This is a picture of me on the reservation with my great-great-grandmother, her daughter, my grandmother, my mom, and my sister.
I can count on one hand the number of times that I’ve been to visit the Six Nations Grand River Reservation, where my great-grandmother and her family once lived. Although I’m 1/8th Native American, I haven’t spent much time getting to know that part of my heritage. I visited the reserve a few times when I was younger, but that was before you needed a passport to get into Canada. As a child, I read books with my mom about our tribe, the Cayuga Nation, and I had a tribal doll as well as a traditional healing stone.
I loved learning about the unique part of my background, but it was never something that I was completely immersed in. My Native American heritage is something that I’m incredibly proud of, but I am ashamed to admit that I don’t know as much about my Cayuga background as I feel that I should. Aside from my Native American blood, I am also French along with a mix of various European ethnicities, and I definitely feel that I’ve grown up immersed in this culture much more than my Native American one. Regardless, the issue of whether I should claim my Native American heritage was never a question that needed to be addressed until I applied to college last year.
Colleges vary widely on how strictly they monitor applicants who claim Native American heritage, and some will accept as little as 1/32. At 1/8th, I miss the cut off for most federal scholarships, which is typically 1/4th, but I can still claim my heritage on applications without any problem. I really struggled with deciding whether or not to claim my heritage because although it’s something that I do identify with, I feel that it’s unfair to take away opportunities from others who likely need them more than I do.
This is a picture of my great-grandmother and her husband.
My great-grandmother grew up a member of the Cayuga tribe on the reserve. She barely made it through grade school, and she remained on the reservation until she was old enough to move away to Buffalo. She left because Native Americans face many obstacles and challenges on reservations. She left to pursue opportunities. She left because she wanted a better life for herself and for her children. If anyone deserves the aid given to Native Americans, it is someone like my great-grandmother. My grandmother and mother also both faced obstacles attributed to their background, which should also be grounds for federal aid, especially since it is largely the government’s fault that the obstacles were there originally. As a pre-med student at one of the most prestigious schools in Ohio, I am living proof of what my great-grandmother was able to accomplish. I am no longer placed under the strains that other Native Americans who have more tribal heritage encounter. Although my relatives and ancestors faced many hardships throughout their lives, I have not.
I was fortunate to grow up in a wonderful little town that provided me with all of the opportunities I could have ever needed. Not only was I given a first-class education, but I was also blessed with many privileges that many native students don’t get. Because my great-grandmother gave my family these opportunities, my Native American heritage never has hindered me. I was never discriminated against because of my race. I didn’t live on a reservation. And, for the most part, people don’t even know that I am Native American. So, how could I march up to Kenyon and expect them to give me money for being a part of a minority group when I haven’t even encountered the obstacles that others within my culture face?
I chose not to claim my heritage on my applications. Would I have gotten more money had I claimed it? Yes. Would I have gotten more opportunities had I claimed it? Maybe. Would I have felt guilty about it every day? Incredibly.
I didn’t choose to omit my Native American heritage because I’m ashamed of it. I chose to omit it because many Native Americans, who grew up on reservations or elsewhere, find it challenging to even make it to college. Many Native Americans struggle because their communities have been systematically neglected in the United States for years. And, although I identify as a Native American, I can’t identify with these obstacles. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunities that my family, especially my great-grandmother has given to me. And now I think that other Native American students deserve the aid that colleges and the government provide for them so they can make a better life for their families too.