I am very excited, I was approached by my grandmother about a writing project that I've decided to take on. I'm very excited, but also very nervous. I have said in previous posts that I'm Native American, but I'm probably the whitest Native you'll ever meet. My father is a fairly light-skinned Mexican Native American, and my mother is very Caucasian. Because of this, I'm as white as you can get on the outside. Inside, however, I've always been fascinated with the stories of my Indian ancestors. So I was very honored when my grandmother brought up the idea of me writing the history and tribal stories of our people.
The challenge is that it is a small tribe, and their traditions, like most Native American tribes, are largely oral. I think the best place to start is the small tribal museum on the reservation. They have what few artifacts that remain of a very old people, and a very knowledgeable curator, or so I've been told. Unfortunately I grew up away from the reservation in Tacoma, and so didn't get the chance as a child or young adult to get to know my very large extended family in the tribe.
I have the good fortune to have my father here to help me, though, because he plays a large part in the tribe and knows all the people I'll need to talk to. What I'm not at all sure about is interviewing the tribal Elders. I've decided to take a video camera along to capture the tone in their voices and stories, as well as to capture their expressions and mannerisms as they speak. I've never thought of being a journalist, or interviewer, but I think it will be a wonderful challenge for me to rise to.
At the very least, it will be an interesting journey, and I'll try to blog about it as much as I can. It should make for a unique story, and I'm curious to see how it will end myself. How will the Elders and the people of my tribe respond to the whitest Indian putting our story down on paper?
