Dear Life,

Why is it whenever I meet someone and they ask if I am Native, they flood me with a slew of questions that I sometimes have no idea what the answer is? Yes, my people may have survived off the land. No, I don’t know how to live off the land nor can I show you how to live off the land. Yes, I can fish. No, I don’t fish whenever, where ever… just on my reserve, usually in the summer time and in the winter when the ice is thick enough. Yes, I used a bow and arrow before. No, I don’t own one (and it is called a compound bow not a “bow and arrow”). Yes, we use guns when we hunt. No, I don’t hunt all the time, nor do I own a gun, and I definitely can’t show you how to use one.

Why are people so fascinated in asking the question “Are you Native?” How would they like it if I asked, “Are you white?” And continued with: Really, what kind of “white” are you?

Or are those questions not “politically correct”?

It seems that because I am Native I should be majoring in First Nations studies. (There is nothing wrong in a First Nations student studying First Nations but stop the assumptions already.) Whenever someone asks me if I am in university, I say yes. They then ask me if I am doing the “First Nations Studies.” I guess it would make sense if I did. Yet, nobody asks a “black” person, are you majoring in African American Studies? Or a “white” person, are you majoring in Italian or Greek? Wait, do those majors even exist?

First Nations studies is without a doubt an interesting subject, but just because I am a “Native” does not mean I am a “First Nations studies” major. Although, I am debating on whether or not I should be. 😉

Thank you

Little Miss Kwe