Raising Native American Children off the Reservation - Essay Example

Raising Native American Children off the Reservation As I raised my children both on and off their native reservation,they were often frowned at by their tribal members. Just as Barbara Ehrenreich saw no need to embrace her culture as she watched others stand up and proudly reclaim their roots, I sank back deeper into my seat. I saw no need to have my children embrace theirs. Some people said that they were being raised to be urban Indians and that I was keeping them away from their heritage and traditional ways. Many tribal parents believe that it is necessary to raise one’s tribal children on the reservation for them to have an understanding of their cultural and traditions. This bothered me sometimes until the bigger picture, their future became clearer. Raising children off the reservation can be both beneficial and constructive depending on the situations. In the beginning, I questioned myself why I was doing this? Was it to rebel from a community that I did not feel connected to or was I thinking about the importance of my kids life? Keeping them off the reservation was not endangering them or making them culturally insensitive. I found it to be protective and looking at the well being of their future. Many would disagree with me and say I was selfish because one should be respectful of his or her culture. Calling my children names, frowning at them and not being allowed to participate in certain activities they wanted were some of the problems my children faced for not being fully involved within their tribe. I thought this was not crippling their opportunities, but allowing them to see what else was out in the world and not in the reservation. Most Native Americans find it oaky not to be educated; and instead opt to work for their Tribal Casino and Resort. This was not going to be the situation for my children. During my kids youth was apparently the time when Native American education was not taken seriously. At this point, the damage on the youth revolved around things such as addictions, lack of world experiences, good healthcare, and crime. Originally, we had opted to raise our kids in the reservation because it was convenient for them to attend tribal schools where it was inexpensive and sometimes had free childcare. The older the children got, it became obvious their education had to be a priority in our lives; thus, we decided to move. With graduation rates at an all-time low and test scores getting lower, it was evident this was the best move my children. I wanted my children to have the opportunity to learn and have new experiences. My kids’ grandparents were not happy about my move, but as the children started to develop and their minds becoming engaged in ways that the reservation had not been able to offer, they started to come around in order to support my decision in their education. However, they were still concerned that they would lose connection with their heritage and traditions. I took their concerns to heart but with some of the negative issues such as poor health care, crime and addictions, I still felt it was important to have the majority of the kids’ times spent off the reservations. There was a high rate of home break-ins, neglect and miss diagnosis of patients in their health care facilities and children as young as 12 years old becoming addicted to things such as meth, alcohol and prescription medication. I was not going to take a chance with my kids when they were at such a vulnerable stage in life. Supporting their culture when we could or participating in activities as long as it never hindered their life or education was what we did to the fullest. During this time, the life experiences my children were receiving were undeniably something they would have never gotten if they were raised in the reservation. The apprehension of them being accepted into their tribe with the majority of their free time spent out in the inner city was also a concern of some of their friends and peers. They have been called names and sarcastic remarks made about them for not being native enough and having absolutely nothing to do with their bloodline was prejudice on their behaviors. According to Barbara, “everybody has a past and the past is nothing.” This explicates the fact that it was wrong for people to judge my kids. Twenty years later and I am back living on the reservation with my children who are now older. Moving back was for life event reasons but certain that things will not be the same as the children are older and have their own beliefs. As a family, we have decided what we want to accept as our family traditions. However, I have given them the ability to choose for themselves what part of their culture they want to be involved in. They now have the mental capacity to make these decisions for themselves. Had they been raised on the reservation, I am not sure they would be able to make sound decisions on their own. They have learnt the importance of education and how one can still be involved with his or her culture despite not living in the reservation (Barbara). It is important for people to have their own idea of what they want to be included in, and not just forced because it was something they were born into. My kids grandparents’ were hesitant on agreeing agreed with education off the reservation, but now that their grandson is the first in their family to attend a four-year university they have seen with their own eyes the importance of it. Works Cited Ehrenreich, Barbara. “Cultural Baggage.” New York Times. 1992. Print Read More