“In November 2001, Pasfield’s son’s third-grade class in Ann Arbor, Michigan, started a unit about a Great Lakes people called the Potawatomi. They visited the Great Lakes Indians dioramas in what was then called the Exhibit Museum of Natural History in Ann Arbor for their final activity. Afterward, the boy illustrated the cover of his folder that contained all the worksheets from his unit on the Potawatomi Indians. He drew three deep graves with skeletons at the bottom and tombstones that said “R.I.P.” “This was devastating to me as a mother,” Pasfield says, “because my son is an enrolled tribal member.” Read more in our new article on indigenous histories and dioramas by Francie Diep.
“From an Aboriginal cosmological point of view, the uncertainty problem is resolved when you admit you are part of the field and accept your subjectivity. If you want to know what’s in the box so bad, drink the poison yourself and climb in. After my yarns with Percy, I begin to see the uncertainty principle not as a law but as an expression of frustration about the impossibility of achieving godlike scientific objectivity. Scientists currently have to remove all traces of themselves from experiments, otherwise their data is considered to be contaminated. Contaminated with what? With the filthy reality of belongingness? The toxic realisation that if we can’t stand outside of a field we can’t own it? I don’t see science embracing Indigenous methods of inquiry any time soon, as Indigenous Knowledge is not wanted at the level of how, only at the level of what, a resource to be plundered rather than a source of knowledge processes. ‘Show me where some plants are so I can synthesise a compound and make drugs out of it!’”
— Tyson Yunkaporta - Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
Sean Sherman – an Oglala Lakota chef born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and the founder of The Sioux Chef, focuses his culinary skills on the “revitalization and awareness of Indigenous foods systems in a modern culinary context.” Sherman took it upon himself to study the foundations of the food systems particular to the local Dakota and Ojibwe tribes, gaining knowledge of Indigenous farming techniques, land stewardship, hunting and fishing, salt and sugar making, the usage of wild food and harvesting, food preservation, elemental cooking techniques, Native American migration history, and Native American Culture and history in a more general sense to get a more holistic understanding of Native American cuisine and how to bring that back in the present.
The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchenis an introduction into modern indigenous cuisine of the Minnesota and Dakota territories. The recipes are all focused and centered around ingredients indigenous to America. No European staples like dairy products, sugar, or domestic pork. Instead, there’s duck, venison, blueberries and wildflowers to name a few.
In his introduction, Sherman states “This book is about the joy of indigenous cooking. It reveals the delight in finding ingredients right outside our kitchen doors. … These recipes, inspired by methods handed down through the ages, generation after generation, are integral to our culture, and, as with all good recipes, the dishes will change from cook to cook. These recipes are meant to be guidelines, not formulas. … These recipes along with the stories of goodness and resilience are told with hope and joy.”
-Matrice Y, Special Collections, Olson Graduate Assistant
First grown in Mexico some 5,000 years ago, corn soon became the most important food crop in North and Central America. Throughout the region, Puebloans, Mayans, Aztecs, and other Indigenous peoples worshiped corn deities and developed a variety of myths about the origin, planting, growing, and harvesting of corn, also known as maize. Secular and ceremonial life centered around the growing cycle of corn. Corn became an archetype planted in our collective unconscious.
In the process of writing my spiritual memoir, Riding Spirit Horse, I discovered a recurring theme. One motif that keeps repeating itself in my shamanic journey and trance experiences is that of corn. On my first shamanic journey into the spirit world in 1988, I met a spirit guide who became my lifelong mentor in the ways of the spirit world. Known as Corn Woman or Corn Mother, she is an important deity archetype in Pueblo mythology. She represents fertility, life and the feminine aspects of this world.
The importance of corn deities in Pueblo mythology reflects the importance of corn in the Pueblo diet. Each pueblo performs a ritual Corn Dance to honor Corn Woman and pray for rain, growth and fertility. A drummer and a chorus of chanting men support the lines of colorful dancers who move in a continually changing zigzag pattern. The graceful dancers turn and pause, then turn again, creating a sweep of movement that ripples through the line like a breath of wind through stalks of ripening corn. The dancers make gestures to indicate their requests to Corn Woman: lowering the arms depicts the lowering clouds, moving the arms in a zigzag motion denotes lightning, lowering the palms signifies rain, and lifting the hands symbolizes the growing stalks of corn. It is a dance that evokes the timeless Pueblo way of being.
On my first pilgrimage to the Maya pyramids and ceremonial centers of Mexico in 1995, I had a vision of the Maize God, giving me insight into the mystery of death and rebirth. The Maya Maize God is a mythical dying-and-reviving god who was killed by the Lords of the Underworld, brought back to life by his sons, the Hero Twins, and emerged from the Underworld as corn. For horticultural societies like the Mayans and Puebloans, maize is the substance of life. Its growing cycle is a metaphor for the death, burial and rebirth of humans. When the corn seed from the harvest is blessed and interred in the earth, it is as though a dead human is buried. The embryonic seed germinates in the dark, moist earth and begins to grow. The corn plant turns its leaves toward the light of the sun, growing taller and taller. At the end of the season, when the corn cobs are fully ripe, it is as if the dead person surfaces to join the living. Just as darkness gives rise to light, so life grows from death.
I love stuff like this. Didn’t a tribe in Africa send America some cows after 9/11? Like this is holy and the most valuable thing we have. We hear your suffering and want to do anything in our power to help
It was not a potato famine. The famine didn’t happen because of the potato yeald failing. Ireland was actually producing more than enough food. However it was almost all land owned by Brittish landowners, who took all of the food out of the country to sell in UK. Potato was what the Irish farmers ate, because it was cheep and could be produced in worst parts of the land, where more profitable food couldn’t be grown. When there were no longer potatos, the decision for the farmers was to either starve and sent the food as rent to the landlords or loose their homes and then starve.
The Brittish goverment was unwilling to do anything for two reasons. First was the laissez-faire capitalistic ideology, that put the rights of property owners to make profits above human lives. Rent freeze was unthinkable and they even were unwilling to do proper relief efforts as free food would lower the cost of food. The second reason was distain for the Irish, and the thought that they were “breeding too much” and the famine was a natural way to trim down the population, aka genocidal reasoning.
This is why it’s important to stress it was not a potato famine. The potato blinght was all over Europe but only in Ireland there was a famine. The reasons behind it had nothing to do with potatos and everything to do with the Brittish.
Apparently what made Choctaw want to offer relief to Irish was the news about the Doolough Tragedy. Hundreds of starving people were gathered for inspection to verify they were entitled to recieve relief. The officials would for *some reason* not do that and instead left to a hunting lodge 19 kilometers away to spend the night and said to the starvqing people they would have to walk there by morning to be inspected. The weather conditions were terrible and many of them died completely needlessly during the walk thoroung day and night.
This apparently reminded the Choctaw of their own very recent (and much more explicit and bigger scale) experiences of ethnic clensing, where they were forcibly relocated. It was basically a death march and thousands of Choctaw died from the terrible conditions also completely needlessly.
In 2015 a memorial named Kindred Spirits was installed in Southern Ireland to commemorate the Chactow donation.
This is so empowering to see proving that despite how hard the churches and Canadian government tried. They failed to “kill the Indian in the child” and that we will continue to flourish in our beautiful culture ✊✊✊ and we will never give up
I don’t like the comments, I am a catholic, I live in the most religious country. No matter what they believe, the Christians have always been not good. Yes there are good people I know but please know the history and what this people have been through. My country is “successfully” rid of our culture and everything, don’t go “don’t blame the ()” because they did, they did all of that and we should not ignore it.
I’m happy the natives still hold on, don’t ignore them, don’t blame it on others, don’t let them become my people who have been rid of our culture and that all what we had is taught as our past and history
Hell, many times we’re told that christianity was a gift in god’s way, and that we should be thankful for it
This is such a great romance duet. The characters are flawed, smart, and enthralling. I could not put the books down. I kept going back to them for weeks after I had finished reading them. These are truly worth the read. Check them out and ENJOY!!!
“Stevens adds, “We don’t know if the lake is ever going to rise this high again, with the climate changes and all that, so maybe there’s an opportunity here for the Navajo people”—an opportunity to take a good look at what was destroyed when the reservoir filled, and what can be saved now, as it empties.”
“Gokee said the project is an “incredible opportunity for our students to cultivate key practical skills for archaeology,” citing field methods for discovering and documenting sites, methods for identifying and studying artifacts, and practical experience in working with partners in the U.S. Forest Service and in writing technical reports and grant proposals.”
if you have a couple of bucks to spare, consider throwing them to The Indian Residential School Survivor Society (IRSSS).they provide counseling and other forms of support to first nations people who are residential school survivors. thisis a list of other charities that support first nations people, thislist is a mix of charities and ways to learn more about first nation activism and history, and thisis a link to a free online college course called Indigenous Canada
if you have a couple of bucks to spare, consider throwing them to The Indian Residential School Survivor Society (IRSSS).they provide counseling and other forms of support to first nations people who are residential school survivors. thisis a list of other charities that support first nations people, thislist is a mix of charities and ways to learn more about first nation activism and history, and thisis a link to a free online college course called Indigenous Canada
Unist’ot’en camp staying put as company puts on pressure to step aside
Tucked within the forest down a dirt logging road in the central interior of British Columbia is the Unist’ot’en Camp.
It’s the Unist’ot’en clan’s re-occupation of Wet’suwe’ten traditional lands.
Freda Huson built the camp to reconnect with her Indigenous culture and to teach land-based wellness.
“People keep calling this a protest camp and it’s not a protest camp,” said Huson. “It’s a homestead, we actually live here and we get visitors from all over the world that want to learn about what we are doing.”
The only access to Huson’s homestead is a bridge that is protected by a large gate.
It blocks the road that leads to the future Coastal GasLink pipeline.
Although Huson welcomes some visitors – not all are welcome.
She said she wants nothing to do with workers from the oil and gas business.
“Our medicines, our berries, the wildlife, the salmon, the water, the air we breathe, a lot of those are not replaceable,” she said. “If they destroy those and wipe out those species then they are wiping out our food and our way of life.”
Huson built the first cabin along the Morice River almost 10 years ago.
It’s location was strategic – the front line of a battle that continues to this day.
“The number one reason that I moved back out was because of my dad,” she said. “He said the only way we are going to win and protect our territory is you have to occupy.”
Atthe residential school memorial downtown, a speaker encouraged everyone present to take photos and share stories of the tributes and of what they had seen that evening. The memorial commemorated the recent discovery of 215 bodies at a Kamloops state institution that separated Indigenous children from their families and culture in an attempt to indoctrinate them into a western, Christian way of living. So I am doing as she asked.
I try to learn about and be mindful of Indigenous cultures in Canada and feel that, even as an immigrant, I still have more rights, freedoms and safety than people who were born here and who can trace ancestry back to before anyone like me ever arrived. I know, as many do, that the last residential school closed as recently as the 90s and that they were hugely harmful, abusive institutions with little to no accountability (thousands of other children remain unaccounted for to this day). I’m also well aware of the lack of access to healthcare, mental health resources and sometimes even clean water that affects many of this country’s Indigenous communities.
I have a complicated relationship with online activism and I feel I’ve known too many people who are performative or disingenuous, using it as a front and a facade in lieu of real action, and this includes much of the current Canadian administration. I also feel that what we care about and what we feel inside of us goes so much further than what we share on the internet.
I don’t know how to make other people care, but if you live anywhere in North America I would encourage you to use the internet to find out about the Indigenous Peoples who do, or once did, live in the spaces you move through, and what they are like. Education is one of the first ways that we can combat cultural erasure, ignorance and prejudice, and it’s also something that enriches all of us. If you’re in Canada and you can help financially, I’d suggest donating to the Residential School Survivors Society, or otherwise consider writing to your representatives to ask how they are working toward reconciliation, supporting and uplifting cultures and peoples who have been abused and oppressed for so long.
Gordon Tootoosis, Aboriginal Canadian actor, activist, and band chief of Cree and Iyarhe Nakoda descent, as Cecil Delaronde in Canadian TV series Blackstone.
[image description: two stills of Gordon Tootoosis, captioned, “Leadership is about submission to duty, not elevation to power.” end description.]
Tu Pug Imatuy (”The Right to Kill”) is based on the real-life tragedy of the displacement and killings of Lumad peoples in southern Philippines. It has won six awards from Sinag Maynila: Best Film
it’s indigenous peoples’ day in the usa! to celebrate i am here to help non-indigenous folks in north america to think about the terminology they use because i know not all of y'all know how the nuances of the many things we’re called. in general, when talking about an indigenous person or character and referring to their indigeneity, referring to their specific culture is the best option. i am indigenous, but more specifically i am cree. that said, let’s talk about terminology while recognizing that the following list is super simplified to give you a brief overview.
indigenous is an umbrella term that refers to the original inhabitants of a land. it is used to talk about indigenous people worldwide. we use it as a collective term because we share many interests, but we are all different peoples and nations. people who are māori or sámi or ainu are all indigenous, but they’re all from very different places and cultures. indigenous as a term unites us, but shouldn’t be used to erase our differences.
aboriginal is, like indigenous, an umbrella term that refers to the original inhabitants of a land. aboriginal was a favoured term in canada for many years and is still used by some multi-nation organizations. canada’s indigenous peoples’ day (june 21) is also sometimes called aboriginal peoples’ day.
native american is a term that refers specifically to indigenous people living in what is currently the contiguous united states of america. people living in alaska or hawaii may prefer the term native hawaiian or native alaskan. if you call someone in canada native american they’ll know what you mean, but it’s not the preferred term. like indigenous, it is an umbrella term and covers many different tribes/nations. it is a term assigned to indigenous people and adopted by us, but not one we came up with ourselves.
native alaskan is an umbrella term that refers to indigenous people living in what is currently alaska. they are culturally distinct peoples from native american cultures. you may be used to calling native alaskans “esk*mos” and if you are you should stop that right fucking now because esk*mo is a derrogatory term that comes from cree slang. some native alaskan people are inuit (see below), but not all are.
native hawaiian is a term for indigenous hawaiians. this is another umbrella term. native hawaiians were not included in federal programs for native americans until the 70s and some programs still exclude them, as do many discussions about native american issues even though they are also an indigenous group colonized by the usa.
native is an umbrella term used by indigenous people to refer to themselves. in north america, it may be socially acceptable to refer to indigenous people as being native, but ymmv and elsewhere in the world, it carries more racist, colonial baggage than it does here, where it is generally understood as a shortened form of native american.
american indian is a dated term that is still used in some official spaces in the united states. older indigenous people may use this (or the term indian) because they’re used to saying it. if you’re not indigenous, you should probably say native american or indigenous. amerindian is a portmanteau of this term and similarly isn’t really favoured anymore.
indian is a dated term for indigenous people in canada and the united states. it stems from the time of christopher columbus when columbus decided to call us “indian”. if you are non-indigenous, do not refer to indigenous people as indian. in canada, it is also a legal designation tied to the indian act that means some indigenous people hold “indian status,” which grants them certain rights. some indigenous people in north america have reclaimed the term indian to refer to themselves.
ndn is a slang term we use to refer to ourselves online. if you’re non-indigenous then bro. do not. it just stands for indian, you can’t!
first nations is a term analogous to native american. it is used in canada to refer to the many indigenous nations south of the arctic circle. as someone who is cree, i’m first nations. it is an umbrella term, but not every indigenous person in canada is first nations. unlike “indian”, it is not a legal term.
inuit is the term for indigenous peoples that live in what is currently canada’s north. some indigenous people in alaska (and elsewhere) may also identify as inuit because the american/canadian border is a new addition in the grand scope of their histories. inuit are culturally distinct from first nations/native americans. also inuit means “the people” and y'all my inuk friend is so fucking amused every time someone says “the inuit people” because y'all are out here saying “the the people people.” not all indigenous people in the north are inuit.
métis is a term for people who are descended from specific communities where indigenous people and non-indigenous settlers intermarried and created their own culture. they are specific, cultural communities within canada with their own culture and language. not everyone with mixed indigenous and settler ancestry is métis. for example, my dad is white and my mom is cree. i am not métis because i don’t have any connection to a historic métis community. again, this is not a legal term the way indian is.
esk*mois another slur. it’s an anglicized version of askipiw, a cree word which is more or less saying that inuit eat raw meat (i.e. that is implying they’re more akin to animals than people). again, even when you’re referring to sports teams that use the term in their name, don’t say it. it doesn’t matter what some white dude on QI told you, it’s not a “more acceptable” umbrella term for northern indigenous peoples. some people might use it to refer to themselves still, but, as with other terminology on this list, if you’re not indigenous, don’t say it!
Australia’s history of racism towards Aboriginals is absolutely disgusting.
Until the mid-60s, indigenous Australians came under the Flora And Fauna Act, which classified them as animals, not human beings. This also meant that killing an indigenous Australian meant you weren’t killing a human being, but an animal.
To this day, Australia breaks every code of the Geneva Convention when it comes to indigenous Australians and their human rights. The “public housing” that the government has given them are one-bedroom shacks with no running water, no electricity and no gas, that entire families are forced to live in. These shacks are in communities in the outback, as far away from “civilised” society as possible. Out of sight, out of mind.
Indigenous Australians that live in the city are commonly forced to live in very dangerous and derelict areas that the government gives very little funding towards. Redfern in Sydney is a highly indigenous Australian populated suburb that is rife with crime, unemployment and horrendous living conditions. The government does next to nothing to help these people, either.
Whenever riots have broken out as a result of incredibly low morale, the police and the government are very quick to point all the blame at the indigenous Australians and say that they are the cause of their own problems, rather than looking at what the actual cause is.
Unemployment rates amongst indigenous Australians is astronomical. Crime rates are astronomical. Suicide rates are extremely high within the indigenous Australian community. Death from inadequate living conditions and inadequate health care is common. Brutality towards indigenous Australians is common.
The way many indigenous Australians are forced to live is equivalent to that of what one would expect from a third-world country. Indigenous Australians are considered by the UN to be one of the most horrendously marginalised groups in the world.
And how does the government amend all of this? With a national “Sorry Day”, where white people plant a hand in some designated area of soil as a token of their white guilt, and then continue going about their white privileged day.
On top of that, white people here commonly bitch and complain about how “good” indigenous Australians have it and how “thankful” they ought to be to the white man for improving their quality of life. Meanwhile, indigenous Australians have lost almost all sense of identity and culture because of white colonisation.
What is left of Aboriginal identity and culture has been nearly completely destroyed. And most people in this disgustingly privileged country do not give a single damn.
Australia is a disgusting country when it comes to racism. I am disgusted by my own country.
White people being racially questionable? Huge surprise there.
Maori woman carrying an infant on her back, 1892 -
(photo from natlib.govt.nz)
The New Zealand Holocaust
‘Many descendants of British colonist’s are under some impression that settlement was a lovely peaceful event where British colonist never attempted to exterminate Maori,Confiscate 99% of their land and assimilate them.
A holocaust is defined as “Destruction or slaughter on a mass scale” it is not isolated to any single event. The Maori was in terminal decline only 50 years after signing the Treaty of Waitangi -75% of the Maori were deceased (Mason Durie, Ngā Tai Matatū, pp 29-31).
The British Army had Machine guns that could mow down an entire Battalion and the latest Armstrong Artillery. Maori fighting back with muskets could not prevent slaughter of men woman and children against a professional army.
Maori were punished severely for attempting to protect their ancestral lands against the wishes of the British government their land was to be repatriated.
Without land and the native courts designed to strip more land from Iwi the Maori soon fell into poverty and despair attempting to assimilate into British society. The government refused to offer Iwi medical care to prevent Small pox,influenza many diseases that Maori had not been exposed to.
By 1890 the Maori was on the verge of being exterminated.
Many British colonists liked to gloat about the demise of the Maori people by saying “They have been replaced by a superior race”.’
