Thoughts are like Arrows

Thoughts are like Arrows

September 30, 2016

The other day my sister showed up to my work distraught and frustrated. She began to tell me about an incident that occurred in class earlier that afternoon when paired to work with a Caucasian male. The male refused to work with her when she approached him and made a snide comment about how he thought she couldn’t do the work. She asked why he thought that and he told her, ‘because you’re just a drunk Indian. ALL of you!’  He said it loud enough where others sitting around them could hear and before she could answer, her classmates came to her defense. He left class early and the instructor was notified.

I can’t even begin to comprehend what made this individual think that my sister couldn’t do her work. So, I guess this blog post correlates back to last week’s in the sense that, not only does Hollywood inaccurately portrays Native Americans as either mystical beings, savages, but also greedy casino owning alcoholics who live off the government. People still expect to see us in buckskin, teepees, braids and other traditional regalia and if it’s not that, then we’re just drunk Indians. There’s no in-betweens for these individuals and their perspectives. I think this is part of why I began to hate fall season, because with Halloween around the corner, you have individuals wearing chicken feathers, a skimpy outfit, accompanied with cheap paint, war hooping downtown.

It’s ironic that my sister was called dumb and drunk when in fact she has a full ride (scholarship) to NAU, and she has never had a drink in her life. She said she couldn’t address this individual because everyone quickly came to her defense, but what I’m even more surprised at is the fact that she hopes to reach out to this individual when he returns to class. Even if he doesn’t listen, she intends to forgive him and only hope that he will listen to her. There’s a Navajo saying in our culture and my sister follows religiously, and it basically says to be careful with your words as they have the power of life and death. It should also be noted that in our native tongue, there is no official word for ‘sorry’ and once these words/thoughts leave your mouth, you can never take it back. Keeping these things in mind, it’s imperative to watch yourself (even if you’re being attacked) or karma will essentially come back to you.