This is the blog for the Bentari Project.
Sunday, February 22, 2015
This entry is about the kindest, most patient man that America has ever tortured, Mohamedou Ould Slahi. [1] Mohamedou’s lead attorney Nancy Hollander recalls her team’s introduction to their client in 2005. “And our first visit was perhaps the one that sticks in my head the most. It was our very first visit to Guantánamo for both of us. We walked i...
Read full postSaturday, February 14, 2015
John Kiriakou [1] is the only person so far to be imprisoned for anything having to do with the U.S. torture policy—the policy of black-bagging people with no charges and stealing them secretly to prisons in distant, unknown lands where foreign governments or CIA agents water board them, or worse—far worse. For a time, John Kiriakou believed that o...
Read full postTuesday, January 27, 2015
Paul Robeson [1] was a real All-American hero. For that matter, so was his wife, Essie [2] . My parents seemed that heroic to me. Now it’s been 20-years since they left us, and today, Dad’s birthday, brings them flying back to the present in many hearts and minds. I recently heard a rendition of “Joe Hill” [3] sung by Paul Robeson, and it made me t...
Read full postSunday, December 14, 2014
Animal talk is common in Bentari. We hear the lioness and the leopard, the mole rat and the hyrax, the hammerkop and the weaver bird and the mangabey and the boar. We hear a young boy imitate the plover. Then he pretends to be one in the unlikely tale that casts him as the hidden shadow, off to help the crocodile—his grandfather who is the chief. E...
Read full postSaturday, December 06, 2014
“The Bells of Rhymney” [1] by Pete Seeger was covered by The Byrds and by Bob Dylan. What was the first musical instrument? How long have humans been ringing bells? Music runs deep in our human constitution. Imagine the first roots of rhythmic sound millennia ago as our distant forbearers pounded grain to grist or hummed lamentations or repeated ch...
Read full postSaturday, November 29, 2014
Many American families claim with pride to have some Native American heritage in their family tree. Yet many of us must rely solely on our family’s oral history to support the claim. My family and I are in that club. Dad, like many parents, taught us to keep quiet if we did not have anything good to say about someone. And, sadly, dad never spoke ab...
Read full postThursday, November 27, 2014
A few drinks from the well of First People wisdom [1] . Reflections in the still waters reveal memories long hidden. Yet they linger. The north wind whispers, “What awaits?" Children were encouraged to develop strict discipline and a high regard for sharing. When a girl picked her first berries and dug her first roots, they were given away to an el...
Read full postSaturday, November 22, 2014
Let us look to the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes in the northwestern regions of our continent. The union of Schweabe (a Suquamish chief) and Scholitza (daughter of a Duwamish chief) was rewarded with their son, Seattle, who also became a chief. [1] Traditionally, descent followed the mother’s line; so Seattle belongs to the Duwamish. Among the nati...
Read full postSaturday, November 15, 2014
Honoring Native American History Month in the great Northwest begins with recognition for Sacagawea. [1] A bronze statue of “Bird Woman” holding her baby and pointing the way was dedicated in Portland, OR at the 1905 centennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. [2] While scholars debate the correct spelling and pronunciation of her name, let us st...
Read full postSunday, November 09, 2014
“A warrior who had more than he needed would make a feast. He went around and invited the old and needy…. The man who could thank the food—some worthy old medicine man or warrior—said: “Look to the old, they are worthy of old age; they have seen their days and proven themselves. With the help of the Great Spirit, they have attained a ripe old age. ...
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