LibraryScenariosWhen you're expected to represent a culture you're still learning
Scenario

When you're expected to represent a culture you're still learning

My white coworkers keep asking me to explain indigenous perspectives on everything like I represent all Native people, but I barely know my own traditions.

Rumi
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

Being positioned as cultural spokesperson creates pressure to embody knowledge that colonial disruption has made difficult to access.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Indigenous spiritualities — Pacific?”

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.