#native stories

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

It's not what I expected by 我是阿彪叻

[bizarrelittlemew]

i can't wait to be 30+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 40+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 50+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 60+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 70+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 80+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 90+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to look back on my life and know that i loved things deeply and passionately and was inspired to create and was part of communities with incredible people from all over the world brought together by the stories that touched us

[22youcanduit]

N.Begay

[reasonsforhope]

re: sending an ask about something that makes you hopeful to start off the new year on a good note. this is a personal project that has given me hope! (sorry for the length, i'm a rambler)

next to my house is a shallow creek. when we first moved in the banks were choked with trash, scrap metal from the road, and invasive brush. when it stormed, rainwater would run off the road, turn the creek black, and make it smell like roadkill mixed with chemicals. once we were settled in our house, we decided to try and clean it up a little bit at a time. we got to work replacing the invasive bushes with native groundcover just a few seedlings each season, and every spring since then we've made a tradition of sending out an invite to a bunch of neighbors/extended family/friends to come help clean trash out!

its been a source of hope and pride for me to see how the younger people in our community have gotten excited about taking care of the creek after that first little push. our little ecosystem has slowly improved thanks in part to our efforts: the biodiversity has steadily improved with each passing year, the baby trees we put in are going strong, the wildflowers on the banks are beautiful in the summer and help catch the gravel/muck that slides off the road! Its all very rewarding, and i love the feeling that we have made an impact, even if its a small one :)

anyway, that's something that brings me hope! i wish that 2025 will be an even better year than the ones before, for our little creek and for the world in all. p.s thank you for this blog, it has been a real light for me in the past year <3

!!!!!!! This is amazing!! This is what it's all about - picking a spot where you can make a difference, and then doing it. Small, local impacts make such a huge difference, especially in terms of ecology and ecosystem restoration

What an amazing story, and thank you so much for doing this!! That little creek and the plants and animals that live there are so lucky rn

[canisalbus]

machete is like a delicate looking white flower, one where the petals turn transparent when it rains. vasco is a marigold for many reasons.

Ooo I like that! It never even crossed my mind to assign marigolds to Vasco, but it makes perfect sense. I had to look it up but the flower that turns transparent in the rain is called skeleton flower, and yeah, I can see how that would fit Machete.

I tend to associate irises, damask roses, and forget-me-nots with Vasco

And red carnations and poppies with Machete

[inkskinned]

so one time i got bit by a brown recluse which is one of the only types of spider in my area that's actually dangerous and at first i didn't know what had happened to me, only that it was nasty. the swelling wasn't going down and the wound started to get ugly. i don't want to like get into the details because that's gross but it got to the point 2 weeks later that i was worried enough to go to the doctor, which i hate doing.

i am not afraid of spiders but other people are so i'd been covering it with this big ole square bandage (i needed more landscape coverage than a simple bandaid) and sat in the university medical waiting room, kicking my heels and playing BOTW. the nurse who admitted me was like, oh, we have got to get Tom to cover this one. she wrote spider bite under my ticket.

i waited in the near-empty building for like an hour and then nurse tom shows up in spiderman scrubs, out of breath. "sorry," he says, "i saw - your slip - and I had," he heaves in a breath, "to run home and. get. these scrubs. i literally. ran. felt like a job. for. spiderman."

i laugh. he puts his hands on his knees, thumbs-ups at me. fishes a pamphlet out from under his clipboard that basically says spiders can be scary but you don't need to be scared, there's very few dangerous spiders in new england. "honestly," he wheezes, "we probably don't need to get you into an exam room. just..." he waves his hand at the pamphlet, "read that."

i look down at my arm. then back at him in his scrubs. and then down at my arm. i like that he made an effort to make a joke, but now it does not feel like a good joke, because they are mistaking my calm for a lack of injury. "can i. like. at least show you the bite?"

he gives me kind of a weird look, which is fair, but then says. "if. i mean, if you have to."

i peel the bandage off. his face goes green.

"oh," he says.

"yeah, man."

"a... spider bit you?" his voice is high and tight and trembling. he backs up a few steps.

"i think a brown recluse," i offer. "i know it's nasty, sorry."

"excuse me for a moment." he looks over to the administering nurse on the other side of the small room. "i need to find someone else to take care of you."

the administering nurse smiles over to us with a degree of pleasure that is almost salivating. for a moment, like a window opening, i am briefly aware of what must be a psychic message floating amongst the in-between. her jaguar teeth all say this is like a party for me and i know exactly what i'm doing.

"oh no, tom," she says, grinning. "i gave her to you specifically."

[notsolittlemerman]

"that movie where Oscar Isaac plays the dad of a soon-to-be messianic figure" which one?

[the-book-ferret]

Fry bread is food. It is warm and delicious, piled high on a plate.

Fry bread is time. It brings families together for meals and new memories.

Fry bread is nation. It is shared by many, from coast to coast and beyond.

Fry bread is us. It is a celebration of old and new, traditional and modern, similarity and difference.

[foldingfittedsheets]

The professor I TA for asked for things to go in a “pumpkin spice still life”.

Unsure if that meant theme or color but assuming color, I gathered up my plush red panda, a plastic red-brown rock, a toy bison, a leather pouch, some satsumas, and a can of pumpkin.

We set up a fine still life, adding my stuff to his. And one of the students fell in love with my playmobil bison, asking if they could borrow it. I said yes, but only if they could provide collateral. They reached for an earring (after suggesting an organ) and I was like, no no, less valuable collateral!

While they cleaned their brushes I scoped their stuff and asked for their backpack keychain.

For my toy bison I received: a plush toy cheeseburger (the thing I actually asked for), a miniature PS2 copy of Bully, and a tiny vial containing a petrified rat heart that I hadn’t actually seen.

I’m so fucking stoked on the rat heart. If they don’t return my bison I won’t even be too sad.

[basicalyrandom]

Saw a Pedro stan acc do this on twt and got inspired to make one with Oscar as well. Which table are y’all sitting at 🤭

[spiraling-trap]

there’s a story that the cross was made of dogwood

[digitalnewberry]

Ledger art and indigenous cultural continuity

Wooden Leg's ledger book, 1879-1881

Ledger art is part of a long tradition of Native people documenting their history on their own terms. Many Plains Native communities started chronicling events pictorially on materials like rocks and buffalo hides. Beginning in the mid-19th century, they used pages of ledger books obtained from settlers.

An example of adaptation and agency, ledger art is deeply embedded in the sociopolitical context of a given time. In the face of mass removal, assimilation efforts, and other genocidal actions taken by the U.S. government, Native communities found ways to continue observing their traditions and cultural practices using what was around them––in this case, repurposing found pages of ledger books when materials like buffalo hides became scarce.

Depicting everything from scenes of warfare to courtship, ledger art books tell readers about the memories, values, and presence of the communities who authored them. The images are drawn with a variety of materials, including colored pencils, crayons, and ink...

Read the full post at newberry.org

Black Horse ledger, 1877-1879

[extraaa-30]

remember, good omens fandom:

the idea of a creator disappointing us isn't new.

it hurts, for sure, to realize the one who created something we love may actually be shittier than we thought. that while we trusted them to play their unknowable games ("wait and see...") they were in fact at best as flawed as anyone else and at worst a mf predator.

maybe we find it hard to trust that creator ever again.

but that's okay. because honestly, the creation doesn't belong to them anymore. it hasn't for a while.

what they created belongs to earth.

[rightwriter]

Indigenous Storytelling

A lot of the stuff I've posted so far is pretty white western-centric views of telling stories. The whole article is very informative! An excerpt: "Many of the main characters in Plains Indian mythology never end. Not only are they immortal and indestructible—where they may be killed in one story and are right back at it in another—they also age with the listener. Coyote stories for children have childlike morals; for teens Coyote is a much rougher character; and, for elders only, grandpa Coyote is smart, and his stories are deep and filled with complicated plots and plans."

[uwmspeccoll]

Written in the Stars

Star Tales: North American Indian Stories is retold and illustrated by Gretchen Will Mayo (b. 1936) and published in 1987 by Walker & Co. in New York. After getting a journalism degree and a teaching certificate, Mayo attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design from 1982 to 1984 and earned her MFA from Vermont College. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and in 1987, she received several awards and honors, including the Original Children’s Book Art Award and Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) Choice for Star Tales. Mayo has lived and worked in the Milwaukee area for many years.

For this book, Mayo, known for her children’s books, retells Native American stories related to the stars. Her work beautifully bridges cultural heritage and imagination, making her a cherished voice in children’s literature. Her illustrations enhance the enchantment of these celestial narratives, allowing one to imagine constellations coming alive with myth and magic.

-View other posts from our Native American Literature Collection

-Melissa (Stockbridge-Munsee), Special Collections Graduate Intern

[bit-dodgy-innit]

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAHHA WHAT?!

Can’t tell if this an upgrade or downgrade from Joseph?!