Reznet

One week ago, American history added a new chapter with the inauguration of President Barack Obama.Though far more than being the first African American president, Obama's election and inauguration showed that America can look beyond someone's skin and even beyond the fact that someone has two parents of two different races to see the leader inside.

On the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama, I can scarcely wrap my head around the history being made on a national level. Whether that history is political, in that this country can recognize when things are wrong and takes steps to fix the problem or whether that history is moral, in that we can finally see past someone's skin color and look into the content of their character and decide this is the best choice.

I recently had a discussion with someone who asked why, as a Native, I supported President-Elect Barack Obama’s pick of Tom Daschle as Health and Human Services secretary; when Daschle played a part in the block of Leonard Peltier’s pardon. I explained that it’s easy to dismiss Daschle as a friend of Indian Country if you looked at Peltier as a synecdoche of the Native cause.

He isn’t.

When I first heard the term, "lateral racism" I was astounded that such a condition had a name and, sadly, that it existed long enough to earn that name. It's still a relatively new concept. When I searched for the term, one hit came up for the Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education in an article written by Ron Selden. In the article, Anishinaabe activist and writer, Winona LaDuke said, "We cannot struggle against the oppressor, so we struggle against each other ... "

Every Sunday, I rouse myself from my sleep, shower and get dressed for Jesus.

My brother is fond of mocking me, "You'd better hurry! God is only at the church between nine and eleven!" It's something I've come to accept as the only other member in my family who regularly practices Catholicism. The other member is my mother, who was educated by Catholic Jesuits at St. Francis Indian School.

Over this summer and into this fall, I had the amazing opportunity to organize with Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, the Campaign for Change in Nevada. It was exciting and filled with potential for me to reach out to Native communities within my adopted state. The opportunity to go onto the rez and explain why voting was important in this crucial election for a candidate who had a solid plan to mend fences in the Native community.

I'm a Native who works at a Native-owned and operated smoke shop in a city with a Native presence and a lot of smokers. But strangely enough, most of my customers aren't Native. They come in all shapes, but some customers don't come in the pleasant variety. Anyone who's worked retail can tell you, some times you have to bite your lip.

It was when my lip started to get bloody that I decided to start talking back.

Death is no stranger to Natives. We always have a cousin, aunt or uncle who passes seemingly every year. And then, on a day you don't quite expect it, death comes into your own home, unannounced and uninvited.

SPARKS, Nev. - Even now, recalling these events of my last days in San Antonio, I have the same apprehension and worry. Did we contact enough voters? Did we train our volunteers on everything? Do we have a presence in every precinct? These things haunted me the night before the big day.