Tag: indigenous people

My Native American Friend

by Weam Namou, posted in Books, chaldeans, community, Consciousness, Spirituality

I’m currently working on a book about conversations I’ve had with my Native American friend. Conversations about non-typical topics. He would visit the video store where I worked for twelve years and chit-chat. Mostly, he did the talking. I listened, trying to understand the purpose behind his presence.

He said things that often stimulated my creativity and led me to write a poem or two, or to simply rethink history. To consider how our histories – me as a Chaldean and he as a Native American – were related. He transferred plain ideas into unique and priceless treasures. He is a matter-of-fact type of guy, a simple man living a meager existence. But then, little by little, he reveals himself as a profound person. Through these conversations, we see his wisdom and his willingness to admit to uncertainty. His humor and playfulness, wry judge of character and his offbeat sense of humor, is intriguing.

One of his visits resulted in this poem that was published by SNReview over ten years ago. https://www.snreview.org/0210Namou.html

Love, Justice, and Turtle Soup

A Native American man with long hair
walked into my place of business one day
and verbally handed me a recipe,
though I did not cook at the time –
and now that I do cook, I doubt
I could follow the instructions he gave to me,
though I’ll never forget the recipe.

He said, nonchalantly:
“If you want to make homemade turtle soup, you have to be careful and you must wait.. You’d want to catch a sea turtle because you get thirty or more pounds of meat from it – depending on weight. You need help too. A couple of men would do, to place the turtle inside a garbage barrel filled with fresh water. Close the lid and leave it there to starve.

It sounds brutal, I know, but there’s no other way to do it if you want to have homemade turtle soup. Sea turtles can live up to a hundred years, so it takes a while for them to die. If someone tried to slaughter them, they’d release a poison into their system that would kill anyone who ate from it. One must therefore keep the area surrounding the garbage barrel quiet so the turtle doesn’t think it has been caught by anyone but itself….

Turtles have a bad memory and will forget they were trapped.”

People trap each other like that and call it love.

Elephants, on the other hand, don’t forget.
If someone tried to hurt them, they come back in a hundred years to step on them.

People avenge each other like that and call it justice.

Interview about my latest book

“Little Baghdad”

Upcoming Interviews for This Month

Check out my YouTube channel where you can watch the interviews live and subscribe. Be sure to set reminders/alerts so you can stay updated on Live and uploaded content.

You can also now find me on Tik Tok, where I’m letting loose and sharing morsels of my life.

Indigenous Wisdom of the Chaldeans

by Weam Namou, posted in Uncategorized

The echoes of my ancestors reside in the silence of the early mornings and nights, telling me to keep telling our stories, to bring to life what was buried from thousands of years ago, and to share what’s new and being planted for the future. I listen and oblige even when I’m uncertain whether this really matters. I simply oblige as I have surrendered myself the process, a process which every day introduces me to a new part of my history as I use my skills and talents to serve.

The journey has led to meeting friends around the world, who have shared with me a wealth of knowledge, including the history of Diodorus Siculus, a Greek Historian and Scholar who wrote about the Chaldeans.

The older I grow, the more I realize the importance of honoring and documenting our stories, which similarly like many ancient ethnic groups, have much wisdom that everyone can learn and benefit from. The stories I write are not about Chaldeans, but the human spirit, as was expressed by these reviewers for “Little Baghdad: an Endangered People in an American City.”

These are some of the reviews expressed by Chaldeans and non-Chaldeans alike.

“This beautiful and enriching book integrates Weam’s life into an arc which is worth reading as she navigates life from a youngster in Iraq, immigration to USA, family and individual growth with a diverse community that surrounds her. Weaved into the stories are journeys of various groups, such as Native Indians, and their long-forgotten life along with traditions that have changed with each generation. My favorite things about the book are the human thoughts, the written and silenced words, and the different emotions that come to life in unique situations.”   Asmaa Jamil, co-author of Kingdom of Treasures series and a screenplay writer

“Little Baghdad is a must-read! Weam takes her reader on a rare journey that embraces Namou’s historical roots that go back to the formations of the first recorded cities over 7,000 years ago to the complexities of modern day urban life. Along the way, she shares the most important aspects of society to preserve and how to do so.” Roy Gessford, Author, Preserving the Chaldean Aramaic Language and Founder, Let in the Light Publishing

Click HERE to purchase Little Baghdad!

Every month, I interview remarkable individuals on a weekly basis for the Virtual Discussion Series in partnership with Unique Voices in Films, the Chaldean Cultural Center, CMN TV and U of M [Detroit Center].

Upcoming Interviews for This Month

Check out my YouTube channel where you can watch the interviews live and subscribe. Be sure to set reminders/alerts so you can stay updated on Live and uploaded content.

You can also now find me on Tik Tok, where I’m letting loose and sharing morsels of my life.

Keeping up with the Chaldeans

by Weam Namou, posted in community, Consciousness

Keeping Up with the Chaldeans is a podcast and vlog created and hosted by Junior Binno and Anthony Toma that highlights entrepreneurs within the Chaldean community. KUWTC was created to help strengthen the Chaldean community by showcasing the diversity of businesses, bringing recognition to those in our community who are unknown and driving support to one another. Each episode highlights a member of the community who shares their story, knowledge and expertise while showcasing their business ventures.

So you ask, who are the Chaldeans? They are an indigenous people from ancient Mesopotamia, otherwise known as the cradle of civilization and modern-day Iraq.  The history of Mesopotamia is measured in millennia rather than centuries. The first cities developed in the south around 3500 B.C. For the next 3,000 years, kingdoms rose and fell, empires expanded and contracted, outsiders conquered and were repelled. During this time, three dominant civilizations held center stage: the Sumerians (3500 – 2600 B.C.), the Babylonians/Chaldeans (1792-539 B.C.) and the Assyrians (1115-612 B.C.).

ziggurat

The city of Babylon inherited the culture of Sumer and under Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.) became the seat of a strong central government and a great cultural and religious center as well. In 612 B.C., Babylon was dominated by the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonian Empire). The Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt Babylon into the greatest city in the world. His most noted contribution is believed to be the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Mesopotamia is home of Enheduanna, the first recorded writer in history, the goddess Inanna and Ishtar.

Ishtar Gate
Original Ishtar Gate

Mesopotamians are known for a number of achievements, including inventing the wheel, the first to use writing, to establish a calendar which included 12 lunar months, observe and describe complex patterns in the motions of the heavens (astronomy), and to develop an irrigation system for agricultural purposes.

cuneiform

Chaldeans are among the many ethnic groups that have been immigrating to the United States since the early 1900s. They are Eastern Rite Catholics, Aramaic speaking, and originating primarily from Iraq. They have come to America for the same reasons as other immigrant groups – in search of better economic opportunities , as well as for religious and political freedoms. Over the years, due to wars and violence, their numbers in Iraq has dwindled and today, the largest concentration of Chaldeans live in Michigan.

By watching “Keeping up with the Chaldeans” viewers will get an inside, candid look into each entrepreneur and their journey to success, learn valuable information, gain knowledge about starting their own business and advice on overcoming obstacles others have faced.

Since its inception in May of 2019, KUWTC has shot nearly 100 episodes highlighting various industries from restaurant entrepreneurs, attorneys, musicians and performers, medical, skincare, nutrition, fashion and clothing, photography, auto sales, insurance, mortgage and more.

You can find Keeping Up with the Chaldeans on Youtube, Itunes, Spotify, Facebook and Instagram. Kuwtchaldeans.com

Keeping up with the Chaldeans3

Awakening the Dreamer

by Weam Namou, posted in community, Consciousness, Spirituality

One day, I was sitting at my desk, staring at my computer, and thinking of various ways that I could take what I’d learned in my four-year shamanic school out into the world. Typing a few words here and there, the Pachamama Alliance website appeared on the computer screen. It defined itself as a global community that offers people the chance to learn, connect, engage, travel, and cherish life for the purpose of creating a sustainable future that works for all.

I read their story. The Pachamama Alliance was born out of an invitation from the Achuar people to work in partnership with them to preserve their land and culture while bringing forth a new worldview that honors and sustains life. The Achuar people have lived and thrived for centuries deep in the Amazon rain forest, spanning borders of modern-day Ecuador and Peru. They kept their sophisticated culture and worldview remarkably intact as late as the mid-20th century. In Achuar culture, dreams are a guiding principle of life, shared each morning before sunrise. Shamans play an important role in the spiritual life of Achuar communities, including interpretation of dreams. But not all dreams are sweet. Dreams can often require facing and transforming that which you most fear.

Intrigued, I looked deeper into the Pachamama Alliance community and learned they offer different ways for people to learn, engage, and connect locally and globally so they can inspire, educate, and empower each other to build a movement working toward an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet. One of these ways is a free, donation based, online eight-week course called the Game Changer Intensive. In this course, people are able to delve into a wealth of carefully-curated resources, including videos, readings, and activities, at the comfort of their own homes and on their own schedule. There’s also an opportunity to interact with others online and on weekly small group calls.

Over the years, I’ve taken the Game Changer Intensive course three times, the last time having finally met someone local from Ann Arbor. Betsy McCabe, a volunteer moderator of the Game Changer Intensive group calls, is a musician, educator, mother and activist of social justice and environmental sustainability. Betsy grew up in Georgia and has lived in Tennessee and Washington. Michigan has been her home for almost 30 years, where she raised two children. Her educational background is in the liberal arts, and she says that in her “first career” she worked as an environmental policy analyst (including 10 years with the US Environmental Protection Agency), and that in her “second career” she was an independent piano teacher.

“Now in my third career, I am performing and teaching music,” she said, “and I’m engaging and acting for social change and transformation with volunteer work through the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (ICPJ), Friends of Restorative Justice (FORJ), and the Pachamama Alliance.”

Like me, Betsy is a facilitator of the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium, which explores the challenges facing humanity at this critical moment in time and the opportunities we as a human family have to create a new future. This is a half-day workshop developed by the Pachamama Alliance and has been delivered by skilled facilitators to hundreds of thousands of participants in over 380 countries since 2005. People gather at Symposiums around the world to discover the value of ancient wisdom in addressing our modern crises and their personal role in bringing forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, and socially just human presence on this planet.

I’ve learned so much from the courses offered by Pachamama Alliance and I’m so happy to have met wonderful people along the way, particularly someone local like Betsy. Now, I’m excited to share what I have learned and am grateful that Betsy will help present the Awakening the Dreamer Symposium at The Path of Consciousness spiritual and writing conference and retreat this October 5-7 at Colombiere Retreat Center. Click here for more info about The Path of Consciousnes conference and retreat and join us to help create a new future for our children, grandchildren, and the seven generations to come. 

For more information about the Pachamama Alliance, click here