I think my subconscious is on strike thanks to my uncle who told my husband and I, "YOU'RE TOO WHITE to be at MY CAMP..." even though its all of our land. Maybe he forgot that his sister is my mother, which makes me AT LEAST half native. Maybe he didn't graduate and doesn't understand blood quantum fractions.
Maybe he's just stupid. And I don't want to see him so I don't go to camp.
Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe not.
At any rate, it's Berry Time here. Last year I put away 37 GALLONS of berries. Handpicked...from four inches above the ground, in the tundra.
This year. Nothing.
Oh well. My daughter and my mom can do it for me. Or wait, I wonder if you have to be NATIVE to pick berries here too....
10 comments:
Not nice of your uncle....
Baseball bat? Bear bat? Maybe it should be used on that uncle! ahahah
This post makes me sad.... i'm sorry someone said that to you.
Such nonsense from your uncle... Being native (Sami, Inuit or whatever) is in the heart - not in being half, quarter or 1/8 of one or the other.
Reverse discrimination is every bit as ignorant as discrimination. Any intelligent person knows the color of your skin has nothing to do with what type of person you are. Some people are born and raised in Alaska and are never Alaskan. Some people come here and in a very short time are Alaskan. We choose our friends unfortunately we don't pick our relatives.
Honey, I've spent my entire life being "too white" - just picture yourself kicking him real hard for being such a DUMBASS! And l don't have any berries either. Pooooh... But really excited to see you and meet the kids tomorrow.
Yeah, well I just don't want my kids to witness it. The whole reason he was mad was because we have an airplane and can go to and from camp in 7 minutes... And he said that every time we came, we "scared all the beluga" away. Apparently the SIX beluga he got wasn't enough.
I'd rather bite the bullet, buy an allotment from up river and be a loner. Even though Sisualik is my real home.
Unbelievable and just disrespectful.. That is one thing I hate the most is discrimination and racism. And to have a family member say something like this just to make themselves feel better out of jealousy is wrong on so many levels. I hope your Mom gives it to him. Don't let anyone keep you from your home that your family has shared for generations and more to come. Sisualik is a part of your identity and belongs to you always and NO ONE should ever take that from you.. Prayers for him! His Karma will come around.. and then your phone may ring needing something..
WOW on the uncle. He should be down in our area. If you don't have a plane you are hardly an Alaskan!! 99% of the guys who own them are Native, and none of us care if it is 1/6 or full!!
If you can figure out how to tell him that you have EVERY right to have your kids learn their hertiage in the place you learned it then insist on it!
Family, as you well know, is important and letting one racist, even if a relative, stop you from spending time with the rest of the family...pooo on him!!
I hope you can get him to learn how wrong his attitude is for all of you.
Don't let someone else take any joy from you. Esp. a family member. And tell your mom to make it right, you need a mediator. That's my unsolicited advice, take it with a grain of salt.
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