WEBVTT

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I would like to say before I
begin in honor of another poet

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here in the area who I
heard recently posted

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on social media, who has--

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but I won't name names; I'm
so close to it, but I won't--

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who recently has
called me to task

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or called me out, apparently,
for not being more transparent

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about my mixed heritage.

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So I will share this with you.

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My mother is non-Native.

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She is primarily
European descent.

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My dad is Oglala.

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I love and I honor my mother.

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She is-- and this is
cheesy, but I usually

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say she's like my best friend.

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So that is totally true.

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I love her.

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However, I will say that
growing up, never once did I

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go to school feeling like
a non-Native student,

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like a white kid.

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Not once.

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Nor did I ever, as an
adult, go to a workplace

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being seen or understood or
working as a non-Native person.

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And especially as an
adult and as a mother,

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there is a responsibility
I feel to my community,

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to Lakota people and the Oceti
Sakowin that I think really

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is quite different and
my mother honors as well.

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So I hope that that's--

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is that understandable?

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Yeah.

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As part of that
responsibility, I

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have a child,
11-year-old daughter,

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that I am raising and
working in my best way

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to help her through all
of this craziness herself.

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So I'm going to read
this in her honor.

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