#my anishinaabe ass

[feralkwe]

idk how else to explain it to people but it should be pretty fucking obvious why it is absolutely ludicrous to allow the united states fucking government to set the criteria as to who is and is not recognized as native/indigenous/ndn when they spent literal centuries trying to undermine and erase the fact that we exist at all.

it's no coincidence that some of the criteria involved in becoming federally recognized as a tribe requires documentation that the government actively worked to suppress. that they require the tracing of continuous existence back to colonial contact should tell you why it's a bullshit metric. that the fact that you have to have heaps of money to get federal recognition is something that you should take a long, hard look at before calling members of over 400 non-recognized tribes 'pretendians'.

the use of blood quantum as a measurement alone makes their authority null and void.

indigeneity is not about blood quantum or government permission. it is about family, culture, and community. i for one would appreciate it if non-natives fucked all the way off on this topic, and if fellow ndns would stop the infighting over it long enough to realize that all we're doing is perpetuating colonizer violence and genocide by allowing non-natives to set the definition of who we are and what we get to call ourselves.

fuck you. stop doing the colonizer's job for them.

[feralkwe]

anishinaabe yooper here, reporting in for great lakes appreciation day! all the love to my beautiful and beloved gichigami. dangerous and stunning and cruel in turns, teeming with life and death alike. a thing of literal legend.

i am also sending kisses to the other lakes, but i am forever a superior girlie.

ITS GREAT LAKES AWARENESS DAY!!!!!

On this excellent day, be aware that this is the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, covering over 95,000 square miles and reaching depths of over a thousand feet. They are beautiful freshwater seas.

Also when you die in these lakes, the very cold, oxygen-poor conditions at the bottom preserves you perfectly for all eternity. You will not rot and nothing will eat you. You will exist for as long as the Great Lakes do. Many shipwrecks still have the crew on board. Be Aware.

[richincolor]

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Summary: Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything.

In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever.

Sometimes, the truth shouldn't stay buried.

My thoughts: Angeline Boulley has created another fabulous page-turner in her second book. If you've already read Firekeeper's Daughter, this is an excellent follow-up set in the same community, but a few years later. It's a companion rather than a sequel, so it can be read on its own though. I recommend reading both, because they are incredible, but this one can stand on its own.

Perry is character who charms or frustrates those around her. She had me smiling as she teased Luke-Ass and other people around her, but also when she told her little cousin that he has her heart using a fishing analogy. She's sixteen and while she can be laidback, at times she can be incredibly passionate and jump into things full force.

She has many adults around her that are guiding her with advice and yet they give her room to live her life. Several times she is mentally reviewing the exact instructions she's had from her family about how to respond when there is trouble. Missing and murdered indigenous women are often on the minds of her family and community and there are way too many reasons for Perry and others to have all kinds of strategies for when they are vulnerable.

Perry has obviously grown up knowing about the risks to those of her gender, skin color, and culture, but as she works in her internship, she also learns about how ancestral remains have gone missing throughout the years. Not only have they been stolen, even with laws in place requiring their return, few have been recovered. Perry's heart is broken when she meets the remains of the Warrior Girl being kept by a non-native institution. For anyone unaware of the issues around the repatriation of ancestral remains, this book may be very illuminating. For some readers, this will not be new information but there is a great list of resources at the end that may be interesting for anyone. There are multiple moments that speak to the emotional work that Perry and others are having to do when seeing these items and hearing from elders about the losses. There's an acknowledgement of the harms that this continues to do to the descendants of those people.

Throughout the book, the characters are central even though there is a lot happening. What I appreciate about Angeline Boulley's writing is that there are intriguing mysteries to untangle, but beyond that, there are many layered characters and she makes me want to meet them and spend more time with them.

Recommendation: Get it soon. This book is tagged as a mystery or thriller, but it is also a book filled with love. It's about identity, community, the continued affects of colonialism, and so much more. This is a book that will stay with readers for a long time.

Extras:

Publisher: Henry Holt and Company Pages: 396 Availability: On shelves now Review copy: Final copy via library

[feminist-pussycat]

anyone else have accounts they look at once in a while even though they KNOW what that person is saying will piss them off?

mine’s a straight woman with four kids whose husband came out as trans, then her 11-year-old son did as a trans girl, then she decided she was a lesbian and made the trans thing her whole identity. then she decided she was”genderqueer”. then her whole account became about that she was also dating ANOTHER trans woman and is in a polycule (which at this point makes it seem like she has a chaser fetish or something) and then when that wasn’t enough she came out as “nonbinary transmasc” and posted many, many times about how scary that was to come out to both of her trans partners and social media.

also, her 11-year-old recently changed to nonbinary after six years of medicalization to ‘become’ a girl. this lady had previously written a whole ass book about her kid’s transition and how awesome it is to also be married to a TIM.

and just because she wanted the whole bingo about straight people identifying into oppressed minorities, she claims to be “a fair-skinned person who is both settler and indigenous”. Now I can’t say for 100% she’s lying about this, but it definitely sounds “I’m 1/8 indigenous!” especially because she says she is Ojibwe, the second-largest tribe and it’s apparently through her dad, who abandoned her when she was a baby. however she sort of contradicts herself on that, because when someone called her out on being a white couple who wants to be oppressed, she said “My proud Indigenous father (who she has never met) might have something to say about part of this.” the Draco Malfoy approach. she does a shoutout to from what i can tell is an Anishinaabe woman who she calls her cousin, so who knows, but the woman has not responded to her. For someone who talked about it a lot 2019-2020, she sure implies that she identifies strongly with that heritage despite admitting that her (white) grandparents taught her most of it.

she’s also only mentioned it once since 2020, this year when an Indigenous person was calling her out for being racist and she went “I can’t be racist, I’m half-Native!!!”

this lady’s whole account is about how she and her family are part of the queer community. she has tweeted 17 times in the last day and that’s low for her. every time i look at her account and what she’s up to it annoys me SO MUCH but for some reason i still keep hate-watching. I never interact and i don’t follow her so don’t come calling me a troll or giving her the attention she clearly so desperately needs.

[barbreypilled]

idk if this is Little Baby Discourse that we’ve already been over but as someone whose family was directly and irreparably affected by predatory child welfare services under a colonial government I find those modern au takes where it’s like ‘the Greyjoys are an ignorant low income family and they live in a trailer and the Starks notice immediately that Theon is malnourished so they take him in and everything works out the end’ to be uhhhhh questionable like why is Unhealthy Dynamic synonymous with Poor and what is so attractive about the canonical Child Removed From Their Culture And Homeland being translated into Poor Child Leaves Bad Hick Family To Be With Nice Upper Middle Class Family ???

[feralkwe]

i have witnessed many crimes against the sacred can-shaped goo, but never have i been so offended as i have by this last entry.

also if anyone is looking for gift ideas for me, the canned cranberry serving dish should catapult right to the top of the list.

And they look out so hard for the well being of the spiders AND the dolphins

[phantasmalquartz]

I just want to put this out there, I am ranting a little. If you cannot deal with this, I recommend this post is not for you. I speak of no violence, nor do I intend for this to harm. For those with anxiety, I am talking about my rights on my land to be free and express myself and be guided to live my life the way I am supposed to. I want to listen to the call of nature and understand and use what I am given by creator while learning and honoring my ancestors and make them proud. Read if you wish to. Thank you.

Recently, I've been having a tough time accepting that where I go to learn more about my culture and others, it is always from a white woman. Still, I give my time and patience, but I have been going there longer than anyone else. I want to hear stories from my own tongue, and have the freedom to practice what I believe in and what my ancestors believed in. I cannot do that here, according to the laws of property. I feel as if this shared land I am on, is not shared in the way it was supposed to be. I know that others cannot simply exist as themselves either while being on their own land.

This is Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee territory. I only wish to be myself and take care of the land around me. I am rejected over and over again, by authoritative white people or even society to be who I am. Sure, there are some support groups out there, but I need more. I'm sick and tired of everyone trying to silence me. (This happens even with the relatives on the European side) I will not be ashamed of my heritage or who I am.

Now, I'm not blaming all white people here. In fact, I have a lot of white friends, even Acadian friends, and I wouldn't trade them for the world, but some people need to pay attention a little bit more if you know who I mean. Get it through your thick-ass skulls. I am not to be pitied, I am not a part of your stupid Cowboys and Indians game, I will not marry a white man and live a life being whitewashed and treated horribly like my grandmother did. To put it simply, I am not leaving, I am not breaking, and I am not to have my culture taken by you. Thank you.

[neechees]

i thought NDN also stood for non/not dead native as well as being slang. Am i pulling that out of my ass or is that true (sorry im Anishinaabe and in the community im in outside of tumblr thats what we all thought- it could be a thing thats like dependant on the location )

As far as I knew it was just onomatopoeia slang for "Indian" but shorter (like saying n8tiv) but that also works

[feralkwe]

late night "i should be asleep" thoughts include: as much as i adored the barbie movie, and you can be sure i did, i am absolutely devastated that with all the care they put into the wonderful diversity of the barbies they could not include one single indigenous barbie.

they had no problem co-opting details about our genocide to make a point about patriarchy, but could not visibly put one of the existing indigenous barbies on the screen.

we're almost always invisible unless we're dead.

[feralkwe]

OH MY GOODNESS this is SO BEAUTIFUL. i never ever seen art on tumblr in the anishinaabe style, let alone fan art. i actually don't even go here (though i recognize the fandom from tumblr osmosis) and i'm ready to cry. ty for sharing, op. truly. i'll have to check out your other stuff!

I'm putting together a sister account for all my anishinaabe style designs. It's not ready yet though. Here's some Full Metal Alchemist!

[queerkwe]

“I still remember the knot in my stomach when I came out to my mom 6 years ago. At the time, I made a lot of assumptions about how she felt about me being queer. I had no idea that this moment of honesty would lead to a livelong friendship with my mother. Don't get me wrong, there was an adjustment period for both of us. It was a year or so before we could even talk about it aloud. Comfort zones were tested the first time I brought a girlfriend home from college. But through this uncomfortable transition, blossomed an honest, open, and downright wholesome relationship between my mom and I. She has taught me what it means to be an Anishinaabe woman and I take those teachings with me as I figure out what this #TwoSpirit identity means to me. Her wisdom, power, and artistry continue to inspire me to do better, to be better 

With all of this being said, I am happy to announce that my mom, Vicki Lynn, is my first artist collaboration!! We've been making artwork together all summer long and it has been an amazing experience. We push each other's artistic and competitive sides every day. 18 year old me could have never imagined my mom and I working together to create LGBTQ and Two Spirit pride artwork. She has made a traditional, hand-woven 50 inch pride belt ($95) and two beautiful cedar rimmed pride dream catchers ($35/$45). Message me if you are interested in any of the items.”

YALLLL I’m sharing this post from my beadwork shop page (facebook: queerkwedesigns) on tumblr because I never thought this day would be here and I need to talk about it. I wanted to keep my business post short but I know y’all live for this gay shit. 

First let me explain something about my mom and I. We didn’t have a close relationship growing up. There weren’t as many hugs or “I love you”s or comforting touches as I would have liked, but now I realize she was doing the best she knew how. You see, my nokomis (grandmother) was in a Native boarding school and she saw a lot of abuse and neglect as a kiddo at the Holy Childhood School of Jesus (ironic, right?). My mom was conceived when my white, alcoholic grandfather wanted to piss off his religious parents by fucking around with dirty little Indian girls. It was a truly fitting 1950′s love story. My mom was the oldest of 4 and she helped raise my aunts and uncle when my grandpa split. My nokomis was such a strong, beautiful Anishinaabekwe who ended up being a tribal judge in her final years, but in many ways she was emotionally absent because of her childhood traumas. She did what she knew how, which was to keep them fed, clothed, and get them through high school graduation. Despite all of her hardships, she was able to do that-which is amazing! Then it was my mom’s turn to be a parent and she tried her hardest to break some of cycles and combat that historical trauma ingrained within us. She fed us, clothed us, and got us through high school. She even hugged us a little more, learned how to say “I love you”, and tried to be there in the ways she knew how. 

I can talk about all of this now, but I didn’t understand it as a poor, closeted gay kid who grew up in a town of 700 people and wanted nothing more than to get out and never look back. It wasn’t until I went away to college and learned about boarding schools, historical trauma, and understood the ways that structural inequalities shaped the lives of those in my family and community. Instead of being upset with my mom for the lack of support, I grew proud of the woman she became despite everything thrown her way. It’s been a rough path to this point though. She was the last person in my immediate family that I came out to because I was terrified of being rejected and losing her. It wasn’t ideal and there was definitely an adjustment period for both of us, but it ultimately forced us to talk about emotions in a way that we had never been able to before. 

Flash forward to this summer, where we have been creating together and helping each other grow emotionally, spiritually, and artistically. I’ve been helping her see herself as the strong, amazing lady she is and she’s been helping me stay grounded and remember where I come from- a long line of bad ass, indigenous kwe who get shit done. I’m planning on applying to grad schools in the fall and I’m not sure where I’ll end up, so this time with her and my family has been so important. This is the longest amount of time I have been home since I left for college after high school. This place used to bring me back to that closeted, emotionally blocked, self hating baby gay, but now fills me with warmth in a way I never expected. I had to leave to understand myself. I had to go and be around the queer community to witness that being an openly LGBTQ individual was really an option. Now that I have, I need to return and feed my indigenous spirit. In one way, things are coming full circle as I embrace this two spirit identity which incorporates both my queerness and my culture. In another way, I’m feeling more lost than ever as I try to understand what it means to be a two spirit person in this society. Having my mom by my side for support and guidance along the way is an amazing feeling. I can’t wait to see how relationship grow and strengthen.

Thanks for reading! Like/Reblog so hopefully some other LGBTQ Natives get ahold of this story and know that things do get better. There are ways to bring your identities together. It’s by no means easy, but it beats having them conflict for attention and emotional energy. Our ancestors would have embraced you into their arms and hopefully one day our communities will remember our traditional ways of acceptance. In the mean time, you are valid, you are loved, and you are so fucking important.

Message me if you’re interested in any of the beadwork/ dreamcatchers/ belts shown. Prices and more beadwork can be found at my facebook shop @queerkwedesigns. If you don’t have access to facebook, message me on here. Follow me on Instagram @queerkwe. My beadwork is for everyone, all I ask is that you’re an ally to queer and indigenous folx. If you want to/are able to donate to me, project supplies, or sponsor a two spirit/ lgbtq indigenous person who otherwise could not afford this pride jewelry here are my online accounts. Message me about collaborations/questions/comments! Email- queerkwedesigns@gmail.com

Paypal: paypal.me/reblynn

Venmo: @rebecca-lynn 

CashApp: $reblynn

[tainolibrary]

"...Fact 1: I am Native. So-called “spirit animals” are part of my spiritual tradition, which is Metis-Anishinaabe. They’re usually called by the Anishinaabe word, which I am not putting on the internet, or “spirit/dream helpers” in English. Natives in fact are not, gasp, homogeneous, and omg some of us have different spiritual traditions than others! (look, I can do the obnoxious patronizing voice too!) And so just because you point to three Native people from cultures that don’t have such a tradition doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist! This tradition is a VERY sacred one, and thanks to colonization it is being forgotten in huge amounts, to the extent that most young Natives don’t even really know much about it—a situation exacerbated by the popular appropriation of “spirit animals.”

Fact 2: Yes, people around the world have and had similar traditions of spirit helpers, who are frequently animals. HOWEVER, the concept of spirit animals in popular culture came from anthropologists’ descriptions of Native American religions (see Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life). It doesn’t matter if the ancient Celts had similar practices, because spirit animals are associated in the popular imagination with Natives, not Celts. I and other Natives regularly get asked, “Can you tell me what my spirit animal is??” Irish people, for instance, do not. And “it’s not Native, it’s New Age” my ass. Where the hell do you think the New Agers got it from? They got it from anthropology textbooks and from the hippies who went to the reservations in the 60s seeking Noble Savage enlightenment.

Fact 3: The fact that spirit animals in popular culture are a bastardized form of Native traditions does not mean they are not appropriative or harmful. Why? Because the popular idea of it comes to supersede the original meaning, infantilizing our traditions. Non-Natives start to think that they understand our traditions, and that they are primitive, rather than actually consulting and trying to understand. This gets bad when those non-Natives are the ones with control over our legal ability to practice our religion. Non-Native appropriation of the sweatlodge incorrectly done and causing death, for example, has resulted in greater restrictions on Native sweatlodges, because the non-Native interpretation was assumed to be representative.

Fact 4: Appropriation is a part of Native oppression, not a decoy issue, good lord. This attitude of popular ownership of Native traditions causes people to deny Natives the right to practice our religion, which is tied to the colonization and denial of access to our landbase since our practices are often linked to specific places, which is tied to the situation on reservations. It’s tied to the psychological state of our people, because you try growing up with having everyone making an utter mockery of your religion and see how your self-esteem comes out..."

[hawtdawgblog]

Oh and fyi, I haven’t used this blog in 2 years, and decided to look at my blocked list, saw ya, wondered why I blocked you, and I saw your trashy reblogs and immediately remembered why I blocked you, you piece of steaming shit.

Eat my Anishinaabe ass 🪶🍑

Deal with me💖

He be spitting straight facts!

[truecrimecringe]

My friends and i listen to the edgiest fkin music on this planet and also hate the tcc, they wanna say were all "straight white preppy cis 13 year old girls" :/ im :/ :/ anishinaabe :/ :/ :/ and a gay ass :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ trans boy :/ :/ :/ :/ :/ yikes

yikes -mod rin

[feralkwe]

“Near and far, Anishinaabe people have united to protect the Great Lakes,” said President Whitney Gravelle of the Bay Mills Indian Community. “We stand behind Attorney General Nessel because we know that shutting down Line 5 is the only way to protect everyone who depends on the land, water, and natural resources within the Great Lakes, including Anishinaabe people exercising our treaty rights.” Not only do the Great Lakes provide fresh drinking water to more than 40 million people, but in the creation stories of the Anishinaabe, the Straits of Mackinac are where the Great Turtle emerged after a flood to create the North American continent, which the Anishinaabe refer to as “Turtle Island.” Bay Mills and other Tribal Nations have hunted, fished, and gathered medicines in the Straits for thousands of years — since time immemorial.  In 1836, they ceded vast acres of land and water including the Straits to the U.S. government. “That 1836 treaty guarantees these Tribes the right to maintain their way of life in the ceded territory — a right that will be irrevocably destroyed if an oil spill from the dual pipelines contaminates the waters and aquatic life of the Straits,” said Managing Attorney David Gover of Native American Rights Fund (NARF).

Stoodis.

[feralkwe]

i cannot stress how angry blood quantum requirements and people who place stock in them make me. it's utter racist garbage used to continue an ongoing genocide against indigenous people of turtle island, and you can fuck right off with it.