Mark Rogers: Reality of being an invisible Indian in New York

The fateful question has finally come up, "Who are you with no recognition or reservation to speak about being Native American?" I used to have many different answers to that one. I now only give one response.

I write about Native American topics because I am Native American. I was born into the Turtle Clan of the Northeastern Woodland People. I say it this way because I am a descendent of nearly every Grand Sachem, Sachem, Sagamore and Sunksquaw from nearly every nation from Toronto to New York along the New England coastal region. I am a citizen of the Montaukett Indian Nation but my lineage includes the Pequot, the Wampanaug, the Narragansett, the Matinecock, the Meroke, the Wabanaki, the Quirripi and many others. I am in fact, one of those living descendents of Weesoequn-Yellowfeather, better known as Massasoit, that Julianne Jennings mentioned in her piece, "The Institutional Racism Against Black Indians.: Massasoit was a title roughly meaning "Grand Sachem." This is how by direct relation to one Grand Sachem, I am related to every Grand Sachem that ever lived and is living in the region. At least the ones with Turtle Clan heritage.

I was born to the daughter of a Turtle Clan daughter on the island of Sewanahke in Matinecock country, now more commonly known as Flushing, Queens. There are statues in Queens that say, "Here Lies the Last of the Matinecock." Many of them are my relatives and the "last one" passes on every several years. The local papers make a blurb about it and some one chisels, "The Last Matinecock",one more time in one more stone, then there's a parade and some refreshments and someone tries to buy their land. That's pretty much reality of being an Indian in the New York Metro area. You are invisible, mostly by choice.