Indianz.Com > News > Ivan Star Comes Out: Respecting the rights of all people

Respecting the rights of all people
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Native Sun News Today Columnist
No matter where I go on the Pine Ridge Reservation these days, I am called “Grampa.”
Other times, Leksi (Uncle), other times I am Tanhansi (Cousin-male) and Sicesi (Cousin-female). A lot of these people are not my blood relatives but do so for good reason. Our cultural customs certainly and continually contribute to a positivism within our modern society that remains unprecedented anywhere in the world.
Off reservation, I am the immediate subject of suspicion. I am often treated like a criminal by individuals as well as their modern institutions. Also, I am looked upon with suspicion and often alienated by “tribal” card carrying members of the new federal Oglala Sioux Tribe.
Thankfully, the few I attended school with are genuinely amiable. However, most appear comfortable within their own peer group.

Ivan F. Star Comes Out can be reached at P.O. Box 147, Oglala, South Dakota, 57764; via phone at 605-867-2448 or via email at mato_nasula2@outlook.com.
Note: Copyright permission Native Sun News Today
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