“The power Cherokees attributed to menstruating women is illustrated by the myth “The Stone Man.” The Stone Man was a cannibal with a skin of solid rock and an appetite for Indian hunters. When a hunter spotted Stone Man heading for a village, he hurried to the medicine man, who stationed seven menstruating women in the cannibal’s path. The Stone …
Where are the Natives in Hamilton?
I have not seen the highly acclaimed, Tony-award winning, ground breaking, race-bending new musical Hamilton. Not due to lack of trying. I enter the digital lottery nearly every single day on my phone, though if I do somehow win it will mean the most panicked four hours of my life trying to get from Providence to NYC in time for the show. But …
Magic in North America Part 1: Ugh.
Yesterday I wrote about the trailer for JK Rowling’s new multi-part background pieces on Pottermore, entitled “Magic in North America.” You should read the post here if you need context. Even before that, back in June, I wrote about my concerns with the bringing of the “magic universe” to the States. You can read that here. So this morning at …
“Magic in North America”: The Harry Potter franchise veers too close to home
Remember back in June when it was announced that the new Harry Potter prequel-of-sorts had an American Wizarding school? Remember how I was concerned? If you don’t, here’s a link to that post. Basics of my argument were: The problem, Jo (can I call you Jo? I hope so), is that we as Indigenous peoples are constantly situated as fantasy …
“9 Questions Natives have for White People” and White fragility: That time I was in Buzzfeed videos
(That’s me! I’m a gif! I’ve made it!) You might have noticed lately that Buzzfeed has been putting out a lot more race and social justice themed content, and even has included a series of videos featuring Native folks: “Native Americans Try on Indian Costumes,” “Native Americans react to Indian mascots,” “If Native Americans said the things white people say,” …
On Apache Pizza and the Globalization of American Indian Cultural Appropriation
By Adam Hoffman, Guest Contributor This was it…I had finally made it to Ireland! As an American, it had always been my dream to travel abroad and tour Europe. At the age of 25, I was well overdue to see a different part of the world. And, as a budding psychologist who studies the development of ethnic and racial identity …
Black Indigeneity Part II (Or Back to Back)
Please read this post about the author of this guest post before continuing: http://nativeappropriations.com/2017/11/the-problematics-of-disingenuous-public-apologies.html AK Note: This post is a follow up to Kyle’s post over the summer entitled “The Political Discourses of Black Indigeneity, And Why It Matters”. If you haven’t read that post, I’d encourage you to head over there first. Part of why I love the format of …
To the Native people in “Indian” Costumes
It’s Sunday, November 1, and I’m scrolling through my various social media feeds, looking at the adorable, creative, fun, and smart costumes of all of my friends (and their babies) from Halloween last night. I’m heartened and happy by the series of texts I received, and the tweets and status updates I was tagged in, talking about confronting cultural appropriation …
Repost: Step away from the “Indian” costume!
(I know you just want to look as cool as this guy. He’s SO COOL. ::eyeroll::) Originally posted 10/21/14 Hey. It’s me again. It’s that time of year. You might be saying to yourself, “Hey! What should I wear for Halloween this year?!?!” and some of you might be like, “OMG, I’ll be an INDIAN.” No. Don’t know why? I’ve got …
Netflix Pocahontas Update: They changed it for real this time!
So this is a post where I get to admit I was wrong, but then it’s ok, because we actually have a win to celebrate! Quick recap, I was on netflix last week and saw that Pocahontas is on the site now. I clicked on the description, and found this: Apparently Pocahontas is on @netflix now. Can we talk about …