Featured Student: Sara Barudin
Sara Barudin is a fifth-year senior from Albuquerque and Santo Domingo, New Mexico majoring in Environmental Studies. I am advising her honors thesis research, for which she is interviewing members of the Santo Domingo and nearby Pueblos about their opinions of casinos in their communities. As a member of one of the Pueblos, Sara is curious about the ways that the development of casinos in Pueblos in northern New Mexico has changed community dynamics and feelings about the land and local environment. Enrollment in the honors seminar Environmental Justice (HONR 4000) in 2014 influenced her decision to pursue research on this topic.
In her personal blog, Sara explores questions of identity, self, and other. She began her blog – A Real “Part Time Indian” – in fall 2015 while enrolled in the honors seminar Racism in American Culture (HONR 4000). Questions of racism in relation to many aspects of culture were central to the class. Her most recent blog post is a personal exploration of racism in relation to her own identity as Native American.
Here is an excerpt of that entry:
The Proper Etiquette of Having a “Native American Friend”
For as long as I can remember people have made jokes about me being Native.
In 6th grade, my classmates would refer to me as “Pocahontas.”
In 8th grade, someone joked about me having “red skin” in front of the entire classroom.
In my senior year of high school, people would say that the only reason I was accepted into college was because I am Native.
In my sophomore year of college, a good friend of mine dubbed me a “savage.”
In my junior year of college, a few of my friends tried to get my attention by making an
“Indian war call.”
Last week, someone called me a “good little Indian” for picking up a piece of trash I saw on the street.
Yesterday, for the one-millionth time, somebody said, “isn’t college free for you since you’re Native?”
These are just a few specific events that stick out in my mind, but it does not begin to cover the multiple insults I hear on a day-to-day basis… READ MORE
https://sarabarudin.wordpress.com/
Post written by Dr. Abby Hickcox, Associate Director of the Honors Program
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