Gyasi Ross: Celebrating accomplishments of Indian mothers

Monday, May 9, 2011  

"I’ve watched a whole lot of Native moms get healthy and take control of things in the past year. In fact, Indian moms showed their super powers in many ways—both great and small—in 2010 and early 2011. Now, I don’t give a whole lot of credence to “End of the World”-type theories, but maybe moms are getting ready to fight a battle for the souls of Indian people in 2012 (it is election year, after all—maybe they’ll give Sarah Palin a wedgie or slap The Donald silly)?? I don’t know.

But they are flexing superpowers. For example, I watched my mom lose about 40 pounds and turn into something of a health nut. I’ve secretly joked that she’s either 1) got her eye on the UPS man, a handsome fella, or 2) getting ready for one of those Native-themed calendars. After all, she looks good in turquoise. Either way, her weight loss was only coincidental to an overall arch of “getting healthier” for her—she’s taken control of her life in many other small and subtle ways as well. To wit, she learned the value of regularly servicing her car—which seems trivial, I know, but judging by the massive amounts of defunct cars that we’ve historically had parked in front of our house, maybe it’s not quite so “trivial.” Also, she’s maintained her spiritual faith and continued to set a remarkable example of a spiritual Native woman.

I think this year she’s really learned the value of maintenance—her body, her car and of course her soul. Get those oil changes, mamas!

Still, it wasn’t only my lovely mom who flexed her muscles in 2010-11—not at all. In fact, there were many, many others. One happens to be one of my heroes, Elouise Cobell, a beautiful Blackfeet woman who spoke up on behalf of many, many other Indian people years ago. She took on the U.S. government and won a huge and unprecedented settlement for Indian people. Now, that’s a real Indian mama! The settlement wasn’t perfect—nothing ever is—and perfection is even rarer when you’re talking about something of this magnitude. Therefore, in true Native fashion, some other incredibly proactive and brilliant Indian women—Angelique EagleWoman and Kimberly Craven—once again took the initiative and rightfully said that perhaps the settlement that Cobell bravely initiated was not for everybody. That seems to makes sense—one size, with Indian people, usually doesn’t fit everybody (after all, have you ever seen a Hopi standing next to a Blackfeet?).

Thus, these strong Indian women presented some options for Native people, as Indian women often do. And in all these instances Native women led the charge."

Get the Story:
Gyasi Ross: Mothers (Indian Country Today 5/6)