General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Elizabeth Warren gets standing ovation at Native American conference [View all]srobertss
(261 posts)but its complicated. I worked around a lot of wannabe Native Americans who always made me uneasy. They would dance in powwows in full native garb. That was in the 80s. I dont think she was doing that, but I still have a complicated response to claiming a heritage that you havent lived. I even feel it myself. Im half Armenian and Im very careful to qualify that Im only half Armenian. When Im asked to check race and have only one choice, I check white. If I have multiple choice I also check Asian. But even then I sort of scoff at myself because Armenian Americans went to court in the 20s to get labeled white for immigration purposes. And I poo pooed the notion that we were survivors of the Armenian genocide, because my grandparents escaped before it. When I hit my 40s it finally dawned on me that perhaps I had inherited my grandmothers hidden grief over the loss of her parents.