Hello to everyone! I was so happy to celebrate yesterday, October 12th, as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I grew up knowing nothing about my Oneida Culture and Language. I had heard for many years about Christopher Columbus. All my years in school I was taught that he discovered America and us Indians. I was also taught Indians were dirty and heathens! Watching TV Westerns taught me that Injuns were crazy, screaming savages! Well, after constantly hearing my relatives say, “Great-Grandma Sophie went to Carlisle with Jim Thorpe,” I wanted to know why she was sent to this far away school in Pennsylvania? It took me fifteen years of research and travel to learn why my Great Grandma Sophie was sent away from her home in Oneida, Wisconsin to Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Our government wanted Sophie to learn English, dress English, have an English name and never speak her Oneida language again. If she spoke Oneida, she was punished. So, here I am in the year 2020, telling her story and basically, mine. Today I understand why I looked red on the outside, but felt white on the inside. I looked Indian, but was colonized White. I was even prejudiced and ashamed of my Indian self! So, my book, Sky Woman Lives in Me, shares not only Sophie’s story, but mine too. So, I am thrilled there is a day to honor all Indigenous People. I no longer feel shame for being Indian. I am proud to be Oneida. With Sophie now in the ‘Spirit World’, I honor her, by sharing her story. Here is what the cover of my book looks like below. It is still for sale at http://www.lulu.com I will never stop sharing this story. This story is only one of many that need to be shared. Everyone needs to know the true history of the United States.
Everyone please stay safe during this Pandemic our country is now experiencing. Lastly, here is a poster I saw on the internet. The Indigenous Chief in the poster below, is Chief Seattle. In 1854 he said these words, which ring true today to all of us indigenous people who were colonized, “TO REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE, YOU WILL NEED TO FORGET WHAT SOCIETY HAS TRIED TO TEACH YOU TO BE…CULTURE MATTERS. BE PROUD. May Our Creator bless all of us. Sincerely, Roberta Capasso, Author of, Sky Woman Lives in Me. If you want to write an email to me, here is my email: bobbie@skywomanlivesinme.blog
Sky Woman Lives in Me 