"White" Native Americans?

[lil_miss_understood]

Anyone else out there?
I have blond hair, blue/green eyes, pale skin... but I'm Native, raised with the traditions of the Anishinabe.
I think there are some issues that people "like me" face which aren't faced by others- fighting to participate in our own culture, not immediately being associated with our own families and "people", having to *prove* we are what we are.
I'm sure I'm not the only one. Where are the Natives hiding in plain sight?

[yarngoddess]

I grew up in a very small town. I rode the buss out to the reservation, and as such all my friends were native. We had one kid that was blonde, blue eye, white as paper. I will forever remember the way the other kids treated him, and how hard he fought to be recognised as "one of them" because he WAS. I am glad to see that you are talking about this, because I don't think a lot of people have ever even thought about this issue- or the trials and tribulations that go along with this.
Rock on Mamma!

[onlyzombiecat]

My dh is NA but doesn't really look it and neither does my dd as I am not NA.
Dh isn't blond haired and blue eyed. He has had other NA tell him that he doesn't look like a tribal member. I think it makes it harder for him to participate in the tribe and at tribal events.
His siblings looked more NA than him.
He usually doesn't tell anyone he is NA.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by onlyzombiecat

My dh is NA but doesn't really look it and neither does my dd as I am not NA.
Dh isn't blond haired and blue eyed. He has had other NA tell him that he doesn't look like a tribal member. I think it makes it harder for him to participate in the tribe and at tribal events.
His siblings looked more NA than him.
He usually doesn't tell anyone he is NA.

That's what I'm talking about. I don't usually tell anyone either and I feel so often like I'm living a lie- a lie of omission perhaps, but still a lie.
Due to laws in Canada, I'm not a tribal member- I don't qualify (look up Bill C-31, if you want to know more about that deal). All of my brothers are recognized by sight as "Native", as are my mom, my aunts and uncles, my cousins- I'm pretty much the "white sheep". However, I was raised with the traditional teachings and carry some of the stories, which is more than most of the rest of my family can say. On rez, most of my family are referred to as "apples" by the Elders- when I asked the Elders what the word was for people "like me", I was told "We don't *have* a word for people like you." or simply "You're Anishinabe."
It's hard to figure out where you "fit" when everyone tells you that you just plain don't. Which is why I bring this up at all.
In Canada, there are the "Metis"- a people of Native and European descent, but their traditions are distinct from Native traditions. So I'm not Metis- don't fit there either.
Too "white" to be Native, too Native to be "white", too traditional to be Metis.
I know I'm human, but it sure would be nice to be able to celebrate and participate in my culture without all the grief. /rant
Sorry.

[eepster]

I'm not, but there was "the cute waitsser." A freind and I used to Eat a a not very good cafe frequently just so we could visit the cute waiter. Truely cute doesn't do him justice he was drop dead gorgeous, bt we simply called him "the cute waiter."

His ancestry was a complete mystery from looking at him. His skin was fairly dark, and his hair was dark (so those two aspects would fit NA steriotype.) However, he had very extensive male pattern balding and shockingly blue eyes (both trait that are uncommon for NA.) Now when I say shocking blue I'm talking about that incredibly pale ice blue color one usually sees on blonds.

I don't remember how the conversation came up, but his heritage was Navajo and another tribe (this was years ago so the memory is vague) on his fathers side, and scottish on his mothers side.

[Sharlla]

DH is almost half and you would never guess it to look at him. His dad looks very NA.

http://b7.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/0...93240477_l.jpg

[lil_miss_understood]

This is me:
http://www.cheekan.org/pics/jacqueli...ture%20038.jpg

I'm "one quarter blood quantum", which is enough, from what I understand, to qualify for membership in most US tribes- assuming you're descended from that tribe and assuming said tribe goes by "blood quantum" still. In Canada, it only takes "marrying out" by 2 successive generations to "lose" one's "treaty rights". This means that even if your tribe accepts you into the tribal membership (which most won't due to the next part), they will receive no funding for you. So, even though a large portion of my family lives and works on reserve, I don't qualify for membership because I'm not "status".
Previously, a Native woman would lose her "status" and tribal membership if she married a "white" person, while a "white" woman who married a Native man would gain "status" as a Native along with tribal membership. (Again, this was all bill C-31 stuff.)

One of my good friends has what I call "wolf eyes" too. It's shocking to have someone so dark turn such "cold" eyes on you (as opposed to "warm" brown eyes).

[Sharlla]

That's crazy. It's all genetics. In DH's family blue eyes totally dominate. DH's dad had dark eyes and he got blue. My SIL married a man with black eyes and their son got blue as well. My gram is 1/2 Cherokee and she got hazel eyes. I've seen a 1/2 black person with red hair before. My sisters got my mom's slanty eyes, I didn't. :

I asked DH once if it bothered him that he doesn't look more like his dad and he said no.

Here's my gma with my baby sis (yes she's only 11 months older than DS2 LOL ) http://a626.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...bb8a2669d9.jpg

[lil_miss_understood]

It probably would not have bothered me too much either except for a few things:
-all of my cousins (and one of my uncles) called me "the little white Indian" since I was the only blond on my mom's side of the family and one of the *very few* in my family who carry the stories of the Anishinabe

-I was the only girl in my family and the "baby", so I was extra sensitive to being "different" (because I wasn't a boy and my brothers all were- obviously)

-It's difficult when you're getting beat up because "you're white and have the sheer unmitigated gall to do Indian things" (ie smudging, sweat lodges, etc)

-I look so unlike my family that when people meet them they say "Oh! That's who you were talking about! I never would have guessed." even if I'd told them my family was Native- My brothers used to tell their friends "We have to bring our sister." only to have their friends say "Okay, but lose the little white girl." (This is both a and a for me, so feel free to laugh.)

ETA: Your sister is so cute! And I really like your gma's necklace.

[onlyzombiecat]

Dh and dd last year.
They are members of the Ioway tribe.
The both have brown hair and brown eyes but still don't look typically NA.
Dh is also part Irish and Greek. We have an Irish last name.
I'm not sure how far pack is pure NA blood. Maybe his grandmother or great grandparents?

[lil_miss_understood]

Your daughter looks a lot like my foster-sister did when she was little, Kim.

[onlyzombiecat]

Is your foster-sister also NA?

[lil_miss_understood]

Yes, she's 1/2 by blood quantum. She has the same problem with being told she's not Native too. It doesn't help that both of our little sisters are blond and blue-eyed.

[kmeyrick]

My skin is pale, very pale, but you can see my Native American blood in my cheek bones, jaw, and my ....heh heh....old nose. I've been asked if I was Eastern European, part Native American, Jewish......I don't know why, a lot of people will just ask me these questions right at the check out line. I must be mighty strange looking that that many people ask me for an explanation. Rather unnerving.

[mommaduck]

Originally Posted by kmeyrick

My skin is pale, very pale, but you can see my Native American blood in my cheek bones, jaw, and my ....heh heh....old nose. I've been asked if I was Eastern European, part Native American, Jewish......I don't know why, a lot of people will just ask me these questions right at the check out line. I must be mighty strange looking that that many people ask me for an explanation. Rather unnerving.

Ditto here

[theretohere]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Anyone else out there?
I have blond hair, blue/green eyes, pale skin... but I'm Native, raised with the traditions of the Anishinabe.
I think there are some issues that people "like me" face which aren't faced by others- fighting to participate in our own culture, not immediately being associated with our own families and "people", having to *prove* we are what we are.
I'm sure I'm not the only one. Where are the Natives hiding in plain sight?

I think that part of the issue is that there are a lot of white people with "Indian Princess" ancestry who like to attend events and claim the culture. When someone looks white it's hard to know if they are Native by culture and with a large genetic component, or if they decided that a great-great-great ect. grandmother qualifies them. So much of Native culture has been co-opted that it's a protective thing. I do find it interesting that your tribe isn't accepting you- I've seen some people here who look pretty white but if their geneology is known and they were raised here they are accepted.
It boils down to this- what makes something someone culture? I have an Irish ancestor back a ways, but that doesn't make me Irish. I wasn't raised in the culture.

[hippiemommaof4]

I'm nearly half n/a, I didn't grow up in the culture though you can tell by looking at me that I am part n/a only my skin is more pale. Genetically I am more pale than many but all of my features hair color,eye color, face etc are dead on. If people ask about me, I tell them but that's about it. I also teach my children about their heritage and ancestors as much as I can because I believe that its important. I dont feel like my heritage is any less important to me because I am not associated directly with a tribe though. We are a military family and it would be hard to find a place every time we move as well, so its up to me to teach my children what they need to know.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by theretohere

I think that part of the issue is that there are a lot of white people with "Indian Princess" ancestry who like to attend events and claim the culture. When someone looks white it's hard to know if they are Native by culture and with a large genetic component, or if they decided that a great-great-great ect. grandmother qualifies them. So much of Native culture has been co-opted that it's a protective thing. I do find it interesting that your tribe isn't accepting you- I've seen some people here who look pretty white but if their geneology is known and they were raised here they are accepted.
It boils down to this- what makes something someone culture? I have an Irish ancestor back a ways, but that doesn't make me Irish. I wasn't raised in the culture.

Oh, I totally understand the protective aspect of it BUT when I went to see my grandmother in an Elder's home and was told that I was in the wrong place and there was no way my grandma could be there- until my Native looking brother came in and set them straight- I got pretty ticked not to mention very hurt.
Another part of the problem is that although I spent a lot of time on reserve, I wasn't raised there so I wasn't a "usual face". As I said, as soon as people realize *who* my family is, I'm accepted but even on describing them, until someone actually sees me with them, they don't make the connection. Often even then it has to be mentioned and they go "REALLY?!" Then they usually go "OH! THIS is the little white Indian you talk about!":
Most of my family, as I said, are "apples"- totally devoid of the culture. I got lucky and found Elders who would teach me- and then finally found a cousin who's a traditionalist on rez.

... so its up to me to teach my children what they need to know.

See, here's the problem for me now. Like you, I've moved away from my tribe so I cannot take my children to my Elders for teaching. Unfortunately, I've been in the culture enough to carry stories, etc but not enough to know everything I consider necessary for them to know. So I'm caught in this dilemma where I can teach them what I know, but they're still going to lose their culture. I suppose it's not as readily apparent to someone who has already lost their culture how incredibly devastating that is to me. And, honestly, even if I were raising my children near my tribe, they'd still be treated like little white kids by the Natives (I know because that's how *I* was treated and still am- until people find out who my family is and then, again, they're like "OH! The little white Indian!").

[eepster]

Originally Posted by theretohere

I have an Irish ancestor back a ways, but that doesn't make me Irish. I wasn't raised in the culture.

But we are totally happy to claim you as our own. See, Obama song one great-great-great grandpa and they wrote him a song. One only needs to have a single grandparent born in Ireland to return and/or claim full citizenship.

Yep, the Irish want you.

[theretohere]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

And, honestly, even if I were raising my children near my tribe, they'd still be treated like little white kids by the Natives ).

I have a lot to say, but no way to say it in a way that isn't going to offend. You feel Native, and you want your kids to be raised that way, right? You need to accept that other Natives aren't going to really like that, though.
Why not just say that your kids have some Native ancestry? Here people like you would be called descendants, even if no one recognized you as Native.
I hope that you can find some peace, for yourself and your kids.