Rez Up; this is the responsibility Darwin St. Clair III feels to Raise Up, to live open and proud in his Native American heritage within and beyond his home on the Wind River Indian Reservation. He shared his experiences on the reservation, the importance of representation, and his goal of giving back to the community.
With parents representing the Eastern Shoshone, Navajo, Pawnee, and Cherokee Nations, Darwin and his 3 younger siblings grew up with an emphasis on understanding culture and tradition.
“My parents were really big on making sure we understood at least basics. A few songs– me and my siblings all Powwow danced growing up.”
“My mom’s mom, who would stay with us, still speaks Navajo. She is about 80 and she has a lot of relatives who still speak it. So, it was nice to use slang with her at home.”
The St. Clair family moved from Arizona to Wyoming when Darwin was 10 years old, and he views this move as the beginning of his exposure to life and point of views beyond the reservation. Certain differences, however, would not become fully realized until later in his life.
“It’s funny, Lander is only a seven mile difference from where I lived on the Rez, but I went there [Lander], and I heard every racist joke there was. Of course, I’d heard half of them already.”
“And it wasn’t even about me– most of them didn’t know me and I’m [white] passing, but they just knew I was Native, and that was enough.”
The ignorance Darwin faced was not isolated to surrounding cities. Through inaccurate representation and a profound history of cultural erasure, the American consciousness has let harmful stereotypes about what it means to be Native American in the 21st century develop.
“I went to a summer camp in LA in eighth grade and this one smart kid asked me, ‘So you still live in Teepees?’ This kid wanted to be a doctor,” Darwin said.
Entertainment media has long held a fascination with the ‘stoic, uncivilized savage’ as St. Clair described, but new shows like Fox’s Reservation Dogs are making huge steps towards dismantling that characterization.
When it comes to overcoming stereotypes, Darwin sees accurate representation as only one piece of the puzzle.
“There is an element of responsibility in the community, they need to Rez Up–be proud of where you’re from, not be ashamed of showing how you would act at home.”
“I’m proud to say I gave to my Rez and I want to give more later. Hopefully one day someone smarter than me can go back and make it even better.”
Darwin is double majoring in Mathematics and Education with the goal of going home to teach the next generation at Fort Washakie. He sees himself one day going to Law School or receiving a masters in math to continue the tradition of serving his community.
