Mid-Week Motivation: Sherman Alexie's "On the Amtrak from Boston to NYC"

On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City

The white woman across the aisle from me says 'Look,
look at all the history, that house
on the hill there is over two hundred years old, '
as she points out the window past me

into what she has been taught. I have learned
little more about American history during my few days
back East than what I expected and far less
of what we should all know of the tribal stories

whose architecture is 15,000 years older
than the corners of the house that sits
museumed on the hill. 'Walden Pond, '
the woman on the train asks, 'Did you see Walden Pond? '

and I don't have a cruel enough heart to break
her own by telling her there are five Walden Ponds
on my little reservation out West
and at least a hundred more surrounding Spokane,

the city I pretended to call my home. 'Listen, '
I could have told her. 'I don't give a shit
about Walden. I know the Indians were living stories
around that pond before Walden's grandparents were born

and before his grandparents' grandparents were born.
I'm tired of hearing about Don-fucking-Henley saving it, too,
because that's redundant. If Don Henley's brothers and sisters
and mothers and father hadn't come here in the first place

then nothing would need to be saved.'
But I didn't say a word to the woman about Walden
Pond because she smiled so much and seemed delighted
that I thought to bring her an orange juice

back from the food car. I respect elders
of every color. All I really did was eat
my tasteless sandwich, drink my Diet Pepsi
and nod my head whenever the woman pointed out

another little piece of her country's history
while I, as all Indians have done
since this war began, made plans
for what I would do and say the next time

somebody from the enemy thought I was one of their own.

 --Sherman Alexie

(Poem found here)

AK thoughts: Bree posted this in the comments on my post yesterday on activist fatigue and daily interactions, and I was so taken aback by the relevance and power. Especially since I live in Boston, and I deal with the "there is so much history here!" comments constantly. I do have mixed feelings about Sherman Alexie sometimes, but then there are moments of clarity and realness in his work, like this poem, that remind me why I loved his pieces in the first place. So, I found strength in knowing that even the arguably best know Native author out there struggles and deals with these feelings, just like me.

(Thanks so much Bree!)

Have you ever seen a real Indian?: AICF's ad campaign

(image via http://www.americanindiancollegefund.org)

For some reason, this week has offered me a host of examples of insensitivity and ignorance surrounding Indian identity and identity politics. I've gotten in intense arguments and conversations in classes, I've confronted a colleague who told me, to my face, that the reason the US and Canada were different in terms of policies towards their Indigenous peoples was because "Well, I mean, in the US our policy was just to kill all the Indians. That's why there aren't any left, and we don't have to deal with them." I also overheard a student with whom I was discussing my research tell his friend: "I was like, Okaaay Native American, just talk about how we OPPRESSED you and your PEOPLE!"

So when I was deciding what to post today, I remembered these ads from the American Indian College Fund, an organization that provides scholarships and assistance to tribal college students. They're a little old, and their new campaigns--entitled "If I stay on the rez" and "Think Indian" are equally awesome and can be found here, but I think that these offer a powerful perspective that is rarely seen in print media.

After the jump, more of the ads and more discussion.

Judge Bill Thorne, Pomo. Judge for the Utah court of appeals, President of the National Indian Justice Center, skier, soccer coach for 25 years.

Hattie Kaufmann, Nez Perce, National network news correspondent, emmy award-winning reporter, traditional beadwork artist, marathoner.

Jarrett Medicine Elk, Northern Cheyenne/Assiniboine, business major, student  counselor, peer tutor, illustrator, public and motivational speaker

Rick West, Cheyenne, Attorney, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, traditional powwow dancer (and I would add--Stanford Alum!)

There are also a few more on the AICF website. The whole campaign can be found here.

I love these. Every aspect, from the attention-grabbing headline that makes the viewer question their preconcieved notions about what a "Real Indian" looks like, to the captions that demonstrate the subjects academic and career success; but also highlight their community/cultural involvement, as well as hobbies and other identities. It directly confronts what most of mainstream America would expect of an "Indian"--these are strong Native men and women, and they don't need tipis or feathers to show it. It's amazing how something as simple as putting "soccer coach for 25 years" can completely turn a stereotype on its head.

In addition, if you look along the right edge of each photo, there is a fact about reservation life, tribal colleges, or Indian education, and a link for more information about the American Indian College Fund. 

The best part is, the ads aren't confined to Native outlets. These ads were (and the new ads are) featured in Sports Illustrated, Time, InStyle, the Delta Airlines magazine, Oprah magazine, NY Times magazines, and more. All major mainstream media outlets. That's awesome. 

So, in light of my identity challenges this week, I thought I would offer a counter-narrative (I love that term) to the stereotypes clearly held in the heads of many Americans. I only wish the images of Natives that most Americans see everyday were more like these, instead of the other images that dominate this blog.

Keep up the good work, American Indian College Fund! I am such a supporter.

American Indian College Fund website: http://www.collegefund.org/