You know what I’ve learned in the last few months? Apparently I’m not a real Indian. Apparently, going to grad school and questioning how Native people are portrayed in pop culture makes me less “real.” I knew, in starting this blog, that being a white-looking Cherokee from SoCal trying to talk about Native issues would cause some problems, and my …
Mid-Week Motivation: Sherman Alexie’s "On the Amtrak from Boston to NYC"
On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City The white woman across the aisle from me says ‘Look, look at all the history, that house on the hill there is over two hundred years old, ‘ as she points out the window past me into what she has been taught. I have learned little more about American history during …
Have you ever seen a real Indian?: AICF’s ad campaign
(image via http://www.americanindiancollegefund.org) For some reason, this week has offered me a host of examples of insensitivity and ignorance surrounding Indian identity and identity politics. I’ve gotten in intense arguments and conversations in classes, I’ve confronted a colleague who told me, to my face, that the reason the US and Canada were different in terms of policies towards their Indigenous …