has demons, mine are some real bad
> > dudes."
> >
> > While some critics view the banishment as a ploy to circumvent the
> justice
> > system, supporters say it speaks to a larger nationwide movement of
> > indigenous people seeking sovereignty--and alternatives to a legal system
> > they believe does not work for Native Americans.
> >
> > The problem is clear, they say, in the youths' home state of Alaska,
> where
> > tribal people account for 30% of all state prison inmates, while making
> up
> > only 16% of the state's population. There, too, the recidivism rate for
> > tribal members hovers at about 50%, according to the state Department of
> > Corrections.
> >
> > "American Indians want to return to traditional sanctions that worked for
> > them, and it all turns on a yearning for self-determination and setting
> > their own cultural norms," said Charles Wilkinson, a law professor at the
> > University of Colorado at Boulder and an expert on state and federal laws
> as
> > they apply to Native Americans. "The best example," he said, "is the
> concept
> > of making a victim whole again and engaging in some form of healing that
> > will make the offender not do wrong again."
> >
> > Kenneth Tollefson, a professor of anthropology at Seattle Pacific
> University
> > and an expert on Tlingit history and culture, put it another way.
> >
> > "The American court system says, 'You serve your time, you pay your
> bill.'
> > It turns out ex-cons," Tollefson said. "The Tlingit system says, 'You
> don't
> > pay your bill until you compensate the victim and satisfy tribal elders
> that
> > you're rehabilitated.' It turns out restored people and a healed
> community."
> >
> > Historically, he said, banishment was one method of achieving those goals
> > for the Tlingits, who are one of a growing number of tribes trying to
> > restore and expand traditional laws.
> >
> > The sharpest criticism comes from members of the federally recognized
> tribal
> > council in Klawock, who regard James as a meddlesome outsider because his
> > tribal court is from a Tlingit clan other than the one that dominates
> > Klawock.
> >
> > "This could have been a positive thing for native people--a huge step
> > forward," said Roseanne Demmert, president of Klawock's tribal council.
> "The
> > problem is with the person the boys were turned over to, Rudy James, who
> is
> > a self-proclaimed judge and leader."
> >
> > Not so, say traditionalist tribal elders in Klawock, who pleaded for
> James'
> > tribal court to intervene on the youths' behalf in the first place.
> >
> > "Rudy and his wife, Diana, have done a good job in this case," said
> tribal
> > elder Byron Skinna, who skippers a fishing trawler used to replenish the
> > youths' provisions.
> >
> > "In traditional Tlingit society everybody looks after the tribe's
> children,"
> > he said. "These boys are part of the tribe. If they are rehabilitated, it
> is
> > worth every bit of the effort put into it."
> >
> > Added Skinna: "Putting people in jail doesn't teach anybody anything but
> how
> > to be better criminals."
> >
> > Before their arrests, Guthrie and Roberts were, by all accounts,
> > hell-raisers. Now, according to Skinna, they are on the road to
> responsible
> > maturity.
> >
> > The youths are not the only ones who have changed. Whittlesey's parents,
> who
> > were devastated by their son's injuries, have become staunch supporters
> of
> > the banishment effort.
> >
> > "Would we do this for one of our own children?" Max Whittlesey, a
> > 52-year-old mechanical engineer, wondered.
> >
> > "Of course, what happened is a tragedy, and I'm not saying we haven't
> > screamed to God and asked, 'Why?' We'd just like to see these boys come
> out
> > totally reformed. If the banishment works, they'll find inner strength to
> > help them survive in prison and not come out polished criminals."
> >
> > Tim Whittlesey, whose marriage fell apart shortly after the attack, said
> he
> > also is prepared to forgive.
> >
> > However, he said: "I may never overcome the fear of walking up to an
> > unfamiliar door at night."
> >
> >
> > And how it all ended, according to Seattle
> > Times<
> http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19951004&slug=2144978
> >
> >
> > However, infighting between a deeply divided tribal court forced
> > Allendoerfer to bring the men back early. The split tribal court held two
> > review hearings last month, with both sides refusing to attend the other
> > side's meeting. The separate courts then issued conflicting
> recommendations
> > to Allendoerfer about the fate of the two men.
> >
> > Yesterday, the men, their attorneys and some tribal judges asked
> > Allendoerfer to allow the experiment to continue until March, as
> originally
> > agreed.
> >
> > Allendoerfer denied the request. However, he called the banishment a
> > successful but flawed experiment.
> >
> > "I find that this experiment has some flaws which threaten its
> credibility
> > and integrity. . . . It's time to end this experiment while it can still
> be
> > ended on a positive note," he said.
> >
> > Despite the problems, the two men appeared to have benefited from their
> > isolation, and the highly publicized experiment opened the dialogue for
> > potential change in the criminal-justice system, Allendoerfer said.
> >
> > "It's better to limp in the right direction than to run in the wrong
> > direction," he said.
> >
> > Rudy James, the lead tribal judge who persuaded Allendoerfer to give the
> > tribal court jurisdiction over the two men, said he was thankful for the
> > opportunity Allendoerfer gave his court and that he
> >
> > would pursue other cases. James said he is working on several other
> cases,
> > of which one is similar to the Snohomish County case. James would not
> give
> > specifics about the case.
> >
> >
> > Amusing interview<
> http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0196/9601dica.html>
> > of
> > the boys from Outside Mag:
> >
> > *It must have been tough, being taken away from your family.*
> > Well, you know, I saw Dad a lot. He bought a boat just for this
> > banishment--a 16- or 17-foot outboard with one of those convertible
> > tops--and he'd come out and visit. It just took him, like, 20 minutes to
> get
> > there.
> >
> > *Didn't reporters visit, too?*
> > Yeah. They had these funny-looking snow boots and these see-through rain
> > jackets that I thought people only wore in California. Adrian made one of
> > them chop his wood.
> >
> > *What was your most terrifying moment?*
> > Well, bigfoot is out there. I could sense him sometimes, and one morning
> > around 6:30 there was this big old bang on my cabin... After that, I
> didn't
> > play my music too loud.
> >
> > *Music?*
> > Yeah, the tribal judges left me all this thick wire, and I strung it
> about
> > 65 feet up in a tree to make an antenna for my radio. I got a station on
> the
> > border of Mexico that played fifties music; 1410, in Canada, played
> nothing
> > but love music.
> >
> > *What else did you do for fun?*
> > I hiked on the beach and sat in my cabin carving halibut hooks. I wrote a
> > lot--letters, poems, songs. I got seven songs down.
> >
> > *Yeah? Let's hear one.*
> > "I was banished to the island for my rehabilitation, / As I was tried by
> the
> > Tlingit..." That's the refrain. I don't want to sing the whole thing
> because
> > it isn't copyrighted yet. I need, you know, a good agent and an
> > entertainment lawyer. Do you know anybody?
> >
> >
> > Rudy's most recent <http://www.altaimir.org/articles.htm> doin's in
> Siberia:
> >
> > *Rudy James, Tlingit Tribal Judge*
> >
> > In searching for strategies that might provide some relief, we
> encountered
> > Rudy
> >
> > James, spokesman and tribal judge for the Tlingit people of Alaska, as
> well
> > as
> >
> > Secretary-General of United Indigenous Nations. Judge James has compiled
> a
> >
> > comprehensive notebook of legal precedents for Native American rights,
> and
> > used
> >
> > this information to successfully prevent a United States Supreme Court
> > decision
> >
> > regarding Alaskan lands.
> >
> >
> > In June, 2008, AMU sponsored James’ travel to Altai to meet with Altai
> >
> > leaders as well as make a presentation at the 10th Global Leadership
> Forum
> > in
> >
> > Novosibirsk. James was particularly interested because another name for
> the
> > Altai
> >
> > people is the Telengit, which points to a probable connection between
> Altai
> > and
> >
> > the Tlingit Nation in Alaska.
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