1/2 I saw a post you made on Native Americans, and it got me curious. I'm huge on my family history/culture, however my family could care less it seems. My great grandma is Native American, does this make me mixed, or is that just part of my history.
Would my dad have to be full Native American in order for me to identify as mixed? I don’t want to identify, or pretend to be someone I’m not, I just don’t really know who I am.
Identifying as Native American
If you feel Native— if you feel like it is part of your spirit, part of your identity, part of who you are— and you take on the pain and responsibility that goes along with it, of taking care of the earth, of fighting for your brothers and sisters, of accepting the past and taking on the full weight of what being Native means, you are Native. How much blood you have and where it is in your history does not matter as much as what is in your heart.
My blood by heritage is 1/8 Native. I could not be “officially” Native by the Canadian government’s standards because I am “not Native enough” according to their rules that try to exterminate us. But everywhere I have been, I am accepted as Native American. Because it is part of my spirit.
I am also Icelandic— a heritage I hold very close to my heart— and one does not detract from the other. I don’t personally identify as mixed because in Canada this holds a very, very specific label (Metis) and there’s a general consensus of “you’re either Native to the full extent of the spirit or you’re not”. But I am just as Icelandic as I am Native.
That doesn’t mean you can’t identify as mixed; I’m just explaining my own label. What matters is you take on the responsibility of your tribe and of all tribes. It can be equal to other parts of your heritage, or it can be greater, or lesser. Just always keep that responsibility.
Some Native tribes don’t allow mixed people, and have certain “rules” for who is “allowed” to be Native and not, but a lot of us don’t. It’s a very hard feeling to explain, but if you want it because you ache for that feeling, that community, your history, then by all means: claim it.
A lot of Natives are mixed. My Wyandot (adopted) uncle is a redhead with pale skin, and he’s the chief’s brother. He said I looked more Native than he did. I know a lot of others who have heritage that is a patchwork of colonization and assimilation but still. They found their roots and watered them.
If you feel like you are part of us, and feel that our history is your history, then you are Native. Please, do not let how far back your roots are stop you from thinking they are yours. If you tend them, they will grow.
origamiaround
titsay
turnnoffyourmind
gummygunk
