Tribute to an icon
By Gulamhusein A Abba
In Palestine, Mazin Qumsiyeh and his
colleagues planted a tree in Gale’s honor and money was donated to a museum in her name.
A celebration of her life will be
held in the spring and will be announced once
plans are finalized
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| Gale Courey Toensing |
With Gale’s passing away,
all those who support Palestinians and their cause, Native Americans and their
cause, truth, justice, freedom and equality, those who oppose tyranny,
oppression and inequity, those who know the remarkable Gale Courey Toensing --
all of us have suffered a grievous loss.
She was a writer,
journalist, a gifted poet and fearless and passionate activist, a champion for
the rights and welfare of the common people.
For the Palestinians, she
published on her web site The Corner Report forceful articles and opinion
pieces. She put not only her talents, time and work for them but put her life itself where her mouth was and
was on one of the ‘aid to Gaza’ ships. It was intercepted by Israel in
international waters. The entire crew, including Gale, was taken into custody
by the Israelis.
 |
| Gulamhusein Abba when he, along with Andrew Ziegler, visited Gale |
As for Native Indians, she
started reporting for Indian Country
Today since May of 2005. In addition she regularly contributed articles
covering the array of issues in Indian country, publishing more than 100
articles per year on a variety of subjects. demonstrating mastery of the
complexities of issues in Indian country.
Among her articles were:
What Really Happened at
the First Thanksgiving? The Wampanoag Side of the Tale
It gave a better
understanding of what really happened 401 years ago at the first Thanksgiving,
and what Wampanoags do today.
Indian-Killer Andrew
Jackson Deserves Top Spot on List of Worst US Presidents
Schaghticoke Tribal
Nation’s $610 Million Lawsuit Against CT Inches Forward. It reported that
the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation
alleges that the State of Connecticut sold off its land without paying; it's
suing for $610 million.
Keith Harper on Obama,
Trump and Global Human Rights
In this article attorney
and Cherokee citizen Keith Harper, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human
Rights Council, opens up about global issues.
First Wampanoag-Pilgrim
Treaty Signed on April Fools’
The first
Wampanoag-Pilgrim Treaty was signed by Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag
Nation, and the leaders of Plymouth Colony on April 1, 1621.
Expand Your Reading List
With These Seven Books: 2016 Hot List
About a long list of
promising titles covering the full range of reading tastes.
‘No Diplomacy with a Hungry Lion’: Native
Leaders Look Ahead for 2016
Five tribal leaders were
asked to revisit last year’s thoughts and look ahead to what they expect or
hope for in 2016.
Sonny Skyhawk Bringing His
War Bonnet to Oscars, Fighting for His People
In an eulogy to her,
Christopher Napolitano, former Indian Country Today Creative Director, wrote: “Toensing was working as a
reporter in Connecticut when her curiosity and nose for injustice was alerted
by state-level skullduggery aimed at repealing the federal recognition of an
obscure Native nation in nearby Kent. Her first article on the subject for
Indian Country Today, a precursor of many more pieces to come, appeared in May
2005, “Schaghticoke Status Attacked.” The fight of the Schaghticoke was never
far from view for Toensing; a dozen years later, when her health was failing
but her determination to investigate and publish the truth remained firm, she
came through with her last piece (pre-hiatus for the fully-staffed ICTMN)—an
excellent summation of the case so far—on September 3, 2017: “Schaghticoke
Tribal Nation’s $610 Million Lawsuit Against CT Inches Forward.”
She did not just write
about them. She attended annual NCAI, NIGA and USET conferences and worked in
Washington DC to provide coverage of issues facing tribal leaders and federal
policy
She even went to their Pow
Wows!
One of her friends, Pat Mechare has written,“Some might not know
that Gale’s interests were broad. She sought justice for the Native Americans
and worked for a prestigious Native American Journal. There she focused on
current litigations involving the Native American community. She traveled
several times to the Middle East to see first-hand the struggles of the
ordinary people in those regions and was another voice of support for them. She
became a part of several groups in the area who worked for peace there and found
lifelong friends.
 |
| Andrew Ziegler when he went with Gulamhusein Aba to meet Gale |
“She loved to garden and
see the blooms of the flowers she grew. She loved reading, debating and family
and was so very proud of her children, Liz and Seth. She had a gentle and wry
sense of humor. We owe her a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. We
extend our sympathies to her family, especially her husband, Craig, who
lovingly cared for her during her illness, with the reminder that her deeds and
the person she was will not soon be forgotten.”
Gale was also an
accomplished poet, having earned an MFA in poetry from Norwich University in
Vermont. She wrote evocatively, tenderly, lovingly. Here is an example of her poetry,
her remembrance of her mother
Personal Belongings.
My mother’s nightgown lies
furled at the back of the drawer,
flimsy like a shadow
someone forgot to pack.
I stashed it there
unwashed five years ago,
death cells still clinging
to its fibers. I want to take it out
and shake it, run it
through the washer by itself
on gentle cycle, small
load, dry it with a sheet
of Bounce and fluff it
back to when she was a paradox,
a five-foot giantess,
reliquary of bad advice.
I remember her pitying
stare, poised dressed-to-kill
and dripping jewels on the
living room sofa,
her daily exhortations,
flipping through fashion magazines—
You look like death warmed
over in those black clothes.
Why don’t you make
yourself glamorous?
Go get a permanent and
learn how to cook,
don’t show how brainy you
are, show some cleavage,
that’s the way to catch a
man—and the night her own brain,
hooked by a random ruby
red hardening of blood, cleft itself
into smooth-surfaced
planes between clearing
the dinner dishes and
serving the tea, how her body
slid to the floor, fluid
as a silk negligee tossed off a creamy shoulder,
the porcelain cups tinkling
into shards like the memories
she tried to piece
together the next four years, and never could.
I’d enter her room from
the coded elevator
and she’d say my name,
then Sister! Or, lost somewhere between
Intention and expression,
Blue! as she waved the only hand
she could still move to
flaunt the diamond rings my father
had given her through the
years, until she grew so small they slid
over the bones of her
fingers and fell into the safe
deposit box at my bank
where I keep them with her gold bracelets
and emerald necklace and
other sparkling things,
in a rectangle of steel as
dark as the coffin she was buried in
or the drawer where her
nightgown lies,
so I can tell her
shimmering from mine.
–Gale Courey Toensing
(1997)
Though Gale has left us
physically, she continues to be with us in spirit and will forever inspire us.
*******************************
A personal note: Gale and I had been friends for a
long time. We started exchanging views, opinions, personal news and feelings
from February 2006 and wrote to each other pretty regularly
We had hoped to meet on June 15 2016. This would be the first time she and
her husband Craig and my wife and I would be meeting together “to break bread”
and chat. She was very happy about this and looked forward to it. On that day,
after keeping a medical appointment with Craig’s doctor, they were on their way to
pick up my wife and myself. Half way through, Gale’s illness started acting up
and they had to return home. She called to let us know. I told her not to worry
about it and that we will meet soon,” Inshallah”. Here is what she replied; “Dear
Gulamusein My mother used to say
"inshallah" when I asked if I could do something she didn't want me
to do but didn't have a good reason to deny my request. Then when something
happened to prevent whatever it was I asked for she could say "It was
God's will." I never believed her. But now I find myself longing to
understand and accept Allah's will. I'd very much like to talk to you about
that, if that's possible. I will try to call you tomorrow around 1pm after I
return from physical therapy. I was so exhausted when we got home that I fell
asleep on the sofa and woke up 10 minutes ago -- just in time to go to bed 🙂 I think
tomorrow will be a better day -- inshallah! Talk to you then. Good night...”
Unfortunately her illness prevented her from making a
trip to Danbury again. I too became too ill to go out. Besides I had no transport. But I was
determined to find a way to go and meet her. I tried very hard. Ultimately my
good friend, Andrew Ziegler offered to take me there and look after me all the
way. And so, armed with a urinal and assisted by my friend, at last visited her
on Saturday, December2. 2017 to pay our respects to her, express our
appreciation and thanks for all that she had done, and do what she loved—'break
bread’ with her!. As usual, in spite of limitations due to her illness, she
went about being a perfect hostess, flitting about in her wheelchair from the
dining area to the kitchen area, bringing food, getting the dishes, setting the
table, lovingly putting food onto our plates: “You must taste this. My husband
specially made this”!! She ignored our pleas to forget about being a host and
the food and just sit and talk with us. That is what we had come for, we told
her. We did manage to have some conversation with her and promised to come again,
bringing food with us. But that was not to be.
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