Category Archive

The last few days/months/years have brought a lot of new folks to me, my work, and this ever-aging blog. I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to anyone who may be new here, and re-introduce myself to anyone who may have jumped in at any point along the last 14(!) years of Native Appropriations and my journey. I …

As of Monday, January 15, I am no longer a faculty member at Brown University. I made the very difficult decision to resign from my position as an Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies in November, after nine years on campus. I’ve held in the back of my mind that I needed to write this post and to …

Yesterday, on May 1, 2023, Elizabeth Hoover put up a “Letter of Accountability and Apology” on her personal webpage in which she states, “I am a white person who has incorrectly identified as Native my whole life.” I have had the following post sitting in my drafts for a few months, and feel ready to share it because I feel …

Siyo Friends! I know it’s been ages since I’ve written here, and a lot has changed in the last year or so. We’ve all been through, and continue to go through, times that would have been unfathomable a few years ago. I hope all of you are finding space for healing and reflection as we move into this next stage …

With our history of slaveholding and ongoing disenfranchisement of Cherokee Freedmen, our nation has upheld anti-Blackness for generations. I and many white-coding Cherokees are complicit with our silence, it’s much easier to point the finger outward toward the structures of white supremacy that pervade American society, rather than inward toward the ways our own tribal structures and narratives perpetuate anti-Blackness. I know I have personal learning to do, so I commit to try and do better, and hope others will as well.

Yesterday I tweeted something quickly during a meeting, an insensitive and misguided attempt to critique media framing around Irish support of Navajo and Hopi Nations. I immediately deleted less than 20 minutes after I posted it, once I realized how off the mark and harmful it was. But in the land of screen shots, the tweet has now circled all …

Hi Y’all, Long time no talk. I thought I would throw up a quick post in case any of you follow me on social media and were concerned that my accounts seem to have disappeared. They did! I’ve been on Twitter and Instagram for nearly (or over?) a decade without a substantial break, and things have felt hard online lately. …

Last week I was in Pacific Beach with my partner, and we stopped by a bar/restaurant called “Crushed” to grab a drink. I got up to go to the restroom, and in the hallway was confronted by a large mural of a headdress. It was painted facing a mirror, with words in reverse, so bar patrons could take mirror selfies …

I start most mornings by smudging [for non-Natives: info here]*. I love how the smell lingers on me and in my home and I love that the smell reminds me of Native spaces. It makes me feel safe. The medicines I use were all gifted to me by friends or colleagues, or I have a few special ones that I gathered …

CW: Cancer, fertility, blood, surgery I. My cervix and I were closer friends than many. I relied on her to fight my monthly stone man, to help manage my Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder. I knew what she felt like at different points of my cycle. I knew when she was lower and open versus high and closed, I knew what her …