Koosh Daka... Kushtaka... the Corporation
'You need to talk to the People' - my Wife Tracy said this to me as I was leaving to vend at this weekend's PowWow. I was looking forward to selling some creations and contributing financially for our family. She's right tho, I have been stalled on this next blog post, unsure if the People are really ready to know about the deception and ready to wake up from woke and get back to living in a good way...
Natives that were lucky enough to grow up in the villages hearing words of wisdom from their elders know that the Kushtaka legend originally was about a man being bitten by a rabid land otter. His mind went crazy making him see the world differently.
For Me, a Ketchikan kid in the 70s, I only heard spooky campfire type stories about shapeshifters that could be anyone or anything. They had piercing whistles that would hypnotize People and convince them to leave their own villages and families to become Kushtaka. The story was that a young man on a solo fishing trip might see a beautiful woman on the beach, or a couple of People might see family members that had been gone a long time. Either way they would be drawn from the their journey and convinced to join the Kushtaka People.
Later, in a collection from Mary Beck called Shaman and Kushtaka, I saw that the shapeshifting was between Land Otter and Human forms. And that if a Person had gone missing the chief would have a medicine man try to find them in the spirit world and/or do battle there in order to free and return the hypnotized People back to their families.
For me, the story is about deception and getting the People confused about the world. It became a mythological creature used to show the People that not everything is as it seems and oftentimes exactly the opposite of the traditional ways. In modern times I think that the kushtaka represents the energy running the Corporation, capital C, the one that controls the governments of the world, The banks, businesses, and folks that 'own' them.
As John Trudell(Santee Sioux) said: In the time of the original dream, all the People on earth came from tribes. They lived in harmony with mother earth and understood that life was a gift. And death was a gift. These People knew that we are all connected and that hurting another only hurts the self.
In this time of the original dream, the People knew that they did not own the land or the things/creatures on it. They knew life was a gift and death was a gift. No judgement. Just balance. The People took what they needed and appreciated what they were given.
I think this kushtaka energy came about with the father god mythos. He created it so he owned it, and everything on it. Including the People. beLIEve that the father god created all that is in 7 days. That he gave moses the ten commandments. beLIEve that he sent his son to be sacrificed for our own good. beLIEve these things or your family line ends with You.
For our indigenous relatives there was a way of honoring the world around us that the european colonizers didn't understand and assumed was worshipping. So they went about shifting our ancestors adoration from the eagle, raven, wolf, orca to their little black book and its stories about moses and jesus.
But our ancestors didn't worship these animals, they and many of us now, honor and try to emulate the characteristics that they represent. From raven's creative, playful trickster self to the eagle's ability to fly so high as to be able to deliver our prayers to the creator and relatives passed on. For many, the creator is known as the great mystery. I like that. To just say, 'I don't know." That, I think is a big step towards getting past the kushtaka deception.
The Lakota have a phrase, mitakuye oyasin, that means all my relations. It is heard often in ceremonies like a talking circle or sweatlodge. It acknowledges and honors all of the Beings we share the earth with. From our blood relatives, to the ones that walk on four legs, to the winged ones, the creepy crawlies in and on the soil, the ones that swim in the water, the one-legged tree people, and even the stone grandfathers and grandmothers that have been here longer than all the rest. we do not worship our relative but respect, honor and appreciate them.
Anyhow, this kushtaka that has taken over the world probably started in ancient Egypt with the hyksos. They are thought to be the first monotheistic People. Their rule was not long in the big picture but they planted the seed from which the world's major religions grew. Eventually moving from the middle east to Rome, the City of London and the District of Columbia. Over the centuries it figured out how to use debt to control the People and steal the entire planet.
They stole from us something we never even owned. We belong to the Earth and were convinced she belonged to us. They used trauma based mind control to then steal her away. From all the broken treaties and pox blankets, to the tortuous residential schools whose goal was to kill the indian while saving the 'man'. To the nonstop wars ever since the United Nations was created. The McCollum Memo, the gulf of Tonkin, babies in incubators, 911 and weapons of mass destruction. A continuous stream of trauma to keep the masses anxious and running scared like rats in cage being banged and shaken by a deranged scientist. Those of us that lived in the 1970s knew that an ice age was just around the corner while a few years later Al Gore came in to tell us it was actually global warming and that our planets coastlines were being overwhelmed by rising sea levels. Funny that all those folks spreading these lies are still buying ocean front mansions and banks are still offering 30 year loans on properties that should have been underwater 10 years ago according to Mr Gore.
I have been working on this Kushtaka Behind Bars project since before we left Washington 2 years ago. Really for most of my adult life, but specifically this copper shield design. I knew I wanted to show some of the biggest deceptions and needed a face to show the evil. I use the two U-shapes to symbolize the twin towers, with the horizontal breaks coming at the same level that the two planes hit. The trigon shapes are meant to represent the syringes used to inject the bioweapon.
Those parts were easy. It was the face that I had a hard time placing. I went through a few demon ideas from horror but felt more like batboy from Weekly World News. And then I found a picture of an otter coming up out of the water. Its fur all slicked back it reminded me of the bald headed klaus schwab. A perfect match physically and spiritually as he is the head of the World Economic Forum.
As I said earlier, this post has been a long time coming, I have been wary about sharing too much. Scaring away prospective friends, partners, customers and more. But, the last couple of Pow Wows and online purchases have shown me that there are many whose eyes are open to the deceiver and are ready to help put the Kushataka behind Bars.
I used to tell People that if I only sold one drum bag and just barely covered the event fee but was able to spend 12 hours talking to the People about the Red Road and living in a good way then it was worth it. Of course in these times of Bidenomics it would be nice to have a few more sales but the Wonderful Human Beings I met and shared time with at the Prescott and Red Mountain Eagle Pow Wows have shown me that not all is lost. People are curious what that creature is behind the bars, and I have not had one person tell me my thinking was off track but instead nod in agreement ask how to help. One beautiful lady at Prescott took home a painted canvas and the story to share. At Red Mountain I was just about the last vendor to leave on Sunday evening having spent most of my time talking to a young couple that work in Recovery and building children up. I shared White Bison Books, '12 Teachings for Native Youth' and 'Traditional Native Leadership - The 10 Scrolls' with them and others over the weekend. Great books that easily show how to get back to living in a good way and lead by example. The ladies in the booth next to mine said, "You really talk to the People don't You?'
That is the answer really, Live in a good way, with a smile on your face and People will see and ask why and how are You so happy when the world is so sad/bad? To start, I stopped ingesting poisons years ago. No synthetic western medicines. No bio-engineered foods drowned in pesticides. And no Mockingbird Media, I remember telling my Mom once that if the 6 o'clock news said that Michael Williams was born on January 31, 1967 at Ketchikan General Hospital then I might have to doubt the story she told me of my birth.
Of course there is so much to the story and to the deception that it is best to only give a little info at a time. Too much can scare folks away. Cognitive dissonance is a tough lock to break. A little to think about and they will come back in time for more. With there own questions about how it all relates to them and their lives. Give a little. Ask a little. Share a little. It's how we learn together. How we can help to create a rich soil for our communities to grow in.
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