Note: This I actually started working on before Thanksgiving. Knowing that, it makes more sense. Particularly why the prayer I wrote about in “Verbal Artist” really touched me.
Also, a reminder that this is truly NOT political commentary. It continues to be my attempt to figure out the world and why I am here. Why have I gotten more time than others? There HAS to be a reason. So, in that struggle to comprehend, I now need and want to understand why people who have healthy children and grandchildren don’t look at other kids with more compassion? There must be an answer. Right?
Near where I grew up is an Indian Reservation. For a short while we had Native American neighbors. My sister played with the little boy. Louise was my classmate. She was super smart. She loved to read so much she would wake up and read before school…in high school! My art teacher in elementary school was Native American. My Dad bowled with him.
I didn’t particularly like the reservation. Just riding through the area was depressing. On the fairly rare occasions there was flooding, good portions of the reservation were under water. And when I visited my brother in Arizona I thought the reservation there didn’t appear to be land that would produce much. This explains some of the frustration I wrote about in “The Artist’s Brush”.
Anyway, prior to Thanksgiving I had the occasion to speak briefly with a guy whose degree was in Cultural Anthropology. During the course of the conversation I mentioned Native Indians. I mentioned what I just told you above. It was a topic he was particularly interested in. For his thesis he had wanted to write about the most discriminated group in American society. He studied the situation of Blacks, Women, and Native American Indians. He had, based on his study and perspective, chosen the Native American Indians. Unfortunately, our conversation got interrupted just at that point in time. But, you know what? I kept thinking about reservation life. And I wondered if Native Americans celebrate Thanksgiving? At least those native to the Northeast? And I wondered, why don’t I know the answer to that?
I watched an excellent documentary on the History channel. So then it began to really nag at me. Based on how it worked out for the Pilgrims as opposed to the Indians, I couldn’t see what they would be thankful for. Lots of people would say they should be thankful for the “standard stuff”: family, health, friends, etc. True. But I’m not talking about that list. That’s what I’ll call “The Personal List”. I’m talking about the big picture, “The Corporate List”.
I hear a lot about being thankful for our country. No argument from me. This is where I grew up. This is where I got the opportunity to go to another country as a foreign exchange student. A kid like me; no money whatsoever to do that. This is where I was able to get a good education, because of state colleges and universities. This is where my daughter could get a good public school education. This is where she had unlimited opportunities to do whatever she might have wanted. So, again, no argument from me. I am extremely thankful for all of that. But I still can’t help but wonder if all Native Americans, regardless of where they live, can say the same thing? If they look at their treatment by our “Christian” country, what, specifically, would they be thankful for?
And I repeat, why don’t I know the answer? All I do know is this. I want to care the same about other people’s children and grandchildren as I do mine. Anything I wanted for Natalia, I want to want for other babies born in this country. As far as I know, I do. I want all of them to grow up and be able to have at least the same number of things to be thankful for on their “Corporate List” as I do on mine.
