Indigenous American

This is part of my history

I am a product of it

And I am not ashamed of being an Indio

Or better yet

An Indigenous American

I didn't always know what I know now

For the first twenty three years of my life

I was completely unaware of this history

I never once considered myself to be

A Hispanic or a Latino

But I was still disconnected

From my Indigenous American roots

I didn't start to embrace those roots

Until one day when my grandfather

With whom I was on bad terms for many years

Was sitting in a chair in my mother's backyard

Allowing the sun to lather him

Deciding to swallow his pride

He said to me as I walked by

Hey what's your age Son

Usually I ignored him

But this time I decided to reply

And then brush him off I'm twenty five sir

He smiled oh that's a great age

I was married at that age

I kept walking

But on my way to pick some oranges for my regular breakfast

I kept wondering about my grandfather's life

Wondering how he used to live

And what had changed since his days

My curiosity got to me

After I picked some oranges from a tree in our backyard

I walked over to him and began asking him questions

At first he simply told me about his life

But then he began to add details about his indigenous identity

I began to ask more about his roots

And eventually

After I realized that I had much in common with my grandfather

I started to embrace my identity

As the Indigenous American I consider myself today

Thank you for reading the intro to my book

I hope you find the information useful

May this knowledge help you mature as a person

And may it also inform you

Of many things that you might not have known before reading my book

And now I present to you my novel

Enjoy