I Was Wrong About Native Americans
Part 2
About an hour into the massage, I was ashamed that I didn’t know more about this community. But I was about to find out why.
“Any negatives about living in the community?” I said to Dottie.
She told me that sex trafficking, rapes, and abductions happen within the tribes, but you never hear about it—and those kids that disappear are never found. The police don’t have the resources, nor is it not a priority.
I said it sounded like the Black community, where the disappearance of a child isn’t taken seriously.
“Yes,” she said, “But there’s a difference. The tribes keep quiet. They don’t speak out. It’s cultural. Whereas the Black community will do everything in their power to find justice.”
My body tensed. I was saddened to learn this. “They’re quiet,” I thought. This is why I’m not informed—and why the media only promotes dissent between colors and colonists.
I tried to lighten the mood.
“What about changing names of teams? My high school football team was the “Birmingham Braves,” but the school changed it a few years ago because they thought it offended Native Americans.”
“Silly. ‘Braves’ is a compliment.”
“That’s what I said. So, is all this name changing because of the guilty white man?”
“Yup. The guilty white man who thinks everyone else should share his guilt.”
I growled a long exhale for all the crap politicians like to impose on us… on both sides, reader!
The Tribes Aren’t Perfect
Dottie mentioned the reality that there’s also political BS within the tribes. The Snoqualmie disowned Native Americans they didn’t like so the tribe could make more money. They receive a government stipend, and if the tribe is small, the leaders retain more wealth.
“Muckleshoot isn’t like that. You won’t see our leaders in mansions,” said Dottie. “Guess who taught the tribes the notion of making more money?”
“The white man?”
“Yup.”
I like to consider all angles, so I suggested, “Maybe this is just a different version of what the tribes would have done 600 years ago. Greed has been around since the dawn of Adam and Eve who wouldn’t give Adam a bite of the apple.
“She probably offered him the core.”
“Maybe— before Europeans colonized, tribes were fighting other tribes for land.”
“True. They fought for women too,” Dottie said.
“It’s human nature to usurp.”
“That’s why most Native Americans support Israel. The Jews are indigenous to Judea—hence the name. Duh. They’re the ones who’ve been colonized by one group after another over the centuries.”
I wondered if Dottie could feel my heart in my throat. I was thrilled to have a new friend who was so different from me—yet we had commonalities I could treasure.
Dottie should star in my next Substack essay!
About an hour into the massage, I told Dottie I wanted to write an article about her and I had a few more questions.
“No, I don’t live in a teepee,” she blurted.
We chuckled, but then her cheeks dropped. “Kids really think we live in teepees.”
“No!” I said.
“I get asked that all the time.”
“Some people ask Jews if they can see their horns.”
“People are stupid.”
I was on a question roll. I was fascinated, and Dottie gave me the impression it was okay to ask her anything.
“Are you offended by a blonde girl in braids?”
“Hey, if she wants to spend an hour braiding—have at it.”
“My daughter puts her hair in braids when it needs washing. I always had curly, frizzy hair. My braids turned upward like Pippi Longstocking.”
It was time to flip over like a pancake.
“Have you ever been to a Pow Wow?” Dottie asked.
I was immediately transported to high school, when a “pow wow” was a serious chat with a friend.
“Uh, no. What is it?” I was embarrassed that I didn’t know its origin.
“It’s like a flea market—food, artisans selling jewelry, but all Native American influenced.”
“Can outsiders attend?”
“Anyone can go.”
“They want to make money,” we said at the same time and chortled.
Dottie continued, “We also celebrate Native American holidays where we dress up and dance.” She was quick to tell me, “It’s not called a ‘costume.’ It’s called regalia.”
The two-hour massage flew by. Time flies when you’re getting to know a Native of these lands.
I’m a grateful American, yet I know very little about the people who first settled in the Americas. They are proud and contributing Americans *and* celebrate a culture and community within their own ‘reservation’—a word, by the way, invented by the white man. Kind of like back in the ’50s when the rear bus seats were ‘reserved’ for African Americans.
Knowing our scars is important, but I don’t adhere to feeling crappy about them every day.
Dottie and Hank will ride their motorcycles to the next Pow Wow. Hank is 84—and you’d never know it.
Recently, they went on a road trip and visited famous Native American sites.
I watched *Yellowstone* again and it wasn’t the same. (See Part 1.) I wanted to tell Beth to let the Chief use her freezer to store elk meat next time the power goes out.
And I have a few things I’d like to discuss with Taylor Sheridan, who made mountains of money from *Yellowstone*.
Let’s “Owi winja” or “Let’s talk,” in Lakota.
Have you ever visited South Dakota? Any tribal lands or tourist sites?
Have you ever had a 2 hour massage?
I learned more about native Americans in this short essay than I did in year of public school. It’s a crime how little we teach our young about the first Americans and it’s even more shameful how we treat the first Americans. I’m a first generation American so my family was too busy running from pogroms and holocausts to really understand our kinship to Native Americans.
But this article has inspired me to find a way to help these mistreated people.
What a wonderful conversation. Thank you for sharing it, Dottie and Carissa! There's so much we can all learn from each other, if we'd only take the time to listen.