Monday, March 8, 2010

How do I feel about being Native american


How does it feel to be Native American? For me I feel I struggle with my identity allot because allot of my cultural identity I do not know or fully understand because it was taken away from my great grandma Luise who as a teenager was put into a boarding school and, told not to speak her own language,all her traditions were stolen from her as well. If she spoke her language or, did anything traditional she would get punished. When she had her children they were also limited on what traditions and, language to speak and, when my grandma Lilian had my mother Gina, she also did not get any knowledge or cultural traditions passed down;this means my mother was raised American and, I was raised the same, without my language/traditions and culture. Every race has almost suffered in some form yet, almost all still have there land and cultural identity.
I'm not 100% white but I'm not 100% Native American and, not having a deep rooted culture within makes me confused at times. When I do tell people I am part Native American. I get responses that can be prejudice. for instance every one assumes I drink ,its prejudice to think this,or that my family lives in a tipi. The only reason why natives lived in tipis before they were placed in "reservations" was because the tipis were made out of buffalo Hide ,buffalo hide kept the heat in and, a little fire could be burning inside while the smoke would go out through the top . Another thing we are not all "hippies" just because we natives tend to wear our hair long , we are all not into "nature", my nephews have long hair and get mistaken for girls,long hair is a regular style in the native american culture. Also just because salmon is a traditional food this does not mean we are all experts on how it should taste, we all do not go fishing this is a stereo typical thought of Native Americans.

1 comment:

  1. So it sounds like, like me you are missing a lot of your cultural background. Your grandma's case it not unlike my great grandma's situation - being disowned from her family and forced to take on a different culture. What does this mean? I am not sure but I am delighted you are rediscovering your background and I hope it will not end at the end of this project!

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