Tiger has been trained since early childhood to carry our Heriditay responsibilities further than myself. My beloved father always said, from a Dakota perspective, that the goal of any good parent or teacher should be for thier children or students to go further than the parent or the teacher.
Tiger has already done so, especially with the excellent care of his beloved mother while I was out trying to save the world. For instance, in the Thai tradition, the mother and father sleep on the floor next to the child for the first two years.
That is precisely what Suthida did with Tiger on a blanket beside the bed until his second birthday, August 28, 2002. Although, I must admit I sleep on the bed.
Then she and Tiger moved up on the bed with me. Another Thai tradition is that children sleep with thier parents until they choose to move to thier own bed. Tiger slept between us for many years until he decided to move to a bed by himself. Very much our old Dakota Way when we all slept on Mother Earth together in a Tipi.
Today at 22, he is clean and sober, with no desire to drink alcohol, take drugs, or even drink coffee, like his mother, all her life. He is in his second online year at UBC with a double major in Computer Science and Creative Writing. He has no desire to leave home for the" University Experience."
He has online friends but can interact socially with the utmost grace and eloquence with friends and relatives when the occasion arises. He says he enjoys being with his mother and me for now. After completing his education, he looks forward to getting married and having children.
But he always says there will always be a place in his home for his mother and me, and that will be one of the conditions with whoever he chooses to marry.
On the other hand, I was born at an Indian Residential School, the Haskell Institute, in Lawrence, Kansas, where my mother and father met when my father was 17 and my mother was 13. My father always said, " When I saw your mother, I told myself that is the woman I am going to marry."
Sure enough, 10 years later, he came to Sulphur, Oklahoma, on Chickasaw Territory, in October 1943, on leave from the Navy, with a college degree in Forestry from Oregon State(Which took him 5 years because of his poor education at Haskell) and $2000.00 to "claim what was his!"
Although anyone who knows our family knows my mother was the rock of our family and had the final yes or know, very much like my beloved sister, Deloria. She is a rock of strength, as well.
On the other hand, compared to my beloved son Tiger, I was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and lived on the Haskell Campus with my beloved Chickasaw grandmother, Ella, my eldest Aunt Mar, and my mother in a one-bedroom apartment.
My crib was in the front room. My mother was innocent at 23, like my Aunt and Grandmother, and had been taught to believe in the Western Medical Establishment. The MD who delivered me told my mother that formula was superior to breast milk, even though my mother had plenty of breast milk.
So the MD prescribed formula instead of breast milk. The problem was he prescribed far less than I needed. So I immediately started crying out of hunger and wouldn't stop crying. Of course, they called the "Authority." The MD said, "don't pick him up, or you will spoil him."
I cried for two weeks before I went into a coma from malnutrition.
Then the MD realized his mistake, and I was rushed to the hospital, where I was fed intravenously until I was conscious and able to return home. This, along with being sexually abused by an older white boy I looked up to and trusted, profoundly impacted my life.
My inner self was full of hatred, rage, and anger, especially as a vociferous reader and from my father about what happened to our Indigenous peoples. This included self-hatred for being of mixed blood, with some Irish, English, and French background, even though my parents are enrolled members of the Ihanktonwan and Chickasaw Nations, as I am a dual citizen of both Nations, as well as the US and Canada.
The only outlet for my rage and anger was athletics. When I competed, I wanted to hurt my opponents, except when I wrested Joe Hoptowit from the Yakima Nation and Vernon Six Killer, who was Pawnee.
Although I won the US/ Canadian Championship in my weight class at the Canadian National Exposition in August 1967, my rage and anger led to alcoholism, drug abuse, unhealthy relationships, and looking deeply into committing suicide.
But my parents and elders' spiritual and cultural teachings eventually led me to a spiritual rebirth in March 1967 through a Sacred Tablet and Fait that I share with my beloved brothers, Kevin Locke, Phil Lucas, Anaqaaqug, Lee Brown, Bob Watts, and others.
At 22, I was at the depths of my addictions, contemplating suicide. That is why I can say my beloved son Tiger's path has already far transcended his father!
