The Role of 21st Indigenous Femme

Photo credit via Instagram from Sinchitribe user
2016

I am very moved by this image. I got this capture from Instagram posting @Sinchitribe - which is a gallery that post images of Indigenous people.

Today I am very much in thought about the ways that Indigenous people globally, but specifically in the Indigenous in America daily perpetuate 'matriarch.' As I've mentioned before in my blog I was raised with my desert Navajo matriarchs all around me. My maternal grandmother raised me, and I remember always seeing my great-grandmother in my peripheral vision...my Navajo patriarchs were also a part of my upbringing, but it was the woman, always the women who ensured the ways of the matriarch.

In 2016 I am fortunate to still have some of my matriarchs in my life- from them I gain new knowledge and an able to hear the conversations of the female language from them. I cannot express fully the good medicine such environments bring to my being, it is beyond my comprehension. So much of the time I am silent in their presence, for that is respect but also it is about listening to their voices uttering ancient language of Dine' ancestors.

Women in 'Indian Country' are the most amazingly strong and resilient women on the planet - we as female entities, and as tribal matriarchs are the backbone of our communities. But, be sure we are not ego-lead, instead we understand our roles in Indigenous life and we find and perpetuate that 'balance' that is essential for healthy, prosperous Indigenous circles.

Bless each other with your laughter and prayers.