#native traditions

[lokisbeautifulangel]

*Not Loki related but you know ya girl 🖤🥰*

“The Apache boogeyman, is actually a woman, most tribes know her as the Basket Woman, Apaches call her bu'chi'sáán, her name means Old Owl Woman a story told by grandmothers and mothers to get their children to behave, she is described as an old woman carrying a big burden basket that lives in a cave up in the mountains, every night she comes down from the mountain and steals all the naughty children from the tribe, she carries them in her burden basket back to her cave where she cooks and eats them”

Credits & Source: Tia M. Carroll

Facebook: Tia M. Carroll

[pomacanthidae]

Running to the Forests

To love something is to let it go, to love something is to allow it to exist free from the confines of your perception. To love the forest is to allow it to burn in search of greatness, and to love the burnt trees is to allow them time and space to regenerate.

We the people cannot be separated from the branches of the trees, humans have been on the continent of North America for tens of thousands of years, and generations of people have grown up among the pines.

Here in Western Montana, you can see the smoke across the horizon, another reminder the people here have been removed from the land they love. It's not that they would not allow the burns, on the contrary, but the new methods of forest stewardship are not those that show love to the lands. Culturally important species, those that hold a place in societal practice and often in spirituality, are being choked by "common sense".

To assume with fire comes damage is understandable, we can see the smoky ghosts of ponderosas and fir, and run our hands across the blackened bark until we too are covered in a layer of char. The next season, among black spires and broken branches, the huckleberries and the deer and the other brothers and sisters of the forest will come. The trees will sprout again, cones opened by the flames, growing green toward the sky like their ancestors have for generations. There is beauty in the desolation, for it is merely a new beginning, not a time of destruction.

And just like the trees, sometimes humans need to let themselves burn to bring forth more beauty. Sometimes we need to let what comes, come, and what may be, be. Fill yourself with wildfire smoke, let the fire open pinecones of hope and potential, and bring forth the worlds inside your heart.

[fieldsparrowstudio]

jewels of opar

traditional ink, digital color. 2024

[jbfly46]

Honor the dead by burning as much fossil fuels as possible. 🫡

[uwmspeccoll]

The author, Angela Hovak Johnston.

Johnston and Marjorie Tungwenuk Tahbone, traditional tattoo artist.

Catherine Niptanatiak: "I designed my own, something that represents me and who I am, something that I would be proud to wear and show off, and something that would make me feel confident and beautiful. . . . I have daughters and I would like to teach them what I know. I would like for them to want to practice our traditions and keep our culture alive."

Cecile Nelvana Lyall: "On my hand tattoos, from the top down, the triangles represent the mountains. . . . The Ys are the tools used in seal hunting. . . . The dots are my ancestors. . . . I am so excited to be able to truly call myself and Inuk woman."

Colleen Nivingalok: "The tattoos on my face represent my family and me. The lines on my chin are my four children -- my two older boys on the outside protecting my daughters. The lines on my cheeks represent the two boys and the two girls on either side. The one on my forehead represents their father and me. Together, we live for our children."

Doreen Ayalikyoak Evyagotailak: "I have thought about getting traditional tattoos since I was a teenager. . . . When I asked the elders if I could have my own meaning for my tattoos, they said it wouldn't matter. My tattoos symbolize my kids."

Mary Angele Takletok: "I always wanted traditional tattoos like the women in the old days. I wanted them on my wrists and my fingers so I could show I'm Inuk."

Melissa MacDonald Hinanik: "As a part of celebrating my heritage and revitalizing important traditional customs that form my identity, I believe I have earned my tattoos. I am a beautiful, strong young woman. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, and an active community member. I reclaim the traditional customs as mine, I re-own them as a part of who I am."

Star Westwood: "We still have some of our culture, but some things are slowly dying. Having tattoos helps us keep our culture alive. . . . . My tattoos represent my dad and my dad's dad. The ones closest to my wrists represent my sisters."

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National Tattoo Day

July 17 is National Tattoo Day. To celebrate, we present some images from Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing, compiled by Angela Hovak Johnston, co-founder with Marjorie Tahbone of the Inuit Tattoo Revitalization Project, with photographs by Inuit photographer Cora DeVos, and published in Iqaluit, Nunavut by Inhabit Media Inc. in 2017.

For thousands of years, Inuit have practiced the traditional art of tattooing. Created the ancient way, with bone needles and caribou sinew soaked in seal oil, sod, or soot, these tattoos were an important tradition for many Inuit women, symbols etched on their skin that connected them to their families and communities. But with the rise of missionaries and residential schools in the North, the tradition of tattooing was almost lost. In 2005, when Angela Hovak Johnston heard that the last Inuk woman tattooed in the old way had died, she set out to tattoo herself in tribute to this ancient custom and learn how to tattoo others. What was at first a personal quest became a project to bring the art of traditional tattooing back to Inuit women across Nunavut.

Collected in this book are photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston's project. Together, these women have united to bring to life an ancient tradition, reawakening their ancestors' lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations. Hovak Johnston writes: "Never again will these Inuit traditions be close to extinction, or only a part of history you read about in books. This is my mission."

Reawakening Our Ancestors' Lines forms part of our Indigenous America Literature Collection.

Angela Hovak Johnston (right) with her cousin Janelle Angulalik and her aunt Millie Navalik Angulalik.

View other posts from our Indigenous America Literature Collection.

[magpiemohr]

I realized I never posted how my first lithograph came out after I’d shared the process photos! Here she is, “an iris for remembering.”

[snekdood]

so I found this really cool website that sells native seeds- and you might be asking me "snekdood, haven't you posted an entire list of websites that sell native wildflower seeds that you're going to add on to soon?" and yes that's true, but that's not the kind of native seed im talking about rn.

see, on my quest to find websites that sell native wildflowers, I came across this dope ass website that sells seeds that have been farmed and harvested by ntv people traditionally, i'll let the website do the talking:

so anyways this is the coolest website ever. you can find the wild relatives of chiles on here called chiltepines, you can find different colors of corn and cool squash's, and every seed from whichever farm has it's own lil origin story written about it. you can also find other veggies here that are already commercially available to help fund and support this organization. as well as there being a cool gift shop with a lot of art made by different native folk from all around as well as cookbooks, jewelry, pottery, weavings, and clearly plenty more:

as well as a pantry?? with premade soup mixes??? and i really want to try them now??????

anyways I think its worth snoopin' around bc I'm almost positive you'll see something you think is cool (oh also if you happen to have some seeds passed down from ur family too and ur also native they seem like they would gladly help produce more)

[ink-ling]

xx

[ace-hell]

Ok so i am late by like a month, i have been busy and STILL didn't finish my native jewish miku but fuck it here's indigenous, native israeli miku with a little of my touch and a small analysis:

The clothes:

The dress is double layered and based on biblical description i saw of the clothes ancient jews wore i added yellow hoops at the end of the dress to represent the color of our oppression- yellow belts under the muslim rule and yellow stars in the holocaust

The embroidery:

The Rikma(embroidery) is a personal project i am working on for the past 3 months. The embroidery that WAS practiced on the land eventually was allowed only to muslims and arabs, jews in ottoman syria/palestine were so oppressed and poor they didn't have access to threads and around 1800's some rabbis discoraged jews being involved in arab activity, not only that the jews has completely disconnected themselves from most of the arab culture after the spread of zionism to the land as a form of building their own identity. And if there were jews involved in embroidery it is unknown bc all the photos i see are labeled as "palestinian woman" with no explanation if it is a christian, muslim or jewish.

My project consists of making patterns and motifs based on jewish history, symbols, traditions, land etc and i try to make it original, unique and as diverse from the tatreez as possible to avoid conflict. If any of you want i can explain in a different analysis on what each pattern represents.

The jewelry:

I genuinely suck at drawing gold and jewelry and tried my best to adorn her with as much jewelry as i can. The side piece(that can barely be seen) is also a pattern i came up with, i call it "amulet"

(ps. I forgot to make her a normal necklace, wanted to make it with a hamsa)

Henna:

Henna is still practiced by jews, mainly sefardic and mizrahi jews + ashkenazi jews who grow up and participate in mizrahi culture. The henna on the hands is based on patterns i saw some jewish artists made (on google unfortunately it didn't have names) which has the star of david on it and on the legs i made a mix of bukharan and yemeni jewish henna.

So here it is. A native, indigenous jewish/judean/israeli(te) miku. I tried my best✨

[kaccvcate]

Not the first time I've been called a fairy, probably won't be the last either.

If you enjoy my work, please consider buying a commission or donating (links in my pinned post.) Thank you so much!

[awakeningthevioletswithin]

Innocent Reminiscence

Watercolor On Black Paper

2024, 11"x 14"

White and Blue Forget Me Nots

[ravensvalley]

#HalloweenSelfie

The perfect foggy morning, for another memorable day... Happy Halloween to everyone folks.

[unbfacts]

Ishi was the last known member of the Yahi, a subgroup of the Yana people in California. Yahi customs forbade individuals from speaking their own name without another Yahi’s introduction, so Ishi stated he had no name. Anthropologists named him "Ishi," meaning "man," as his real name was never revealed.

[madmoose2072]

Put more effort than intended

Have a Hatsune Miku in a jingle dress. Of Ojibwe origin, so shout out to dem they cool as hell(Im Cree ily Ojibwe cousins)

[moomeecore]

concept arts for projects and things

[yzegem]

Description of an encounter with a summerfolk, taken from a letter sent by the diplomat Isji Fan to his superior:

My lord of the eastern tributary province, I send you this letter as an update on the unsuccessful negotiations with Osdu da Lag, the summerfolk warlord of the Yukas valley, on the subject of granting safe passage to our merchants and peasants through this region.

We first sent a summerfolk envoy to his hidden hill fortress, who was treated with respect and arranged a date for our meeting.

The summerfolk of the lowlands and specially da Lag are known for their brutality against their enemies but hospitality with messengers, so I was only accompanied by two lance bearing local soldiers and a translator, as a way of not raising any tensions.

My translator was Enkida, a girl from Four Ports, knowledgeable of many languages spoken by men and summerfolk of the region alike and loyal to our cause.

We arrived in the set location at the arranged time and waited sitting on portable stools. The place was a rocky clearing of the forest next to a weak shallow creek, with dense vegetation all around us, wich made it hard to see beyond the tree line.

After nervous waiting for about half an hour the sudden sound of pebbles sliding over one another warned us of our visitor, who had until now managed to move it's massive body through the vegetation unnoticed.

He was tall even for one of his kind, his thin body a moving palm trunck, and his frizzy hair, styled into many knots and intertwined with feathers and beads made his head look even more like the foliage of said tree. He beared full red warpaint on his face and most shocking of all, he lacked the typical large cloak of his people and exposed his pitch black naked body.

Before we even said a word, he sat down in front of us, with his legs, as long as a laying man could span, spread surrounding our group.

This action, my lord, wich you could find common to do in front of your guests, is extremely rare among the summerfolk and gave us a clear message. See, those of his kind rarely sit down and prefer to eat, work, talk and even sleep standing up, as, given their stature, lifting their body quickly from the ground makes their head ache and even faint.

Da Lag was showing clear vulnerability, sitting naked and unarmed in front of us, still, I'm ashamed that my reaction was that of fright, my lord. He was not afraid of us one bit, and felt safe even immobile and unarmed.