r/Indigenous

And no it’s not burn out, laziness, or illness, it’s just inhumane

for starters let me just say I’m not Indigenous and I’ve since graduated from this college. I’m just making this post to:

1. say how I’m so disappointed and saddened to hear this news bc of how outspoken he was abt Indigenous rights and voices and it pisses me off how someone could say all that just to be profiting off of that lie the whole time.
2. at the end of my last term, he gifted me some white sage. I once felt very honoured to have been gifted it and I haven’t burnt it, it’s just been sitting on a shell next to some of my precious keepsakes that hold spiritual meaning to me. I am wanting to bring it to the lake to gift it back to the Earth bc I don’t want to hold on to it anymore since I learnt the truth. is that appropriate? does anyone have any other suggestions I can do with it?

thank you very much for your time reading this if you have and if you leave a suggestion.

EDIT for some clarification: yes, he was fully identifying as Anishinaabeg from Wiikwemkoong and was one of the main Indigenous studies professors at the college. I don’t think I should say what college it is bc as far as I’m aware they’re still conducting an investigation as he’s suspended, but I suspect he’ll be fired and then there will be some sort of PR announcement and local articles published. I found out serendipitously by just looking up his name yesterday (I’d say why I was looking him up but it’s so roundabout and random I don’t think it’s really necessary to recount) and seeing posts made about him calling him out and showing historical evidence for where his family came from from online documents.

Please remove or give me all of the hostility if this is disrespectful. I am in no way apart of any culture and neither is my family. Rather we can trace some of our family roots to the isolated communities in the Applachians of mixed Europeans, freed slaves, and various tribes from the south eastern United States. That being said, none of our ancestors were ever on any of the rolls that I can find as those communities date back to the 1700s.

Melungeon communities formed in the 1600/1700s from families of mixed freed slave, Indigenous, and European descent moving west into the mountains to avoid racially restrictive laws and forced removal. The communities/families stayed very tight knit and on paper they all became "white" allowing them own property, vote, etc. Those communities stayed, flourished, and grew.

For my family we had the most connection with the Occanachee-Saponi tribe just north of Orange, North Carolina. Anyone else have any connections to these families? What are your thoughts on them and their history?

Hi all. In this hypothetical, the child is adopted from a very young age (-1 yrs) and is then raised with the indigenous cultures, practices and beliefs of the parent.

Obviously the child is not ethnically indigenous, but are they classed as indigenous to a degree? Or are they simply classed as "part of ___ nation" rather than any type of general descriptor? Are they not classed as anything at all?

Hoping to adopt a child at some point, and wondering how it should be raised within practices and cultures.

Good afternoon everyone.

For a long time there's been a desire to reconnect. I'm originally from Ecuador and my parents are from the Andean region. I know blood quantum doesn't determine anything but without clear knowledge of my ancestors it made me happy to know I have 60% of indigenous ancestry. Part of me wants to reconnect because I want to find a sense of belonging. Being a trans woman in an Ecuadorian family alienates you because of how much our society is based on catholicism. But also so much of our practices are still connected to our Indigenous roots. I was reading about how Indigenous peoples often accept LGBTQ people and some have important roles in the community (2 spirits). It felt good knowing that I could belong somewhere. I do feel guilty to the idea of taking space as a mixed person and I don't really know where to start. I live now in New York and I feel a bit uprooted. I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask these questions.

For those who were approved, how long did you have to wait to receive payment after your portal updated to payment info submitted?

Hello Everybody! I hope this is the correct place to post this.

As the title suggests, I'm in the early stages of writing a fictional novel, and I fear my plot might be disrespectful to the Indigenous Peoples of the USA. I was hoping for some help/perspective/advice in telling the story I want to tell, while still maintaining utmost respect.

A Brief Summary of My Book

My novel will follow 5 Immortal people as they live through all of human history. I have one specific character, nicknamed Napoleon, who will serve as the "Bad Guy" of the story. His entire character is a metaphor for toxic nationalism and toxic masculinity. A character who views power and influence as the goals of life. Imagine that whole Andrew Tate/Pete Hegseth ideology. His character is not necessarily evil, but instead flawed by modern societal norms.

In my story, I want Napoleon to join the Vikings when they brought the first Europeans to North America. I want Napoleon to have the goal of creating a fascist dictatorship in North America. I want him to fail for centuries, but eventually succeed in creating a dictatorship over all of North America, subjugating the indigenous people in the process.

In my novel, I want Christopher Columbus to sail to the Bahamas. But instead of being the oppressor, I want Christopher to find a technologically advanced society waiting for him on that Caribbean Beach.

As the main conflict of my novel, I want the technologically advanced North American Dictatorship to wage war against the rest of the world. My 4 other characters are going to challenge Napoleon in his conquest. Their plan will be a much more altruistic approach, honoring global cultures, showing that a globalized world can develop without colonization or taking advantage of other cultures. That will be one of the main themes of my book.

I'm sure you can already see the problem with my plot.

I hate the idea of telling a story of colonialism and conquest with the Indigenous People of North America as the victims of Napoleons Dictatorship.

Unfortunately, larger themes of my story are tied to this plot point, so I'd really like to keep it in the book. I'd have to completely rewrite my book to take Napoleon's Dictatorship out of the story.

It's worth mentioning that Napoleon will clearly be the "bad guy" of my novel. In telling his story, I plan to challenge his ideologies rather than supporting them. My Book will not glorify conquest, colonization, or anything of the sort.

Yet still, it feels wrong to be writing a book where I have the power to change the story. But instead of doing things differently, my book retells the same atrocities that haunt the history of the USA to this day.

Please comment with any advice you may have, or any thoughts you want to share. I really appreciate it! Thank you!

I feel like im stuck in a bit of a tailspin.

recently i was having what I jokingly called a quarter life crisis and its led me to discover things about my own family I never knew, mainly a connection to Oneida. To be clear I was raised as a white girl (though I’m now gender queer) and I never knew much about my relatives until I started to dig.

unfortunately I get extreme nerves from my social anxiety which is making it hard for me to gather informatio… i also have a bit of a bad feeling my other relatives have intentions that align with some of the pretendians i have read about.

I want to uncover the truth of my family’s past but I don’t want anyone taking it beyond what is appropriate. Any advice or thoughts on how to continue my learning whilst keeping my family in check?
thanks for your time!

The video teaches essential Zapotec greetings and phrases, focusing on how to say "I am waiting" (*Ribëza*). It covers how to start a class or lesson, introducing the phrase "*Kielaru*." The lesson explains how to respond to "How are you?" with "*Ba zuu dxi'a?*." It clarifies the use of "*zwaa dxi'a*" and introduces "*Bi run*" and "*Tibi run*" in a conversational context. The video also revisits numbers and practices courtesy expressions like "*Diux*" and "*Padiux*," with students Silvana and Pamela participating.

This video is an educational session focused on teaching the Zapotec language through interactive practice.

### Key Learning Topics

* **Common Greetings and Expressions**: The instructor and students practice various courtesy expressions and greetings, such as "Diux" and "Padiux", [[02:57](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvvwGTc8blg&t=177)\]\].
* **Pronouns**: Students practice the pronunciation of Zapotec pronouns including "Neda" (I), "Lii (you)," "Lee (he)," "Lanu (she)," and others, [[04:29](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvvwGTc8blg&t=269)\]\].
* **Practical Dialogues**: The lesson includes a role-playing exercise where students (assigned names like Bëdu and Nisa) engage in a basic conversation to practice flow and vocabulary, [[05:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvvwGTc8blg&t=324)\]\].
* **Numbers and Age**: The session covers numerical terms, specifically practicing how to state one's age using Zapotec numbers, [[06:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvvwGTc8blg&t=373)\]\].

### Practical Usage

The instructor emphasizes that while full sentences are used for practice, responding with just a number is common and acceptable in natural conversation]. The video serves as a collaborative environment for learners to refine their pronunciation and understanding of everyday Zapotec speech].

a lot of my family are from north carolina / tennessee were tsalagi, however they hid away during the trail of tears, many assimilated.

when my family tried to go back and rejoin their people, they were rejected. the reason they were rejected was because one of my grand aunts at the time married a sizemore, im not sure if you guys know a lot about sizemores, but the association with that sizemore made my family be rejected in enrollment. even though they were native, they couldn’t enroll due to the sizemore case going on at the time. am i even allowed to reconnect or try if something like this happened in my family?

I cannot find for the life of me what our traditional dress was before we were colonised. I cannot find traditions, beliefs, etc…