Are You An Indian?
How often have you heard or said “I’m part Indian”? If you have, then
some Native American elders have something to teach you. A very touching
example was told by a physician from Oregon who discovered as an adult
that he was Indian. This is his story. Listen well to the story he tells:
[5] Some twenty or more years ago while serving the Mono and Chukchanse
and Chownumnee communities in the Sierra Nevada, I was asked to make
a house call on a Mono elder. She was 81 years old and had contracted
pneumonia after falling on frozen snow while picking up some firewood.
I was surprised that she had asked me to come since she had always
[10] avoided anything to do with the services provided through the local agencies.
However, it seemed that she had decided I might be alright because I had
helped her grandson through some difficult times earlier and had been
studying Mono language with the 2nd graders at North Fork School.
She greeted me from inside her house, directing me into her bedroom
[15] with the sound of her voice. She was not willing to go to the hospital like her
family had pleaded, but was determined to stay in her own place and wanted
me to help her using herbs that she knew and trusted but felt too weak to
prepare by herself. I had learned to use about a dozen native medicinal plants
by that time, but was inexperienced in using herbs in a life or death situation.
[20] She eased my fears with her kind eyes and gentle voice. I stayed with her for
the next two days, treating her with herbal medicine (and some vitamin C that
she agreed to accept).
She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half Canadian and
[25] half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my Appalachian grandfather
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
and Chownumnee communities in the Sierra Nevada, I was asked to make
a house call on a Mono elder. She was 81 years old and had contracted
pneumonia after falling on frozen snow while picking up some firewood.
I was surprised that she had asked me to come since she had always
[10] avoided anything to do with the services provided through the local agencies.
However, it seemed that she had decided I might be alright because I had
helped her grandson through some difficult times earlier and had been
studying Mono language with the 2nd graders at North Fork School.
She greeted me from inside her house, directing me into her bedroom
[15] with the sound of her voice. She was not willing to go to the hospital like her
family had pleaded, but was determined to stay in her own place and wanted
me to help her using herbs that she knew and trusted but felt too weak to
prepare by herself. I had learned to use about a dozen native medicinal plants
by that time, but was inexperienced in using herbs in a life or death situation.
[20] She eased my fears with her kind eyes and gentle voice. I stayed with her for
the next two days, treating her with herbal medicine (and some vitamin C that
she agreed to accept).
She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half Canadian and
[25] half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my Appalachian grandfather
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
However, it seemed that she had decided I might be alright because I had
helped her grandson through some difficult times earlier and had been
studying Mono language with the 2nd graders at North Fork School.
She greeted me from inside her house, directing me into her bedroom
[15] with the sound of her voice. She was not willing to go to the hospital like her
family had pleaded, but was determined to stay in her own place and wanted
me to help her using herbs that she knew and trusted but felt too weak to
prepare by herself. I had learned to use about a dozen native medicinal plants
by that time, but was inexperienced in using herbs in a life or death situation.
[20] She eased my fears with her kind eyes and gentle voice. I stayed with her for
the next two days, treating her with herbal medicine (and some vitamin C that
she agreed to accept).
She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half Canadian and
[25] half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my Appalachian grandfather
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
She greeted me from inside her house, directing me into her bedroom
[15] with the sound of her voice. She was not willing to go to the hospital like her
family had pleaded, but was determined to stay in her own place and wanted
me to help her using herbs that she knew and trusted but felt too weak to
prepare by herself. I had learned to use about a dozen native medicinal plants
by that time, but was inexperienced in using herbs in a life or death situation.
[20] She eased my fears with her kind eyes and gentle voice. I stayed with her for
the next two days, treating her with herbal medicine (and some vitamin C that
she agreed to accept).
She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half Canadian and
[25] half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my Appalachian grandfather
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
family had pleaded, but was determined to stay in her own place and wanted
me to help her using herbs that she knew and trusted but felt too weak to
prepare by herself. I had learned to use about a dozen native medicinal plants
by that time, but was inexperienced in using herbs in a life or death situation.
[20] She eased my fears with her kind eyes and gentle voice. I stayed with her for
the next two days, treating her with herbal medicine (and some vitamin C that
she agreed to accept).
She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half Canadian and
[25] half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my Appalachian grandfather
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
the next two days, treating her with herbal medicine (and some vitamin C that
she agreed to accept).
She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half Canadian and
[25] half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my Appalachian grandfather
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had ever talked much about
that and I didn’t want anyone to think that I was pretending to be an Indian. I
was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian and never brought it up in normal
conversation.
[30] “What! You’re part Indian?” she said. “I wonder, would you point the part
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
of yourself that’s Indian. Show me what part you mean.”
I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn’t understand what she meant. Thankfully
the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in several days
[35]worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she had made for me
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
and went home still thinking about her words.
Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked
down at one of my feet and said, “I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it’s your left ear. Have you figured it out yet? “I laughed out loud,
[40]blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got outside after shopping,
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and laughing. “You know, she
said, “you either are or you aren’t. No such thing as part Indian. It’s how your
heart lives in the world, how you carry yourself. I knew before I asked you.
Nobody told me. Now don’t let me hear you say you are part Indian anymore.”
[45] She died last year, but I would like her to know that I’ve heeded her
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
words. And I’ve come to think that what she did for me was a teaching that
the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a Native
American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know her wisdom
helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed in my
[50] memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian.
Disponível em:<http://www.cowboyfun.com/iam/>. Acesso em: 3 abril 16. (Adaptado.)
Através do uso do termo Thankfully na oração Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point (linhas 33 e 34), o autor manifesta um sentimento de
