What's in Your Wallet?

What’s in Your Wallet?

~ Vanessa Bolin

Not long ago I was watching TV and a commercial came on, it was the one with the Vikings in it: you know the one I’m talking about, the credit card one where at the end they say “what’s in your wallet?” It reminded me of a post that was on a friend’s Facebook page; my friend made a statement about Indigenous people being the most documented people around. She stated, with a CDIB and a Tribal card to prove her linage she felt like “a race horse with a number tattoo on her lip.” She then went on to say that with all of the state recognized tribes popping up and people who “hid” from the US Army claiming to be Native now,  it appeared to her that they think there is something to be profited from claiming “indianness [sic].”  Her statement sparked a debate that lasted for hours.

There were many people who immediately spoke up claiming to be Native but couldn’t prove it. They spoke of being proud of their heritage and only wanting a sense of community, or that they had ancestors who were “not allowed” to be registered and that they should not be denied their rights because of this. Then there were those who have cards who said if you haven’t got a card then you aren’t.  One interesting comment by a Cherokee named David really made me think. He said, “If you can prove you have Cherokee ancestors then you are a descendant of Cherokees, nothing more.” He went on to say that just like in his case he had an Italian ancestor but he is not Italian. David believes that “wannabes are a menace to our tribal identity and integrity of our cultures. But even if they were benign, it would still be offensive that someone would take from us without our consent.”  As the debate continued a few began to say that the CDIB and Tribal cards were the government’s way of controlling us and amounted to nothing more than POW numbers. They believed that every person with a tribal card should destroy them and let the government know that they have no right to tell us who is and who isn’t Indigenous.

The controversy over Tribal ID’s and CDIB cards is a long one. To really appreciate this debate we need to go back to 1823 when the Supreme Court handed down a decision which stated that Indians could occupy lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands. This was because their "right of occupancy" was subordinate to the United States' "right of discovery."  In 1830, Andrew Jackson introduced the "Indian Removal Act" and pushed it through both houses of Congress. It gave the president power to negotiate removal treaties with Indian tribes living east of the Mississippi. Under these treaties, the Indians were to give up their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for lands to the west. Once the Indian Removal Act was passed Jackson immediately began the removal of thousands of Natives from their land. Despite valiant efforts on the part of many people and tribes, thousands of indigenous people where herded west to Oklahoma, Arkansas and beyond. This explains why today, of the 565 federally recognized tribes, only 21 are on the East Coast from Maine to Florida. It is sad that great tribes such as the Pamunkey who can trace their history back thousands of years and who still occupy the same tribal lands are not federally recognized or the Miami of Indiana; and there are some political problems that cause tribes issues, i.e. Schaghticoke of Connecticut.  There are many other tribes and people east of the Mississippi who find themselves in the same situation.

There are a lot of people today who have decided that they are Native. There is not a powwow, speaking engagement or event that I attend where I am not approached by someone who says “my great grandmother was an Indian princess” or “my great grandfather was a medicine man” I just can’t prove it. The minute I hear these words I groan inside and think here we go again. I wonder where were all of these “indians” were back in the old days when we were being ridiculed for the color of our skin and living in poverty?  Why were they hiding 30 years ago?  Where were they before we had benefits? 

None the less I stand there and listen to them as my eyes glaze over; who am I to tell these people who they are or aren’t? When they are finished I tell them my family’s history to hopefully educate them. I tell them of my heartache, when I think of my GGG Grandfather and Grandmother on the Trail of Tears or the anger I feel about the land that was stolen from them. Or I tell them of the tears that come to my eyes when I dance in the circle, with every swing of my shawl fringe, as I think of my Grandmother along the Trail, terrified and wondering what her children will eat and how will she keep them warm. These people who approach me, they cannot understand these feelings because they are my family’s memories that have been passed down to me, not their family memories, and I see their eyes glaze over as I talk.  Neither of us has gotten what we wanted from the other. I did not validate them and they did not understand that I was Native before Native was cool.

I will never forget the day as a little girl when we received our cards back in the seventy’s, my daddy thought the government was trying to track us so he hid the cards in a trunk for years...when a friend finally explained that the cards were meant just for identification my father laughed so hard he cried, he said;  “I didn't need no damn card to tell him who I am or where I came from, I just look in the mirror every day and I see all my relations in my eyes.”

I have to say my father was right on that. Like all true indigenous people I am proud of who I am and no matter what is or isn’t in my wallet, I was born Cherokee and I will die Cherokee; that is something that no government or person can take from me. Its not like I have a choice, I am who my Creator made me.

Banner Graphic: www.firstpeople.us

Photos by Billie Fidlin  All Rights Reserved

Taken at National Museum of the American Indian

Washington, D.C.