Shea Vassar
Am I the only Native American at this Arctic Monkeys concert?
Did you know most ndns live in cities? So I know I’m not the only ndn in Brooklyn.
And I know I’m not the only ndn that likes the Arctic Monkeys. But am I the only one here tonight? I’ve had two beers and now I’m feeling a little existential.
Sorry I’m no Alex Turner with my words. They took our phones so we couldn’t take videos but
That means I also can’t place my current anxieties in my notes app where the others live.
The last time I updated the list of potential names to give my children was last week.
Máire, Rónán, Séamus. Yeah, they’re all Irish inspired.
I’m named after my great-great grandmother on my dad’s side who immigrated from Bantry, Cork, Ireland in 1885.
My name is probably one of the reasons no one suspects I’m really Native, even when I tell them.
There’s a to-do list entitled ‘YOU HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS, BITCH” from a couple months ago that was never completed, a note that just says “Leonard Cohen doesn’t make me want to shake my ass!”, and a budget I made at the beginning of the year I haven’t opened since its creation.
I wonder if the band knows that Native people exist? They probably do.
I spend too much time lurking different subreddits and my hair isn’t long anymore. I’ve been to the same amount of Arctic Monkeys concerts as I have traditional ceremonies.
Ok, Brain, time to shut up. The disco ball is spinning and my favorite band is about to take the stage. Honestly, there’s no way I’m the only Native American at this concert.
Shea Vassar is a Cherokee writer and comedian based in Oklahoma. She dabbles in various creative mediums which utilize existentialism to look at Indigenous diaspora, connection to land, generational trauma, and the irony of being alive.