I grew up as a Cayuga Language Immersion student, right from kindergarten to high school…and then I dropped out in grade 10… I have definitely come a long way on the journey of learning how to read and write in English, later in life, and doing my best to push myself to get a westernized education, and when I say push, I really mean PUSH…
I’ve had to force myself to step out of my comfort zone in ways that were so cringing, scary and difficult…fearing nothing but judgment or whether you’re good enough to succeed… But it still absolutely surprises me some days just how much I need a dictionary (online or off) to know the meaning of what I think are everyday words.
I do my best at being articulate when I’m writing or speaking, but it definitely requires some extra work and effort, as a result of being in immersion and dropping out of school early… But there is nothing more of a blessing to me, than growing up with our language and culture, regardless of how much I use it now or participate…because no matter what, it’s the foundation of who I am…and it always will be.
With that being said, the different dynamics of growing up on Reserve and then living in the city (learning a new way of life), can be quite challenging. Challenging in the sense that as you grow as your own individual person, people are not used to seeing you this way…and it sometimes makes you feel as though you’re doing something wrong, without even realizing that I am still struggling to overcome many barriers along the way. It sort of turns into…you’re too native for white people in the city, and now you’re becoming to white washed for the Reserve. And it makes you question, at times, where you fit in when people start to make comments to you about being a “city Indian”. And this isn’t me saying who is educated and who is not. It's not about that; we have a lot of educated people on the Six Nations Reserve. It’s about, maybe, speaking differently, sounding different, changing a little, and growing in different ways, in different atmospheres, maybe even becoming a little less “connected”, as we become “too” goal driven or sidetracked if you will.
So I’m not complaining, I’m just acknowledging how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am now, how hard many of us have worked to overcome these colonial barriers, and how hard it continues to be when you’ve gone through so many different obstacles of not feeling accepted in different way; in ways that, in the past, have crippled your ability to be social, to be seen, and to never JUST AT LEAST…TRY!! But don’t be mistaken, validation isn’t what I’m looking for.
It would be nice to know we are appreciated to some degree, no matter where we are or what we are doing on our own paths, without being compared to this or that. I guess that’s a part of life!
WE have what it takes and when I say WE I don’t just mean we as in native people, I mean we, as in, immersion students who are eventually, at least in my time, forced to learn different ways of living, learning, and adapting.
We deserve the same opportunities as anyone else, so don’t let anything or anyone hold you back from pursuing what it is you’re passionate about.
With that being said, the different dynamics of growing up on Reserve and then living in the city (learning a new way of life), can be quite challenging. Challenging in the sense that as you grow as your own individual person, people are not used to seeing you this way…and it sometimes makes you feel as though you’re doing something wrong, without even realizing that I am still struggling to overcome many barriers along the way. It sort of turns into…you’re too native for white people in the city, and now you’re becoming to white washed for the Reserve. And it makes you question, at times, where you fit in when people start to make comments to you about being a “city Indian”. And this isn’t me saying who is educated and who is not. It's not about that; we have a lot of educated people on the Six Nations Reserve. It’s about, maybe, speaking differently, sounding different, changing a little, and growing in different ways, in different atmospheres, maybe even becoming a little less “connected”, as we become “too” goal driven or sidetracked if you will.
So I’m not complaining, I’m just acknowledging how hard I’ve worked to get to where I am now, how hard many of us have worked to overcome these colonial barriers, and how hard it continues to be when you’ve gone through so many different obstacles of not feeling accepted in different way; in ways that, in the past, have crippled your ability to be social, to be seen, and to never JUST AT LEAST…TRY!! But don’t be mistaken, validation isn’t what I’m looking for.
It would be nice to know we are appreciated to some degree, no matter where we are or what we are doing on our own paths, without being compared to this or that. I guess that’s a part of life!
WE have what it takes and when I say WE I don’t just mean we as in native people, I mean we, as in, immersion students who are eventually, at least in my time, forced to learn different ways of living, learning, and adapting.
We deserve the same opportunities as anyone else, so don’t let anything or anyone hold you back from pursuing what it is you’re passionate about.
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