#native awareness

Was Thanksgiving really a massacre of 700 “Indians”? The present Thanksgiving may be a mixture of the 1621 three-day feast and the “Thanksgiving” proclaimed after the 1637 Pequot massacre. So next time you see the annual “Pilgrim and Indian display” in a shopping window or history about other massacres of Native Americans, think of the hurt and disrespect Native Americans feel. Thanksgiving is observed as a day of sorrow rather than a celebration. This year at Thanksgiving dinner, ponder why you are giving thanks. Full Story

For thousands of years, cultural groups from all over the world have participated in ceremonial face painting for a variety of reasons. However, the amount of available scholarly information regarding ceremonial and cultural face painting is scarce. Furthermore, face painting traditional customs, colors, and designs, have either been passed down orally through storytelling, or have been documented by white explorers and journalists who may not have had the cultural sensitivity to fully understand and relay the authentic spiritual symbolism and meaning behind the various colors and designs. Therefore, by combining information from Native American websites with scholarly resources, my aim is to give a respectful and general description of traditional Native American face painting; including the significance of colors, designs, and rituals, of a variety of Native American cultures such as California, Great Basin, Northwest and Northeast Coast, Southeast and Plains tribes. Full Story