I am Mohawk.
On this day of #TruthAndReconciliation and #OrangeShirtDay ...
Let me tell you how my family has been affected by #ResidentialSchools.
On this day of #TruthAndReconciliation and #OrangeShirtDay ...
Let me tell you how my family has been affected by #ResidentialSchools.
https://twitter.com/VinceSchilling/status/1443590424753549312
My Mohawk grandmother, my Tota was sent forcibly to #ResidentialSchool.
My great-grandmother Minnie (Who did not speak English) was told that she could not have her daughters back.
Undeterred, she went back in the middle of the night and helped her daughters to escape.
My great-grandmother Minnie (Who did not speak English) was told that she could not have her daughters back.
Undeterred, she went back in the middle of the night and helped her daughters to escape.
I am proud of this blood running through my veins, my great tota Minnie and my tota are warriors.
But the story doesn't end there.
For the rest of my life, my tota was terrified.
But the story doesn't end there.
For the rest of my life, my tota was terrified.
When she had children, my tota fled from Akwesasne (in New York/Canada) all the way to California.
My mother had me at 17. I spent my formative years with my grandmother, my tota.
In Native culture, it is part of who we are to share traditions, our language, our songs.
My mother had me at 17. I spent my formative years with my grandmother, my tota.
In Native culture, it is part of who we are to share traditions, our language, our songs.
But my tota was much too afraid to tell me anything that was Mohawk.
I can only guess how terrified she was that if I learned Native ways, the authorities would think I was a Native boy that needed to be taken away to learn white ways.
I can only guess how terrified she was that if I learned Native ways, the authorities would think I was a Native boy that needed to be taken away to learn white ways.
In the several baby and toddler years I spent with my tota, she NEVER spoke a Native word, spoke a Mohawk song or shared a tradition with me.
She did sing, but they were American songs.
She became a hairdresser and dyed all of her daughter's hair blonde ...
She did sing, but they were American songs.
She became a hairdresser and dyed all of her daughter's hair blonde ...
She warned her children about staying away from the beach to avoid getting too dark.
She was in a constant state of fear and protection.
She was in a constant state of fear and protection.
Today, I don't speak my language fluently.
Today, I don't know all of my traditions.
Today, my family still struggles to learn Mohawk culture.
Many of my family members died at about 50 ... never having danced the Smoke Dance ...
Today, I don't know all of my traditions.
Today, my family still struggles to learn Mohawk culture.
Many of my family members died at about 50 ... never having danced the Smoke Dance ...
On this #OrangeShirtDay
Please know that #residentialschools
Are nothing more than cultural genocide.
Blessings and love to all those affected on this day of #TruthAndReconciliation
Please know that #residentialschools
Are nothing more than cultural genocide.
Blessings and love to all those affected on this day of #TruthAndReconciliation
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