"You're not Indian enough."
The Moon Loves Me
Breaking the Silence
A Native girl is told she's “Not Indian enough" by her father, beginning decades of silence for every betrayal that follows. At 8 years old, she learned that silence meant survival after her father marries an abusive woman. She stays silent about his alcoholism, his violence, her stepmother's cruelty. She dissociates when the violence turns deadly and her sister runs away leaving Darla alone. For decades, she believed that the silence protected. She realizes that silence doesn’t protect, it erases. She breaks the silence by choosing to be seen. She gifts her grandson a new birthright through rocks from her childhood home.
––darla clement
"My contemplations a tomb. With my emotions checked, I became an outward shell who lived deep inside my soul. The world would never hear my thoughts."
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EXCERPT FROM THE MOON LOVES ME
Like the blossoms, Nancy and I were planted in the same family but held differing positions. We both sought to belong to our environment. Nancy, almost a mirror to me, with straight brown hair and matching brown eyes.
We both wanted our family to reunite. Both of us craved more of Mom, Sheryl, and Georgie. We missed our cousins. But being opposite of the other, we expressed these emotions differently. Our movements mimicked each other, with slight variations.
Nancy was bold, fun, and boisterous. She tackled her desires headfirst with the physical force of the wind. While I was shy and quiet, reading to my dolls, escaping into a daydream, and sometimes forgetting the world around me. We were the opposite petals of each other. She the leader. I her follower.
IMAGES FROM THE MOON LOVES ME
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