Hard to be Indigenous Now-a-Days

Russell Means was an Actor & Activist that had a dream for Indigenous Peoples. One of the things he says in the video above is that it’s hard being Indigenous now a days and that really hit me.

He didn’t mean that statement in any racial context. He meant being an Indian that regularly does Indian things. Things like daily ceremony, waking up with the morning sun, praying, speaking our languages, and more.

He also talks about our reserves being somewhat of a concentration camp. That is not a place for us.

Being an Indigenous person who lives off reserve, I find it’s a hard journey. You are walking in two worlds. On one hand you are trying to make money to take care of your family, keep the lights on, and make sure there’s food on the table.

When you are spending a lot of time in a job to survive, or spending a lot of your time studying because you are in school, it makes it hard to focus on Indigenous things.

It would be great to just have enough abundance for everything, so you can focus all your time on the land, speaking your native language, and being Indigenous.

There is a lot of systems out there that don’t support you being Indigenous. Our kids in the public school system come out less Indigenous then going in because they get indoctrinated into a westernized way of thinking.

What are some of the things you do to go deeper into your Identity as an Indigenous Person? How do you support your family as well?

Comment your answer below: