It’s been over a year and 100 posts later, it’s time to tell you a little bit about me. In the tradition of Native culture, telling you who I am inevitable involves reciting my lineage.
Born ‘n raised in the Pacific Northwest, I’m a Seattle girl to my very core. But my Grandmother’s Grandmother brought our line down here. I have theories as to why, but the truth is probably more complex than the 1 dimensional stories I’ve heard. A full blood Tlingit from Sitka, AK, she was fierce and uncompromosing in every way. Her second husband appreciated her determination and tenacity.
One of her older daughters from her first marriage moved with her, and married a Filipino down here in WA. The ship’s galley was his domain on NOAA expeditions back when it was ESSA or the Weather Bureau or something, anyways it was difficult and time consuming work.
Thanks to him my grandmother loves fruit, knows how to pack anything into a tight space, and can cook everything under the sun with military precision. She helped her mother from a young age because she saw the stress and strain of basically being a single mother to her 3 daughters (a sailor’s widow as they say).
My grandmother found love early, with a Cree-Métis man, on the border of Montana and Canada. He would become culturally influential in his own right, the Native community would benefit greatly. Fast forward to their children, my mom is born the middle child of 5.
The only girl, she inherited the Matriarch station according to our ancestor’s traditions. A single mom carrying on the torch of staunch adherence to principles, my mother has been as influential in our Native community as the women in our family before her.
Together they built the Urban Indian community from the ground up, here in Seattle. Holding offices, running fundraisers and soliciting donations wherever they could. By the time I was 9 I had long been involved, cleaning tables, escorting elders and carrying boxes.
I’ve written several posts that delve into my heart about my past, my present and my future. I don’t know where this life will take me, but I hope to live up to the legacy of my family, and the women who got me where I am today.
The future holds stories of riches untold, of lessons and experiences that all enrich me. I hope to pass down to my daughter’s warm hand the stuff it takes to go out there and make things happen. I’m beyond grateful for her father, my incredible husband who’s always there for me, even when I’m crazy.
It seems funny to spend so much space talking about the people around me, but the enitrety of my blog and almost everything in it is about me or my feelings on a given subject. We are who we are thanks to the influences around us, mixed with our perception of reality.