(no subject)
It's weird how finding and recognizing Mohawk phrases randomly on websites makes me happy. And the fact that I still recognize the spelling and pronunciation is so great.
I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing that part of myself, but at the same time I wonder if all the stuff it comes attached with is really something I want. At times I'm ridiculously proud of my heritage, no, I'm always ridiculously proud of my heritage. It's my contemporaries that I'm ashamed of. And most of the time I don't think about it. Then that makes me wonder if I'm a product of colonialism; at this point, unwilling and unwanting to help my own people.
But about a month ago (more like May 21st-ish), I was invited to attend a lecture on Aboriginal Education given by Cynthia Wesley-Esquaimaux, an Aboriginal professor from the University of Toronto. It really dealt with how we need to "overcome historic post-traumatic stress disorder," which is where, in essence, we carry the pains of our people's collective past. It sounds cool, even though I do think it's a crock.
Anyway, how she makes money is not whats in contention at the moment though I may return to have a little freak out about what crap that is. Here is this educated aboriginal woman, for being she has my respect right off the bat, because, let's face it, it's rare. I guess I shouldn't have given that respect so willingly. There were two other native people at the lecture--whom I was seated with and really, Sgt W is so cute!--so, we were the only ones introduced to her by the aboriginal dude who had set-up the whole thing.
When it came out that I was from Tyendinaga, she laughs and goes "Oh, no wonder you're here." [I work for the DND] "There's practically a war on, isn't there?" And my respect for her went right out of the window. I was so completely taken aback, first off, how dare she? I totally just gave her a shocked and hurt stare while the other people there looked uncomfortable and the Organizer laughed it off.
I was ashamed of being a Mohawk then. Wesley-Equimaux was there to talk about taking pride in who we are and taking back whatever blah, blah, blah, and she starts out by saying that to me? She talked about how she noticed how kids from up North walk around with their heads down, and how every body needed to be proud of their people, and she says that to me? What a hypocrite.
I doubt you'll ever see this, but thank you, Cynthia, for making my already shaky identity even harder to work out.
I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing that part of myself, but at the same time I wonder if all the stuff it comes attached with is really something I want. At times I'm ridiculously proud of my heritage, no, I'm always ridiculously proud of my heritage. It's my contemporaries that I'm ashamed of. And most of the time I don't think about it. Then that makes me wonder if I'm a product of colonialism; at this point, unwilling and unwanting to help my own people.
But about a month ago (more like May 21st-ish), I was invited to attend a lecture on Aboriginal Education given by Cynthia Wesley-Esquaimaux, an Aboriginal professor from the University of Toronto. It really dealt with how we need to "overcome historic post-traumatic stress disorder," which is where, in essence, we carry the pains of our people's collective past. It sounds cool, even though I do think it's a crock.
Anyway, how she makes money is not whats in contention at the moment though I may return to have a little freak out about what crap that is. Here is this educated aboriginal woman, for being she has my respect right off the bat, because, let's face it, it's rare. I guess I shouldn't have given that respect so willingly. There were two other native people at the lecture--whom I was seated with and really, Sgt W is so cute!--so, we were the only ones introduced to her by the aboriginal dude who had set-up the whole thing.
When it came out that I was from Tyendinaga, she laughs and goes "Oh, no wonder you're here." [I work for the DND] "There's practically a war on, isn't there?" And my respect for her went right out of the window. I was so completely taken aback, first off, how dare she? I totally just gave her a shocked and hurt stare while the other people there looked uncomfortable and the Organizer laughed it off.
I was ashamed of being a Mohawk then. Wesley-Equimaux was there to talk about taking pride in who we are and taking back whatever blah, blah, blah, and she starts out by saying that to me? She talked about how she noticed how kids from up North walk around with their heads down, and how every body needed to be proud of their people, and she says that to me? What a hypocrite.
I doubt you'll ever see this, but thank you, Cynthia, for making my already shaky identity even harder to work out.