DE&I Story Sharing Series "We are HUMANS not SAVAGES!", by Jodi Janda

My name is Jodi Janda and I am new to CREW Denver but not new to the commercial real estate industry. I have been working in commercial property management (office, retail, and residential) in the Denver Metro area for the last 14 years.

I am a Native American female that is a member of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians. My tribe is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and we have over 40,000 enrolled tribal members. I grew up in Sault Ste. Marie which is a small town on the Canadian border. We are situated on the Michigan side across the river from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, they are commonly referred to as the “Twin Soo’s.” Even though I am from Michigan, you will rarely catch me showing where I live on my right hand because I am a “Yooper,” and the single hand does not represent us.

I come from a large family that is rich in culture and history. My father had 15 siblings (this is not a typo) and my mother had 11 siblings (not a typo either). This creates a HUGE family with lots of aunties, uncles, and cousins with a HUGE amount of love and support for one another. The females in my life, especially my mom and grandmothers, are and were extraordinarily strong and respectful women. They had an amazing amount of influence on me. They did not grow up with much, but they had a lot of drive and determination to give their family the best life. I definitely pull my strength from them. They were also very kind and generous; I know those are traits that I get from them as well.

My grandfather, Floyd “Cookie” Cook, lived his whole life on a reservation. As a child, I loved listening to the stories of his life and learning about our people through his teachings. Even as I got older, I would sit with him in his kitchen with the wood stove crackling in the background, an antique radio always to set to the same AM station, and we would eat Peanut Butter Kisses together. He ALWAYS kept candy in the refrigerator. Most of my cousins didn’t know where to find the candy but I knew the secret. He loved motorcycles, was an Army Veteran, an amazing cook, and always had a dog around. I wish I had received great cooking skills from him but instead I am just a lover of candy like he was. As a young boy, he was pulled from his family and shipped off to the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. He was tagged on the ear like cattle, only to be identified as a number instead of his real name.  His hair was shaved off, he was given a uniform to wear, and was stripped of any identity or culture. Thankfully, he survived his time at this boarding school but unfortunately, many of our people did not and were abused in unspeakable ways. Boarding/residential schools led to a cultural genocide. We were considered “savages”, not human beings, that needed to be tamed.  I challenge you to watch a movie on Indian boarding schools, with the caveat that they are hard to watch without feeling some type of emotion.  I would recommend Indian Horse or We Were Children. You can also search for news articles on Canadian residential schools where hundreds of unmarked graves were recently discovered.  Anderson Cooper recently did a 60 Minute story on this topic, dated February 12, 2023, that I would recommend checking out as well. 

When we speak of diversity, equity, and inclusion, we must not forget about the Native American people because for centuries that was the objective. Native people are humans that love Mother Earth, are respectful and passionate about our families.  We are hunters, gathers, fishermen, inventors, and we are survivors. We are HUMANS not SAVAGES!

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