Racist names, Racist Places

I personally don’t like the word Indian myself so I try not to use it, but from an organizational perspective, this is a constant difficulty to render in “appropriateness” so people can self-determine what they want to be called (and if folks want to be called Indians – that’s fine by me). But let’s be clear, English itself is the language of the colonizer. While we struggle to find the words that will do us justice, in whatever context, I know that English will not always be able to do that for us, and perhaps this is where it becomes such a hardship to deal with. I often think that if I spoke my own language, Mohawk, fluently, I might be able to convey the sentiments I try so hard to come up with, since in my language, one word can have multiple meanings and connotations.

Thankfully there are many efforts being made to recover Indigenous languages worldwide, and my own community, with the Akwesasne Freedom School, has made considerable change so that our young people grow up totally immersed in the language and culture, with 9 year olds who now run circles around us, completely fluent in Mohawk. I think the greater issue lies within empowering people to continue to take all of these issues seriously, and particularly within the Aboriginal community, not to denounce one and other in the name of better “priorities” when one of us tries to actually do something about it.

Case in point: recently my partner who is Oneida was on his way back from a Pow Wow, when he asked the two youth he was travelling with what they would like to be called. He said “instead of Indian or Aboriginal, what do you want to be called?” It was an interesting question that made them think, since no one had really asked that before. My partner said “How do you want people to know who you are?” And they both replied “I want people to know that I’m Ihanktonwan Dakota and if they don’t know what that means, I’ll explain it to them”. This was proceeded by a conversation on how the youth felt it was important that their Nation be known and that it was cool for other people to know what it’s really all about, and actually about time that they did.

We definitely do need to think of our impact on next generations if we are hoping for any sort of true reclamation or sustainability. Like many other people, I remember growing up and not really being into my culture, but now at 23, I am so proud to be Mohawk and if I ever have children, I want to raise them with the fundamental understanding and recognition of their roots. When I talk to other communities, Native and non-Native, I usually begin my presentations by introducing myself in my language and saying that I’m proud to be Native! Some of our youth are rejecting the old world all together because of assimilation and the difficulty to balance walking in the new world as well, but this is our challenge and responsibility, to find middle ground for us to live on.

So while I agree that we do have so many other issues to deal with, in order to get to where we are trying to go; which is the comprehension and respect of our culture and sovereign peoples, it is important that we identify who we really are. In our Indigenous cultures, saying I’m Mohawk carries a lot more weight than just the word itself. It tells people where I come from, who my ancestors are, and the strength that I bring into my person every day because of who I am. And that’s just what I can tell you in English!

It seems that there is more public discourse on Native issues these days (albeit not the most positive or accurate information being disseminated) but if we are going to talk, we can at least try and get who and what we are talking about right.

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