Drivin'

native-land.ca

“One of the most distinctive things about the Native Land maps are the borders….Indigenous identities don’t map (pardon the pun) precisely onto modern European notions of nationality and territory…. Colonialism lives and dies by the map — and the carved-up world is so central to our perspective that many of us today see the earth’s lands primarily as chunks of nations….

The reality is just that borders don’t always function the same as the simplified maps imply when it comes to indigenous history; there is a lot more movement, overlap, and complexity than one nation on each chunk of land.”

The Aboriginal Mapping Network at nativemaps.org is a great site for finding resources (and a whole map community)! They got:

-Global ones like LandMark, an “online, interactive global platform to provide maps and other critical information on lands that are collectively held and used by Indigenous Peoples and local communities.”  

-Living Atlases created by nations and alliances like voicesontheland.org, created the Okanagan Nation

-More maps like these ludicrously pretty ones of Hupačasath lands, traditional sites, and place names. There are many, many more, and you’ll probably be able to find your region/people/language. Or just wander around!

-Links to Treaty Maps, this interactive map from the Canadian government, and historic maps like this series, which I like because it covers the early 20th century, which is often taught in classrooms as “After Indians.” Here are more maps of current populations and reservation lands in the United States.

Are none of these quite what you asked for? Yeah—I’m making a bit of a dig, but it’s not against anyone asking.

It’s against the fact that the map in the original post is from the 1970s. The linguistic theory has evolved since then; this is the map currently used in textbooks and even on Wikipedia. And I’m not talking about the level of detail, I mean there have been genuine changes in how scholars think the languages are related, and that has changed our picture of pre-Columbian historical events. It is very bonkers that the first map, which has been around long enough to look super dated to me, has never been taught this whole time.

This is the map you were asking for.

Land cessions animated by @sunisup from maps by Sam B. Hilliard of Louisiana State University, first published 1972.

I’m never criticizing anyone for starting with basic facts. We all should! I’m criticizing every history teacher you’ve had (and school board who limited the teacher, and college that didn’t prepare the teacher, and…) who didn’t do their job of tellin’ you the facts in elementary school, when you deserved to learn.

But last time I reblogged one ten/fifteen minutes later I got a call offering me a job

But I reblogged it because I was waiting on hearing back from the job. So there you go.

Star Trek 50th Anniversary

September 8, 1966 - September 8, 2016

Dude, forget everything you thought you knew about rock history. This woman, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, totally invented rock and roll. IN THE 1920s. Like, three decades before most of us thought it started.

About a minute in, when she starts that first guitar riff, I got chills. Yeah, this clip is from the 60s, but she started playing this kind of music in the 20s. Double-checked with a rock critic friend of mine to be sure.

aliens: because theres people who think that english is the only language they need to speak

aliens: weil es leute gibt die glauben dass englisch die einzige sprache ist die sie sprechen müssen

aliens: omdat er mensen zijn die denken dat engels de enige taal is die ze hoeven te spreken

alienit: koska tääl on ihmisiä joitten mielestä englanti on ainoo kieli jota niitten täytyy puhua

宇宙人: 英語しか喋る必要がないと思う人がいるからです

aliens: wieldat dat Lüüd gifft, de dinkt dat Engelsch de allenige Spraak weer, de een snacken mütt

shisheeyaha: dadka intiisa badani u malaynayaan in Ingiriisidu tahay afka oo kaliya ay u baahan yihiin inay la hadlaan

外星人：因为有人以为他们只会英语就可以了

taga-ibang planeta: kasi merong mga taong akala nila Ingles lang ang kailangan nilang matutunang lenggwahe

utomjordingar: för det finns folk som tror att engelska är det ända språket de behöver kunna

Mimozemšťani: Protože tu jsou lidé, kteří si myslí, že angličtina je jediný jazyk, který potřebují znát

kosmici: ponieważ są ludzie, którzy myślą, że angielski to jedyny język, którego potrzebuję

alieni: perchè ci sono delle persone che credono che l’inglese sia l’unica lingua di cui hanno bisogno

Extraterrestre: porque hay personas quienes creen que inglés es la única lengua que se tiene que hablar.

This Song Contest is about LOVE and FRIENDSHIP… until voting time.

What?

A few hours ago, a German news organisation called “Süddeutsche Zeitung” released an article detailing how they, along with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and a lot of other news organisations, had about 2.6 terabytes of data from a Panama law firm called “Mossack Fonseca”. This firm sells “shell” companies - companies which only exist on paper - to basically anyone who asks, allowing them to cover up business dealings by doing it under the name of the shell company.

Politicians, FIFA officials, celebrities, athletes, drug smugglers, and fraudsters are all some of the people who have been implicated in this leak.

What does this mean?

Mossack Fonseca allows some of the wealthiest people in the world to move a lot of their money to tax havens, so as a result they can pay far, far less tax than they would normally. This allows their wealth to grow to immense sizes, driving income inequality sky-high.

Who is in the leak?

Family members close to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, the actor Jackie Chan, the Icelandic Prime Minister, high-ranking Chinese authorities, and many other public officials around the world are allegedly found in the documents leaked so far.

How big is this leak?

Over 11 million documents are in this leak, of which just 149 have been released as of writing. This is the single biggest data leak in history, entirely about corruption.

What will this change?

Already, there are huge calls in Iceland for the prime minister to resign, and to call an election. With the Icelandic Pirate Party currently leading the polls, that could be a fascinating change.

Also, it’s likely that many people currently in power could be forced to resign, or be placed in prison.

Is this actually illegal?

Technically, no. Having a shell company in order to move money around is not illegal in itself; however, a lot of the people who use this system are doing it in very dodgy and occasionally illegal ways. The president of the Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, used Mossack Fonseca to increase his wealth after being elected on the same day that his soldiers were being killed by the Russian army, for example.

Links for more information

Official website of the leak from Süddeutsche Zeitung

ICIJ page for the Panama Papers

Explanation of the Panama Papers from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Article from The Guardian explaining Vladimir Putin’s connection

The documents themselves (currently under very heavy load)