My article on Short Play Festival 2012

You saw my photos of the Autry Museum, Arts Marketplace, and Short Play Festival. Now here's the intro to the article I wrote:

Short Plays Honor 100th Anniversary of Jim Thorpe’s Olympic Triumph

By Rob SchmidtWhat do an Olympic champion, a soccer dad and two video gamers have in common? They’re all characters in the second Short Play Festival, an annual event hosted by Native Voices at the Autry.

This year’s theme, in honor of Jim Thorpe, who won two gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, was “Native Americans Take the Field.”

The themes of competition and reward were apt for the staged reading held November 3, at which six playwrights' work was on display. To the victor, after all, would go the spoils -- specifically, a $1,000 prize.

Backstage

Since 1999, Native Voices has developed and produced Native plays in Los Angeles. Recently it became involved with Alaska’s Last Frontier Theater Conference, a non-Native event that includes short plays.

“We got to talking,” said Jean Bruce Scott, executive director of Native Voices, “and thought that was an excellent opportunity to bring in some new writers. Some who perhaps hadn’t written a full-length play, or a one-act play. And the short-play format would be a little less intimidating.”

They decided to hold a short-play festival and offer a cash prize. Named for the storytelling grandmother of executive director Randy Reinholz, Choctaw, it became the Von Marie Atchley Excellence in Playwriting Award.

The inaugural theme was “Indians in America: What You See Is What You Get.” In other words, said Scott, “Native Americans are on the scene, and they can be in any walk of life. So it was really meant to be: Look at us, we are here. We’re still here.”

Native Voices put out a call for scripts and received more than 40 submissions. The winner was "Raven One" by Lucas Rowley, Inupiaq. It told of a mixed-blood Native and a white man on a deep-space mission.

This year’s theme was inspired by Chris Canole, Sac and Fox, an artist, actor and writer. Canole has long been fascinated by Native athletes in general and Jim Thorpe, also Sac and Fox, in particular. For a screenplay he was writing, he did a charcoal drawing of Thorpe.

Canole contacted Native Voices to see if they were doing anything to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Thorpe’s Olympic triumph. He offered to donate the drawing as an incentive. After talking with him, the “Taking the Field” sports theme was born.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Pix of Autry's Arts Marketplace 2012 and Short Plays About Native Athletes.

Below:  "Actors Spencer Battiest, Maxton Scott, and Tom Allard reading 'Champ' by Lucas Rowley, Inupiaq, at the Short Plays Festival at The Autry." (Maria Brunner Ventura)

Salish traveling food exhibit

Salish Bounty: Tulalip Tribes Host Traveling Food History Exhibit to Illustrate its Correlation to Indian Health

By Jackleen De La HarpeA new exhibit at the Tulalip Tribes’ cultural center looks at food to explain the history of Northwest tribes and to imagine a future that revives the Coast Salish food traditions that support the good health of families and communities.

Salish Bounty: Traditional Native American Foods of Puget Sound opened November 3 at the Tulalip Hibulb Cultural Center in Marysville, Washington. The traveling exhibit, which will run through January 2013, is elegant in its brevity and positive approach to the serious issues of food and health in Indian country—soaring rates of diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Salish Bounty focuses briefly on three periods through the lens of food—traditional tribal hunting and gathering prior to the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855; the confinement of Indian people to reservations, assimilation and the lack of access to traditional hunting and gathering places; and a future of blended new and old food traditions.

Historic photographs, maps, media, dried plants and shellfish of the Pacific Northwest tell the rich story of food in the local, indigenous foods. Even in mid-November, raised garden beds, a greenhouse, and organic gardens continue to produce vegetables. The tribe offers gardening classes, and a newsletter “The Greens of the Earth,” as well as other programs that emphasize the positive aspects of growing and cooking food as a pathway to good health. And, in the spring 2013, the Natural History Preserve will open with more than 40 acres of walking trails.

Salish Bounty is part of an international exhibit, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, that demonstrates how the food we eat has changed over time from the perspectives of families around the world. Elizabeth Swanaset, Nooksack/Cowichan/Laq’amel Tribes, and Warren King George, Muckleshoot/Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, co-curated the exhibit in partnership with the Tulalip Tribes and the Burke Museum in Seattle.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Tseleil-Waututh Professional Chef's Program, Salishan Catering Serves Native Cuisine, and Off the Rez Food Truck.

Below:  "Salish Bounty Co-curator Elizabeth Swanaset holds clams collected on a Puget Sound beach last summer. The clams were then smoked and preserved for winter use." (Courtesy Warren King George)

Native with "professional voice" goes unrecognized

An article about Native education includes a telling anecdote about stereotypes:

Montana Natives Aim to Educate Against Hate

By Adrian JawortRegarding the “Indians are all drunks” stereotype, Brien says since Natives are a collectivist society, people with addiction problems will leave reservations to deal with their addiction away from their families. Those are often the Natives city people come across, and thus they base their illusions of the entire group on them. Even if one did want help with their addiction, Brien says they’d have to wait up to two months before being evaluated at a local Indian Health Service clinic. “A person with an addiction problem that wants help can’t often wait that long.”

Familial patterns of addiction combined with historical trauma, poverty, and undiagnosed learning disabilities make for a harsh cycle that’s hard to break out of.“These stereotypes are so interconnected that you can’t solve one without dealing with the other,” Brien said.

A former newspaper reporter for The Billings Gazette, Brien related an anecdote of how she was assigned to write a story about miniature horses. She called the interviewee using a “reporter voice,” and they enthusiastically agreed to the interview. When she showed up and knocked on the door, there was no answer. After going to the door a second time after calling to verify it was the correct house, she saw the curtains rustling from inside the house, but they still wouldn’t answer. Brien said, “They heard my voice, but they saw my face, and they didn’t make the connection because I have the ability to use a professional voice.”

Although she can joke about it now and says maybe the woman thought “that Indian woman was going to steal her tiny ponies,” she said, “People just make assumptions about us. There may be some truth to these stereotypes, but it’s snowballed into something much bigger, into a belief that’s so negative that they don’t even realize they’re assuming something because they think its fact.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see Natives Can't Be Professors?! and Modern Indians Are Less Native?

Crystle Lightning = Maria Tallchief?

Here's more about Crystle ("Crissy") Lightning, the Cree actress/musician/model, in a headdress. Note that she and a guy named Red Cloud form the musical team LightningCloud.

Controversial Photo of Native Woman in a Headdress Circulates Online

By Michelle Shining ElkWe’ve been fighting this fight for hundreds of years. The characterizations can range from superficial to innocent–to hurtful and demeaning. Many times, the images are dangerous and the result is that we are further demonized, denigrated, romanticized and mythologized. So, I’m sorry, but regardless of the fact that the headdress if fake, or that this is okay because Crystal is Native, to me are simply mere rationalizations that obfuscates the reasons why this is hurtful and disappointing to me.

Many Native people who don’t understand why this is upsetting were likely not raised in our traditional settings–amongst the generations of elders who have shaped many of us into the people we are today. We are in the process of revitalizing our languages, songs, ceremonies and stories–not for public display–but for something much greater–our survival. I understand you two are the next generation, but it doesn’t change the fact that we need to support the present, by honoring our past in order to champion our future–to forever respect those who have come before us, and those who are coming behind us.

Crystle's inspiration

On the Last Real Indians' Facebook page, this posting led to a debate. First, some critical comments:What does it matter who perpetuates the stereotypes or underscores misinformation? If it is wrong, it is wrong.

So many in my generation do not care. It saddens me that their kids will look to the few of us who pay attention when elders speak. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Damn Hollywood Indians!!! >:(

According to her profile pic she did it because Maria Tallchief did it..... she says when she seen Tallchief's pic with a headdress it looked POWERFUL to her...hmmmm doesn't sound like she did this to bring attention to the use of Native attire in the MODELING/FASHION INDUSTRY. But, perhaps that's the new excuse she will use for this lapse in judgment.

This could undermine all the recent work of educating people that it is not okay to do this. Now they can point at this and say, "Well, she did it!"

So many hundreds of us have done so much work recently to educate & bring awareness about the cultural appropriation, sexualization & mockery of our ways. Because this girl Crystle is Native she should know better! It's not even okay from a Native perspective since in most tribes women DO NOT wear headdresses....I'm disappointed!That this photo had something to do with famed Osage ballerina Maria Tallchief was news to me. My response:

A Google Images search for Maria Tallchief doesn't show a single pic of her in a headdress. If she ever wore one as a publicity stunt, it's not representative of her or her career. It's stereotypical--exactly as it would be if a non-Native women wore the headdress.

How does repeating the wrong honor Tallchief or educate the public about her? Answer: It doesn't. It perpetuates the false belief that wearing a headdress is what makes someone an Indian.

"Powerful"? Of course headdresses look powerful. That's why Karlie Kloss, Lana Del Rey, Heidi Klum, Drew Barrymore, Kesha, Cher, et al. have worn them.

Is "looking powerful" really a legitimate excuse for anyone to don a headdress? How do you tell an ignorant white woman that Crystle "looks powerful" but she doesn't?

At this point, Crystle's partner Red Cloud appeared to say the criticism was "insane." I said:

It's insane that anyone thinks a sexy Native woman in a headdress is the best possible representation of the elegant and understated Maria Tallchief.

I Googled "Maria Tallchief headdress" and found the photo that apparently inspired Crystle. As I put it, Tallchief wore a headdress in one photo and didn't wear one in the other 999 photos. Guess which is more representative?

The source image

Then someone posted Crystle's version of the photo, proving it was indeed the inspiration.

November is NA Heritage Month. I would like to honor an Indigenous Legend that I look up to...Maria Tall Chief. I remember seeing this picture of Maria Tall Chief with a headdress, and it looked SO POWERFUL! Someone who is making an impact in the world, wearing something traditional...best of both worlds. I did a photo shoot trying to emulate and honor her in this picture.

--Crystle LightningRed Cloud spoke up again:Ok. So you are all saying that you are SO traditional, that a picture of a Cree woman wearing a headdress is offensive. Correct?Yes, that's what everyone is saying, though it doesn't take a traditional Indian to get the point.

A Native critic answered him:Red Cloud, I'm assuming by your name that you represent the Oglala Lakota Nation from Oceti Sakowin (?) If this is the case then you should know how sacred a headdress is. You should also know how much Americans generally make a mockery out of our sacred ceremonial ways. Many, many of us "traditional" Native people have been tirelessly advocating for respect of our culture and ways recently as many non-Native people have done what Crystle did...wore replicas of sacred, symbolic items that mean more to us than anything. For her to do what the rest of these naive non-Native people have done is showing all of them that it's okay. It may seem harmless to you but to those of us who respect our ceremonies above all this is offensive.

It's not a scandal. It's more of a demand for Native respect to mainstream society and to stop stereotyping us, using us as caricatures & mascots and sexualizing our women. I don't know if you have been paying attention to all the recent advocacy efforts of hundreds of people demanding that The GAP, No Doubt, the Kardashians, Victoria's Secret etc. stop wearing replica headdresses & sexualizing our culture...but all of them apologized for offending people. None of them got defensive but did the right thing out of respect for those of us voicing our discontent. It's more than this however...much much more.Conclusion

My final thoughts on the subject:

If you decide wearing a Pope's hat made you feel powerful, would you do it? And would you be surprised when others criticized you for trivializing their sacred traditions?

Let's also note that the Tallchief photo was a candid shot of her adjusting her headdress. It was not some sort of power pose to make her look awesome. Everything about it--her string of pearls, wedding ring, wristwatch, and bow on her blouse--suggests this wasn't a staged photo of an "Indian chief."

In contrast, Crystle has donned warpaint and Indian jewelry. More important, she's showing off her curvaceous form. So both women are wearing headdresses, but the intent couldn't be more different. Tallchief's photo wasn't making a statement, but Crystle's is.

How exactly does the warpaint honor Tallchief, who wasn't wearing any? Headdress + warpaint = savage in most people's minds. Crystle isn't emulating Tallchief, she's emulating a million stereotypical impressions of a sexy hot savage.

All the white women I listed think they're just being themselves, releasing their inner Native, feeling wild and powerful and free, etc. So yes, Crystle is doing what they're doing. She's imitating Tallchief and they're all imitating Sitting Bull and other esteemed chiefs. Same thing.

Memo to white women in headdresses: Just say you saw Tallchief in a headdress, you feel like her, and you want to honor her. Voilà...you're excused from offending Indians!

Even if you ignore the fact that the headdress misrepresents who Tallchief was, how do you ignore the near-constant controversies over people wearing headdresses inappropriately? Have you been living in a cave for the last five years? Or did you think the controversies somehow didn't apply to Crystle because she felt "powerful" and special?

Either way, guess again. Crystle wanted people to notice her. Now they're noticing her. Let's hope she enjoys the attention.

For more on the subject, see Victoria's Secret Model in a Headdress and Boutique Lookbook's Stereotypical Fashions.

US more divided than ever?

Author Gyasi Ross talks with someone named Dennis at an airport:

Divisiveness, Drunken Pilots And Kim Kardashian: A Pigeon-toed Indian Pontificates About The 2012 Elections

By Gyasi RossDennis retorted. “You know what I see? What was your name again? Thank you. Gyasi, I see divisiveness. I see a country divided and this is probably the most divided this country has ever been.”

He continued, “If Obama had shown more of a willingness to be conciliatory, maybe it wouldn’t be like this. I’m not saying that the Republicans have been perfect, but the country was never divided like this under a Republican president. Bush, Bush, Reagan, you name him—it wasn’t like this.”

I tried to emulate Dennis. He set an amazing example of how to listen, even when you thought the other person was full of fecal matter. I held my tongue—channel Dennis—as he concluded.

“If this nation continues with this divisiveness, this country is going toward a really destructive path. Obama should be the person to bring us together, yet he’s tearing us apart.”

Now mind you: I’m not an Obama apologist: I think that he’s a very good president that can be great. At this moment in time, he’s far from great and, although he has been exemplary in his understanding of Tribal issues, has made some decisions that I wonder what the heck he’s thinking. I’m also not a Democrat apologist: they have many of the same flaws, in the big picture, as the Republican Party. At this point, Dennis was so nice that I didn’t necessarily want to offend him or be brisk with him. Still, facts are facts, and the notion that Obama is the cause of the divisiveness in the nation is not something that I was prepared to silently let ride.

I thought about it—how can I be diplomatic, yet honest, to this handsome, yet ridiculously dishonest, man?

“Dennis, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I think you’re completely off—I respect your opinion, but not your history. Let me explain. I think I can honestly say that my reading of history shows that the nation has always been divided. The only thing is that rich, white dudes like yourself didn’t have to care about us poor people’s side of the divide before. Dennis…seriously? Never been this divided? Unless there was a huge hoax, like the reports that we landed on the moon, this country had a civil war with hundreds of thousands of Americans killed. That’s pretty divided, I’d say. I also think that the country was fairly divided when your people massacred thousands of Natives at any particular massacre site. I could name a few. Believe it or not, us Natives—as much as we seem to like white stuff—didn’t agree with those massacres of women and children. I also suspect that black folks did not agree with slavery or Japanese people with internment camps. But maybe the country’s citizens weren’t divided because Natives and blacks weren’t citizens yet.”

“But seriously, that doesn’t seem divided to you? Yet now, because a few white rednecks want to secede because babies are getting treated by a doctor and a black man told that doctor to treat those babies, the country is the most divided it’s ever been? I can’t really see that one, Dennis.”Comment:  Yeah, I think the Civil War--when the country was literally divided in two--was more divisive than the current split. And I suspect we could find more moments in US history when the country was just as divided.

For instance, the first few years of the Republic, when the western territories threatened to secede. Or the 1990s, when Clinton barely survived impeachment and Gore barely beat Bush in the popular vote.

Considering the Tea Party arose about five minutes after the scary black man entered the White House, Dennis's complaints are silly. Who was marching in the streets comparing Obama to a dictator or a terrorist before he'd actually done anything? The same people who wanted to secede after Obama won reelection. Carping conservative crybabies, that's who.

So when white men complain about "change," "divisiveness," or the loss of "traditional values," we know what they're really talking about. Their privileged status is eroding and they don't like it. They want to hold all the wealth and power, not share it.

For more on the subject, see White Men Lose to Demographic Change and America's "Bootstrap Theocracy."

Dennis Miller slurs Sacheen Littlefeather

A Recent TV Slur Revives Debate About Sacheen Littlefeather and Her Role in Marlon Brando’s Oscar Refusal

By Dina Gilio-WhitakerHistory was made in 1973 when Marlon Brando declined to accept the best actor Oscar for his role in The Godfather to protest the treatment of American Indians. His demurral, which was delivered on stage by a young Native American activist named Sacheen Littlefeather, generated intense controversy and criticism throughout the country. Almost 40 years later, some in Hollywood still seem to hold a grudge.

The subject came up on the August 27 airing of NBC’s Tonight Show while host Jay Leno was talking to comic and FOX-friendly pundit Dennis Miller. The conversation turned to Massachusetts senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren:

Miller: Elizabeth Warren? Is that the chick that says she’s an Indian?

Leno [chuckling]: Well, yeah, no.

Miller: She’s about as much Indian as that stripper chick Brando sent to pick up his Oscar for The Godfather, all right?

Leno: Check that reference! Hang on, you mean Shawsheen [sic] Littlefeather?

Miller [audience laughter]: Sacheen Littlefeather. Of course I remember!

Leno: 1971 was that? Oh my God!

Miller: You know, I sent the Warren campaign a donation today, but just to piss her off I sent it in beads.

Miller’s comments—and the laughing audience—are glaring reminders that ugly Native American stereotypes are still pervasive. A few weeks after Miller’s appearance with Leno, staffers for Senator Scott Brown, Warren’s opponent, were taped doing tomahawk chops and war whoops as they mocked her campaign. Racial slurs that deny a person’s Native American heritage are a peculiar type of racism, and all the better when the target is a woman, especially one as high profile as Elizabeth Warren or Sacheen Littlefeather.And:The biggest lie told by the media was that she was not an Indian, a misconception that is still surprisingly persistent today, as demonstrated by the Leno-Miller exchange. Miller’s reference to her as a “stripper” was a further attempt to discredit her, a deliberate exaggeration that probably referenced a photo shoot she had done for Playboy the year before her appearance on the Academy Awards. “I am not a stripper,” she says. “People pay me to keep my clothes on! [laughing] I’m 65 years old and an elder now, going to the other side soon. I was young and dumb [when I did the photo shoot].… It was shot in 1972, with nine other Indian women whose names I won’t disclose to protect their privacy.”

The spread, which was to have been called “10 Little Indians,” was killed by Playboy editors because of the Wounded Knee confrontation. But a year later the magazine ran the shots of Littlefeather, who had by then rocketed to fame.And:The Leno-Miller segment about Littlefeather mostly escaped the notice of the media, but that’s partly because she deliberately delayed responding to it. She is surviving a battle with breast cancer just this year, having only recently been officially declared in remission. “Having cancer has been the fight of my life. Staring death in the face changes your life,” she says. “Late-night TV has stooped to racism and bigotry. [Miller and Leno] came off as bitter, old white farts. Would they have gotten away with it if they had referred to Oprah as Aunt Jemima?”Comment:  For more on the subject, see Littlefeather Fought for Native Actors.

Maryland's American Indian Heritage Day

Maryland celebrates American Indians after Thanksgiving, with a day off

By Rachel BayeWhile most people around the country are recovering from turkey-induced comas or rushing to Black Friday sales, Maryland state employees will be celebrating American Indian Heritage Day with a day off.

Of the 23 states that give their employees the day after Thanksgiving off, Maryland is the only one where the day honors the United States' indigenous population.

There are 20,420 American Indians in Maryland, making up about 0.4 percent of the population, according to data from the 2010 census. Eight tribes are indigenous to Maryland, including the Accohannock, Pocomoke, Nause-Waiwash, Assateague, Shawnee, Piscataway Indian Nation, Piscataway Conoy Confederacy and Subtribes and Cedarville Band of Piscataway, according to Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's office.

The day after Thanksgiving has been a holiday for state employees in Maryland since the start of fiscal 1999. That is when the state legislature eliminated Defenders Day--which celebrates the defense of Baltimore during the War of 1812--Good Friday, Lincoln's Birthday and Maryland Day--which commemorates the arrival of settlers in St. Mary's County on March 25, 1634--as holidays for employees and added the day after Thanksgiving, or the fourth Friday in November.

The day was designated American Indian Heritage Day by a state law passed in 2008.Comment:  The story implies that Maryland is the only state that honors Indians with a day. Not so, as this posting explains:

History of Native American Heritage DayToday, several states celebrate Native American Day on the fourth Friday in September, including California. In fact, in 1998 the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians partnered with the California Assembly to pass AB 1953, making California Native American Day an official state holiday.For more on the subject, see Native American Heritage Month 2012 and Heritage Month and Tribal Summit.

Below:  Howard County powwow.

Seminole tree proposed as historic place

Seminole Tribe oak tree proposed for historic listing

Huge tree serves as ceremonial meeting place

By David FleshlerThe ancient live oak towers over the cracked asphalt of a parking lot on State Road 7 in Hollywood, surrounded by the sources of the Seminole Tribe's prosperity.

To the south is one of the tribe's casinos, formerly the high-stakes bingo hall that opened the way to Indian gambling businesses in the United States. A nearby tax-free tobacco store does brisk drive-up business. And across Stirling Road looms the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's neon guitar sign.

The tree, called the Council Oak Tree, has just been nominated by the tribe for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, a program run by the National Park Service to recognize places that played important roles in the nation's history. After starting out as a shady spot for tribal meetings when no buildings were available, the tree became the ceremonial location for the installation of new leaders and for the announcement of deals that confirmed the tribe as a player in international gambling and entertainment.

"The Council Oak Tree reflects the Seminole Tribe of Florida's growth over the years and stands as a symbol of strength and stability," states the tribe's application to the National Park Service. "…The tree has been the site of many of the Seminole Tribe of Florida's milestones in recent years as well, such as the 25th Anniversary celebration for the birthplace of Indian gaming in 2004, the Seminole Tribe of Florida's 50th Anniversary celebration in 2007, and the signing of the Seminole Gaming Compact with the state of Florida in 2010. The Council Oak tree contains great significance for the Seminole Tribe of Florida for both its physical presence and for the events that have occurred there."Comment:  For more on historic places, see Hualapai Gas Station Is Historic Place and Wigwam Motel as Historic Icon.

Students hold "anti-Thanksgiving" potluck

‘Anti-Thanksgiving’ potluck sparks controversy on UVA campus

By Oliver DarcyAn “anti-Thanksgiving potluck” planned for Monday night is stirring controversy on the University of Virginia (UVA) campus.

The event, hosted by the American Indian Student Union (AISU), aims to “discuss Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective” over a potluck dinner.

The anti-Thanksgiving celebration will provide a “contrast…with the typical American view of Thanksgiving,” AISU president Katelyn Krause promised an NBC affiliate.

Krause declined an interview with Campus Reform.

Nicole Bailey, Executive-in-Chief of the conservative newspaper, The Virginia Advocate, however, told Campus Reform that she understands the intent of the group’s potluck, but disagrees with this particular event as a means to convey their message.

“They think that by doing events that put down what people understand to be modern American’s realization of the American dream and American story is a way to raise awareness about the less glamorous parts of America’s history,” said Bailey.

“That’s frankly not true,” she added.Since hundreds of commenters protested this potluck, calling it false, "politically correct," and un-American to question Thanksgiving, I posted the following notes:

The Real ThanksgivingThe Pilgrim crop had failed miserably that year, but the agricultural expertise of the Indians had produced twenty acres of corn, without which the Pilgrims would have surely perished. The Indians often brought food to the Pilgrims, who came from England ridiculously unprepared to survive and hence relied almost exclusively on handouts from the overly generous Indians--thus making the Pilgrims the western hemisphere's first class of welfare recipients.

Contrary to the fabricated lore of storytellers generations since, no Pilgrims prayed at the meal, and the supposed good cheer and fellowship must have dissipated quickly once the Pilgrims brandished their weaponry in a primitive display of intimidation. What's more, the Pilgrims consumed a good deal of home brew. In fact, each Pilgrim drank at least a half gallon of beer a day, which they preferred even to water. This daily inebriation led their governor, William Bradford, to comment on his people's "notorious sin," which included their "drunkenness and uncleanliness" and rampant "sodomy."

Contrary to popular mythology the Pilgrims were no friends to the local Indians. They were engaged in a ruthless war of extermination against their hosts, even as they falsely posed as friends. Just days before the alleged Thanksgiving love-fest, a company of Pilgrims led by Myles Standish actively sought to chop off the head of a local chief. They deliberately caused a rivalry between two friendly Indians, pitting one against the other in an attempt to obtain "better intelligence and make them both more diligent." An 11-foot-high wall was erected around the entire settlement for the purpose of keeping the Indians out.And:

There sure are a lot of racists in this thread. Singing the usual refrain of white supremacists everywhere: You lost, get over it, assimilate, you're lucky the whites won, America is great, love it or leave it, etc.

None of this has much to do with the Native students' right to hold a potluck and examine the myths surrounding Thanksgiving. But it's revealing how many people can barely keep their racist impulses in check.



Drudge to blame

I was vaguely surprised that this posting garnered hundreds of comments, many from people off-campus. The following article explains why this happened.

Drudge Targets Native American Students on Thanksgiving; Follows Similar Move By Mary Bono Mack

By Rob CapricciosoPopular conservative website aggregator Matt Drudge is using Thanksgiving 2012 to target Native American students who want to add their perspectives to the American dialogue on what the holiday signifies to them and their tribes and families.

In a top-of-the page headline, titled “’Anti-Thanksgiving' event sparks controversy on campus...,” posted on November 19, Drudge links to a story published on the conservative CampusReform.org website that highlights voices of conservatives who say Native students are wrong for promoting Indian values on Thanksgiving.And:Many Native American college student groups, tribal organizations, and Indian advocates hold such events yearly around the nation in an effort to remind American society that Indians played an important role in the founding of America, and that Native American perspectives are alive and well.

But Bailey does not see such events as a chance to learn from and about Native Americans; rather, she sees them as an attack on American values.And:Such attempts to paint American Indian awareness as somehow anti-American are common in American society, but they sometimes backfire, as was the case for U.S. Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., who tried to use her Democratic opponent’s participation in a similar pro-Native Thanksgiving event when he was in college in the 1990s against him in their recent race for a California U.S. House seat.

That Democratic challenger, Raul Ruiz, ended up unseating Bono Mack in a very close race where the number of Native American voters in their district likely played a significant role, political analysts say.And:Tribes and Indian organizations are widely decrying attempts to politicize support for Indian causes as somehow anti-American.

The National Congress of American Indians issued a statement this fall against hateful words used by outgoing U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s staff to mock Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren’s alleged Native ancestry. And the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians lambasted Bono Mack’s political strategy in particular: “[W]e call on Rep. Bono Mack to unequivocally repudiate this attempt to portray standing up for Native Americans as somehow un-American.” Tribal Council Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe said in October.

Ignorance is an American value?

Columnist Steven Newcomb notes exactly what "values" people like Bailey are trying to protect:

Fear and Loathing of History on Thanksgiving

By Steven NewcombOn November 19, the Drudge Report linked to a story about a Native student group at the University of Virginia, a group that decided to deal with the Thanksgiving holiday by holding a potluck dinner where students and speakers would discuss “Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective.” Reportedly, Ms. Nicole Bailey, executive-in-chief of the campus newspaper The Virginia Advocate, “stands firm against the plans of the student group.”

According to a report at Indian Country Today Media Network, “Bailey does not see such events as a chance to learn from and about Native Americans; rather, she sees them as an attack on American values. The most likely reason for Ms. Bailey’s attitude is that, like far too many self-proclaimed conservative Americans, she has a life-long and deeply ingrained learning disability when it comes to Indian history.

However, in this instance, when I think about the underlying meaning of “America” and “American values, I find Ms. Bailey’s feeling of an attack to be somewhat understandable. That feeling is the natural result of a psychological condition called denial, and a fear of cognitive dissonance. After all, a truthful discussion of America’s treatment of the originally free and independent nations and peoples of this continent, and of this hemisphere reveals the actual “American values,” not the professed ones. I will elaborate.

The word America is the result of a combination of two Latin terms: ame (love!) and rica (riches and wealth). The result is a strange command: Love riches and wealth! This reveals the deeper and hidden meaning of American values and The American Dream that Ms. Bailey extols. The original American Dream is of riches and wealth to be derived from Indian lands; to realize that dream as God’s “chosen people” all you had to do was get rid of (extirpate) the Indians in the spirit of the Old Testament. This is why their dream of riches and wealth to be derived from our traditional lands and territories is our nightmare.Comment:  Given that this story has raised "awareness about the less glamorous parts of America’s history," Bailey's "not true" claim is ludicrous. She's an idiot to mistake her opinion for a fact.

And it's funny how many people want to shut down this debate. Their impulse is to censor the historical facts rather than refute them. What the hell are they so scared of, you have to wonder. A worldview based on a fairy tale of white Euro-Christian supremacy is like a child's belief in Santa Claus. Grow up, you little babies.

For more on Thanksgiving, see 43rd National Day of Mourning and Bono Mack:  Pro-Indian = Anti-American.

Oneida float in Macy's parade 2012

Oneida Indian Nation float to appear in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

By Alaina PotrikusThe Oneida Indian Nation will take part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the fifth straight year.

This year’s float will include a choir led by Grammy-winning Native American artist Thirza Defoe, who will perform “The Tree of Life.”

Representatives from more than one dozen Indian nations from across the country will accompany the nation’s “True Spirit of Thanksgiving” float, which features a 30-foot-tall White Pine "Tree of Peace," which sprouts from the back of "Turtle Island," which symbolizes Mother Earth.

The nation was the first native tribe to have a float in the annual parade, which draws more than three million spectators along the parade route and attracts more than 50 million television viewers nationwide.

Natives From Across the Americas Will Participate in Today’s 86th Macy’s Thanksgiving ParadeFor the fifth straight year the Oneida Nation-sponsored float, “The True Spirit of Thanksgiving” will take part in the 86th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Representatives of over 20 different nations from across the Americas will accompany the float as it spreads a traditional message of peace and thanksgiving.

Heading up the all Native choir will be Grammy-winning Native American artist Thirza Defoe. Defoe is currently attending the New York University Fellow Graduate of Music and Song Writing Program and spent countless hours in the studio composing the song the choir will be singing called “Tree of Life” which was especially written for this year’s event. “I wrote the song with all people in mind not just from my own perspective, it joyously celebrates peace, love and giving thanks,” says Defoe. “I feel that Native participation in the parade can begin to bring about new ideas of Thanksgiving and possibly reinvent the stereotyped images Americans have of the holiday.” Choir members hope to show the public that native people are still here, alive and flourishing in present day America. The float will also show them how very different Native Americans are, touching on the fact that so many tribes are represented in this year’s parade.

‘The True Spirit of Thanksgiving,’ the Oneida Nation’s Macy’s Parade Float, Captivates the CrowdsAs the Oneida Nation float made its way down Broadway in this year’s 86th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, “Thank you for giving us Thanksgiving" was the most popular cheer heard from the crowd; “Look honey real Native Americans” was second. The float called “The True Spirit of Thanksgiving” was certainly a favorite among parade goers. Many visitors clapped their hands and danced as they heard the sounds of Iroquois social dance music blasting from the speakers on the float. As I crouched to take a photo I heard a father say to his child, “Look son, those are the First Americans."

For the fifth straight year Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter lead the tribes float accompanied by 12 Native American representatives, some from as far away as California. The goal of the Oneida Nations' participation in the parade is to combat the stereotyped images created by the media and create a positive and accurate portrayal of who Indian people are today. “We want to the public to see the very spirit of Native people and how the tradition and culture of our ancestors inspired the very first Thanksgiving” said Halbritter. I asked the tribal representative how he feels about the fact that many Native Americans chose to protest the holiday, his reply was a positive one “Native people certainly have a great many issues to address and need to come a lot further in our struggles but I think there is a time and place and right now I think is a time when the ceremonies of thanksgiving and gratitude to the creator for all we have is celebrated, we must remember the many blessings we have and we do have many."Comment:  For more on the subject, see Oneida Float in Macy's Parade 2011 and Chamberlain Joins Oneida Thanksgiving Float.

The Wampanoag side of Thanksgiving

The Wampanoag Side of the First Thanksgiving Story

By Michelle TiradoTurner said what most people do not know about the first Thanksgiving is that the Wampanoag and Pilgrims did not sit down for a big turkey dinner and it was not an event that the Wampanoag knew about or were invited to in advance. In September/October 1621, the Pilgrims had just harvested their first crops, and they had a good yield. They “sent four men on fowling,” which comes from the one paragraph account by Pilgrim Edward Winslow, one of only two historical sources of this famous harvest feast. Winslow also stated, “we exercised our arms.” “Most historians believe what happened was Massasoit got word that there was a tremendous amount of gun fire coming from the Pilgrim village,” Turner said. “So he thought they were being attacked and he was going to bear aid.”

When the Wampanoag showed up, they were invited to join the Pilgrims in their feast, but there was not enough food to feed the chief and his 90 warriors. “He [Massasoit] sends his men out, and they bring back five deer, which they present to the chief of the English town [William Bradford]. So, there is this whole ceremonial gift-giving, as well. When you give it as a gift, it is more than just food,” said Kathleen Wall, a Colonial Foodways Culinarian at Plimoth Plantation.

The harvest feast lasted for three days. What did they eat? Venison, of course, and Wall said, “Not just a lovely roasted joint of venison, but all the parts of the deer were on the table in who knows how many sorts of ways.” Was there turkey? “Fowl” is mentioned in Winslow’s account, which puts turkey on Wall’s list of possibilities. She also said there probably would have been a variety of seafood and water fowl along with maize bread, pumpkin and other squashes. “It was nothing at all like a modern Thanksgiving,” she said.

While today Thanksgiving is one of our nation’s favorite holidays, it has a far different meaning for many Wampanoag, who now number between 4,000 and 5,000. Turner said, “For the most part, Thanksgiving itself is a day of mourning for Native people, not just Wampanoag people.”Comment:  For more on Thanksgiving, see Students Hold "Anti-Thanksgiving" Potluck and 43rd National Day of Mourning.

Below:  I presume this is a reenactment at Plimoth Plantation. It shows how a Thanksgiving painting should look. Key points: 1) Indians sit at the table as equal participants, since they outnumbered the Pilgrims. 2) The feast takes place indoors and people are fully clothed, since it's freezing cold in November.

Thanksgiving is for celebration only?

This tweet of mine:Thanksgiving is when we cheer ourselves about Anglo-Indian relations and ignore the lying, cheating, and killing that happened afterward.led to a discussion with a couple of people on Facebook:If we can't celebrate the spirit of a peaceful meal than what can we celebrate. While I agree that Columbus Day should be a day for examining ethnic sins, I think the attacks on Thanksgiving are off target.

If we can celebrate the spirit of an *imaginary* peaceful meal, what can't we celebrate? And why would we want to celebrate the spirits of people so rock stupid they went off to colonize a new world without bringing any fishhooks and were therefore reduced to stealing food from the natives? This white woman has zero use for this holiday.I think you can enjoy the meal while recognizing the underlying mythology it supports.

I'm not treating it as a national day of mourning, or posting over-the-top Thanksgiving = Genocide pics. But I'm also not pretending it's a happy-go-lucky event unconnected to past events.

If I were attending a dinner--which I'm not (*sniff*)--I wouldn't necessarily hit the attendees with the true story of Thanksgiving. But it's something to be aware of, and to pass on at an appropriate moment.

Columbus Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving are the only times most people will think of Indians. They're our annual trio of educational opportunities.

For more on the subject, see Students Hold "Anti-Thanksgiving" Potluck and 43rd National Day of Mourning.

"Smart Songs" teach Native history

'Smart Songs' gives lesson on Native American history

By George PennacchioTwo guys who sing about social studies have done songs about the Constitution, our presidents, state capitals, even the flag. Their latest musical lesson involves American Indians.

This Native American-inspired tune is the latest in a series of hip-hop "smart songs." Their aim is to entertain and to inspire learning. Think of this as "schoolhouse rap" for today's young generation.

Smart Songs co-creator Jeff DuJardin spent months reading, writing and researching, putting together all the pieces.

"It was a very involved process to create this project," said DuJardin. "I have a friend on the East Coast who composed the beat and the music. I have a friend right here in L.A. who did the mixing and the mastering. We got some guys, about four different guys, filming it.

"We went to about three different pow-wows and met with a bunch of different Native Americans at these pow-wows," said DuJardin.

Initially, DuJardin says, the Native Americans they met were hesitant to become involved with their project, but when they learned it was to help educate kids on American Indian history, they were happy to help. A dozen or so even took part in the music video.Comment:  For more on Indians and rap, see Fiasco Raps About Pine Ridge and Crow Rapper Supaman.

Mass murder in Gaza and Hiroshima

I posted the following quote from an article as a Facebook status:

‎"We need to flatten entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza. The Americans didn’t stop with Hiroshima--the Japanese weren’t surrendering fast enough, so they hit Nagasaki, too."

In other words, kill all the brown-skins. Mass-murder them. If it takes genocide to secure Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine, so be it.

A decisive conclusion is necessary

By Gilad Sharon

There is no middle path here--either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip.

This led to a discussion. First Samantha:Why is it that America never self-examines what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? And even more than that, why does it seem Japan never calls us on that hypocrisy?Conservatives shout down anyone who re-examines Hiroshima, or Native American history, or the Founding Fathers. Etc. They're all about about upholding the myth of white Euro-Christian supremacy. Not assessing the facts rationally.

The Enola Gay Controversy

Then Mike:my uncle John was in the South Pacific training for a land invasion of Japan when Truman nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We were expecting a million casualties. It was expected the Japanese would have suffered far higher losses.

Uncle John did not second guess the dropping of the bombs.

Apparently your uncle wasn't aware of the huge controversy surrounding the bombing and our possibly fictional "expecations." He should've questioned authority, like me, rather than swallowing it blindly.

Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and NagasakiSupporters of the bombings generally assert they caused the Japanese surrender, preventing massive casualties on both sides in the planned invasion of Japan: Kyūshū was to be invaded in October 1945 and Honshū five months later. It was thought Japan would not surrender unless there was an overwhelming demonstration of destructive capability.

Those who oppose the bombings argue it was simply an extension of the already fierce conventional air raids on Japan and, therefore, militarily unnecessary, inherently immoral, a war crime, or a form of state terrorism. At least one historian states that the Soviet declaration of war on Japan had more of an effect than the two nuclear bombings (cf. Tsuyoshi Hasegawa).For instance, what did your uncle say to the alternative of threatening Japan with offshore explosions until they realized our resolve? If successful, that would've prevented the casualties on both sides. I guess we'll never know since the US went straight for mass murder rather than trying a moral alternative.

Debate over the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki--Militarily unnecessary

Most Americans also didn't second-guess the attempted extermination of the American Indian. Most Americans like to kill brown-skinned people at the drop of the hat.Uncle John was just happy to survive. War is a damn terrible business, but it is a stretch to compare the American Holocaust that befell the American Indian and the dropping of the bomb on Japan.

And not all stood by quitely as America's First People were dispossessed and slaughtered.As I tweeted: For our "national security," the US killed innocent American Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Iraqi civilians. Apply to Israel and Gaza.

It's a stretch to myopically claim that America's documented racism had nothing to do with the callous disregard for brown-skinned life in the cases above.

Israelis are white, not brown?

Oh, and if anyone's wondering about associating Israelis with America's white-skinned mass murderers, here's why it's legit:

Ashkenazi JewsAlthough in the 11th century, they composed only three percent of the world's Jewish population, at their peak in 1931, Ashkenazi Jews accounted for 92 percent of the world's Jews. Today they make up approximately 80 percent of Jews worldwide. Most Jewish communities with extended histories in Europe are Ashkenazim, with the exception of those associated with the Mediterranean region. The majority of the Jews who migrated from Europe to other continents in the past two centuries are Ashkenazim, Eastern Ashkenazim in particular.Ashkenazis are not the descendants of the Ancient IsraelitesAshkenazim, the Ashkenazim are the Jews whose ancestors lived in German lands...it was among Ashkenazi Jews that the idea of political Zionism emerged, leading ultimately to the establishment of the state of Israel... In the late 1960s, Ashkenazi Jews numbered some 11 million, about 84 percent of the world Jewish population.

--Encyclopedia Americana (1985)Who are the Ashkenazi Jews?At the founding of Israel in 1948, Ashkenazim made up 80 percent of its Jewish population. However, due to the large intake of Jews from Arab states and higher birth rate among them and Sephardim, the proportion of Ashkenazim in the Israeli Jewish population had fallen below 50 percent by the mid-1960's. Nowadays, due to the large-scale emigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union from 1990-99, Ashkenazim have acquired a narrow majority in Israel.

--Dilip Hiro, author and journalist, in his 2003 book The Essential Middle East: A Comprehensive GuideIsrael's founders and a majority of today's Israelis are Caucasian rather than Semitic. 'Nuff said.

For more on the Indian-Palestinian connection, see Gazans, Indians Have Right to Resist and Gaza = "Largest Indian Reserve."

Tasteless Thanksgiving party promotions

‘Drink Like an Indian’ and 28 Other Tasteless Thanksgiving Party PromotionsThis isn’t the first time a party with that slogan has caused a stir—two years ago, the St. Paul, MN, bar Station 280 canceled its promotion after the following advertisement prompted dozens of angry phone calls:

Even when they don’t invite patrons to “drink like an Indian”, many flyers, advertisements and posters use imagery and innuendo many Natives find disturbing. Thanksgiving is a controversial holiday in Indian country, yet many bars and strip clubs see it as a time for revelry in sexualized Indian-maiden (or Indian-brave, if that’s your thing) costumes. A search of Facebook and Google found the following advertisements for events happening this year.Some examples from the long list of offensive posters:

Woonsocket, RI: Rhode Island Dolls Annual Pre-Thanksgiving Party:



New York, NY: Splash Bar “Give Thanks!”:



Wayne, NJ: Lace Wayne Annual Thanksgiving Party:



For more on the subject, see Drink's "Sexy Pilgrim & Indian Party" and McFadden's "Drink Like a Indian" Party.

Stereotypical Thanksgiving paintings

Paintings created hundreds of years after feast aren't historically, factually accurate

By Becky CairnsIf only there had been a camera at the First Thanksgiving.

Many of our stereotypes about the feast and its attendees come from artists’ renderings of the event, painted long after the 1621 event was over, says a Brigham Young University historian.

“The images often tell you more about the time they are created than the time they actually are depicting,” says associate professor of history Jenny Pulsipher.

Take, for instance, a popular painting of the First Thanksgiving, done in 1915 by Jean Louis Gerome Ferris, an American painter. The art—like many pieces that portray this event—depicts the Indians wearing elaborate feathered headdresses common to tribes who lived on the Plains, not in Massachusetts.

“In the early 20th century, people thought that all Indians looked like Plains Indians,” Pulsipher says. Folks tended to assume “all Indians are the same when really Indians are just as diverse as Europeans are,” she adds.

The Ferris painting also shows the natives without shirts, but Pulsipher says, “They wouldn’t have been half-naked, either, because this is November and it’s cold.”

The Wampanoag are shown sitting on the ground in the artwork, with a Pilgrim woman handing them food. At the time the painting was done, many Americans considered native peoples uncivilized—“so you have to feed them on the ground,” Pulsipher says.

“Obviously, it’s implying that the ones who are standing are superior,” she adds.

A modern painting of the First Thanksgiving would be more apt to feature both groups sitting at a table, the professor says, or both groups sitting together on the ground. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag enjoyed a cooperative relationship at the time, Pulsipher says—“not one people dominating over another.”Comment:  As with movies and every other form of media, paintings influence our perceptions. The painting "looks" accurate, so we assume the painter researched it and painted it with attention to details. We don't assume that he fabricated it based on America's prevailing mythology (civilized white men, savage Indians).

The point is to look at such works critically. Maybe they're accurate, maybe not. You won't know unless you question them rather than accepting them blindly.

For more on Thanksgiving, see Drink's "Sexy Pilgrim & Indian Party" and Thanksgiving in Up All Night.

Below:  "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth, by Jennie A. Brownscombe. Notice that the Indians are in the background of the painting, which was created in 1914."

The Sugar Project: Modern Day Navajo Monster

‘Navajo Monster’: Artist Shares Diabetes-Focused Multimedia Installation Made From Granulated Sugar

By Eisa UlenChantelle Trista Yazzie sends a powerful message and call to action in her multimedia installation “The Sugar Project: Modern Day Navajo Monster.”

The 19-year-old Navajo artist depicted compelling images of human torsos topped with skeletal heads, which offer ominous warnings about an entire nation’s future. Made with granulated sugar and marked with Xs in place of eyes and mouths and even heart, these chests and skulls suggest that excessive sucrose is a frightening agent of death. The images of blinded and muted Navajos sound an alarm from the grave: overconsumption of sugar is killing the people.

Photographs of everyday Navajo people are covered by heaps of sugar that overwhelm them, symbolizing the burden of sugar addiction, the weight of obesity and the gravity of the diabetes epidemic in Indian country. Words scroll across the video, including the line, “One after another, this monster ate away their faces.”

View a video of her multimedia installation here or on YouTube.Comment:  For more on Indians and diabetes, see Studi Films Diabetes Prevention Commercial and Notah Finally Wins NB3 Challenge.

43rd National Day of Mourning

United American Indians of New England Commemorate a National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving

By Simon Moya-SmithFor the past 42 years, members and supporters of the United American Indians of New England (UAINE) have assembled every Thanksgiving at Cole’s Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to commemorate a National Day of Mourning.

Established in 1970, the National Day of Mourning aims to publically combat the erroneous stories and miscomprehensions engulfing the First Thanksgiving. Born as the result of “the suppression of the truth,” according to UAINE’s website, the day is also meant to mourn the loss of the millions of American Indians who have died as a result of European settlement.

This year’s 43rd commemoration, scheduled for noon Thursday, is dedicated to American Indian Movement leader and political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Peltier, whose next parole hearing is scheduled for 2024, has been in various federal penitentiaries since his first-degree murder conviction in 1977.

Moonanum James, UAINE co-leader, and a member of the Wampanoag Nation, said that Peltier has sent UAINE a statement to be read at the rally every year since the 1980s.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Occupiers Join National Day of Mourning and 42nd National Day of Mourning.

Below:  "National Day of Mourning plaque on Cole's Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts."

Gazans, Indians have right to resist

Obama Weaves Web of Deceit on Gaza War

At a press conference, the president painted a picture that Israelis are the victims.

By Ira ChernusWhen Barack Obama finally spoke out publicly about the Israeli assault on Gaza, at a press conference, he wove an astonishingly thick web of deception and distortion.

I’m no Obama-basher. But when I see him bashing and trashing the truth so blatantly, I have to speak out. I have to express my pain, because I know that his misleading words will increase the risks to my loved ones and fellow Jews in Israel and the much greater risks to the victims of Israeli aggression in Gaza.

Of course to hear Obama tell it, it’s the Israelis who are the victims. “The precipitating event here that’s causing the current crisis … was an ever-escalating number of missiles” fired from Gaza into Israel, he said. “And there’s no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.”

This is the same old tale Americans have been getting from their presidents, politicians, and press for decades: Those nasty Arabs, attacking Jews out of the blue for no good reason that we can see.

Not a word about Israel’s economic blockade, which has inflicted so much misery on the people of Gaza for so many years. Israel has turned Gaza into what Noam Chomsky (who just returned from the Strip) calls “the world's largest open-air prison,” where the only relief from suffering comes from materials brought (or smuggled) across the border from Egypt.

From the Israeli side, there is only a systematic plan “to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger," as one cynical Israeli official put it.

And that’s literally what the Israelis have done. Israel controls all the transport bringing food into Gaza, “an average of only 67 trucks--much less than half of the minimum requirement [for basic nutrition],” according to Jonathan Cook, a journalist based in Israel, who notes that more than 400 trucks a day were coming in before the blockade began. The result is chronic malnutrition. According to Middle East scholar Juan Cole, over half of schoolchildren and two-thirds of infants suffer from anemia.

Medicines and medical equipment are in terribly short supply too. People die for lack of treatment. They are not allowed to make the short trip to Israel, with its high-quality medical facilities. Hospitals cannot be built (or rebuilt, after the massive 2008 Israeli attack on Gaza) because building materials are systematically kept from entering Gaza, too.

So the Palestinian victims of a stream of Israeli air attacks--targeted assassination efforts that too often strike innocent bystanders--cannot get the treatment they need either.

In 1967 Israel justified its preemptive attack on Egypt by claiming that Egypt’s blockade of one Israeli port was an act of war. How much more, then, is Israel’s ongoing blockade of the whole Gaza Strip an act of war. If Gazans shoot rockets in return it’s a result, not a cause, of the conflict.

4 Most Common Myths About Israel and Gaza--Debunked

What you need to know about the Israeli offensive.

By Pam BaileyAs Israel continues to pound the Gaza Strip, and factions within the beleaguered territory retaliate as best they can, there are many myths and stereotypes dominating mainstream media coverage, and many conversations.

Here are a few of the most common misunderstandings:

Myth: Hamas started the round of fighting that led to Israel’s “Operation Pillar of Defense.”

Fact: This myth represents a common error in mainstream–and even much progressive–media coverage. The “truth” all depends on when you start the timeline. What is clear is that while both Israel and resistance groups in Gaza bear responsibility for keeping the warfare going, Israel is more often the precipitator.

In an analysis that has received very little attention by Western audiences, Nancy Kanwisher (the Walter A. Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) asks, “As Israel and Palestine suffer a hideous new spasm of terror, misery and mayhem, it is important to ask how this situation came about…How did the (last) ceasefire unravel?”

President Barack Obama and the mainstream media in the United States and Israel place the blame squarely on Hamas. It is true that a barrage of Palestinian rockets have been fired into Israel, and that ending this rocket fire is the stated goal of the current Israeli invasion of Gaza. However, this simplistic summary leaves out crucial facts. Consider this chain of events, which followed a “lull” of sorts over the previous couple of weeks: (The details of what took place during these days vary somewhat from one media outlet to another. However, the broad strokes are the same.)

· Nov. 4: Israel killed a mentally ill Palestinian walking near the Israeli-imposed “no-go zone” inside the Gaza Strip–an event that triggered a rocket from Gaza into southern Israel, which did not cause any deaths or injuries.

· Nov. 8: Four Israeli military tanks and a bulldozer entered Gaza, fatally shooting a 13-year-old boy who had been playing soccer by his family’s house.

· Nov. 10: In retaliation, two rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, and an anti-tank missile injured four soldiers, when it hit an Israeli army jeep that had crossed over into the territory. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported the killing of five more Palestinians, four of whom were civilians–including two soccer players age 16 and 17 and two young men (18 and 19) who ran to the scene. Forty-nine others were wounded, including 10 children.

· Nov. 11: Amid talks of a truce, six more Palestinians (all but one were civilians) were wounded and another was killed by both air strikes and troops on the ground.

· Nov. 12: With Israeli air strikes continuing, two rockets from Gaza hit Israel.

· Nov. 13: After two mid-afternoon air strikes, news services announced a truce had been agreed-upon.

· Nov. 14: Israel ignored the nascent truce and assassinated Hamas military chief Ahmad al-Jabari. (It is questionable whether Israeli officials ever really wanted a truce. As Phyllis Bennis from the Institute for Policy Studies wrote in The Nation: “Earlier this year, on the third anniversary of the Gaza assault of 2008/9, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz told Army Radio that Israel will need to attack Gaza again soon, to restore what he called its power of ‘deterrence.’ He said the assault must be ‘swift and painful,’ concluding, ‘we will act when the conditions are right.’ Perhaps this was his chosen moment.”)

A fact not known by most Americans, who see Jabari as merely a leader of “terrorists,” is that Israeli activist Gershon Baskin confirmed that Jabari was engaged in peace settlement negotiations with Israel. In fact, he was due to send Hamas’ version of a draft agreement to Baskin on the Wednesday evening before he was killed. It’s worth asking: Did Israel intend to torpedo those efforts?

The rest of the story is tragic history. Jabari’s killing triggered Operation Pillar of Defense, and it continues to unfold.

It's Palestinians who have the right to defend themselves

The US and Britain stand behind Israel's onslaught on Gaza. Justice requires a change in the balance of forces on the ground

By Seumas MilneSo after six days of sustained assault by the world's fourth largest military power on one of its most wretched and overcrowded territories, at least 130 Palestinians had been killed, an estimated half of them civilians, along with five Israelis. The goal, Israel's interior minister, Eli Yeshai, insisted, had been to "send Gaza back to the middle ages".

True, the bloodshed hasn't so far been on the scale of Operation Cast Lead in 2008-9, which left 1,400 Palestinians dead in three weeks. But the issue isn't just who started and escalated it, or even the grinding "disproportionality" of yet another Israeli military battering (even before last month's flareups, 314 Palestinians had been killed since 2009, as against 20 Israelis).

It's that to portray Israel as some kind of victim with every right to "defend itself" from attack from "outside its borders" is a grotesque inversion of reality. Israel has after all been in illegal occupation of both the West Bank and Gaza, where most of the population are the families of refugees who were driven out of what is now Israel in 1948, for the past 45 years.

Despite Israel's withdrawal of settlements and bases in 2005, the Gaza Strip remains occupied, both effectively and legally–and is recognised as such by the UN. Israel is in control of Gaza's land and sea borders, territorial waters and natural resources, airspace, power supply and telecommunications. It has blockaded the strip since Hamas took over in 2006-7, preventing the movement of people, materials, and food supplies in and out of the territory–even calculating the 2,279 calories per person that would keep Gazans on an exemplary "diet". And it continues to invade the strip at will.

So Gazans are an occupied people and have the right to resist, including by armed force (though not to target civilians), while Israel is an occupying power that has an obligation to withdraw–not a right to defend territories it controls or is colonising by dint of military power.Comment:  The image above suggests why this posting is relevant to Indians. Change the wording and the same logic applies to the Native resistance against the United States:So Indians are an occupied people and have the right to resist, including by armed force (though not to target civilians), while the US is an occupying power that has an obligation to withdraw–not a right to defend territories it controls or is colonizing by dint of military power.For more on the Indian-Palestinian connection, see Gaza = "Largest Indian Reserve" and No Right of Return for Palestinians, Indians?

Drink's "Sexy Pilgrim & Indian Party"

Another day, another offensive Thanksgiving-themed party posted on Facebook:

Okay people here we go again...here is another nightclub that thinks it's alright to insult and disrespect Native culture and tradition! Go to their page and let them know that this will NOT be tolerated! please share and repost this so that we can get the word out... http://www.facebook.com/drinknightclub.This posting earned the usual scathing comments:Ugh...it's a sick epidemic...perhaps we should call the CDC and let them know that all these jerks have lost there minds and possibly need a vaccine??

Geez...this shit gets old...shoulda either had tuffer immigration laws or killed them off or let them all starve n freeze to begin with.

I know. This has bothered me since I was a child. Not the sexy ladies, but all references to a people and a culture as if they were a cartoon.

Their WHOLE page is insulting...but I can only concern myself with the part that is disrespective to Native people...I don't have time to educate the ignorant on manners and disrespect...

I have seen lots of these posters for Thanksgiving parties on Facebook these days. I wouldn't have thought so many people were that racist, stupid, and VULGAR. These posters are such a bad taste! It is both shameful and pitiful! :(

Besides the disrespect for Native people I would like to know, what Thanksgiving has to do with only drinking and partying, the deeper meaning is completely lost...Sex object is "flattering"?

But one woman named Denise tried to defend the posting:I'm not sure I understand why you find it insulting? Are you insulted by my profile picture, Gray? I am part Cherokee on my father's side (his grandmother), but I didn't realize that cutting and pasting my face onto a Native American girl costume background was being disrespectful. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I did it more as an honor to be part Cherokee and think it is kind of flattering that women dress up in whatever costume they chose, and portraying Native American women as being very beautiful and sexy. I suppose the Pilgrims, if there were any alive, would be upset that they're dressing up in traditional costumes and being insulting as well. I'm sorry if I have offended you, but I guess maybe I'm being ignorant, too.My response:

You're wrong, Denise. Neither the Cherokee nor any other tribe dressed like sexy Indian princesses. You're stereotyping Native women as sex objects and setting them up to be victims of sexual crimes.

After deleting critical comments on their Facebook page, the Drink people soon backed down and posted an apology:We apologize to anyone who was offended by our Thanksgiving Eve promotion. We respect every culture and value all of our guests. We will absolutely be more sensitive to any future events and promotions.Commenters are clueless

Nevertheless, people kept making naive and ignorant comments:Okay before I make a comment...why exactly are people offended??

It doesn't make sense why ppl are offended? If u are Native American why wouldn't u be proud a club is honoring u? That is what Thanksgiving is right? If they had a St. Patrick's day event should Irish ppl be offended?If Drink portrayed the Irish as drunkards...yes, I'd say they should be offended.

I asked Drink a question:

Are you canceling the event? It's not clear.

To which they responded:We are still throwing a huge Thanksgiving Eve party, just not themed!My response to all of the above:

The club was "honoring" a false and stereotypical version of Native Americans, not real Native Americans.

Have a great party without the offensive theme!

For more on the subject, see Paul Frank's Racist "Powwow" and University of Denver's Cowboys and Indians Party.