Dear Readers, I need to apologize, and genuinely. A few days ago I wrote an entire post about Black Panther that talked about Indigenous Futurisms without talking about Afrofuturism, or, for the most part, acknowledging the characters’ blackness. That was wrong, it was unacceptable, and I know better and should have done better. I’m truly sorry. As a scholar who cares deeply …
On Consenting to Learn in Public
In 2010 when I started Native Appropriations, the internet was a very different place. Twitter was still emerging, blogspot blogs were a robust thing and everyone had one, and I literally had no idea what I was talking about. When I started the blog I knew that cultural appropriation was a thing, I knew that stereotypes were bad, I knew …
Wakanda Forever: Using Indigenous Futurisms to Survive the Present
It started with a tweet. A simple linguistic shift put forward by Damien Lee (@damienlee). Moving from saying Canada or even “…in what is now Canada,” to, “…in what is currently Canada,” in order to “open possibilities for imagining futurities beyond the settler state.” When I write, I avoid the phrase "…in what is now Canada." I use "…in what is …
The Problematics of Disingenuous Public Apologies
In the weeks since I wrote my Native Harvey Weinsteins post, I’ve been learning hard lessons about Indian Country and men I thought I trusted and knew. My inbox has been filled with stories upon stories of men I have shared space with, men I have promoted on my social media and in my talks, men I have held up as …
The Native Harvey Weinsteins
CW: Sexual harassment and assault. Additional note: this is written from my female cis-hetero perspective. There are so many more layers and stories from our LGBT relatives. But those aren’t my stories, and I don’t want to misrepresent them. I can only speak to and from my experiences. As always, if you’d like to write a guest post, send me an …
Dances with Dragons: Dothraki and Hollywood Western Aesthetic
SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY Sunday on Game of Thrones we finally got the Dany dragon battle we’ve been waiting for, and it was glorious. I do have some…questions on the battle strategy (which @miamckenzie breaks down as well here and here), but overall it was a rousing scene full of fire and tension and badassery and…well, a lot of references that made …
Valentino didn’t learn anything.
A couple days ago I went to a TJ Maxx in Massachusetts, and my sister and I were oo-ing and ahh-ing over some gorgeous studded Valentino heels. I grabbed the box to look at the price tag (way out of my budget), but then flipped it over, and saw this. That’s a headdress. A sacred headdress. Again. I literally have no …
The New Wild West: An interview with Ryan McMahon of Indian & Cowboy
Photo courtesy of Ryan McMahon [This post originally appeared on Bello Collective, a newsletter & publication about audio storytelling and the podcast industry.] By Guest Contributor Liza Yeager (AK Note: Liza is one of my incredible students from this semester in my “History and Resistance in Native Representations” class. This is her final project for the course. She is a podcast, …
Buzzfeed’s Another Round and #NoDAPL
Just a quick post to let ya’ll know that I was on Another Round on Buzzfeed again, and had a lovely conversation with Heben (she’s back!). In addition to talking Standing Rock and #NoDAPL, we played a game where I had to identify Pilgrim names. I failed. But shout out to Godbert Godbertson. Listen here, and enjoy! Two quick clarifications …
Dear little one on your Birthday: A letter to a future Native warrior
Today one of my best friends, who we affectionately call Bean, is having her first child. A baby girl. Last night I watched on live streams as unarmed Native protectors were mercilessly attacked by militarized police. I kept thinking about my new little niece, and the world we are leaving for her. This letter is to her, on her birthday. …