“Dosha.” It means hello in my traditional Hidatsa. It is a greeting I have heard all of my life welcoming both strangers and loved ones I encounter. It is a friendly saying with absolutely no ill will attached. Great respect is shown when you greet an elder in such a fashion. My mother taught me to always be friendly and kind to others. When my brother, Nux-bitsi, and I were taken from our family and tribe, I was at the age of six. We were taken to Hampton Institute, an American Indian Boarding School, in Virginia. I was born by the name of Motza which means Coyote. The coyote is traditionally a trickster but I am worried that the school has since taken away my pranking nature. At the Institute, the Hidatsa language was not allowed, so now I am known by the name of Nancy. My native tribe is the Hidatsa, and I was born in South Dakota, along with Nux-bitsi. Nux-bitsi was only four when he was ripped from his family, and culture.
When we first pulled up to the school doors, I was spooked by the sight of the cemetery by the front gates. Why would there be a cemetery by the school? Some children were never able to go home because their parents did not have enough…show more content… “Dosha, Magoo.” I said as I passed by. Later that day I was taken into a small room where I was beat, and left there for the night. At first, I didn’t understand what I had done wrong, but I later learned that speaking in my native language was not allowed, and I was required to speak English. If I couldn’t speak my native tongue, why should I speak at all? Why should I let them win, and let them make me change? I went for a year without speaking, and I spoke Indian in secret when I was forced to speak English again. That wasn’t the person I wanted to be!! Those people weren’t “saving me” they were ripping me into tiny pieces, and putting me back into a different picture, a “white
