One thing you should know about me is that I have no sense of orientation whatsoever. I was born without it. It’s true. I have been lost my whole life, at the movie theater, in the hospital, in my home town, in Madrid, Barcelona, Disney World… Name the place. If I’ve been there, I was once lost there. Sometimes when i am lost it is funny, sometimes it’s not. One thing is certain, though: I always learn something from the experience. 

 So, after many years of living with myself, I came to appreciate my ability to get lost even in the most familiar domains of my own mind. I will not even attempt to explain how one can get lost in his or her own mind, but I will say that yesterday, while watching Reel Injun, I knew immediately I was absolutely lost, and absolutely happy about it.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be an indian. Not a Mexican indian, not a Maya or an Aztec (those where too terrifying for me, with the human sacrifices and all), I wanted to be an ancient North American indian. I wanted to be a Cherokee or a Sioux -never mind that I didn’t even know what those indians were like, and what were the differences between them. To me, they where all just beautiful, strong-willed people, full of spirit and songs, perfectly aware of their connection to nature. My image of American Natives was that of  Rousseau’s “bon sauvage”. For many, many years I bought the “single story” the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie talks about. I had a single story for the Mexican and for the North American indians.

Last semester, when I took a class of Mexican prehispanic and colonial literature, I got a new perspective on the Mexican indians, and became more aware of my roots. I was thrilled with the beauty of their poetry, and the cruelty of their myths. In those numerous stories I read, I found a piece of myself that had been lost for more than twenty years.

And as I watched Reel Injun in the classroom, I realized I didn’t know a single thing for sure about American Indians. I am very much lost in their domains.  I can only hope that, through the readings and the class, I will end up having many stories to tell about them. 

Chimamanda Adichie - The Danger of the Single Story