The Time Traveler

Te Yako Kahtlu Ni "She Notices Everything" was a Native American archaeologist. Born in 1980 she quickly grew to love her Native American History. She never learned about her heritage, culture, or ancestry growing up in the city. She occasionally visited her reservation to learn more about her people's history and the story of where they came from.

She grew up in a city with not much diversity. There was never any representation within her classroom, or when she walked through the halls of educational institutions. She was familiar with government run Indian boarding schools and the attempt to assimilate, and eradicate her Indigenous culture. It was not until she reached her adult years that she learned more about the great accomplishments and contributions that Indigenous people had made over the years. Never shared in classrooms, or never discussed in history books. Her ancestors were left out of every mention, it was like they were all dead, or did not exist.

In 2009, she read a final report in the National Institute of Justice regarding carbon dating. It referred to the precise measure of particular carbon found within living organisms. Most people refer back in time to BC (Before Christ) or AD (Anno Domini, which means “in the year of our Lord") time periods. In 1615 some started to refer to these times as CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era). Starting in the 1950s Meteorologists started referring to the years before 1950 as BP (Before Present). Since Radiocarbon dating began in the 1940s it has made the use of BP unreliable. 

All of these changes had made Te Yako Kahtlu Ni's job extremely challenging and the thought of time periods continually changing frustrated her. Recently many of these years were being referred to as RCYBP (Radiocarbon Years Before the (1950) Present). This was due to avoid the problem of constantly having to update and recalculate dates. Because the relationship between radiocarbon ages and calendar years varies through time more work was required and now documents and data had to reflect Calculated BP, Calculated BC, and Calculated AD dates. Today another time frame is starting to be looked at Thermoluminescence dating.

 As time frames continued to adjust the thought of why this occurs and who originally designed the BC and AD timeframes came into question. Originally these time frames were developed by the Romans to distinguish a date for their Easter Calendars. Te Yako Kahtlu Ni knew an elder who was considered a Faith Keeper she was married to a traditional Native American Healer. This Healer was able to guide tribal members back through time. What seemed like a selfish reason for Te Yako Kahtlu Ni to travel back in time actually made a lot of sense. While in Rome, you do Rome. While in North America, we will do North America. Similar to the Romans who established the Easter Calendar to reflect the first full moon after the Spring Equinox, the new time system would reflect the Indigenous culture in relation to the 13 Grandmother Moons.

The 13 Grandmother Moons have been represented All over the world. Cultures and communities have mapped the moon cycle, which happens 13 times per year, in cycles of 28 days. Many Indigenous Cultures celebrate their ceremonies in relation to these cycles. Everything is connected. The way we hunt and provide for our people. The way we plant and harvest our foods, and medicines. The way we move our homes based on the seasons and the sustainability of our environments. After returning back into the present time of what is known as 2023 Te Yako Kahtlu Ni realized she had one last trip she needed to take. In order to keep this advanced and intellectual finding she needed to go back in time once again. She needed to travel back to when the founding fathers drafted up the Declaration of Independence. 

She invited Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to sit down with the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse). The Haudensaunee consisted of the six tribal nations that made up the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois Confederacy founded by the Great Peacemaker originally united the original five tribal nations under the Great Law of Peace, it was our traditional ways. These traditional ways were what shaped our Nation's democracy. Te Yako Kahtlu Ni wanted so badly to return to her own time, but she knew her time was not done. She stayed in this time period during the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, The United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. She knew from the history she learned over decades on this earth that she needed to rewrite history,

She spoke to her faith keepers, her clan mothers, her tribal chiefs, the founding fathers, and the historians in those times. She wanted to make sure that the Declaration of Independence really meant that all were created equal. This meant that there would be no slavery, no mention of merciless Indian savages, and equal rights for our women, and other nationalities in our nation's future. There was no Indian Removal Act, No Termination Act, No Indian Boarding Schools, No Trail of Tears, No loss of our Indigenous languages, culture, and traditions. 

The history books reflected the contributions that our Native people made to the United States of America since time immemorial. Because these great accomplishments and findings were reflected as being insightful and relevant to all. The 13 Grandmother Moons were never changed and that today is what we still base on our Calendar and use as Archaeologists.