ATHOL — Larry Spotted Crow Mann greeted the people in the room and told them,“we are connected by our breath,” then continued on a “journey” into the history, culture, perseverance and persistence of the first peoples of North America.
The author and educator presented, “When the Land Speaks: Exploring the Dynamic Relationship Between Land, People & Nature Through The Eyes Of The Native Americans of New England” to an audience of more than 80 individuals at the Athol Public Library recently.
Mann, an award-winning writer, closed his eyes and sang a traditional Nipmuc song while playing a pow wow drum “to orient us where we should be,” and to honor ancestors. He said he hoped to give people a better understanding of how the power of place, identity and history has been taught in a way that has had negative and devastating impacts on Indigenous people — the “most likely the most misunderstood ethnic group in America,” and that “the education system has failed to present an accurate and articulate scholarship.”
The father of four boys lives in Webster and grew up “first generation city” in Springfield in the 1980s. His early ancestors were from Woodstock, Conn. and the Berkshires. Growing up in an urban environment was a culture shock for Mann and his siblings. “It was very hard to be a native person at that time,” he said. The family experienced discrimination, stereotyping and caricaturing. “We were essentially on our own.” He turned to alcohol and drugs, became an alcoholic when he was 16 or 17, and graduated to “stronger stuff.” He said, “I had such a self-loathing when I was a kid.” By the time he was 21, about 29 years ago, he was lying in a hospital near death. He said he was a “very bright kid,” but the drugs and alcohol blunted the process of learning.
While in the hospital, he watched a “powerful” PBS documentary about the often suppressed history of violence by Christopher Columbus. Mann said the natives “were pretty much killing themselves” with alcohol brought to America by the Europeans. “It was a moving experience. I wanted to cry and laugh.” He said he felt his ancestors were speaking to him. Some of his relatives died of alcoholism after being shut out of their culture and society. He quit the drugs and alcohol and decided to be a role model for others. He also didn’t want his children to have to grow up to see it.
He said Native Americans are above the national average of opioid overdoses in the country, and have high rates of depression, alcoholism and diabetes.
At age 21 he was given his native name, “the crow with spots,” and was told he was going to travel to many places. After his sons were born he picked up the drums and started listening to his grandfather and others. “This was why I was born, to share this message,” he said.
Mann travels, educating students and telling them they don’t have to drink and do drugs to have a good time. “The real high is being there right in the moment; a sunrise, the wind going through your hair…”
In Mann’s slide presentation, he shared that the “disruption and destruction of Native American culture had cataclysmic events,” which included disease, war, removal and erasure.
During the late 19th and mid-20th centuries, Native American boarding schools forcibly removed children from their parents. Mann had family members who had to attend what were known as the Indian Residential schools.
He said Native Americans (historically) have had the highest number of enlisted military personnel (compared to other ethnic groups), and that his own ancestors served in the Revolutionary War and the Civil War.
Mann said there still is a lot of information that the natives may not know that has been lost. “You’re talking about thousands of years of culture.” Their homeland, once in square miles, was broken down to acres.
When natives were forced to cut their braids, “they felt their spirits falling to the ground.”
“Despite all, we are still here,” he said. “We’re on a more positive turn. People are starting to understand the atrocities and returning the land to the tribes,” citing the 21-acre Buell property in Petersham that was recently returned to the Nipmuc Tribe.
A lot of Mann’s work with youth, he said, is “connecting them back to the heartbeat. They need to listen to stories. Nipmuc people of today lack the resources to perpetuate our culture.” Connection to the land, he believes, “is where the healing begins. People lose understanding of themselves.” He said to understand the crisis, from 2014 to 2016, one child a month in the tribal community died “because they lost that connection.”
To Native Americans, stories are sacred,” he said. “Through our stories the land speaks. They show us lessons of love, courage, kindness, respect, humility, truth and wisdom. We learn skills to interact with the environment. We are here to help each other and to experience the fullness of the universe.”
Mann said we are the only creature that can’t live on our own when we’re young. “Almost every other creature can do that. Bears know when to hibernate, bees know when to pollinate, fish know where to travel. Our ancestors knew animals as teachers.”
As he stood, he said “two elements are coming together,” himself and the floor holding him up. “When we say ‘balance’ it’s not a one-man show. We’re all one people. We’re all connected.”
For more information about Larry Spotted Crow Mann, visit http://www.whisperingbasket.com.