Native American Roots, Once Hidden Now embraced…KEYWORDS: native american roots indian ancestry ethnic roots lost culture lost traditions what it means to be Indian cherokee heritage cherokee grandmother Cherokee Indian Strong American Woman
The only story I have is of a little girl who has big brown eyes, light brown hair, and has always known she was Cherokee Indian and Norwegian.
She has always been very proud of both heritages, but has always identified with the Indian part of herself. Probably because she had a picture of a very beautiful Indian woman she was named after and was told was her Grandmother.
She never got to meet her because she died before she was born, so she looked to her Father to teach her about her Cherokee heritage, but he only felt pain from the loss and couldn”t bare to talk about his mother.
Now this young girl is grown and has never known any of the culture she knows she belongs to and doesn”t feel she has to prove it to anyone. She knows she is a proud Cherokee/Norwegian mix and loves both parts of herself. She is just sad she has never known more than stories or articles or research.
What she does know, is that she has always known who she is and where she belongs and no one had to tell her those things.
She has tried to learn more, but is afraid of rejection. Tonight was no exception. Trying to even become part of an Indian web page she got rejected, and probably will have her story rejected because of it.
That is OK though, she doesn”t need validation. She is completely Proud of who and what she is as a Cherokee Indian, As a Norwegian, and as a Strong American Woman.
