#support indigenous people!

[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)

[circumpolarvampire]

The person who posted this is a TERF and is not Indigenous as far as I could tell so I am reposting it.

The remains of a second Indigenous woman murdered by a convicted serial killer have been found in a landfill in central Canada, authorities confirmed Monday, after another victim's remains were  identified earlier this month .

Marcedes Myran was one of the Indigenous women  slain three years ago by Jeremy Skibicki , who is serving multiple life sentences after being convicted of four murders last year. Skibicki met his victims in homeless shelters, in a case seen as a symbol of the dangers faced by Indigenous women in Canada, where they disproportionately fall victim to violence, termed a "genocide" by a national public inquiry in 2019. Testimony at Skibicki's trial said he raped, killed and dismembered Myran and another woman, Morgan Harris, in 2022.

Authorities believed their remains were dumped at the Prairie Green Landfill site, north of Winnipeg, the capital of the province of Manitoba. They had been searching the site for months.

On a tree out front of Camp Marcedes, located next to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, a photo and red dress signify the loss of Marcedes Myran with a call to action in searching the landfills for her remains from Downtown Winnipeg, Canada on September 27 2023.Shay Conroy for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Last month, Manitoba authorities announced the discovery of two bodies.

Morgan Harris's remains were identified on March 7. Federal police in Manitoba  on Monday confirmed  the other set of "human remains found in the Prairie Green Landfill search have been identified as those of Marcedes Myran of Long Plain First Nation," a statement said. The families of Harris and Myran had pushed authorities in Manitoba to search for the bodies.

The body of another of Skibicki's victims, Rebecca Contois, was found in a separate landfill and in a garbage bin, while the remains of a fourth unidentified victim in her 20s are still missing.

In December 2022, Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth  wrote an open letter  to Indigenous leaders, acknowledging the "unimaginable" pain surrounding the case. "The investigation involving the murders of Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran, Morgan Harris, and Buffalo Woman has been one of the most complex and important homicide investigations during my tenure," Smith wrote. "I have heard the calls from the families, the Indigenous leadership, and the community. I understand your calls; the pain and sorrow is unimaginable."

Indigenous women represent about one-fifth of all women killed in gender-related homicides in the country -- despite comprising just five percent of the female population. A similar crisis exists  in the U.S. , where Native American women  are disproportionately targeted  in murders, sexual assaults and other acts of violence, both on reservations and in nearby towns. 

There were more than 5,700 reports of missing Native women and girls in 2016, according to the  anti-sexual assault organization RAINN , which cites statistics from the National Crime Information Center. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimated more recently that roughly 4,200 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people  remain unsolved .

[yappingcollege]

merry thanksgiving everyone!

this year i am thankful for Luo Binghe, Bingge, Bingmei, Bingpup, all the Bing skin creatures, every Binghe au, and (idk if i said this one yet) Luo Binghe

[caseofkings]

can i offer you a n8v miku in these trying times

palette: x

[slitherbop]

[lilysundragon]

returning to enstars during the akatasuki event feels like this

[mousedetective]

Organizations To Help Indigenous People

I've been reblogging three separate posts for a while now and I thought I'd combine them all into one for maximum ease. Please reblog this list and help these organizations if you can!

Warrior Women Project

Sitting Bull College

First Nations COVID-19 Response Fund

The Redhawk Native American Art Council

Partnership With Native Americans

Native American Heritage Association

National Indigenous Women's Resource Center

Indigenous Women Rising (abortion access fund)

Indian Residential School Survivor’s Society

Stop Line 3

Honor The Earth

The Lakota People’s Law Project

Amazon Frontlines

‘Āina Momona

The Native Wellness Institute

The Native Americans Rights Fund

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation/University of Manitoba

First Nations Child & Family Caring Society

Native Women's Association of Canada

Indspire

Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre

Micmac Benevolent Society

Mawita'mk

Advancing Indigenous People In STEM

Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment

The Association on American Indian Affairs

First Nations Development Institute

American Indian College Fund

Diné Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (CARE)

Hopa Mountain

Indigenous Values Initiative

Native American Disability Law Center

People’s Partner for Community Development 

If anyone has links to other organizations that help indigenous people, please feel free to add them!

[nonspeakers-r-us]

Being Nonspeaking and Indigenous

One thing that I have struggled with most of my life is feeling like I don't belong to the communities I am a part of, because I cannot verbally speak my language(s). I am a Sámi and Inupiaq person who grew up with both my cultures being a big part of my life. In Sámi culture, one of the biggest things that connects you to your community is being able to speak the language. I can still understand both spoken Northern Sámi and Inupiaq fluently, but I cannot speak out loud, and I can only use Swedish and English on my AAC. My spelling is pretty bad in Northern Sámi. I can only write Inupiaq semi-well, and I can only write it in qaliujaaqpait (Latin script). This leaves me feeling like I'm not "Sámi enough" or "Inupiaq enough" to use those labels for myself. Many people in both my communities understand this, and have been very kind and understanding. There are many reasons that someone can't speak the language of their community, and disability is just one of them. Just my thoughts today.

[mueritos]

happy indigenous peoples day ^-^ a year ago i found out my family is half indigenous, so ive made it a personal duty to try and reconnect in order to honor those ancestors and histories. it's not my fault that I may never know my tribal affiliation (we know they lived around Popocatépetl), but it is my responsibility to do my best to honor them. since starting grad school, i've made an effort to talk about my indigenous roots more often, and to be honest about the fact that i do consider myself mixed indigenous. I also talk about this taking into account that I have white privilege, and how this has complicated my relationship to indiginiety.

anyway, i went to an ipd event outside of boston today and was so happy!! i had to leave early for a health emergency (thank u random uti) but it was so fun and i experienced and learned a lot. loved the mexica dance group who danced for Huitzilopochtli (i love you Huitzilopochtli he was pulled for me during a tarot reading and he told me to be fucking strong!!!!), and i especially loved experiencing the seven sacred directions where the entire crowd moved as one. i talked to some lovely indigenous people and they gave me so much guidance and love! it made me feel so happy...I wish I was able to stay longer, but I enjoyed being in a space where I was so welcomed.

if you're detribalized like me or trying your best to reconnect, never be ashamed of the fact that you were forcibly removed from your tribal affiliation. never be ashamed of how you look like either! there were so many "white passing" indigenous folks there embracing and celebrating with those in full regalia, and so many people of many appearances joined in for ceremonial dance. even if you're 10% or 3% indigenous, I still think you deserve to know your ancestor's culture and history! i still think you deserve to honor those parts of you! they wanted us to forget about our indigenous roots for a reason, and i refuse to colonize my mind any longer. opening yourself up to indigineity, even if you don't know your affiliation or "how much" is in you, is far better than never learning a damn thing about indigenous folks.

i hope everyone had a lovely indigenous peoples day ^-^

[strawbunnycakes]

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day!! ❤️ today I celebrate being here, unabashedly Native and being able to create my art today as a Native person here and now, due to my ancestors fighting through unimaginable horrors for us to exist today. They tried to eradicate us, but here we are. Here we experience our sad moments, our happy moments, our difficult times, our joyous moments. When we smile, its a beautiful rebellion to those who tried to rid us. Our existence is a miracle of resilience. Our ancestors fought for us to be here today, and here we are. If you'd like to support my art on such an important day to Indigenous people here today, I would highly appreciate it. Either way, I'm just happy to be here. Our very being is a testimonial to our ancestors love for us now.

[official-boobies-posts]

always was, always will be aboriginal land ❤️💛🖤

[dropoutcontentfortiredqueers]

[shadowkoo]

Every Child Matters

I try to share a similar post each year with the purpose of educating those who may not know about Canadian & American indigenous peoples and the struggles we have gone through generationally. But honestly, this year I am pissed off so my tone in some areas may read as such. I will not apologize for that.

I am angry that so many people don't know (not your fault, it's the media's fault and their lack of coverage up until recent years). I am angry at both countries' leaders for doing the bare minimum for many years. And I am angry that so much of my ancestor's history was removed and altered from the truth for centuries.

However, I am glad that with each passing year, more people are learning, and I truly appreciate those who care enough to show their support.

With that said, please mark your calendars and wear orange on September 30th! This is your official reminder! Please continue reading and consider sharing this post so more people are aware 🧡

September 30th is known as Orange Shirt Day, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, across Canada and North America in remembrance of those who suffered in US/Canadian Indian Residential Schools. We recognize the harm done to generations of children by the Indian Residential Schools and share our collective histories as an affirmation of our commitment to ensure that Every Child Matters! 

Remembering the 150,000+ Indigenous children who endured physical, mental, and sexual abuse at these residential schools; trauma that continues to be felt to this very day by survivors and their families.

Children were stolen around this time of year to attend these ‘schools’. Parents who fought to keep their kids would often be arrested and/or beaten, it was nearly impossible for them to keep their children once the police and school officials showed up to take them. And even once the school season was over, they were not returned to their families.

We knew many children had likely suffered and died from the abuse, but could have never guessed the atrocious number of remains that we are now finding.

As of May 2022, The remains of over 6,000 children have been recovered from unmarked graves at the locations of these former residential schools within Canada, and 500 have been discovered at 19 schools in the US. However, the Interior Department said that number could climb to the thousands or even tens of thousands.

For reference to help you digest how large the numbers will become when all schools have been properly investigated, there were approximately 139 schools in Canada and so far only (as of May 2022) 36 investigations have been completed in Canada. The US has identified more than 400 schools that were highly supported by the U.S. government during their operations, and more than 50 associated burial sites, a figure that could grow exponentially as research continues.

This wasn’t as long ago as you might think. The last residential school in Canada closed in 1998, only twenty-five years ago. As of 2020, 7 off-reservation boarding schools continue to be federally funded.

“Kill the Indian, Save the man” was a common phrase in these schools. Being Indians was savage, but we were ‘savable’ in the eyes of their Christian / Catholic God if we were stripped of the things that made us indigenous.

I am lucky enough to know survivors. I am alive because of survivors.

Survivors taught us younger generations about the horrors they dealt with in residential schools. Beaten, tortured, murdered. Watching other children die from diseases grown in their unclean living situations. ‘Forgetting’ what tribe a child is from and giving them to another reservation to care for until the following year when they’d be taken away again. Raped girls who survived traumatic births at a young age only for their babies to be thrown in the furnace. Sterilizing boys and girls so that if they were released they couldn’t create any more ‘indians’.

These children were ripped from their homes, watched their parents die if they fought to keep their children, were forced to cut their hair (our hair is as sacred as our traditional clothing), and beaten if caught speaking in their native languages. As a 'reward' for good behavior in school, certain children were sent away to live with white families as slaves to 'learn the white way' during long breaks between school periods. 

Keep the families of those who lost loved ones who never returned and the survivors who lived through unimaginable trauma in your hearts. On September 30th wear orange. Join a protest. Support indigenous peoples every day, but especially on September 30th (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), June 21st (Canadian National Indigenous Peoples Day), and October 8th (American Indigenous Peoples Day). Share our stories. Educate yourself on our history, not the false history written in books by white men, churches, and governments that supported and endorsed these institutions.

Because Every Child Matters.

Resources where you can learn more:

Orange Shirt Society

CBC News - scroll to find the map

NPR

CBS News

CNN News

The Indigenous Foundation

[warpedwings]

[fleshadept]

"the US education system didn't teach me about other countries so i didn't realize mexico had modern cities until i was 21" (real reply someone made on a post) is so telling about the general issue with the whole deal about blaming the US education system for everything. like that is just racism. pure, unanalyzed racism and lack of curiosity about the world around you. when people say "unlearn racism and prejudices" this is what they mean--the assumption that mexico hasn't hit the industrial revolution comes from somewhere, and that somewhere is the uncritical acceptance of racist ideas that permeate white america, whether you consider yourself racist or not.

you're right, the US education system does not have required classes that say where major urban centers are, but so what? it betrays an embarrassing lack of curiosity and passivity in your own experience and conception of the world to so freely admit that not only did you never speak to anyone from mexico or think about it hard enough to realize the irrationality of that thought, you passively took in racist ideas about our neighbors and accepted them with ease. did you think all mexicans were involved with drug cartels, too? would you have needed a class in high school to teach you that wasn't true?

so many of the worst example of people saying "but the US education system--" are people using the stilted, slanted historiography the education system perpetuates as an excuse for their own racism. whether that is about mexicans or any other group of nonwhite people that a certain kind of white american believes they could never have conceptualized as full humans without a required high school course on it, a belief they are shockingly willing to admit publicly

[lee-romee]

AllField --- Mother/daughter-in-law duo, Métis

BeadboxCrafts --- Jen Covington, who learned to bead from an Alaskan native artist

BezhikBeadwork --- Pammy G, Nipissing First Nation

DybbuksCorner --- Artist of Potawatomi, Tonawanda Seneca, & Nakota Sioux descent

Floresbotiqueab --- Made by indigenous people from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, & Peru

KagigeDesigns --- Lee-Ann, of Anishinaabe descent

mayanexpressions --- Mayan artisans from Chiapas, Mexico

Midnightsundesign --- Suzanne Flumerfelt, not a native artist, but one who has First Nation relatives and lives on Kluane First Nation land, teaching beadwork to Kluane First Nation children

Ozhitoon --- Anishinaabe artist, member of the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma