I am kind of frustrated about cultural identity. I mean, I have "white" skin, yet my heritage is Native American, English, and German. I feel like as a white person that I am expected to just embrace the culture of mainstream society instead of being able to celebrate my heritage...I feel like whites are seen as not having a culture. I guess I just wish I could have a better cultural identity...I feel like a mut! Native American issues and concerns are very close to my heart. Thankfully my Dad always taught me to be proud of Native American roots, and I am glad I got the thick hair and reddish skin and all and I have a real love of nature and God's creation. But, my skin is still white, and my hair is not black. So, I really probably wouldn't be accepted among a group of full blooded or other Native Americans. I guess I feel like I'm missing out on something. I have thought of getting involved with a Native American student organization, but I am not registered with my tribe (Choctaw) so I can't prove my heritage. Maybe someday I can register, but I have tried to find my great grandmother's name listed on the Dawes Rolls so that I could register and her name was not on it. I don't know her birthdate. Anyway, has anyone had the same frustrations? What do you think of whites and developing a cultural identity?
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Cultural Identity
- Thread starter Living4Him03
- Start date
There's nothing wrong with having ancestors from a mixture of countries and backgrounds. And if you want to celebrate one or more of those cultures, go right ahead. That mixture is a part of what makes you you. I have some good friends who have both white and aboriginal ancestors. Some have dark skin, others have light skin. Most have been brought up in a predominantly white society but are proud of their aboriginal roots. Have you considered getting involved with a Metis group of some sort? You would likely find a lot of people in the same boat as you 
Personally, I think that a shortcoming of North American culture in general is that we don't seem to consider what we are now to be a culture. It's especially bad here in Canada - no one seems to know just what Canadian culture is. If you ask someone here what nationality they are, there's a good chance that they'll reply with the nationality of their great great grandparents, even if their family has lived in Canada for several generations. People who they themselves and their parents and grandparents have never even been to a given country will claim that country as their nationality. One starts to wonder how long it takes until we can consider ourselves to be Canadian, and to have that be our primary cultural identity. I can understand adding modifiers like XXXXXan-Canadian if a person has dual citizenship or something, but why can't everyone else just be Canadian? Are things like that in the USA? I'm not saying that our background isn't important; I'm just saying that the present should also be important. And failing to acknowledge the present can lead to a lot of tension between people with different backgrounds. We should be able to celebrate and identify with our heritage from generations ago, but at the same time not lose sight of who we are now and the new traditions and heritage that we are developing for generations to come.
But I'm getting off topic. Like I said, if you want to celebrate some part of your heritage, you should feel free to do so. And if anyone (of any culture) doesn't want to accept you just because your background is a mixture, they are the ones who have a problem and are missing out on the richness that you could add to their group.
Personally, I think that a shortcoming of North American culture in general is that we don't seem to consider what we are now to be a culture. It's especially bad here in Canada - no one seems to know just what Canadian culture is. If you ask someone here what nationality they are, there's a good chance that they'll reply with the nationality of their great great grandparents, even if their family has lived in Canada for several generations. People who they themselves and their parents and grandparents have never even been to a given country will claim that country as their nationality. One starts to wonder how long it takes until we can consider ourselves to be Canadian, and to have that be our primary cultural identity. I can understand adding modifiers like XXXXXan-Canadian if a person has dual citizenship or something, but why can't everyone else just be Canadian? Are things like that in the USA? I'm not saying that our background isn't important; I'm just saying that the present should also be important. And failing to acknowledge the present can lead to a lot of tension between people with different backgrounds. We should be able to celebrate and identify with our heritage from generations ago, but at the same time not lose sight of who we are now and the new traditions and heritage that we are developing for generations to come.
But I'm getting off topic. Like I said, if you want to celebrate some part of your heritage, you should feel free to do so. And if anyone (of any culture) doesn't want to accept you just because your background is a mixture, they are the ones who have a problem and are missing out on the richness that you could add to their group.
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DogBluff
Miss Shopaholic
I'm in total agreement with the both of you. If you want to get technical, then I'm Native and European-American. But when you physically look "white", then it seems that your heritage is forgotten and that you are then grouped as simply "white". I think that it's such a shame that society has become so immune to different cultures. Maybe that's a good thing in some ways, but it seems like before long, all cultures will be watered down or forgotten all together.
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I totally hear what you all are saying. It is hard to find one's culture when one has such a mixed heritage (which i find enriching and glorious).
My heritage is Italian, Lebanese, and some European. But I'm as pale as all get-out, so my Italian and Arabic sides don't get to show through. But thankfully my skin means nothing in comparison to my blood
My heritage is Italian, Lebanese, and some European. But I'm as pale as all get-out, so my Italian and Arabic sides don't get to show through. But thankfully my skin means nothing in comparison to my blood
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There was a Native American organization at my college, and I'd say that most of the students involved looked European. The issue isn't what you look like. A friend of mine, her mother is both Native and African American (by way of her parents), and her father is Irish. My friend has incredibly fair skin and shiny black hair. She looks "white." But she was involved with both the Native American and African American groups on campus, and it was cool.
"Personally, I think that a shortcoming of North American culture in general is that we don't seem to consider what we are now to be a culture."
I tend to agree. But, at the same time, we do tend to consider the region in which we live as the defining line of our cultures. Both Canada and the US are so geographically large that there really isn't a pronounced "Canadian" or "United Statesian" culture. But there is certainly a Southern culture, a New York culture, a Sasketchewan culture, a Quebecois culture . . . you see where I'm going with that. You, of course, see that in other countries, but again, because of our sheer size, there's less of a country-wide culture than you might find in other countries. It seems that many other countries suffer from being lumped in with other countries in their continent, at least by many, if not most North Americans. I mean, how often is someone from a country in Africa just referred to as "African," as if that's supposed to tell you something. Africa's a big continent, and the Ghanian culture is significantly different than the Kenyan culture, for example. Granted, the US and Canada are divided into states and provinces, not separate countries, but I think if we were use the continent to country analogy with our countries, you'd see that there are certainly Canadian and American cultures, there are just more than two of them.
As for hyphenated Americans for people beyond third generation American, that seems to be more of a way to avoid using derogatory language than anything. True, there is a huge move to discover one's original culture, particularly on the part of people who are still not fully embraced by the dominant North American culture (actually, I'm speaking only of the US here, since I'm not as familiar with the "racial" issues in Canada), but I don't know many people who call themselves African-American who are using it as anything other than another word for "black" or any of the other words we've experienced here (again, that's just my experience, not a general rule). I mean, a white girl at my college who said she was African-American got major flak for doing so . . . . which was ironic, considering her family had immigrated here from South Africa when she was 8 years old.
"Personally, I think that a shortcoming of North American culture in general is that we don't seem to consider what we are now to be a culture."
I tend to agree. But, at the same time, we do tend to consider the region in which we live as the defining line of our cultures. Both Canada and the US are so geographically large that there really isn't a pronounced "Canadian" or "United Statesian" culture. But there is certainly a Southern culture, a New York culture, a Sasketchewan culture, a Quebecois culture . . . you see where I'm going with that. You, of course, see that in other countries, but again, because of our sheer size, there's less of a country-wide culture than you might find in other countries. It seems that many other countries suffer from being lumped in with other countries in their continent, at least by many, if not most North Americans. I mean, how often is someone from a country in Africa just referred to as "African," as if that's supposed to tell you something. Africa's a big continent, and the Ghanian culture is significantly different than the Kenyan culture, for example. Granted, the US and Canada are divided into states and provinces, not separate countries, but I think if we were use the continent to country analogy with our countries, you'd see that there are certainly Canadian and American cultures, there are just more than two of them.
As for hyphenated Americans for people beyond third generation American, that seems to be more of a way to avoid using derogatory language than anything. True, there is a huge move to discover one's original culture, particularly on the part of people who are still not fully embraced by the dominant North American culture (actually, I'm speaking only of the US here, since I'm not as familiar with the "racial" issues in Canada), but I don't know many people who call themselves African-American who are using it as anything other than another word for "black" or any of the other words we've experienced here (again, that's just my experience, not a general rule). I mean, a white girl at my college who said she was African-American got major flak for doing so . . . . which was ironic, considering her family had immigrated here from South Africa when she was 8 years old.
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Well, I'm Irish and German and some other mutty mixes.
No matter what I came from, I'm an American now.
No matter what I came from, I'm an American now.
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Katty
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Being that I'm Asian, I don't really "understand" the part about not being able to celebrate my roots, but its hard being able to express myself as I really am, Asian American. The Asian culture (Hmong to be exact) has a huge background of Animism (Shaman and ancestoral spirit worshipping). A big amount of the traditions held in this culture revolves around this-- weddings, funerals, birthdays, births... you name it, you probably have to acknowledge and worship your ancestors for it.
My dad is a pastor and therefore automatically made him an outcast when he became a Christian. Because of that, I've been raised more "americanized" than anything else. I've lost a lot of my culture and its hard to step into either world--- Hmong or "American." In one world, I'm not able to understand or immerse myself fully into it and in the other, I'm still asked if I was born in the U.S. or I'm spoken to very slowly as if I can't understand "normal" English... (hehe, technically, ghetto street talk and Ebonics doesn't count ) I'm able to understand a good amount of my native tongue, but I know that slowly, I'm losing the ability to speak it fluently. I'm proud of my "asian flavah" () but I think that its more "Americanized Asian Flavah" now more than anything else.
~Katty~
.... not sure where I was going with this anymore....
hehe. Did this make sense?
My dad is a pastor and therefore automatically made him an outcast when he became a Christian. Because of that, I've been raised more "americanized" than anything else. I've lost a lot of my culture and its hard to step into either world--- Hmong or "American." In one world, I'm not able to understand or immerse myself fully into it and in the other, I'm still asked if I was born in the U.S. or I'm spoken to very slowly as if I can't understand "normal" English... (hehe, technically, ghetto street talk and Ebonics doesn't count
) I'm able to understand a good amount of my native tongue, but I know that slowly, I'm losing the ability to speak it fluently. I'm proud of my "asian flavah" () but I think that its more "Americanized Asian Flavah" now more than anything else. ~Katty~
.... not sure where I was going with this anymore....
hehe. Did this make sense?
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I think your perspective is interesting Katty! I didn't think about the ancestor worship or other religious practices that are such big parts of life in so many cultures that being a Christian would make it hard to be part of. Most Native American tribes worship nature, spirits, and ancestors, although there are many Christian Native Americans. I am most interested in the artwork and handicrafts, history, languages, and native foods. It makes me sad that more of those types of cultural practices have not been preserved, which I think is partly the fault of our government not acknowledging the importance of Native American culture. Not to knock the government, it's just it seems no one really cares about Native Americans anymore.
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Living4Him03 said:
Shesh, you should come to my University then, but given the location and history, it's no surprise.
I have to say, good for you on trying to understand your tribes' background and culture. Not enough people seem to care about it anymore. My favorite was a guy that was 1/4 'native american', but "I don't know which tribe"... heh. If you care about it, I'd encourage you to share it with others. I wish our public schools required a course in American Indian culture.
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Living4Him03 said:
I'd have to disagree with part of that. I don't think that it is the government's place to ensure that cultural practices are preserved; I think that it is something that should be done privately by individuals/families/communities. Yes, heritage is important and needs to be remembered, but it isn't something that the government needs to get their fingers into.
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two feathers
of the wilderness
Living4Him03 said:
Native people revere nature, spirits and their ancestors, they don't worship them. Each First Nation believes in and worships a deity (the Shawnee believe in Moneto, the Kaska Dena believe in Dinetah, etc, etc...)
In regards to your cultural identity...don't sweat the fact that your bloodline hails from different origins. God mixed you up in his holy blender for a good reason. So don't waste your time wishing you were something you're not or will never be. And don't worry about not being accepted into certain circles. Of course full blooded Indians won't accept as a full blood, but they will accept you for who you are. So present yourself with an open mind and an open heart; offer your beautiful spirit and pay no mind to those who wish to judge you based on your mixed ancestory.
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I apologize for getting that wrong about Native worship/religion...I have only been taught what I know through social work classes, which tells you that our education in schools, at least the ones I have attended, is lacking in education about the Native cultures. I'ts not so much worrying about being accepted into certain circles as it is having an identity and a culture to celebrate and be proud of instead of feeling guilty that God made me a white girl. I feel guilty in wanting to celebrate being white because white people have historically (not that others have not also) been the oppressors, especially to Native Americans. I'm just not sure why God mixed me up as He did! If I had my choice I would have been full blooded Indian, but I guess God has His reasons, I still wonder why though.
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Living4Him03 said:
All cultures and people have done some pretty nasty things, including American Indians to each other's tribes. Part of their downfall was their inability to get over the hate many tribes had for each other, Europeans were able to play off that.
I think we need to stop worrying about who did what and whose culture should be celebrated by whom. They should be learned and carried on by all Americans, in my opinion.
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Periann
Well-Known Member
I think so many of us in the world today, especially in our generation, is a mix of cultures. If you were born in one culture you were raised in another. Everything in combination gives a sense of perspective of who I am. One thing I have realized is that despite all the labels, we all have basically same hopes and fears, even if our taste in music is a bit different Globalization has ensured that no culture will remain undiluted for long.
Globalization has ensured that no culture will remain undiluted for long.
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Blessed-one
a long journey ahead
Periann said:I think so many of us in the world today, especially in our generation, is a mix of cultures. If you were born in one culture you were raised in another. Everything in combination gives a sense of perspective of who I am. One thing I have realized is that despite all the labels, we all have basically same hopes and fears, even if our taste in music is a bit different
yes, talk about how some people are worried that many cultures are being destroyed these days.. i suppose that can't be helped. I'm chinese but live in Australia, though i don't have a mix of bloodlines, i wonder about myself sometimes as my chinese is predictably deteriorating. I regret that at times, but circumstances won't allow me other choices atm. I often wonder, if i had stayed in Asia, i probably would be studying chinese history and writing chinese literature rather than english, which does bother me at times because english is not my native language and i do worry about racism. A sad reality.
um, on the other hand, i like taking whichever parts of tradition that 'works' for me, so long as they're not unethical and contradictory to God's teaching.
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I have a problem with the culteral society in America (or should I say in the US as "America" does not only include the US) because of the "racial lines" that are drawn. I live in an area that is predominantly Mexican and you almost feel like you are living in Mexico. My sister's boyfriend is black and they have 3 kids and their kids arne't viewed as mixed, inter-racial, or anything along those lines, they are simply considered "black" or African-American. How many black people in America were actually born in Africa? And why is it "African"-American? Africa is continent, not a country and not only black people live in Africa. What about the white population or the Egyptians or the Arabics? Wouldn't they technically be "African" if they live in Africa?
The problem is, everyone is allowed to have an identity, a culture (even if it is incorrect as in the case of African-Americans) except "whites". If you are black, whether your ancesters are from Africa or not, you are African-American. And yet whites are simply white. No one is ever offended at being called white and yet we can't call blacks black. If we call them African-American, shouldn't they at least call us Caucasion or something? (Not that I would call myself anything other than white, but it seems very discriminatory)
And, it doesn't matter that I'm half German, I'm not a German-American. I'm a white American. And yet white people are not supposed to have any ancestory, any heritage. You can have Black History Month, Native American History Month, Latino History Month, etc, but not a White History Month. As if white people either have no history or were originally from the US (which we know is not true) and therefore not worth celebrating because children learn about American history in school.
Sorry, this is a lot longer than I had intended. This is just an issue that really bothers me. I have no problem with celebrating heritage, but either everyone should have equall aknowledgment or we should realize, "hey, I'm an American" and leave it at that.
The problem is, everyone is allowed to have an identity, a culture (even if it is incorrect as in the case of African-Americans) except "whites". If you are black, whether your ancesters are from Africa or not, you are African-American. And yet whites are simply white. No one is ever offended at being called white and yet we can't call blacks black. If we call them African-American, shouldn't they at least call us Caucasion or something? (Not that I would call myself anything other than white, but it seems very discriminatory)
And, it doesn't matter that I'm half German, I'm not a German-American. I'm a white American. And yet white people are not supposed to have any ancestory, any heritage. You can have Black History Month, Native American History Month, Latino History Month, etc, but not a White History Month. As if white people either have no history or were originally from the US (which we know is not true) and therefore not worth celebrating because children learn about American history in school.
Sorry, this is a lot longer than I had intended. This is just an issue that really bothers me. I have no problem with celebrating heritage, but either everyone should have equall aknowledgment or we should realize, "hey, I'm an American" and leave it at that.
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this re-naming phenomena isn't limited to "blacks" or americans -- when other people name you, without any regard to your culture or identity, you feel compelled to re-name yourself, re-claiming your culture and identity, once you have enough power.Etharia said:
and "blacks" in america have chosen "african-american." it make no sense to you, but since they choose it, it obviously does to them.
anyway, "white" is also apart of this re-naming phenomena when you think of it because there once were very distinct, and seemingly insurmountable, divisions among whites (ex. by countries -- emmigrant status vs. native status, and by religions -- Catholic, Prostestant, Jew). so the fact that they chose to disregard those divisions, and see a collective identity amongst themselves, is progress, even though it creates its own problems.
2 questions though, what does "caucasion" mean, and how would it better reflect your culture(s) than "white"?
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