2019-20_GYS_OPT

19 YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS The GUIDE to YELLOW SPRINGS 2019 – 20 Gentle Dentistry “Caring for Your Teeth and Your Feelings” J. Marc Holser, D.D.S. 1153W. Second Street, Xenia Hours by Appointment www.jmarcholserdds.com New Patients Welcome Orthodontics & Emergency Care Complete Dental Care Available 376-9464 Real Estate, it’s all we do. Satisfying every client, individually. ❚ Residential Buyer & Seller Services ❚ Experience prompt service, 25+ years ❚ Instant, consistent client communication: voice, text, email ❚ Client ‘certified’ professional resources ❚ Maximum internet presence ❚ International relocation services, including civilian and military Find what you’re looking for at: chris K homes.com Visit us at 257 Xenia Ave. Local. Experienced. Realtors. Chris Kristensen, Realtor, GRI Rick Kristensen, Realtor Call 937-767-9900 info@chriskgroup.com ® By CAROL S IMMONS On the 137th day of a planned 155-day walk across the country, a small group of Native American activists stopped in June 2019 at Rockford Chapel on the Antioch College campus — on land where the Shaw- nee and Miami people once lived — to talk about the issues that led them to spend five months on the road. Titled “The Longest Walk: We Shall Con- tinue,” the more than 2,800-mile journey began Feb. 11 in San Francisco, with the goal of concluding July 15 in Washington, D.C. The effort echoes the route of the original Longest Walk, which took place in 1978 in support of tribal land and water rights. Several other cross-country walks have occurred since then as well, including one in 2008 and another in 2011 that also came through the area. Activist and educator Michael Lane, from Bemidji, Minn., and of the Menomi- nee Nation, has participated in four walks, including the first, and he experienced a threatening police encounter in Columbus in 2008 that made national news. He and four other walkers, including three grandmothers, met with a small local gathering Thursday evening, June 27, 2019, after traveling 23 miles earlier in the day. “Why do we keep doing this?” Lane asked. Paraphrasing Phillip Deere, a leading organizer of the 1978 walk, who 41 years ago said, “We are going to continue to walk and walk and walk until we find freedom for all the Native people,” Lane echoed: “We THE LONGEST WALK 1978 , 2019— Spiritual journey makes local stop will walk and walk and walk until our rights as native people are recognized.” The 2019 walkers are bringing 11 issues forward as they make their way to the U.S. Capitol. (see sidebar) While the native walkers are sometimes described as protesters, Lane asserted that “this is not a protest walk.” “This is a spiritual walk,” he said. His wife, Sharon Heta, who is Maori, from New Zealand, agreed. “When I’m walking, I’m praying,” the grandmother said. She said that she is particularly focused on the plight of “native children incarcer - ated and locked up in cages on the [Mexi- can] border." “I breathe in the suffering they go through THE 11 ISSUES 1. Support and Protect Indian Children. 2. Honor Indigenous Women. 3. Strengthen Inherent and Indigenous Sovereignty. 4. Create an Environmental Covenant. 5. Repeal Public Law 280 and Overturn the Plenary Power Doctrine. 6. Land and Waters Clean Up and Pro- tection. 7. Treaties, Lands, and Customary Responsibilities. 8. Strengthen, Assert Spiritual Freedom. 9. Protect Indigenous Knowledge. 10. Support Just Transition. 11. Confront Alcohol and Other Drugs Abuse.  ♦ YS NEWS ARCHIVE PHOTOS BY BILL MCCUDDY The original Longest Walk passed through Yellow Springs in June 1978. The News reported: "About 500 Native Americans are walking from San Francisco to Washington to protest anti-Indian legislation now in Congress. At a rally at Antioch Tuesday, Hopi spiritual leader Thomas Banyacya (top right) and Indian activist Vernon Bellecort (not pictured) spoke to a large crowd." and breathe out love and compassion.” Area-based activist Corine Fairbanks, who was housing the walkers at her home for the night, said she was grateful for their presence and their work. “I can’t even imagine walking over 2,800 miles,” she said. “This truly is a sacrifice on their part, and also on their families, to pray for all of us.” Lane told the gathering that the group continues because the issues they carry are urgent, though not new. “These are some of the serious issues that have been going on for hundreds of years,” he said. In essence they all come down to inherent human rights, Lane said, concluding, “These issues transcend borders.”