I was "Indian" when being "Indian" wasn't cool (Happy Halloween Remix)

I was raised in the land my ancestors lived 13,000 years before the European infestation, which we now call Maryland and Washington D.C. Now, for most people that really isn't a big deal but for me it means that my people have survived 406 years of total chaos. Economic, environmental, mental, and cultural chaos. Survival meant running for your life to the swamps or taking a Christian name, believing in an angry strange god, denying to who you were and becoming what Europeans wanted you to be; "INDIAN", a completely contrived race of people, one WE can't even relate to. We became the template for identity theft and dissolution - an entire race bred for appropriation.

Where does that leave those of us who hold on to what is left of our identity before European contact? Invisible!

I am invisible. I have to prove who I am before the government will allow me to say it, I have to explain to people what it means when I say I am indigenous to Maryland. I literally carry a card. Growing up in the DMV was hard, the ONLY people somwhat like myself were my tribal family (approximately 5,000 people). I caught hell from whites and blacks, men and women, old and young. Stupid shit like "Don't you marry your cousins? I heard you aren't really Indian, you're half black and half white. Hey do you carry around a tomahawk?" I have absolutely been racially profiled - been followed in stores, pulled over by cops for no reason, arrested in handcuffs for missing a court date that never existed. Bullied by black girls who didn't like me because according to them "I thought I was cute because I had good hair and light skin." They hated me because I was not someone they could peg, I was the most unrecognizable person in their world. Even though 3rd-8th grade my parents and I did presentations about who we are. We danced, sang, and talked about Piscataway history, yet I still was an alien citizen in the eye of many.

So, WTF does this have to do with you? Well, like it or not America is the problem. There are youth all over this country living in a similar hell and many are not as strong as I was. Suicide rates among Native American Youth are insane ly higher than other races in this country, google it. Assault and rape committed against Indigenous women is higher than any other race in the US. So, many stats...

Now that wearing a headdress and dressing like an "INDIAN" is cool - remember every time you make a choice to put on that costume or do something culturally whack, YOU are a part of the problem not the solution. And if you try to put the spin on it that you are honoring me, you're NOT. You are honoring hollywood and the system. I am not a token, I am not money, I'm not silent about the horrific things that happen to my Nation. I don't say sacred peaceful things out on the mountain tops, or sing or dance for the side show. I am not a mascot and I'm not Indian. I am a human being of the Piscataway Nation.

#americanindian #halloween #stereotypes #remixes