Have you ever wondered what it's like to be Native American in the United States in the XXI Century? I'll tell you...
- It is watching John Wayne whip fifty of your kind with a six-shot pistol.
- It is being called "Pocahontas" by patronizing non-Indians.
- It is living on borrowed time after your 44th birthday.
- It is feeding anyone and everyone who comes to your door with whatever you have.
- It is feeling the stares of all the whites in any public place you walk into.
- It is knowing the Great Spirit.
- It is having a Christian missionary tell you it is wrong to believe in more than one Divine Being, then listen to him tell you about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Patrick, St. Christopher, St. Francis, etc.
- It is feeling that Little Bear, Prays-for-All, Big Heart are more beautiful names than Jones, Smith or Brown.
- It is observing children of your tribe watching a western movie and cheer for the cowboys.
- It is graduating from a government Bureau of Indian Affairs school and not being able to read a 6th grade English book from your white friend's urban school.
- It is never making quick evaluations of people, but reserving judgment until their actions show what kind of people they really are.
- It is never giving up the struggle for survival.
- It is not only being proud of who you were born from, but mindful of how you conduct yourself in the world.
- It is having your friends and relatives accuse you of being a traitoress if you seek an education, earn more than $7,000 a year, wear a nice dress, buy yourself a perfume, drive a car less than three years old, and live in a three bedroom home.
- It is listening to your well-intentioned white brother try to tell you about your native spirituality.
- It is hearing from non-Indians how rotten the government has treated Indians, but still voting them back into office.
- It is listening to people tell you about their grandmother or great grandmother that was a real Cherokee Indian Princess.
- It is being greeted by non-Indians with pseudo names from real ancestors of your tribe.
- It is being told that Columbus discovered America from his ship, when we were watching him from the shore.
- It is watching your elders boast of Indian pride and leadership, between swigs of liquor from a half-empty bottle.
- It is seeing others forget the true meaning of Thanksgiving.
- It is living in two worlds.
- It is being human, with human thoughts and feelings like your non-Indian brothers and sisters.
- It is holding on to a piece of paper treaty that was signed, but never honored.
- It is seeing elders die and the language & customs with them.
- It is seeing Mother Earth destroyed by those who don't know Her.
- It is having the government treat you like a prisoner of war.
- It is sad,
- It is hard,
- It is crying,
- It is laughing,
Forever!
An excerpt, slightly modified by myself, of Rick Kerchee Powelson's excellent website. I hope you read this, Rick - you're wonderful!