I would like to say before I begin in honor of another poet
here in the area who I heard recently posted
on social media, who has--
but I won't name names; I'm so close to it, but I won't--
who recently has called me to task
or called me out, apparently, for not being more transparent
about my mixed heritage.
So I will share this with you.
My mother is non-Native.
She is primarily European descent.
My dad is Oglala.
I love and I honor my mother.
She is-- and this is cheesy, but I usually
say she's like my best friend.
So that is totally true.
I love her.
However, I will say that growing up, never once did I
go to school feeling like a non-Native student,
like a white kid.
Not once.
Nor did I ever, as an adult, go to a workplace
being seen or understood or working as a non-Native person.
And especially as an adult and as a mother,
there is a responsibility I feel to my community,
to Lakota people and the Oceti Sakowin that I think really
is quite different and my mother honors as well.
So I hope that that's--
is that understandable?
Yeah.
As part of that responsibility, I
have a child, 11-year-old daughter,
that I am raising and working in my best way
to help her through all of this craziness herself.
So I'm going to read this in her honor.