know something about the cave and it’s contents, which may or not already be the case; one thing is for certain though, they know about Dancing Bear enough to come on Navaho land and arrest him on charges of counterfeiting priceless artwork, which clearly points to someone tipping them off about one if not the both of us, but still no one knows anything about the cave yet or I’d probably be seeing it Goggled too.
That was actually the beginning of the end for our criminal careers months ago when Bear went “virtual’ on that warrant shit, nothing was ever proven in any fashion, they just threw us out there like that to help others find us easier, Bear was never even taken to court on the charges the whole thing was just a setup by the Government because of his involvement with the Movement, there wasn’t any knowledge on their part concerning Bear’s other activities that brought this on, they only want the land for development of it’s minerals and natural recourses, the members of the IRM can’t cause them any trouble locked away long enough to not be in the way of their plans, they figure “we know how to deal with the whole Indian Rights issue from pass records of their success ever since they took over the country from them long ago.
What we were doing got kind of caught up in all of that shit bringing attention to us and where to start looking to find us; now it’s come to this, here we are held up in a secret cave full of stolen artwork and dead Indians Ancestor’s who don’t seem to want us around anymore but won’t let us go, they want something from us for what we’ve done by defiling a sacred place.
That’s really where we are in all of this shit now, all kind of folks want a piece of our asses, but it’s take a number and get in line around here, the cave got first up on this and the way I’m looking at it there may not be much of us left once it’s through with us.
It’s affected Bear more than me mostly I think because he Navaho, the sprites of his dead Ancestors have entered him making him see things and do things now that’s helped lead us up to this; the Movement consumes every moment of his life now, the sprites of his Ancestor’s are what moves him now while the something here that’s not suppose to be is slowly forcing it’s ways upon him too; I don’t know what it’s from but it’s intentions aren’t very hard to imagine, it wants to control Dancing Bear's Ancestors through him so that it can tap into the hidden caves natural power as well as the power of the sprites that rest within its cavern.
The Heart of the matter.
Part 1
He couldn’t help the Movement in the same way Bear did, that didn’t mean he’d allow it from stopping him from doing so in the ways he could help, his best contribution would have to be in his words and deeds that support the Indian’s Human Rights Movement just as folks had to once supported the Human Rights Movement of Black Americans.
At times it seems like Indians will put everyone living here in the same category as the white man as if other races that live here by no fault of there own or otherwise are as equally wrong as the white’s have been to them, which is just not true; if they were to actually ask for a nation wide support from the American people to correct a lot of what’s been done to them they’d probably find most American are more than willing to help them if they knew just how they could and what the Indian want to see happen, they’d have to be clear about what it is Indians really want to see happen at this point in time and keep in mind that some thing’s that are now going on should also have the right to continue as long as it doesn’t defile their Human rights or their cultural rights.
Indians actually should seek the right to have the rights of a country all their own separated yet within the one that now exists here, they should be able to do what any other country does, develop it’s recourses and govern it’s people while also having recognition as a satellite country with a voice in the United Nations like other countries have so America could show the rest of the world how it treats everyone who is a part of it in an equal and fair manner.
Being much if any help to the Movement isn’t always possible, some Indian affairs aren’t something they’ll allow you to become too deeply involved in because of a lack of trust for others not of their kind; many thing’s like taking their culture seriously have been ignored to long for them to believe white people will change that about themselves or the way they view the righteous landlords of this great country that’s now home to many more than those who originally lived here.
No need to mention the other races that make up America views of Indian culture because they’re not the one’s doing what the white man has done to them in their own country, only the white man ignore the rights of other’s even though they know what they do is morally wrong to people who welcomed them into their country once in a peaceful gesture that showed them all human life is precious and a thing to be valued even though human life can look and be so different in this vast world we share.
The help I can give that may do the most is to offer another voice to the ways other see the wrongness in what’s been done to them and continues in almost the same form since it was started; enough is enough I say, why shouldn’t the Government of this great country we live in be held accountable for this wrong that was done so long ago by the white ancestors that attacked and killed the very people that helped them the most when they needed help the most?
If not for that first act of kindness given by a race of people no one new existed at the time America may never have happened, the Indians could have just as well killed them all because they looked and act differently than they do, it was done to them though without a thought of how wrong it is to turn on the hand that helped you; none of that mattered back then nor has any of it changed or the people who did this wrong ever been brought to justice just as the Nazi’s have been done.
What happened here in what’s come to be known as America is truly a crime against humanity, think of how many Indians lost their lives to inhuman cruelty done by the Government of this country?
Not only was it done it still goes on in so many fashions to this very day; what makes this any different than what the Nazi’s were doing, is it now a just thing if it happened long ago, or do we as Americans say nothing like that can ever be just and what’s wrong should be made right?
True leaders lead by example, total power corrupts totally, if the American Government isn’t willing to consider how much they owe to the Native Americans than it’s a fake ass government filled with nothing but criminals, how else can it be?
If America wants to really show the world it’s a righteous leader of the real free world where peoples human rights are respected and it’s the truth that we stand by than something should happen to change a lot of what’s been done and still is to the American Indian, if they do that perhaps the rest of the world that view us as a major problem to their existent no longer such, they have every right to conceive us as that because they know the history of how the Native Americans were done and are still being done wrongly by the American Government to this very day.
Who trusts something like that, how is what this Government does to the original people that live here any different than any other government or King or whatever one calls themselves who feel they have the right to make others suffer unfairly for helping them live from the long trip from Europe; to say white people seems as if one might consider that an unfair analogy or perhaps meant to be racially offencive; however the truth of the matter still remains that mostly everyone from Europe back then was a white person, which in and of itself make you no more of a worst kind of person than anyone else, but to consider the action those white people had taken back then and yet still be unwilling to correct such a crime against so many innocent Indians makes such a group of people from Europe no different than the Nazi’s who also came from Europe.
We as Americans are held accountable by are Governments actions in the eyes of other countries and races, all of the people of America don’t even deserve to be thought of as a part of what most other countries and races dislike most about America; we too are merely victims of it’s mistakes, most of us never support these people who make these mistakes throughout America’s history, most of us would rather see a nation at peace that shows the rest of the world it’s what we want the most for all mankind by this Government actually doing it first and foremost for it’s own people, and if it can’t make this right here at home in America why should any other part of the world think the American Government has anyone’s best interest at heart when they talk at the United Nations about what America needs to be doing aboard.
It needs to do what it thinks it’s suppose to be doing elsewhere right here in America; free us from an oppressive regime, one that does crimes against Humanity because it’s actually what we the voiceless America would tell you is needed most from are Government.
My words written in the IRM underground newspaper are making an impact across America, people of all races here want to see America live up to what it’s bragging about; “freedom, liberty, and justice for all,” what can the common people of America lose from a Government that lives up to the truth in life?
The underground newspaper known as “The tree in the cave” is about secret burial caves all over America that were once the final resting place for many a great Indian Chiefs and warriors, these scared places have been defiled and robbed whenever found by white people and this has brought about a cry of outrage from all Indians everywhere in America, the paper is at the heart of the Movement because through it’s words others have come to join in the struggle to attain Human Rights for Indians that are within character of their own wants and needs to be recognized as the legal landowners and be given the respect as such.
The newspaper more than the failed job we did has me hiding out here now from the Government even more so than the other bad people we upset with what Bear and me done; I’m a wanted man because of where I stand about equal rights for all.
The Grand Coulee Dam
Ask any Indian who lives in the area and they’ll tell you it is one of “thee worst betrayals” ever done in resent times to the Indian people by the American Government, something like this could have been used to help them have better lives in so many ways but instead it gave the Indians back nothing, what it caused to be set in motion can never be reversed because once you dam a river there can be no turning back; what’s been done has been done forever regardless of the harm it brought to the Native Americans way of life, that was never a part of the consideration when the Government started the project and as far as it’s concerned it’s none of the Indians business what’s done by the Government of one of the most powerful country in the world; they feel the Indians should be proud to be a part of such a great country with all it’s manmade wonders.
The American Government had made some promises back then that they never meant to keep for one minute to the Indian people who’s land this dam was to set on and afterwards forgotten or simply ignored even despite their protest and rights to the land; the dam was to be something that would rise 500 feet into the air covering miles of ground and blocking water for hundreds of miles around it.
All of the Government’s promises were empty meaningless broken thing’s to the Native Americans who had the misfortune to be living on Indian land in the area at the time to suffer first hand knowledge from the harm the Dam caused to everything once living in this area, it is truly an act of cruelty to Humans the land and all of the living creature that once shared this wilderness with the Indian’s for time unknown.
The 50 million dollars given many years later to sort of make up for what they originally said and did than didn’t do afterwards once the Coulee Dam was finally built, a bit of guilt money as a small token of the America’s Government appreciation for allowing themselves to be further bullied and cheated out of Indian land promised many different times over the course of America’s history then reclaimed every time the Government felt it has a better use for such land which makes what the American Government says to this country’s oldest residents they really have no rights or power at all when it comes to them being in it’s way of what they consider progress for all American, however in the end of the day those things it’s promised and told the American people are lies, nothing more than a oppressive Government’s empty words to the Native Americans who’ve lived in the region all their life.
No amount of money could undo or replace what the Indians had lost from the Government doing this; the very fabric of their cultural existent had been destroyed with no way to continue to pass down a heritage that may have been older than the civilization that emerged from the caves of Europe.
Many scared Indian Ancestral burial grounds along with other scared places were destroyed by the Government making this Dam which some called back then the “White elephant in the dessert” that would not be worth the effort it takes to build it in terms of it’s value at the time to the American people; not only that though, it would lead to the destruction of a heritage and Indian culture that had every right to go on.
This not only upset the Indians of that time it upset their Ancestor’s as well, their spirits were being forced from their rightful place of resting they had earned by the way they had lived without bring harm to the land, the right to be a part of that process has been taken from the Indian’s forcing their Ancestors spirits to forever roam on the earth now unable to return to where they belonged or to continue on their journey to “Happy Hunting Grounds” which is their right for how they treated and worshiped the land they lived on and thanked for it’s gift of life to the Indian people.
By what right did the American Government have to do such a thing as this, and how so is it any different than the way other oppressive regimes dealt with it’s fellow countrymen, and why has it gone on for so long with no regards for it being a crime against Humanity?
Any Government with a history of such behavior towards it’s own people or another race is guilty of a crime against Humanity, how else can it be otherwise, it’s no different than what Nazi Germany did when taken in terms of how many human lives were taken or suffered irreversible damage to it’s people and cultural way of life, what percentage of wrongness is attached to such a thing and where is the justice to correct this behavior and punish those who choose to do such things to fellow Human Beings?
Every Human everywhere should be born with the inalienable human right not to be treated thusly by his fellow Human Beings that is basically the world of Mankind’s foremost problem to which they’ve attached stupid political solutions or religious believes to address these issues in the affairs of life everywhere any form of Government exists.
To me something seems seriously disturbing about this type of behavior, it’s as if to say people everywhere just want to believe they are better than the rest of the human race in some egotistical way.
What exactly is this really about, why has mankind not took a serious look at just this one thing about it’s existents and figured some way to prevent themselves from being their own worst enemy, doesn’t this seem strangely stupid that it’s been allowed to actually continue to grow as if it’s something of true value to life?
Human values are the key to finding a true solution that might yield the most rewards, let’s ask ourselves; “what makes a shiny thing found in the ground more valuable than human life or even food?
Shiny rocks shouldn’t have a greater value than some find them attractive, other things found in the ground have a much greater value in terms of how they actually help mankind build and fuel things, but the shiny rocks just shin; if placing a value on that has a real meaning in life than most of the human race is lost as to just what that value might be, I know it alludes me.
So if we as Humans now decide we’d rather place real value in real things with better meanings what to say something wouldn’t change for the good of all mankind?
Humans really need food more than anything else, lands everywhere and learning to walk around on this earth without causing others problems shouldn’t be that hard, the world we now live in has ways to make so much that’s wrong change by just the power of it’s voice speaking of one true goal; “make life have the value you as a person places on it and not concern yourself with others right to do the same as long as they don’t choose to do others wrong, we all know what is really wrong is in a basic way everyone understands in any language, that’s not that hard because in some form it’s really what every common human does naturally as they go about their lives around others.
I for one feel that the Native Americans early Ancestors had a true value system, one that gave something to its people and to the land that supported them, and their way wasn’t to place more of a value in something found in the ground that couldn’t be eaten than on what is truly best for all things living.
Most common people think nothing more about a shinny rock than we do about those that don’t shin too good, our values are on much more meaningful things such as just being able to take care of ourselves and family, the fact we mostly need something uneatable that the Government makes telling us it got a value so work for getting it to get the other things you need that really have a true value to you isn’t really working out too well for most humans everywhere it’s being done, yet and still humans everywhere have this other way they handle what they need and are willing to work to have, this system seems to actually achieve far more for them than the one set in place by most Governments.
Tysjohawn words provoked others to listen to the true heart in them and take a different approach to solving their own particular set of problems in simpler fashions, they created a network of knowledge and information pointing to how they had managed to get things done that needed doing in their lives which only fueled the Movement far pass just the need for justice for the native American, Movements to accept Indian values spread throughout the country creating more support groups and some of the most advance thinkers of our times to engage their intellect to further aid the growing Movement to make all Governments everywhere be held accountable for it’s mistake and force them to do the right thing to correct those mistakes and further make ways so these kind of Human Rights violations would be punished as crimes against Humanity warranting a death sentence in some cases, or to say the least no less than life in prison for most such crimes against Humanity.
Just the killing alone of such criminals won’t bring back anything to anyone who’s suffered or died from what the Government has done in the past, but the Government needs to start classes to educate this country of the ways and needs of the Native American people which also serves as a means to send a message to the rest of the world about how seriously they take human’s right to life here in America which would also be making it clear to the world that before America interferes with the affairs of other’s countries way of life it will first correct the wrong that once happened to it’s own Native Americans who’ve been treated the worst by the American Government more than all other races living in America.
A true balance needs to be and should restored in this situation to the Native American people, they should have the right to declare Sovereignty within the American country on all Native American land and retain ¾ if not total control of any assets prior or future development offers from the uses made on their land.
There’s really no reason why the American Government should refuse such compensation for it crimes against the Native American people of this country, the time has come across the whole world where people of oppressed Governments are raising up in protest refusing to tolerate this kind of treatment from it’s Governments.
Markel had spent time with the Navaho’s throughout half of his life, some folks feel he’s more Indian than some of the real one’s they actually know, never once asking themselves ‘what ever happened to all the Native Americans that covered the country they now consider as the rights of the American Government?
Paris.
One year earlier.
We had come here to do a job, the thing is though we need the help of someone who lives in this area which is part of the plan that we couldn’t plan for without first actually being in Paris, we had to be here to try to meet this person and gain their trust in a very short period of time; this would be totally up to me since I’m the most outgoing and a lot easier on the eyes than Bear, who’s really not all that bad to look at it’s just his attitude that stands in the way mostly, some say he’s down right creepy the way he does the silent Indian thing on you when he out and about, he can slip in and out like a ghost or a breeze of air, it creeps a lot of people out when he gets like this on you one moment no Dancing Bear than in the blink of an eye he’s there without any notice by you of how he comes and goes, he’s not always like this though, back in the cave of the dead he’s always been the most fun loving guy you’d ever meet.
I’m faster with getting girls too because Bear won’t mingle outside of his race, and the chance of us finding very many if any American Indians in Paris are about as good as our chances finding a needle in a hay stack.
Joliet Renée Dupree had been in a hurry most of the day, it was no different than any of the rest she had five days a week ever since she started working at the restaurant known as ‘La Chez’, here it’s be in a hurry or out of a job, so when the days finally at it’s end all you want to do is return to wherever you lay your head take a hot shower and hit the sheets.
The young attractive American black man with tourist written all over him been riding the bus on her way home every night now for the pass few days, which is making it hard not to notice him when every night you return to an empty apartment wishing there was someone waiting to help make her nights warm and more complete. Every time she saw him he’d be so busy trying to learn the language that nothing else seemed to matter around him, just like now as she sat down next to him mostly just out of curiosity to see what he’d do, at first he seemed not to even notice her beside him, Joliet could see his mouth moving as he softly spoke the words he’s reading from which was a well used little red book he always had with him. He looked up from it for a moment surprised to find her next to him and Joliet gave him her most dazzling smile which only made him put his face deeper in the little red book that seemed to hold more interest to him than anything else around and that’s when she realized what the book was.
This brought an even bigger smile to her face now that she discovered what he’s doing every time she see him on the bus ride home; he’d open his little red New Handy French English-English French Dictionary in a hurry once he looked up at her then she watch as he’s silently trying to say the words right while failing so comically that Joliet couldn’t help keep the smile from slowly finding it’s way onto her face to stay where it stretched painfully from ear too ear; Joliet sat there beside him truly looking at him up closely this night on the way home for the first time so intensely that she almost jumped from the seat when he turned his face up from the little red book and spoke out for the very first time and something he said made it impossible for her not to fall out laughing.
Tysjohawn appeared to be hurt and confused by her sudden burst of laughter that at first it only made it worst until tears began to fall before she could gather her wits enough to speak.
Bonjour Monsieur, allez-yous? I didn’t mean to laugh at you so rudely, I hope it hasn’t offended you, it’s what you just said Monsieur; I’m sure it’s not what you may have meant to say which is why it made me laugh, I’m truly flattered you’d make such an effort to speak to me in my native language and say such a sweet thing to me even though you said it all wrong making it all the more so sweetly funny; my name is Joliet Monsieur, and speaking in English will do just fine.
Pleased to meet you, I’m Tysjohawn; had I knew we could understand each other without me first learning to speak French I would have said something sooner to such a pretty girl as you.
I fear it’s a weakness in me I’ll never correct no matter how many times it gets me in trouble as I go through life unable to stop from making a fool of myself as I just did from wanting so badly to say something to you that I ended up putting my foot in my mouth as usual.
After that the rest came easy and natural when two young people meet in a place like Paris which is known as one of the most romantic Cities in the world to fall in love with someone for the first time upon meeting them.
Joliet fell hard for the talented young Black American who seemed to share so many of her interests in life, it didn’t take long before she asked him to move in with her to which he gladly agreed to do so when he returned from America in a few weeks from now.
It all felt like a dream coming true to Joliet, while even though it was strictly business to Tysjohawn he too was under Paris’s charm for making two total strangers become lovers in such a short time, every night afterwards from the very first one was spent together doing what comes so natural in Paris; they were falling for each other hard and fast under the lights of Paris at night.
Things were different here, here with Joliet in a part of the world known for it’s romantic qualities life had taken on a totally new form of it’s own, the ‘I’ of who he is was no longer being the way he thought of himself now; it’s all about us now, its we instead of ‘I’ we got it going on, the life shared now is something new in an old fashion way yet all the more uniquely very special, the artist in him found a whole new life of it’s own, here it didn’t need to be in a place like the cave of the dead to be at peace within himself so the artist in him could seek it’s own expression just like water seeks it’s own level, here with her with the background of one of the worlds most romantic places every day was like that song, ‘When you get caught between the moon and New York City;’ it all seemed so crazy, but it’s true it’s just like it says; ‘the best that you can do is fall in love!’
So we did just that like there’s no tomorrow, there’s only the moment filled with a peace of mind in this life we live together that these feelings here and now moves my hand inches above the canvas along so smoothly the brushes and paint flow freely from thoughts that are filled with the beauty of what we feel for each other in a place of total peace where nothing exists that’s of a disturbing nature.
Tysjohawn painted as he truly felt about his life for the very first time that year in Paris as he found himself growing up to be the kind of man his Gramps always said was there waiting for him to become, he’s also experienced living a daily life with someone to love for the first time too, it seemed as if nothing about him is still the same, like who is this guy he’s now become who only thinks of art and Joliet as if the two were only one thing in his life; they are an overpowering force as gentle as a breeze or stronger than the power of water and all consuming as fire all held in place together with the spirit of earth who gives these forces a meaning for their existents.
His part of making the plan work was no problem at all, however he didn’t have a clue how the rest was going because Bear was keeping most of the other details to himself which in a way seemed very odd to Tysjohawn but failed to set off any alarms or even real concern for that matter, he had done his part and didn’t really care if the rest was going as planned or not; someone falling in love isn’t much concerned with anything else while this is happening in their life, all Tysjohawn could seem to think about was when he could put the rest of what he came here to do behind him and spend more time with Joliet without the pressure of doing something wrong involved.
He was told nothing about how the fake Masterpiece would get from the cave of the dead to Paris but he was confident Bear would get his part of the plan done without difficulty because when it came to something large being moved unnoticed he seemed to have a magic touch for getting such things done, he’d let him know when everything’s in place when he’s ready, but as far as Tysjohawn was concerned it was no big deal if none of it went any further than it already has because for once in his life he’s actually experiencing falling in love for the first time, he feels in Joliet he’s found that special someone that’s suppose to be on this earth for everyone, she’s that someone for him and now that he’s found her he doesn’t want to lose her by getting himself in big trouble by attempting to steal one of the most famous painting in the world and replace it with a fake.
They weren’t doing it for the money so much as for the effect it would have at forcing the rest of the world into focusing on the struggle of the Native American People, they wanted to show the rest of the world how it would feel to lose a priceless treasure as they have lost from their country being taken from them and every promise ever made by the American Government being broken while America wants to say it stands for human rights and democracy throughout the world yet feels no obligation to provide that very thing to it’s own Native Americans.
Joliet’s a total mess at the moment as the last minutes of her shift is slowly grinding down to an end this day, she wished she could have called in sick today because of the argument she had last night with Tysjohawn which made sleeping impossible for her after he left the apartment upset with her for not wanting to understand why he needed to return to America in a few day without her even though it was all they talked about for the past week.
She knew she was mostly just being childish about things now though, but damn it all to hell with that; she didn’t want him to leave at all, let alone without her as they’d been discussing doing for the pass week now, everything was even being prepared to do so next week, however just last night he got a call from a friend that resulted in a big change of plans for the up coming trip to America that was suppose to take place in a week from now, but after the call it turned into him leaving tomorrow alone for reasons he wouldn’t explain.
They had their first big argument last night that ended in him leaving right then and there without another word being said by him after listening to her complain about the change in plans for about two hours.
He really didn’t want to go on such a sour note but she left him no choice once she slapped him in anger over what she didn’t even know; it wasn’t like he did anything to change the plans they’d made to leave together next weekend after her shift, in fact it was plainly clear to see how much he wanted it not to be that way at all, but whoever called wouldn’t change their mind about him not bringing her along no matter how hard he tried to stick to the plans the two of them made.
Her mother always said her temper would cause her to lose a lot of friends before her life was done if not actually be the reason for it’s end if she didn’t learn how to control it better instead of always allowing it to control her; (she found she really couldn’t help it at times) sitting here now on the bus ride home alone wishing she hadn’t hit Tysjohawn isn’t going to change a thing now, he’d be with her like he has every night since they first met if not for that, the tears were finally flowing freely as she rode home alone that night praying every minute she thought about it again that he’d be there waiting with open arms just like he always did whenever they parted company on a sour note.
It’d been a long miserable double shift that day filled with depression and a growing fear that she’d never see Tysjohawn again; she couldn’t wait to see it end so she could just return home to die of anxiety in peace as the cell phone that finally decided it had enough of her abuse died right before her eyes as the call she’d spent the whole day redialing sounded as if it’s about to be connected.
She thought she could hear his voice in those brief moments just before the damn thing went dead in her hand, causing her to fumble with the keys as it seemed to take forever to placed the right one in the lock to open the door to a cold empty apartment that still faintly smelled of the cologne he uses, or was that too just another trick of her love sick imagination.
God I wish I hadn’t hit him, it’s not like he did something wrong to me or hurt me in any way, I can’t control my temper now he’s gone; the food she had started preparing lay totally forgotten in the small kitchen sink where it fell from her hands before she could finish cleaning it for her evening meal, what was the point she thought no longer wanting anything more than to crawl into bed crying herself to sleep.
Feeling sorry she did it didn’t change a thing, nor would saying she wouldn’t do it again doing any better; all she could tell herself over and over and over again is if he gave her another chance she’d never hurt him again in any way, not by words or deed.
They’ve been on and off for about two years now, she’s hit him before, and every time she did he’d just leave and stay gone until she could find a way to make it up to him if she should see him on the street or riding on the bus to wherever he went whenever she did something to make him leave her; right from the start she insisted he come live with her and wasn’t taking no for an answer, which only made him laugh saying how can he refuse when asked so nice and all sweetly like that?
It helped to break the moment down so the fire he saw in my eyes didn’t turn into an uncontrollable flame as it was clear to see how controlling I was being with a mean and ugly temper that shouldn’t have even been a part of the moment.