I first met Jewish Indians in Rhode Island. Not related. During the time I lived there I met a JewishPawtucket woman and later a JewishNantucket man. When I next met people of this mix was when I lived in Madison, Wisconsin. I worked for The Four Lakes Indian Council, an Ndn service program for Ndn's in the city. My boss was George Swamp (he still lives there) and in a big college campus town we had Ndn graduates working for us, coming to us and Ndn's on their way to being graduates. They were aware of JewishIndians.
On the first day of Passover I put out a 'shout' on MTS saying, "Hey-O Jewish Ndn's. Happy Holidays. Mindful Passover." And this inspired a considerable amount of derision. Apparently a real Ndn would know there' ain't no such thing." But I know real Ndn's who know different than that and so do I.
I have lived for the last 30 years in Eugene, Oregon. Another college town and the town I was born in. I have met, not only more JewishIndians but JewishChinese, JewishIrish, JewishUgandan. And, lets face it, if Jeff Goldbloom had ever said yes to me (and without a condom) who knows who would have descended from that?
There is a big difference between ignorance and small mindedness. To simply not know the facts is ignorance and a person may simply not know of a truth by never encountering it. So I assume that some MTS members just never consciously met this sub-group and assumed I was yanking their chain. Small mindedness however describes the fear of a particular fact AND I assure everyone here that you have NOTHING to fear from JewishIndians. Not even their existence. In choosing actors for his film ‘The Business of Fancydancing’, Sherman Alexie specifically chose a JewishAmerican actress and included her identity into the script.
