Gyasi Ross: Giving a nod to Native sisters, mothers, grandmothers

Gyasi Ross, a motivational speaker, lawyer and more recently a columnist, has reached the midway section of his 26-column-writing agreement with Indian Country Today. His latest column acknowledges Native women and their leadership. Here’s a snippet of his last column: “To my mom and sisters, being the boss did not mean that you ran amuck and dominated others. It meant that you had more responsibility to raise other “bosses.” It meant that they worked to raise strong and responsible Skin men to make sure that the next generation of Skin women wouldn’t have to be the boss all by themselves. My guess is that my sisters and mom would’ve loved to have had a man in the house to help lessen their immense responsibility. But men weren’t around. So my mom and sisters raised me to be the loud and vocal man.”

Ross said he put a lot of work into this last column and it shows. I’d say it’s probably his best so far. Ross succeeds in keeping it real. Does he get everything right? Well, there’s quite a few points that could be argued, such as the authoritative role Native women once played in traditional Indian society. Point being, Ross isn’t afraid to raise these issues. He gets to them in a round-the-block sort of way, like talking about the free school lunch programs he qualified for as a kid. How many of us could relate to that story? I remember those days when all the free-lunch kids meal tickets were pink when everyone else was given a blue ticket. Am I digressing? Back to Ross. He’s spins many yarns in his story of women. Did you know he flailed about in college for awhile and that his grades weren’t so hot? He’s actually even a lit bit modest — imagine that — about his college career. He never mentions that he eventually got it together and earned a law degree from Columbia University in New York. The point of all this is that Ross manages to tie all these experiences to the women of Indian Country. And even when he doesn’t quite make the connection, he offers a lot of funny anecdotes to his storytelling. His latest column, which has a strong-woman theme is timely, considering the majority of powerhouse Natives working for President Barack Obama are all top-notch, female Indian women, including Jodi Gillette, Hillary Tomkins, Yvette Roubideaux, Mary McNeil and Kimberly Teehee. One more big appointment needs to be made to fill the direct position at the Administration for Native Americans. And, its a sure bet that spot will be filled by yet another amazing Native woman.

So, what will Ross be writing next?

Jodi Rave