Chapter 6: Like my Mother and Grandmother Taught me: Untameable Indigenous Womanhood in White Academic Spaces

Though this chapter is about me, I cannot speak of myself without speaking of my people. I am a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and within our community we prioritize family connections. When meeting someone for the first time, particularly an elder, they will often ask the question “Whoz ya people?” meaning “Who are you related to?” and the response is often a mixture of your most well-known family members as well as the community where you were raised. My “whoz ya people?” response is typically, “My name is Brittany Hunt, and I am the granddaughter of Sonja and Jerry Hunt of Fairmont, NC and of Hazel and Haywood Johnson of Rowland and Lumberton, NC. My parents are Ron Hunt and Cordelia Chavis and I grew up in West Lumberton.”