“our dna is earth & sky” atcr

bitterbitchclubpresident:

The last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Queen Liliʻuokalani, inherited the throne from her brother Kalākaua on January 29, 1891. A woman of peace and an accomplished author and songwrite, she became the first Native Hawaiian female author. Upon her death, Liliʻuokalani dictated in her will that all of her possessions and properties be sold and the money raised would go to the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Trust to help orphaned and indigent children. The Queen Liliʻuokalani Trust Fund still exists today.

Unlearning How White People Ask Personal Questions

Onyota'a:ká phrases:

“America’s native language is English!”

“Sometimes when I tell strangers I’m Cherokee they ask,”How much are you?” They’re not asking if I know myself as a Cherokee and if I am considered by other Cherokees as Cherokee. That would be a valid, though invasive, question. Instead, they’re asking, “What percentage of ‘Indian blood’ do you have?” This question implies that the degree to which one is Cherokee is defined by racial purity. By this logic, the higher percentage of “ Indian blood” you have, the more cherokee you would be. It’s a racist question because it implies that Cherokees are defined by race, not by culture. People tend to forget that “race” is a concept created by cultures. The concept of race continues to have power only because we continue to believe in it. Funny thing is, in all my life I’ve never been asked by another Cherokee, “How much are you?” Instead, the questions are: “Where do you come from?” “Who are your people ?” “Who’s your mother?” They are questions of beginnings and continuities, kin and relationships.”

Here’s a link to a news article and some videos about production (posted before the film was released)

this news is from earlier this year, you can now actually listen/watch the te reo version in clips on youtube now. this one is pretty exemplary of the original and new voice actors together! <3

Native Americans make up 13% of South Dakota’s population, yet 40% of sex trafficking victims in the state are Native girls and women.

So something like 7% of the population are Native women or girls and yet have almost a six fold over representation of sex trafficking victims. Jesus. I can’t imagine why. Is it possible that Native women have been violently fetishized on a genocidal scale in ways and institutions that have still not been destroyed or even recognized by a white patriarchal majority?

To claim that Indian cultures can continue without Indian languages only hastens our end, even if it makes us feel better about ourselves. Our cultures and our languages–as unique, identifiable, and particular entities–are linked to our sovereignty. If we allow our own wishful thinking and complacency to finish what George Armstrong Custer began, we will lose what we’ve managed to retain: our languages, land, institutions, ceremonies, and finally, ourselves. Cultural death matters because if the culture dies, we will have lost the chance not only to live on our own terms but also to live in our own terms.