Braison Domingo Running Bear is my name.  I am 11 years old.  I live with my family in Chickasha, Oklahoma.  I am Apache; I am a Native American.

It is hard being a Native person because I get teased about it.  I don't know why people can't accept me for who I am, not for what I am.  I am a person too, just like them; I bleed the same color, and I like a lot of the same things as a lot of the "non-Native" kids.

I have my mother, my grandfather, my grandmother, and my four sisters (Brooke, 13; Briana, 10; Bethanie, 9; and the baby of the family, Bitsi, who is six).  I also have two baby brothers:  Brandon and Benjie, who are four and two.  I did have a father, but Father died when I was eight; he had cancer of the stomach.

I miss Father very much:  he was my best friend; he took me on hunts, and he was happy to teach me the Native way of life.  I learned to cook Native dishes before I started school, and I killed my first rabbit (and bear) when I was only six.  I also learned my language, Apache; I now speak both English and Apache fluently.

Other than people giving me a bad time about my Indian heritage, I am also bothered by people giving other Native people a bad time; all too many times, on television, I see white people doing mean things to the Indians, and it's like the Indians are seen as "savages".  That really makes me angry:  we are not "savages":  we have feelings, too, and we deserve to be treated with respect, too!  We deserve to be given a chance to do good in life!

I hate it when they call me "stupid Indian" or "Chief", or wose, "Redskin" or "Savage" or even "Geronimo".  I have a name; I want to be called by my first name, not by what I am!

Besides learning about my Apache background, hunting, and speaking both English and Apache, I love to play stickball with my friends, go to movies, go out for pizza when we have some extra money, and rollerblade, as well as play baseball, football, soccer, and lacrosse.  I also love to draw and read Indian pictures.  I can make a really good Indian chief or a buffalo.

When I grow up, I either want to be a doctor to Native people or maybe a writer, or maybe even an artist.  Yeah, I'd be good at any of these things.

Another thing I love to do is go to powwows.  We have at least two or three a year near where we live; I love the music, food, and the pageantry of the dancing; I love the sounds and sights of the powwow.  I think powwows are cool; it's neat being among my own kind, especially the different tribes.  We are all Native, but we all have differences that make us special.

Well, I am going to go.  I have to get ready to go to bed.  I have school tomorrow.  I have to be up before seven, so I can make sure I don't oversleep again and miss the bus.  (I tend to do that a lot.  Mornings aer very hard for me.)  I will write in here again soon; I have more to say about me and my life. 

Bye for now!  Talk to you soon!

~Braison Domingo Running Bear, aged 11.