How often have you heard or said "I'm part Indian"? If you have, then
some Native American elders have something to teach you. A very touching
example was told by a physician from Oregon who discovered as an adult
that he was part Indian.

This is his story. Listen well:

Some twenty or more years ago while serving the Mono and Chukchanse and
Chownumnee communities in the Sierra Nevada, I was asked to make a
house call on a Mono elder. She was 81 years old and had developed
pneumonia after falling on frozen snow while bucking up some firewood.

I was surprised that she had asked for me to come since she had always
avoided anything to do with the services provided through the local agencies.
However it seemed that she had decided I might be alright because I had
helped her grandson through some difficult times earlier and had been
studying Mono language with the 2nd graders at North Fork School.

She greeted me from inside her house with a Mana' hu, directing me into
her bedroom with the sound of her voice. She was not willing to go to the
hospital like her family had pleaded, but was determined to stay in her
own place and wanted me to help her using herbs that she knew and trusted
but was too weak to do alone. I had learned to use about a dozen native
medicinal plants by that time, but was inexperienced in using herbs in a
life or death situation. She eased my fears with her kind eyes and gentle
voice. I stayed with her for the next two days, treating her with herbal
medicine (and some vitamin C that she agreed to accept).

She made it through and we became friends. One evening several years
later, she asked me if I knew my elders. I told her that I was half
Canadian and half Appalachian from Kentucky. I told her that my
Appalachian grandfather was raised by his Cherokee mother but nobody had
ever talked much about that and I didn't want anyone to think that I was
pretending to be an Indian. I was uncomfortable saying I was part Indian
and never brought it up in normal conversation.

"What! You're part Indian?" she said. "I wonder, would you point to the
part of yourself that's Indian. Show me what part you mean."

I felt quite foolish and troubled by what she said, so I stammered out
something to the effect that I didn't understand what she meant.
Thankfully the conversation stopped at that point. I finished bringing in
several days worth of firewood for her, finished the yerba santa tea she
had made for me and went home still thinking about her words.

Some weeks later we met in the grocery store in town and she looked down
at one of my feet and said, "I wonder if that foot is an Indian foot. Or
maybe it's your left ear. Have you figured it out yet?"

I laughed out loud, blushing and stammering like a little kid. When I got
outside after shopping, she was standing beside my pick-up, smiling and
laughing. "You know" she said, "you either are or you aren't. No such
thing as part Indian. It's how your heart lives in the world, how you
carry yourself. I knew before I asked you. Nobody told me. Now don't let
me hear you say you are part Indian anymore."

She died last year, but I would like her to know that I've heeded her
words. And I've come to think that what she did for me was a teaching
that the old ones tell people like me, because others have told me that a
Native American elder also said almost the same thing to them. I know
her wisdom helped me to learn who I was that day and her words have echoed
in my memory ever since. And because of her, I am no longer part Indian,

I
am
Indian.

THIS STORY PROVIDED BY LES TATE OF THE
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY.
11/18/96

Because of the layout of this site,
there are many pages, sub-pages and links...

To make it easier
to see exactly what is all here,
I have included a Site Map
through the Lodge.
If you get off the path during your journey,
just click on the site map.

PAINTING:
The painting is by artist, Teri Sodd and used with her permission. 
The painting is a ©Teri Sodd.  You may visit her wonderful site
HERE, where she does have paintings for sale!

©Copyright: Jugidahli Usdi 1998-2005
To the best of my knowledge no items appear that are not available
for free or link ware. 
Please e-mail if you see any copyrighted material on this site
and I will remove it or give credit to whom credit is due.