Native American - Need 2 Get Back to My Culture
Donation protected
Hi Friends,
I just want to live with my real family and can't due to financial problems. My adoption didn't turn out very well unfortunately..
I am 54 years old. I can no longer work because I have a disability, unfortunately. I'm normally not a person who would do this for myself, but I'm getting older and am beginning to doubt I'll ever be able to go home to my tribe (Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma) and learn my culture.
I can't help but think about chances that were missed, times that we wanted to do something but were too scared to try. I don't want to look back on my life at a later time and regret that I didn't even try. I've been waiting a very long time for this opportunity.
My wish is that I can spend the last part of my life with my relatives since I missed out during the first 54 years of my life. I just don't have the funds and then I need to find somewhere to live if and when I get there. I would also like to have an opportunity to be buried in the tribal cemetery.
We tried to move earlier (a year or two ago) and then Covid happened and my Mother-in-Law's health got really bad. She had Dementia/Alzheimer's since 2012 and lived with us since then. She got worse at the end of 2020 so we decided that it would be in her best interest to stay here with a doctor who was familiar with her. She slid down further and further and died at the end of March. Bless her, I know she's feeling good now.
She was on hospice and they were wonderful and helped a lot, but it did cost us a lot of money to get some things that she needed that Medicare wouldn't cover. Now we are still paying for her burial, we were able to put 1/2 of the money for her burial down but we are still paying the rest.
Adoption Story:
I was given up as soon as my mother was released from the hospital. I have found my family in Oklahoma and feel like I need to learn my culture since I wasn't able to do this as a child. She was from Oklahoma and had me in a military hospital in Virginia. Her husband at the time (not my father) was in Viet Nam and they sent to Virginia (Fort Eustis) on an emergency leave for him to be there with her when she gave birth. I was handed to social services as soon as my mother was released from the hospital and put in foster care as soon as a family was available. I stayed with them for 6 months or so. From there I was matched with an adoptive family and I think my adoption was finalized when I was around a year old. My family consisted of a mother and a father. I had no other relatives growing up.
My adopted parents died back in the early 2000's and I had no brothers or sisters as I mentioned above. I was always very lonely, even as an adult because I never had anyone to identify with or connect to. There was never anyone that was like me, or looked like me, being an only child just made things worse I'm sure. I have found out that I have many 1/2 brothers and sisters in Oklahoma, along with many other relatives. I was able to fly there once with some monetary help from one of my brothers, but I would love to move there permanently. I have so many relations there and it's just so amazing to me to even see someone who looks like myself or who I look like. When I was younger I had no idea what ethnicity I was. I thought I might be a Native American, however my adopted mom just told me there was a chance but nothing more. She was always very closed mouthed about the subject of my birth parents/family.
My birth mother and father died back before I found out their names or where they were located, so there's that. They were not married when I was born and back in the 60's women did not always keep children who were born out of wedlock.
I was able to become enrolled as a tribal member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma from where I live now on the east coast. Thank goodness I was able to do this via email as this wouldn't have been possible years ago.
Frequently, adoptees who were taken from their tribal homes at infancy or even later are called "Lost Birds", named after a Lakota infant who was miraculously found alive after the battle of Wounded Knee. She was rescued and adopted by Gen. Leonard Colby and his wife. She lost her original name and her chance to grow up in her own culture. She became literally and figuratively, Zintkala Nuni, the Lost Bird.
Because of this very situation happening to so many native families, the ICWA was enacted in 1973. ICWA stands for the "Indian Child Welfare Act". The purpose of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is "...to protect the best interest of Indian Children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children and placement of such children in homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture... ". Unfortunately for me this was enacted several years after I was born so it didn't apply in my case, I was adopted by a couple outside of the culture and far away from tribal lands.
You can read more about the ICWA here: bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/icwa
Thank you so much for anything you can give, it means a lot to me. Even a dollar would be most appreciated, that would mean that I am one dollar closer to meeting my goal. I am going to try to sell some things to get there also,maybe I'll get lucky and make it.
Wíbthahą̀ !
Thank you !
I just want to live with my real family and can't due to financial problems. My adoption didn't turn out very well unfortunately..
I am 54 years old. I can no longer work because I have a disability, unfortunately. I'm normally not a person who would do this for myself, but I'm getting older and am beginning to doubt I'll ever be able to go home to my tribe (Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma) and learn my culture.
I can't help but think about chances that were missed, times that we wanted to do something but were too scared to try. I don't want to look back on my life at a later time and regret that I didn't even try. I've been waiting a very long time for this opportunity.
My wish is that I can spend the last part of my life with my relatives since I missed out during the first 54 years of my life. I just don't have the funds and then I need to find somewhere to live if and when I get there. I would also like to have an opportunity to be buried in the tribal cemetery.
We tried to move earlier (a year or two ago) and then Covid happened and my Mother-in-Law's health got really bad. She had Dementia/Alzheimer's since 2012 and lived with us since then. She got worse at the end of 2020 so we decided that it would be in her best interest to stay here with a doctor who was familiar with her. She slid down further and further and died at the end of March. Bless her, I know she's feeling good now.
She was on hospice and they were wonderful and helped a lot, but it did cost us a lot of money to get some things that she needed that Medicare wouldn't cover. Now we are still paying for her burial, we were able to put 1/2 of the money for her burial down but we are still paying the rest.
Adoption Story:
I was given up as soon as my mother was released from the hospital. I have found my family in Oklahoma and feel like I need to learn my culture since I wasn't able to do this as a child. She was from Oklahoma and had me in a military hospital in Virginia. Her husband at the time (not my father) was in Viet Nam and they sent to Virginia (Fort Eustis) on an emergency leave for him to be there with her when she gave birth. I was handed to social services as soon as my mother was released from the hospital and put in foster care as soon as a family was available. I stayed with them for 6 months or so. From there I was matched with an adoptive family and I think my adoption was finalized when I was around a year old. My family consisted of a mother and a father. I had no other relatives growing up.
My adopted parents died back in the early 2000's and I had no brothers or sisters as I mentioned above. I was always very lonely, even as an adult because I never had anyone to identify with or connect to. There was never anyone that was like me, or looked like me, being an only child just made things worse I'm sure. I have found out that I have many 1/2 brothers and sisters in Oklahoma, along with many other relatives. I was able to fly there once with some monetary help from one of my brothers, but I would love to move there permanently. I have so many relations there and it's just so amazing to me to even see someone who looks like myself or who I look like. When I was younger I had no idea what ethnicity I was. I thought I might be a Native American, however my adopted mom just told me there was a chance but nothing more. She was always very closed mouthed about the subject of my birth parents/family.
My birth mother and father died back before I found out their names or where they were located, so there's that. They were not married when I was born and back in the 60's women did not always keep children who were born out of wedlock.
I was able to become enrolled as a tribal member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma from where I live now on the east coast. Thank goodness I was able to do this via email as this wouldn't have been possible years ago.
Frequently, adoptees who were taken from their tribal homes at infancy or even later are called "Lost Birds", named after a Lakota infant who was miraculously found alive after the battle of Wounded Knee. She was rescued and adopted by Gen. Leonard Colby and his wife. She lost her original name and her chance to grow up in her own culture. She became literally and figuratively, Zintkala Nuni, the Lost Bird.
Because of this very situation happening to so many native families, the ICWA was enacted in 1973. ICWA stands for the "Indian Child Welfare Act". The purpose of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) is "...to protect the best interest of Indian Children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards for the removal of Indian children and placement of such children in homes which will reflect the unique values of Indian culture... ". Unfortunately for me this was enacted several years after I was born so it didn't apply in my case, I was adopted by a couple outside of the culture and far away from tribal lands.
You can read more about the ICWA here: bia.gov/bia/ois/dhs/icwa
Thank you so much for anything you can give, it means a lot to me. Even a dollar would be most appreciated, that would mean that I am one dollar closer to meeting my goal. I am going to try to sell some things to get there also,maybe I'll get lucky and make it.
Wíbthahą̀ !
Thank you !
Organizer
Connie OBrien
Organizer
Americus, GA
