A few additions to the video:
-sports teams' names, I should have said
-we drove past a sign that said "ENTERING NAVAJO NATION" a few minutes before taking this video
-for a while we had been driving past decrepit billboards saying "INDIAN JEWELRY" and various other items featuring the styles of Native cultures
-I was condemning this practice, as it appeared to be exploitative of these peoples, after a history of relations already characterized by the dehumanizing of Native Americans by colonizers, but I am not certain who is responsible for these billboards.
Interestingly enough, though, that video is far from the narrative I saw regarding Native Americans in Santa Fe, at least.
Starting off, the Santa Fe Indian School, with part of the entrance to the school pictured here in a photo I got from REL Southwest (http://relsouthwest.sedl.org/news/items/2015_07_23_SFIS.html)
This Indian school serves tribes from the western half of the United States, allowing students to dorm on the campus. Most remarkable about this school, though, is that it allows its students to learn about their own culture and language. They still adhere to state standards for their curriculum, but they find a way to personalize the education for every student from each of the 19 Pueblos, or Indian tribal nations, that they serve.
Despite all of their immersive education and focus on looking forward, SFIS does not shy away from its tumultuous past. In the "About SFIS" section of their website, under "History", they talk about the initial intent of SFIS from its establishment in 1890. It was "established by the federal government during the Boarding School era with a charge to assimilate the native child." They did so believing that this assimilation would "remove the cultural and individual identity of the children providing the opportunity to impart new standards for living the American way of life."
"Kill the Indian to save the man," - Gen. Richard Henry Pratt, who creating the first Indian boarding school.
(http://www.sfis.k12.nm.us/about_sfis)
Though times may have changed with the Indian New Deal becoming part of President Franklin Roosevelt's own New Deal and SFIS is now a place that celebrates Native Americans and their respective cultures, we must not be focused on putting our past behind us.
It is through this active acknowledgement of our inhumane past that we can objectively realize which is the wrong direction for our trajectory to go. We must be cautious of any sign that is reminiscent of state-sanctioned and socially-accepted inequality, for it is never too late for us to start living accordingly to the values and beliefs that this nation was founded upon.
For our founders did not even do so.
Also, Alejandra showed us to a spot in Downtown Santa Fe, right in front of the Palace of the Governors--which used to be the house of the governors of New Mexico--, where Native Americans were welcome to peddle their wares (/sell their goods) as long as they had a proper permit to sell. That had a number of items laid out, from jewelry to bookmarks and many other everyday items. I even bought this beautiful turquoise necklace from one of the sellers.
(Giving credit where it is due, I included his business card, feel free to hit him up if you like what you see)
This is great example of the government allowing these people to be visible and create a life for themselves without it being some sort of spectacle. You could chalk this one up to capitalism, but hate and prejudice are forces that can only be overcome with love and acceptance, so there are a number of steps that had to be taken before we could even get to this point of open, public transactions. There is still much to be done though.
I really wanted to get an interview with some of these vendors because, as hinted before, I have been trying to diversify my interview pool, and I was quite interested in what these people had to say.
There was one guy, of the Navajo Nation, he was amicable and friendly but declined, citing a former experience with an interviewer that only used the interview for his own person gain. I understood his caution, betrayed trust hurts enough already, but to open up to a stranger only to have your words misconstrued is enough to deter someone from interviews for good. I felt sorry for the man and decided not to bother him further.
I next pursued an interview with an elderly woman, whose pueblo I am regrettably blanking on right now. She obliged to an interview but said that she was not allowed to talk about her customs or traditions. That was totally fine with me and I figured it would be best to interview her off camera. She noted that she had been coming to Santa Fe from her hometown for over 50 years, and she loved it there. There was a prevailing tone of content with the way Santa Fe was and not wanting to change anything about it. Granted, she said she would only come to the city 1-3 times a week, but over the course of 50 years there is a lot to be seen and done. This is different from the usual traditionalist narrative that we usually see with a reluctance to adjust to a seemingly imminent change and already brooding anger over the changes already made, but rather a satisfaction with the way things are now, even though they have definitely changed a lot over her time there, and not wanting to change.
This woman intrigued me, primarily because I could not box her up and figure her out. Which is good for the purpose of this project.
Back to the two young, professional, white men that I interviewed in Arizona, the sentiment I got from them felt like apathy and indifference. This is different though. They had only been where they were at for 2 years while this woman had at least 50. Places hold a certain value in these circumstances, and the look in her eyes told me that she was fondly remembering the good times she had had in Santa Fe, and it seems like, essentially, that is the same Santa Fe she was looking upon when I was interviewing her. Still traditional, still family-oriented, still proud of its peoples, but, without a doubt, change.
Speaking candidly, I fear change. I fear the future and growing older and the unknown and inevitable events that I have no control over and have no idea when they will happen. But, I do not get caught up in this. I try to enjoy the now so that I may be fortunate enough to look upon my past with half as much fondness as that woman did when I was interviewing her. I could worry about change, but it is all the more empowering to grab a hold of myself, prepare, and make change fear me.
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