#mjrydsfast231

Anyway, kidding aside, are you or have you ever been to Window Rock, i.e. the Navajo Nation? If not, do you live on a "Rez" as well? I have a few friends from WR. When I went unaccompanied (on a medically related call) I felt a tangible spiritual distance between myself and passers by. Although I was there to do something good, my mind started going back to all the things that I was taught about the old west and Native Americans, or "Indians" as we Euros mistakenly have called them through the years. I still keep in touch with my Navajo friends to this day, but that feeling still haunts me. It's a feeling of helplessness, like when I see a homeless person in the city of San Francisco or elsewhere. I try and give a little back or at least as much as I can but it never seems to be enough. I wish you and your people well now and in the future. Given the current administration in the United States we may not have a future. Okay off my political soapbox too. What would you as a native like to see change ASAP ? Enjoy the day and thank you for a great Tumblr site.

Thank you for your words and for the spirit you brought with them. I smiled at the humor, and I also heard the sincerity underneath it. Both are welcome.

I have not lived in Window Rock, though I hold deep respect for the Diné people and the land they come from. Not all Native people live on a reservation, and not all who do experience it the same way. Our nations, paths, and stories are many, even when outsiders were taught to see us as one shape.

What you felt there, that distance, was likely not rejection but memory. Our lands carry long echoes. Sometimes when someone walks in with good intentions, the land still speaks first. That feeling of helplessness you described is something many of us carry too, especially when we witness suffering and know it did not begin yesterday.

What I would like to see change as soon as possible is simple, though not easy. True listening. Real education that tells the whole story, not just the convenient chapters. Respect for our sovereignty, our children, our elders, and our right to exist without being romanticized, pitied, or erased. And care for the land, because when the land is wounded, everyone feels it whether they know why or not.

Giving back does not always mean fixing. Sometimes it means staying present, staying connected, and continuing to see people as human rather than symbols. The fact that you still walk with those questions and that concern tells me you are already doing more than you realize.