My Life as a Fake Native American

I am unsure if this counts toward my final tally of blog posts but I wanted to share it with the class. This is an excerpt from my Autobiography assignment where I talk about how my nickname came to be “Chief,” and how I am often mistaken for a Native American. It may look a bit lengthy online but I hope some of you will find it to be entertaining. Enjoy!

Ever since I can remember, people have been asking me what nationality I am. When I was younger I would feel a little uncomfortable and just tell them what I was. But now I like to have a little fun when I am asked the question. Now I turn the tables and reply, “What nationality do you think I am?” Usually, the person who gathered up enough courage to ask me in the first place becomes the uncomfortable one and tells me he or she was just wondering. End of conversation. The reason I like to play around with this question is by no means because I am ashamed of my heritage. Instead, it is because I have been trying to keep a mental tally of how many times I am mistaken for a Hawaiian/American Indian.

I acquired the nickname, “Chief,” when I was in junior high. At the time, I was unsure of the moniker’s origins and assumed my friends called me “Chief” because they thought I was a great leader. After all, I was pretty physical on the basketball court back in my day, a spiritual leader by example one might say. It wasn’t until I saw the film, “One Flew over a Cuckoo’s Nest,” years later that I discovered the birth of my nickname. Apparently, my friend’s father had attended one of our park district basketball games and saw me grabbing rebounds and playing solid defense like I was Dennis “The Worm” Rodman. He also noticed that I was a pretty stone-faced fellow who didn’t talk much. These same characteristics are shared by the Indian Chief who plays basketball in “Cuckoo’s Nest.” Add to the mix we both have brown skin and my friend’s father started calling me “Chief.” The nickname spread like wildfire and pretty soon, the whole school, even opposing teams, knew me as “Chief.” I can’t complain though, at least it’s better than “The Worm.” That was the beginning of my life as a misunderstood fake American Indian.

I can remember my senior year of high school football. All of the friends I grew up with attended my rival high school because I was the only one who grew up on the west side of the district border (WEST SIDE!). The week that our schools played one another I called my best friend who played defensive line for the other team. He told me that during their film scouting session, one of their coaches told the team that “Stagg (my high school) has this guy named Chief,” and they should watch for him. I’m not trying to boast about opposing schools thinking I was good, in fact, I hate the spotlight, but I am just trying to illustrate how it is safe for me to assume that anyone who knows me as Chief will most likely think I am of Indian descent. With all of this being said, I am extremely unfamiliar with any type of American Indian culture or tradition. I have of course been exposed to many ignorant stereotypes society has about American Indian culture, such as the time in junior high when my childhood enemy told me to go back to my tepee and inform my mother that he had a wonderful time doing whatever it is they did together the previous night. In his eyes, I was in fact an Indian, which meant I undoubtedly resided in a tepee hidden away in the forests of Worth, Illinois.

Of course, this kind of ignorance should be expected by children in junior high. The amount of ignorance being displayed should reduce as a person gains more life experience and education, right? Well, I am guilty of giving in to stereotypes as recent as two years ago. This is when I saw the film, “Dead Man,” starring Johnny Depp as a fugitive cowboy who meets an Indian named “Nobody.” Nobody is the stereotypical American Indian. He speaks very few words, conducts strange ceremonies, and is obsessed with trading his goods for tobacco. I thought he was the coolest character back then. But it is only recently that I realize how demeaning this portrayal of American Indian life is to their history and struggles. I am somewhat ashamed by how much television and pop culture has shaped my ideas of American Indian culture. Although I don’t think I am the only one poisoned by the media, I want to wipe my slate clean. The documentary on John Trudell we watched the other day really opened my eyes to the complete disregard in which the larger American Indian population has been treated since the arrival of Columbus. I am intrigued and inspired by the revolutionary actions Trudell led and I really hope that we delve deeper into American Indian activism.