Marcia Alesan Dawkins, “The Future of the ‘Tan Generation’,” (interview with Jenée Desmond-Harris), The Root, June 6, 2012, http://www.theroot.com/views/browner-america-marcia-dawkins-qa. |
I understand the need to keep our blood. It’s scary to see fewer of us. But my sons aren’t any less loveable for being mixed, and while one is darker than the other, both of them will have a right to sing the songs of my nation and stand with me in honor.
Terese Mailhot, “‘Here Comes Honky!’: Why I Married a White Guy,” Indian Country Today Media Network, January 6, 2016. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/01/06/here-comes-honky-why-i-married-white-guy.
‘Here Comes Honky!’: Why I Married a White GuyPosted in Articles, Autobiography, Media Archive, Native Americans/First Nation, United States on 2016-01-09 20:14Z by Steven |
‘Here Comes Honky!’: Why I Married a White Guy
Indian Country Today Media Network
2016-01-06
Terese Mailhot
When my sister’s dates pulled into our driveway my mother would yell, “Here comes Honky!” My sister was always livid, embarrassed, but still, she went out with white men most of her adult life. I always thought she was a traitor. I thought someday my Indian prince would come: the son of an activist in braids, with a mind full of theory and a stoic wisdom. But surprisingly I fell in love with a white man, with dusty blond hair and blue eyes.
I was always told we were a dying breed. “Meet a Native man,” my mother said. Blood quantum is important where I’m from. Land rights, healthcare, housing, and assistance all deal with blood quantum and how Indian one is ‘officially.’ Besides that, marrying Native was always what I dreamed of.
For generations Native women could not govern their own bodies, because white men and officials dictated we were their wards. We were subject to exploitation, objectification, and degradation at the hands of white people. Why would I ever want to give my body or love to a white man, a man who could never understand my grief or lineage?…
Read the entire article here.