what is the thesis of growing up native

Analysis of Carol Geddes’ Growing Up Native

Growing up native, Carol Geddes faces several hardships that she resiliently pushes through; from fearing forced assimilation into Euro-Canadian society to pursuing her dreams while still being in touch with her culture. Carol Geddes’ Growing Up Native illustrates the experiences and hardships of Indigenous people, with a focus on Geddes’ life; starting from her memorable childhood to the excitement she felt getting accepted into university. During this timeframe, Geddes experiences an abundance of setbacks including racism, working menial jobs as a teenager, and the struggles of being Indigenous in a predominantly white community. Geddes highlights that Indigenous people should be treated equally in society and there are no limits to what they can accomplish. 

While reading this essay, I was able to make various connections.“It didn’t matter who was carrying me—there was security in every pair of arms” (1). The reliance on extended family is common among many families, including mine. Similar to Geddes, I had an upbringing centered around family. Without my elders’ wisdom, I would be out of touch with my heritage and culture, which Geddes discusses the importance of. Next, in some aspects, this story reminds me of Maternal Ties, a poem by Sable Sweetgrass. Both texts delve into the importance of preserving heritage and culture. In both pieces, the narrator overcomes obstacles and acknowledges that the sky's the limit; Geddes with pursuing post-secondary education at a young age and Sweetgrass with walking across her graduation stage in traditional attire, which was prohibited. Furthermore, in both texts, the narrators pursue post-secondary education and use that knowledge to make a change in Indigenous communities; Geddes with her interest in Indigenous filmmaking and Sweetgrass with her degree in International Indigenous Studies and Film. Lastly, adoption and foster care tends to strip many children from their culture, which Geddes mentions in the essay. In Growing Up Native, Geddes says, “Social workers were scooping up native children and adopting them to white families in the south” (7), which reminds me of the inadequate foster care system, where social workers send children to homes that are not suitable for them (culturally, socially, etc). Some families foster/adopt children from backgrounds they are not familiar with, sometimes resulting in issues such as physical, mental, and sexual abuse. These systems need to be reformed, taking some of the most vulnerable children into consideration (Indigenous, Black, and other minorities). In summation, many connections can be made with this essay, even with non-Indigenous ideas; these connections underline the importance of culture and the inequality minorities face in what we claim is an “equal” society.  

Analyzing the essay, Geddes uses a number of stylistic features to get her point across. Her use of idioms makes the writing more evocative and conveys a deep message in an understandable and concise way. Two meaningful idioms I analyzed were, “That was the beginning of the end of the Teslin Tlingit people’s way of life,” (4) and “I was hungry for experiences,” (9). In the first idiom, Geddes talks about how the construction of the Alaska Highway was the beginning of an end for their way of life, that everything they have always grown to know would be changed. Their sacred land was being destroyed before their eyes, which is unjust, tying into the inequality they face. The second idiom conveys the excitement Geddes felt when she moved to Whitehorse; she was ready to experience new things in a large town that was more connected with the outside world. These experiences tie into the idea seen in the essay of Indigenous people venturing out and achieving their goals. Another stylistic feature that makes the essay more effective is the structure of Geddes’ writing. She follows the beginning, middle, and end structure but unlike a traditional essay, there are paragraphs in which she backtracks to her childhood or fast tracks to the present day. This was evident in phrases such as, “But I’m getting ahead of myself” (3), and “Let me tell you a story” (10). I found this to be an entertaining stylistic choice because it made the essay less formal, essentially making it more casual and story-like. Overall, these two stylistic features evoked powerful feelings and made the essay engaging. 

Carol Geddes’ Growing Up Native should be studied in school because it teaches people the importance of equality and overcoming obstacles that stop them from achieving their goals, like Geddes and other Indigenous people.

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The Resilience of Growing Up Native American

Jan 17, 2017 | 831 videos video by independent lens.

In this moving, 10-minute profile, a Shoshone elder from Wyoming reflects on his childhood and his time fighting in Vietnam. Philbert McLeod is featured in the new documentary What Was Ours , about Native Americans’ fight to reclaim their missing artifacts from Chicago’s Field Museum. You can stream the full documentary on the PBS website . In this film extra, McLeod, who died last year, remembers what it was like in the mid-fifties to go to school on the reservation. "If a student was caught speaking Shoshone, the teacher would tell him, ‘Go to the blackboards,’” he reminisces. “[And he’d write] ‘I will not speak Shoshone ever again,’ 500 times.”

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A moving collection of twenty powerful essays, poems, and more that capture and celebrate the modern Native American experience, featuring entries by Angeline Boulley, Madison Hammond, Kara Roselle Smith, and many more. With heart, pathos, humor, and insight, twenty renowned writers, performers, athletes, and activists explore what it means to be Native American today. Through a series of essays and poems, these luminaries give voice to their individual experiences while shedding light on the depth and complexity of modern Native American identity, resiliency, and joy.

The topics are as fascinating and diverse as the creators. From Mato Wayuhi, award-winning composer of Reservation Dogs, honoring a friend who believed in his talent to New York Times bestselling author Angeline Boulley exploring what it means to feel Native enough, these entries are not only an exploration of community, they are also a call for a more just and equitable world, and a road map toward a brighter future.

Edited by IllumiNative, an organization dedicated to amplifying contemporary Native voices, My Life: Growing Up Native in America features contributions from Angeline Boulley, Philip J. Deloria, Eric Gansworth, Kimberly Guerrero, Somah Haaland, Madison Hammond, Nasugraq Rainey Hopson, Trudie Jackson, Princess Daazhraii Johnson, Lady Shug, Ahsaki Baa LaFrance-Chachere, Taietsarón: sere Leclaire, Cece Meadows, Sherri Mitchell, Charlie Amaya Scott, Kara Roselle Smith, Vera Starbard, Dash Turner, Crystal Wahpepah, and Mato Wayuhi.

llumiNative is a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of Native peoples. Its mission is to build power for Native peoples by amplifying contemporary Native voices, stories, and issues to advance justice, equity, and self-determination. Find out more at IllumiNative.org .

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Max Thieriot Likes to Watch Things Grow, Including Himself

The “Fire Country” star talks about the road trips, the farm equipment and the family time that keep him grounded.

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By Kathryn Shattuck

For Max Thieriot, one of the creators and the star of the CBS series “ Fire Country ,” all roads lead back to his roots.

He was raised on a vineyard off the coast of Sonoma in Northern California. And for a while, he lived nearby on 90 acres of his own with his wife and two sons.

But “Fire Country” — about prison inmates joining elite firefighters to battle the region’s blazes in exchange for shorter sentences — shoots near Vancouver, British Columbia. So Thieriot, 35, moved his family to rural Washington, where his kids could continue to run around with the chickens and the goats.

“I wanted to try and keep the same lifestyle for my wife and my boys, and not to totally upend their world,” he said.

Alas, Thieriot still has wine in his blood.

About 14 years ago, he and a couple of childhood friends started their own vineyard. The big lesson?

“It’s much faster to do, and makes a lot more sense, when you have an entire crew,” he admitted before discussing the tractors, the road trips and the grapevines that keep him grounded.

These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

I consider my closest friends my family, but certainly at the center of my universe is my wife and my boys. I can have an exhausting day and no matter what, when I come home and I get to see my wife and I get to see my kids, it makes all of the other stuff go away.

The Ruby Mountains in Nevada

Mount Jefferson is almost 12,000 feet and there’s this insane plateau on the top of it, this huge meadow mesa, and in the summertime it’s filled with bighorn sheep. There’s a lot of Native American artifacts up there. You can see these rock outcroppings where they would have their hunting camps and their tents. You can imagine what it was like 1,000 years ago to be sitting in that place.

Digging in the Dirt

Growing up on a vineyard, one of my favorite things to do was to ride on the tractor with my dad. So as soon as we bought our Sonoma place, I went out and purchased a couple of tractors. I got a Kubota Skid Steer because there was a lot of cleaning-up work to do. Then I got a vineyard tractor, a narrow New Holland. And up here I’ve got a utility tractor. The boys love being able to dig holes and have a bucket and all the fun attachments that I can put on it.

As soon as I had children, I suddenly became a terrible flyer. So when Covid happened, we started driving everywhere. We call it the Thieriot Family Adventures. Frankly, when you’ve got a 6- and an 8-year-old who can be best friends one moment and then going at it the next, when we’re contained in our car, our wild, crazy family stuff is just our stuff. We don’t have to share it with everybody in the airport.

My family’s been in San Francisco for something like six generations now. I have a Joe Montana jersey, signed, that my dad got me when I was a kid. My boys have grown to love the sport as well. They both play flag football. I’m not quite ready for them to start tackling.

Storytelling

I never felt that confident in my writing because English was not my strongest class. I didn’t have the same vocabulary as a lot of writers. But I eventually realized that I didn’t need to as long as I could make someone feel something.

Working Out

I was always a skinny kid, and I wanted to gain muscle. As soon as I became dedicated enough to it, and just through perseverance, I started to see this change. I realized, OK, if you really commit yourself to something, you can achieve pretty amazing things.

Farm to Table

We had a guy named Ulises Valdez who was one of our vineyard managers, and he said to me, “Max, when you work hard, the food tastes a lot better.” And that stuck with me. I feel like when I’m raising a beef cow, I’m watching the animal grow. I know what I’m feeding it. I have an appreciation for its life, where this meat has come from.

I think about music as I’m directing. What’s the tempo of the scene? And if I can imagine a song right now, what is the song that’s playing here and how is it motivating whatever the audience is supposed to be feeling at this point?

Lifelong Friends

I grew up in a small town where a lot of my friends I’ve known since childhood. I think it has kept me grounded in a way. It’s brought me back to my roots, brought me back to the people that know me for me and who I really am at my core and not the actor that they see on TV.

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Nature decorates the city for Fiesta with native wildflowers

How to identify common wildflowers growing in our area and how to plant them in your garden in the fall.

Sarah Acosta , Anchor/Reporter

SAN ANTONIO – I love Fiesta season, and as people decorate the city with paper flowers, nature decorates for Fiesta with wildflowers.

Just pick any random road and you’ll find wildflowers bursting through unmown strips along sidewalks, roads or highways.

It is crucial not to mow these native wildflowers. Instead, continue to sow seeds for them in our parks, gardens and yards to help our pollinators and promote biodiversity.

That’s why I am going to help you identify some of the common native wildflowers you are seeing around San Antonio and how you can plant them in your gardens in the fall. I’m not saying they will not grow if you sow seeds for them now in your gardens, but native wildflowers have a higher chance of blooming if sowed during cooler temperatures in the fall to form strong roots.

Here are some of my favorite native wildflowers:

Texas Thistle

They look like your typical “weed” growing in the garden with spiny leaves, but they have the most beautiful light purple or lavender pom-pom-like flowers. Bees and butterflies go wild for them, and so do I.

These are my absolute favorite wildflowers.

One seed can yield several flowers on one stem. It’s one stem of a bouquet of many yellow flowers each with a red bleeding middle.

Indian Blanket

These look like what it’s named after — a blanket of red, yellow and orange covering an area.

Mexican Hat

You’ll remember it because it looks like a sombrero, and is definitely Fiesta ready.

Now this is my kind of flower! You can’t forget her because she looks like a glass of fine wine.

Pink Evening Rose

This is probably Winecup’s happy hour best friend.

She looks like a rosé girlie to me, and now you’ll always think the same when you see her.

Texas Prickly Poppy

These have similar spiny leaves like Thistle and then bam, it stuns you with these big white poppy blooms — chef’s kiss.

How can you grow these in your garden in the fall?

I have a hard rule when it comes to picking wildflowers: don’t do it, the pollinators need them more than you need them in a vase for your living room. You can pick or mow them only when they are starting to dry out right before the flower heads drop seeds. My favorite thing to do is spot wildflowers on my daily walk, and I take note of where they are located. Then I check on them every time I walk by them. When they are done blooming, I take my scissors on my walk and a baggie to clip and collect (free!) seeds.

I keep the seeds in a paper bag in a cool place inside until November, then I sow hundreds of seeds at the end of November that I didn’t have to pay for.

If this sounds like a lot of work, or something you don’t have the patience for, no worries! Rainbow Gardens has a great selection of native seeds you can buy.

If you want some of these blooms in your garden now, Rainbow Gardens also has some native wildflowers like Indian Blanket that you can buy as transplants now.

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Sarah acosta.

Sarah Acosta is a weekend Good Morning San Antonio anchor and a general assignments reporter at KSAT12. She joined the news team in April 2018 as a morning reporter for GMSA and is a native South Texan.

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