#nativepride

Remembering a Native American Actor Who Passed Away

Ok so as of the 1st it is native American history month

and with that our short time in the mass zeitgeist and I am working on making it count.

And as for our first topic I want to tackle something that may seem kind of innocuous, that would be the two spirit flag.

Two Spirit is a general term used to represent people of the native community in the lgbtq+, though the term was created in 1990 by Elder Myra Laramee

The idea of two-spirit people has existed within many tribes for millennia, having their own ceremonies and tredictions that came along with it, those who are trans, gay,bi and so on.

The current two-spirit flag or at least the most recognized one is lackadaisical to be blunt, it is just the regular rainbow flag with two feathers on it and for me it just says "oh yeah native people are here too" it does not feel genuine.

There have been attempts to update the design to actually represent native people though sadly I haven't seen them much outside of the one-off posts which is sad.

Part of the design I came up with, pulls from miigwan's design although I was only able to find that design through the lgbtq wiki and an archived tumblr post still extremely helpful though.

I wanted to make something identifiably indigenous not to just fall into the background.

Grandmother Moon and father sun are in the are in the corners of both sides both encompassing the transition from night and day and also the transition of, male to female and female to male

Black: represents Victory and success

Yellow: is determination

Orange: is intellect and the willingness to fight to the death. Those before us have fought and fallen so we may be where we are today and we will fight fall for those who come next.

Blue: Windom, intuition and confidence

Green nature, haromny,healing and endurance

Red: faith, beauty

Purple: a sacred color symbolizing power mystery and magic

The fether are both a general symbol for native people

but also the connection between us, the creator and the bird the fether came from.

The circles representing the continuous cycle of Life the spectrum of sexuality and identity and the value of no one above another.

the points on the circles are representing the four cardinal directions (North, East,South and West)

and the secondary directions

(North east, South east, South west and North west)

I hope this was a good over view.

Tell me what you think, feel free to make your own designs and share them

If you want to share this flag please

credit me my insta is in my bio :)

The first one was made by 2sanon

The second was made by miigwan

The third was made by me :D

Athlete Jim Thorpe in 1910, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, NARA ID 595347.

#OTD 1912: Jim Thorpe begins the Olympic triathlon By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs

Jim Thorpe wearing Carlisle Indian School Football uniform, 1909. NARA ID 519348.

Jim Thorpe, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation of Oklahoma, competed in track and field events at Carlisle Indian Industrial School and later played football, baseball, and basketball professionally. He won gold medals for the decathlon and pentathlon in the 1912 Olympics. Olympic officials later stripped him of his medals because a brief stint playing minor league baseball violated the rules of amateurism. To avoid penalties, some Olympic athletes played professionally under assumed names. Thorpe, who was unaware of the rule, was severely punished for the infraction.

Thorpe faced extensive racism on and off the field. Reporters depicted his competitions as battles between Indigenous and White Americans. But his excellence in so many different sports—he went on to play professional football, baseball, and basketball—led many to believe he was the greatest athlete of all time.

Many urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to restore Thorpe’s medals. The IOC relented in 1982, 30 years after his death, gave Thorpe’s family replica gold medals, and said he would be "added to the list of athletes who were crowned Olympic champions at the 1912 Games.” However, the IOC refused to alter the official record.

Learn more about Thorpe and see these replica gold medals* in our upcoming exhibit, All American, the Power of Sports.

*on loan courtesy of Jim Thorpe’s descendants and the Oklahoma History Center.

National Archives Museum in DC, 9/16/2022 - 1/7/2024

See also:

The Greatest Athlete of the First Half of the Century, Pieces of History

Jim Thorpe records in the National Archives Online Catalog

Baseball and the National Archives - National Archives News special topics page

Baseball: The National Pastime in the National Archives, NARA eBook

November is Native American Heritage Month!

As a Native American, I'm popping by to say I still exist! My people and the tribes of my brothers and sisters are still here!

Support Native owned businesses.

Support Native authors.

Support Native artists.

Support Native scholars.

Support Native actors.

Doesn't mean they aren't native!

They're still native!

They just have boundaries!

I have a friend who is native and she lives with her tribe so people think instantly she's super spiritual and a seer.

We are best buds so when acquaintances hear one of us likes the spiritual, working with spirits, trying to see stuff they instantly assume her simply on the grounds of she's native.

She'll tell you no, she'll tell you she's a chicken sh🎀t that has no intention on seeing or being apart of any of that cause she scares VERY easy, has anxiety and the few times she has seen something she had panic attacks. She is content and happy in her life of "nope" and " I didn't see sh🌼t " when creepy stuff goes down.

How people treat her AFTER is what bothers me......

They treat her like she's somehow abandoned or betrayed her culture?? Like she's somehow less native and in a way less interesting??? That's the way they act and it's so, I'm not sure if there's a word for it but it feels like they're angry their fantasy is destroyed???

It's like their illusion of native people all being like Hollywood or media style seers, healers and spirit workers is destroyed and that get miffed at her for it.

She's still native and not wanting to see stuff doesn't make her any less native.

Let her and others that don't wanna see stuff enjoy their non-spooky existence in peace.

Also really tired of people saying

" must be the native in you " when they learn I or anyone with native blood is spiritual.. Like no, it's the crushing fear of mortality and there being nothing at the end of the road for me. It has nothing to do with any native blood I have in me.