Defining Indian Territory

Today, presidential candidate and Senator Elizabeth Warren apologized for the “harm that [she] caused” by identifying as Cherokee. It was a political move, certainly, as she was speaking at a Native American forum in Sioux City, Iowa, a place named for a tribe. In an era that values political correctness, leveraging a less than 1/16 Native American genealogy to apply for a teaching position at a law school is a serious misstep. I can understand the urgency to apologize; frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. And I agree with the move, considering she’s as white as Andrew Jackson’s ghost. However, she did grow up in Oklahoma, which affords her a modicum of sympathy in my book. Allow me to dive into a personal anecdote:

During my first year living in Oklahoma, my 5th grade class covered Native American history. To preface the topic, the teacher instructed my class to “raise your hand if you have Indian blood.” I didn’t know what she was referring to…a red rock? Actual blood? I didn’t raise my hand, taking a second to clarify with my nearest classmate. Even once I understood the meaning, I kept my hand down: I knew that 6 of my 8 great-grandparents immigrated from eastern Europe after 1900, and that the last two were unlikely to have commingled with a Native American, according to my great-grandmother’s oral history. Yet every single student except for me had their hand raised. I came to find out that it is a point of pride for Oklahomans to boast native ancestry, as if participating in a shared heritage of the state. In fact, a few of my 11-year-old classmates claimed to be direct descendants of Pocahontas, a remarkable coincidence that dubbed them distant cousins. But this was not noteworthy: instead, it was I who was pressed by my teacher, “Surely you must have a relative somewhere along the line who married an Indian!” (Married, interesting word choice, we’ll come back to that one…)

Obviously my teacher’s approach was far from ideal, but what’s the harm in a bunch of 11-year-olds believing they’re related to Disney’s coolest token Native American character? As it took Warren years to find out, false heritage claims minimize the suffering of actual Native Americans at a cultural level. The infrastructure on Indian reservations tends to be subpar, as it is distantly controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (to allow for so-called tribal self-governance) rather than the states. Educational opportunities are diminished in these locales, which was supposed to be mitigated by Affirmative Action. But these scholarships are often won by culturally white people like my friend from high school, who received substantial financial assistance to Oklahoma State University for being 1/16 Sac & Fox. Even more dire, resources like drinking water availability are sometimes inadequate on reservations today, only given national attention when an oil pipeline is protested, for example. Worst of all, human trafficking remains a rampant problem on Indian reservations, considered by many a ‘rebranding’ of a long and terrible history of rape, forcible marriage, involuntary prostitution, etc.

To me, the issue of cultural appropriation is simple: make sure that it’s cultural appreciation. To appreciate Native American heritage is to understand the challenges faced by Native Americans today, clinging to their traditions in spite of encroaching modernization and crumbling community infrastructure. Oklahoma may be slowly coming around to this understanding, bolstered by publicity campaigns from tribal groups like the Chickasaw Nation. Formerly Indian Territory, Oklahoma has always embraced Native American art, food, symbols, and individual achievements. Sometimes, there seems a fine line between cultural appropriation and appreciation. We can all push the balance toward ‘appreciation’ by learning about the issues facing Native Americans, by understanding and advocating for the people behind the ubiquitous cultural symbology.

The Salt Lake City Tornado of 1999

This (possibly EF3-strength) vortex was unimpeded by the extreme surface roughness of downtown Salt Lake City, August 11th, 1999

20 years ago this week, Salt Lake City was blindsided by a high-end F2 tornado, killing one man and leaving a path of damage across downtown. Utah is, of course, an unusual location for a tornado report, far from Tornado Alley with a vastly different climate. And August is an unusual time of year, since most tornado-favorable conditions are restricted to the far northern states and Canada this late in the season. Thus, this tornado served as an interesting case study for meteorologists, demonstrating that tornadoes can, in fact, develop in cities and within mountainous climes.

Comparatively few tornadoes form in the Rocky Mountains. It happens that the meteorologic conditions on this day in 1999 roughly approximated those on a typical tornado watch day in Tornado Alley. Warm southerly winds persisted throughout the morning as a cool front from the west built in strength. These two lower-level air masses collided at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, maximizing both CAPE and wind shear in the vicinity of Salt Lake City. Colder air was stationary aloft to the east and north of the city due to the mountains. Thunderstorms often organize at the boundary between mountains and flatlands, usually in the afternoon when ground heating generates a buoyancy differential. As the usual thunderstorms formed on the windward side of the range, the wind shear in the boundary layer accelerated vorticity in the convective updraft. Pretty soon, boom, a tornado.

Many meteorologists still argue that topography has nothing to do with tornadogenesis, that tornadoes always form from the top down, and that the formation is dictated by small turbulent motions that are beyond our prediction and observation. Well, without the mountain range, the cold air mass likely wouldn’t exist to sustain convection and wind shear simultaneously this late in the summer. Not to mention the potential effects of the urban heat island on buoyancy. All told, I think we can safely add this to the list of examples where topographic features clearly drove the intensification of low-level rotation within a non-supercell thunderstorm. It’s a list that just keeps growing.

When mass shootings hit home

I’m sick of the news. Two more mass shootings over the weekend, in El Paso and Dayton, then a wave of articles and online squabbling. Inevitably, the dialogue reaches an impasse, and thoughts and prayers are sent. The societal reactions are becoming emptier, more impersonal. Feeling the hopelessness surrounding how to address this mass shooting epidemic, I have been tempted to tune out coverage and analysis of these events, to focus on problems that I can solve, to bury my head in the sand and block out the suffering of strangers in faraway cities. However, an incident occurred today that shocked me out of my growing desensitization…

This afternoon, a 20-year-old white male suspect walked into my local grocery store armed with a ‘tactical’ rifle, over 100 rounds of ammo, a backup handgun, and body armor. He was videotaping himself giving a monologue as bystanders fled the scene in panic. At this point, we don’t know what would’ve happened if an off-duty firefighter hadn’t held the gunman at gunpoint until a sizeable police presence showed up within 5 minutes. But in light of recent events, this spectacle carried all the hallmarks of a would-be mass shooting, just a couple of blocks from my house. I was there yesterday, in fact, around the same time. And I heard the line of police cars arrive on the scene today, an unusual racket for this normally quiet, middle-class suburban area of Springfield.

How do I feel that my local Walmart Neighborhood Market could’ve been the site of the next mass murder? Relieved but also sick to my stomach, I suppose, if that makes any sense. This incident doesn’t pass without consequences, of course. Emotional trauma is a big one, sure to affect many of the bystanders and even some community members who followed the events on TV or in other media. I feel terribly for anyone who was in there at the time, especially parents whose lives flashed before them and children who were instantly deprived of any sense that their neighborhood is safe. I’m sure I will have cause for pause before returning to that store, even though I know the odds of such an incident recurring are no different here, nor anywhere else.

Do I blame the kid for bringing a disquieting, unsettling feeling to my neighborhood? Mostly, not entirely…and yes, he’s a kid. Sure, he’ll be tried as an adult after his Class E felony charge for ‘making a terrorist threat,’ but the police protected his identity and portrayed him in press interviews like a child deserving of a second chance–clearly it helps to be white with a baby face. If he was indeed live-streaming his terrorizing march through the store, he surely knew that he would draw widespread attention regardless of whether he discharged his weapon or caused any physical harm. Well, it worked, the story made it to several national media outlets within hours. The logic is immature, selfish, psychopathic, and devastating; while I understand the desire to be seen and to leave an impact, the thought process that normalizes this act of terror is extremely troubling.

When something like this happens, I too want to jump into the public discourse. It bothers me that a young ‘adult’ can easily purchase weapons and armor designed for military combat, that it is both legal and socially acceptable in many circles. It bothers me that the same young ‘adult’ almost certainly lacks mental health support, suffering from a shortage of personal attention and care from primary school through early adulthood. Other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, have responded to mass shootings with comprehensive gun reforms that their societies have embraced. But our country has dug itself into the trenches, refusing to give an inch toward any sort of compromise. And until we figure it out, these instances of senseless violence will continue to occur; I dearly hope it’s not in a public place near you.

Edit (8/14/19): In the following days, the would-be shooter was identified as Dmitriy Andreychenko. He claims that he was, in fact, and against the advising of his wife and sister, conducting a social experiment on his 2nd amendment/Missouri open-carry rights. He grew up in the States since age 2, and was an active member of my neighborhood community…for a time, he worked at Taco Bell with my coworker’s son, who described him as a “cool, normal guy.”