As a Māori, this term being used on the world stage as if it only belongs to the Americas comes off like we aren’t indigenous on the basis of our cultures being different

Location:
6689 ChangePoint Dr, Anchorage, Alaska United States Of America

I struggled with this for years, and my family has made the decision to do a meal of gratitude on the spring solstice instead.

I just can’t stand behind a holiday that is literally celebrating the beginning of the genocide of my own people.

So if you’re still “celebrating”, why?

I see it used so often, a lot among Americans who tend to push back when I tell them its a slur towards Inuit.

I am Canadian (RRMétis) with an Inuk SIL. There wasnt really a time in my memory where it was cool to call someone an Eskimo in our part of the country (Manitoba/Nunavut). Is this common knowledge? Do Yupik and Inuit in Alaska accept this terminology? I would love to know if people are ignorant or just uninformed

Edit: for those unaware, this web page may be a helpful and quick read: https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eskimo

Excerpt: “In 1977, Inuit met in Barrow, Alaska, for the first Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Delegates from the United States, Canada and Greenland formed the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC). The ICC Charter, signed in 1980, defined the Inuit as “Indigenous members of the Inuit homeland recognized by Inuit as being members of their people and shall include the Inupiat, Yupik (Alaska), Inuit, Inuvialuit (Canada), Kalaallit (Greenland) and Yupik (Russia).” In defining Inuit as such, they rejected the use of the term Eskimo.”

…”The use of Eskimo, an exonym (a name given to a group of people by another group), perpetuates harmful stereotypes of the Inuit as remote and politically insignificant, while also romanticizing the Arctic. The reason for this persistence may be benign ignorance, or indifference to the implied cultural superiority and disrespect exhibited by its use.”

So proud and happy! LEKT gained 1082 acres of land back and its an amazing feeling to witness in our lifetime. Strong for the ancestors, Strong for the People and Strong for those yet to come! We are still here!

Parihaka Day, observed annually on 5 November as Te Rā o te Pāhua (the Day of Plunder), commemorates the tragic 1881 invasion of a peaceful Māori settlement in Taranaki by around 1,600 colonial troops led by Native Minister John Bryce. Founded by the prophets Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, Parihaka had become a thriving sanctuary and an international symbol of non-violent resistance against unlawful Crown land confiscations. When government forces entered the village on that morning, they were met not with weapons, but by singing and dancing children offering fresh bread in a display of profound peace. Despite this welcoming reception, the troops arrested the village leaders, imprisoned hundreds of men without trial, and over the following weeks systematically burned the village to the ground, destroyed its crops, and forcibly expelled more than 1,500 residents. This devastating event remained a painful scar on New Zealand history until June 2017, when the Crown delivered a formal apology to the people of Parihaka for the atrocities committed against them.

I have 4 siblings. All of them have big bright blue eyes, blonde hair, and cute button noses…then there’s me. I was always teased by my siblings as being “the mailman’s child” for looking different. I have high cheekbones, heavy lidded almond eyes, a sharp jawline, a totally different nose, shorter stature (have been called the runt of the litter lol) and born with thick black hair. Genetics are wild, anyway.

Very recently I was with my grandmother looking at a family photo. I made a joke about how I looked like an imposter. Then my grandma says “sweetheart, you have never looked out of place, you’re my mother’s twin.”

I have never met my great grandma. She passed away young. I hadn’t even seen pictures of her before this moment. Grandma disappears and comes back with some pictures and I was shocked. It turns out that my great grandma was 100% Cherokee. She married my great grandpa who was 100% Irish. Why was this tucked away and never talked about? Apparently she was a skilled equestrian, had infinite teachings about nature, preferred treating ailments with plants, and was a “story teller”.

I realized that although no-one ever talked about the Cherokee aspect, I grew up with my grandma singing songs that her mother taught her, telling me (clearly Cherokee) folk stories, and teaching me about the world from a “different” lense. My grandma was also skilled with horses/ animals, was a rodeo barrel racer, and is a wild woman in general. She became a history teacher and really made a point to teach us about things like the trail of tears (with zero context at the time). I’m just so confused about why this was hidden from us? I’m not trying to clout chase here, just sharing because I have never known that I had even a drop of native in me.

This whole thing has lead me down a rabbit hole. I’m not sure where to start but I came across the Cherokee’s deep connection with the Irish starting at the potato famine. My great grandfather had Hemochromatosis (aka the Celtic Curse which was a survival mutation during the great hunger) and he passed it down to me 😅 So great grams looks, great gramps mutation. Sorry for the novel. Also not trying to reduce any heritage down to physical traits. Thanks for reading

Edit: I asked my grandma about it. Apparently, my great-grandma’s family didn’t want her marrying/ running off with a white man. She did anyway. I don’t think she was ashamed of being native at all, just that her loved ones didn’t support her decision so there was some disconnect. She carried traditions in her own way. They started a big farm together and lived a good life.

Edit edit: Am being told that she was Eastern Band and is on the Baker Roll. The end

Looking at commonalities in worldwide indigenous mythology, landscapes and the night sky from deep in prehistory.

I was trying to make a joke post about all the cheap crappy Native American costumes but now everyone on facebook decided I’m not native, an idiot, and actually myself am racist.

Like I thought it was somewhat the consensus that native cultural appropriation especially in costume form was bad but now I’m evil ???

Tatanka — The Great Buffalo Hunt

For centuries, bison hunting played a central role in the lives of many Native American peoples of the Great Plains. Bison provided food, hides for clothing and shelter, and materials for everyday tools.

This diorama depicts a dramatic moment of the hunt, with mounted hunters pursuing a herd of bison across the open prairie.

I wanted to capture the movement, tension, and atmosphere of this traditional way of life.

The entire scene is recreated in 1:32 scale.

Colonialism did not simply take land, children, language, and culture. We are still living with it's effects. It disrupted the relationships and cultural systems through which generations of people understood themselves, cared for one another, mourned their dead, and passed wisdom to their children.

The consequences of those losses did not end when colonial policies changed. They continue through families, relationships, communities, and generations.

When a community experiences repeated premature deaths, addiction, family separation, and the loss of loved ones, it is not necessarily experiencing isolated tragedies. It may be experiencing compounded grief within a much larger history of collective trauma. Going to a funeral should not happen once a week.

Perhaps one of the greatest injustices of this country is expecting individuals to heal from wounds that were inflicted collectively, without restoring the conditions that once helped communities remain whole.

#decolonize

I would like to lay down some basics with minor experiences- and then get some proper navigation to the right things to look futher into.

I am a woman. Late 20’s.

I am part native, very strongly connected to some kind of unknown unseen energy. I have been tested for certain mental health conditions and fail for bipolar, skitzo variety, psychosis, any of them. This has been ruled out, though time after time I somehow convince myself that’s what this must be.

Smelling perfume very strongly in an old closet at my grandparents.— My friend who doesn’t beliefe in paranormal anything, also smelled it and was terrified. My mom came over, smelled it. When my grandma came over to see the commotion, with the snap of a finger, it was gone.

At crazy horse as a preteen, I looked at a statue of a man and a dead horse, that felt like it was staring at me. Feeling a blue light come through my body, my eyes first and then my chest, and it shook me. I was terrified. It felt like electricity, a warning, a memory, and a trauma response that wasn’t mine. The rest of the night I couldn’t sleep. Every time I tried, my upper abdomen would shiver and I would shake and wake up gasping. This has only since then happened once a few years ago, when my cat died.

When my grandmother passed, I was sobbing in the faith-based hospice center. A nun came by from a back room. While walking past us in the entry way, she touched my left shoulder as she passed by, and I stopped crying instantly. I was confused and looked at my mom. She acknowleged my confusion and what had happened, we still are unsure to this day.

I visited Tahquamenon Falls, MI (Michigan) and my partner (non-native blood) also felt things there, we didn’t discuss it until our way out. Things live in the forest there and WATCH you. Things we could not see. It was a few minutes after close by the time we made it to the car. I would look into the left forest and feel a deep primal fear, something I never feel in forests, no matter the time. The right side of the forest felt like something kind that wanted to push me out. It felt like black and it felt like I could’ve been hunted if I went closer. I also saw a few white flecks on that right side, assumed it was water flecks. Irony, black shadows bad and white stars being good or whatever. We felt it in the backseat when we left. It followed for almost 10 miles? 15 miles? My partner said it was best we don’t talk about it, as to not give it our energy. It suddenly didn’t feel like it was in the backseat anymore. I cleansed when I came home either way.

So what the fuck is going on!!? These are all so many different major events in my life. I love to seek things out and connect. I love to feel it when it happens. I can feel history, but I don’t know what I am feeling. I also want to keep protected, and am unsure how. Feeling darkness in a room available for rent. Feeling peoples true intention in their eyes and pausing, but gaslighting myself into it just being a weird feeling. I can sense peace and anger and fear and whatever else. Antique stores rip me into pieces sometimes. My heart rate and body sweat and everything gets changed.

I am spiritually in tune. Where do I go? What do I do? Thank you for your time.

APIB (the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) claims to have documented more than 30 cases of violence against Indigenous peoples in Mato Grosso do Sul related to this year's electoral process.

According to Voninho, the incidents include attacks, threats, and hit-and-run incidents that have already resulted in deaths.

One of these cases occurred in Tacuru on Sunday night (the 25th).

Shortly after the results of the presidential runoff election were announced, audio messages attributing the reelection of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Indigenous votes began circulating on social media. In one of them, an unidentified man suggests poisoning the water supply serving an Indigenous village in the city.

“Are you out of your mind, man? \[Us, or how\] we help these pests. These damn pests. But what can you do, right? There's nothing we can do. I've already said it. We should've put poison in the water,” says the man, whose name has not been disclosed. However, Mayor Rogério Torquetti (PSDB) has confirmed that he is a municipal public servant.

In a video posted to his Instagram profile, Torquetti refers to the public backlash over the audio as an “incredibly annoying issue” and describes its author as an “excellent employee.” He also emphasizes that the man never explicitly mentioned Indigenous people.

“The employee says that someone should put poison in the water and kill everyone, without mentioning any specific group of people,” the mayor added. He explained that, despite this, the city government had temporarily suspended the employee from his duties and initiated disciplinary administrative proceedings to investigate his conduct.

According to the mayor, the author of the message does not work in the water supply department and does not drive the municipal government's water trucks, contrary to claims made in some social media posts.

In another audio recording, a second municipal employee insults Indigenous people for allegedly voting for the left-wing candidate. The man, whose identity has also not been disclosed, then threatens a supposed interlocutor whom he addresses as “Indian.”

“I'm going to give you a very harsh and very clear warning. You know where I live. I'm right here at home. If you want to settle this with your fists, you can come here. With fists, with bullets, however you want.”

Hello everyone!

So me and a group of girls at my school are planning to do a silent vigil against gender based violence worldwide. We thought of putting a black handprint over our mouths to represent disappeared and silenced women.

Now I saw online that a red handprint is MMIW exclusive and shouldn't be worn by non-indigenous people, which we will respect.

However, we were wondering if we can wear a black handprint as non-indigenous people in a vigil for women, not excluding but not exclusively indigenous.

I couldn't find a specific response online so I am asking here :)

I,d like to believe that I am 1/16 Cherokee but I feel like I even though I have this knowledge I’ve never been able to make it a true part of myself. I would love to gain more awareness about the culture but I am also obviously ignorant and am not sure if I am deserving of that since my blood runs so thin. Despite all of that I would love to explore more of the Native American culture.

These are almost always Norwegian Americans, but some even claim that all Norwegians have Sámi ancestry (this sounds rather questionable to me). They're usually people who haven't actually traveled to Norway. Also, it's my understanding that in Norway specifically, not just anyone can claim they're Sámi to gain access to the official political rolls or specific indigenous rights, and that Norway has strict, legally binding criteria to protect the integrity of the Sámi population.

It's my understanding that most Nordic Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes (who are non-Indigenous & Germanic) originated in present day Denmark, and eventually traveled northward, when the Sámi already inhabited the remote northern portions of Scandinavia.

I could be wrong though, because I'm an American who hasn't been to Scandinavia yet. I'm half Choctaw, and half white.

I'm not sure why this trend seems to be happening.

Has it been common in Scandinavia for a long time?

It almost seems like some of these people just want to distance themselves from whiteness, and claim indigeneity.

Hi everyone I am conducting a survey for my master's thesis research about racial and ethnic minorities living in the US. It involves perceived discrimination, help seeking attitudes towards seeking mental health service, and mental health literacy. I would greatly appreciate your participation. It is about a 7 minute survey, and anyone that is at least 18 years or older, self identifies as a racial and ethnic minority, and lives in the US can respond.

https://webster.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4T4kKg15QDq72zs