Warriors of the Rainbow

There was an old lady, from the "Cree" tribe, who prophesied that one day, because of the white mans' greed, the earth would be at risk of being destroyed and mankind as we know it would all but cease to exist.

At this time the "keepers of the stories, culture rituals and all the Ancient Tribal Customs" would be needed to restore us to health. They would be mankinds’ key to survival, they would be the "Warriors of the Rainbow".

These Warriors will follow the principles of the Ancient Tribes, the ancient practices of Unity, Love and Understanding. A “Rainbow Warrior” is one who lives life to the fullest, one who understands how to use their strength power pride and belonging to bring happiness kindness and prosperity to themsleves and their families. They use the weapons of words, music and art to fight against injustice and to claim their uniqueness. A “Rainbow Warrior” also speaks for those who do not have a voice; the land, the plants, the animals and humans who have forgotten how to speak up for themselves. The Rainbow Warrior is free of petty jealousies and loves all mankind as their brothers, regardless of color, race or religion. Their hearts are pure and radiate warmth, understanding and respect for all mankind.

The “Rainbow Warrior”, will change the way our leaders are chosen, no longer will they be chosen by their political party, or who could speak the loudest, boast the most, or by name calling or mud slinging, but by those whose actions speak the loudest. Those who demonstrated their love, wisdom, and courage and those who showed that they could and did work for the good of all, would be chosen as the leaders or Chiefs. They would be chosen by their "quality" and not the amount of money they had obtained.

Our children would once again be able to run free and enjoy the treasures of Nature. The rivers would again run clear, the forests be abundant and beautiful, the animals and birds would be replenished. The powers of the plants and animals would again be respected and conservation of all that is beautiful would become a way of life. The poor, sick and needy would be cared for by their brothers and sisters and these practices would again become a part of their daily lives. The tasks of these "Rainbow Warriors" are many and great. There will be terrifying mountains of ignorance to conquer and they shall find prejudice and hatred. They must be dedicated, unwavering in their strength, and strong of heart.

This is the story of the "Warriors of the Rainbow" and this is my reason for working to help protect the culture, heritage, and knowledge of the ancestors of this land. They may not be my ancestors by blood but they are the ancestors of this great Southern land that I have the privilege to call home.

The day will come that we shall see how we owe our very existence to the people of all tribes that have maintained their culture and heritage. Those that have kept the rituals and stories alive. It will be with this knowledge, the knowledge that they have preserved, that we shall find the "Key to our Survival".

A Different View.

In the many years I have worked with young people in my capacity as a Mother, Foster Carer, Community Volunteer and Community Welfare Worker, I have observed and been involved with many programs that have been developed with the intention of addressing negative behaviours in youth. Their goals have mostly been the same, assisting young people to change their lives, make adjustments to their risky behaviours and avoid contact with the justice system. From the first restorative justice movement in the 90’s to the youth detox centres of the 21^st Century there has been a huge Government and non-Government agency focus on negative youth behaviour.One of the reasons given by many school teachers accessing early retirement in the last 10 years, is that the new breed of children are disrespectful and too difficult to teach.

Newspaper articles inform us that our city has the worst youth crime rate in the country and the nightly broadcasts show us the violent outburst of youngsters and the consequences of their actions. Glassing appears to be a new phenomena on the youth club scene and the video and utube visions of school yard fights demonstrate that they are no longer a “one on one” battle on the oval but now groups of youth  bash a weaker or more marginalized child into humiliating submission and causing serious injury and death.

In Rockhampton there are on going meetings and summits and focus groups all talking and thinking about the outbreaks of violence at Hungry Jacks during “Late Nite” shopping on Thursday evenings.

These are just a few of the situations around youth behaviour that have become a reality in our society. However the more we think about this youth violence and destructive behaviour the more energy we give it.

The situation of young people developing healthy relationships and healthy lifestyles does call for action from the community as a whole and it would be foolish to ignore the escalating incidents of violence in our youth, however it is my view that we are mistakenly going about addressing these situations from a negative thought process, i.e. thinking that the more we focus on correcting bad behaviour the better our outcomes will be.

According to the Law of Attraction, we create what we think about. The more we think about something the more energy we give that thing and the more likely it is to manifest in the physical. If this is true the group consciousness of our region is greatly contributing to our community getting more youth problematic behaviour, because for some time now, that is all youth services have been thinking about.

Perhaps it is time to try a different  way of thinking about youth behaviour.

Following are some of the ways we can think differently and help create a new reality for Rockhampton, and our most precious resource, our youth.

Incident: Another violent fight at Hungry Jacks on Thursday Night.

Negative Thoughts:

• This situation is getting worse we have to find the offenders and punish them.
• If parents would make sure their kids are at home this wouldn’t be happening.
• This is war zone: Parents need to be fined if their kids are out after 7pm.
• These kids are getting younger and younger:

Positive Thoughts:

• This situation is giving us a chance to get to know our young people and teaching us that our young people are independent, socially aware and looking for stimulation.
• The previous generation has created this society now we need to address how our children fit into this new world.
• Our society has moved down this highly stimulated technological pathway and we now need to provide parents with the appropriate support needed to raise children in this new environment.
• The youth of today are smart, resilient, creative, worldy and full of energy, we need to tap into that energy as a society and help them channel it in a positive direction.