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Identify as Indigenous?
Hi,
Do any members here identify as indigenous and work in large corporations? I am Navajo from the Navajo Nation. I am learning to speak Navajo, even though my parents were and are fluent. I work in NYC for a large publishing organization. No one else I know or am friends with is indigenous from North America so it is a bit lonely. My saving grace is that I have a lot of coworkers of color who are from India. I feel that we have a lot of the same struggles, but still it would be nice to connect with other professionals in corporations who are indigenous. Thanks for hearing me out!
Hi Janell,
Could you find a Meetup in your area or something, some of them do online meetings now, then you could talk with other indigenous people in NYC.
Also, the company I just worked for recently had employee groups for different ethnicities, etc. (e.g. African American women, Hispanics, Veterans, Disabled...) maybe you could see if your workplace has that. They would announce meetings of the different groups on our weekly newsletter we got.
Good luck with this.
Hi Janell, what a joy to read you
Let me tell you that you are our first publication in this brand new group and thank you so much for sharing your story.
I completely understand how you feel , although I am not indigenous, I am a foreigner living in Argentina (originally from Colombia) and these cultural challenges always arise when there are strong roots of each culture. It's nice to know that you also share with many colleagues from India, they as you mention fully understand your dilemma.
My advise: I know that we may be surrounded by people and yet feel all alone. But I believe that we don’t have the reason to feel lonely when there’s the entire world inside us. Sometimes we simply need to take a break from everyone and experience and love ourselves. You’re strong and beautiful and you’re a thousand times enough and you'll find the right people to be with at the exact right time.
Thank you for sharing your story and I invite you to share all your concerns or doubts, I'd love to read them and give you some advice if you need it