The Stranger

"Well when I first moved out to Orlando and began working on the construction sites, most of the people working these jobs are Mexican and me being a full blooded native with a nice brown complexion everyone one thought I was Mexican as well. So when ever I met someone on the work site, or even off the work site, they would try and speak to me in Spanish. So I would have to explain to then that I did not speak Spanish and why I did not know Spanish, which sometimes could be a little difficult because they did not speak very well or speak at all english. And during lunches I would feel left out because they would be talking and laughing with each others and I had no idea what was being said."

The Wary

"For high school, I went to a College Preparatory, which had mostly rich, white students. Many of these students had been together since they were children. I had not. During my first year, I struggled for an identity. My mother being Native American, was the easiest solution. I spent the next two years being called names like Tonto, Sitting Bull, and Flying Salmon. While it became tiresome, I felt that it was worth it so that I might fit in. Looking back at it, I thing it was a crutch. I tried to use something exotic about myself to gain acceptance, as opposed to my own merit. Furthermore, I think allowing my classmates to trivialize Native American culture to names and jokes, has left me with a profound distrust of wealthy white male population."

The Fitted

"Being the only Native in my history class back in the 80's, the class would ask what my feelings/thoughts were to the various Native incidents that happened in years pasts. Felt good because I got to give my two cents worth and gave examples of what my tribe had to go through and still did in the 80's. Back then at my high school, I didn't experience racism. We all got along."

The Traditionalist

"I grew up in a village, I was taught to make baskets, gather and worship, the girls at school teased me about being from the village. My self esteem was affected, thought I wasn't good enough, but now I'm cool with it and teaching my kids..."

The Peacemaker

"when I was 13 I was selected to go to europe with an organization called People to People as a young ambassador for Arizona. This program was to help American people promote peace and harmony with different cultures and countries. The group I was a part of consisted of about 25 or more people.To be more specific in detail, the group was mostly of white ethnicity,and Mexican ethnicity one asian, one black person, and two Native Americans which included me. Each of us were United States citizens born in the U.S and with so far, a Junior-high education, if not less than that. Now for me as a young teenager coming from a Native American Reservation with nothing much to surround my everyday life environment except desert plants,mountains, local tribal establishments school,and an hour drive away from the nearest town in each direction, This was a very big thing for me to be a part of. I had also never been anywhere too far outside Arizona before this as well. My overall experience with this trip was great however being one of the only natives in the group, I was frequently asked questions about what kind of life style I lived and in some cases joked about aloud.questions such as Do you live in a tepee? and Do you run around naked? or Hunt for dinner every night? these were the type of questions i was asked through out the trip which was three weeks long. More so, these questions didn't affect my emotions in a negative way because for the most part the people were genuinely curious and interested however the ones who joked about me being Native American were the people who made me feel angry or sad in some way. Jokes such as ' your long hair makes you look like a girl', 'hey chief ', and one particular incident when the group of boys and myself were playing foot ball and my natural aggressive style of playing lead the rest of the team to shout things like, watch for the indian!, or His killing blood makes him crazy! were things that stood out most to me. Having grown over the years and looking back, i now feel that most of this stereo type of judging and ridicule is greatly attributed to an adolescent mind doing what it naturally does and in part people still growing and learning how to interact with different cultures and ethnic groups.This does not justify these acts but simply leans towards the belief that to be able to be rid of these profiling ways we all must learn to accept each other for who we are and acknowledge respects in some kind of way.

The Confronted

"I went to High School off-reservation and that was a new experience for me. It was around thanksgiving time, one of the people sitting next to me asked me about what I did for Thanksgiving. I didn't really understand what he was asking. He asked if I celebrated it because I was Native American. I told him of course I did, he then asked me how did I celebrate it. By this time some of the people surrounding us, turned around and were listening to our conversation. I really didn't know how to answer all of the questions he had but lucky for the teacher told us all to be quiet and I didn't have to."

The Torchbearer

"Experience I have felt: I am the only Native American sitting in an engineering class while all others seem to be from India or they are White. I like to think to myself, wouldn't this be awesome if more Natives got into Engineering? It sometimes feels like I don't belong since they are so intelligent but this world needs diversity and Native Americans are just as capable as any other. Native Americans are highly desired in fields like this because they are so rare and scarce to find in this field."

The Adjuster

"One experience would be moving away from the reservation and having to adjust to a new life and new culture that surrounds you."

The Sharer

"More than once, I have shared that I am part Native American with classmates because I wanted to share something that I thought was culturally relevant. However after sharing, people have made comments that were playful, but stereotypical. For example, in an entomology class, I shared that one particular insect was important to my tribe for bringing rains. In another class period, a fellow student asked me as I was making  observations of other insects in this class, "oh, are you absorbing its powers?"as if every facet of our lives are somehow mystical and ominous. Another time in an ecology class, we learned a bit about the local ecology and how much the landscape has changed, and an indigenous person was shown on a poster foraging in the local habitat, and a student asked, "hey, is that your cousin?" "

The Appreciative

"My experience was at work. Realizing how we have ceremonies, reponsibilities that nobody else does. How nobody else in the world does what we do in our traditions. It made me feel extremely thankful for what we have, for being raised the way I was raised, thankful for everything we have in life"

The Outsider

"Of course, living in Illinois where there are hardly any Native Americans, its not hard for me to be different from the others around me. However, I usually feel most different when our history teacher asks about our heritage. It is a little hard to explain our values and ceremonies to the common Midwestern European."

The Caretaker

"I work with a lot of elderly and sadly I have to deal with death. My team however knows that my culture is sensitive to death and therefore will accommodate me when a resident is in that final stage. It's never made me feel different, yet I sometimes feel like I should be doing more, even though they understand."

The Manager

"For me being a manager at a fast food place was always different cause i was the only native on the team (management). It was hard cause i always had to put myself up front meaning that i need it to be open and speak out about things happening around me. I am not the one to being open about feelings and fixing things like problems and helping out but i had too to stay atop! The feeling was hard and scary but i did it. It was a good thing."