Details

Storyteller: Erin
Tribe: Diné
Created: 2018
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Transcript: I've lived most my life in New Mexico born into the Diné tribe. I stayed close to the land on which I was born and spent some summers in Shiprock, NM. The times I spent on the reservation were memorable because I remember wishing as a 7-year-old that I could talk and understand my Native language. I spent time listening to elders tell stories but always felt left out. Even at a young age I knew that my culture was in danger of dying inside of me. So, each time I went back to Shiprock I asked my elders to only talk to me in Navajo, and I began to catch on quickly. It was then, I knew that my culture and language will always be with me no matter how far I drifted away from my home land. Diné is a matriarchal culture and we are beginning to lose that. My mother has been a huge influence in my life. My mom helped me to develop into the woman I am today. My resilience, my determination and my ability to forgive have all been modeled by my mother. I observed and learned from her mistakes. She has given me many talks about life and the real value of the life I choose to live. Where my heart is, is where my treasure lies. We all experience our own hardships and challenges and being born a female is already a tough hand but to be born indigenous is even tougher. The challenges laid before us do not define us but the way we face them is what builds character. I have been discriminated against simply because of the way I look and not because of my character. Someone once told me to go back to my country but I feel sorry for that person because they don't understand. I see that experience as an opportunity to practice forgiveness. Discrimination and racism are learned. If someone is raised in a home where racism is the norm, that individual never has a chance to really be themselves. The only way to stop this is through education. Educating our young ones on how to treat each other, how to respect each other and how to forgive. Being ignorant is a disadvantage and a poverty of the spirit. Indigenous people have suffered hardship, but we are still here. We were massacred but I am still here. Our culture has been raped but I am still here. We will still be here in the years to come because I forgive because I love. Strength is not why we are still here, it is because we were given the peace by the Creator to endure the troubles of this world. The challenge of an Indigenous woman will always be difficult, but I always remember that I come from a long history of women who endured. Women who overcame, women who never gave up, women who made my existence possible. For them and the women coming after me, I will find peace in this chaotic world through the things that matter; love, forgiveness, gratitude, patience and faith. My journey is not over yet and my story has just begun.