Leaving the Rez: Eyeryday, Modern-Day Assimilation (for Kreestal)
Gyasi Ross
Quick Story: I was on the āIndian Planā on my journey through college, attending (seriously) six schools before finally graduating. I basically went everyplace that I could go for free, or alternatively, for really, really, REALLY close to free. I ended up going to four āmainstreamā schools (two universities and two community colleges), and two tribal colleges. After college, I attended Columbia Law School (good gawd knows how they let me in after my vagabond undergrad experience). All in all, I attended five non-Native schools, and lived off the rez for about eight years of my life.
In hindsight, I think about that time in those non-Native schools and also living off the rez. I suppose Iām old enough now to have a bit of objectivity about that time in my life. I noticed certain themes and commonalities at all those schoolsānot good, not badājust themes.
Theme #1
I had to be the āofficialā spokesman of ALL things Native. As SOON as any question, statistic or the word āNative,ā āIndianā etc came up, all eyes turned to me. I didnāt mindāIād give the requisite disclaimer, āAll tribes are different, blah, blah, blahā¦āāyet try to answer the question as best I could. It was actually a blessingāit made me learn MORE about myself and my people and where I come from. I didnāt wanna pretend that I knew stuff simply because I was Native (Iāve watched many do thisāspeak blindly on behalf of their communities).
Still, this was a definite theme. āIndian question? Ask the Indian guy!ā
Theme #2
Another consistent theme, at these non-Native schools, was a curiosity about how I made it away from the rez. This was interestingāI knew that the people asking the questions had good intentions; they werenāt asking in a malicious way. But there are two implicit messages in this question, and these are sneaky and ugly: 1) that the reservation is this place that needs to be escaped from, like a black hole, lest all hope and potential be sucked away. 2) That I was somehow different than the other people on the reservation because I was resourceful and smart enough to sneak away from the reservationās destructive power.
Why Am I Telling You This?
Well, itās just something Iāve been thinking about. I speak at a lot of colleges and universities and students oftentimes ask me what I think about education. PLUS, itās squarely on mind because my niece Kreestal just got admitted to a very, very prestigious university. Thatās coolāsheās a beautiful, brilliant kid (as are ALL of my nieces and nephews, by the way)āmy family doesnāt really have a history of academic success and opportunities. So thatās a big deal. Her and I talk about this stuff. I know that there are a lot of those āAsk the Indian girlā moments coming up for her, as well as a lot of questions about how she āmade it awayā from the rez. Fortunately, sheās very well grounded in her community and family, and I know that she wonāt provide the fodder that theyāre asking for.
We talk about how her grounding in her homelands and in her family will also mitigate the assimilating damage that university education will do to her psyche. I tell her, āMake no mistakeāRichard Prattās mandate to ākill the Indian and save the manā assimilation policy is still fully in effect and university education is a large part of that assimilation.ā
Once again: western education is assimilation.
I tell my niece Kreestal (and the other students who I interact with) that a little bit of strategic assimilation can be good. Learn the mechanisms, the systems. Come back. Thatās positive.
To wit, when Native people get educated for the purposes of contributing BACK to our precious Native homelands and people, then education is good. Then assimilation is a necessary evilāāGo away, gain knowledge of how to help contribute and improve our communities. Come back. Strengthen the community.ā Positive. Use that assimilation for good.
However, education can also be a negative thing to Native communitiesāit can be a tool to take away many of the talented people from our homelands. When Native people go away (āMake it away!ā) from the rez for education, and then ACT like they really did escapeāthey donāt come back but instead just live in middle class splendor away from their homelands. Thatās called a ābrain drain.ā During treaty negotiations, our ancestors included both āeducationā and āreservationsā into the same treaties. That shows that the two concepts were related to our ancestors. āEducationā and āreservation.ā When we separate those concepts and take the education with no intent to reciprocate to our homelands, thatās not positive. Thatās a Native person buying fully into the assimilation lieāthose people effectively have saved the man (or woman) and killed the Indian.
Many times my niece (or any of the students whom I speak to) will ask me WHY we have an obligation to our homelands. āWhy SHOULDNāT we just move away like all other Americans?ā
Fair question. Still, I tell them that there are many reasons why our homes are different than ALL other people in this nation. First and foremost, our homelands literally carry the spirits of tens of thousands of our ancestors through genetic memory, blood and experience. WE are buried there. That blessed soil in our homelands is nourished with the literal DNA of our people and that fertile soil is UNIQUELY situated to take care of our own kids, our educational, nutritional and spiritual needs. THATāS why our ancestors thought it was SO important that they reserved it for youāthe land is holy and spiritual and deep and carries our literal and metaphorical DNA sequences in the soil.
If we ask the land earnestly and diligently, those spirits that are in the soil WILL answer. Sometimes we just donāt ask the right questions.
The second reason is less lofty, but important nonetheless. Many times, our Tribes pay a portion of our educational costs. Some tribes pay ALL of their fortunate tribal membersā higher education costs. That is NOT a birthrightāthat is good fortune. That is an investment. The ONLY way that tribe sees a return on that investment is when tribal members contribute back to the community.
Native students who are getting back acceptance letters right now: Iām proud of you. Your people are proud of you. You have an opportunity to do something amazing. Do it. Weāll be waiting for you. Your communities are special places, magical places. Those homelands are worthy and, yes, this is where you truly belong. There is a reason that your people were created and evolved in your homelandsāit takes care of you. But assimilate for awhileālearn what you can learn.
Go experience the world, make friends, enjoy the outside world fully.
But at the end of that, realize that those cities and non-Native places are not your homes. Thereās a reason why your ancestors fought to keep these reservation lands separate. Come back.
Love you Kreestal. Congratulations.