A Culture of Loss - the Mourning Period of Paper Indians by April Gladue I had to read this article first from my new pile of articles with such a great name. Gladue is interesting to me in that she is also a government employee and while she explores the themes so many of us are struggling with around identity she does so from the other side. Gladue has her papers and is a "real" indian government recognized indian, but she do not have a connection to that title or lived experience behind it.
In this short piece she explores her sense of loss as a result of not knowing her indian side. She speaks about the challenges of a national reconcilliation exercise when so many indigenous people do not know who they are or who have still open wounds from the results of government practices. She speaks about how she feels a freedown to construct her identity on paper but recognizes how much of her exercise of reclaiming identity comes from books - so that she has created an intellectual response to issues and pan- aboriginalsstuff, but that she lacks the relationshional aspects and connections to the anscestors.
She talks about what she wants to reclaim for herself and family, but how she feels challenged when it comes to moving beyond the paper indians and into a real life. This resonates for me as a person of the papers. This is where I am most comfortable. But I need to makes sure to challenge myself to sometimes move beyond this space and connect with others directly.
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