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i know face tattoos are a closed practice, so is it the same with such a head piece?

image credits are shinanova on Instagram

Will Brown is purposefully mixing a few grains of actual history with a whole lot of myths debunked for decades, weaving them together to sound coherent, but it’s dishonest presentation.

First, salt from fecal matter? That’s a misreading from 1970s anthropologist Marvin Harris. Harris’s theory? Thoroughly debunked. Spanish chronicles described urine at markets, but it was for tanning leather and dyeing cloth. Aztecs got salt from evaporating lake brine.

Second, people fattened in cages to be eaten is not in any reliable primary source. Captives were fed well before sacrifice to look healthy for rituals. Ritual cannibalism happened but was mostly reserved for nobles and priests as sacred communion, not a commodity. The protein-deficiency theory has been debunked as bone isotope analysis shows zero evidence of routine consumption.

Also, the Narratio regionum is often cited as proof Spaniards sold human flesh. Las Casas documented real atrocities, and modern scholars confirm his accounts are largely accurate. He was there, but Theodor de Bry, who had never set foot in the Americas, took Las Casas’s writings and illustrated them in the most sensational way possible. So while Las Casas’s core claims are credible, de Bry’s engravings are provocative propaganda. Now, here's the irony: the world's first cannibal incident documented by multiple, independent, first-hand accounts took place during the Crusades, carried out by European soldiers. By the 16th century, cannibalism wasn't just part of the mental furniture of Europeans; it was a common ingredient in everyday medicine from Spain to England, and scholars confirm that Europeans saw no issue with this well into the 19th and early 20th century, as Richard Sugg documents in Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires, and Louise Noble in Medicinal Cannibalism in Early Modern English Literature and Culture. But I am not going to use this documented reality to claim de Bry was 100% right. That's the difference between me and that guy. I present facts and separate them from speculation. He mixes truth with sensationalism and passes it off as concrete evidence.

Third, he claims Aztecs demanded people as a tax for sacrifice, but that's mostly a distortion. The Aztecs followed a live-and-let-live policy, much like the Roman Empire. Conquered peoples kept their own gods, customs, and local government as long as they paid tribute in goods, respected Huitzilopochtli as chief deity, and supplied warriors when called. Captives came from Flowery Wars, ritualized battles with mutual agreements between rival states designed to capture adult warriors, not take families. The Spanish exaggerated everything to justify invasion.

He also tries to pass it off as if Native groups instantly allied with Spaniards. False. Most, if not all fought the Spanish at first. The Tlaxcalans as a great example only joined Cortés after weeks of brutal warfare.

I'm in a position where I am constantly speaking with and learning about the current struggles of fellow Native people. A specific trend I've been exploring a great deal over the past few years started with noticing that far fewer people throughout Latin America seemed willing to be open about their Indigenous heritage and ancestors than pretty much anywhere else in the colonized world.

In fact, I found as many, if not more, people exploiting Native culture for their personal identity, art, or business who weren't Native than there were actual Native people publicly identifying themselves throughout Latin America. The vast majority of those who were open about being members of an Indigenous people whose ancestral lands exist within "Latin America" didn't actually live there, or in the colonizing country that occupied their land. More often than not, they were living in the United States or Canada.

So, for the past few years, I've been asking every Native person I meet who acknowledges that their ancestors are from these regions and identifies as Indigenous the same question: Why are Native people so resistant to being open about their ancestry there?

The answers have been heartbreaking, alarming, and, unfortunately, not something I hear being talked about enough among Native people elsewhere.

The collective responses I've heard from people who identify as Purépecha, Yaqui, Wari, Nahua, etc., have made me question whether it is appropriate for someone, typically someone from north of the border, to claim they are Indigenous simply because they are "Mexican," "Colombian," etc.

The most common response I hear is simply: "It's dangerous."

In many places, being seen as Indigenous or openly identifying as Indigenous can put you at risk. Governments are still actively erasing Indigenous culture and removing people from their ancestral lands (Argentina at this very moment for one example). In some, Native people are treated as a slave class. In others, there are ongoing genocides against Indigenous peoples. Especially in places with a large cartel presence, Native people are being killed by cartels seeking control of Indigenous land to produce their products, while governments allow it to happen or fail to protect those communities. https://icmagazine.org/flee-or-die-the-naayeri-peoples-impossible-choice/

And then there is the overwhelming discrimination, racism, and violence that creates a reality I can only compare to the fears Native Americans described having in the early part of the 20th century, fears that caused pretty much all Native people to hide who they were when they were outside of the rez. (not to say those fears don't exist now, but more so that the extent of those fears are reminiscent of that time).

So when I hear someone identify as "Indigenous" because they are, say, Mexican, it gives me pause. And I hear it. All the time. And it is always within the context of people wanting access to Native spaces, grants, programs, etc.

Mexican (or insert name of a L.A. country here) is a nationality. And within those nations are Indigenous peoples whose communities have suffered and continue to suffer as a result of colonization. I have to ask: Do they have a lived experience of belonging to one of those Indigenous peoples? Do they acknowledge the ancestors who did? Do they have a relationship with a specific Indigenous community or nation?

And perhaps most importantly: Should we challenge people when they claim to be Indigenous simply because they come from a nation in Latin America, without being able to identify who their Indigenous people are within that colonizing nation?

Because when someone claims they are Indigenous because they are say, "Mexican", I have to stop and realize that a Zapotec person likely sees "Mexico" as a Native American person sees the United States. I have to stop and consider the fact that it is other "nationals" that are committing these brutal acts and continuing the colonizers work within so called "Latin America".

Lastly, I just hope that Native people can be aware of what our brothers and sisters who have a shared history with us are going through. Because prior to a few years ago, I was one of the many who were ignorant, not so much to the history (as it mirrors our own), but rather the current state. And I want to show up for them as a fellow Native in solidarity.

I remember playing Turok 2: Seeds of Evil throughout my childhood and found that Turok was a fictional character created from comics in the 50s. Here's some information I found that I'll copy and paste and quote.

"Name: Turok

Origin: Turok was a member of the Mandan tribe of Plains Indians who existed long before Columbus came to America. One day, he and his friend Andar were out hunting and their trek took them far away from home. Along the way, the two braves saw what they assumed was a large cloud of smoke from a fire, but was in actuality a massive flock of bats pouring out of an underground cavern. Despite Andar’s fears, Turok decided to investigate the cavern as it could contain water (which they’d ran out of and wouldn’t survive the harsh desert heat without). Descending underground, the adventurers explored deeply into the caves eventually getting lost. Following a winding river and surviving an encounter with an abnormally large bear and predatory eye-less fish, Turok and Andar made their way out of the massive cavern and into a large underground valley. In this bizarre world, the braves discovered terrifying prehistoric animals that had survived the extinction of the dinosaurs as well as various tribes of valley natives. Lost with no immediate way of getting back home, Turok and Andar were forced to pit their warrior training and survival skills against the harshness of the savage land they found themselves trapped in. Eventually, Turok did find a way to escape the “Lost Valley”, only to have to return for a wounded Andar. In the process, the cavern entrance to the valley collapsed, permanently stranding them.

Powers/Abilities: Turok was an Olympic level athlete in peak physical condition as strong, fast, enduring, and durable as a man could be and still be considered human. Raised amongst a warrior people, he was well versed in hand to hand combat, archery, knife fighting, marksmanship, wilderness survival, hunting and tracking. While presumably not genius level, Turok was very intelligent and cunning, making him a wise tactician.

Random Trivia: Turok first appeared in Four Color Comics #596 (October/November 1954) published by Dell Comics (under the umbrella of Western Publishing). He got his own title “Turok, Son of Stone” in 1956. From Dell, he moved to Gold Key Comics (1956 to 1980), Whitman Comics (1981-1982). In 1992, a rebooted and revamped version of Turok was introduced in Valiant Comics and lasted until 1996, before Acclaim Comics took over the rights (making “Turok” a title instead of a single character) from 1997 to 1998. Dark Horse Comics published a 4-issue Turok series in 2010. Currently, he appears in comics by Dynamite Entertainment. In the original series, Turok is a member of the Mandan tribe native to the American east coast which eventually settled in the Dakotas. The cavern they got trapped in was located in New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns. Turok often referred to the dinosaurs he fought by their distinguishing characteristics (pterosaurs were “fliers”, tyrannosaurs were “runners”, triceratops were “rammers”, and so forth). Turok’s nicknames include “Son of Stone” and “Dinosaur Hunter”."

First attempt at stencil paintings in general. I licensed the images from an online artist named ShooArt so I could practice with something.

I have really shaky hands from nerve damage but loved working on art as a teen. This is sort of my way I can relive that feeling again.

8x10 canvas panel with a black spray paint base and acrylic spatters. Stencils cut out and reverse weeded with my sister's cricut machine 😂 spray varnish for protection of course. Any feedback appreciated!