Read the full transcript of Ronnie Stephens’ talk titled “Identity’s Power: My Journey to Uncovering My Native American History” at TEDxUTulsa 2024 conference.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
An Unexpected Encounter
RONNIE STEPHENS: I was pushing my cart down the aisle at a local supermarket, and as I turned the corner, I almost hit another cart head-on. As we both stopped and looked up at each other, I suddenly realized that it was Garth Brooks. Yes. That Garth Brooks. The country music superstar with 19 number-one singles and an iconic Oklahoma cowboy.
As I continued to walk down the aisle, my mind was racing. Something was off. Where was the 10-gallon cowboy hat? Or what about the belt buckle that was as big as a kitchen plate? And there were certainly no sparkling black boots with tips so sharp, they could probably cut glass.
You see, this was the image and the persona that’s all I’d ever seen of Garth. It was based on what I’d seen on TV or on album covers. But to my surprise, he was wearing a baseball cap, a hooded sweatshirt, and faded blue jeans. Just a normal guy out shopping with his wife. And it was certainly not the typical cowboy-meets-Native American experience that so many of us grew up watching on TV or reading about.
Assumptions and Identity
Now many of you wouldn’t guess that I’m Native American. That’s because I don’t look Native American. But you see, many of us make a lot of assumptions about people. We make assumptions about people based on the way they look, the color of their skin, or even the way they dress. I get that, and I’m guilty of that as well.
Discovering Family History
But you see, I don’t think we truly understand people until another story.
About 4 years ago, my dad and I were talking about our family history and our Native American identity. The problem was nobody from my family had ever studied it. And then my dad remembered finding some documents in the back of my grandma’s family Bible. These documents related to my great-grandpa’s inheritance of land that had been allotted to him by the federal government, about how he had had a hearing on that land, and how he’d been relocated to Oklahoma and placed on the original roll of the Quapaw Tribe.
These documents raised several questions that I wanted to get answered. And then one day, on a Tuesday afternoon, I received a call that nobody ever wants to receive. It was from my dad. You see, he hadn’t been feeling well, and he’d been to the doctor several times. He said, “Son, I need to talk to you.”
I wasn’t sure what he’d found, but as I drove to his house, I was hoping it wasn’t something too bad. As we sat down and began to talk, he told me that he’d been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. But despite this diagnosis, my dad still wanted to understand his family history. And so I wanted to make sure that we could find out as much as we could about his grandpa and his ancestors while he was still alive. And what we found out is that most of our family history was related to the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma.
And as we studied more, we realized that our family history was really a history of Native Americans in this country. And while I had an unwavering will to fight, my dad was not invincible and passed away not quite 2 years into our journey, succumbing to his cancer. With only one surviving sister and with records being so hard to find, I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to find out anymore about our family history. And this ignited a passion inside of me, what I now refer to as my legacy journey that only grows stronger every day.
Tracing Roots
After this, I decided to try and put together a family history. Unfortunately, it had many blanks, so I decided to take a trip to Salt Lake City where I spent 2 days at the Museum of History, which has maybe the greatest number of integrated resources around genealogy and Native American history in the United States. I was able to trace our family history back 6 generations. Now armed with this information, I went back to our local tribal headquarters and was able to obtain a copy of my great-grandfather’s allotment letters.
You see, my great-grandfather had been relocated to Oklahoma from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and moved onto the Quapaw Reservation. But based on the Dawes Act, the reservation had then been divided into allotments.
My great-grandfather received not one, but two letters of allotment. But these just weren’t any letters. These letters came from President Grover Cleveland himself. I can only imagine my great-grandfather’s excitement. He had just received 2 letters from the president of the United States granting him 200 acres on which to live and raise a family.
A Dream Shattered
But, unfortunately, this soon changed as he received a letter asking for a competency hearing on this land. You see, in the early 1900s, it wasn’t uncommon for 3 non-native members of the community to go and have a conversation with the family to determine whether they were fit or competent to manage their own land. Just thinking about this makes my blood boil. The hearing was held. The trial was complete.
The verdict was in, and the ruling was incompetent. Let me say that again. The ruling was incompetent. What had been this amazing dream that my great-grandfather got has now moved into a trust and managed by a local Indian agent. Sadly, close to 90% of the land that was allotted to Native Americans was then reclaimed by the United States by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Learning from the Past
What I realized as I began to think about our family history was that I learned a lot about their Native American ancestors and the choices they had to make as they were forced to choose between their culture and tradition or assimilation. And I was really surprised that everything that I had learned about Native American history isn’t taught in school today or even talked about.
It’s been said that a small spark can start a great fire. I could never have imagined that the journey my dad and I began together, what I now feel is truly my legacy journey, would lead me to this stage tonight. There’s a quote I love by Marcus Garvey that says, “A people without knowledge of their past history, origin, or culture is like a tree without roots.”
Without this knowledge, we are vulnerable like trees without roots that can easily be swept away by a gust of wind. Many Native Americans still struggle with addiction, identity problems, and breaking free from life on a reservation. After all, that’s all they’ve ever known. They grew up in an America that devalued Native American history and education. And most people don’t know that many Native Americans weren’t even considered American citizens until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
Challenges and Hope
To put this into perspective, that was my grandmother’s generation. Born in Indian Territory in 1899, which later became the state of Oklahoma in 1907. There was a recent study that said close to 40% of 1st-year Native American students drop out of college, the highest of any ethnic group. And 85% of Native Americans over the age of 25 do not have a college degree. But what if we could change this and create a culture in which Native Americans could embrace their history and engage in the community?
We could not only encourage but empower native youth to better themselves through education and job training. This could change not only the perception but the reality for many Native American tribes. Globally, there are over 5,000 indigenous tribes with close to 600,000,000 people. In the United States, there are 574 federally recognized Native American tribes. In our state of Oklahoma, there are 39.
I believe by starting with our local community and creating programs like mentoring and internships that we can change the narrative and show Native Americans that the life they always dreamed of is still possible today. We talk a lot about diversity and inclusion, but the problem is diversity isn’t about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.
A Call to Action
Now that I’ve talked about my story and about many Native Americans, I want to involve each of you. What I would like to do is to have each of you understand more about your family history.
And I believe I know there are many things available on the Internet, but I believe in starting with something simple. So my ask is do you get with somebody from your family, your mom and dad, your grandparents, a sibling, or maybe another relative, and you begin to ask them about your family history. And while you’re doing this, take out your phone and record the conversation. And if you don’t have a phone, then write it down. Treat it like an interview.
For me, this is something I wish I had done for my dad who passed away. Not just for myself, but for my children and generations to come. And as you think about this interview, I want you to start with one single question. And that question is, “What stories about your family do you want to make sure that no one ever forgets?”
We all have a history. Our families have a history. This land has a history. So as we leave tonight, my ask is that each of you are willing to share your stories. Our actions today will determine tomorrow’s history, so let’s make them worthy of being remembered by generations that follow us. Thank you.
