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Is it proper to call us Native American -

painted wolf

Grey Muzzle
He got it started for me. True AIM existed before people like Means and Banks, but they more or less got it jumping. We exchanged letters once, long before the internet.
Indeed, Russel is an instrumental figure in the movement and quite deservedly so! :D
It's awesome that you got to have such a correspondence.

It really don't matter if one calls his or herself Native American or not, but often the term bespeaks of what we and our cultures are called by non-Indians.

And then there's the New Age gurus applying that term in their dealings.
Indeed... but (and no disrespect) I believe I'm younger than you... and "Native American" was just the term I grew up hearing most often. That and "First Nations".
It is ultimately up to us to define ourselves.

I'm good with American Indian.
And I totally respect that. :)

wa:do
 

painted wolf

Grey Muzzle
AIM made the spirit of Indian People grow stronger and even more so following 1973

[youtube]5yFr5groCJg[/youtube]
Wounded Knee Incident 1973 The Native American Genocide 5of5 - YouTube
I'm forever grateful for all that AIM accomplished (and still strives to do) for the people.. I was born just one year before the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed.

My uncle (now sadly passed) worked toward the goal of religious freedom for American Indians/First Nations and to get the Georgia Cherokee recognized by the government. Though, I never got the chance to talk with him about it in any detail.

wa:do
 

Nashitheki

Hollawitta
I was still in highschool during the standoff, but it got things going with a lot of us in the area where I lived. My friends and I were military brats from different tribes whose parents left reservations by being transfered to the bases here. Back then we really didn't hear the words Native American. Aside from what was passed down from parents who wanted to serve in the American armed forces, we had little sense of ourselves, but the standoff inspired us to re-connect .
 

painted wolf

Grey Muzzle
I was still in highschool during the standoff, but it got things going with a lot of us in the area where I lived. My friends and I were military brats from different tribes whose parents left reservations by being transfered to the bases here. Back then we really didn't hear the words Native American. Aside from what was passed down from parents who wanted to serve in the American armed forces, we had little sense of ourselves, but the standoff inspired us to re-connect .
I envy you.

I heard very little of my heritage growing up, except for occasional stories from my father. It wasn't until I was much older that the subtle prompting from my father led me to seek out a stronger connection. Which has been difficult given there aren't a lot of traditionally minded Cherokee in New Hampshire.

wa:do
 

Nashitheki

Hollawitta
I envy you.

I heard very little of my heritage growing up, except for occasional stories from my father. It wasn't until I was much older that the subtle prompting from my father led me to seek out a stronger connection. Which has been difficult given there aren't a lot of traditionally minded Cherokee in New Hampshire.

wa:do

Can't you re-locate and join the Qualla ? From the ones I know , they seem to be good people. They would and could not be removed. Mine like the some of the other Indian parents were being far drawn to another way. I guess the military had a lot to do with that. People like Means and Banks pulled some of us away from that other way our parents had chosen.
 

painted wolf

Grey Muzzle
Can't you re-locate and join the Qualla ? From the ones I know , they seem to be good people. They would and could not be removed. Mine like the some of the other Indian parents were being far drawn to another way. I guess the military had a lot to do with that. People like Means and Banks pulled some of us away from that other way our parents had chosen.
I've certainly considered it, though I can't afford such a move yet... I definitely want to at least visit for a while.

I'm stuck walking between two life long desires... one from my white heritage (my education) and one from my Cherokee heritage (my spirituality). I don't know if I can satisfy them both, but I'm hoping one will give me the freedom to pursue the other (or at least not interfere with it).

wa:do
 

-Peacemaker-

.45 Cal
My question is regarding who should actually be called an American Indian/Native American. On Tavis Smiley I was watching an interview of an author claiming to be an Indian named David Treuer who had written a book on reservation life. This guy admitted to being half austrian Jew though he did say he grew up on a reservation. Looking at him it was obvious that he was at most 1/16th Indian as he looked about as white as anyone I've ever seen. He kept contantly using the pronoun "we" when refering to Native Americans. Is a man whose blood is so thinned by European and/or Jewish blood ever really considered one of the tribe? Is there a cutoff limit that once one's blood becomes so thinned they can no longer be considered a Native American? Are people who are 1/16th or 1/32nd NA second class citizens in the tribe never really being fully embraced by the darker, more pure blooded members?




He doesn't look very Native American to me



Now this guy on the other hand......

 
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Nashitheki

Hollawitta
My question is regarding who should actually be called an American Indian/Native American. On Tavis Smiley I was watching an interview of an author claiming to be an Indian named David Treuer who had written a book on reservation life. This guy admitted to being half austrian Jew though he did say he grew up on a reservation. Looking at him it was obvious that he was at most 1/16th Indian as he looked about as white as anyone I've ever seen. He kept contantly using the pronoun "we" when refering to Native Americans. Is a man whose blood is so thinned by European and/or Jewish blood ever really considered one of the tribe? Is there a cutoff limit that once one's blood becomes so thinned they can no longer be considered a Native American? Are people who are 1/16th or 1/32nd NA second class citizens in the tribe never really being fully embraced by the darker, more pure blooded members?




He doesn't look very Native American to me



Now this guy on the other hand......


I believe anyone less than 1/8 is not considered Indian.
 

painted wolf

Grey Muzzle
Not to mention that you can have someone 1/2 and look completely white thanks to the joys of genetics and that you can be culturally American Indian/First Nations and not be "pure blood".

Just because someone doesn't "look" like what you think an American Indian should, that doesn't mean they aren't one.

David Treuer is currently working to help preserve the Ojibwa language by recording the grammar and other details needed to teach the language to his nations youth.

Reducing American Indians to a particular "look" is inappropriate.

wa:do
 

A Troubled Man

Active Member
"We were enslaved as American Indians, we were colonized as American Indians, and we will gain our freedom as American Indians and then we can call ourselves anything we damn please."

Russell Means

Sorry, I haven't watched the video yet, but had a question regarding that quote.

What exactly does Russell want "American Indians" to call themselves?
 

Adramelek

Setian
Premium Member
If you are born on the continant of the U.S. then yes, you have every right to call yourself a native American if that is what you wish.

Xeper.
/Adramelek\
 

Nashitheki

Hollawitta
"Reducing American Indians to a particular "look" is inappropriate"

I usually go with the wild and carefree look, but that's getting harder to pull off as old age is setting in.
 
Not to mention that you can have someone 1/2 and look completely white thanks to the joys of genetics and that you can be culturally American Indian/First Nations and not be "pure blood".

Just because someone doesn't "look" like what you think an American Indian should, that doesn't mean they aren't one.

David Treuer is currently working to help preserve the Ojibwa language by recording the grammar and other details needed to teach the language to his nations youth.

Reducing American Indians to a particular "look" is inappropriate.

wa:do
I hear ya girl. In the summer when the family gets a good beach tan we have been hit on by all these Mexican dudes. I don't even speak Spanish, and they get all bent out of shape when I tell them that. My daughter just tells 'em to go pick something. But hey, if she's wearing her gun, they do just that!:p
 

beenherebeforeagain

Rogue Animist
Premium Member
Here's another way to look at it from the standpoint of biology (specifically ecology and conservation):

The standard for determining a native versus a non-native species in the continental United States is usually pre-colonialism. In this case, we can apply it to races/cultures instead. Therefore, the humans that were here prior to the colonial era are "native" or "indigenous" while all the whites, blacks, asians, and some hispanics are "non-native" or "exotic." That's putting it gently, though. I think the term "invasive" is a much better fit given what the non-native races/cultures did to this land.

Lots of invasive species have been introduced to the Americas, primarily by European humans, including European humans. Of which I'm one, at least in part.
 

beenherebeforeagain

Rogue Animist
Premium Member
I believe anyone less than 1/8 is not considered Indian.

And yet there are still lots of whites who insist that "even one drop" makes you whatever that one drop is. I think the pre-civil-war measure was 1/64th, or at least that's the number that sticks in my mind.

I like to think, sometimes, that I'm representative of what the future is going to bring in America, the "heinz-57" variety. ;)
 

Nashitheki

Hollawitta
And yet there are still lots of whites who insist that "even one drop" makes you whatever that one drop is. I think the pre-civil-war measure was 1/64th, or at least that's the number that sticks in my mind.

I like to think, sometimes, that I'm representative of what the future is going to bring in America, the "heinz-57" variety. ;)

And what a future we'll have here in America. Things are already jumping like never before.

Whatever the amount of blood, we can be only ourselves and do good to keep what makes us what we are. Since we are not all sharing the same fire and looking across at each other, we can only send words, like spirits conversing from afar.
 

tumbleweed41

Resident Liberal Hippie
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