Sadly, many American Indians themselves who finally surrendered to the constant pressures of colonization partake in what Phillips refers to as "patriarchal colonialism" and Indigenous women call "distorted or sexist traditionalism" (p.13). In her university thesis, Phillips describes using what she calls "Native womanism" as a decolonization method that draws from pre-colonial egalitarian partnerships between men and women and Aboriginal values of caring, honestly, sharing and kindness in ways to apply to current contexts. This is what I suggest we all must start doing, whether current tribal members or those whose tribal ancestors might only be found before the change of worldviews occurred.
Such a commitment requires the next two steps that I only briefly mention here, courage-fearlessness and trance-based learning. The first relates to the Indigenous commitments to courage and ultimately fearlessness. Courage was predicated on the ability to forget oneself in the pursuit of duty and the desire to serve and protect others. Charles Eastman explained: "The Sioux conception of bravery makes of it a high moral virtue, for to him it consists not so much in aggressive self-assertion as in absolute self-control." Beyond courage, in our original worldview courage was followed by fearlessness once a subsequent commitment to action was initiated. This was not about blind foolishness, but rather a spiritual sense of trusting the universe in behalf of the commitment to follow the "red road."
Finally, if we are to use the Me Too movement in and out of Indian Country to put both women and our planet back into flowing balance and wellness before it is too late, an ancient understanding of alternative consciousness and the hypnosis effect is crucial. Words and fear can misguide humans easily when we are in spontaneous or induced states of hypersuggestibility if we are not aware of such potential. In order to tap our highest potential, we must not only avoid inappropriate trance-based learning from perceived authority figurer or continual hegemony, we must also relearn how to use it to reach our highest images for transformation. Once we used ceremonies, vision quests, chanting, dancing, focused meditation and even plant medicine to actualize such positive images. We can do all of this again for the sake of future generations not having to say "me too."
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