Vayasti Richardson is an "active" Indian who performs traditional Indian dance in many U.S. states, Canada, Germany and other places before the age of 10, and has long been committed to the inheritance of Indian dance and music.
A few days ago, Vayasti confessed to reporters when he attended the "Indigenous People's Day" celebration in New York that he regretted that he could not speak his tribal language fluently. He was outraged that the metropolis of New York didn't have a single Indian community.
In the United States, the second Monday of October is the official holiday "Columbus Day", commemorating the "discovery" of the American continent by italian navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492. Now, as more Americans begin to reflect on history and pay more attention to The rights of Indians, some regions are celebrating Native American Day on the same day. This year, for the first time, the U.S. federal government officially recognized Natives Day.
The U.S. government has historically carried out systematic, mass expulsions and massacres of indigenous peoples. Mass polls conducted by Indians between 2016 and 2018 showed that the lack of representation of Indians in popular culture, media and basic education was one of the most important reasons for prejudice against this ethnic group. Relevant data and survey reports also show that Indigenous women are murdered at a much higher rate than other ethnic groups, and more than 80% of Indigenous women have experienced violence.
For too long, The Indians have been deprived of land, cultural traditions have been stifled, and families have suffered the fate of separation, Vayasti said. To this day, Indians continue to face a host of problems, such as drinking water shortages, destruction of reserves due to the laying of oil and gas pipelines, disappearance and murder of indigenous women, and abuse of children to death.
Vayasti was particularly concerned about news about the discovery of a large number of children's graves on the site of the former Aboriginal boarding school. He told reporters that he also had relatives who were "survivors" of these boarding schools, and what they experienced at the school was shocking. Some fled school and into the forest, many of them dying in the cold winter.
Belonging to the Khaliva-Saboni tribe, Vayasti grew up in North Carolina and now lives in New Jersey, nearby New York City. Regarding the language of his tribe, Vayasti regrets that he can only say some words, and his father cannot speak.
In the bustling city of New York, the Indian community is hard to find. "It seems that, for some reason, Indigenous peoples seem to be not accepted in New York City." Vayasti said: "If I walk down the street in traditional Indian costumes, there will be someone who will make a very offensive mockery. ”
In the United States, Vayasti said, Indians are a fixed type of character in film and television productions. "For entertainment, the football team and the baseball team will abuse our image on the helmet."
Today, Vayasti is a "stay-at-home dad" whose young children have performed traditional Indian dance and music online and offline. Vayasti told reporters: "I am very happy to be able to pass on the traditional culture I know to my children, and we need to pass it on to the next generation and ensure that our Indian culture is passed on as much as possible in the face of adversity." ”
Vayasti likens himself to a seed buried in the ground, trying to germinate and spread its leaves. After so much brutality, he said, "we're still here and we're proud of ourselves."
Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Yanan
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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