The disenfranchisement of the Indigenous American of mixed blood, by any of their ancestral lines, is a sad and shameful affair. Sad, because it’s a rejection of the very people who have, by their presence alone, enriched the societies that now disown them. And shameful, because it reflects how deeply we, the original Peoples of this hemisphere, have been assimilated into a Westernized, black or white concept of the world. It shows how far we have grown from our roots. It shows that we are in some desperate need for critical thinking, contemplation and active choice-making.

My heart goes out to your Grandmother, to you, to your family and to all our relations that are going through the same thing. This idea of auto-segregation seems to be trending among our relations. I have heard of this in both federally recognized and non recognized Peoples, not only the Cree. Makes me wonder, when did racism become a good idea?

Current sciences show that there is no such thing as “race”. That there is more variation within a so-called race than there is between one “race” and another. Additionally, people have been mixing and matching between geographic areas, cultures and ethnicities since the dawn of time. It’s how the planet was populated. There is even talk that Humans mixed and matched with archaic hominids that no longer exist! Why not? It’s how the planet was populated. Intercontinental travel is not a recent idea, people used to travel and explore before the invention of cars, trains and planes… it’s how the planet was populated. All this started in prehistoric times and has never stopped. The modern thought that all this travel and coupling, mixing and matching only started a couple of years before we realized it was happening, is ridiculous.

Adoption, kidnapping, child replacement, wife trading, hospitality, unions made for peace, love agreements, traveling and exploration, rape and any other activity in which genetic material may be exchanged between people, was happening all around the world, including the Americas, before 1492. These ‘truths’ contradict the “pure blood” propaganda begun by the Europeans. Mixed bloods are everywhere and have always been! Most of the time you were of the people that you lived with, whether by birth, choice or any other integration. This idea of blood quantum was a federally mandated concept that natives adopted. Adopted, the way we adopt the “terms of use” of computer programs, applications and web sites: the only option is to agree. Blood quantum laws vary from tribe to tribe and tend to be so contrived and convoluted that many an Indian, regardless of indigenous blood percentage, did/does not qualify for federal recognition (CDIB). Blood quantum is a genocidal program geared towards eventually eliminating the indigenous people in federally recognized rolls, simultaneously eliminating any debt incurred via treaty and assuaging the guilt of genocide and invasion. Natives have not only bought this garbage hook, line and sinker, but now we’re using it against our own. Shame!

Shame your Gramma had to see that. I feel for her.

I also feel that honesty, sincerity, and authentic participation in our lives are the only things that will promote healing, if not resolution, to the conflicts in our lives. Conflicts like the one you mention. Conflicts that in turn reflect in our relationship with and between ourselves, families, organizations, societies and nations. Conflicts that raise passions, passions that blind us to details other than what supports our argument… which is what seems to have happened here.

From your comment, I understand you see my arguments against Afrocentric revised history as a denial of our mixed heritage. This is not the case. My attempts to make this clear seems to have failed, or maybe you chose not to read so far into the article, or maybe you missed it… I don’t know and it doesn’t matter. In the end, nothing in my writings deny mixture: physical or cultural.

My argument is against Afrocentric claims taking full credit for the growth of another ethnic group for the purpose of self-aggrandizement. In this case, we’re talking about Afrocentricity cannibalizing the ethnicity of the indigenous American, but the same could go for a number of ethnicities across Eurasia, just read the literature! It reads like Eurocentric history in blackface! Afrocentrism claims credit for the growth and development of every facet of life in other ethnicities and societies without considering the possibility of independent discovery and invention, as if any mind other than African or black, was too primitive to create, discover and invent. The bulk of their evidence leans heavily on the opinion of African superiority. Many of the interpretations of the physical evidence that Afrocentrics do present, is incomplete and unconvincing, particularly since, in my experience, they tend to ignore conflicting evidence and argue personalities instead.

Using the assumed character or personal qualities of the opposition as evidence against their argument is, first of all, not evidence. And secondly, it’s a logical fallacy, in other words, it makes no sense.

Even now, your comment only judged my blog as “deriding” and separatist, a labeling that makes it easier to discard or ignore my points. Not once do you specify the post(s) you disagree with nor the arguments that actually bothered you. You only mention what’s going on in your family. And while tribal self-segregation may be a good topic to explore, it is not one I have written on. You attacked the messenger and ignored the message, which seems pretty much status quo as described above.

The big picture of human history includes a lot more than just skin color.  Racial division is a human construct, not a scientific one. And while archeology was founded by racist people and it’s first findings reflected these ideas, we are at a time where it’s best not to assume these are the beliefs of the people who disagree with us. Sometimes, the door is open for dialogue. But to continue propagandizing a revised history based on a racial agenda is propagating racism, not critical thinking, not good scholarly form, not good relations and definitely not history.
I wish you and yours the very best.

N

Thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts

N

http://tainolanguage.wordpress.com/

Your words are very kind and I’m beyond flattered by your compliment. Thank you. Writing is one of the crafts I enjoy the most and I am happy to hear it’s fulfilled it’s purpose: entertainment and education.

Quite frankly, you’re not a bad writer yourself. I’ve visited your pages as well and have enjoyed the posts on your blogs. Not only are you incredibly varied in your writing, but you bring up some really great points when discussing history and current articles. I’ve bookmarked your blogs and plan to return to read any updates so keep up the good work!

Thank you again for your kind words and for your time

Nanu