Post by blackcrowheart on Sept 5, 2007 14:54:55 GMT -5
Some Native Americans Do Not Have Stereotypical Appearance
The Ledger - Lakeland,FL,USA
Amy Anderson, despite her red hair, is of Native American descent. Her
great-great-grandfather was a Cherokee. Anderson holds photos of fellow
members of the Auburndale Wolf Clan. November is American Indian
Heritage Month.
Amy Anderson's red hair and green eyes often prompt questions about
Irish ancestry, to which she answers in the affirmative. But another
facial feature - her high cheekbones - occasionally inspires a different
query: "Do you have Indian blood?"
Anderson, knowing the questioner means American Indian, is proud to
answer, "Yes."
The Auburndale resident grew up in a typical American household in Pasco
County. But she learned as a girl that her great-great-grandfather was a
Cherokee, and that ancestry has always been important to her.
As American Indian Heritage Month begins today, Anderson offers a
reminder that not all people who claim American Indian lineage have
raven hair and live on reservations. Advocates for Native Americans
would like to see the month gain greater prominence, helping others to
realize American Indians are not people fixed under glass and relegated
to the past.
"To some extent, I think native people often feel like the forgotten
minority," said Dana Klar, a member of the United Houma Nation and
interim director of the Buder Center for American Indian Studies at
Washington University in St. Louis. "On the one, hand we recognize our
numbers are low ... but being indigenous people and people who did give
a lot of gifts to the development of this new country, we would hope and
expect there would be recognition and appreciation and a better heritage
month."
Native groups began celebrating an American Indian Day in May as early
as 1916, and President George H.W. Bush in 1990 approved a joint
Congressional resolution designating November as National American
Indian Heritage Month. Presidents have issued similar proclamations
every year since 1994.
The month receives scant attention, though, especially compared to Black
History Month, celebrated each February.
"Black history tells us how badly the slaves were treated, but Native
Americans ... were treated worse," said Joyce Walker, a Lakeland
resident who said her grandmother was a Cherokee Indian. Walker and her
husband, Travis - who also claims American Indian heritage - host
monthly gatherings of the Auburndale Wolf Clan of Children of the First
People Nation, a group open to all who believe they have Native American
ancestry.
If a reminder is needed, the United States government engaged for
decades in the forced removal of native tribes from lands they had
occupied in some cases for centuries. Georgia held lotteries to give
away land seized from native tribes, and federal troops battled
Seminoles in Florida during the 19th century.
Klar said America is not unique in coping with a legacy of shameful
treatment of indigenous people.
"I think the conquering nation has to at some level get comfortable with
what it has done, and that's what's at play," Klar said. "America has
always to some extent wanted to assimilate the American Indian
population, and I believe certainly part of that is to forget the past
atrocities and kind of wipe them away."
But why does America seem more willing to confront its collective guilt
over slavery than its mistreatment of American Indians? Klar and other
experts cite several factors.
One is sheer numbers. The 2000 federal census found nearly 2.4 million
American Indians and Alaska natives (they are grouped together), or 0.8
percent of the population. Blacks, by comparison, made up 12.1 percent
of Americans.
Klar said Native Americans have even less impact on the dominant culture
than their numbers would imply. She said American Indians tend to focus
on local concerns, venturing into tribal government rather than seeking
state or federal office.
"This walking in two worlds is still difficult for our people, and I
think that's part of this, too," she said. "We aren't always standing up
and saying, 'Here we are. Recognize us.' "
Many Americans regard native groups as they would an extinct species,
said Kevin Bruyneel, an assistant professor of politics at Babson
College in Massachusetts and author of an upcoming book on U.S.-native
relations.
"This is the image that has taken hold with the American public, I
believe, where Native Americans are a people of the past, not the
present, both temporally and spatially disconnected from the U.S.,"
Bruyneel said.
In reality, census figures show American Indians are among the nation's
fastest-growing minority groups. Bruyneel said more than half live off
reservations, contrary to the common perception.
Still, Native Americans have not assimilated into American culture as
readily as most other minorities, a factor Bruyneel said contributes to
their invisibility.
Joyce Walker and her husband, Travis, of Lakeland are seen with their
wolf dogs. The pair have Cherokee ancestry, and helped found the
Auburndale Wolf Clan for those with American Indian lineage.
While the term "American Indian" suggests a single ethnic group, the
federal government recognizes more than 560 separate tribal groups with
widely varying attitudes toward blending with the larger society.
And then there is the question of identity. A 1934 federal law defined
American Indians as having one-eighth native blood, though tribes are
autonomous and use varying ancestral standards. In the minds of many
Americans, someone like Anderson - with her red hair and green eyes -
cannot possibly claim an American Indian identity.
The Auburndale Wolf Clan, the local group of which Anderson is a member,
doesn't ask newcomers to prove their bloodlines, though Joyce Walker is
glad to point them toward genealogical records that can provide
evidence. Walker said her group, formed last year, honors the traditions
of the Overhills, the Tennessee-based Cherokees to whom her grandmother
belonged. But Walker said her clan accepts anyone who professes Native
American lineage.
Walker said the monthly meetings teach people about the languages and
customs of the Cherokees. Some members, including Walker and her
husband, Travis, who uses the name Crowhawk as the clan's chief, dress
in traditional regalia for meetings.
A school bus driver, Walker occasionally speaks in local schools,
sharing her knowledge of native practices and teaching students a few
words in a Cherokee language.
The Polk County school district emphasizes American Indian Heritage
Month with curricular material given to middle and high schools, said
Carrie Oldham, senior curriculum coordinator for secondary social
studies. Oldham said Native American history is a required subject for
instruction in Florida schools, along with black history and the
Holocaust.
Walker faces a paradox in trying to spread awareness of American Indian
life. She wants students to realize there are people with native
ancestry all around them, people who don't live in teepees or chickees,
yet she also knows kids respond to exotic attire.
Amy Anderson of Auburndale, who is of Native American descent, is
medicine woman to the Auburndale Wolf Clan.
"It (native culture) was suppressed for so long, and the only time
people ever pay attention is when there's a pow-wow, and they'll say,
'Oh, let's get the kids and go see the Indians,'" Walker said. "It's a
sightseeing thing. They don't know there's people out there like myself
and my husband that are truly honoring their ancestors by continuing
their ways and teaching their ways."
That includes Anderson, a florist who goes by the name Red Willow when
she serves as "medicine woman" for the Auburndale Wolf Clan. That role
involves safeguarding the health of the other women, with an emphasis on
homeopathic methods, though Anderson doesn't disparage modern medicine.
Klar, the official at Washington University, said she hopes the
designated month helps combat our collective tendency to as members of
noble but defunct cultures.
"People want to put the native population up on a shelf and see them in
jewelry or clothing but not see them as real people," Klar said. "If
children could begin to understand this is day-to-day life and not just
a part of our past and not just a storytelling or dancing thing, that
would make my heart glad."
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at
863-802-7518.
The Ledger - Lakeland,FL,USA
Amy Anderson, despite her red hair, is of Native American descent. Her
great-great-grandfather was a Cherokee. Anderson holds photos of fellow
members of the Auburndale Wolf Clan. November is American Indian
Heritage Month.
Amy Anderson's red hair and green eyes often prompt questions about
Irish ancestry, to which she answers in the affirmative. But another
facial feature - her high cheekbones - occasionally inspires a different
query: "Do you have Indian blood?"
Anderson, knowing the questioner means American Indian, is proud to
answer, "Yes."
The Auburndale resident grew up in a typical American household in Pasco
County. But she learned as a girl that her great-great-grandfather was a
Cherokee, and that ancestry has always been important to her.
As American Indian Heritage Month begins today, Anderson offers a
reminder that not all people who claim American Indian lineage have
raven hair and live on reservations. Advocates for Native Americans
would like to see the month gain greater prominence, helping others to
realize American Indians are not people fixed under glass and relegated
to the past.
"To some extent, I think native people often feel like the forgotten
minority," said Dana Klar, a member of the United Houma Nation and
interim director of the Buder Center for American Indian Studies at
Washington University in St. Louis. "On the one, hand we recognize our
numbers are low ... but being indigenous people and people who did give
a lot of gifts to the development of this new country, we would hope and
expect there would be recognition and appreciation and a better heritage
month."
Native groups began celebrating an American Indian Day in May as early
as 1916, and President George H.W. Bush in 1990 approved a joint
Congressional resolution designating November as National American
Indian Heritage Month. Presidents have issued similar proclamations
every year since 1994.
The month receives scant attention, though, especially compared to Black
History Month, celebrated each February.
"Black history tells us how badly the slaves were treated, but Native
Americans ... were treated worse," said Joyce Walker, a Lakeland
resident who said her grandmother was a Cherokee Indian. Walker and her
husband, Travis - who also claims American Indian heritage - host
monthly gatherings of the Auburndale Wolf Clan of Children of the First
People Nation, a group open to all who believe they have Native American
ancestry.
If a reminder is needed, the United States government engaged for
decades in the forced removal of native tribes from lands they had
occupied in some cases for centuries. Georgia held lotteries to give
away land seized from native tribes, and federal troops battled
Seminoles in Florida during the 19th century.
Klar said America is not unique in coping with a legacy of shameful
treatment of indigenous people.
"I think the conquering nation has to at some level get comfortable with
what it has done, and that's what's at play," Klar said. "America has
always to some extent wanted to assimilate the American Indian
population, and I believe certainly part of that is to forget the past
atrocities and kind of wipe them away."
But why does America seem more willing to confront its collective guilt
over slavery than its mistreatment of American Indians? Klar and other
experts cite several factors.
One is sheer numbers. The 2000 federal census found nearly 2.4 million
American Indians and Alaska natives (they are grouped together), or 0.8
percent of the population. Blacks, by comparison, made up 12.1 percent
of Americans.
Klar said Native Americans have even less impact on the dominant culture
than their numbers would imply. She said American Indians tend to focus
on local concerns, venturing into tribal government rather than seeking
state or federal office.
"This walking in two worlds is still difficult for our people, and I
think that's part of this, too," she said. "We aren't always standing up
and saying, 'Here we are. Recognize us.' "
Many Americans regard native groups as they would an extinct species,
said Kevin Bruyneel, an assistant professor of politics at Babson
College in Massachusetts and author of an upcoming book on U.S.-native
relations.
"This is the image that has taken hold with the American public, I
believe, where Native Americans are a people of the past, not the
present, both temporally and spatially disconnected from the U.S.,"
Bruyneel said.
In reality, census figures show American Indians are among the nation's
fastest-growing minority groups. Bruyneel said more than half live off
reservations, contrary to the common perception.
Still, Native Americans have not assimilated into American culture as
readily as most other minorities, a factor Bruyneel said contributes to
their invisibility.
Joyce Walker and her husband, Travis, of Lakeland are seen with their
wolf dogs. The pair have Cherokee ancestry, and helped found the
Auburndale Wolf Clan for those with American Indian lineage.
While the term "American Indian" suggests a single ethnic group, the
federal government recognizes more than 560 separate tribal groups with
widely varying attitudes toward blending with the larger society.
And then there is the question of identity. A 1934 federal law defined
American Indians as having one-eighth native blood, though tribes are
autonomous and use varying ancestral standards. In the minds of many
Americans, someone like Anderson - with her red hair and green eyes -
cannot possibly claim an American Indian identity.
The Auburndale Wolf Clan, the local group of which Anderson is a member,
doesn't ask newcomers to prove their bloodlines, though Joyce Walker is
glad to point them toward genealogical records that can provide
evidence. Walker said her group, formed last year, honors the traditions
of the Overhills, the Tennessee-based Cherokees to whom her grandmother
belonged. But Walker said her clan accepts anyone who professes Native
American lineage.
Walker said the monthly meetings teach people about the languages and
customs of the Cherokees. Some members, including Walker and her
husband, Travis, who uses the name Crowhawk as the clan's chief, dress
in traditional regalia for meetings.
A school bus driver, Walker occasionally speaks in local schools,
sharing her knowledge of native practices and teaching students a few
words in a Cherokee language.
The Polk County school district emphasizes American Indian Heritage
Month with curricular material given to middle and high schools, said
Carrie Oldham, senior curriculum coordinator for secondary social
studies. Oldham said Native American history is a required subject for
instruction in Florida schools, along with black history and the
Holocaust.
Walker faces a paradox in trying to spread awareness of American Indian
life. She wants students to realize there are people with native
ancestry all around them, people who don't live in teepees or chickees,
yet she also knows kids respond to exotic attire.
Amy Anderson of Auburndale, who is of Native American descent, is
medicine woman to the Auburndale Wolf Clan.
"It (native culture) was suppressed for so long, and the only time
people ever pay attention is when there's a pow-wow, and they'll say,
'Oh, let's get the kids and go see the Indians,'" Walker said. "It's a
sightseeing thing. They don't know there's people out there like myself
and my husband that are truly honoring their ancestors by continuing
their ways and teaching their ways."
That includes Anderson, a florist who goes by the name Red Willow when
she serves as "medicine woman" for the Auburndale Wolf Clan. That role
involves safeguarding the health of the other women, with an emphasis on
homeopathic methods, though Anderson doesn't disparage modern medicine.
Klar, the official at Washington University, said she hopes the
designated month helps combat our collective tendency to as members of
noble but defunct cultures.
"People want to put the native population up on a shelf and see them in
jewelry or clothing but not see them as real people," Klar said. "If
children could begin to understand this is day-to-day life and not just
a part of our past and not just a storytelling or dancing thing, that
would make my heart glad."
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at
863-802-7518.