December 7th Message from Supporters of Nathan and Joyanna

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Today, and throughout the week, those of you organizing for, and

participating in this International Day of Solidarity with Green

Scare Indictees, Detainees, and Political Prisoners have our deepest

gratitude. Ongoing education, continuing to build awareness and keep

the issues forefront, as well as your financial support is critical to

helping Nathan and Joyanna endure this nightmare.

A part of a story... from The Forest People, by Colin Turnbull:

"...the forest is a father and mother to us,' he said, 'and like a

father and mother it gives us everything we need---food, clothing,

shelter, warmth...and affection. Normally, everything goes well,

because the forest is good to it's children, but when things go wrong

there must be a reason.

I wondered what he would say now, because I knew that the village

people, in times of crisis, believe that they have been cursed either

by some evil spirit or by a witch or sorcerer. But not the Pygmies;

their logic is simpler and their faith stronger, because their world

is kinder.

Moke showed me this when he said, 'Normally everything goes well in

our world. But at night when we are sleeping, sometimes things go

wrong, because we are not awake to stop them from going wrong. Army

ants invade the cam; leopards may come in and steal a hunting dog or

even a child. If we were awake these things would not happen. So

when something big goes wrong, like illness or bad hunting or death,

it must be because the forest is slepping and not looking after its

children. So what do we do? We wake it up. We wake it up by singing

to it, and we do this because we want it to awaken happy. Then

everything will be well and good again. So when our world is going

well then we also sing to the forest because we want it to share our

happiness.

All this I had heard before, but I had not realized quite so clearly

that this was what the molimo was all about. It was as though the

nightly chorus were an intimate communion between a people and their

god, the forest. Moke even talked about this, but when he did so he

stopped working on his bow and turned his wrinkled old face to stare

at me wiith his deep, brown, smiling eyes. He told me how all Pygmies

have different names for their god, but how they all know that it is

really the same one. Just what it is, of course, they don't know, and

that is why the name really does not matter very much. 'How can we

know?' he asked. 'We can't see him; perhaps only when we die will we

know and then we can't tell anyone. So how can we say what it is like

or what his name is? But he must be good to give us so many things.

He must be of the forest. So when we sing, we sing to the forest.'

The complete faith of the Pygmies in the goodness of their forest

world is perhaps best of all expressed in one of their great molimo

songs, one of the songs that is sung fully only when someone has died.

At no time do their songs ask for this or that to be done, for the

hunt to be made better or for someone's illness to be cured; it is not

necessary. All that is needed is to awaken the forest, and everything

will come right. But suppose it does not, suppose that someone dies,

then what? The men sit around their evening fire, as I had been doing

with them for the past month, and they sing songs of devotion, songs

of praise, to wake up the forest and rejoice it, to make it happy

again. Of the disaster that has befallen them they sing, in this one

great song, ...

'There is darkness all around us; but if darkness is, and darkness is

of the forest, then darkness must be good."

Thanks to all.

Be well.