I have been transferring some files from hand-written pages to hard disk to make sorting easier if and when I ever write Dreamcatchers on the Rearview Mirror. Along the way I have noticed certain...well...key events that certainly seem to back up my premise for the tome...err, excellent bit of reading that will result. *
One thing really caught my attention. I mean, obviously it first caught my attention when I watched Black Indians:An American Story (2001) or I would not have made a note of it. But it did not catch my attention enough to really side mark it like I have done with certain topics that needed further research. It is a comment made almost off-hand, yet it really cuts to the heart of my research. In a discussion on race and why people would select various boxes, the following comment was made.
"Right now it is very much in vogue to be Indian." which is closely followed by, "Indian is a cultural question."
That is a very interesting and controversial statement. First off, the term itself is questionable; is the name "Indian" acceptable in 2008 or should it exclusively be "Native American", "American Indian", or should it be yet something else?
Second, who gets to decide what does or does not constitute being Native American? One drop of blood? Being a 16th? a 1/4? 1/2? This is an important question. Entire tribes are brought into existence...or wiped out...over the very question, and unfortunately the question all too often has little to do with cultural heritage and a great deal to do with can they build a casino?***
An amazing number of people want the name of Native American and it is amazing how many people claim descent from a Cherokee princess...never mind the fact the Cherokee never had royalty and thus could not have princesses, these people know she is in their lineage. Good luck with that, let me know how it turns out.
Sadly, the genuine articles, people who have suffered for their heritage as the government went through attempt after attempt after attempt to settle "the Indian question"...and doesn't that reference send chills down your spine...with things ranging from the generally well-regarded attempts of John Collier in the 1930s through the era of Termination and back to the surprisingly positive steps taken by oft-maligned Richard Nixon. During all these attempts and even since then the question of who is and who is not Native American has raged.
Their traditions have been co-opted, their religious ceremonies altered, recreated, desecrated, and blasphemed, their wants have been chosen for them and a lot of people seem to think simply taking on the trappings of "Indianhood" makes them more qualified to speak for Native Americans that being Wilma Mankiller** does.
The next time you see some hippie advertising a sweat-lodge ceremony on Craigslist...and yes, they do that regularly, even here in Portland...realize this is not a "great spiritual experience you can have", it is a subversion of a once-treasured, sacred ceremony with deep meaning within the context of a highly evolved society and was part of not "just" their religion or "just" their culture but a very real part of their identity. You are being defrauded if you take part in it and you are simultaneously insulting millions of people. Ignorance is not much of a defense.
So here is today's question: what does it mean to be "Native American", "American Indian", or "Indian" to you? Why? I am actively seeking feedback here. Not scholarly feedback found in a library...I have that. Not round table discussion in an academic forum...I have that. I want it from the people I know....and here is a nice bit of trivia: I happen to know 2 of my closest friends who are deeply impacted by this issue since they are both indisputably Native American. One has been a friend for I think 26 or 27 years, the other for just 3 or 4 but I value them both and it has nothing to do with whether they are or are not Native American, it has to do with who they are as people. Just thought I would roll that out there. I love you both.
* This is a reference to a Pop Culture/anthropological studies/history project. I am researching a book that examines how Native Americans have been viewed in the popular consciousness. In 1900 there were a lot of people who saw them as "savages who live to steal, torture and kill" and by 2000 you almost could not drive a mile without seeing a Dream Catcher hanging from a rear view mirror in a vehicle driven by someone who would have harsh words, and rightfully so, for anyone who used terms like "savage" for Native Americans or who was so blind as to hold the old stereotypes. How did they shift from hated and feared to held in reverence and people seeking to emulate them?
** Wilma Mankiller is the first female to be elected leader of any major North American tribe.
*** No kidding. People were killed over the issue in New York, a tribe was reconstituted and built a highly successful casino. Lawsuits are still being conducted to see who is part of the tribe, who controls the money, and how much land they own.
4 years ago
3 comments:
I don't think there is an accepted way to reference North America's first peoples. In some circles American Indian is preferred, in others it is Native American. The tribes that I have worked with that is not the important part - the key is to ask them how they want to be referenced. Most use their name in their language for their people.
Good luck with your project, I would read it for sure as it is something that is close to my work.
What do you mean, "If and when"? Write!
I have to tell you I get supremely irritated by white people who tell me how Native or non-Native I am...and this happens more often than you might think.
AIR< thank you for the thoughts
and Kitty, I am working on it. Transferring files, writing an outline, but still buried in research
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