Today, November 27, is 2020's Native American Heritage Day, a holiday worth celebrating and broadcasting. What is Native American Heritage Day? When President Barack Obama signed this holiday into being in 2009, he said, "“I encourage every American to join me in observing Native American Heritage Day ... It is also important for all of us to understand the rich culture, tradition, and history of Native Americans and their status today, and to appreciate the contributions that First Americans have made and will continue to make to our Nation.”[Source: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/597.html ] How can we honor or celebrate this day? Buy Native, Read Native, Listen Native, View Native! There are many Native bloggers, authors, artists, and entrepreneurs who you can check out and feature in your work on this day and throughout the year. Here is a link ( http://www.nativeninetypercent.com/native-authored-blogs.html ) to some Native-authored blogs and podcasts.
Since I moved to the city and lost my in-person ties to the culture that was a part of my childhood, I've been grappling with my identity and place in the world and my community as a person who is both Native (Cherokee and Apache) and White. Native American Heritage Day seemed like an appropriate time to open up about that struggle. Here's a poem I've been sitting on that I'm still not 100% sure I want to be sharing, honestly, but here goes. I am Native, I am White As much as I am Native I am also White And I cannot deny That White blood Flows in my veins As much as Cherokee As much as Apache. As much as I was raised with Blackfeet traditions, I was raised with White Man’s ones. Only how can I reconcile That one part of me Has done so much harm To the other: Broken treaties Broken Bodies Broken Lives Children Ripped from parents Sent to boarding schools Where cultures and languages I love were stamped out. Trail of Tears.