Everyday receipts

I grew up in western Colorado. In school, I learned about the indigenous tribes that resided in the area. We went on field trips to the Ute Indian Museum and Mesa Verde. I heard their language in the names of lakes and rivers without knowing it. To me, Indians lived in the past. I knew that Indians lived on reservations around the U.S., but I had never seen them in everyday places. When I moved to Arizona, I went to Eastern Arizona College which is about 45 minutes from Bylas on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. Safford was the closest town for shopping, and I saw Apaches at Walmart and Thriftee and Dairy Queen. Once I noticed on the bottom of a receipt from Thriftee the phrases “Thank you. Gracias. Ah Iyi Ee.” I asked a friend what “Ah Iyi Ee” meant, Thank you in Apache. I should have known. Deloria is right when he says that we only imagine Indians in the locations Hollywood or the media place them. The media doesn’t put them in everyday places like getting ice cream with their kids or in a grocery store shopping.
-Colleen Murphy