Strong Women Stories Chapter 2

Chapter 2 titled “The Drum Keeps Beating: Recovering Mohawk Identity” by Laura Shuwager speaks of her personal journey with her own Native Identity (personally & per the government). Shuwager believes that her journey “is one of recognizing and voicing spirit. It is my ties to my ancestors, it is my reason for why, living in a non-Native society, embracing Native traditions and values had always felt like coming home”. Shuwager feels a deep connect to this portion of her heritage but she is unable to claim it because she is a mixed heritage. So this almost means she can have no voice that happens to the injustice to her people. It makes me connect this with my own identity of being an African-American. The phrase is too problematic because yes I am a person who is descendant of and African person, however I am not an African who lives in America, so I feel that I should not be classified as an African-American. This makes me wonder does she ever find people within her own community who shun her because she “not native enough”? Just a few thoughts.