By telling our stories we celebrate all of who we are - this is the beginning of my story . . .
By telling our stories, we celebrate all of who we are. We celebrate by remembering and sharing - when the time is right for you, please share your story.
Indian Enough?
The day I read Chairman Gray’s letter putting a stop to those attempting, post-recognition of our Little Shell Tribe by the U.S. Government, to begin to draw lines as to who was and was not “Indian Enough”, my world view changed.
“All Little Shell tribal members belong. We must all follow the Seven Grandfather teachings of Mnaadendimowin – Respect.”
Wise words for all.
Who is Indian enough? My story growing up, and the story of my brothers and sisters — and, more importantly, my father and his brother and sister — was a story of not being Indian enough. Or white enough. Or rich enough.
My grandmother and her sister were removed from their homes to attend “Indian schools” to cleanse them in all of the ways recently highlighted by the historical narrative in the United States Supreme Court’s Concurrence in Haaland v. Brackeen.
The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is a federally-recognized tribe of Ojibwe people in Montana. My father passed in 2008 after The Little Shell Tribe of Montana achieved state recognition but before we were recognized federally on December 20, 2019. There was no prouder moment for our ancestors and descendants than our recognition — except, maybe, when we stood outside the Civic Center in Great Falls, my brother and our children, having received our first Covid vaccination—feeling so grateful for what our Health Director, Molly Wendland, and our tribe, as a whole, accomplished in organizing our first vaccinations. We would feel that pride again looking upon the “Heart” of Little Shell in the new Little Shell Health Clinic. ‘Heart’ of Little Shell (montanafreepress.org)
Our tribe’s federal recognition came at a time when we were on the brink of a worldwide pandemic. Federal recognition gave us the path and the tools, which, along with the time, the respect, the education and, frankly, the resources— we are finally able to move beyond.
Beyond - takes one step at a time.
Beyond - takes courage and a mindset and a desire to learn more; to understand more and, mostly, to listen more. To listen and respect.
My story is the story of my brothers and sisters, our children, grandchildren and, most importantly, our elders. We were fortunate enough to be handed part of our personal story in notebooks printed by Aunt Alice, Aunt Grace, and Uncle Paul, all of whom were dedicated to telling our story in a way that would preserve it. I was given this printed part of our story over 30 years ago and it has remained on my shelf. I have thought from time to time about how to tell the story. My roadblock has always been the feeling that I am not “Indian Enough”. Even as an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe, as the fairest skinned of my siblings and having lived most of my adult life “out east” and apart from my people, our people, I had an overwhelming feeling of not being on the inside. Who wants to know the story of a people from the “outside”? The pandemic softened that fear.
During Covid, I had the opportunity to take 42 weeks of Ojibwe in a virtual language class from an amazing woman in our tribe. I took the beginning class - twice. The second time I was joined by my niece, Molly, who has gone on to seek her Masters in Native American Library and Information Science. What an amazing opportunity to begin to learn an ancient language with the next generation. My favorite word is annimouche - dog.
We, my brothers, sisters, our children, our grandchildren and I, have shared parts of this story among us and now, I would like, humbly, to begin to share our story with you. Our story is not in a chronological format —you may find that it is crazy random. It has been inspired by formal learning, informal learning, experiential learning, and spiritual learning. Our story is marked by trials, tribulation, health, sickness, wealth, poverty and challenges none of us planned for but all of us overcame. Most of the time we have “turned chicken shit into chicken salad”, pain and tragedy into glory. Celebration and resiliency are our secret sauce.
If our story is read by only one person, it will have served its purpose and I thank you for taking the time to read. You will see at the end there is no period. Because the story will continue to be told by not only each one of us, but by each one of you. Our hope is that this will begin more conversations as we are all trulyMétis . . .
Miigwech. Thank you.
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