~ ~~ A HUMAN WITHOUT IDENTITY ~~~

An Indian Without Reservation

Everyone I tell so - accepts me as Indian

But nobody wants me to be one.

Everyone really rejects me as Indian

The minute I try to be one.

Keep my hair short, dress just like them

Is all I've done throughout life.

The whites all want me to be just like them,

But they forget - this is my life.

Everyone knows that I'm Indian,

But this really seems to upset them

Forgive and forget that I'm Indian

Is the only way that I can live with them.

But I can't, can't you see, for I am what I am,

And what I am, dammit is Indian!

Though I was raised white American,

I've always been, and will always be...Indian.

They adopted me out just so they could change

My original certificate of birth

But try as they might, they can't rearrange

My Heritage, established at birth.

In this country I can be what I want

As long as what I want isn't Indian,

This is something I cannot flaunt

Still to some, "The only good one's a dead one."

Everyone knows that I am Indian,

And this really seems to upset them

Forgive and forget that I am Indian

Is the only way they'll let me live with them.

But I can't, can't you see, for I am what I am,

And what I am, dammit is Indian.

Though I was raised white American,

I've always been, and will always be...Indian

For I can't, can't you see? For I am what I am,

And what I am, dammit, is Indian.

Though I was raised white American,

I've always been, and will always be...Indian.

I know what I am but by law can't prove it

They claim my record can't be opened now -

That's because at adoption they sealed it

I'm supposed to accept being white now

Some of My People won't accept what I am

Because I'm not from the reservation

But accept that I am because what I am

Is an Indian without reservation!

And everyone knows that I'm Indian,

I don't care that this really upsets them

To forgive and forget that I'm Indian?

I'd much rather live without them.

For I can't, can't you see, for I am what I am,

And what I am, bless it, is Indian.

Though raised by the white American,

I've always been, and will always be:...Indian.

author -- Unknown

http://opossumsally.homestead.com/index1.html

How many times have I heard throughout my travels and in my everyday life the desire of teenagers and adults "wanting to fit in" with the crowd they are in and the crowd wants you the change to fit in with them.  ~~ Wanting to be accepted. This seems like a human need ~~ to be wanted, accepted and loved. I do not have an issue with that. I do have an issue with people attempting to mask themselves and be someone they are not to be loved , wanted and accepted. 

Why is it that some people  have a hard time accepting who they are? This is one of many shelve-in inflicted handicaps we have.

We are one people! We all bleed red. We all share in the  common basic needs for food, water, etc. most of us were born with the same amount of limbs, eyes, etc. Only our words sound different and we may dress differently. The Great Creator gifted us with the ability to compensate for the things we were not given at birth.

What we do with the body given to us  is up to us.  The Spirit can be the engine that guides and drives your body.

Stop looking at the skin color or the shape of your fellow human. See the soul through the eyes and actions which define who you  are. I have said this many times ~~ the eyes are the windows to the soul.

I found a beautiful Native American  poem which is above. I have posted a link to the site where I found this poem. It really hit home with me as I feel I am Native in Spirit. The greatest genocide of humans was to the Native Americans who suffered the greatest discrimination know to mankind.

We need to treat all humans as brothers and sisters and not anyone as an alien life form.