‘What kind of Indian are you?’

OP---Richard-colourBy Richard Wagamese

When I was small an adopted cousin once asked me, “What kind of Indian are you?”

Back then the question shocked me. I had no idea of my history then and the idea that there could be kinds of Indians really sent me into a quandary. What kind was I?

            I didn’t connect to my own people for 15 more years and when I did I was still unaware of who I really was. At 24 I discovered that I was an Ojibway from a place called White Dog, and that I was a member of the Sturgeon Clan.

            I had no idea what any of that meant. It seemed to me that I was three kinds of Indian – Ojibway, from White Dog and from a specific clan. It was confusing. I desperately wanted to be one whole person and getting to that seemed like enough work for me.

            A short time after I was home an elder shared some knowledge that changed the way I thought about myself. He told me that there were only three kinds of Indian and that I could choose which one I wanted to be. I listened very closely to what he said.

            The first kind is a traditional Indian, he said. That is someone who knows all the songs and all the prayers in vital spiritual ceremonies. It’s someone who knows the teaching stories, how to build a sweat lodge and the teaching principles of a sacred pipe.

            The second kind of Indian is a transitional Indian. It’s what most of us are, he said. We’re moving back and forth between ceremony and jobs, pow-wows and bingo, hand drums and the internet. We’re transitioning from one way of life into another and taking as much of our identity along as possible.

            The third kind of Indian is non-practising. That’s someone who has left all their culture, spirituality and tradition behind in favour of a life beyond all that. It’s someone who has the skin and the mind of an Indian but not the heart and the spirit. There are many he said, and it’s sad.

            I know what kind of Indian I am these days. I am a transitional person moving toward becoming traditional. I carry my heart and spirit forward to reclaim my full identity. I can live with that. The adventure of becoming is a very fulfilling journey.