|Statues in Pittsburgh commemorating a meeting between Seneca|
leader Guyasuta and George Washington The question of how we may
become "native to this place" has fascinated me since I read Wes
Jackson's book of that title. A natural place to start for me
was with the knowledge and cultural attitudes of peoples who
were and are Native to these Americas, this western hemisphere.
Apart from the universals that unite indigenous peoples around
the world, and are transferable or adaptable to how humans
relate to their world even in the 21st century, I followed
common feelings for the land I knew. For though I am not a
Native American, I am a native-born American, and have a strong
feeling of belonging to this land--particularly that of the
western Pennsylvania where I was born, grew up and spent part of
my adulthood. What follows is an essay briefly explaining my own
journey as it relates to Native America, which is the subject of
the series of posts here that this one caps, or (if you're
starting at the top and re