On the Reservation

Throughout my life I have only come in contact with a handful of Native Americans.  Many of which were my parents age or older.  As a kid meeting a Native American was like seeing a bald eagle, they were few and far between.  But whenever I did meet one I always expected a good story.  I always recieved one but whether they were true or not, who knows. 

The first Native American I ever met was a friend of my grandfathers.  He was from a small tribe up in Minnesota.  He and my grandfather both were pilots on the Great Lakes.  He was a very nice man that always would make up interesting stories for me as a very young kid.  It wasn't till later when i asked my grandfather about him that i figured out he was a nut.  Story goes that after a couple drinks he would start doing old Native American tribal dances.  So all in all the only Native American's i really know are known to be a little crazy and always good for a story.  This is kind of of sad because the stereotypical Native Americans are sometimes perceived as nutty story tellers.  For me to truly understand the Ways of the Native Americans I would need to go back to the time of Lewis and Clark and live among the Natives to truly identify with them.