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Chicago, Illinois

Blackneto wrote:

marshaeb wrote:Raised in the boonies south of Syracuse and the Onondaga Nation in NY; five years in Houghton, NY; then moved to Pennsylvania and live in the boonies (once a country girl, always a country girl) northwest of Harrisburg, halfway between Harrisburg and Penn State (Nittany Lions rock, as do the Steelers and the Pirates!).


Marsha

we might be some kind of related.
Dad's family was Onondaga about 2 generations before him.

That would be so cool, Blackneto. Sad to say, I did a poor job of writing, and no native blood runs through my veins. My ancestors were from Scotland, Holland, France and England (but I identify with my father's father's people, who were Scottish, and I have the red hair and green eyes to prove it). Of course, with that many choices, maybe we're related anyway.

This would have been a much better way to word that sentence: "Raised in the boonies south of the Onondaga Nation, which is south of Syracuse, NY." One thing I can do very well is spell and say "Onondaga." I lived outside of the village of South Onondaga not far from Onondaga Hill and Onondaga Lake in the Town of Onondaga in Onondaga County; my high school was Onondaga Central School; and I chose not to attend Onondaga Community College.

The Onondagas have a school on their land, but it only goes up to the 8th grade. After that, the Onondaga teens either went to my high school or one other, so I did have the good fortune to know some of them. And y'know, "they" were just like "us," except "they" had an awful lot of negative stereotypes to endure and overcome, and "their" skin color was what most of the whites tried to achieve with tanning chemicals. (will we ever learn?)

These things about the Onondagas stick out in my memory: (1) Adele Shenandoah, a girl in my class. Easily the most beautiful female I've ever seen (inside & out). (2) When I was a kid, I loved going to the Green Corn Dance every fall with my family, listening to the music, seeing the historic outfits, etc. (3) My sister and I loved going through the historic Onondaga village at the New York State Fair in Syracuse every year. (4) Mostly, though, I remember the sense of outrage and shame I had developed by the time I was a teenager on behalf of my government and my race. There were only two choices of how to get to Syracuse, and the closer/more convenient way was through the Onondaga land. We traveled that route a LOT because our town only had a small corner store, and most anything we needed came from "the city." When the United States Government took 95% of the Onondagas' land, it made sure that they ended up with the worst 5%. A lot of it is a swamp, literally. These people developed democracy 3,000 years ago; they had a well-developed, peaceful society; and what they have to live on now is primarily a swamp. As you can tell, it infuriates me every time I think about it. I'll calm down now.

If you haven't been able to visit the Onondaga Nation and the people who helped to form your heritage, I hope you'll be able to at some point. Go during The Fair (there is only one - ha!), which always runs a week+ until Labor Day (this year, it started yesterday). It's huge (more than 375 acres, per their Website: http://www.nysfair.org/home.php) and a great time.

Hmmmmm. Guess I've babbled on long enough. We may not be related, but I do feel like we have a unique connection -- beyond the connnection of having sleep apnea, that is. Thanks for mentioning it!

Marsha

Hey Marsha, thanks for really capturing the feeling behind why I am a Native living historian, despite having no Native blood in me.

Hey, you like costumes.... I know people in your neighborhood... I'm not telling you to BE NATIVE, but there's lots of fun things to be done.

And I play a Native because at some of the historic sites I volunteer at, there were historically NO 100% European women living there. They were all either full blood Native or Metis (mixed blood). So, I play a Metis woman - with my pale skin and blue eyes. And since I KNOW actual Metis people who are EVEN PALER THAN I, and have RED HAIR and GREEN EYES, I don't worry about it.

LOL,
Babs

OK, if everyone filled in their LOCATION with the City and State where they live this thread would not be necessary.

Babette wrote:Hey Marsha, thanks for really capturing the feeling behind why I am a Native living historian, despite having no Native blood in me.

Hey, you like costumes.... I know people in your neighborhood... I'm not telling you to BE NATIVE, but there's lots of fun things to be done.

And I play a Native because at some of the historic sites I volunteer at, there were historically NO 100% European women living there. They were all either full blood Native or Metis (mixed blood). So, I play a Metis woman - with my pale skin and blue eyes. And since I KNOW actual Metis people who are EVEN PALER THAN I, and have RED HAIR and GREEN EYES, I don't worry about it.

LOL,
Babs

Thanks for the thoughts, Babs. Y'know, I've thought of a number of things to respond with about costumes, but every time, I get a visual of "TARGET" plastered on my forehead. Think I'll pass.

Marsha

becka wrote:OK, if everyone filled in their LOCATION with the City and State where they live this thread would not be necessary.

True -- but not nearly as much fun.


Marsha

marshaeb wrote:Thanks for the thoughts, Babs. Y'know, I've thought of a number of things to respond with about costumes, but every time, I get a visual of "TARGET" plastered on my forehead. Think I'll pass.

Marsha

Let me qualify that "TARGET" comment.... not that you or anyone would be on the attack, but that others, mostly or maybe even exclusively male types, would find the topic irresistable and start in again about girls wearing costumes. It's fine, it's funny, it's fun, it's cute, but I'm just not in the mood. (Rats! Meant nothing!! It seems I can't get out of this gracefully. Maybe we should just let the guys go back to talking about their hoses. I'm getting outta here.......)

Marsha

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