I need to add here that for the first time in my life I was in the minority. There were only a handful of Non-Natives on campus. I was considered suspicious because I was not a Native American. I was white and that history followed me.
That history was me.
To some faculty members I was treated as invisible. Early on, I was harassed by a few students who were not at all fond of having a white woman teach them. Eventually they saw that I was a good teacher and everything went well. I had wonderful students who learned fast and did amazing work. This experience was very important to me. It pulled me back into those questions about power and greed. Who has power? Who does not? How does greed fit into that power? What is the history of the abuse of power?
While in New Mexico, I also taught at a private adult fine arts school in Albuquerque. I had been reading a book entitled Chimpanzee Politics as I continued to think about how politics fit into these issues of power and greed. I was wondering how my work would evolve, not pushing anything but wondering.
Wondering what they were thinking. I also felt as if they were wondering what I was thinking.
The next part of Sue's journey and work will bring her to Pennsylvania where she taught for years at Allegheny college.