Why Clean Dirt
I do not know if anyone reading this uses Google News. I myself like it. You can program the screen to only show you what you are interested in. Of course mine is set for all things Native American.
While viewing my news last week, I came across an article that set my poor feeble mind into motion. The article was about a 6 year lawsuit.
A group of Native Americans wanted the Washington Redskins to change their name. They said it was a racial slur and very offensive. Of course the Washington Redskins did not want to change the name of their football team. I found this story interesting but it was the comments at the end of the story that made me read them twice.
The for and against the name change was about even. What set the comments apart was the time some people put into theirs. Some just said that the Native Americans were wasting time on something that made no sense, while others said that Olde Worlders had no idea what it was like to be looked on as a non-human and to be treated that way.
All this got me to thinking. How do I feel about this lawsuit and the comments? First I must agree with the fact that "most" Olde Worlders do not know what it is like to be a Native American. In about the fourth or fifth grade of school, my classmates found out I was Cherokee. From that time on I was the butt of all their jokes, name calling and bullying. All this even carried over to where I lived and who I used to play with. I was a savage and not human enough to be around. I was always fighting. Even today I still get funny looks from people when they find out I am Cherokee. So you see, I have lived that non-human life. But in my Elder years I now take the slurs lake a grain of salt on my food. I know it is there but it does not bother me.
You see I have found that if I just stand there with a smile on my face, it makes the person or persons disrespecting me madder than if I would fight back. They are trying to make me mad and when they see that it is not working they lose interest and move on.
So yes I would like to see the Washington Redskins change their name but is that my number one driving force in my life? NO. And it should not be for other Native Americans. We have more important issues we should face first and solve. How about health care on the reservation? How about better and safer schools and day care on the reservation? Better homes, less alcoholism, less abuse of family members, less unemployment, more of our children no only completing high school but going on to other schools. Can we try and save our language and old way of life? And there are lots more to go.
Every time I see a picture of a reservation, somewhere it always shows the same two things. First junk cars sitting around the lodge and also just plain junk everywhere. Clean up the mess. Take pride in yourself and Mother Earth. Show some respect and do what you know is right.
Secondly, every time they show a picture of the inside of a lodge there is a naked child sitting in one side of the sink and a stack of dirty dishes in the other side. I can understand the child but come on, do the dishes. You can not blame the Olde Worlders for every thing. He may have put us on the reservation but he did not make us lose our self respect. He is not the one who made us drunk and lazy. We did that to ourselves. Get over it and move on. I know it has not been easy for our people but our lives have never been easy. The old ones stood on their own two feet and we must too. Take care of the things that matter most first, the rest can wait.
I know all this may seem out of place for someone who is a Native American but this is my view on the subject.
When I was a child, we would visit my great grandparents in North Carolina. This was before all the freeways, so you had to drive through Baltimore, Maryland on Rt 40. You would see the home owners out scrubbing their marble steps and picking up any trash on the sidewalk and curb in front of their homes. Yes their houses needed paint but they were poor, so they did what they could to make their little corner of the world look good because they had pride.
I spent a year overseas in 1966-1967. A lot of homes there had dirt floors because that was the best they could do. Everyday they would sweep the floor and even the dirt that made up their front yard. Why clean dirt? Because they had pride.
There is no shame in being poor. There is only shame in not having pride in yourself, your family, Mother Earth, the Creator and all the old ones who went before us. Respect them, respect yourself and clean up your life and your little corner of the world. Show the world who we really are, not what we have made ourselves into. Remember Crazy Horse and stand tall with your head up.
While viewing my news last week, I came across an article that set my poor feeble mind into motion. The article was about a 6 year lawsuit.
A group of Native Americans wanted the Washington Redskins to change their name. They said it was a racial slur and very offensive. Of course the Washington Redskins did not want to change the name of their football team. I found this story interesting but it was the comments at the end of the story that made me read them twice.
The for and against the name change was about even. What set the comments apart was the time some people put into theirs. Some just said that the Native Americans were wasting time on something that made no sense, while others said that Olde Worlders had no idea what it was like to be looked on as a non-human and to be treated that way.
All this got me to thinking. How do I feel about this lawsuit and the comments? First I must agree with the fact that "most" Olde Worlders do not know what it is like to be a Native American. In about the fourth or fifth grade of school, my classmates found out I was Cherokee. From that time on I was the butt of all their jokes, name calling and bullying. All this even carried over to where I lived and who I used to play with. I was a savage and not human enough to be around. I was always fighting. Even today I still get funny looks from people when they find out I am Cherokee. So you see, I have lived that non-human life. But in my Elder years I now take the slurs lake a grain of salt on my food. I know it is there but it does not bother me.
You see I have found that if I just stand there with a smile on my face, it makes the person or persons disrespecting me madder than if I would fight back. They are trying to make me mad and when they see that it is not working they lose interest and move on.
So yes I would like to see the Washington Redskins change their name but is that my number one driving force in my life? NO. And it should not be for other Native Americans. We have more important issues we should face first and solve. How about health care on the reservation? How about better and safer schools and day care on the reservation? Better homes, less alcoholism, less abuse of family members, less unemployment, more of our children no only completing high school but going on to other schools. Can we try and save our language and old way of life? And there are lots more to go.
Every time I see a picture of a reservation, somewhere it always shows the same two things. First junk cars sitting around the lodge and also just plain junk everywhere. Clean up the mess. Take pride in yourself and Mother Earth. Show some respect and do what you know is right.
Secondly, every time they show a picture of the inside of a lodge there is a naked child sitting in one side of the sink and a stack of dirty dishes in the other side. I can understand the child but come on, do the dishes. You can not blame the Olde Worlders for every thing. He may have put us on the reservation but he did not make us lose our self respect. He is not the one who made us drunk and lazy. We did that to ourselves. Get over it and move on. I know it has not been easy for our people but our lives have never been easy. The old ones stood on their own two feet and we must too. Take care of the things that matter most first, the rest can wait.
I know all this may seem out of place for someone who is a Native American but this is my view on the subject.
When I was a child, we would visit my great grandparents in North Carolina. This was before all the freeways, so you had to drive through Baltimore, Maryland on Rt 40. You would see the home owners out scrubbing their marble steps and picking up any trash on the sidewalk and curb in front of their homes. Yes their houses needed paint but they were poor, so they did what they could to make their little corner of the world look good because they had pride.
I spent a year overseas in 1966-1967. A lot of homes there had dirt floors because that was the best they could do. Everyday they would sweep the floor and even the dirt that made up their front yard. Why clean dirt? Because they had pride.
There is no shame in being poor. There is only shame in not having pride in yourself, your family, Mother Earth, the Creator and all the old ones who went before us. Respect them, respect yourself and clean up your life and your little corner of the world. Show the world who we really are, not what we have made ourselves into. Remember Crazy Horse and stand tall with your head up.