Why Native Americans Should Be Proud of Their Heritage and Identity

Choctaw Red Warrior Statue at Tuskahoma, Oklahoma. Photo by Wyatt Stanford. 

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of speaking about an article I had written for the Odyssey Online at my weekly Choctaws of OU meeting, the theme of which was "dig your roots." In the article, I described my journey of realizing the importance of my Native American heritage. I learned even more about the importance that evening.

During my personal journey, I discovered two very important reasons why I am proud to be Native American. First, my Choctaw and Chickasaw ancestors walked to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. They sacrificed so much just so they could carry on their lives and lineage. Thousands of people died during relocation. By not saying I'm Native American, I would be disregarding the sacrifices of my ancestors.

The second reason is that Native cultures are on the decline. Ever since the arrival of Europeans in North America, Native American cultures have been faced with the threat of annihilation because of pressures to assimilate into Western culture. If nobody speaks up about being Native American now, who will? Who will carry on our traditions?

At the meeting that night, I talked about my article and a painting I created as my final project in a humanities course I took at Eastern Oklahoma State College. The painting is loaded with symbolism that illustrated some of the issues people who don't look Native American, like me, face. Afterward, we had a very insightful discussion where I learned even more about the importance of my Native heritage and identity issues that face modern Native Americans today.

When asked if someone questioned their being Native, most people in the room raised their hands. Our Choctaw Success Coach made the point that we are the only race of people who has to prove it on a card. Asking someone how Native American he or she is should be just as gauche as asking someone how black or white he or she is. We as a people shouldn't have to answer that question.

Someone said that he wasn't proud of being Native American because Native people are depicted as victims much of the time. A friend of mine had the perfect counter to this statement. She said that when she hears the word victim, she thinks of someone who has died. We aren't victims. We are survivors. The Choctaw are surging forward as a modern people into tomorrow.

One of the most interesting comments made was that the Choctaw people are unique. No other people in the world have the same traditions, culture or history as we do. We should celebrate our uniqueness.

At the end of the evening, I was very touched by our discussion. I hope that everyone felt pride in their Choctaw roots.