A dichotomy
Not all dichotomies are a bad thing. Sometimes, having two different sides is a good thing. That is what Melanie Rains classified herself as. Melanie has Muscogee Creek, Blackfoot, and European heritage. She grew up in Berkley, California, yet her ancestral lands lie in Alabama. “I feel like a dichotomy to myself. One half is like a City Indian. The other half is the one who feels really connected to the ancestral land. The one who really needs to learn her language.”
Melanie has lived in all regions of the country. She attended an Ivy League university, Smith College in Massachusetts, studying Philosophy of Religion, specifically Hinduism and Buddhism. She then went on to get her Masters of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a military spouse, Melanie also lived in Italy for 3 years. Now, she and her husband reside in Auburn, Alabama, near her ancestral homelands.
Melanie comes from a line of stories. Both of her father’s grandfathers were medicine men and made stick balls. Both of her parents attended boarding schools. Melanie grew up in the city, but her heart is still aligned with her heritage: “This side now, at 53 years old, is really feeling that need to reclaim that connection to the land here.”She is one of the first people in her family to step foot on her ancestors’ land, and now she lives down the road from those lands. Melanie prioritizes connection to land, language reclamation, and legacy, of which she hopes to pass down to future generations.
Melanie also hopes to make her ancestors proud. She said, “How would you make your ancestors proud today? Because you are here for a reason. You have a story to tell. You have work to do. They endured so you could be here. They survived so you could be here today.” Melanie, and many other Native Americans, are the result of perseverance through persecution. This is why culture and heritage are so vital to a human’s essence.
Melanie makes her ancestors proud by reminding others of how special they are. Native Americans, especially Native young adults, have a higher suicide rate than any other race in the nation. “It makes me think, who didn’t tell you how special you were?” Melanie said. “I’m sorry nobody told you that you were so special and a treasure in this world and are needed.” Melanie strives to make sure others feel seen and heard, encouraging everyone to share their own stories.
Melanie wants these stories to break the stereotype many people have of Native Americans. “I’m tired of the trite belief that Native Americans are uneducated, poverty-stricken alcoholics. That’s not our story.” Melanie believes that if Native Americans have that connection to their ancestors, their culture, and their language, then they can do anything they set their mind to. She wants more Native people to tell their success stories, where they persevered through generational trauma and discrimination. “We need to encourage our Native/indigenous people to be authors to write to tell our stories because we have wonderful stories to tell. They are waiting to be told,” she said.
Now deeply connected with her ancestors through land and language, Melanie Rains is inspiring others to do the same. “How will you make your ancestors proud?”
Native Narratives 