My Experience
W
hen I was born in New Mexico, my parents describe me as having a full head of dark black hair and dark, black eyes. My grandma said I looked like a Navajo baby, showing my Native American roots. I was also named after Annie Lyman, a Sioux woman and my ancestor. As a child, I loved reading. I remember sitting cross-legged on the floor with a small stack of books next to me, delicately flipping the pages. These books were well loved, with cracked spines and faded colors on the covers. These were books I held dearly; they were more special than the other books in my room. These books were a set of beautifully illustrated narratives about young girls from different tribes. They were going on adventures, talking to ancestral spirits, fulfilling their duties to their families and tribe. They even had arguments between the main character and their families. While at the time I didn’t know much about Native American culture, these books felt real to me. I wanted to go on the same adventures as these girls. They always learned and become better young women; they all had determination and cared a lot for their families and people. While my life was very different from these characters, I wanted to be like them. These books were a beginning to change my thoughts about the world and myself. These books were about strength, loyalty, and most importantly empathy. In elementary school, while we were learning about some Native American history, I brought these books to share. I wanted to bring these new perspectives to the classroom, where most of my peers were new to this topic. Although at the time, I was primarily concerned with my books not being destroyed. In elementary school we had an annual event called “Heritage Day”. Students would dress up in clothing representing the culture of their ancestry or country (we had a lot of diversity at my school). At night, there would be an assembly where students would go across the auditorium stage modeling their clothing while a teacher announced the culture they were representing. Afterwards, in the cafeteria, people would bring food from their culture for
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