Who We Are

 Last week, we had the opportunity to educate campus through the “We Are Here” panel discussion series. The event went well, but there was part of it that I found discouraging and a little depressing. It seemed that so much of what we talked about was telling the people there what we are not as a community and people instead of positively asserting who and what we are. It reminded me of a quote from Cherokee Principal Chief John Ross. “Convince the world by your character,” he said, “that Indians are not as they have been shown.” That’s an unfair burden and expectation, but it is a reality for Native people. After 50 years of Hollywood stereotypes and erasure from the history books Native people—Native youth especially—confront so many ignorant tropes that we always begin with a deficit model in our conversations. Last Wednesday, we told those gathered that we are not all dark skinned. We are not all enrolled. We do not all come from cultures that use dreamcatchers. We do not all get to attend college for free. We are not all diversity admissions. And on and on.

 

But if we had the opportunity to tell campus who we are, what would you say? For me, I would let the world know that we are a community not merely of survivors, but of thrivers. We are a people with an extraordinary reserve of resilience, and a relentless people who for five centuries have resisted colonialism and attempted physical, cultural, and spiritual genocide. We are a community that cares for one another. We have a culture with much to teach the rest of the world about matrilineal cultures, consensus government, and being caretakers of the planet. That’s only a tiny piece of who we are, and we need to let campus—and the world—know. 

 

Take some time this week to consider how we may reframe this conversation from, as John Ross said, proving to the world what we are not, and instead proudly showing who we are. Who. We. Are. Together we can move the conversation in that direction. Our people and the world will be better for it. S’gi.