Gyasi Ross interviews Gyasi “Fancy Skin” Ross and gives insight about this blog, life and his plans for the future.

Gyasi Ross (“Gyasi Ross”): Hey, how’re you doing? Thanks for agreeing to do this interview with me. I appreciate you getting dressed up and looking sharp and handsome for this. Congratulations on successfully finishing a provocative and unprecedented 26 week series!
Gyasi “Fancy Skin” Ross (“Fancy Skin”): Hey, no problem. I’ll be completely honest though – I thought that you were a woman so I got all dressed up! Figured it had to be a chick with a name like “Gyasi,” but hey, whatever. … anyway, thanks for taking the time to interview me. As for the series – it was incredible and fun.

Gyasi Ross: Fair enough. I guess the first obvious question is: why do this series?
Fancy Skin: Well to be truthful, I wanted to create a series for Native people that was both good and honest. We don’t have a lot of good AND honest material floating around in Indian country – instead, we have a lot of Natives who create material that is supposed to appeal to a white audience and contains a lot of convenient “Indian” references that white people will “get.” For me, I could care less if white people “got” this – I didn’t write this asking for white people’s money – in fact, I turned down all money for this. I have a job, so I didn’t need to cater to anybody or anything other than the truth.

So you’ll notice that there is not an overabundance of references to “commodities,” “coyotes,” “spirituality,” or “Indian cars.” The only time I spoke about alcoholism was first-hand experiences, and my references to poverty were meant to be hopeful. What I’m saying is that I didn’t want to use my culture as a gimmick – I think that’s been done a million times already.

Gyasi Ross: And that was your theme? Truthfulness? Sounds very self-righteous.
Fancy Skin: No, “truth” wasn’t my theme, and I certainly don’t have a monopoly on it. A good portion of this series was, instead, based upon “insecurities.” I think talking about insecurities is healthy and helps with healing. I had many insecurities growing up – not just being poor or alcohol issues. But many things – I grew up with a full-blood mom and a mixed-blood father in a family of all full-bloods. My cousins teased me about being mixed blood and having holes in my shoes all the time!! And I’m not special; if I grew up with these insecurities, then I know that a lot of other Natives have exactly the same insecurities. Not just about blood quantum or poverty, but also about being pigeon-toed or not being smart enough or tough enough. Good God – Indian men are very tough! I was raised by all women – I didn’t know how to fight!

Gyasi Ross: And since a lot of Native men are raised by their mothers, presumably lots of Native men have that same insecurity, right?
Fancy Skin: Exactly! I can’t be the only one! But we have a lot of taboos and things that we don’t talk about – we just pretend that everything’s cool. So I decided to be the sacrificial lamb for people who would like to talk about certain things but KNOW that they will get beat up badly for their opinions and experiences. And since I was USED to getting beat up, it wasn’t so bad for me! For some people getting knocked down deflates their egos – for me it’s normal.

Gyasi Ross: Were there any of the columns that got more attention than others?
Fancy Skin: Definitely. And it wasn’t usually the ones that I thought. The “Fancy Skins” piece got probably 200 e-mails, in addition to the comments. I didn’t think it would cause that much of an impact. Conversely, I thought the “Smashes Rock” piece was going to get a bigger reaction. Still, I KNOW that’s one of the blogs that a lot of people pretended that they didn’t read, because it was so on-point. Natives are really “cool” people – we love to act like we’re not that into or passionate about something. “Oh, I didn’t notice that Hulk Hogan was standing right there.” There were certainly several columns that I know more people read based upon traffic, but folks acted as if they didn’t read so they could be cool, aloof and nonchalant.

Gyasi Ross: Did you have a target audience?
Fancy Skin: Kinda. It was intended for everybody and nobody at the same time. I knew that certain people would read it, but I didn’t want to change the content for the audience. Does that make sense? I mean, theoretically my goal was to write something that my mom would want to read. My mom usually doesn’t read Indian Country Today – not because she doesn’t read; she reads tons! But she like likes human stories, not just politics and protests and on-line petitions. She wants something for “regular” people. Like her and the rest of my family. Except for me. I’m odd.

Gyasi Ross: Then you didn’t really have a goal when you started this blog?
Fancy Skin: Oh, of course I had a goal. No question. I’ve always been a goal-oriented person – when I was 13, for example, I remember that there was this pretty lady who lived a couple of houses down. My goal for the entire summer was to figure out why all the older boys on the rez said that she made them think of lotion and things to do with the lotion. I appreciate well-lubricated skin, so I was curious. Keep in mind that this was before Wikipedia, so I had to go to primary sources. Eventually I ended up just asking her – I was a very shy kid. Turns out, it was also an awkward question. I didn’t know that at the time.

Gyasi Ross: We were talking about goals. …
Fancy Skin: Oh yeah, goals. Right. I digress, all that jazz. My goal was to kick Native people in the butt. I wanted to make the Natives like myself – the privileged ones – take inventory and realize that not everyone is as fortunate as we are. In our small professional circles, there are so many Natives who play the “Native card” merely to get business – “Native attorney,” “Native casting agent,” “Native musician,” or “Native artist.” For so many people, that caveat “Native” is merely a way to create a niche market and minimize competition. Now for the record, I don’t have anything against this as a business practice – I just want our business people to realize that there are many Native people out there who cannot afford to hire us or consult with us. … and so we should at least consider our less-fortunate people when we’re making all of our money from Native people.

Gyasi Ross: Interesting.
Fancy Skin: Hey chum, don’t interrupt me. As I was saying, my family is one that couldn’t afford any of these services from these professional people, and so my family was never invited to the soirees and events and museum openings. We were regular Indian trailer trash. So now – in my new privileged station in life – I want to make sure that I at least acknowledge that a lot of our “regular” Native people are struggling.

Gyasi Ross: Ok, this column was a wake-up call to your so-called “Fancy Skins” then?
Fancy Skin: Well, kinda. See, I also admittedly admire the professional skills and pocketbooks of many of the Fancy Skins. I think that Native people should aspire to be the best in whatever field we go into. Many of those Fancy Skins are incredible. … professionally. Many of them simply do not feel any need to be a part of the larger Native society. They cannot empathize with those who are not so fortunate. I want to remind them to think of all of our people – not just the rich casino tribes. God continue to bless them too.

I also think that NON-Fancy Skins need a wake-up call too! We all need to raise our level of expectation and accountability. So, yes, there’s no question that things are messed up in many of the communities that we come from. Still, can we honestly say that we’re doing everything possible to fix our communities? For example, on reservations where unemployment is over 50 percent, obviously there is a lack of job opportunities. Still, since when does being “poor” also mean that we have to be disrespectful to the land? Or why is there trash everyplace in our poorer communities? How come we find money for alcohol but not to buy a decent meal for our children or keep the lights on? It leads me to believe that poverty is more than just a financial state – it’s also mental and spiritual. This includes my family, by the way. So the wake up call applies to all of us.

Gyasi Ross: That’s a very ambitious goal. You don’t worry about the criticisms?
Fancy Skin: Our people worry too much about criticism. We don’t have anybody who says that we need to fix our own communities and not wait for Barack Obama or the federal government or white people or Jesus to fix them – even though that’s 100 percent true. That’s TRUE sovereignty! The reason that nobody says that is because they don’t want criticism. Me? I’m not egotistical enough to worry about criticisms. I know that it’s not personal when people lash out at me when I make a general statement. It can’t be personal – they don’t know me as a person. So I get over myself and realize that the negative things that people might say are not about me – instead, their criticisms usually only reflect their own fears and insecurities.

Gyasi Ross: Dr. Fancy Skin Freud, what’re your plans for the future?
Fancy Skin: My upcoming plans are ambitious. First and foremost is to continue to be an amazing dad. Professionally, I have a day job that also requires a lot of attention. Also, Lael Echo Hawk and my company, NativeSpeaks LLC, are booking clients. We have a great product that many businesses need. I’m actively booking speaking engagements – I’ve been fortunate that many places have already booked me. Thank you. We’ve torn the roof off of every place that I’ve spoke at. I’m learning more about the literary agent process. Slowly. I’m also working on an extended, more artistic presentation with Charles Deam and Wanbli Williams. Also, I hope people keep up with me at http://thingaboutskins.wordpress.com/ Finally, I hope that ICT will have me back at some point to have some more fun here.

Gyasi Ross: Any thanks to offer?
Fancy Skin: Of course. I already said “thanks” to most of the people that I wanted to in my “Influence and Inspiration” blog. Still, a few thanks: my biological dad. It was a rough year – lost my biological father; thanks for the lessons. Alison Bridges Gottfriedson – thanks for being an angel on this planet. Randi Rourke and ICT – thanks for the opportunity and the faith. Koodzi – son of a chief from above. Glenda Gilham and mom – you are my heroes. My “step” father – the dad who raised me, and my siblings. Most importantly, thanks to each and every reader – I thank you for playing along with this and I hope you enjoyed it. Whether you read to appreciate, enjoy, critique and be inspired, or you read merely to tell me how bad my picture was and to call me names, either way – thank you.

Gyasi Ross: Thank you.
Fancy Skin: Hail Galaxar.

Gyasi “Fancy Skin” Ross is a member of the Amskapipikuni (Blackfeet Nation) and his family also comes from the Suquamish Tribe. His Pikuni (Blackfoot) name is “Oonikoomsika.” He is co-founder of Native Speaks LLC, a progressive company owned by young Native professionals which provides consultation and instruction for professionals and companies. Gyasi is currently booking dates for his newest presentation, “Mother Lovers: Poetic (and Musical) Justice.” E-mail him at gyasi.ross@gmail.com.