We are so many peoples, so many individual cultures, so many thoughts,
and so many ideals. What is it that binds us to one another? What
consistent things are there that craft a basic Native American
Identity?
As many of you who may be offended by the idea of quantifying us down
to singular notions of self, just as many if not more of you have no
definitions to offer. I’m not saying something simplistic as we are
born horseback riders, red, or anything else. I’m merely saying that
there has to be more than just being born and being told by your
relatives that you are native american. The concept of what that one
thing means has to be somewhat visible, if not for those on
reservation land, then for the multitude of us who are born and live
outside of reservation and are immersed in mainstream pop culture.
To be born Native American is to be living proof of our peoples’
ability to survive through literal and ethnological genocide. Each day
we are here and each time we learn more about the culture we are from
is another day that we prove we will survive. Native American cultures
are older than recorded time and have progressed in science and
technology which in some cases has only been replicated by the
ancients of the middle east. The greatest minds of the ancient world
thought as we did and in many ways, these thoughts and masterpieces
cannot be duplicated even with modern technology.
We have survived almost 500 years of occupation, infiltration, and
attempts as assimilation. We will continue to survive as we will not
forget who we are. We are the people of the mountains, the forest, the
earth. We will not disappear.
There is a reason why a young native child, full blood or mixed, will
have more pride in his feathers than any other part of his ancestry.
It is the strength that it gives us. How do we forget that as we age.
The disenchantment we feel as we get older is because we are overly
immersed in the ills of counter culture. It is important to take an
interest in your heritage. We are more than stereotypes of rain dances
and warpaint. We are warriors, scientists, thinkers, and activists. We
are the ones who have taken knives, bows and arrows to a gun fight and
won. We are the ones who have come from the bottom economically and
have made it to the american senate. We are the ones who are still
here. From Seskatchewan to the Poconos to Oklahoma to Missasauga, our
legacy will surpass time.
