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Here is a funny article I just read and I thought it might provoke a friendly discussion. It is a serious problem and I don’t know how to solve it. Maybe yall do. I “wanna” know how to change “perceptions.” I have tried and decided I don’t know how to do it, always sticking my foot in my mouth . . . 🙂
Except for the man’s reference to fake regalia being acceptable in Oklahoma 🙁 — he’s wrong about that (bad enough just losing to L. S. U. but then this indignity . . . how can there be a God?) — I thought it was “funny” except for that — and if I had a clever comeback for that comment I’d give it — but I don’t. Here is the article —
Trimble: Out-Indianing a Wannabee
by: Charles E. Trimble / Columnist / Indian Country Today
There were few leaders in Indian country more outstanding than the late Ruben Snake of the Nebraska Winnebagos – a man to whom the word “sage” could truly be applied. And like most such people of the tribes, Ruben had a wonderful sense of humor. I don’t know if he had written much besides his autobiographical work (“Ruben Snake: Your Humble Serpent,” edited by Jay C. Fikes), but one of the treasures he did leave us was the small brochure, “Being Indian Is …,” in which he listed ironies and indignities we Indians endure as our lot.
Some day, when someone comes up with such a list especially for us mixed-bloods, at the top has got to be this: “Being mixed-blood is … getting out-Indianed by Wannabees.”
“Wannabee” is a term used to describe a non-Indian who, for various reasons, takes on the identity or mannerisms of what he or she perceives as Indian. For some, it is pursuit of an idealized picture of Native American cultures. To others, so-called “new-agers,” it is the search for some cosmic mysticism. For most, I suppose, it is just a search for an identity.
Most Wannabees are dead serious in their quest and they work diligently at it. They research virtual forests of family trees in hopes of finding that one great-to-the-nth-degree grandmother who was an Indian princess.
I must digress here to ask the question: Why does a Wannabee never search for or claim a prince in his or her Indian lineage? Why always a princess? To remedy that, a Chippewa friend of mine several years ago had thought of taking on the name Prince Male Poon – an obvious take off on Princess Pale Moon, the darling of the Washington Republican bunch; but too much could be read into the Poon part, and he wisely decided against it.
Wannabees study the history, culture and traditions of their new found or newly adopted tribal heritage, and much more beyond. They generally know more about Indians than the Indians they invariably attach themselves to, and they are always eager to flaunt their knowledge, often to the chagrin of the mixed-bloods in the group. Mixed-bloods, especially those reared on the reservations, tend to take their heritage for granted, and don’t bother learning much beyond osmosis about their tribal cultures.
Wannabees tend to adulate full bloods and the more traditional types, and always show them great deference. Whereas full bloods and traditionals are generally secure in their identity, mixed-bloods very often aren’t, and this makes them fair game for Wannabees, who get a sense of empowerment by out-Indianing them.
But, as in all things, there is sometimes justice for the mixed-blood.
Back in the 1950s, just out of high school, I was hired on as a counselor at a Boy Scout camp in the Pennsylvania Poconos. Being a Sioux lad, I was expected to know everything about Indians, including lore, archery, dancing and crafts. But I figured I could fake it – after all, who would know? As for dancing, I did have regalia I borrowed before I left the reservation, but I had expected to just saunter around camp in the getup (“Chiefing it out,” as we used to say back home), and not have to show my total ineptness at dancing. However, having quickly disappointed my employers in crafts workshops, and having proven an outright danger on the archery range, I figured I best give dancing a try, or risk being sent packing.
Wednesday evening was show time, and the camp gathered around a blazing campfire to see the first one, which was to be a pow wow. And, although I was billed as the star of the show, there were a couple boy scouts and another counselor who would also take part in the dancing. The counselor was a Polish fellow, an Eagle Scout, body-builder and health nut who taught canoeing and all sorts of woodsy lore. He had a complete Indian outfit that would be the envy of any pow wow – well, in Oklahoma anyway. He had made it from goods he got from Grey Owl’s in New York, and his craftsmanship was meticulous. And the guy could dance – all kinds of dances: fancy dance, war dance, and some he had created himself. And he worked hard to out-Indian me. For instance, while I snored away every second I could steal after reveille, he would go out into the woods and commune with nature.
But come show time, I was determined not to be out-Indianed, and I had it all planned. As the show was set to begin, I raised my arms like a chieftain in one of those kitsch 1920s paintings, and in my best Tonto voice, I told the audience that in Indian country it was not the fancy steps or the ballet grace of a dancer that counted, but the spirit put into the dance. I would show them how it is done by a real Indian. Then I proceeded to dance up a storm, stomping dust high into the night sky. At Pine Ridge or Crow Fair, I might have been tolerated by the arena bosses for a little while, thinking perhaps I was playing a Heyoka or a clown. More likely, though, I would have been removed – forcibly and forthwith. But there at Camp Goose Pond, the kids reasoned that since I was the only real Indian among the performers in the clearing, I must be doing it right. The Wannabee was politely appreciated, but I was the star of the show.
I out-Indianed him.
I sometimes think back on that evening and feel a pang of guilt, having given the young lads at the camp the wrong impression of the war dance in its virile grace and meaning; and having ruined the budding career of a Wannabee. But then I think again and grin, “Hot dog, it felt good!”
Charles E. Trimble is an Oglala Lakota from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was principal founder of the American Indian Press Association in 1970, and served as executive director of the National Congress of American Indians from 1972-78. He is president of Red Willow Institute in Omaha, Neb., and a columnist for Indian Country Today.
This article can be found at http://IndianCountry.com/?1073422363
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Of course it’s always an irritation to see how relentlessly stereotypical the perception of so-called “wannabes” is. It was the only weak point in “Dreamkeepers,” the ABC miniseries we all enjoyed a few weeks ago. I kept waiting for that red-headed white guy to start being a tad less two-dimensional, but that didn’t happen. The writer obviously knew how to write. The only possible explanation was a deliberate, pig-headed determination to write the character as poorly as possible. Really, they should have used their computer-generated special effects to have the guy rendered as a piece of talking cardboard.
One of the more hackneyed characterizations is about the Indian Princess grandma, and how come there ain’t any Indian Princes? Does anybody living on the North American continent really need to be told what the consequences were, up until many of our own lifetimes, for a white female to even associate with a non-white male, much less procreate? Aside from her attaining the instant status of a whore, the poor guy involved likely didn’t survive the night, at least not intact. I guess you would say there was some strong natural (or should we say UNnatural) selection militating against any relatively mainstream progeny for the perceptively Indian male, however princely he may have been.
It also amazes me that the same people who talk about the significance of Seven Generations relentlessly ridicule our searching for that generation. Is this concept real or not? If it is, then it’s a reasonable supposition that there are Old Ones seven generations back with an agenda for their currently living children. Why would that be disrespected? It seems to me, any Old Soul with that kind of dedication, to be looking after their children for seven generations, children who have long since ostensibly forgotten everything about them, rates nothing less than awe. So why isn’t it being given? This is an achievement on a par with the return of the Jews to Israel. How is this being missed? Could it be that a European mindset is being used to perceive the situation, and the real actors in the situation are not even being noticed?
We know the world has not respected those Indians who lived on the cusp of their civilizations, as it collapsed into another. Nor has it respected those Indians who were engulfed by the tidal waves of Europeans invaders, who eked out their lives strangers in their own lands. I think of a great grandma with legs broken by a white “husband” who stopped at nothing to get title to her land. I think of Indian looking children born to ostensibly white (mixed-blooded) families, left behind in all aspects of life, with no one ever even acknowledging the injustice involved, much less making sense of it. I think of an Indian baby sold for food to slaveowners who could at least keep her alive, now a forgotten and irrelevant ancestor in a “black” family. (Forgotten by the world, but never by her own family.)
None of these people were respected by the dominant culture in their lifetimes. It’s just always shocking to me that they continue to be disrespected now, by people who are supposed to be the modern day “real Indians.” Seems like they should Wannabe behaving a little better than that. They aren’t acting like those are their families, but we are, because they ARE our families. We’re the ones taking care of them now, and I can’t fathom any reason why anybody with any sense or sensibility would Wannabe interferring with that or ridiculing it.
Linda, Tom — What’s the solution? How do ya change people’s perceptions?
A few highly visible bad apples is all it takes to make people think the whole truckload is full of worms.
vance
Hello I will try one more time. The solution is to just get on with it, let people call me what they want to, Iam not going anywhere, I can’t change my ancestors and nor do I want to.
I have been called alot worse, I was once called a wanabe and my reply was what makes you think that I want anything to do with being just like you!
On the other hand there are many folks out there playing the role , one in mind; a person maried to a native woman was going to become a “Blackfoot” medicine man”! Others are going even farther, , who cares, the only people that they effect are those around them, we’re supposed to be all related but I have nothing in common with many other Native people full blood or not,this blood quantum issue is something that causes concern, I have to ask did the Cherokee nation call Chief John Ross a Wannabe? Did anyone ever call down Sequoia for his work ?
Some of the status people think that it’s the last way that white people can strip them of thier identity, very few Nations really accept thier mixed blood people, the Cherokees do and some of the NE groups, but up here if you do not have a card you are white .
Not all Indian people hold on to the old beliefs thats more than obvious here.,
Why would anyone make reference to wananbes? beacuse they probably do not hold onto the oral traditions that other people do.
A friend of mine said to me that tabacco was a beautiful name, wouldn’t you want it for name? , NO I replied, I like mine, he said I do not get you, you know all this Indian stuff and yet you don’t do these things,(“Indian names” ID”S etc) I said I have to address my ancestors every day, ALL OF THEM, and Iam a mixed blood person, more that one parent made me that way.
So ask does it hurt being called a wannabe, I could care less but I do not hang with abuse either, especially those that apply it.
I once said that God made two kinds of people, the first perfect and the rest he gave numbers, something simular was on this forum about a BIA kennel Club; well we all slip up and make mistakes; but come to a place of balance and take a stand.
There was more to this but I lost it again, logging in successfully and then it says you are not looged in, sorry for shorting this but …………..
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Hello I’ll try and see,
Anyawy the wannabe issue, ever think of “what do Pilgrims, the melting pot, the American Dream and manifest Destiny all have incommon?
Think about it, “lets all be nice white people”,and where’s the fall out? And who gets labeled!
My last post was cut in half so I posted the 4 issues that I think are elements of cause in this right wing backward thinking mess, folks do not always realize where thier thinking comes from, I see the oppressed being coming the oppressors here.
Tom
Tom, I deal with this issue on a daily basis. There are a half a million federally enrolled Indians in Oklahoma — enrolled in 39 tribes. Most (I am pretty sure) could care less about “being traditional”. They go to work and worry about their family like everyone else.
People like the man who wrote that article are my neighbors, and there are a lot of them, probably over 50 percent of that half a million. Here in Oklahoma, you only hear one side — that unenrolled people are “wannabes”. I want ideas that will help these people realize that most unenrolled people who say they are indian, probably are Indian. Many tribes cut enrollment at 1/4th blood quantum, some at 1/8th., and Cherokee accept any one with an ancestor on Dawes (West) or Baker (East).
Here in Oklahoma state recognized tribes are a joke for the most part. I want “helpful” ideas that will help educate the local Indian populations about their unenrolled cousins. Go to any pow-wow here and you hear jokes about the “White Cherokees” and “wannabe Cherokees”. You will hear this at EVERY pow-wow you go to! You won’t hear a single person standing up for a state recognized group or any group of unenrolled peoples.
I have decided I want to see if I can change their perceptions, and this is an honorable pursuit. Maybe I can’t — but I will not look down at enrolled people, I will tell them IN PERSON that there are a lotta unenrolled people, just like I would tell unenrolled people about this “wannabe” issue. I will not run from either. I just thought someone here might have an idea that’ll help me do this.
I don’t see the connection between what you are sayin and what I was askin for. I think you’re misunderstandin’ why am askin for ideas.
vance
Well, I’m in the opposite demographics. Except for a few newcomers, NOBODY out here is federally enrolled, and most of the people who are identifying as Indian ARE actively going out of their way to “live it” in some tangible way. So, when I think about this ‘wannabe’ issue, it’s in the context that there’s rarely anybody to debate with over it. Except, of course, those people who are certainly considered ‘wannabes’ themselves by enrolled people, who are doing this smoke and mirror routine of trying to fool everybody that they’re NOT ‘wannabes’ by accusing other people of it.
So, one of the things I’d love to be able to confront someone with is this. It has to do with the “one drop rule” that’s always applied to the possession of any African ancestry. One drop of it is enough to be labelled as “black” and, historically, to be denied one’s civil rights, most opportunities, etc. etc.
If the “one drop rule” applied to Indians, then the majority of people in the country would be Indians. This is a majority rule country. Indians rule.
This really is a pivotal issue. “Americans” rule now because they absorb everybody else into themselves. An immigrant gets off the boat from anywhere in the world, gets sworn in as a citizen, and is from then on, an American. It doesn’t matter WHAT blood runs in his veins, he’s taken the oath, and that’s who he’s expected to be, when it comes time to pay taxes, or when it comes time to get drafted and put lives on the line.
Being Indian stopped being a true nationality when it became an issue of blood quantum. There is nothing in all the thinking about Indian identity that is MORE emasculating than the idea of blood quantum. It neuters the ability to operate as a nation. A nation operates on the assumption that all citizens owe an allegiance to it — allegiance is what gives the body politic its power.
In the old days, when Indian nations WERE nations, many members of the nation, (particularly those successful and growing), were originally from other nations — the captive adoptees. When you look at those customs, the hazing and then the intensely personal adoption into a new family within the tribe, the focus of swearing allegiance to the new nation is very obvious.
If membership in the group no longer revolves around allegiance but is an issue of biological descent, then all the social forces that come into play in a true body politic disintegrate.
If the prevailing belief among Indians was, “If you say you’re Indian, you’re Indian,” an enormous vitality would be regained. Now, I’m not talking about overthrowing the American government. That would be stupid. Why take what you already own? The one drop rule prevails. The majority of Americans are Indians. There’s no way for most to document this, so the necessity for documentation is moot.
Anybody who says they’re Indian, is Indian.
That, taken together with the enormous native influence to our beliefs, our technologies, our way of life, and it becomes really absurd to see this as a Eurocentric culture. It’s like the drawing that, when looked at one way, is an old hag, looked at another way, is a beautiful young woman. Both images are there, but you can only see one of them at a time — the one you choose to see.
I mean, heck, if Mexicans can say they’re all Spanish, logically, there’s no reason we can’t all say we’re Indians. On national levels, the blood quantums are about the same. (Mexico is about 4% Spanish by blood, America is about 4% Indian by blood.) It’s only the issue of allegiance that determines which identity prevails.
All this has happened before. Centuries ago, Finland was overrun by Germans. Today, the vast majority of people in Finland are German biologically. For a long time, until the 19th century, the German language and identity was predominant. Then, there was a social movement which romanticized the old Finnish Natives and the next thing you knew, everybody was speaking Finnish again and reviving old Finnish customs. Nobody there says they’re German. They’re Finnish. Most don’t give a thought to being biologically German. It’s irrelevant. They’re Finnish.
Tom, Linda,
all I was askin for was a brainstormin session —
Right now I am dumbfounded . . .
I guess I’m gonna quit seekin ways for any reconciliation. Linda — you asked me to come back and start postin again and I told I’d just gone through a divorce and wasn’t up it I think i said that. Linda, it is for the best I stay away.
now everyone, PLEASE just leave me alone. i’m a cooked goose — done. I am too old — i am tryiin to be helpful and that help is just not wanted i guess, i’m just some idiot and i need it to be explained to me how Tom is so right and I am so wrong — all i was askin for is a brianstorming session. has nothin to do with any issue Tom brought up.
vance
Dear Vance, there is no solution, name calling is name calling, those that cause you grief are those that you stay away from, if I have upset you Iam truley sorry not my intent.
I guess I have had to win a battle or two on my own , and Iam Jaded; Tom
You said, “I want ideas that will help these people realize that most unenrolled people who say they are indian, probably are Indian.” That’s all I was speaking to. I was not aware of any opposing viewpoints between you or Tom. Sorry I missed that. I’m going through the same changes m’self, at the same age, and that’s how I deal with it, just trip out on what I enjoy thinking about and let the world go away. Gets me through the night. You do the same. If this fray is too stressful, let it alone for another day. We’ll still be here, good as new. haha, that’s a good one.
Vance,
I sent you a email regarding this thread, which by the way I want to thank you for starting. The first part of the email is to you, the second part is to those that you run into that like to label people as wannabe’s just because they aren’t enrolled. Like I said, enrollment doesn’t make you Indian, your ancestors do.
Take care
Sincerely,
Coheelady
Dear All of You,
If a discussion was only the exchange of a single thought, it wouldn’t be a discussion. We all learn by an exchange of different ideas.
As I understood it years ago, the blood quantum requirement for membership in federally recognized nations, was imposed by the federal government. Ditto membership cards. Nothing since has changed except some people have forgotten about these ‘small’ facts and have chosen to ‘own’ these things out of fear the same government would take back what they ‘gave’ which was previously stolen from people to begin with. Seeming just as dishonorable to me is the obvious intent of federally recognized people to define their members in such a way as to limit the number participating, thereby protecting their newfound paper wealth and excluding even people they knew to be related. That’s ‘heresy’, I know, but “that’s just my opinion”. Anyone has the right to criticize positively or negatively, any idea – that is the right of each person. To not judge is to not think. No one should take offense, just discuss.
Linda has it exactly right – but blood quantum & cards certainly seem to have been intended to separate all of us, and keep us that way. Various estimates place the mixed blood Indian population of the U.S. today at around 30%, the current census information not withstanding.
Culturally, Americans are more Indian than european. What european culture of the 1600-1700s do you know of that proclaimed individual liberties to be above most of the legal power of the state and mostly champions that concept, if not always adhering, to that concept today? None. But there were plenty of Native cultures in the Americas that did just that.
Stay proud, and honorable.
Bill
Hello, up here we have had a legal despute several times re. the mixed populations. Metis-isms , Billc-31 was another.
Up until 1987-8 when a status woman married a non status man she recieved a card in the mail that stated you are no longer a Canadian Indian!
Meanwhile her brothers married white women and they became staus Indians!
The mixed blood children of the woman was considered white while those of the man were Indians.
After bill c 31 was passed that changed , all children were given back the status of thier mothers and thier mothers became status once again.
This now made blood types legally defining who status people were, the Metis people , (whom I have had a card deving my Ïndianess”) but not giving me anything just stating that I was mixed, ……..
Now do I need to define where Iam coming from with this wannabe issue?
Metis people are Provincially recognized and Status are federally recognized, the same people only one group sold out and the other did not.
A real sore spot, and to Vance and Linda and all the other readers, many have failed to recognize that I live in Canada Iam a Canadian , I have been subjected to worse laws than any in the USA and Iam still a person of IN-PArt first NAtions descent.
CAll me what you want, who cares I cannot change the world, get on with life and be true to yourself,
1700 is over include your ancestors, all of them in your daily lives and look forward to tomorrow just get on with it.
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