Short Story: You Don T Look Indian

Identity Crisis

Some people struggle with understanding who they are every day. They constantly look for ways to fit in. Curiosity can make him or her search for their place in society. In the narrative “You don’t look Indian” by Greg Sarris, we follow him in his journey to finding out his true identity.

Gregg Sarris was given up at birth in the mid nineteen hundreds. He was adopted and grew up around Pomo Indians. Although he identified himself as an Indian, his physical appearance suggested otherwise.” And here I am with blue eyes and fair skin.” (161) During the time that Sarris was growing up, whites were still not that receptive of people with Hispanic origin. “A counselor called me in and asked if my family knew I went around with Mexicans.

He had been surrounded by Indians almost his whole life. From a very young age, he had been taken in by a Pomo Indian family. To think that these weren’t his people was probably upsetting. He had learned the Indian culture and even some of the Pomo Indian language. It didn’t matter if he wasn’t actually Indian biologically. He was nothing less than Indian at heart.

Sarris eventually goes on a search for his roots. The little information that he had, was given to the medical staff by his white mother while she was delivering him. “My mother uttered something on the delivery table about the father being Spanish.” (161) Sarris was indeed confused about who he was. However, he didn’t give up on finding the answer to his question. He would eventually meet his biological mother’s brother, who would give him a possible name for his assumed to be Indian father.

Emilio was the name given for Sarris’s father. After thirty-six years of life, Sarris had finally been given a piece of information that could help him in finding out his “true identity”. He was nothing less than excited. “To have a name, even a nickname, seemed unfathomable.” (159) He would now begin the frantic search for his