Pressure to Self-Preservation

I do not know if any of you Natives feel like this or have at some point, which is to pro-create with another Native based upon race/ethnic preservation?! According to the U.S. Census (2010), Natives represent about 1.7 % of the U.S. population. Out of this percentage 0.9% identified as being Native alone and 0.7% identified as being Native in combination with one or more races, thus resulting with a total of 1.7%. I have this thought about bloodline preservation for future generations and if I have a baby with someone other than a Native, then my familial bloodline will significantly decrease for future generations within my bloodline.

I was having a conversation with two newfound friends in NYC on my most recent trip and hey were Indian (from India) and were telling about the challenges of dating in their experience based upon culture. However, they said their whole lineage/bloodline/race did not depend on them so us as Natives have it billion times harder when thinking in that concept. I had to take a step back in thinking about this. It’s true! I mean I know I have consciously and subconsciously thought about this due to my previous blog stating I wanted to have a full-blooded Native baby regardless of who I am married to by either artificial insemination or adoption. This is a really tricky position to be in.  It’s estimated that from the 1490s when Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas to the 1890 massacre of Sioux at Wounded Knee by the United States military, the Native population of the Western Hemisphere declined, mostly from disease, from to 1.8 million from around 50 million, a decline of 96%. So let me restate that our population dropped from around 50 million to 1.8 million! We lost 96% of our population!! So, currently in the U.S. we only have 0.9% full-blooded Natives, which includes ME! I mean when I go out into mainstream population and I say I am full-blooded, people freak out because they are like, “WOW, I never met a full-blooded before!” It makes me feel good.

Although I date pre-dominantly Black men at this point, it does not mean I do not take heave heavily on these issues. Cultural, language, and self preservation does mean a LOT to me. I get caught between all these factors. At times, I wish it were not so complex, which I know love is love regardless of anything extra. However, I am a realist, and I do think about EVERY aspect of having a child, raising a child, and everything in-between. I think too much and analyze everything, which is probably why I am still single and not a mother YET! LOL Good-luck out there. I’m sure it’ll all work out for me in any choice I made because I waited years to make a great decision on such important issues and I am still waiting.