What am I and why do you ask? Race....

                                                                

         I am likely the oldest member of our happy class, yet in more than 5 decades of life, no-one has ever asked the question posed to us at the beginning of this unit, “What are you? “. I also never doubted that anyone else wondered what I “was .” The comfort of appearing white, living in the mid-west, with no accent or behaviors that seem “out of place”, I would imagine is the reason behind this. Not everyone has been so fortunate.  Many of my relatives have done work on our ancestry so I know I had relatives form several European countries and many from this one. I am by blood-line 25% Native American.  I never thought of claiming I was Native American on any census or other legal forms. I always hesitate slightly, but then check the “White” box. I don’t feel I have the right to claim I “belong” to this group, yet they accept me as one of theirs. They are a proud, tightly knit group, who work hard to maintain and preserve their heritage.  I have lived on the reservation, worked for a tribe; have relatives who don’t look as white as me and I am married to a Native American. I attend tribal ceremonies, I am considered family to more Native’s than I can count, including my own children who are enrolled tribal members. There’s the catch. I am not an enrolled member of a tribe. Enrollment was originally the Government’s way of tracking tribal members, but the criteria is now set by each tribe, who have to vote and decide if you can be a member. You can also be kicked off the tribal roles if they change their minds at some point. This is the political side of the issue. Socially, most accept me for who I am, a caring human being, they say it’s what’s in your heart that counts. Who would look at a white skinned person and think she is Native American?  We all judge by outer appearance, not only race but dozens of other things, but should we?  Being Native American, has not been popular in our historical past as we all know. The early media portrayal did them great injustice, made them out to be blood thirsty, animal like, non-humans. Much like how the early settlers categorized them. As indicated in our reading, the media has a narrow vision and viewpoint and despite what many people still think, does not portray reality. Today, as tolerance of some groups that are “not white” has increased we see more people claiming to have Native American ties and being proud to say so. I recently saw this commercial on the internet, which depicts the positive side of this group of American’s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQgrY0TOdLQ 

            Fighting Hollywood, its representations, there is a web site that has more information and suggestions for good movies and a list of Native American actors, including people like Cher, Johnny Depp and Kevin Costner.  For more information visit Indians.org at,  http://www.indians.org/articles/indian-movies.html. Learning about the heritage of others and ourselves brings us closer in understanding, race or other types of inequality, and optimistically, towards treatment that is less stereotypical and discriminating.

Shirley Jackson  Sumblog #1