Lakota Chief Sitting BullA couple of days ago I got on the BART and sat down next to a big guy who was reading the paper. All of a sudden he says loudly in my direction, “Remember what?!”

He seemed a little angry, and I looked at the speaker. He appeared to be a middle aged native American Indian, wearing a red bandana headband over his long hair. He had a kind of tough, beaten up face with a little bit of mustache and beard. He wore a jacket that had various tribal patches and emblems on it.

“Remember what?” I repeated back to him.

“9-11… what was that?” He said, obviously playing games with my head. His newspaper had a big story about never forgetting 9-11.

I mumbled something like, “Yeah, that’s what they’re writing about this week, you know.”

I went back to my reading as he spoke about his people migrating here over the Bering Strait, losing their land and ending up in jail. He mentioned being in jail himself and doing sweat lodges with Archie Fire Lame Deer.

“Look at all the disease and death in Africa these days,” I offered to the red man. “It seems like most of the world’s problems are due to overpopulation. Do you really think the tribal native American lifestyle could have lasted?”

That didn’t seem to cheer him, and he sat quietly brooding. He got up for his stop and as he exited the train, he called out to the passengers, “All you foreigners have a nice day!”

I guess you might say he’s been anti-immigration for a long time.

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