I Replied to a Question About Native American Reservations being trashy ... Here's a longer reply.
Is it regional? Generational? Maybe.
But let’s get something straight: this isn’t just about reservations.
I was in the Cherokee Nation just two days ago picking up tags for my vehicle, (Tribal Citizen), that I could have had sent in the mail but I love the area so much I try to go every excuse I can, (about 3.5 hours each way). I was not born there but my grandma and great grandma and more ancestors call me back to the hills in Cherokee County, as if I were. I arrive feeling like I should have never left.
Yes, like any place, there are shady corners, trashy spots, and people making hard choices in harder circumstances. Same as any urban ghetto in Tulsa or backwoods badland.
Why? Because all people are people.
All classes. All cultures. All backgrounds.
We are the same.
Every single one of us has the capability to take care of ourselves and others — and we also have the free will to not give a rat's ass.
That’s not a race thing.
That’s a human thing.
So stop using poverty or struggle as a way to demean Native communities — or any community.
Instead, lift where you stand. See the good, call out the bad, and hold space for both.
We rise or fall together, warriors.
Wado.
#FindingYourTribe #NativeAmericanCulture #NativeAmerican ##IndigenousVoices #IndigenousCulture
