“MANBLIND”

Interview with the Author, Michael McNamara

Me: You are a writer and recently wrote a book.
Michael: Yes Lynne, the Book is called ManBlind
and it is about my life and spiritual journey as
a warrior for the Earth in the Spirit of Courage,
Vigilance, and Action.

Me: Where do you call home?
Michael: I currently live in Centralia, Washington
State, but I hopeto be living somewhere else soon.
I like Washington, but perhaps Oregon or even
Michigan may be good possibilities.

Me: How long have you lived in the state of
Washington?
Michael: As far as the town goes, too long! I have
lived in the state for eight years

Me: Where are you from originally?
Michael: I was born in Elmont New York. I grew up
in up-state New York as a child, relocated to Long
Island when I turned 12, and moved to Illinois in
1979 at 19.

Me: Tell me a little about your life growing up.
Michael: I was born to Irish, Hungarian, and
Mongolian ancestry and I was a pretty rough kid
growing up, living mostly in the wooded areas
around my home.
When I was a teen, I started a small gang called
the "Dog Soldiers" to fight and protect other kids
from the, what we called, the "Socials, the Jocks,
and the Heads." It was kind of modeled after the
"Hells Angels" in the sense that we rode around on
our bikes, and wore sleeveless denim jackets with
a top rocker that said "Dog Soldiers", a picture
of an Indian warrior in the middle, and a bottom
rocker that said, ‘Freedom Fighters’.
The total concept of it was inspired by the Dog
Soldiers of the Cheyenne warrior society that I
admired a lot as a kid. We believed in protecting
the weaker kids and fighting others that were mean
to animals, abused or trespassed in our woods.
Both my father and uncle were Special Forces soldiers
that served in Vietnam, and they taught me some
things that I used in the woods, like pits covered
with forest debris that had sharpened sticks in them
for the people that came in there and messed it up.

Me: What about your parents?
Michael: My father exited my life when I was about
ten years old for good. My mother remarried and
then I was beaten for my "radical" views and behavior
by this new husband, and I fought back. Things got
pretty screwed up after my Irish grandfather died when
I was six, who had been a soldier for the IRA from
the time he was 16 until he was 22 when he came to
America, This was during the years of 1916-1922. I
was very special to him. Up until his death, I remember
a pretty happy childhood, but it was all downhill
after his death. I was kicked out of my house by my
stepfather in Illinois, during a blizzard. I was
rescued by the parents of my then girlfriend, whose
father wanted to kill my stepfather, but his wife
talked him out of it. It is amazing how one family
cherishes their children, while another can treat
them completely bad.

Me: When did you become interested in the Indian
ways?
Michael: More so then interested, it was about a
connectionI felt. Upstate New York is the tradi-
tional homeland of the Iroquois people, and as a
child, many of these kids were my friends, and I
always felt better when I was with their families.
I saw no difference between them and myself, so I
assumed that I was the same as they, Indians. I am
not a totally white looking person, and many of them
looked like me as well, so I felt connected to them.

Me: I understand you are somewhat of an activist,
or have been, for Native Americans. Who, if anyone,
were you involved with during your period of activism?
Michael: In 1973, when AIM (American Indian Movement)
took over Wounded Knee, I wanted to go really bad. I
wanted to fight too. Instead I wore a red headband,
and a red band on my arm at that time, and several
jocks got me alone and stomped me for being a "dirty
indian." That only deepened my connection, and I never
stopped wearing those symbols.
About that time, my step-father, again, decided that
I was going to stop and forced me to cut my very long
hair. All of this only made me more "Indian" then
before. So, I would say, there was a connection, maybe
even genetically as I had Mongolian Ancestry who had
very similar life-ways as the Indian: connected to
Earth, and were very nomadic and strong.

Me: Is your family supportive about your deep feelings
towards the Indian ways?
Michael: Yes, they are. My wife is an American Indian,
and so are my children, but when I was protesting during
the 90's it got a little scary and my family suffered a
bit because of my radical confrontational political side.
But we always had a lodge, as well as a very supportive
intertribal community in Florida, where I moved in 1984
and stayed until the year 2000.
All my work has been in support of Indian people that
wanted something done about environmental problems and I
took the commissionswith honor. My stance in this manner
has not endeared me with many powerful and anti-Indian
entities. So, I have accomplished a lot, and made very
little money and that has been hard on my family.

Me: Was there any one person or group who inspired you?
Michael: American Indian people through their patient
teaching of me, their support for my work based on their
traditional land ethics. These people have empowered me,
and deepened my sensitivities towards the spiritual forces
of the earth and that has made me very good at what I do.
I am humbled and honored to have been given this responsi-
bility to fight for the earth by our first nations people.

Me: When will your book “Manblind” be released?
Michael: Well it goes to the publisher in October 2008,
and then there is production stuff, so I have at this
time no specific release date, but I hope it will be
very soon, people need to find out the things that I have
discovered and my hope is that it will empower the culture
of life and dispossess the culture of death....ManBlind!

Me: Can you tell me a what the book is about?
Michael: I have been involved as an activist/ naturalist,
and an Environmental Biologist for the cause of Earth
going on now about 30 years. This book is about that effort,
the journey, and my spiritual growth as a result. During
the past eight years I have done a lot of investigations,
and uncovered a lot of information and acceptable practices
that are all against the earth, all living things, and is
directly opposite of what they portray themselves as doing.
These include corporations, agencies, and even many
scientists. I have been blacklisted, isolated, and debunked
for the works I have done, and that is because it is against
what they are doing and saying, and negatively affects their
profits that they make off of destroying, polluting, and
poisoning the earth and all living creatures, and it is
killing us humans as well. They may try to use their
tactics to "silence" me, but it will not happen. I have
even been shot at digging in places they did not want anyone
looking into. But I feel that this is a spiritual duty, and
so I feel that I will be protected in that manner.

Me: Personally, I would like to see a truthful movie made
about the real history of the Indian and the white man...
from early history to the horrors that were perpetrated
upon our families, including children and Elders. I have
been told that many Indians were herded on trains like
cattle and 'disposed of" by order of the white US Government.
Does your book discuss such issues?
Michael: Absolutely! And these things are not from the
perspective of the death culture, but from the knowing of
the life culture, the traditional American Indian people.
I have listened and learned well, I hope that I have
honored this in the way it was expected of me. I was told
by many Elders of many nations that I would walk between
two worlds, that I would be of assistance to the traditional
people and lead a new path into teaching people how to live
with Earth, and not against it. I have tried very hard to
honor this, and maybe that is why I have witnessed all I
have, and now have the opportunity to write a book and
actually get it published. If this is all so, it is by the
will of the people and especially of the spirits.

Me: Any more books planned in the future?
Michael: I have about ten book ideas right now, and
another already started. The one I have started is perhaps
the next part of the journey, but we will see.

Me: Well keep me informed and I will pass the word
about your book. It should be of great interest to most
Native Americans or to anyone interested in the truth.
Thanks, Michael.
Michael: I will keep in touch.

You can email Michael McNamara, author of the book "Manblind" and he will 'talk' to you.

Thank you Lynne.