The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues is now taking place at United Nations Headquarters in NYC.

Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild, a Cree Chief from Canada, is among more than 1000 indigenous representatives from around the world who are discussing ways to protect their collective rights to lands, territories and resources. This is crucial to tackle global challenges such as climate change and loss of biodiversity.

Globally, there are around 370M indigenous peoples who face challenges to their right to self-determination, traditional lands, education and more.

📷: UNDESA

Fun fact

talwuzhere:

travelerofthetimestreams:

smallrevolutionary:

jeankd:

wtfzurtopic:

beoriseyo:

fatbodypolitics:

giizhigaate:

the-yaadihla-girls:

istamaza:

thecuriousviolet:

Native Americans weren’t allowed US citizenship until 1924.

Let that sink in. We lived here first…for thousands of years. And less than a hundred years ago we were finally given citizenship.

We also fought in WWI despite not being US citizens.

In Arizona, natives weren’t granted the right to vote until 1948. Think how that type of neglect ties into resource colonization as infrastructure was developed within years prior.

In addition: the indigenous peoples of Canada were not recognized as Human Beings until the year 1960.
Now let that shit sink in.

In the US it wasn’t until 1968 that the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed and allowed for the right to freedom of speech / assembly / press, a jury trial, the right to an attorney etc. It’s so fucking frustrating.

and it wasn’t until 1978 that we were legally allowed to practice our own religions. in a nation founded on religious freedoms, it was illegal to practice our own religions. in our own country. how fucked up is that?

Aaaand Native Americans weren’t entitled to their own languages (had no legal rights to teach them in their schools, use them in business) until the Native American Language Act of 1990.

I teach this to my students, because NONE of it is in a single textbook. This is and act of indoctrination

Boosting because I didn’t know any of this.

These facts should be known by all.

Ah yes I love the oppression of my culture

Fun fact

talwuzhere:

travelerofthetimestreams:

smallrevolutionary:

jeankd:

wtfzurtopic:

beoriseyo:

fatbodypolitics:

giizhigaate:

the-yaadihla-girls:

istamaza:

thecuriousviolet:

Native Americans weren’t allowed US citizenship until 1924.

Let that sink in. We lived here first…for thousands of years. And less than a hundred years ago we were finally given citizenship.

We also fought in WWI despite not being US citizens.

In Arizona, natives weren’t granted the right to vote until 1948. Think how that type of neglect ties into resource colonization as infrastructure was developed within years prior.

In addition: the indigenous peoples of Canada were not recognized as Human Beings until the year 1960.
Now let that shit sink in.

In the US it wasn’t until 1968 that the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed and allowed for the right to freedom of speech / assembly / press, a jury trial, the right to an attorney etc. It’s so fucking frustrating.

and it wasn’t until 1978 that we were legally allowed to practice our own religions. in a nation founded on religious freedoms, it was illegal to practice our own religions. in our own country. how fucked up is that?

Aaaand Native Americans weren’t entitled to their own languages (had no legal rights to teach them in their schools, use them in business) until the Native American Language Act of 1990.

I teach this to my students, because NONE of it is in a single textbook. This is and act of indoctrination

Boosting because I didn’t know any of this.

These facts should be known by all.

Ah yes I love the oppression of my culture

rootfauna:

celtyradfem:

Is she decorated with teeth?

Those are indeed teeth! Not sure exactly which kind, but they’re from a cervid, and the most commonly used teeth are from elk, but deer and reindeer are also used. They’re pretty common in indigenous regalia

Very stylish

rootfauna:

celtyradfem:

Is she decorated with teeth?

Those are indeed teeth! Not sure exactly which kind, but they’re from a cervid, and the most commonly used teeth are from elk, but deer and reindeer are also used. They’re pretty common in indigenous regalia

Very stylish

Is she decorated with teeth?

humanriotsmovement:

The old Wintu word for white people translated to something like “poison people”/disease people".

Probably because American invaders would spread disease and literally poison the food and water of California natives as an act of genocide

humanriotsmovement:

The old Wintu word for white people translated to something like “poison people”/disease people".

Probably because American invaders would spread disease and literally poison the food and water of California natives as an act of genocide

The pictures you posted of Native American art is really beautiful, but I think you accidentally put the dancing girl in modern section

rootfauna-deactivated20180326:

Looks like it, but nope!

Here’s some Native history for you!

Fancy Shawl

This is a dance most commonly associated with Plains nations. Traditionally in these nations, women’s dances tended to focus on dignity, restraint, and elegance. This kind of dancing is represented in what we now refer as “Women’s Traditional”. Here’s an example:

You’ll notice that in both videos, women dance on the balls of their feet to the beat of the drums and wear shawls. Shawls are VERY significant in most Plains cultures including my own (Osage), and like in mine, you’re damn near considered naked without one lol.

So fast forward from the olden days to the days of modern native Americans living in colonized North America.

Heavy restrictions were put on how/when/if we could practice our cultures and religions and religious dances were outlawed, straight up Footloose style. So native Americans began to make new dances to get around the ban. One of the double-edged advantages of these dances was that they could be performed for the public. The men’s fancy dance was created in 1928 by two men in the Ponca tribe (who share close relation with the Osage!), and this fast paced dance was partially geared towards drawing an audience. Back then one way Native Americans could make money was by performing in “Wild West” tourist traps and side shows.

So men’s dancing went from something like this:

To this:

Note the more exaggerated regalia.

Well it worked wonderfully to bring in money and soon women were like, “Hey, I want in on this, too! And women began fancy dancing not in the regalia of the women in the pictures, but dressed in regalia identical to men.

As the allure of viewing native Americans in side shows and in tourist traps declined, so too did fancy dance, particularly women’s fancy dance. That is, until the 1950s when women began to feminize the dance using their all-important shawls and exaggerating their own traditional regalia. Thus “Graceful Shawl Dance” was born, later to be called the fancy shawl dance.

The fancy shawl dance is still evolving. Note how different the old and new styles of women’s dancing are! How much movement should be permissible in fancy shawl is often debated. Still, the fancy shawl dance has become a modern staple of Plains native cultures.

Also, if anyone tells you the fancy shawl dance is a traditional Native American dance to “symbolize a girl transitioning to woman like a butterfly from a cocoon” they are full of shit.

On a side note, this is the style of dancing I used to do when I was younger! Need to get back into it -.-