The following 3 blogs were written to document my early years as a CREE IN NYC.

A CREE GROWS IN NY

One of the first things I did when I came to NYC in the early 90’s was jump on the subway.

Not really headed anywhere I went up to a toll booth and said to the woman sitting behind the window, “yo.” I learned my first lesson about New Yorkers right away. She stared right at me, curled her lip and looked like she was going to jump through the window. She sat up in her chair, calmly said into her microphone, “Look, I’m not your yo. Do I look like a yo to you? If you want anything from me you better treat me the way your mother should have raised you cause if you’re new here that isn’t going to get you anywhere.” I stepped back and said, “Yes maam.”

The woman sat back in her chair and said, “Okay. Now we’ll start over. What can I do to help you sir?” I told her I needed a subway map. She asked me if I knew where I wanted to go and I told her no. She smiled and told me it was the best way to find out about NYC if I was new. I got my map, a cheery goodbye and I put my token in and walked through the turnstile.

I spent the rest of the day riding trains through all the four boroughs. At the time I really didn’t know which was which but I especially liked it when the train would pull out of the tunnel into daylight and travel on trestles tracks. Through the window I saw the differences from one neighborhood to the next.

It was uneventful, except for a guy who was sitting across from me. He was staring at me for the longest time and I was too new to know that it was the last thing to do when you’re in a subway car – to stare back. I did. At some point, the train we were on was coming to his stop because he got up and came up to me. “You’re new here right?” I said yes. “You aren’t scared?” I said no. “I’m from Mexico”, he said, “and I was scared *@8%less on my first subway ride. You’re going to be okay.”

He patted me on the back as he walked to the door. He turned around to say one last thing, “You’re Indio right?” I looked at him liked I didn’t know what he was saying which I was. “You’re an American Indian, right?” I said yes. He grinned and said, “Cool man” and left.

The train I was on pulled into the City Hall station. I got off the train and walked out to the street level. When I got up there I saw the World Trade Center to my right and to the left was the Brooklyn Bridge. I began walking to the bridge. The sun had come out. There were hardly any clouds in the sky. I began walking up the promenade and started to feel the first cool breezes coming from the river. It felt good.

I made it to the middle tower structure of the bridge. There is a viewing area around the tower and I got a 360 degree view of New York City. I saw Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. I stood there and took in the view. After a few minutes a homeless man came up to me and asked me for money. I gave him a cigarette instead. He grinned and took it. He shuffled off and I went back to taking in the view.

The next day I ended up in the Bronx. That’s another story.

HALLOWEEN IN  NYC

On October 31, 2005…Halloween, I was rushing to catch the # 6 subway train on my lunch break at work…taking two steps at a time. I was surprised I was able to do this because it’s usually pretty crowded at lunchtime; thousands of people rushing to do this and that. I saw an empty bench on the platform and sat down. I was there not three minutes before I spotted someone pacing back and forth.

Each time she passed she got closer and closer to me. I finally looked up as she stood adjusting a headdress. On her dirty-blonde hair were two large blackbird wings, one on each side of her head. Her gloves were cut at the knuckles and she was wearing fatigues – pants, jacket and combat boots. Tied from her waist were small pans and pots and she jangled as she walked. Her sleeves were rolled up showing a canvas of tattoos, she had more tattoos around her neck.

She stopped near me. (I swear she was posing like the famous Victory of Samothrace statue.) She extended her arms behind her, arching her back, just so…or she was trying to fly. She walked over to the edge of the subway platform and she looked down the tunnel. Nothing.

She jangled her way back to where I was sitting and looked at me. “Where is that F***in’ train, man?” I shrugged my shoulders. She walked to the edge again and then back to the bench. “I’m so F***in’ late!” she said as she adjusted her feathers again.

She asked me, “You American Indian?” I nodded. “Where you from?” was her next question. I told her I lived here in New York City. “No, man. Where you really from?” she asked. I decided to tell her…this was too interesting. “I’m from northern Canada.” She looked at me intently. “I was there not too friggin’ long ago, man,” she exclaimed, “nice F***in’ country!”

She walked back to edge of platform and looked for the train. Nothing. So she came back to where I sat. “Nice feathers,” I told her. She started to explain the meaning and spirituality of her bird feathers. She bounced up and down as she spoke. “I’m really so F***in’ late, man,” she said again. “My old man is going to be so pissed…we’re gettin’ married!”

We saw the light of the train finally coming down the tunnel tracks. The young woman jumped up and giggled. “See ya ‘round,” she yelled out to me. I told her I was taking the same train. She said, “Let’s go, man!” She hopped to the door, Yes, she hopped. And as we walked in the train’s speakers blared out, “Stand clear of the closing doors.”

We found space against the door and continued to talk. “I love you people so much, man,” she said. “It’s too F***in’ bad we had to come and F*** up everything,” she said, apologetically. She looked at me and asked, “Where’s this F***in’ stop where I get off to get F***in’ married?” I told her I was going in the same direction and I’d show her which way to go. She said, “That is so F***in’ cool, man.”

I was waiting for the right time to tell her. I said, “I don’t want to jinx you. But I’m actually going down [to city hall] to pick up my divorce papers.” She screamed “Get da F*** out!” People on the train looked at her. I just nodded my head.

“Didn’t work out?” she asked. I told her it was just a formality now…“We’ve been apart for years.” We talked some more until we reached our station. She said, “Well it was real F***in’ nice meeting you, man. I wish ya luck… see ya ‘round.” We shook hands and got off the train.

As we parted I saw two (pleasantly inebriated) Mexicans walking toward me as she hurried away. One of them put his open hand to his mouth and started doing a ‘heh yah, heh yah’ chant. As I passed, the one doing the chant laughed, “Geez, esse [sounds like essay], look at those feathers.” He saw me and said, “Not you bro.’ You see her, huh?” He pointed with his chin at the woman sprinting across the platform. I nodded my head. We all watched her flying up the stairs. She was taking three steps at a time. The Mexicans still laughing, cheered her on… “Go Birdwoman!”

STAR POWER

A cool summer day - I had just finished some business and I was walking south on Park Avenue. I had just watched Erin Brockovich on cable a few nights ago and there she was – Julia Roberts. She had sunglasses on but I could tell it was her. She was with that guy, Benjamin Bratt. I thought about saying something to him since he’s Indian but as I approached them I could tell they were in a heated discussion so I didn’t say anything. She was taller than him. They separated a few months after that day I saw them.

Another summer afternoon – I was headed to an appointment; I was in the subway at the Astor Place station downtown. I went through the turnstile and walked to the platform. In the corner of my eye I recognized someone. It was a small thin woman with dirty blonde hair; she was wearing a sweater that was two sizes too big for her. She was acting weird. She kept putting her hand up to her forehead like she was trying to hide herself. Then she started walking back behind the columns near the platform – going from one to the next. I stood there waiting for the train. The train came and I got on, I looked through the window as the train pulled out. I saw the woman standing there at the platform beside a column. It was Lauren Hutton. Must have been a bad hair day.

Spring day – I was taking a walk for my break at work. I walked around the corner of our building and I saw a blonde guy with his girlfriend. They were talking and fighting over a camera. They tugged the camera back and forth between them – they were playing. He was laughing. It was Macaulay Culkin. Think he was around twenty-something. He had to be two feet taller than he was when he was making the Home Alone movies.

I was rushing through the Times Square subway station – this is the only way to do it. Too many people. I saw the L train pulling in – it’s a shuttle train that goes back and forth between Times Square and Grand Central Station. As I made my way over to the train I saw a small woman all dressed up for the theater. She had on a black jacket that sparkled as she walked. She was regal and oblivious to the crowd of rushing people. It was Rue McClanahan; A Golden Girl. So cool.

It was cool summer evening – I was getting some coffee at a deli around the corner from the theater I was going to. I stood at the counter and fixed my coffee. I really like those delis that make the coffee for you. I was finished and as I turned around I saw an elderly man. He was skinny and bald. His belt seemed to be done over his belly button. He went over to the salad bar. I went to the counter and paid for my coffee. The guy took my money and then he yelled out, “Hey, Abe.” The man at the salad bar turned around and smiled. It was Abe Vigoda (from Barney Miller).

Cool summer evening – I was walking back to my place. I saw a lady with a fancy handbag, she was wearing large sunglasses. This was the time right after the Clinton impeachment hearings. I watched the woman walking toward the supermarket in our neighborhood. I saw a black car slowly following the woman. She was walking then stopped to look at some flowers outside the market. She looked up to stare the black car at the curb and lifted a flower as if to show it to whoever was inside the car for approval. It was Monica Lewinsky. I wondered who was in the black car.

A warm summer day – I was talking a break from work and walking to the deli to get a sandwich. I passed Canal Jeans and I saw a smallish woman sitting with her legs crossed on the bench outside the store. She had on sunglasses and a colorful scarf around her neck. She was on her cell phone. There was a small crowd of people standing around her but she seemed used to it and kept talking on her phone. I went and got my sandwich and as I made my way back to work, I passed the same woman still sitting there, still talking on her phone. But now there were more people around her, some were sitting on the sidewalk around her. It was Juliette Lewis. That’s star power.