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The American Indian Quarterly 27.1&2 (2003) 376-380



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An Open Epistle to Dr. Traditional Cherokee of the Nonexistent Bear Clan

Prologue

There is an ancient beautiful Navajo story that tells of deceit and ethics and how one should stay in balance with the universe through honesty and integrity. Long ago, two parents were talking about their offspring. Coyote said to Deer, "I cannot get over how beautiful your babies are and how you put those beautiful specks on their bodies." They both turned to see a pair of graceful spotted fawns bounding over sagebrush while behind them scrambling about were the clumsy coyote pups. Deer said to Coyote, "Some things are not meant to be, your babies are beautiful and unique in their own way." Coyote persisted, "I would love to have striking spots on my children—just like the fawns—how did you put marks on them?" After much debate, Deer finally told Coyote how she put protective smudges on her babies. She said, "I use dry cedar wood, start a fire, put my children before the fire and the sparks shooting from the cedar fire are what mark my children."

Not long after that Coyote gathered his children, put them under an outcrop of rocks and started a fire. But his children could not escape. Coyote's fire was much too large and the smoke and fire scorched his children, nearly killing them. Today, coyote pups have a matte fur covering that is the result of this experiment and to remind us of the potential dangers on many levels that we could inflict on our own children.

Ethnic Deception

Dr. Traditional Cherokee of the Nonexistent Bear Clan (TCNBC) teaches at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in the College of Ecosystem Science [End Page 376] and Management. He personifies ethnic fraud like the coyote who nearly destroyed his children in an attempt to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, so to speak. Dr. TCNBC claims he is Cherokee but cannot produce the necessary documentation to prove his heritage. Ethnic fraud is deceitful. Claiming to be someone you are not fosters dishonesty and erodes the principles of diversity. Dr. TCNBC is not alone in the academic world.

My Great-Great-Grandmother Was a Mongolian Princess

I am a middle-aged Navajo man who recently returned to higher learning after an absence of nearly twenty years. During this time I was married, had children, and worked primarily in turnkey contract electronic manufacturing in materials management. I have worked extensively with my brother ironworkers building bridges, parking structures, and the like for a time as well. During this time I lived many places in the United States: Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming and traveled to many, many other cities. While dispersed between these moves and journeys I met First Nations peoples of many Indigenous nations and truly enjoyed these experiences.

Currently, I live in the great Navajo nation in district five, which is comprised of the communities of Bird Springs, Leupp, and Tolani Lake. I am a founding board member of Naataanii Community Services, Inc., whose primary goal is homebuilding for residents of Black Falls and the Naataanii area located within the Bennett Freeze. It is not an easy task as our ground water supply is contaminated with arsenic and uranium, and we deal with health issues related to these deadly pollutants. Our membership is a grassroots traditional group comprised heavily of an elderly population that freely chooses not to speak English. As such, our mindset and work is done entirely in the Navajo language.

It is safe to say that I have experienced many situations where my identity was a starting point of conversation. Usually, where Indigenous peoples were involved we had pleasant conversations. It is also my personal experience that there are many, many people out there who claim Native ancestry although they look non-Native and know nothing about "their culture," but who am I to question...

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