Posts tagged donald fixico

Prior to breakfast with Donald Fixico, Distinguished Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University, my knowledge of American Indians* was a flatline punctuated with the kinds of words that help you pass an AP test: Andrew Jackson, Trail of Tears, and Geronimo. Plus Sarah Vowell is part Cherokee. And casinos… So it was quite a treat to sit down with Professor Fixico, who is Shawnee, Sac & Fox, Muscogee Creek and Seminole and author of 10 books about Native Americans. (Sidenote apropos of nothing: apparently his last name is so common among Creeks he called it the equivalent of mainstream’s “Smith.”)

   *per donald fixico it is OK to say “american indian” and even “indian.”

 ANYWAY, Turns out traditional Indians have a totally different way of viewing the world that’s incongruous with—but ironically, very useful to—mainstream life. Here’s some of what I learned at Crackers and Company Cafe in Mesa, Arizona. Any inanity is all mine. 

1. You are your community. In traditional culture, people think about who they are in terms of how they coexist with other people, animals, and the universe. It’s one big circle, and we are all in it together. 

2. If you want to understand people, look at what makes them laugh. This is from Lakota activist Vine Deloria Jr. Fans of Human Giant or Stoned Love, we are already simpatico.

3. “Seeing” is not just for your eyes. It’s absorbing the world through all your senses, taking into account dreams and intuition and hearing as well.

4. What we speak to we give life to. Apparently the Navajo nailed that phrase before yoga teachers? Silly me. Another related point, which I’d like to incorporate into my life: Listening is an activity in itself, separate from “thinking about what you’re going to say when this person is done talking.” (It’s a view shared by another tribe I admire: really solid improvisers). 

5. Instinct and intuition are prized gifts. Talents are divinely given to serve the community, and can be abstract qualities we can’t quite quantify, like someone who has intuition, or heals, or always knows the right thing to say. (My friend Joanna!) If these gifts are not honored, they can be taken away. (Use it or lose it, Joanna!) 

6. Grandmas spot gifts. Yay-being-useful-in-old-age. I don’t think anyone looks to mainstream America for tips on how to honor old folks.

7. It takes two generations to change attitudes. That is Donald Fixico’s guestimate, not mine, but my experience validates it. Hang in there, gays!