Ayao was abandoned on the side of the road as a baby. She wasn't expected to survive through the night. A kind family heard her crystal and took her in. When her biological family comes searching and looking for her, where will she stand in the end...
"Mama, I'm headed to work. Did you need me to pick up anything from the store later?" I asked walking into the kitchen where my mother was weaving with my Auntie Diana.
"No honey. Just be safe out there. You know me and your dad don't like you working at that bar. I don't trust those people to keep my baby safe. You got your knife and taser?"
"I do mama. I promise you that I'm ready for anyone who comes my way. Is the Powwow this weekend?"
"Yes and you better check your regalia before then to make sure everything is there and looks right. I also need to see if there anything we need to get before then."
"Yes ma'am. I love you mama. Love you Auntie. Tell uncle Martin I said hey when him and Daddy get back." I said before giving them both a hug and kiss heading out to my truck.
I loved my life and family. You know how the saying you can't chose your family. Mine chose me and I couldn't be more grateful. I mean they didn't have to tell me I'm adopted, it's pretty obvious both of my parents are full Native, my mother is Navajo and my father is Cree, I'm African American. They told me what happened and how they found me. Obliviously my human incubator or sperm donor didn't want me and threw me away like I was trash, so I'm lucky that they put me on the reservation. I spent my years learning the language of the Dene and going to school with my sisters Raven and River and our cousin Osun. My Aunt Diana married my father's brother Martin, she herself has heritage in the Blackfoot tribe. So when my parents brought home the thing they found crying and my aunt saw I was African American, she asked that they give me a name that would have meaning like she did with Osun, so I was named after a Orisha Goddess Ayao, the Goddess of Air. Daddy said the air carried my cries to Raven who alerted them to my presences.
It was normal growing up on the reservation. My dad and Uncle owned a construction business and built houses for our community and worked with a plumber and electrician on the res to make sure our community was up and running. They did work for non-Natives but they made sure at home was taken care of first, free of charge. We were able to petition the state into giving us a grant to improve our home structures and schools. I was seen as anyone else in the town, no one treated me like an outsider because they knew that my parents adopted me and most believed the same thing my father believed. I was left on the reservation for a reason and the ancestors led Raven to hear my cries and led my parents to find me, so do I. Doctors said I should have been dead due to heat and dehydration, but I'm still here.
I follow the same traditions as my family does, I eat the same food and do the same work on the land that my family does. I did get another job at a bar not too close but not too far from the res. Regalia is not cheap, and neither is the food, but to be fair I do eat a lot. Plus my parents wedding anniversary is coming up soon and my sisters and I wanted to do something big for them.
Pulling up at the semi packed bar, I made sure my hair and makeup was right. The only people to touch my hair was my family. NO ONE ELSE, do you want to meet your maker, because touching my hair will get you there. The regulars here knew me as the girl in the wind, but to be fair most of the regulars are from the res.
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