In the article titled "Sharing One Skin" by Jeannette Armstrong we identify and uncover the four selves of the Okanagan's. We identify the physical self, which is the core of our existence, they say the body is the Earth, that it is sacred. The emotional self is connected with community and land, it is important for an individual's wholeness and wellbeing. The thinking-intellectual self is taught to be balanced as it can be destructive. Lastly, the spiritual self, it is said that the spirit requires all other selves to become conscious. It is you as an individual being and also the larger self, which all things are, We then take a look at community, every person born Okanagan is born into community. With this no one is isolated nor separated. We have generational effect on community and with this one's person's action can affect the community as a whole. Without community life is sad, what are we without community? It is a fear of Armstrong's to lose community as she says without it "I am not alive. I am simply flesh waiting to die." She also states a disconnect from community, which is technology where we became so disconnected from community that we won't bat an eye to a problem until it affects us first hand.

My main personal connection to this article mainly has to do with tradition and community. I connected with the message of community, how Armstrong stated that without community we are simply not alive. I believe community to be very important to the topic of identity. Without it we lose ourselves as indigenous people through language, ceremonies, gatherings, stories, and tradition. I also believe Armstrong's message of one person's actions affects the community as a whole and the effect it has on generations. 

“Sharing One Skin.” Cultural Survival, 9 June 2010, www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/sharing-one-skin.

Joe Suina shares his experience of attending a boarding school and the loss and reconnection with identity in the article titled "And Then I Went to School." Before going to school Suina was surrounded by his tradition, family, respect, language, stories, and the warmth and security of his grandmother's adobe home. Home life gave him confidence and a good sense of identity and what it is like to be surrounded by community. And then he went to school, from here life changed as he knew it. He was belittled and was punished for speaking Keres. The warmth he once knew turned into a dull fluorescent. School criticized his home life, making him ashamed of his home life. He found himself comparing his life to the "right" lifestyle. However he reconnects with his identity with the help of the community. However, with the means of "success" in modernization he had to return to school to become successful in the "white man's” world. He returned to school with cornmeal clutched in his right hand resembling resilience.

I personally connected with this article because of his use of description with pueblo life, and the warmth of winter months in his adobe home. I connected with how his home life seemed more warmer compared to school fluorescents. How school gave him anxiety and embarrassment. I can also say that my pueblo is also slowly drifting from our tradition and community. I also connected with the author's message that our only way of success in today's world is through the white man's way. 

Rethinking Schools. “‘And Then I Went to School’ - Rethinking Schools.” Rethinking Schools, 22 June 2021, rethinkingschools.org/articles/and-then-i-went-to-school.

In the article titled "How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape" by Toastie explores the deeper meaning behind names given by the indigenous peoples. We learn that many landscapes and places over-write the original name given by the natives. These names often include colonizer, this covers the story behind many names of landscapes. It was also said that naming places after someone who has passed is giving them power. It is also holding them back from their after life journey. If natives are to do this then they first must ask permission from that individual while they are still alive. Many Dine' people rephrase the names of these places because it serves as a trauma. We also explore how colonizers got to write their interpretation of Native origin stories of the names of places because they were the only ones who could document in English. It states that our only real authorization is our elders and how we must keep it going because there are only so few left. 

Oaster, B. ‘Toastie,’ and B. ‘Toastie’ Oaster. “How Place Names Impact the Way We See Landscape.” High Country News, 24 Jan. 2024, www.hcn.org/issues/54-5/people-places-how-place-names-impact-the-way-we-see-landscape.

From what I gathered in the article Parental Absence, Child Victimization, and Psychological Well-Being in Rural China by Chen, Mengtong and Ko Ling Chan, Left behind children (LBC) are more likely to suffer mentally in adolescence. We look into parental absence in Sichuan. Sichuan has the second largest cross-province emigrant population and the largest number of LBC in China. This study surveyed a convenience sample of children in a rural town of Sichuan Province. It consisted of 795 rural children aged 10-16. In this study they found that there were elevated levels of depression among LBC and children of separated or divorced parents, compared to children living with both biological parents. LBC are adversely affected by the migration of their parents and are at greater risk of accidental injury, psychological abuse and neglect, mental health problems, and behavioral problems. It also shows how migrant parents mostly maintain communication, support, and psychological connection with their children and other family members left behind. However Chinese migration has been found to affect children's educational opportunities positively because it provides more resources. Migrant parents encourage their children to achieve a higher level of education by providing greater financial support. LBC have been found to perform better academically than non-LBC. Researchers suggest that in China children living with a single parent are more likely to be a victim and to suffer lifetime exposure to poly-victimization. In addition single parents, low socioeconomic status, poor parent-child relationship, and harsh discipline are risk factors of child maltreatment. When parents are absent, grandparents often serve as primary caregivers. Overall much of the data related to the research that was on in the U.S.

Chen, Mengtong, and Ko Ling Chan. “Parental Absence, Child Victimization, and Psychological Well-Being in Rural China.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 59, 1 Sept. 2016, pp. 45–54, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014521341630148X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.07.009.

In an article titled “Phenomenological Study on the Long-Term Effects of Parental Absence and Coping Mechanisms of Children of Overseas Filipino Workers” by Ninna Kathryn Gagelonia. The Philippines is one of the largest labor exporting nations in the world. Children of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) experience sadness, loneliness, and envy peers who have present parents. This feeling seems to increase when they are burdened with extra household duties, this leads to academic struggles developing. I also found that these children develop a sense of self reliance and acceptance, however they feel incomplete by family expectations and gender roles that are made in the household which seems to be common in Filipino culture. Parental infidelity can intensify emotional pain for children and prompt children to seek help/ comfort from their friends. It was also found that mother absence specifically put children at risk to develop anxiety, depression, loneliness, and behavioral issues. There are different results that come from both genders, boys are most likely to develop behavioral problems such as rule breaking. On the other hand it seems to strike at the mental health of girls. Mental health concerns, behavioral, and academic difficulties seem to be an increase when parents are absent from a female's life. When parents separate it leads to anxiety, lack of motivation, self isolation, and feelings of detachment. These children experience gratitude for their parents who go overseas. On both the parental and children aspect, they both view their parental absence as a means to provide for their children, and their absence is to build for a better future for their children. This leads children to have gratitude for their parents and use this gratitude for motivation for academics. However this has a down side to it, it can lead to increased anxiety about studying and feeling of isolation. 

Gagelonia, Ninna Kathryn, et al. “Phenomenological Study on the Long-Term Effects of Parental Absence and Coping Mechanisms of Children of Overseas Filipino Workers.” Social Science Lens: A World Journal of Human Dynamics and Social Relations, vol. 5, no. 1, 21 June 2025, pp. 52–70, digi-journalphils.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Villarama-SC-0525-026-Formatted.pdf, https://doi.org/10.62718/vmca.ssl-wjhdsr.5.1.sc-0525-026.

The article titled “Parental Absence as an Adverse Childhood Experience Among Young Adults in Sub-Saharan Africa” by Francis Annor. Here we uncover a study with 10,181 participants (7,699 females and 2,482 males) from Lesotho, Cote d'Ivoire, Venga, Namibra, and Mozambique. Here adolescents commonly live away from their parents, with studies estimating between 8-40% of children don’t live with one or both parents. Parental absence was common among both young genders from 18-24 years of age, however it was significantly higher for females than males (30.5% for females and 25.1% for males). In the Sub- Saharan region the reasons for parental absence include; union dissolution, union formation, nonmarital childbearing, parental or child migration, orphanhood, and abandonment. Much of the information relates to those I’ve already researched. Some new information includes; risk for delinquency, violent offending, chronic disease development such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even morality. This can also disrupt the process of establishing a secure bond between parent and child. Parental absence also disrupts the attachment circuitry in the brain. Children that are sent to boarding schools in Sub- Saharan African countries have been sound to improve academic achievements. 

Sub-Saharan Africa.” Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 150, 1 Nov. 2023, pp. 106556–106556, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106556.