Sitting Bull
" [...] There are leaders and there are rulers. We Indians are used to leaders. When our leaders don’t lead, we walk away from them. When they lead well, we stay with them.
White people never understood this. Your system makes people rulers by law, even if they are not leaders. We have had to accept your way, because you made us Indians make constitutions and form governments. But we don’t like it and we don’t think it is right. How can a calendar tell us how long a person is a leader? That’s crazy. A leader is a leader as long as the people believe in him and as long as is the best person to lead us. You can only lead as long as the people will follow.
In the past when we needed a warrior, we made a warrior our leader. But when the war was over and we needed a healer to lead us, he became our leader. Or maybe we needed a great speaker or a deep thinker. The warrior knew his time had passed and he didn’t pretend to be our leader beyond the time he was needed. He was proud to serve his people and he knew when it was time to step aside. If he won’t step aside, people will just walk away from him. He cannot make himself a leader except by leading people in the way they want to be lead.
That’s why Sitting Bull was a leader. He was needed by the people and the people followed him. He was brave. He was smart. He knew how to fight when he had to. And he understood what the white man was all about. People saw that he could not be tricked by the white man, so they followed. That’s why the US government hated him so much. It wasn’t just that he set a trap for Custer. Anyone could have done that. It was because he was a leader and the people listened to him, and he wouldn’t listen to the US government. He listened to the needs of his people.
[…] That was the Indian way. A person wasn’t a leader because they got votes. They were a leader because the people would follow them. The same with teachers. A person wasn’t a teacher because they had been elected or got a certificate. They were a teacher because they knew something and were respected. If they didn’t know enough they weren’t teachers. Or if we didn’t need to know what they knew, we didn’t go to them. Now you send us teachers and you tell us to send our children, when we aren’t even sure what the teachers know. We don’t even know if they are good people who will build up the hearts of our children. All we know is that they are teachers because someone gave them a piece of paper saying they had taken courses about teaching.
What we want to know is what kind of person they are and what they have in their hearts to share. Telling us they have a paper that lets them teach is like putting a fancy wrapping on a box. We want to know what’s in that box. An empty box with a fancy wrapper is still an empty box.
[…]The chiefs had to earn their respect. At least with our people. You might be a chief because your father was a chief, but if you were a coward or not a good man, people would just move away from you. You would be a chief only to yourself. To be a chief you had to be a leader.
[…] Good leaders wait to be called and they give up their power when they are no longer needed. Selfish men and fools put themselves first and keep their power until someone throws them out. It is no good to have a way where selfish men and fools fight with each other to be leader while the good ones watch. You made us follow this way, so now we have no government worth the name. Our leaders have no power; our rulers are not leaders. That is why Sitting Bull was great. He did not rule. He led."
excerpts from "Neither Wolf nor Dog. On forgotton Roads with an Indian Elder" by Kent Nerburn, New World Library, Novato, California
Sitting Bull (foto: Wikipedia)
"[...] Exista conducatori si exista guvernanti. Noi Indienii suntem obisnuiti cu conducatorii. Atunci cand liderii nostri nu conduc, plecam de langa ei. Iar cand conduc bine, le stam alaturi.
Oamenii albi n-au inteles lucrul asta niciodata. Sistemul vostru creeaza guvernanti prin lege, chiar daca ei nu sunt si lideri. Si pentru ca ne-ati obligat sa facem constitutii si sa cream guverne, a trebuit sa acceptam la randul nostru acest model. Insa el nu ne place si stim ca este unul gresit. Cum poate stabili un calendar cat timp va conduce cineva? E o nebunie! Un conducator este conducator cat timp oamenii cred in el si cata vreme el este cea mai potrivita persoana sa conduca. Poti conduce doar atata timp cat oamenii te urmeaza.
In trecut, cand aveam nevoie de un razboinic, ne alegeam un conducator dintre razboinici. La sfarsitul razboiului insa, cand aveam nevoie sa ne conduca un vindecator, acesta devenea liderul nostru . Ori poate aveam nevoie de un bun orator sau de un intelept. Razboinicul stia atunci ca timpul sau a luat sfarsit si nu pretindea sa ne conduca mai mult decat timpul in care fusese nevoie de el. Era mandru sa-si serveasca poporul si stia cand este vremea sa lase pe altcineva in locul sau. Daca nu se dadea la o parte, poporul pur si simplu pleca de langa el. Nu putea deveni un lider decat conducandu-si poporul in felul in care acesta dorea sa fie condus.
De aceea Sitting Bull a fost un mare conducator. Oamenii aveau nevoie de el si de aceea l-au urmat. A fost curajos. A fost inteligent. A stiut cum sa se lupte atunci cand a fost nevoie. Si a inteles care erau interesele omului alb. Poporul a vazut ca oamenii albi nu il puteau pacali si l-au urmat. De aceea guvernul american l-a urat atat de tare. Nu pentru cursa in care l-a atras pe Custer. Oricine ar fi putut face asta. Ci pentru ca era un lider si poporul asculta de el, iar el nu asculta de guvernul american. El asculta de nevoile poporului sau.
[…] Asta era calea Indienilor. Un om nu devenea conducator pentru ca fusese votat. Era conducator pentru ca oamenii il urmau. Acelasi lucru si in ceea ce-i priveste pe invatatori. Oamenii nu deveneau invatatori pentru ca fusesera alesi ori pentru ca primisera o diploma. Ei erau invatatori pentru ca stiau ceva si erau respectati. Daca nu stiau suficient, atunci nu erau invatatori. Ori daca ceea ce ei stiau nu ne era necesar, nu ii cautam. Acum, ne trimiteti invatatori si ne cereti sa ne trimitem copiii la scoala, insa noi nu suntem siguri de ceea ce stiu acestia. Nu stim daca sunt oameni buni, care pot sa intareasca inimile copiilor nostri. Tot ce stim despre ei, este ca cineva le-a dat o diploma care atesta faptul ca au urmat cursuri de pedagogie.
Dar ce ne intereseaza pe noi este sa stim ce fel de oameni sunt si ce au in inimile lor de impartasit cu ceilalti. A spune ca au o hartie care le permite sa predea este similar cu a infasura un ambalaj frumos in jurul unei cutii. Noi vrem sa stim ce este in interiorul cutiei. O cutie goala cu un ambalaj frumos, ramane o cutie goala.
[…] Capeteniile trebuiau sa-si castige respectul celorlalti. Cel putin la poporul nostru. Ai fi putut fi o capetenie pentru ca tatal tau fusese una, insa daca erai las sau un om rau, oamenii plecau de langa tine. Ramaneai capetenie doar pentru tine insuti. Ca sa fii capetenie, trebuia sa fii si un lider.
[…] Conducatorii buni asteapta sa fie convocati si renunta la putere atunci cand nu mai este nevoie de ei. Egoistii si prostii se pun pe ei insisi inainte si tin cu dintii de putere, pana cand cineva ii azvarle la o parte. Un model in care egoistii si prostii se lupta intre ei pentru putere, iar oamenii buni stau si privesc, este unul gresit. Facandu-ne sa preluam modelul vostru, acum nici noi nu mai avem un guvern care sa-si merite numele. Conducatorii nostri nu au nici un fel de putere; guvernatii nostri nu sunt lideri. De aceea Sitting Bull a fost atat de mare. El nu a guvernat. El a condus."
fragmente din "Neither Wolf nor Dog. On forgotton roads with an Indian Elder", de Kent Nerburn, New World Library, Novato, California
