Monday, 5/12/97 Seeking an identity in the United States Your
surrounding culture, not race, define who you are
The values of the culture that surrounds you are more important
in determining your identity than your blood quantum and skin color
is. How do you normally answer the question, "What are you?" Do you
refer only to your skin color? Do you refer to a foreign country?
Or do you refer to a state, or this country? Or do you avoid the
question by stating that you are a human? It is not always an easy
question to answer, especially in a country inherently made up of
mutts. All of you have considered this question. Many of you
struggle with this question. Often it cannot be answered in a short
sentence. And it can change over time. If you don’t have any
problems answering this question, if you are merely white, black,
Asian, Indian or whatever "and proud," good for you Now what does
that mean to you and your community? Are they just as proud of you?
Are you proud of yourself, or just the title that you give
yourself? Unfortunately, this place is home to many communities and
each of them are not contained in perfect bubbles, although some
try to be. Interaction is a fact of life, as is ethnocentrism.
Education can help blunt the effects of egos clashing, but
unfortunately it usually serves to do just the opposite. A little
knowledge and a chip on the shoulder can be a dangerous thing. If
you read Viewpoint regularly, you know what I mean. Most people
only see things in black and white. I’m lucky – I see things in
red. When I am asked what I am, I answer, "Tlingit." Then I usually
get a barrage of grammar school questions that I don’t even care to
regurgitate because the level of education about American Indians
among the adult students, faculty, staff and administrators who ask
these questions is insulting. Most people are somewhat curious
about other cultures. Yet they continue to make judgments and
decisions that can affect others based on their own cultural views
and biases. It is fun to watch others dance and celebrate odd
things. It is trendy or cool to buy something that they made. But
it is too difficult to learn about what matters to them. This
multicultural interaction is an everyday experience for most of us.
There are numerous groups around campus speaking languages that I
don’t understand. Language and cultural barriers can be broken.
Many of you cross those barriers every day. But you can never
change your genetic makeup or blood. This term "blood" is common in
Indian country, so I may have a different understanding of it than
some of you. Blood quantum has become an important issue for us,
since the U.S. government has used it to define Indian people. We
carry around cards and certificates to verify our level of Indian
blood. The CIB (Certificate of Indian Blood) that was issued to me
by the Department of the Interior says, "Joseph Galen Nelson: 3/4
Indian Blood." Cool huh? Many people wish that they could get their
hands on one of these so that they can get all of the free stuff
that Indians get. B.S. The government needs to issue a card that
allows Indian people to take back everything that was taken from
them. Although, I might start a black market of fake tribal IDs and
CIBs so that I can help some of my wannabe Indian brothers and
sisters get scholarship money and into law school. As you can see,
most Indians know their blood quantum. We are all "Bloods,"
"Breeds," or some variation. Do you know where your blood
originated? Is it your blood composition what you identify yourself
by or is it the community you associate yourself with? These two
things are not as interdependent as they once were or might seem.
For various reasons, there are non-Indians being raised on
reservations and full-blooded Indians growing up in central L.A.
Many Indians are products of this American education system that
does a poor job of teaching us the three "Rs" and a good job of
imposing $American values$. Most of our parents are products of a
system that took a heavy-handed approach to extinguishing our
culture. An elder in my community is often quoted saying, "I can
still taste soap when speak Tlingit." If you are raised in an
environment that is different from the primary source of your gene
pool, which community do you claim? If it walks like a duck and
talks like a duck… Your blood quantum is very telling of your
physical features and is inescapable. Therefore, it should be an
important part of your identity. But most people in this country do
not have blood purely of one culture. Can you spend proportional
amounts of time in each culture from which you are made? I don’t
think so. Although I would not mind going to Norway to see if their
government has a CNB (Certificate of Norwegian Blood) for me. My
only non-Indian grandparent was Hans Totland, a Norwegian
fisherman. I should have enough blood to enroll in their tribe. I
wonder what kind of scholarships and commodities they get. The
purpose of this discussion is to determine whether your blood
quantum or culture is more important in defining you as a member of
society. Personally, I think that cultural influences are more
important. I would have to argue that a full-blooded Tlingit Indian
(or anything else) who was raised in Beverly Hills, doesn’t know
any other Tlingit Indians, and knows more about Rodeo Drive and the
Dodgers than he does about a sockeye salmon should probably not
claim to be Indian on any application. So the question, "Who are
you?" needs to be accompanied by, "Where are you from?" Today,
answering what you are does not offer a lot of insight into who you
really are. Communities are what make people members of a society.
The people around you determine your level of responsibility and
commitment to the group. Unfortunately, many people only seek to
divide the group. This country was built on adversity and conflict.
We thrive on conflict. We cut people off on the freeway and yell at
all of the idiots on the road (except for ourselves, of course).
Differences are often easier to see than similarities, so we don’t
often take the time to realize our similarities. If your
surroundings define you, look around at the crowd that you choose
to blend with. Are you merely blending and are you cool with that?
As a member of this broader community of UCLA, you are obliged to
be responsible, productive and caring to your peers and elders.
Don’t let your skin color or the skin color of others blind you. It
is only possible to be proud of your heritage and skin color when
you can appreciate and respect the heritage and skin color of your
neighbor. If you do not understand and respect others, you cannot
be proud of your heritage, especially here, because that pride is
built on ignorance. Ignorance is a choice, and to truly understand
yourself, you need to know others. Maybe taking positive and
responsible role in this community we call UCLA will help you
answer the question of, "Who are you?" or "What are you?" the next
time it arises. Nelson is a member of the Tlingit and Haida tribes
of Alaska. His CIB number is A003278. Joe Nelson