Freebies? Gratis? Why not??!!!

Being a kid on the reservation for me was a funny time when potty humor and Atari was all the rage! Growing up on the reservation, of course, is a little different.... well a lot different than other areas. I remember going off the reservation with my mom to the University in Flagstaff and having friends of other races and loving it! I loved it because the white kids seemed to have rich parents and had all the latest games and computers (Commodore 64 games). Other kids I met talked different and were "wild in the streets!"



It was just a fun time :-)

By the time I was getting a roller-coaster routine down my mom was done with summer courses and it was school time. Around this time everyone needed new clothes!!! Luckily for us poor Dine kids there was a Tribal Government Ration Santa!

Tribal Clothing!!!

There was something about those days when the words Tribal Clothing floated around school. Getting tribal clothing could be used to make fun of people and their disadvantaged economic backgrounds (having material things and rich parents were all the rage back then; sad but true). Tribal Clothing were donations of clothing that were dispersed throughout the various school districts on Dine-land. They were then handed out to students with the economic demographics that warranted assistance- which was almost everyone!

Come on now! Anytime you get free clothing is cool!!! However tribal clothing time could also be a time you would cross your fingers and pray that you didn't get anything "uncool." The plastic bags the clothes came in were the clear 30 gallon size janitor specials! There were the occasional teasings because someone had underwear visible from the bags!

"Ewww. Her panties are showing!!!"

"Look she got hamburger shoes!!! Ha ha ha" Of course no one was immune from the teasings because it was a mixed-bag of luck when it came to what you got! Hamburger shoes were generic brown dress shoes. They were cheap and lo and behold this is what I found while cleaning out the house this past weekend!

Sometimes you would get lucky and get the now "fucking awesome" Converses and the (anyone member these???) Kangaroos. The Kangaroos were nifty and groundbreaking cuz' they had a pocket with a zipper on em'! I loved those shoes!!!

Tribal Clothing was a godsend to parents in the early days of the Navajo Nation. The Seventies, when I was a little girl, were rough times for a lot of folks. My parents were young thirty-somethings who were in university during the summers and working at entry-level positions at the local boarding school the rest of the year. We had a two bedroom trailer that we called home at the time. Horribly hot summers when the air-conditioning was on the fritz and a horrible cockroach infestation were the nightmares associated with that trailer. My dad and mom may have been making just above minimum-wage at the time while supporting the three of us rugrats (the other two came later).

Years later my dad finished University and bought us a brand new spanking home! Nothing fancy just a three-bedroom, one bath, and no fence home. These homes are part of the housing development agency here on the reservation which is another blog in itself! It was a step-up from the trailer believe me!

These days with all the high gas prices and need for more "things"- I'm thankful this program is still ongoing. My niece, who has absolutely no shame in social settings, proudly proclaims, "I'm getting tribal clothing!!! Yay!"

Gee. I wish I was still eligible for that program!!!

On a totally unrelated note!

Ahem. Ladies!

Go Team USA!!!

;-)

Okay I'm over Ignoramus. It didn't take me long to see the light in that situation. I was going over my Yahoo site tweaking my page when I ran across the horoscope section.

I see a tall, dark, and handsome man coming to your rescue... and he's got money and tons of unconditional love!

It said. lol. No it didn't say that but that'd be nice!!!

I'm all gaga over divine intervention these days. What would it mean if I were to find a thousand dollars in a purse or wallet these days??? I certainly need the money and would have two fierce Tyrenes on my shoulders as I contemplated on keeping it!!! Or if by some miracle I was at the casino and through the hazy smokey ambiance my knight in shining armor would lock eyes with me!

Okay my life's fruition is much more meaningful than landing a man or material things :-P

I KNOW ALL!

I'd like to get moving on my path to success. Success means personal best to myself. That's how I'd like to sum up the word. For reasons unknown I've been having a helluva time doing it! Maybe I'm just picking the wrong horoscopes to read or my Divine chauffeur is on strike.

I don't know.

My father and mother grew up speaking English as a second language and are now both graduates of higher learning. I see that as inspiration to try my best. I also have nieces and nephews who I want to dazzle and motivate! I'm still working on getting to my Union site. Things have come up such as needing to own a vehicle and financial roadblocks. I'm seeing these things as pains-in-the-asses and try to take them in stride. I completed my Iron Working program but actually being able to get to work has been difficult for me. I live a four and a half hour drive from my Union headquarters and times are hard!

I even wrote my Districts Senate rep for help! It may sound ludicrous but desperate times call for desperate measures!

Anyway.

I don't know about them fortune tellers anymore but wonder if they had roadblocks on their path to success. So I wonder if anyone out there may have some suggestions for me. And looting or pillaging is not an option here!!! Nor is pawning my ruby encrusted Spud Wrench!!!

Hmmmm.....

Ignoramus

These are the "dog days of summer!" It's been somewhat hot here on Dine-land. For people who are not Navajo- Dine is how we identify ourselves. Anyway it hasn't been extremely hot but is uncomfortable enough to keep our A/C on quite a bit. I just got off a newsletter website geared toward people who reside within earshot of a certain New Mexico town and am dismayed. I don't like to become too "emo' about things but there are certain times when I cannot keep my mouth shut! I had every intention of posting an update on me but "selective ignorance" on the part of some chuckle-head compels me to write and post my thoughts.

As you may or may not know there was a segment about life on the Dine Reservation from Morgan Spurlock on his show "30 Days." The segment from what I saw was about some of the current state of affairs here on the reservation. It may also have just touched upon a minuscule amount of deep seated emotions for non-Navajo people and also hit some situations right on the proverbial "head!"

I mean how many things can you fit into an hour-long segment??!!!

Anyway this guy on the forum said that he's tired of reverse discrimination and must have felt overly sensitive because he felt the show was lambasting anyone non-Navajo. I have to admit I was pissed that people still thought this way. I simmered a bit and felt the need to respond to this guy. I felt like responding with all kinds of crap!

I just reminded myself that Tyrene was somewhat "edu-macated" and SO not an IGNORAMUS!

I'm over being mad and am actually quite amused that this guy feels the way he does. It's amusing because anyone with a sufficient amount of intellect and education would have worded his thoughts more eloquently. He just basically said, "I'm tired of everything in Gallup being about Navajo people and how bad they're treated!" Anyone could have said that and goes to show how much thought he put into this! He did not even cite any reason or give any valid points to back up his "two cents!" From what I saw of the show it was just a show touching upon some concerns that Dine people face "day-in-and-out." There was no "finger pointing" or even audacious "calling out!" All it did was present the living situations we deal with and Morgans experiences with them.

That's all it was plain and simple.

If anyone gets offended by that they need to go move somewhere else! I'm sorry but LOL this is for anyone who doesn't know- the Navajo Nation is bigger than a couple of states and isn't going anywhere! Nor are the people who live here! For your information Dine people aren't living with "silver spoons" in their mouths! I'm struggling like all hell just to make it now. Okay enough wasted energy!

Anyway on to my favorite subject- ME!!! lol Just playing :-P

I'm doing extremely well and just thought I'd vent a little. Sorry if I made anyone uncomfortable. Ta ta for now :-) Time to go raise hell and share my thoughts with people.

Pics of School :-)

Here are two pics of Ironworking School.

Here we are in downtown Chicago! This was taken near the NBC studios. It was a nice day because we got away from boring classroom work and got to check downtown out! The first couple of weeks was very classroom oriented and BORING!!! Almost everyone struggled to stay awake for the eight hours we were in class! Doing "hands-on" stuff is WAY better than sitting on your keester for the whole day!

Here is part of my group, The Blue Hats, putting together stairs. For those of you unfamiliar with Ironworking it is a profession divided into specialty areas. Putting together stairs falls into Ornamental work. I'm not too crazy about the hard physical work (and getting all bacon face and sweaty!!!) but am growing to appreciate the benefits. Increased strength, agility, and stamina! So in other words it keeps one in shape!

I am going to post a link here for people who read this and am interested in the program. It's a great stepping stone for Native Americans like myself who are in desperate need of money and just can't afford higher education yet! This is the link Ironworking School for Native Americans The site has changed from the last time I looked at it. So if you have any questions please ask me. I have other info but am sorta in a rush right now. Have a great day guys!

Oh! I really would love to work on a blog about Natives in the Iron Working field this summer when I get the time so keep an eye out for that one!!!

Bye :-)

Staying in Shape for Werk :-P

So here I am back home and done with class. I'm really enjoying the freedom of not having to wake up at 5 in the morning and spend all day with "Snout!"

I'll elaborate on that one later :-)

I have my letter of completion and an order to report to the Union at which I am designated soon!!! I'm very happy that I'm finished and am going to start finally making some money! For those of you who do not know the conditions on the reservation it's like living on Mars with dial-up internet!

lol. No! It's not that bad but the job opportunities here are deplorable. Anyway I'm straying from my title- ever since I got worked over by steel at school I lost some weight where I needed to! I gained muscle instead and lost the "pouch." The "pouch" is that stubborn little area of fat that lay on my abdomen.

I really want to keep that off!!!

So in an attempt to stay in shape I've asked my relatives if they need any kind of help to ask me. Seriously I could barely cut through one length of wire with a wire cutter when I first started tying rebar. By the end of school I could cut through three with one hand!

Hell yeah :-)

So my dad has a ceremony going on this week and I was asked to help with patching up the ceremonial hogan (which was in bad bad shape) so he could have it there. Of course now that my relatives know that I finished school and am heading to Union they asked me! It's all good considering for it's my Dad and family. I did it, with some help, from my two brothers. I know absolutely nothing about Masonry but learned quickly! Believe me hauling containers of cement and sand is hard. I did hear something by a female Ironworker about how "it doesn't always have to be about muscle." She said "you have to be smart about your work!"

She was right. So my "gray matter" helped me beat a sprained back and much pain. Well I still was sore but it felt good but not in a twisted way lol. I don't play that stuff!

Now I have to hunt for money for "start up." "Start up" is the money I'll need to secure a place to stay, traveling expenses, and my Union dues. The school I was in will pay $175 towards the dues but I need at least 100 dollars more. This will secure my payments for the rest of the year. I basically have to hunt for resources now that, God willing, will help me get to where I need to go and begin work. I am secured a job but the thing is "starting up" funds as I am at twenty dollars right now!

So I'm going to log off now and enjoy some of the spare time I have. I have to make a phone call to the guy who helped get me into the school and see if he has any ideas. I may add some pictures of the work I did soon. I also took major pictures in Chicago but I have not taken the film out yet from ***-Mart! Sorry ***-Mart your name does not get mentioned here unless you help me out with "start up" funds :-P

Have an awesome day guys :-)