The Last True Indigenous [Reflection & Commentary]

In Aruba, it is commonly believed that the last true [pure blood] Indigenous died in the 1800s.

This assertion is derived from a point of view that measures identity, especially indigenous identity, through blood quantum measurements. It reduces the identity of indigenous people down to the differentiation of genetic material or blood analysis. Seldom are the traditions, rites, and teachings of the Elders, which were passed down from generation to generation, accounted for as what it means to be indigenous; but most of all, one's own sense of Self, and Intuition. We have many traditions that we have carried on to this day. We are simply unaware of them. They exist in many forms and require our devotion and protection from malevolence, appropriation, and erasure. We have permitted others to tell us who we are on basis of how they understand themselves, which is from a reductionist point of view. This "permission" came from the Self-alienation that resulted from colonialism, which entailed ethnic cleansing through archeological and anthropological classifications and religious indoctrination. Thus, the conditions of meaninglessness and psychological decay we are in have come forth from a state of alienation.

Reductionist thinking equaling summarization or conclusion is oxymoronic; one can not take apart, isolate and reduce something to attain a clear picture if the clear picture is the Whole picture. Here, we outline a clear distinction between Western thinking and Indigenous "thinking". The conscious orientation and perception of the West next to that of our own. We have our own philosophy, our own way of life. To us, the entirety of creation is not spiritless material objects separate from each other. Classical science holds no conception of a world that is alive and interfaces with the human being, to accept such a thing has little to do with being able to prove such a phenomenon to be real, but because of a materialistic and objective perception, such a phenomenon could never exist to an extremely rational mind. To accept such a reality implies that every action committed against nature, and the human being in the name of scientific progress, was based on a misunderstanding of the human being, and is thus a desecration of the sacred; it is our own conscience returning to us. I am not the first, nor the last, to discern these characteristics and shed light on the fact that as a nation we have our own philosophies, which really means we have our own Way of life.

"There is no world, no truth, without meaning and value, and meaning and value arise in the intersection between us and all that is around us [our relations]. How we behave in a certain sense shapes meaning, gives shape to the world"

- Brian Burkhart, What Coyote and Thales Can Teach Us; An Outline of American Indian Epistemology

A majority of classical disciplines operate linearly, within the premise of reason, and are mostly compartmentalized. They rarely interface with each other. This template psychologically scatters the individual and inevitably influences observations and interactions, resulting in a scattered perspective or inability to understand ideas not derived from a strictly rational point of view. This philosophical difference is essential to outline. If not, we are unable to recognize it in our own psychology and the way we are currently living our lives unconsciously. At this current point in time, assimilation and ethnic cleansing aren’t exerted on us [Arawak Caquetios] with physical violence, though through the current ruling institutions rooted in colonial philosophies, what we learn and believe. The mind which is revolved around proving self-worth loses all sense of self-worth. How could it recognize it, if it is seeking something to base it on? This continuous search inevitably results in feeling empty and aimless; worthless.

"Their eyes have a staring expression; they are always seeking something. What are they seeking?"

- Chief Ochwiay Biano

We can attest that who we truly are is not based on conditions, possessions, or western conceptions, but that the outside is a reflection of our Spirit on the inside. Our traditions reflect who we are. We do not tattoo our faces for attention or merely decoration, but instead reflect a significant meaning culturally or individually. We do not comb our hairs or bathe simply to be clean and presentable. Our actions are not externally driven. There is more to us than to simply survive.

"The way we live becomes our way of life."

- Arawak Caquetio Proverb

Our stories, rites, traditions, and dreams inspire us. It is in our way of life that contains the necessary steps for the individual, and thus the community, to move forward and live. It is what comes to us, naturally; not impulsively, nor passively, but through our traditions. Rediscovering who we are means rediscovering that voice inside of us, which is the power of nature, the Spirit of the land. In the premise of Western thinking, it is easy to not deal with peculiar experiences of dreams, visions, and other supernatural phenomena, because it does not exist… to this thinking. Thus, the removal of our culture ensured the dominance of settler colonial culture, which later develops into a contemporary culture uprooted from its origins, establishing a pseudo-culture with inauthentic roles and misconstrued ideas about identity. It carries with it significant attributes originating from multiple backgrounds [European, African, Ameridian], although negates their origins at the same time. Our contemporary culture boasts about our Amerindian heritage, though at the same time holds the conviction that Amerindians came from and lived in primitive times.

"That we simply live our lives is the proof, that we are alive is our proof."
- Arawak Caquetio Proverb

We are still here, not because any other entity tells us we are, but because we know who we are. Who we are does not come from something external, it instead is born in us as a principle, it is inspired and brought to our attention through our traditional practices. I know many have forgotten themselves, who they truly are, and it is nothing easy to remember. It starts with that feeling that whispers to you, that something is wrong, that something real is missing; that is one's Spirit, which no one can speak for, not even us, it speaks for itself at times. It brings to us our memories, personal and impersonal, individual and collective. It is painful to remember but better to suffer pain than to be lost to darkness, walking the black road, without Spirit.

The old ways will bring the new way, no new way can come of its own, and no new way can bring in the old if it pays no reverence to our Elders, this is why we must remember. In rediscovering and returning to who we are, our voice inspires and validates another. What it means to be indigenous is to know deeply who you are, and that means to feel deeply; to feel your own Soul, then you know you have one. It means to live closely with traditions born naturally from our Spirit, which we share with the Spirit of the Land.

We can not lose what is essentially ours, what came to us. Although we have been forced to forget, we will inevitably remember, because it will come to us again, as it originally did.

"When the land takes back the land, you will know it is time"

- Arawak Caquetio Elder Prophecy

The last true indigenous shall be the one who is true to oneself walking with ancestors inside their every step. Who is true? And who lies... to themselves? Who is alive, and who is dead?

"Remember the seven steps behind you which lead into the seven steps ahead of you" - Arawak Caquetio Proverb

For my people, I give my life, so that you can live, again.

- Chayo