Official correspondence arrives from the National Security Agency asking me to confirm my attendance at a protest against the U.S. military occupation of Okinawa in December 2017.\n\n[[August 2018]]

Unable to make contact with the missing fourth great-grandmother.\n\n[[August 2017]]

Write poetry, play chess, and listen to <i>Jagged Little Pill</i> on repeat with my best friend Liz.\n\n[[1996|1996 I]]

Attend church and sing songs about living with God in heaven forever, stomach churning.\n\n[[Around 1990]]

Explore other methods of acquiring information about my ancestors.\n\n[[March 2017]]

Receive several requests from strangers to view my private family tree on ancestry.com.\n\n[[May 2018|May 2018 A]]

Kit arrives at my door two months late and I take it as I sign I should do it.\n\n[[February 2017|February 2017 IV]]

AncestryDNA kit arrives.\n\n[[December 2016|December 2016 II]]

Cross back into the U.S.A.G.A. a year after the death of the dictator.\n\n[[What are you? What are you? What are you?]]

Representatives of U.S.C. are invited to Washington D.C. shortly after the sudden death of the dictator.\n\n[[January 2033]]

People ask, “What are you?”\n\n[[Ages 13 to around 26]]

Asked by a Hawaiian if I am Hawaiian.\n\n[[1999]]

Wonder about where I’m from.\n\n[[Around 1986–89]]

Ancestry.com account is hacked, my information compromised.\n\n[[July 2018|July 2018 A]]

Start Summer Forum.\n\n[[February 21, 2014|February 21, 2014 I]]

Break up with my first serious boyfriend and get deep into Christianity.\n\n[[1998|1998 I]]

Neighbor gets an alert that the AncestryDNA results are available.\n\n[[June 2017|June 2017 II]]

Trade negotiations begin between the United Sanctuary Cities and a network of global sympathizers.\n\n[[May 2026]]

Neighbor finds the DNA kit under a pile of mail as she’s finally straightening up her apartment after the loss of her mother in late December.\n\n[[March 2017|March 2017 II]]

Favorite book: <u>1984</u>.\n\n[[1995|1995 II]]

Consult the I Ching.\n\n[[August 2018|August 2018 AIII]] [[August 2018|August 2018 AAIV]]

Attempt to log in to account and can’t access anything.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 III]]

Search for my biological mother online at least once a year.\n\n[[College]]

“Why was I adopted?” and “Where do I come from?” sit on a shelf in our house.\n\n[[Life|Life I]]

Unable to make contact with ancestor.\n\n[[June 2017]]

Read Gayatri Spivak.\n\n[[2009|2009 II]]

Order AncestryDNA kit.\n\n[[December 8, 2016]]

Go to grad school for literature.\n\n[[2009|2009 I]]

People tell me what a “beautiful”/“interesting”/“exotic” “mix” I am.\n\n[[2000–14]]

Call ancestry.com to get answers but they’re unable to disclose any details for reasons of confidentiality.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 VI]]

Review credit card statement and notice a charge from ancestry.com though I cancelled the account after finishing the first draft of the opera.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 II]]

Watch <i>Battlestar Galactica</i> while recovering from a surgery to treat an infection from Bikram Yoga™.\n\n[[2010|2010 III]]

Go to therapy.\n\n[[2014|2014 III]]

Receive several requests from strangers to view my private family tree on ancestry.com.\n\n[[June 2018]]

Neighbor takes it as a sign that she should take the test herself to confirm her mother’s version of their family history now that she’s dead.\n\n[[March 2017|March 2017 III]]

Favorite book: <u>One Hundred Years of Solitude</u>.\n\n[[Post-College]]

Visit Sena Turner’s grave again on findagrave.com and resume wondering about the comment, “REPORTED TO BE CHEROKEE AND THE MOUNTAIN DOCTOR,” left by julie johnson, Find A Grave member for 16 years, 4 months.\n\n[[December 2016|December 2016 IV]]

Sign in to ancestry.com and populate my family tree with confidence.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 B]]

<h1>THERE IS NOTHING TO DIVIDE US IF WE DO NOT EXIST</h1>\nBy Sara Knox Hunter\n\n[[December 7, 2016]]

Email ancestry.com to figure out what’s happening.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 IV]]

Mass arrests upend leadership in Burlington.\n\n[[January 2020]]

Receive vague automated response from ancestry.com.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 V]]

First memorable lived experience of extreme discomfort after being called “exotic” by a stranger at Starbucks.\n\n[[2004|2004 II]]

Hear my biological sister’s voice.\n\n[[July 13, 2014]]

Box sits on desk.\n\n[[February 2017|February 2017 BI]] [[February 2017|February 2017 V]]

Destroy all personal documentation and leave New York for Burlington, Vermont — the only remaining sanctuary city still accepting new residents.\n\n[[October 2019]]

Believe I’m secretly the child of Madonna after I record myself singing “I’ll Remember” at Six Flags Great America.\n\n[[1997]]

Reminded of the AncestryDNA kit that never arrived but take its absence as a sign I shouldn’t do it.\n\n[[February 2017|February 2017 I]]

Read Edward Said.\n\n[[2008|2008 II]]

Finally realize that looking “familiar” is not a compliment.\n\n[[Early 2015]]

Discover that my tattoo is actually the Chinese character for “and”.\n\n[[2004|2004 I]]

Biological sister creates a post on an adoption registry looking for me.\n\n[[2009|2009 III]]

The door to my childhood bedroom remains open.\n\n[[1990]]

Neighbor reviews results on ancestry.com, which conform to her mother’s story, despite her suspicions.\n\n[[June 2017|June 2017 III]]

Neighbor in 3F arrives home after being out of town for two months to find the AncestryDNA kit at her door.\n\n[[February 2017|February 2017 II]] [[March 2017|March 2017 I]]

Official correspondence arrives from the National Security Agency asking me to confirm my attendance at Standing Rock on October 31, 2016, as indicated in my now-defunct Facebook account.\n\n[[August 2018|August 2018 AI]]

Unable to leave Burlington to participate in the vigil held in remembrance of presidential elections.\n\n[[July 2024]]

Flagged in security traveling back to New York from Peru after visiting the site of my biological mother’s family's remains. Stuck at JFK for three hours of questioning then released.\n\n[[April 2018|April 2018 A]]

First underground meeting of representatives from all 28 remaining Sanctuary Cities.\n\n[[January 2024]]

Ship spit-filled box to ancestry.com.\n\n[[April 2017|April 2017 I A]] [[April 2017|April 2017 I B]]

Leave Burlington to participate in mass demonstrations in response to the cancellation of presidential elections.\n\n[[January 2022]]

Neighbor finally complains to Super about the noise coming from 4F. She’s always hated opera.\n\n[[What are you? What are you? What are you?]]

Ask if I am Hispanic during my freshmen year of high school.\n\n[[1996|1996 II]]

Perform the first song I ever wrote, “How Could You Do This To Me I Thought You’d Love Me Forever?”, at the talent show.\n\n[[1998|1998 II]]

U.S.C. presents formal declaration of independence to U.S.A.G.A.\n\n[[May 2029|May 2029 II]]

Get an ancestry.com membership.\n\n[[2014|2014 II]]

Talk to Moana in choir about surveillance and DNA testing.\n\n[[December 2016|December 2016 III]]

The American Climate Agency quietly contacts the Northeastern Division of the U.S.C. for assistance in the wake of devastating flooding in New York and D.C.\n\n[[May 2029]]

[[July 24, 1982|July 24, 1982]]

Leave New York for Canada, the only exit left available by car with the complete closure of the Mexican border earlier this year.\n\n[[August 2018|August 2018 AV]]

Slow fade from religion.\n\n[[2005]]

Ancestry.com cancels my account and issues me a refund for the month of April but not for the AncestryDNA kit.\n\n[[What are you? What are you? What are you?]]

Receive confirmation that the AncestryDNA kit has shipped.\n\n[[December 2016]] [[January 2017]]

Questioned but not detained at the U.S. border in Vermont, where state officials have successfully taken over three checkpoints in protest of new federal restrictions on travel in and out of the country.\n\n[[October 2033]]

Born in Bremerton, Washington.\n\n[[Very Shortly Thereafter]]

U.S.C. and U.S.A.G.A.'s sign peace treaty simultaneously recognizing U.S.C.'s independence from U.S.A.G.A.\n\n[[What are you? What are you? What are you?]]

Write a song about infinity and perform it at a coffee shop.\n\n[[2003|2003 II]]

DNA kit appears from the Federal Bureau of Investigation with a letter asking for “voluntary submission” to confirm my status as 3% Cherokee. If I don't submit a sample within 30 days, I will be deemed non-compliant.\n\n[[August 2018|August 2018 AII]]

Apply to grad school for opera performance.\n\n[[2008|2008 I]]

Sign in to ancestry.com and populate my family tree with confidence.\n\n[[March 2018|March 2018 A]]

Test reveals that I'm 35% Swedish, 25% Okinawan, 22% Norwegian, and 12% Irish, 3% German, and 3% Cherokee. \n\n[[April 2017|April 2017 II A]]

Test reveals that I’m 35% Swedish, 25% Okinawan, 22% Norwegian, 12% Irish, and 6% German.\n\n[[April 2017|April 2017 II B]]

Hang a drawing of Kokopelli from my bedroom window.\n\n[[1995–97]]

THERE IS NOTHING TO DIVIDE US IF WE DO NOT EXIST

Believe I am an adopted robot child like Vicki from <i>Small Wonder</i>.\n\n[[After October 1989]]

Write a spooky Halloween song for piano.\n\n[[Childhood|Childhood II]]

Learn about Biosphere 2 and relaxation techniques in Mrs. Lynak’s science class.\n\n[[1994]]

Favorite book: <u>Sphere</u>.\n\n[[Around 1994]]

Favorite movies: <i>Gattaca</i> and <i>Singles</i>.\n\n[[Around 1998]]

Get a tattoo of 和 because I think it means “peace.”\n\n[[Life|Life II]]

Read Donna Haraway.\n\n[[2010|2010 II]]

Ancestry.com account is hacked, my information compromised.\n\n[[July 2018]]

Doug and Cheryl Knox take me home to Carol Stream, Illinois.\n\n[[Childhood|Childhood I]]

Frequent the World Music section at Borders.\n\n[[2001]]

Read Edward Said.\n\n[[2010|2010 I]]

Security guard in my building asks if I’m Spanish.\n\n[[THERE IS NOTHING TO DIVIDE US IF WE DO NOT EXIST]]

Find my biological sister’s post while watching <i>The X-Files</i>.\n\n[[February 21, 2014|February 21, 2014 II]]

DNA kit appears from the Federal Bureau of Investigation with a letter asking for “voluntary submission” to confirm my status as 25% Okinawan. If I don’t submit a sample within 30 days, I will be deemed non-compliant.\n\n[[August 2018 AII]]

Sena confirms we are not related and that she was (is) Cherokee, but she wouldn’t call herself a doctor.\n\n[[June 2017|June 2017 BII]]

Search ancestry.com for the fourth great-grandmother who disappeared from the archives.\n\n[[July 2017]]

Informed that the missing fourth great-grandmother does not want to be found.\n\n[[What are you? What are you? What are you?]]

Security guard in my building asks if I’m Egyptian.\n\n[[Mid 2015]]

Meet my biological mother, father, and sister.\n\n[[2014|2014 I]]

Unable to make contact with ancestor.\n\n[[May 2017]]

Neighbor gains access to 4F’s poorly protected ancestry.com account and reinstates the account with updated contact info but keeps the billing info the same because her own credit card was recently declined.\n\n[[May 2017|May 2017 I]] [[June 2017|June 2017 I]]

Spit in tube and seal it in prepaid mailing box.\n\n[[January 2017|January 2017 BI]]

Favorite facts about myself include:\nI’m left-handed, I’m Native American, I’m adopted.\n\n[[1992]]

Go to therapy.\n\n[[2006|2006 II]]

May 2029 U.S.A.G.A. rejects U.S.C.’s declaration of independence.\n\n[[October 2032]]

<h1>What are you?<br> What are you?<br> What are you?</h1>\nBy Sara Knox Hunter\n\n[[July 24, 1982]]

Spit in tube and seal it in prepaid mailing box.\n\n[[February 2017|February 2017 V]]

Flagged in security traveling back to New York from my second trip to Okinawa. Stuck at JFK for four hours of questioning then released.\n\n[[June 2018|June 2018 B]]

Neighbor runs the kit up to 4F before entering her apartment.\n\n[[February 2017|February 2017 III]]

Wear a dress decorated with Chinese characters to a dance.\n\n[[1998|1998 III]]

Make contact with Sena Turner herself.\n\n[[June 2017|June 2017 BI]]

Start speculating that I’m Japanese.\n\n[[1998–2003]]

Diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder.\n\n[[2011]]

Sara Knox Hunter

Neighbor cancels ancestry.com membership.\n\n[[June 2017|June 2017 IV]]

Make contact with a long-dead great-aunt; she doesn’t think I’m biologically related to Sena but recommends checking with another ancestor, her second cousin.\n\n[[April 2017]]

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Learn that I’m probably Okinawan from a guy at school who is three-quarters Japanese and one-quarter Okinawan.\n\n[[2003|2003 I]]

People say the music teacher at Moi Girls in Eldoret and I look like sisters.\n\n[[2002]]

Get married.\n\n[[2006|2006 I]]

Conduct research about Okinawan American Indians at the library, confused as to why it would have been spelled wrong on that piece of paper, since the tribe is actually Okangan.\n\n[[1995|1995 I]]

Review a piece of paper at the kitchen table that identifies what I am: Okinawan, Swedish, Norwegian—but at this point I believe that Okinawan is Native American.\n\n[[Childhood|Childhood III]]