Atlanta 1998 International Society for the Systems Sciences SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
We need women to make a difference
By Gawitrha
From the Six Nations Reserve
"If you don't mind, I'd like to speak from here, from among the people.
It is a good thing that we got together.
As you know, we are in deep shit.
But, some say
there is hope and optimism --
we are only up to our knees.
Yeah, but head first!
There are solutions, as we saw this week.
But it seems to look like adaptability.
And I would warn you about the frog
who learns to adapt to the rising temperature
of the cooking pot he is sitting in.
Private Property guarantees inequity. How could someone possibly spend the billions of dollars some earns?
It is like sitting down at Thanksgiving dinner, only to grab the whole turkey and run into ones room to eat it.
We have our problems at home, They wanted to use our lands as a garbage dump, but we stopped them. Then they wanted to farm the ravines for trees, now that they have all of the trees on the plains. And we stopped them.
I'm reminded of a story. Two hunters found two beautiful snakes in the forest, and brought them back to the village. They were so beautiful the people wanted to keep them so they fed them well. Soon the snakes grew and now it required many rabbits to feed them. Still, their beauty was exquisite, and the villagers wanted to keep them. But after a while the snakes escaped from confinement, and went into hiding. Soon the dogs started to disappear, and after a while the children too. But when the adults started to disappear, the villagers became scared. The old men fashioned a bow and arrow, the string was made from women hair, and the snakes were hunted down and killed.
We need the woman, we need the nurturing and concern of the women, and nature,
to make a difference in the world.
