Monday, February 20, 2023
Friday, November 1, 2019
TEC meeting 31 October 2019
*Posted this on my Facebook Page on 31 October 2019 Reposting this here as this issue is important to me and mine. **Reminder, I am allowing comments on this: Be Respectful or your comment will not be posted.
Yesterday’s TEC meeting was interesting. Yours truly lost it during the last few minutes of the meeting. Why? You are rightfully asking yourselves. Course, those that know me, know that I can and do lose my temper. And this is one of the traits I inherited from my mother who’s nickname was “Tiger Lady” and so we received the name “Tiger Cub” from her.
T’any rate, the issue was about the Land transfer, which as our fearless leader, Cathy, and her cohorts on the TEC have a revised resolution in which the individual reservations have the option to “opt out” of this. Well, five reservations want their land titles transferred back to the Bands. Only one doesn’t. Therein lies the crux of the matter.
If you’ll look at the link I posted, which reminds me, I need to download the actual file of the lands in question. If you’ll note all the red areas on the Bois Forte reservation and compare that to the others, well, speaks for itself.
Deer Creek, which you’ll also note doesn’t have any red lines. Why? is another question surely popping up in your minds as of this moment. Perhaps it’s already popped up there. Well, FYI, that land is where the Soreyes branch of my family resided until it became impossible to do anything there due to the allotment period of history. That particular land is divided between thousands of heirs of the original allottees. Hmm, methinks that spelling is a bit off. This explains why most of the Soreyes branch moved to Canada.
The Wakemup branch of my family had land in the village, which due to circumstances beyond our control, was sold to various interests. Now the Wakemup branch is scattered around Minnesota. The only branch that stayed in the village was my mother. She tried living off the rez for exactly three months of her life. Months, which were spent in Mpls, that taught her the real meaning of home, amongst other things.
Those months, in part, also explain the things she taught us about our home, our land and most important, our family. These things are:
1. All this land was and still is ours. We have the right to hunt, fish and gather in the ceded territory. Since the current “owners” of the land have a different viewpoint, the Band decided to enter into an agreement with the State and receive monies for our right to hunt, fish and gather. This is the reason for the issuance of the 1854 Treaty identification cards. And it is also the reason why we receive a check once a year which, since it is in effect subsistence money, is not taxed and is not to be counted as income for tax purposes. $800 or so isn’t enough to feed, clothe and shelter one person or a family of four for the whole year. If we all exercised our rights to gather, hunt, fish in the manner our ancestors did, it might get us through the winter. Might not. I remember my father going out to do drives during the winter months and the men getting enough deer to carry us through the coldest months.
So consider this when you go to pay for those licenses to hunt and fish. Those state licenses allow us to hunt and fish anywhere in the state, not just in the ceded territory. How do I know this? My sister has been trying for years to turn me into a fisherman. And to fish at Farmer John’s one does need a state license. Oh there is more that could be said about this issue. Not the point of this little diatribe in which I mean the long discourse, not the irony, satirical or bitter definition either. (Oh the vagaries of the English language.)
2. Our home was, is and always will be here on the Bois Forte Reservation, in particular, Nett Lake. My mother was one of the few actually born and raised right in the village. Most of the rest were born in hospitals miles from the village. One of the hardest lessons I had to learn from her was the need to cooperate and get along with everyone, not just my siblings. Oh, we get mad at each other, but we were never allowed to carry a grudge. We had to work things out. Along with this was the need to accept things that we couldn’t control, such as the majority’s wishes in matters even when we knew it wasn’t the ideal situation. We could figure out how to change it and do it in a respectful manner. Now, what this meant is we must pick and choose our battles. Not jump on any old bandwagon, not knowing where it is going or if they’re going to get there or even who is driving the thing.
3. Our family. Oh, this is hard, because of all the memories I have of my mother and my father and the things they tried to teach us. In the days before they died, the main thing they worried about was leaving us behind. We had to reassure each one, especially on their death bed, that we would be all right, that we could make it without them and they could travel on to see their family who were waiting for them to join them. I know exactly the feeling cause I look at the grandchildren, my sons, my nieces and nephews and can only hope they’ve learned enough to be able to tell me, my sisters and brothers that they’ll be alright, they’ll make it, they know enough and we can join our families with joy when the time comes.
So, what does all this have to do with the interesting time at the TEC?
I got tired of being respectful for people who claim to have respect for “the People, the land, the animals” all the while putting others down just because we were respectful of their “right?” to name call us just because we don’t go around hollering about this, that and the other thing that is important to us. We stood up when it was asked for a demonstration of the point of order and respect be demonstrated. And when I heard the real reason for the “speaking out” of this particular bus load of Band members: asking the TEC to rescind the resolution in the matter of the Land Title Transfer, well...enough said. Take a look at that map of MCT Lands once again and make up your own mind. There was a call to also put this to a referendum vote. Well. When I was leaving the room to come home, I heard a call for people to stay and strategize for the petitioning for the removal of A L L the TEC members for which I only have this in answer. I left.
Yesterday’s TEC meeting was interesting. Yours truly lost it during the last few minutes of the meeting. Why? You are rightfully asking yourselves. Course, those that know me, know that I can and do lose my temper. And this is one of the traits I inherited from my mother who’s nickname was “Tiger Lady” and so we received the name “Tiger Cub” from her.
T’any rate, the issue was about the Land transfer, which as our fearless leader, Cathy, and her cohorts on the TEC have a revised resolution in which the individual reservations have the option to “opt out” of this. Well, five reservations want their land titles transferred back to the Bands. Only one doesn’t. Therein lies the crux of the matter.
If you’ll look at the link I posted, which reminds me, I need to download the actual file of the lands in question. If you’ll note all the red areas on the Bois Forte reservation and compare that to the others, well, speaks for itself.
Deer Creek, which you’ll also note doesn’t have any red lines. Why? is another question surely popping up in your minds as of this moment. Perhaps it’s already popped up there. Well, FYI, that land is where the Soreyes branch of my family resided until it became impossible to do anything there due to the allotment period of history. That particular land is divided between thousands of heirs of the original allottees. Hmm, methinks that spelling is a bit off. This explains why most of the Soreyes branch moved to Canada.
The Wakemup branch of my family had land in the village, which due to circumstances beyond our control, was sold to various interests. Now the Wakemup branch is scattered around Minnesota. The only branch that stayed in the village was my mother. She tried living off the rez for exactly three months of her life. Months, which were spent in Mpls, that taught her the real meaning of home, amongst other things.
Those months, in part, also explain the things she taught us about our home, our land and most important, our family. These things are:
1. All this land was and still is ours. We have the right to hunt, fish and gather in the ceded territory. Since the current “owners” of the land have a different viewpoint, the Band decided to enter into an agreement with the State and receive monies for our right to hunt, fish and gather. This is the reason for the issuance of the 1854 Treaty identification cards. And it is also the reason why we receive a check once a year which, since it is in effect subsistence money, is not taxed and is not to be counted as income for tax purposes. $800 or so isn’t enough to feed, clothe and shelter one person or a family of four for the whole year. If we all exercised our rights to gather, hunt, fish in the manner our ancestors did, it might get us through the winter. Might not. I remember my father going out to do drives during the winter months and the men getting enough deer to carry us through the coldest months.
So consider this when you go to pay for those licenses to hunt and fish. Those state licenses allow us to hunt and fish anywhere in the state, not just in the ceded territory. How do I know this? My sister has been trying for years to turn me into a fisherman. And to fish at Farmer John’s one does need a state license. Oh there is more that could be said about this issue. Not the point of this little diatribe in which I mean the long discourse, not the irony, satirical or bitter definition either. (Oh the vagaries of the English language.)
2. Our home was, is and always will be here on the Bois Forte Reservation, in particular, Nett Lake. My mother was one of the few actually born and raised right in the village. Most of the rest were born in hospitals miles from the village. One of the hardest lessons I had to learn from her was the need to cooperate and get along with everyone, not just my siblings. Oh, we get mad at each other, but we were never allowed to carry a grudge. We had to work things out. Along with this was the need to accept things that we couldn’t control, such as the majority’s wishes in matters even when we knew it wasn’t the ideal situation. We could figure out how to change it and do it in a respectful manner. Now, what this meant is we must pick and choose our battles. Not jump on any old bandwagon, not knowing where it is going or if they’re going to get there or even who is driving the thing.
3. Our family. Oh, this is hard, because of all the memories I have of my mother and my father and the things they tried to teach us. In the days before they died, the main thing they worried about was leaving us behind. We had to reassure each one, especially on their death bed, that we would be all right, that we could make it without them and they could travel on to see their family who were waiting for them to join them. I know exactly the feeling cause I look at the grandchildren, my sons, my nieces and nephews and can only hope they’ve learned enough to be able to tell me, my sisters and brothers that they’ll be alright, they’ll make it, they know enough and we can join our families with joy when the time comes.
So, what does all this have to do with the interesting time at the TEC?
I got tired of being respectful for people who claim to have respect for “the People, the land, the animals” all the while putting others down just because we were respectful of their “right?” to name call us just because we don’t go around hollering about this, that and the other thing that is important to us. We stood up when it was asked for a demonstration of the point of order and respect be demonstrated. And when I heard the real reason for the “speaking out” of this particular bus load of Band members: asking the TEC to rescind the resolution in the matter of the Land Title Transfer, well...enough said. Take a look at that map of MCT Lands once again and make up your own mind. There was a call to also put this to a referendum vote. Well. When I was leaving the room to come home, I heard a call for people to stay and strategize for the petitioning for the removal of A L L the TEC members for which I only have this in answer. I left.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
God Helps Those...
Well, this morning my sister and I were visiting and one of the topics was a recap of a discussion I had with one of my fellow Constitutional Convention Delegates in which I ended by quoting "they say God helps those who help themselves." "That's from the scriptures." And he looked at me expectantly. Of course, I couldn't think of the Book, Chapter or verse. I was going to ponder and then probably pontificate (Hmm) on the matter when the pastor's wife walked by and gave me a bit of encouragement regarding my discussion. He promptly took the opportunity to escape, probably thanking God that he'd had a notification for firemen just a few minutes before. Being as there was a bit of time since some had a few miles to travel to get there, he'd a few minutes to spare. So, it sort of ended there.
And so, my sister had become involved on her phone and I, then, assumed she was playing her game which she usually does whenever I start my "lecture mode." I quit talking and she looked at me. I made some remark to which she replied "I was waiting for you to finish. Are you?" I nodded.
She proceeded to inform me that "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves" while often quoted as being from the Bible isn't actually in the Bible. What is in the Bible is "God helps those who Can Not help themselves" which is the definition of grace." She gave me the Books, Chapters and Verses. She'd surprised me because she'd not been playing her game, she'd been doing a bit of research.
I vaguely remembered looking up the quote once upon a time and this explained my inability to quote Chapter and Verse to my erstwhile fellow delegate. Hmmm. T'any rate, Sis and I discussed this a bit further and I told her bout Mom and Auntie being frustrated with me upon trying to get me to do something. This had entered the conversation when one of the persons being aided by Monty Don of 'Big Dreams, Small Spaces' which we were watching this fine sunshiny morning, described one of her faults as researching first, then doing. A fault I recognize in myself. Especially as she said it was probably annoying to some people.
After I finally worked through all the steps required to get to the point where I got what they were trying to tell me, Mom and Auntie would laugh at the light bulb finally lighting up upon my discovery that much of what I had thought was necessary Wasn't. I was actually doing something in a much faster time then before. Well, to get this straight in my head, I put all this back into a form that I am fond of using: Big picture to small.
"So, God helps a person to learn whatever it is He wants them to learn and once it is learned, He leaves us to do whatever it is and then proceeds to work on the next thing He wants us to learn. Cause He wants us to be doing for ourselves. And knows we need to learn other things as well."
She says "Yes" and proceeds to make a hasty exit stage left. Whereupon I say "You're leaving happy cause you've finally taught me something." She skipped out the door, happy.
FYI: The Books, Chapters and Verses, in case you are wondering: II Thessalonians 3:10, James 4:8, Ephesians 2:4-5 and Romans 4:4-5. While I follow our traditional ways, this does not preclude me learning and relying on my childhood education which included going to church.
And so, my sister had become involved on her phone and I, then, assumed she was playing her game which she usually does whenever I start my "lecture mode." I quit talking and she looked at me. I made some remark to which she replied "I was waiting for you to finish. Are you?" I nodded.
She proceeded to inform me that "God Helps Those Who Help Themselves" while often quoted as being from the Bible isn't actually in the Bible. What is in the Bible is "God helps those who Can Not help themselves" which is the definition of grace." She gave me the Books, Chapters and Verses. She'd surprised me because she'd not been playing her game, she'd been doing a bit of research.
I vaguely remembered looking up the quote once upon a time and this explained my inability to quote Chapter and Verse to my erstwhile fellow delegate. Hmmm. T'any rate, Sis and I discussed this a bit further and I told her bout Mom and Auntie being frustrated with me upon trying to get me to do something. This had entered the conversation when one of the persons being aided by Monty Don of 'Big Dreams, Small Spaces' which we were watching this fine sunshiny morning, described one of her faults as researching first, then doing. A fault I recognize in myself. Especially as she said it was probably annoying to some people.
After I finally worked through all the steps required to get to the point where I got what they were trying to tell me, Mom and Auntie would laugh at the light bulb finally lighting up upon my discovery that much of what I had thought was necessary Wasn't. I was actually doing something in a much faster time then before. Well, to get this straight in my head, I put all this back into a form that I am fond of using: Big picture to small.
"So, God helps a person to learn whatever it is He wants them to learn and once it is learned, He leaves us to do whatever it is and then proceeds to work on the next thing He wants us to learn. Cause He wants us to be doing for ourselves. And knows we need to learn other things as well."
She says "Yes" and proceeds to make a hasty exit stage left. Whereupon I say "You're leaving happy cause you've finally taught me something." She skipped out the door, happy.
FYI: The Books, Chapters and Verses, in case you are wondering: II Thessalonians 3:10, James 4:8, Ephesians 2:4-5 and Romans 4:4-5. While I follow our traditional ways, this does not preclude me learning and relying on my childhood education which included going to church.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
Mother's Legacy: Identity
Today's post concerns an issue that affects all Natives and that is enrollment and blood quantum and the question of identity. Please refer to the following charts as I explain something my mother was trying to remember. She'd told me that blood quantum didn't have anything to do with math or fractions. Now, after researching my family history, I know what she meant. If you try to use a pedigree or ancestor chart to figure out your blood quantum, you may be in for a surprise.
I am on the rolls as 1/2 MCT blood. What this means is 1 out of my two parents is MCT blood and all her ancestors are MCT. My father is from another tribe, well, band, as he is Chippewa, at least 3/4 cause I haven't found all his ancestors yet. His blood quantum would be 6 out of 8 of his direct ancestors are St. Croix. Where confusion enters is that not all tribes/bands have the same degree of blood quantum and some use lineal descent. We have 1/4 as the minimum and St. Croix has 1/2. I am not able to be enrolled at St. Croix as the number of my direct St. Croix ancestors does not equal 1/2 while the number of my direct ancestors with MCT blood is more than 1/4. Where the math comes in is to reduce the fraction down to see if it equals 1 out of 4, i.e. 17 (parents)/(out of )64 is 2/8 or 1/4 and that is the only thing the math means.
Most people who think of or do research, are familiar with the Ancestor Chart. It's how most genealogical charts are done. There is a Standard for doing genealogy charts: direct paternal ancestors are the left side and maternal lines on the right. Without a color chart, it gets confusing if you don't know the standards. Colors are used to differentiate lines to make it easier to see as well as the ease of printing now that we have computers.
What is actually used to determine enrollment is a Descendancy chart of someone on the basic rolls of the Bands in the MCT and St. Croix who may not have all been full blood. Now it is harder to see the exact relationship as siblings marry different people and their children's quantum could be be different depending on the other"s enrollment. So not all the cousins will have the same blood quantum, even though one line is the same. To fully understand the importance of this, take a look at one of the public charts of Royal Houses of Europe. Their kings and queens must be a descendant, preferably direct, of their first king/queen, or possess royal blood to some degree, which is why they've kept such records.
And there you have it.
Ancestor or pedigree charts are easier to understand than descendancy ones. So don't use a pedigree or ancestor chart when you are trying to find your blood quantum. Rather, use it to further your knowledge and understanding of your relatives. You must use a descendancy chart to determine blood quantum. Further information on descendancy charts can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Genealogical_Charts_(National_Institute). Let this be a start in your search for knowledge.
Now, for those who are trying to get enrolled, there are issues much more confusing than the two touched upon, such as lineal descent. First and foremost, in my opinion, is that of our culture and traditions concerning family which are quite different from that of the dominant society. Traditionally, family generally means all our relatives. When we introduce ourselves, we start with our name, our parents, our Clan, then Tribe. (Notice, we do not say Band. Though, nowadays, it is gradually being added, an influence from our recent past.) The reason for this is to show our place within our society which has certain expectations that do not match with dominant society.
When my mother struggled to remember exactly how the determination of blood quantum worked, it was because she had an entirely different view of family. We always hold Tribe, than Clan, then family as the basis for our identity. We know exactly where we fit in the scheme of life as we see it. What was, and still is, hard to assimilate is a different idea of family.
In the old days, when a parent died leaving a child behind, he or she did not have to be adopted into another family. They already were a part of a family. The parent's siblings, aunts/uncles or grandparents, if still alive, took over the raising of that child. If no one in the family was available, then a Clan or Tribal member took it over.
My mother's struggle had to do with the working down and separating out the exact parents of a child or descendancy, which has become more important than our traditional viewpoint of the child's identity. That, in a nutshell-albeit a simplistic explanation-is the problem with blood quantum.
How can a child be more Indian than his brother or sister? This question was, is and will be asked until we, as a Tribe, answer it for ourselves. Do we, as a Tribe, accept that the parents must already be enrolled as more important than our traditional view of the child already being a member of the Tribe and Clan by virtue of the mother and/or father whether legally recognized or not? Directly correlated to this is the concept of legitimacy of the child which was introduced by the concept of marriage in the Christian church as opposed to our traditional view of marriage. In the aforementioned Royal House charts, all claimants to the throne had to be legitimate: parents with royal blood married within the Church. What has this to do with our Enrollment Records, you may be wondering?
Well, everything. This was, and still is, a tactic of the dominant society and especially the Church in their "conquering" of the world: the introduction of legitimacy of people being born into the Church as the basis for membership. If you weren't, well you were a pagan. Our society says you are a member of our society before you are born, by the fact of being in your mother's womb. Theirs says you have to accept their idea of membership or have it accepted for you i.e.baptism or adoption. Thus, a descendant of someone listed on the Rolls is the only legally recognized member of our society in their viewpoint. And since the U.S. government technically won, their rules abide.
Many of our people "adopted" these ways, thus we have conflict between those views. In the spirit of the Royal Houses, only "legitimate members" can be Accepted. In the spirit of our tradition, all babies born to a mother and father are Accepted whether married in the Church or not. Keep in mind our "freedom of religion" was only granted in 1978. Ahh, will be checking on civil marriages at some point.
The question of identity is so easy for myself, yet I see others struggle with it. All because there are opposing concepts of parentage, marriage, society. And it is thanks to my mother, Marjorie Alice, a Christian, that I am able to follow our traditional ways whilst my siblings can follow the ways of my father, Axel Sr., also a Christian. She ensured that we treated each other with the respect due brothers and sisters. We were never allowed to name call for whatever reason or answer to her. If we fought, we had to find a way to resolve it. We celebrated each other's accomplishments and learned to get along with each other. She got her strength from her parents and grandparents.
I, Niiganabiik, Mildred Holmes in the English, Bear Clan, Ogiichidakwe of the Aniishinabe, daughter of Marge/Axel, granddaughter of John/Mabel and Henry/Rachel, greatgranddaughter of Frank/Alice, Charles/Jesse, George/Catherine, and Hartley/Judy, *greatgreat granddaughter of Wakiimawab/?, William/Mary, am my mother's daughter. I hope this topic has answered one or two questions you may have on the subject of enrollment and blood quantum as well as clarify your idea of identity.
*These two lines were of more interest-mother's and father's direct paternal line, the others will be added as I get the info. (Name translations, if any.)
I am on the rolls as 1/2 MCT blood. What this means is 1 out of my two parents is MCT blood and all her ancestors are MCT. My father is from another tribe, well, band, as he is Chippewa, at least 3/4 cause I haven't found all his ancestors yet. His blood quantum would be 6 out of 8 of his direct ancestors are St. Croix. Where confusion enters is that not all tribes/bands have the same degree of blood quantum and some use lineal descent. We have 1/4 as the minimum and St. Croix has 1/2. I am not able to be enrolled at St. Croix as the number of my direct St. Croix ancestors does not equal 1/2 while the number of my direct ancestors with MCT blood is more than 1/4. Where the math comes in is to reduce the fraction down to see if it equals 1 out of 4, i.e. 17 (parents)/(out of )64 is 2/8 or 1/4 and that is the only thing the math means.
 |
| Ancestor (Pedigree) Chart |
 |
| Descendancy Chart |
And there you have it.
Ancestor or pedigree charts are easier to understand than descendancy ones. So don't use a pedigree or ancestor chart when you are trying to find your blood quantum. Rather, use it to further your knowledge and understanding of your relatives. You must use a descendancy chart to determine blood quantum. Further information on descendancy charts can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Genealogical_Charts_(National_Institute). Let this be a start in your search for knowledge.
Now, for those who are trying to get enrolled, there are issues much more confusing than the two touched upon, such as lineal descent. First and foremost, in my opinion, is that of our culture and traditions concerning family which are quite different from that of the dominant society. Traditionally, family generally means all our relatives. When we introduce ourselves, we start with our name, our parents, our Clan, then Tribe. (Notice, we do not say Band. Though, nowadays, it is gradually being added, an influence from our recent past.) The reason for this is to show our place within our society which has certain expectations that do not match with dominant society.
When my mother struggled to remember exactly how the determination of blood quantum worked, it was because she had an entirely different view of family. We always hold Tribe, than Clan, then family as the basis for our identity. We know exactly where we fit in the scheme of life as we see it. What was, and still is, hard to assimilate is a different idea of family.
In the old days, when a parent died leaving a child behind, he or she did not have to be adopted into another family. They already were a part of a family. The parent's siblings, aunts/uncles or grandparents, if still alive, took over the raising of that child. If no one in the family was available, then a Clan or Tribal member took it over.
My mother's struggle had to do with the working down and separating out the exact parents of a child or descendancy, which has become more important than our traditional viewpoint of the child's identity. That, in a nutshell-albeit a simplistic explanation-is the problem with blood quantum.
How can a child be more Indian than his brother or sister? This question was, is and will be asked until we, as a Tribe, answer it for ourselves. Do we, as a Tribe, accept that the parents must already be enrolled as more important than our traditional view of the child already being a member of the Tribe and Clan by virtue of the mother and/or father whether legally recognized or not? Directly correlated to this is the concept of legitimacy of the child which was introduced by the concept of marriage in the Christian church as opposed to our traditional view of marriage. In the aforementioned Royal House charts, all claimants to the throne had to be legitimate: parents with royal blood married within the Church. What has this to do with our Enrollment Records, you may be wondering?
Well, everything. This was, and still is, a tactic of the dominant society and especially the Church in their "conquering" of the world: the introduction of legitimacy of people being born into the Church as the basis for membership. If you weren't, well you were a pagan. Our society says you are a member of our society before you are born, by the fact of being in your mother's womb. Theirs says you have to accept their idea of membership or have it accepted for you i.e.baptism or adoption. Thus, a descendant of someone listed on the Rolls is the only legally recognized member of our society in their viewpoint. And since the U.S. government technically won, their rules abide.
Many of our people "adopted" these ways, thus we have conflict between those views. In the spirit of the Royal Houses, only "legitimate members" can be Accepted. In the spirit of our tradition, all babies born to a mother and father are Accepted whether married in the Church or not. Keep in mind our "freedom of religion" was only granted in 1978. Ahh, will be checking on civil marriages at some point.
The question of identity is so easy for myself, yet I see others struggle with it. All because there are opposing concepts of parentage, marriage, society. And it is thanks to my mother, Marjorie Alice, a Christian, that I am able to follow our traditional ways whilst my siblings can follow the ways of my father, Axel Sr., also a Christian. She ensured that we treated each other with the respect due brothers and sisters. We were never allowed to name call for whatever reason or answer to her. If we fought, we had to find a way to resolve it. We celebrated each other's accomplishments and learned to get along with each other. She got her strength from her parents and grandparents.
I, Niiganabiik, Mildred Holmes in the English, Bear Clan, Ogiichidakwe of the Aniishinabe, daughter of Marge/Axel, granddaughter of John/Mabel and Henry/Rachel, greatgranddaughter of Frank/Alice, Charles/Jesse, George/Catherine, and Hartley/Judy, *greatgreat granddaughter of Wakiimawab/?, William/Mary, am my mother's daughter. I hope this topic has answered one or two questions you may have on the subject of enrollment and blood quantum as well as clarify your idea of identity.
*These two lines were of more interest-mother's and father's direct paternal line, the others will be added as I get the info. (Name translations, if any.)
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Thankful for Mom's Legacy
Today is the second holiday of cooking nothing. Cept I think I will make something. Not sure what. I've been thinking of everything that's happened in the past year. I'm now going through all my mom's sewing stuff. Before it was just sorting out according to the projects I knew she was working on. Now, it's going through the stuff we bought together for different reasons. Sometimes, we'd buy two or three hanks of one color we liked, with nothing in mind for it, ceptin' to admire the color. There are plenty of those. And trying to find her five petal flower pattern.
Lots of times, we'd take the scenic route whilst on our way to you know where over on the Leech Lake Reservation. We'd stop in out of the way places just to look. I'd think we were lost, yet Mom always knew where we were. Least on those roads. There was a couple times when she had a sort of puzzled, almost panicked, look and my heart would sink. Then we'd hit a road or a turn and she'd tell me where to turn. Comes of the Indian habit of using landmarks, which don't always stay the same over the years.
I've been looking over my posts on my other blogs and on my second favorite haunt. I knew I posted a lot of the things we'd do or stuff that happened. Now, more than ever, I am glad for those posts. One thing I am truly grateful for is the trip to Vegas we went on with the Elders on the rez. She really liked being in the Grand Canyon area. At the time, we'd have the usual butting of heads cause she wanted to do one thing and I wanted to do another. Our little tiffs that'd been happening ever since I was a child. Then on the roads, I'd catch a photo shot of her when she wasn't looking. She didn't like having her picture taken. Not all Indians do. I might've mentioned it before on one or the other of my blogs. Reason: People used to come to the reservation, take pictures and use them to scam money out of people by saying they were raising money for us. Yeah. The first time that happened to me, I told her and that was the last time I ever posed for those pics.
Anyhow, on the trip, we stopped in Flagstaff and she was mighty tired. Then we went out to the reservation to visit with the Elders there. That sure picked her up. Sort of like being at home. Even though it was a long trip, in the dark and think we were a mite lost, and got back late, she had fun. I came across the gift she was given and remembered the games we'd played whilst there. She always liked meeting new people, finding out where they were from and what they did. I'm not as social as she was and she'd get a bit perturbed with me. Ahh, noow I'm grinning with some of the stuff she'd say.
Ohh, to me, she's always the 36 year old woman I first realized, or rather thought of her as someone other than my mother. I remember her brushing out my hair and then braiding it. Yeah, yeah yeah, my eyes were more slanted than usual. Always wished I had the courage my sister had when she stole my mom's scissors and cut her hair. What I did was learn to braid my own hair.
She really liked it when "her boys" would come over to help her with one or another of her outdoor projects. They'd sit around, smoking a cigarette, drinking a cup of coffee and gabbing more than working. She enjoyed that.
Oh, I think this is long enough. Will be posting more about her and the legacy she left us. Thinking that's what I originally had in mind when I started this post. Didn't really post cause I'm a bit superstitious. Her health wasn't the best and I didn't want those in the next world thinking I didn't want her here any more.
I've been thinking about grief and the aftermath, the learning to live without a certain person in one's life. I see a lot of posts over to my second favorite haunt about there being an empty spot, a hole in one's heart. I've come to the conclusion that I don't have an empty spot cause she's there in my memories, my heart, my sons' faces. They have quite a bit of her habits. She's always here.
Lots of times, we'd take the scenic route whilst on our way to you know where over on the Leech Lake Reservation. We'd stop in out of the way places just to look. I'd think we were lost, yet Mom always knew where we were. Least on those roads. There was a couple times when she had a sort of puzzled, almost panicked, look and my heart would sink. Then we'd hit a road or a turn and she'd tell me where to turn. Comes of the Indian habit of using landmarks, which don't always stay the same over the years.
I've been looking over my posts on my other blogs and on my second favorite haunt. I knew I posted a lot of the things we'd do or stuff that happened. Now, more than ever, I am glad for those posts. One thing I am truly grateful for is the trip to Vegas we went on with the Elders on the rez. She really liked being in the Grand Canyon area. At the time, we'd have the usual butting of heads cause she wanted to do one thing and I wanted to do another. Our little tiffs that'd been happening ever since I was a child. Then on the roads, I'd catch a photo shot of her when she wasn't looking. She didn't like having her picture taken. Not all Indians do. I might've mentioned it before on one or the other of my blogs. Reason: People used to come to the reservation, take pictures and use them to scam money out of people by saying they were raising money for us. Yeah. The first time that happened to me, I told her and that was the last time I ever posed for those pics.
Anyhow, on the trip, we stopped in Flagstaff and she was mighty tired. Then we went out to the reservation to visit with the Elders there. That sure picked her up. Sort of like being at home. Even though it was a long trip, in the dark and think we were a mite lost, and got back late, she had fun. I came across the gift she was given and remembered the games we'd played whilst there. She always liked meeting new people, finding out where they were from and what they did. I'm not as social as she was and she'd get a bit perturbed with me. Ahh, noow I'm grinning with some of the stuff she'd say.
Ohh, to me, she's always the 36 year old woman I first realized, or rather thought of her as someone other than my mother. I remember her brushing out my hair and then braiding it. Yeah, yeah yeah, my eyes were more slanted than usual. Always wished I had the courage my sister had when she stole my mom's scissors and cut her hair. What I did was learn to braid my own hair.
She really liked it when "her boys" would come over to help her with one or another of her outdoor projects. They'd sit around, smoking a cigarette, drinking a cup of coffee and gabbing more than working. She enjoyed that.
Oh, I think this is long enough. Will be posting more about her and the legacy she left us. Thinking that's what I originally had in mind when I started this post. Didn't really post cause I'm a bit superstitious. Her health wasn't the best and I didn't want those in the next world thinking I didn't want her here any more.
I've been thinking about grief and the aftermath, the learning to live without a certain person in one's life. I see a lot of posts over to my second favorite haunt about there being an empty spot, a hole in one's heart. I've come to the conclusion that I don't have an empty spot cause she's there in my memories, my heart, my sons' faces. They have quite a bit of her habits. She's always here.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Heritage
My mother and her parents and grandparents passed a legacy to me and my siblings. One very important aspect was education. And education meant school. And school meant learning how to read, write, spell among other things.
A big part of our education took place in the home. We learned how to clean and cook game, in particular, venison. Had to learn how to cook rice, both varieties-wild and white. Macaroni and potatoes. We'd pick blueberries in the summer, raspberries, hazelnuts, chokecherries. And strawberries. Could never figure out Juneberries though.
There were times, I'd watch Auntie Nancy braid rugs. She'd show me how to carve the toothbrush to use for a needle. I never did do any braiding myself. The rugs she made were humongous ones. They covered the whole floor of one room. And using a loom.
I'd watch another aunt cook. I learned to make fry bread watching her. Another aunt and my mother did beadwork. I learned how to tell if there was sweetgrass around. I learned how to tell which trees were used for what purpose.
I learned to listen for the different animals while out in the woods. We learned how to make different bird calls. I learned how to fish, though it's never been my favorite sport. Nor hunting. I couldn't bring myself to do so, even though we took gun safety classes. I learned how to shoot a bow.
I learned how to make a snare, not good at it though. I learned how to shoot marbles, use a slingshot. Not good at tracking. though I can find my way around. Learned how to tell where north is on a cloudy day.
Just this little bit of my education list has brought people to mind that might have information about my family, and extended family. Do you have such a list? Of course, you have. Free form your thoughts and you may find ways and means to grow your family tree branches.
A big part of our education took place in the home. We learned how to clean and cook game, in particular, venison. Had to learn how to cook rice, both varieties-wild and white. Macaroni and potatoes. We'd pick blueberries in the summer, raspberries, hazelnuts, chokecherries. And strawberries. Could never figure out Juneberries though.
There were times, I'd watch Auntie Nancy braid rugs. She'd show me how to carve the toothbrush to use for a needle. I never did do any braiding myself. The rugs she made were humongous ones. They covered the whole floor of one room. And using a loom.
I'd watch another aunt cook. I learned to make fry bread watching her. Another aunt and my mother did beadwork. I learned how to tell if there was sweetgrass around. I learned how to tell which trees were used for what purpose.
I learned to listen for the different animals while out in the woods. We learned how to make different bird calls. I learned how to fish, though it's never been my favorite sport. Nor hunting. I couldn't bring myself to do so, even though we took gun safety classes. I learned how to shoot a bow.
I learned how to make a snare, not good at it though. I learned how to shoot marbles, use a slingshot. Not good at tracking. though I can find my way around. Learned how to tell where north is on a cloudy day.
Just this little bit of my education list has brought people to mind that might have information about my family, and extended family. Do you have such a list? Of course, you have. Free form your thoughts and you may find ways and means to grow your family tree branches.
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