You are welcome. If you have any questions about anything, please let me know, and I can help explain it to you. Also, I used AI to put the interview into BASIC English, which is language meant to be easier for people who don't speak English natively.
The Interview in Basic English
Question: Before we start, you have a special identity compared to other people I have talked to. What name do you use for your people? First Nations, First Peoples, Native American, American Indian, or something else?
Answer: I am okay with the name First Nations. We prefer to call ourselves Haudenosaunee. People who came to live here from Europe called us Iroquois. My people were a group of First Nations that made a political union in the Eastern Woodlands. My specific group is Mohawk. We call ourselves Kayen’kaha.
Question: Tell us about your science fiction stories.
Answer: I am interested in a special area called Indigenous Futurism. I write this because I do not want people to tell me that I can only write history stories about my people. Right now, I write normal science fiction stories with some Indigenous persons in them. I also write short stories to try out ideas about our future.
Question: What makes your science fiction stories special?
Answer: I like to put Indigenous persons in regular science fiction stories. I want to show that we can help make a story about the future and that we are not just people from the past. We are good at changing when things change. My people have a rule to think seven generations ahead, not just about today. Regular society can learn from this.
Question: Science fiction makers have had a hard time thinking about First Nations cultures in the future. One television show (Star Trek) showed a person wearing old traditional clothes with a futuristic uniform. Another story showed First Nations people living in a very simple, old way, and the story was just like the bad times in the 1800s when they were forced off their land. Why is it hard to show these cultures changing in science fiction?
Answer: I am glad when regular writers put us in science fiction instead of thinking we will die out completely. But it is best to read science fiction written by Indigenous writers to see how it can work. Writers should also study our past and our life today.
Question: As things from science fiction become real, how do you see First Nations culture changing? What can we all learn from First Nations as we move forward together?
Answer: First Nations knowledge is good for taking care of nature. We lived on this land (which we call Turtle Island) for thousands of years. We kept it in such good condition that the new people thought no one had used it. They thought we did not use the land because we did not farm it like they did. But my people were farmers, so their argument was weak. Also, the hunting and gathering ways of other First Nations were very smart systems to manage resources. They got what they needed and kept the land in better shape than the European ways did.
I believe First Nations will make their own new clothing with the materials they have. If my people wore clothes from the time before Europeans arrived, they would wear animal skins at their events. Instead, we wear special clothing made with cloth that we got from trade with the new settlers. But we use it in ways they do not expect. For example, lace was very popular long ago. My people used that idea to make beautiful designs on cloth using small white beads.
We are happy to use new technology if it is useful. When settlers brought iron pots, we stopped using clay pots for cooking. Now, our artists make the old clay pot designs as art, not for cooking.
Today, we use the internet and phone apps to teach our culture and languages. I have done historical research, and my people change much faster now than they did in the past. Long ago, everyone had to agree in a meeting, and people gave very long speeches. Now, we want quick actions. We talk faster than we used to. In some ways, we are better at changing than regular society because we have had to change so much to survive.
Living with nature does not mean living like people from ancient times. First Nations are finding ways to change that match their values. I do not have a complete picture of the future yet. My stories are a way to test ideas and see how things will develop, and if we can use new technology in a good and moral way.
Question: What part of science fiction do you think will become real soon?
Answer: We are living in science fiction right now, though we are not as advanced as early writers thought we would be. The change from the 1800s to the 1900s was very fast, so they thought we would keep moving at that speed.
I laugh at how robots and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are working out today. One famous writer (Asimov) thought there would be laws built into robots to keep us safe. But many people use AI today to commit crimes. So, a "bad robot" is normal now, even if that writer did not want to think so.
Question: What is next for you?
Answer: My plan is to write a long story about space. I am also writing short stories with strong male characters on a website called Substack. I want to see if I can write male characters well, even if I do not write as much action as male writers do.
The Haudenosaunee had a system where family lines and names came from the mother. But our men were still strong warriors. Because of this history, I have more freedom than women in regular western culture. But I do not want to see men become weak or pushed down in stories. We had different roles for men and women, but women's voices were respected and had a real place in our government.
Thank you. It's a lot easier this way. For me is more difficult listening, because of the pronunciation. I can understand generally, but sometimes some regions or words escape to my understanding 🌷🌷.
Thank you for writing the interview!!. I sometimes had a hard time understanding some ideas 🌷.
You are welcome. If you have any questions about anything, please let me know, and I can help explain it to you. Also, I used AI to put the interview into BASIC English, which is language meant to be easier for people who don't speak English natively.
The Interview in Basic English
Question: Before we start, you have a special identity compared to other people I have talked to. What name do you use for your people? First Nations, First Peoples, Native American, American Indian, or something else?
Answer: I am okay with the name First Nations. We prefer to call ourselves Haudenosaunee. People who came to live here from Europe called us Iroquois. My people were a group of First Nations that made a political union in the Eastern Woodlands. My specific group is Mohawk. We call ourselves Kayen’kaha.
Question: Tell us about your science fiction stories.
Answer: I am interested in a special area called Indigenous Futurism. I write this because I do not want people to tell me that I can only write history stories about my people. Right now, I write normal science fiction stories with some Indigenous persons in them. I also write short stories to try out ideas about our future.
Question: What makes your science fiction stories special?
Answer: I like to put Indigenous persons in regular science fiction stories. I want to show that we can help make a story about the future and that we are not just people from the past. We are good at changing when things change. My people have a rule to think seven generations ahead, not just about today. Regular society can learn from this.
Question: Science fiction makers have had a hard time thinking about First Nations cultures in the future. One television show (Star Trek) showed a person wearing old traditional clothes with a futuristic uniform. Another story showed First Nations people living in a very simple, old way, and the story was just like the bad times in the 1800s when they were forced off their land. Why is it hard to show these cultures changing in science fiction?
Answer: I am glad when regular writers put us in science fiction instead of thinking we will die out completely. But it is best to read science fiction written by Indigenous writers to see how it can work. Writers should also study our past and our life today.
Question: As things from science fiction become real, how do you see First Nations culture changing? What can we all learn from First Nations as we move forward together?
Answer: First Nations knowledge is good for taking care of nature. We lived on this land (which we call Turtle Island) for thousands of years. We kept it in such good condition that the new people thought no one had used it. They thought we did not use the land because we did not farm it like they did. But my people were farmers, so their argument was weak. Also, the hunting and gathering ways of other First Nations were very smart systems to manage resources. They got what they needed and kept the land in better shape than the European ways did.
I believe First Nations will make their own new clothing with the materials they have. If my people wore clothes from the time before Europeans arrived, they would wear animal skins at their events. Instead, we wear special clothing made with cloth that we got from trade with the new settlers. But we use it in ways they do not expect. For example, lace was very popular long ago. My people used that idea to make beautiful designs on cloth using small white beads.
We are happy to use new technology if it is useful. When settlers brought iron pots, we stopped using clay pots for cooking. Now, our artists make the old clay pot designs as art, not for cooking.
Today, we use the internet and phone apps to teach our culture and languages. I have done historical research, and my people change much faster now than they did in the past. Long ago, everyone had to agree in a meeting, and people gave very long speeches. Now, we want quick actions. We talk faster than we used to. In some ways, we are better at changing than regular society because we have had to change so much to survive.
Living with nature does not mean living like people from ancient times. First Nations are finding ways to change that match their values. I do not have a complete picture of the future yet. My stories are a way to test ideas and see how things will develop, and if we can use new technology in a good and moral way.
Question: What part of science fiction do you think will become real soon?
Answer: We are living in science fiction right now, though we are not as advanced as early writers thought we would be. The change from the 1800s to the 1900s was very fast, so they thought we would keep moving at that speed.
I laugh at how robots and AI (Artificial Intelligence) are working out today. One famous writer (Asimov) thought there would be laws built into robots to keep us safe. But many people use AI today to commit crimes. So, a "bad robot" is normal now, even if that writer did not want to think so.
Question: What is next for you?
Answer: My plan is to write a long story about space. I am also writing short stories with strong male characters on a website called Substack. I want to see if I can write male characters well, even if I do not write as much action as male writers do.
The Haudenosaunee had a system where family lines and names came from the mother. But our men were still strong warriors. Because of this history, I have more freedom than women in regular western culture. But I do not want to see men become weak or pushed down in stories. We had different roles for men and women, but women's voices were respected and had a real place in our government.
Thank you. It's a lot easier this way. For me is more difficult listening, because of the pronunciation. I can understand generally, but sometimes some regions or words escape to my understanding 🌷🌷.
Thank you for that feedback. I’ll make sure to add transcripts going forward.
Thanks for inclusion!!
Interesting reading
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fascinating interview, thanks!