#First People

[yearningforunity]

The Aeta were the first people to settle the Philippines about 30,000 years ago. They live primarily on northern Luzon. They possess incredible knowledge of medicinal and other useful plants.

[kcarkwright]

Native American Legends—An Anthology

Now that I am at the tail-end of my first novel, I’m having that panic-stricken anxiety of what comes next; the agent, the editing, beta readers and word counts (seriously, my book may be over 200k words. I overshot it lol). My biggest panic, though, is its second book, and what I wish for it to look like.

I am writing a sci-fi/fantasy series focusing on mythology from areas that don’t get as much love as they should. Rick Riordan has done a justice for Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian—but there’s just so much more out there. And something near and dear to me, as an Indigenous POC, are the legends of the first people of North America. This is what I wish for my second book to focus on, and I’ve been casually (read: obsessively searching at 3 am) browsing for good sources and such to build the basis of my second book.

Looking up information on these legends…yeah, it can be tricky. Gentrified too, in the name of hippy shaman and ‘spiritual beings’ who attribute one belief of one tribe to what 'Native Americans’. believed as a whole (therefore sticking us all in one teeny tiny stereotypical box). So that’s why I wanted to provide you all with my favorite source for Native American legend!

FIRST PEOPLE

Not only does this site have hyperlinks to Indigenous-Run stores and a Photography Series of (non-sterotypical) Native people throughout the years, but they also have the largest Anthology of Native American/First Nations legends I’ve seen so far. A to Z—from Abenaki to Zuni and everything in between (like Nahua/Aztec and Blackfoot, tribes of yours truly!). It also possesses an Educational Resources page that helps connect readers with a wide array of informative websites to better extend your knowledge – or to lend a hand. It even has good clip art!

There’s a beautiful, informative, and non-colonizer-influenced page dedicated to educational videos, and another with treaties/agreements made throughout the year with many different tribes. There’s a glossary that explains the roles of different tribes’ deities, as well as the meanings of those tribes’ names and just how many are in North America (organized by state/Province, hyperlinked differently depending on location). And, finally, links to individual tribal websites, where you can hopefully learn more during that late-night-rabbit-hole deep dive.

Take a browse! This website has helped me feel connected with my people as someone who grew up without that chance, and even if you don’t need it as a writing resource—it’s such an interesting read!

If this website interests you so much that you wish to extend your thanks in the form of donating (hey, those hosting fees aren’t cheap!) use this link!

[poetrythreesixfive]

Holocaust

When we speak of the black plague,

we stand in historical awe at the sheer

number of corpses heaped throughout

Europe, with all due respect to the dead

But for the First People, the holocaust

of the American continent was graver,

untold millions of natives sickening and

dying after exposure to foreign sailors

Entire regions wiped out, the eastern

seaboard reduced to piles of whitening

skeletons soon to be disregarded by

the pilgrims and colonists to come

Without so much as an epitaph in school

textbooks, or a stone memorial, let alone

the tearful tribute of future peoples gaily

lounging about on a clear summer day.

-GeorgeFilip

[innervoiceartblog]

Mats by Lily Roy hand made using natural bush dyes. Pandanus collection and dying by Rachel Baker & Lily Roy.

[mascrapping]

2021: Chickasaw Cultural Center

In the Fall of 2021, my parents and I went to visit the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, Oklahoma. We wanted to be more aware of the history of the people on whose lands we are currently living and had been told that this was one of the best ways to do that. For this spread I used a Swinging Shutter Plastic Page Protector which impacts the design of the pages. At the bottom of this post are…

[asoftspotforangels]

some of my favorite woven tapestries, by Cecilia Blomberg:

Point Defiance Steps

Mates

Rising Tides

Vashon Steps

[koobiie]

shoutout to everyone who wants to infodump but cant string together coherent thoughts to form sentences and instead just look at you like this

[arcanejude]

ARCANE 1.03 || 2.06

[flightyquinn]

This one's especially weird, because ?????? cigarettes are a bastardization of the sacred use of tobacco???? Invented by the white man???????? Like, smoking "recreationally" is not really comparable to the traditional ceremonial use of tobacco, and cigarettes are a heavily chemically adulterated product, much different from the kind of tobacco that would be traditionally used in those practices.

So, uh.....what???????

whats your opinion on smoking

I think it's hilarious, especially cigarettes. I love how "stick that makes you die faster" is LITERALLY it's only selling point.

[yearningforunity]

Aeta Woman

The Aeta (pronounced as “eye-ta,”), Agta or Ayta are a pygmy indigenous people who live in scattered, isolated mountainous parts of Luzon, Philippines. The Aetas are considered to be the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, preceding the Austronesian migrations.

[mychemicalbrromance]

Guys ive been reading peak

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[ciderjacks]

contracts written in blood

+

[rish-you-were-here]

Happy pride