Day 13...Day of Rest....Nanny Nanny Poo Poo and the Mafia

Tonight's blog will be short. A day of rest and a long night of community has left me a little tired. Two points that I wanted to quickly bring up that made me chuckle over the past couple of days. So I'll go in reverse order of my title because the first one cracks me up and I want to save it for last. The Mafia...Bill Miller is Jim's brother. From day one when they met me because I'm Italian they made Mafia jokes. It's kind of like their way of joking with me but also they're kind of serious and I believe it's their way of connecting with me and my background, not knowing a heck of a lot about me. I found it funny though that I came into this project trying to be rightfully sensitive with the Native Americans and the culture and here Bill and Jim are making Italian jokes and tying me to the Mafia basically because I'm Italian. I found it funny, charming and didn't take offense. I actually thought it was great that they crossed the line in that humorous way to make me feel at ease. It's a lesson for me and crossing into other cultures. Basically there's a time to be PC, sensitive and hyper aware of your surroundings, but in my humble opinion the occasional and well placed joke and crossing of the line in certain respects can really loosen up a sensitive and possibly tense situation. Second, Nanny Nanny Poo Poo...This is a quick story of oneness and unity. So I'm playing freeze tag with the kids on the road and as we're playing I heard one of the young guys say "You can't catch me, Nanny Nanny Poo Poo"...It stopped me in my tracks. My first thought was a generational thing. Instantly I thought, kids today still say "Nanny Nanny Poo Poo?"...Who in fact started that? It feels like it's been around for such a long time. I thought kids by now would have evolved out of that and into something I don't know maybe...cooler...I mean this is the Hip Hop generation, I was anticipating more of a "You can't catch me dog...YUP YUP" type of thing. But no, I got Nanny Nanny Poo Poo...It made me laugh. Kids are still kids and stories and history is difficult to break I guess. Which then launched me into a whole other thought. These Native American youth are the same as the white kids I grew up with. I know that sounds like common sense, but I must admit just as the generational thing shocked me, I was also shocked that Native American children would say that phrase. I guess in my mind (and I'd never really thought about this before today) but "Nanny Nanny Poo Poo" was an exclusively white saying. I thought that kids from other cultures would have other sayings. Actually they very well might, but the fact remains that "Nanny Nanny Poo Poo" is one of them as well. It made me chuckle and humbled me at the same time. It also got me thinking that sayings, stories are hard to break or change. If you're on the positive side of history then you're in the pink, but if you have generations of stories of genocide, oppression, depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, spiritual practices made illegal until 1978, then those stories and history are tough to break and change. Just a thought. That's what this ride has become for me. A coming to terms with the past. The past of my country, the past of my new friends. Hopefully we'll get to a point where we all and especially the Native American community are playing a game of freeze tag with our pasts. We can run away, leave it behind and with a confident smile say, "Nanny Nanny Poo Poo, you can't catch me"...Our future is a blank slate...