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Well, dear journal, I never
thought I would be writing this as a bit of history. Seems as though there
was a sizable brawl in the Tribal Affairs Building. Hasn't anyone ever been
told five on one is unfair and uneven? That courageous lady who has such
charming character and self-control seems to have reached the limit as to
what she would take, so I'm told.
Contrary to what has been
said about me, I am definitely not a person to become involved in politics.
This last week's carrying on's is a good reason for making a decision at
this time, it seems. I'm doing a little Texas Side Step on this one.
For the life of me I cannot
understand the ways of the “modern” tribe. Yes, I do understand the old
ways. So much of the early day traditions made a good lot of sense to me.
These new ways are difficult to understand.
There is the registration
issue. Originally, there was the tribe. Right? So today, there is a remnant
of that tribe? Wrong. Not too, awfully long ago a registration was made
and it was called, “a roll.” What was a remnant of people, has become a
great number, but only a descendant of a certain degree of blood can be on
that “roll,” to be considered a tribal member. In other words, I have a roll
number, but my children do not. How can that be? I think all the heirs of
people in the other races are able to inherit. Why not the Native American
children able to inherit their parents blood. So, essentially, there are
great numbers of Ponca's but are not legally recognized as Ponca.
Mostly, I just go about
teaching the good qualities of the culture and forget all the rest of the
politics. I love the old ways, when Gramma's and Grampa's were there for the
whole family, not locked up some place. It was great to always have an aunt
or an uncle available in place of a parent. The feeling of love and unity at
the campgrounds is such a special memory.
What this does is to cause a
break in the harmony of the family. The children feel left out and are
resentful because they are not considered Ponca. So what does this mean?
There are just too many small things to list. I'm like Scarlett in Gone With
the Wind, “I'll think about that tomorrow Rhett, darlin.” |
