Native enough

Abstract

What does it mean to be Native enough? I do not “self-identify” I am identified by my family line, my kookum, a bird I am both sides, but my skin is of my father So, I am not enough to walk into ceremony without disgusted looks But not little enough to be untouched by residential school Not little enough to be untouched by intergenerational trauma Fentanyl Not little enough to be untouched by smudge Sweat Ceremony But not native enough to not be questioned Not enough to speak my ancestral tongue I don’t fit the settler’s stereotype But I am still not enough for my own people