Hernán Cortés lucked out

I'm not sure what role disease played in Hernán Cortés's conquest of the Aztecs. I'm sure it weakened Mexico's Indian nations--destabilized their political and social institutions. Even though diseases quickly began killing Indians, they still outnumbered the Europeans by some huge margin--perhaps thousands to one.

As I wrote in Was Native Defeat Inevitable?(Mexican Version), Cortés barely escaped with his life during the so-called Noche Triste:Upon his return in late June, Cortés realized the Mexica had elected a new Hueyi Tlatoani: Cuitláhuac. Shortly thereafter, the Mexica besieged the palace housing the Spaniards and Moctezuma. Cortés ordered Moctezuma to speak to his people from a palace balcony and persuade them to let the Spanish return to the coast in peace. Moctezuma was jeered and stones and darts were thrown at him. He fell with what was reported as a concussion. Moctezuma died a few days later; whether from his injuries or murdered by the Spaniards, it is not known.

Under attack, with food and water in short supply, Cortés decided to break out of the city. Bridges on four of the eight causeways into the island city had been removed, so a portable bridge was devised. The gold and other booty stolen from the Mexica was packed; many of the Spaniards had looted as much gold as they could carry. Horses' hooves were muffled.

On the night of June 30, 1520, his large army left their compound and headed west, toward the Tlacopan causeway. The causeway was apparently unguarded, and the Spaniards made their way out of their complex unnoticed, winding their way through the sleeping city. Before reaching the causeway, they were noticed by Mexica warriors, who sounded the alarm.

The fighting was ferocious. As the Spaniards and allies reached the causeway, hundreds of canoes appeared in the waters alongside to harry the troops. The Spaniards and their native allies fought their way across the causeway in the rain, sometimes using the portable bridge to cover the gaps, although as the battle progressed some gaps had become so filled with wreckage and bodies that the fugitives were able to walk across. In some cases, the gold and equipment weighted down the conquistadores so much that they drowned.

But a recent article notes the role of disease on this particular occasion:

A germ of an idea

Thirty-four years ago, William H. McNeill, AB’38, AM’39, shed new light on world history—by giving microbes their proper place in the human drama.

By Robert Goodier"I read the story of Cortéz and couldn't believe it," McNeill says. The conventional story of how Tenochtitlan [modern-day Mexico City] fell to Hernán Cortéz and a small band of Spaniards in 1521 seemed to contradict common sense. At one point, the Aztecs had beaten the Spaniards back but did not press their advantage. "A considerable number of the Spanish were wounded in the retreat but there was no follow-up," McNeill says. "I couldn't figure out why the nephew of Montezuma, who organized the attack, didn't surround the Spaniards and bring them up to the top of that temple and cut their hearts out the next day. It's what should have happened."

And yet, it didn't. Instead, the Spaniards conquered Mexico and converted millions of Aztecs to Christianity. "I was sort of mulling this over in my head," McNeill recalls, "and somebody casually remarked that smallpox had broken out in Mexico City the night of the noche triste"—the night of the Spaniards' retreat—"and Montezuma's nephew died of it that same night."Comment:  I'm not sure what this dead nephew refers to. Wikipedia reports the following:

Moctezuma IIMoctezuma was then succeeded by his brother Cuitláhuac, who died shortly after during a smallpox epidemic. He was succeeded by his adolescent nephew, Cuauhtémoc.CuitláhuacAfter having ruled for just 80 days, Cuitlahuac died of smallpox that had been introduced to the New World by the Europeans.Since nephew Cuauhtémoc ruled until the empire fell, I don't know which nephew died on La Noche Triste. Wikipedia doesn't refer to any other nephew. But I think Moctezuma had many nephews, so I presume one was in position to take charge that night.

Cortés lucked out when no arrow hit him during his escape. He also lucked out when smallpox broke out in Tenochtitlan that night. Not only did it kill Moctezuma's nephew, it undoubtedly wreaked havoc. The one time the Aztecs needed calm and order, they probably faced a panic-inducing crisis instead.

Once Cortés escaped, he rested beyond the city. If the Aztecs had pursued him, they could've had him. But it seems they didn't have the necessary manpower or leadership. People were too busy dying to worry about Cortés.

Conclusion

We're talking about a turning point in world history here. If there hadn't been a smallpox outbreak that day, Cortés probably would've died. If the Cortés expedition had failed, the conquest of Mexico might've been postponed indefinitely. The epidemic hit Tenochtitlan on literally the worst possible day.

Thus we see how capricious history is. A small change here or there could've led to a markedly different outcome. The Aztec empire might've fallen anyway, but some Native nations could've survived as small independent states. Tribes in the US and Canada remained independent a century or two after first contact, and that could've happened in Mexico too.

For more on the subject, see Was Native Defeat Inevitable?

Hidalgo in FIRST WAVE #4

Another First Wave comic book, another set of stereotypes.

Here's a review of First Wave #4, but the cover kind of says it all.



Let's break it down.

The story takes place in the fictional country of Hidalgo. I thought Rima the Jungle Girl was based in Brazil, where most of the Amazon rainforest is, but apparently not.

What will you find in Hidalgo? A Maya pyramid. An Aztec calendar stone. And half-naked Amazon Indians with their bowl haircuts and bone piercings.

Rima the Native girl who looks exactly like a white girl makes only a brief appearance. Led by what looks like an Aztec priest, the Amazon Indians defend their Maya pyramid against foreign interlopers. I don't think they fare too well. (I don't know because I only skimmed this comic book in the shop.)

Seriously? I'd love to know where Hidalgo is supposed to be on a map. The Aztec empire was located in central Mexico. The Maya city-states were located in southern Mexico and Guatemala. The nearest Amazon Indians are something like a thousand miles to the south in South America.

Remember, the First Wave universe is set in the present or near-present. So where are the Indians leading the protests against transnational oil companies? Or speaking out about the 2012 prophecy? Or winning the Nobel Peace Prize (a la Rigoberta Menchú)? All we see here are the usual nasty spearchuckers found in a thousand old potboilers.

This is incredibly stupid stereotyping. It's about as bad as anything I've seen recently. White men are 21st-century giants of civilization: rich, worldly, heroic. Indians are primitive, brutish savages who haven't advanced beyond the 16th century.

Judging First Wave correctly

This is why we usually can judge a book by its cover. In fact, we could've judged First Wave by the first house ad featuring Rima. It was all there if you looked between the lines.



If Rima had been a well-dressed environmental activist fighting corporations and governments to protect her rainforest, we could've tolerated her occasional prowl as a old-fashioned jungle girl. But we saw from the beginning that she was going to be a stereotypical sex object. A chance for white boys to ogle the near-naked Native and imagine what could be.

Let this be a lesson to you, kiddies. When something looks stereotypical, it's inevitably worse than it looks. No one who's sensitive to Native cultures would think making Rima a Goth would turn her into an acceptable modern character. She's still a white's man's fantasy of an exotic Native princess. She's every sexist jungle girl throughout history except with white hair.

Not surprisingly, the other Natives are just as stereotypical. Writer Brian Azzarello obviously doesn't know jack about Indians. He thinks they're all a bunch of bad movie clichés, nothing more.

He jumbles people, places, and things into one big mess because, well, who cares about Indians? They're all dead and gone, right? If there are any left, they don't buy and read comics, right? Savages grunt and whoop and shake their spears. They don't know how to buy or read!

So whites are sophisticated and civilized; Indians are primitive and savage. I think the word we're looking for is "racist." Yep, First Wave's depiction of Indians is racist. If the loincloth fits, wear it.

For more on the subject, see Black Batman in First Wave Universe? and Minorities in First Wave Universe.

Below:  White men good! Indians bad!

Washington Post reviews Vantage Point

New 'Vantage Point' show at American Indian museum shows off symbolic power

By Blake Gopnik"Vantage Point: The Contemporary Native Art Collection," a new exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, runs some of those risks, even though it was chosen from the recent works acquired by the native-run institution. It includes 31 pieces, and the lesser among them feel powerless, the fiddlings of people left with no more effective way to make a mark. Unlike mediocre works made by the culture that's on top, native works that lack artistic power can seem to represent the larger disempowerment of their makers. This leaves their artmaking souls--all that we've left them--suddenly looking less precious.

Luckily, the opposite is also true. Even if it can't change the world, powerful art stands as a symbol for the possibility of other kinds of power. And that's doubly true for art by native peoples, who start with the deck so stacked against them.

Among the works in "Vantage Point," the following struck me as particularly empowered and empowering.

--"Tire," made by Joe Feddersen, a member of the Colville Confederated Tribes, in 2003.The work invites certain easy readings--of modernity riding roughshod over the past or of the mechanized crushing the natural. But I think the piece invites more subtle interpretations, too. The tire track is too appealing, as a pattern, to be cast as the villain: It is closer to a booming but necessary present, laid over, but not canceling out, a past that's more genteel--or at least is made to seem that way by time. Indians, like all of us, live in both present and past, and can master both, as Feddersen has done. His work's ambivalence is the source of its power.And:--"Indian Act," a work finished in 2002 by Nadia Myre, an Anishinaabe Canadian from the Kitigan Zibi First Nation of Quebec.The beading gives some sense of a crossing out, of a denial and repudiation of the content of the act. You could see it almost as a turning back of the clock, transforming a legal document into a traditional decorative textile, and asserting the power of Indian craft over European law. But meticulously decorating the document also evokes a certain sense of respect for it. You tear up a text you hate, you don't spend vast effort making it more beautiful. There's some sense that, in their beautification, Myre and her collaborators have decided to make the Indian Act their own, for better or worse.Comment:  Love the descriptions of these pieces. But Gopnik's review sounds mixed at best. Maybe worse than mixed if he loved only four of the 31 pieces.

For more on the exhibit, see Vantage Point at NMAI. For more on contemporary Native art, see Innovations at Indian Market and Defying Expectations with Native Art.

Texas neighborhood nicknamed "Reservation"

Some in Richardson neighborhood oppose 'Reservation' name for proposed signage

By Ian McCann A group of Richardson residents is working to keep a widely recognized name for their neighborhood off proposed signage.

They say calling their neighborhood the Reservation is controversial and possibly offensive to American Indians. The neighborhood association is expected to resolve the issue later this month.

Neighborhood leaders, while acknowledging the injustice of past treatment of American Indians, said reservations no longer hold the same negative connotation they once may have had.

"This is what the neighborhood has been known as for 45 years," association president Darrell Day said. "We're sensitive to their concern. We mean absolutely no disrespect for the American Indian community."

In a written statement, a group of people pushing for the change said they supported using the area's legal description, Estates North. The neighborhood, located near Arapaho and Coit roads, has been called Reservation because streets within it are largely named for tribes--for example, Cherokee and Seminole.

"We understand that invoking references to American Indian history is controversial," the group said. "For this reason alone, we feel that our neighborhood should adopt a moniker that is noncontroversial. In this way, we can ensure that we remain respectful to all people either living in or passing through our city."Comment:  Yes, "Reservation" would be a good name to change or avoid using. I'm sure many Americans think of reservations as cesspools of poverty and crime, so there's that. Someone who hears the name won't automatically think, "Oh, a place where respected and honored Indians live."

I'm sure many Indians take pride in their reservations, but they also recognize the injustices that created them. Recall that the US government forced many Indians to sign away their freedom and confine themselves to reservations. The US military made sure they stayed there. Indians may want to celebrate their survival--the lives they've made in their new homes. But it's not something anyone else should be celebrating.

It would be like calling a predominantly white neighborhood the Hood (like a black neighborhood) or the Ghetto (like a Jewish neighborhood). Again, blacks and Jews might celebrate their own neighborhoods with such a name, but they would recognize its double-edged meaning. "They" forced us to live here, they might think, but we made something positive of it.

That's not something a white neighborhood adopting the name Reservation, Hood, or Ghetto can claim.

Celebrating captive Indians

What's the real message of streets named for chiefs and a neighborhood named "Reservation"? It's about the same as that of an Indian mascot. These people are celebrating primitive chiefs of the past. Indians confined to reservations. America "settled" with no more Indian "trouble." America at peace with white people on top.

In other words, more of our national myth-making. Our triumphal march to victory over the godless devils. We came, we saw, we conquered, and now we graciously acknowledge our fallen foes. Which proves how mighty and noble our spirit is.

For more on the subject, see "Reservation" Out, "Tee Pee" and "Indians" In and Why Americans Exploit Indians.

Below:  We celebrate the Indian by parading him like a tame bear.

Khloe Kardashian in a headdress

Adrienne Keene notes this item in her Native Appropriations blog:

Oh no, Khloe Kardashian.Khloe Kardashian just posted this picture to her twitter, with the caption "I love playing dress up!"

If you can stomach it, read the comments. They're already playing the "omg get over it stop being so sensitive it's just a hat!" game.

Comment:  I'm not necessarily posting every pic of a celebrity in a headdress. But her comment expresses the problem perfectly. Kardashian doesn't care the slightest about real Indians. She isn't honoring or acknowledging them. She doesn't belong to some vague "world tribe" she just made up. Nothing like the half-assed defenses some hipster wannabes have offered.

No, she just likes "playing dress up." To her, an Indian is nothing more than someone with a funny hat. Anyone can become an Indian just by putting on a Halloween costume. In Kardashian's mind, Indians have no distinct history, culture, or religion. They're just people who do colorful and strange things: dancing, whooping, painting their faces, and dressing up in costumes.

Like other hipsters in headdresses, she's perpetuating the stereotype of Indians as primitive people of the past. If you told her Indians were dead and gone, I bet she'd agree. If you told her her agent, make-up artist, or bodyguard might be an Indian, she'd probably look at you like a slack-jawed idiot. If she doesn't see any buckskin-clad savages around her, they don't exist.

For more celebrities in headdresses, see Cher in a Headdress and Kiowa Gordon in a Headdress. For what it means, see Indian Wannabes = Celebrity Wannabes. For why it's wrong, see The "Honor" of a Plains Chief and Stereotypes Okay in "Cultural Commons"?

Cousins in Hawaii Five-0 remake

OMG, they did it again. In the third episode of the new Hawaii Five-0, they gave Chin Ho and Kono another cousin. This time, he's Samoan.

To recap, Chin Ho Kelly is Chinese with an Irish name. Kono Kalakaua is Native Hawaiian. They say they're cousins. Both are played by Korean American actors.

Kono mentioned another cousin in Kyoto, Japan. This could be a cousin only on Kono's side of the family. And the cousin could be Hawaiian, Chinese, or another ethnicity. But I presume the cousin is Japanese. Not many foreigners move to Japan to get married.

And now we have a fourth cousin, a Samoan. This time we learn he and Chin Ho grew up together. I think both Chin Ho and Kono called him "family." Presumably he's cousins with both cousins.

Add the fact that McGarrett speaks Chinese and Chin Ho speaks Hawaiian, and you have to ask: What the heck's going on here? Asians of different ethnicities aren't interchangeable, people. They aren't members of one big happy Pan-Asian family.

This is becoming ridiculous. It's ruining whatever credit Hawaii Five-0 gets for using minority actors. I thought I was kidding when I hinted that Chin Ho and Kono might have Vietnamese, Thai, or Filipino cousins. Apparently it's just a matter of time till these cousins show up.

The only saving grace was that they cast a Samoan to play the Samoan cousin. He's the first of the cousins to be played by someone of the right ethnicity. Well, whoopee. In 2010, that's not much of an achievement.

For more on the subject, see Asians in Hawaii Five-0 remake and Review of Hawaii Five-0 remake.

P.S. In this episode Kono (Grace Park) appears in a bikini and a short serving-girl dress. I'm sticking with my claim that she's there mainly as eye candy, not as a serious effort to diversify the cast by race and gender.

Indian in the Living Room

Indian in the Living Room

By Ed HansonI would like to introduce someone you have grown up with, refuse to acknowledge, who has made the life you now have possible.

Hello my relatives. I am the Indian in your living room. I am the First Nations, the original inhabitants of Turtle Island.

I am the corn, the beans, the squash, the sweet potatoes, and tomatoes on your dinner table. I am the gratitude you express every fourth Thursday in November.

I am the Corn Maiden, the Two Hills, the Sacred Mountains, Spider Woman, Shiprock. I am the Kachinas, the Thunderbird, the Black Hills, and the Buffalo.

I am the Pipe Carrier, the Keeper of the Sacred Bundles, the White Buffalo Calf, Kokopelli. I am Heyoka, Coyote, Raven, Crow, White Old Man, and Salmon Boy. I am the Sun Dance, the Ghost Dance, the inipi wakan, the hanblechya.

I am the Indian in your living room.

I am the Great Law of Peace. I am the plan for the U.S. Constitution given you by the clan mothers of the Iroquois Federation. I am political freedom, free speech, equality, and freedom of assembly which you claim as part of being an American. I am the Delaware who allowed Washington's troops to survive the winter at Valley Forge.

I am the caretaker of Mother Earth. I am the Grandfathers who tell the stories that teach us how to be human. I am the Ancestors who watch from the heavens. I am Powhatan, Pocahontas, and Sacagawea who helped the white man survive in a strange land. I am the Brotherhood of the Shield that used to care for and protect the people before the white men came.

I am the Indian in your living room.

I am the residue of Manifest Destiny. I am an inconvenience to progress. I am America's Final Solution. I am the ghost of Osceola, Pontiac, and Seattle. I am the Trail of Tears, Sand Creek, and Wounded Knee I and II. I am Baker's Massacre, Ghost Ridge, and all the atrocities carried out in your name. I am the guilt you carry for these crimes.

I am the Indian in your living room.

I am blankets infected with smallpox. I am trade whiskey, forced conversions, and Indian schools. I am slavery, spoiled beef rations, and crooked Indian agents. I am Cornstalk, Chief Joseph, Geronimo, and Crazy Horse, I am Sitting Bull, Jim Thorpe, Leonard Peltier, and Ira Hayes. I am Squanto, Red Cloud, White Calf, and SuAnne Big Crow. I am the Navajo Code Talkers who helped you win the war in the Pacific.

I am a long history of unpaid debts and broken promises. I am the spirit of the buffalo shot from train windows and left to rot on the plains. I am every treaty ever made and broken.

I am the Indian in your living room.

I am the reservation where the Constitution and Bill of Rights do not apply. I am the loss of freedom and way of life. I am poverty and unemployment, alcoholism and diabetes. I am hopelessness and suicide and I am here to tell you the reservation now includes your living room and it just swallowed New Orleans.

Now we all live here together. Welcome to the reservation. What they have done to me is being done to you and you let them away with it.

I am the Indian in your living room and I will not go away.

I am your past, your future, your heritage, and your destiny. I am that small drop of Indian blood every American family now carries. I am your parent, your grandparent, and great-grandparent and we are all related.

I am the Indian in your living room and I don't seek vengeance.

I'm done asking for just compensation. Your government is not capable of dealing honestly. I am declaring independence and you had better respect it.

I ask that the people open their hearts and listen and when you weep for the loss of my children as you would weep for your own then, I will know you have heard.Comment:  This is a poetic way of noting America's Native roots. The Native history and presence across the land. The Native influence in everything from the Constitution to corn flakes.

It's why we deny that America is a "Christian nation." Why we say white Anglo-Saxon Protestants don't own the land and never did. Why we call this a multicultural stew where people of many races and religions, including Indians, have contributed to the whole.

For more on the subject, see America's Cultural Roots.

Preview of Ink--A Tale of Captivity

Ink--A Tale of CaptivityInk--A Tale of Captivity is the Mary Rowlandson story. A new movie produced by Alice van Buren of Inkwell Santa Fe Productions. The Story: 1676 Boston--Taken by Indians, a preacher's wife becomes the first woman published in America.

Wes Studi is King Philip, the mysterious Wampanoag leader; Gary Farmer appears as the tratior Alderman.Trailer One:  The Captivity Narrative--Mary Rowlandson (Angela Janda) reading from her captivity narrative.



Trailer Two:  Captivity Scene--Mary Rowlandson (Angela Janda) with King Philip (Wes Studi) discussing the terms of her captivity.



The history in question:

Mary RowlandsonMary (White) Rowlandson (c. 1637–January 1711) was a colonial American woman who was captured by Indians during King Philip's War and endured eleven weeks of captivity before being ransomed. After her release, she wrote a book about her experience, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, which is considered a seminal work in the American literary genre of captivity narratives.Comment:  The trailers show a burning house, scalps nailed to a wall, King Philip riding a horse, and what looks like the interior of a tipi. I sure hope the movie doesn't have any mistakes or stereotypes.

For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Movies.

Children's book about Chief Grey Locke

Berkshire County’s Mount Greylock legends inspire new children’s book

By Stephen DravisThe book is composed of two parts: a historical fiction about a young American Indian, Gray-Locke, who grows to be a famous warrior, and a brief "History of Mt. Greylock" that covers the geology and ecology of the mountain in easy-to-understand language.

The first part gives a possible back story for a historical figure who loomed large in the French and Indian Wars. According to an article by Vermont historian James Millard, Chief Grey Locke, who is memorialized by a monument in Burlington, Vt., was the "greatest leader" of the Abenaki people.

Demeo’s narrative concerns itself less with the battles for which history remembers Chief Grey Locke and more with the formative years of a young man who defies the tradition of his tribe and ventures to the top of the "sacred mountain" now known as Mount Greylock.Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Best Indian Books.

Presbyterian churches to apologize to Indians

Presbyterian churches plan apology to American Indians

By Melissa Nann BurkeLocal Presbyterians are taking part in a public apology to American Indians on Saturday, atoning in particular for the acts of a Paxton militia that massacred 20 peaceful Indians in Lancaster in 1763.

Representatives of the three-county Presbytery of Donegal of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will read a statement that says in part, "We now, the Presbyterians of today, mourn for the acts done by our sisters and brothers in the faith."

The statement, which asks for the Indians' forgiveness, is part of a larger initiative involving public officials and leaders of the Quaker and Mennonite denominations, who will also acknowledge "wrongs" committed against native groups that once thrived in the region.

The apology coincides with Lancaster County's celebrating 300 years since Europeans settled the area.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Churches Apologize for Betraying Gospel and Catholic Churches Apologize to Menominees.

Tea Party Guide to American History

Introducing:  The Tea Party Guide to American History!

By Phil N. MoléHi Patriots:

Tired of textbooks written by liberals who wipe their muddy feet on the American flag and won't be happy until all of our children are vegetarian, atheist, and gay? Then order the new 'Tea Party Guide to American History," and save your child from the siren call of socialist homosexuality.

This book will teach your children no more or less than what they need to know to be able to have a defiant, admirably unreflective perspective on their country's history. Things like this:

American Prehistory

In 6,000 BC, the land containing the present-day United States was created, by God. Large masses of land surrounding the current Unites States were also created, for purposes known only in heaven.

The land containing the United States was designated for a special purpose by God--a future safe haven for the teachings of Jesus, and a place where women shouldn’t be able to get abortions and men should never use condoms.

Indians, aka “Native Americans”

This is as good of a time as any to address the fact that there were people here before the European settlers arrived, namely, Indians. Some people call them “Native Americans,” but that’s a contradiction in terms, because America is a land of immigrants--you selfish, unpatriotic asshole Indians.

Revisionist, America-hating liberals try to make it look like there were lots of Indians here who had a complex, vibrant culture, so we’d feel ashamed of ourselves for taking their land and eliminating them. But there totally weren’t that many. And according to the earliest documented evidence we’ve seen of their culture (a John Ford film made in Hollywood in the 1930s), these Indians really don’t come off well at all.

Plus, haven’t we already paid enough homage to Indian culture? We’ve named subdivisions of retirement communities after them, and little league and professional sports teams, and we like drinking beer when a sports mascot in an Indian costume dances during halftime. What more do these ungrateful people want?Other highlights from this Tea Party textbook:The Revolutionary War and Early Days of the Republic

Series of illustrations: George Washington and the cherry tree, George Washington in battle, and the American flag, flying high against a blue sky background. Take a moment to reflect on these images, and feel warm and good inside. This concludes the lesson on the Revolutionary Era.

Civil War

The War of Yankee Aggression, waged against helpless Southern states who only wanted limited government, states rights, and a nice sip of sweet tea. It wasn’t about slavery, and in fact, so-called slaves were better treated than most white males are--a trend that continues today. Slavery was possibly a little racist, in retrospect. But slavery ended with the Civil War, and so did racism.

World War II

There was a World War before this, and America won it.

We won this one, too, but liberals keep whining about the fact that so many Japanese Americans were interned in camps. But eye witnesses at the time swear that all of the Japanese who were relocated looked A LOT like the perpetrators of the Pearl Harbor attacks. More disturbingly, they were sometimes overheard speaking a language that did not appear to be English. There were no more Pearl Harbor attacks after the internment--think about that.

Feminism and Women’s Liberation

Paved the way for Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin, but otherwise an unmitigated disaster. Across the country, dinners languish uncooked, and undersexed men were forced to cheat or to visit prostitutes, which they never would have done otherwise, because men are awesome. And lots of women begin talking about how they want men to show their “feelings.” We’d been TRYING to show you how we felt, but then you passed sexual harassment laws.Comment:  This is only barely a satire. For starters, many creationists do believe God created the universe a few thousand years ago. Teaching about America's eons of geological and biological history violates their beliefs.

Many people will denounce you if you claim pre-Columbian America was inhabited by sophisticated Indian nations with complex cultures. These people commonly assert that our country is God's gift to the world. They routinely attribute the American Revolution to a few great, freedom-loving men. As we saw in the Confederate History Month controversy, they deny the role of slavery in the Civil War. They defend the internment of Japanese Americans the way they defend the subjugation of Indians--e.g., it was "unfortunate but necessary." Etc.

For more on conservative textbooks, see Indians in Christian Textbooks and Conservatives Want Christian Textbooks. For more on our national myth-making, see Why We Believe in Columbus and National Day of the American Cowboy. For more on American history in general, see Ten Little Pilgrims and Indians and Fun 4th of July Facts.

A holiday for Sacagawea?

Thoughts on the Run: Eleanor Roosevelt, Sacagawea deserve holidays

By Joe KingOther than the generic "Mother's Day," women have been ignored when it comes to naming holidays.

Four men--Columbus, Washington, Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.--have been regulars on our calendars for years and this corner agrees with their importance, but one senses a certain lack of fairness here.

While teaching American history at Encinal High, I often suggested the need for a holiday in a woman's honor, or, perhaps two women. My choices: Sacagawea and Eleanor Roosevelt. Why those two? Read on.

Perhaps no exploratory adventure in American history rivals that of the intrepid Lewis and Clark expedition across the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and beyond to the Pacific Ocean.

Crucial to the success of this early venture (1804-05) was a young Native American lass named Sacagawea, the Bird Woman.And:Now for Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. No other first lady is a close second to this remarkable woman--not Dolly Madison, not Edith Galt Wilson, Jacqueline or Nancy. Harry Truman once called Eleanor the "first lady of the World."

What did she do? She held the first series of regular news conferences by a president's wife; wrote a six-days-a-week newspaper column (My Day) from 1935 to 1945, plus regular talks on radio; traveled the country visiting out-of-work factory workers and even shared sparse lunches in sharecroppers' cabins. She visited our troops on far-flung battlefronts during World War II and twice served as a delegate to the United Nations. A better-than-average resume, don't you think?Comment:  Christmas is about a man too, you know. And Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving are mostly about men.

I like the idea of a Women's Day. To keep the calendar holiday-neutral, we could combine Mother's Day and Father's Day into Parents' Day. Or combine Memorial Day and Veterans Day into Armed Forces Day.

But I'm not sure about honoring Eleanor Roosevelt. Yes, she did good things, but so did many other women. She doesn't stand head-and-shoulders above her peers like a Washington or Lincoln. I think anyone who gets his or her own holiday should be someone we immediately recognize as a giant of history. Whatever Roosevelt accomplished, I don't think she was that important.

No, I'd stick with Women's Day to honor all women. Perhaps we could rotate it to honor a different woman each year. First Eleanor Roosevelt Day, then Harriet Tubman Day, Jane Addams Day, Rosa Parks Day, Helen Keller Day, and so forth and so on.

Happy Sacagawea Day?

As for Sacagawea, I think she's received enough honors: monuments, coins, plays, etc. Other Native women have done noteworthy things too.

Besides, Lewis and Clark's "exploratory adventure" doesn't necessarily deserve more acclaim. It was the first great expression of Manifest Destiny--the idea that America was a God-given wilderness waiting for us to "settle" it. It led to the opening of the West and the subjugation of America's Indian nations.

I'd stick with the idea I've suggested before: replace Columbus Day with Native American Day. That would go nicely with Women's Day to honor America's unsung heroes. Again, we could rotate it to recognize a different Indian each year: Sitting Bull, Tecumseh, Crazy Horse, Sacagawea, et al.

Yes, let's remove Columbus Day permanently from every federal and state calendar. Let's mkae Native American Day an official holiday that everyone gets off and doesn't have to be renewed by presidential proclamation each year. Then I'll believe we're on the road to respecting and honoring Indians.

For more on the subject, see Choctaws Replace Columbus Day and Change Columbus Day or Thanksgiving?

Kenaitze man is Cosmo bachelor

Kenai guy is one of Cosmo's 'hottest bachelors'

CROWN:  Winner will be determined by a national online vote.

By Mike DunhamIs Curtis Hembroff the sexiest man in Alaska?

The Kenaitze Tribe member is representing the state in Cosmopolitan magazine's annual hunt for the "hottest bachelor" in America, featured in the November issue that comes out Tuesday.

On that night he'll be at Cosmo's annual Bachelor Party at the ultra-exclusive District 36 club in New York City. But whether he gets crowned as the Bachelor of the Year--which comes with a $10,000 cash prize and a $5,000 shopping spree--is up to his fans. The winner will be determined by votes taken online at cosmopolitan.com/bachelors-2010, and the deadline for voting is 11:59 p.m. this Sunday.Below:  "Curtis Hembroff of Soldotna, one of Cosmopolitan magazine's 51 'hottest bachelors' in America featured in the November issue, is shown at a photo shoot on a Florida beach in September. 'The dog was brought in as a prop,' Hembroff said."

Terry Gilliam's Legend of Talladega

Terry Gilliam’s Legend of Talladega

By Brendon ConnellyFirst of all, we have a running time: it’s going to be around 8 minutes long. As well as being streamed online, it will play on ESPN in the run up to October 31st. This is doubly apt as that’s the date of NASCAR’s Talladega race day, as well as being Halloween--and this is a film about ghostly goings on at that very race track.

The curse of Talladega is a long standing urban myth about how the race track was built on a Native American burial ground (see the tent, the flag, David Arquette’s clothing in the pictures above). Becky Fly‘s character in the film is as a construction worker--one would assume her scenes are set during the construction of the track.Comment:  This film could be badly stereotypical.

For more on the subject, see Medicine Man Ends Talladega Curse and Talladega Cursed by Creeks?

Tea Party Halloween costumes

Can't decide what to wear for Halloween? Some ideas from the Tea Party:

1) A witch or Hare Krishna a la Christine O'Donnell.

2) A Revolutionary War patriot with a black slave in tow.

3) A blubbering baby a la Glenn Beck.

4) A snake with a "Don't Tread on Me" banner.

5) An illegal immigrant or Muslim with an axe or scimitar to behead people.

6) A white sheet and a hood to show you're sick of white people being pushed around.

For more on the subject, see Teabaggers = Hatemongers and Klansmen, Militias, and Teabaggers.

Below:  Forerunners of the Tea Party movement dress up for Halloween?

Colorado's Savages, Redskins, and Braves

Offensive mascots remain a problem

By Carol BerryDespite a summer of attempted dialogue over school mascots in Colorado, the Savages, Redskins, Indians and Braves are taking to the football field and their images continue to inhabit public schools and the memories of countless alumni.

For the Denver-based Colorado Indian Education Foundation, it was a disappointment that some 40 public schools with “Indian”-themed mascots did not respond to letters CIEF sent over the summer inviting discussion and suggesting constructive ways to approach the race-based mascot issue before school began this fall.Some specifics. Superintendent Randy Miller, overseeing the Fightin' Reds at Eaton High School, insisted:the mascot, a big-nosed caricature, “in no way is meant to be disrespectful--it’s used out of a sense of pride” in the school, which a handful of Native students attend.I love the stupidity of the "didn't mean to" defense. Bush: "I didn't mean for 5,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis to die in the invasion I launched. I just wanted to find those darn WMDs." Columbus: "I didn't mean to launch a genocidal conquest of two whole continents. I personally enslaved or killed only 100 Indians." German citizen after WW II: "I didn't mean to help exterminate six million Jews. I just thought Hitler wanted to maintain law and order."

In other words, the "didn't mean to" defense is stupid. Who cares what you intended if the results are bad? A child who reaches for the cookie jar never intends to break it, but he's still to blame if the jar breaks.

What matters is whether the mascot is offensive, not whether someone meant it to be offensive. Quit dodging the issue and address it, you moral coward. Tell us whether your mascot is or isn't a grotesque caricature of an Indian.

"Me not intended to look like fierce, ugly Indian! Me intended to look like Indian doctor, lawyer, or astronaut! Must be artist's fault for not drawing me correctly!"



Then there's this exchange on the Savages:The mascot “looks like he could take you apart – muscular, strong; he looks very brave,” he said. “People in the area and particularly graduates are proud to be Savages and they would be angry about it if it was forced to change.”

School officials at Lamar, Eaton and other locations say they have Native supporters backing their mascots or logos.

Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell “came down here 10 or 15 years ago and kind of looked at the school to see if the mascot was disrespectful to Native Americans. My understanding is he said our portrayal of the Indian mascot was very respectful,” said Robbins, who cautioned that the account was “at least second-hand.”

Asked to confirm his endorsement of the mascot, Campbell said, “Absolutely not. If they want to call themselves ‘Savages’ they should not use an Indian as the ‘Savage.’ Let them put their own grandma and grandpa up there.” He stressed that his grandparents were not “savages.”Excellent point, Sen. Campbell. Think of all the savagery committed by US soldiers: massacring Indian camps, destroying Vietnamese villages, blowing up weddings in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. If "savage" is such a noble and honorable term, why not use a US soldier as the Savage mascot?



Here's the new Savages mascot: a fierce, proud, courageous warrior for his people. Is everyone okay with that?

For more on the subject, see Smashing People:  The "Honor" of Being an Athlete and Team Names and Mascots.

Gray vs. brown Americans

White America Has Lost Its Mind

The white brain, beset with worries, finally goes haywire in spectacular fashion

By Steven ThrasherAbout 12:01 on the afternoon of January 20, 2009, the white American mind began to unravel.

It had been a pretty good run up to that point. The brains of white folks had been humming along cogently for near on 400 years on this continent, with little sign that any serious trouble was brewing. White people, after all, had managed to invent a spiffy new form of self-government so that all white men (and, eventually, women) could have a say in how white people were taxed and governed. White minds had also nearly universally occupied just about every branch of that government and, for more than two centuries, had kept sole possession of the leadership of its executive branch (whose parsonage, after all, is called the White House).

But when that streak was broken—and, for the first time, a non-white president accepted the oath of office—white America rapidly began to lose its grip.Some evidence of this mass hysteria:[T]he more you shook your head at it, the more it seemed to have taken root deep in the lizard part of the white nervous system. Obama is not an American. He says he's Christian, but he has a Muslim-sounding name. He's not black, he's not white. . . . Is . . . is he even human?

Today, Newsweek has found, nearly a quarter of Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim, with barely 42 percent of the nation accepting his claim that he's a Christian. CNN finds that a quarter of Americans also believe that Obama was "probably or definitely" born in another country.

Harris found in an online poll that 14 percent of Americans believe in their hearts that President Barack Obama is the antichrist, with nearly a quarter of Republicans saying so.What's causing the meltdown?For the first time in their lives, baby boomers are hard up against it economically, and white boy is becoming outnumbered and it's got his bowels chilled with fear.

"In an age of diminished resources, the United States may be heading for an intensifying confrontation between the gray and the brown," writes Ronald Brownstein in his July National Journal article, "The Gray and the Brown: The Generational Mismatch." That's a polite and understated way of saying that older white folks are losing their shit as they're being replaced by young brown and black kids while the economy is in the crapper.

Brownstein notes that 40 percent of the nation's population under 18 is already non-white, with that number significantly higher in the Southwest (read: Mexicans!). By 2023, that number of young non-whites will be an outright national majority.Comment:  For more on the subject, see:

What "I want my country back" means
Why we believe in Columbus
Culture war over who's American
Obama smeared as Luo tribesman
Bigots protest brown-skins on 9/11

Etc.

Stop showing Indians in chains

An editorial from the Native Sun News published on or about 9/24/10:

Showing Indians in chains every night on TV has got to stop

By Tim GiagoWe do not believe there is a bone of prejudice in the body of Helen Duhamel of KOTA-TV or of her fellow anchor Eric Gardner. What there appears to be is an insensitivity based on an ignorance of the racial contention in Rapid City and rather than soothe the waters of prejudice, they throw oil on it and set it on fire.

Last Thursday on the evening news Gardner made the same tired assertion that a shooting that took place in the parking lot of the Civic Center last December was somehow connected to the Lakota Nation Invitational Tournament. It was not. It was an isolated incident that happened at the time the LNI was in town and nothing more and to try to tie it to the LNI is beyond ridiculous.

Suppose an American Indian shot someone during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally: Would the shooting be broadcast as connected to the Rally or would there be no attempt at connecting the two? Every Native American knows the answer to that.

As Gardner was trying to connect the shooting to the LNI the visuals on the screen showed several obvious Native Americans handcuffed hand and foot being forced to parade for the camera between buildings. We are sure that in the minds of most white Rapid City residents two plus two equals five. Native Americans in black and white prison garb with handcuffs are criminals. Therefore all Native Americans are criminals. All Native Americans are dangerous. Native Americans are to be feared. It is dangerous to travel to the Indian reservations because all of the residents are criminals and dangerous. Far fetched? Not on your life. In Rapid City we hear it every day and yet in the ivory towers of KOTA they must be tone deaf.

We have a lot of respect for Helene and for Eric, but we are bothered by this lack of sensitivity to the feelings and the reputations of Native Americans. We make up nearly 25 percent of the population in Rapid City and those prisoners seen on the nightly news probably make up less than one tenth of one percent of the Native American population, but by repeating this horrific scene over and over, every night, the impression is left that all Native Americans are criminals and therefore dangerous. Why does KOTA persist in creating this false image?Comment:  For more on the subject, see Indians Missing from Newscasts, Aboriginal Youths on the Warpath?, and Indians on the Chain Gang.

Soccer team hosts Native heritage night

The Los Angeles Galaxy hosted Native American Heritage Night September 18 at the Home Depot Center to celebrate California Indian Day. Ron Andrade reports on what happened:Friends:

I want to give you a report regarding our special American Indian Day Celebration organized by the Galaxy professional soccer team, September 18.

We want to express our sincere appreciation to our tribal and corporate sponsors who made the day special:

Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission Indians, San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and the very best corporate sponsor, Coca-Cola Company.

We had Indian singers and dancers before the game in the special performance area inside the ballpark.

We were very honored to have an American Indian Color Guard sponsored by the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians to begin the game.

We were especially honored to have Joe Morris, Navajo Code Talker, 83 years old and Louis Andrade, Luiseno, WW2 veteran, 93 years old join the Color Guard on the ball field.

We had a total of 903 people who came to the game and we distributed 500 tote bags. We had many children including some who worked as water carriers for the Galaxy team during the game.

And we were able to host children from the Indian Child Welfare Unit as our guests.

It was truly a special night.

And we especially want to thank the Galaxy Soccer team and organization for offering us this day to celebrate Native American Heritage Night. It was their idea, their effort, and their contribution to the Indian community that made this possible.Comment:  For more on the subject, see 12th Annual California Native American Day.

500 red dresses for victimized women

Artist aims to raise awareness regarding missing, murdered womenA local artist is creating an exhibit that aims to bring more attention to the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.

Jaime Black is collecting 500 red dresses, one for every missing or murdered aboriginal woman across Canada.

In Manitoba alone, there are more than 170 missing or murdered women.

"It's a garment women wear to look beautiful but it's also a representation of the racialization and sexualized violence against aboriginal women," said Black.

As a Métis woman, Black said she is interested in activism around women's issues.

Rather than set up the exhibit in an art gallery, she plans to place 100 of the dresses in trees throughout the downtown to bring the issue to the forefront.

"I think if you see that symbol over and over…the weight of the issue will resonate with people," said Black.Comment:  For more art for Native crime victims, see Helen Betty Osborne Graphic Novel and Art Show for Missing Aboriginal Women.

Below:  "Some of the dresses collected by Jaime Black will be hung in downtown Winnipeg."

Mural for slain Aboriginal woman

Mural honours slain Calgarian woman

By Suzanne WiltonWhen Gloria Black Plume was stomped to death in a Ramsay alley, local artist Xstine Cook vowed to honour the aboriginal woman with a mural in the southeast inner-city community.

Cook made good on that promise, unveiling Sunday an art installation on the door of her garage that faces the alley where Black Plume was slain 11 years ago.

"I hope she rests in peace," an emotional Cook told a group of the woman's relatives who attended the unveiling of the colourful mural that was spray painted by a young aboriginal artist, Jesse Gouchey.

It was in March of 1999 that Black Plume's bloodied and battered body was discovered in the lane behind a home--which Cook would later move into--in the 1000 block of 20th Avenue S.E.Comment:  For more art for Native crime victims, see Helen Betty Osborne Graphic Novel and Art Show for Missing Aboriginal Women.

Below:  "Selina Medicine Shield admires a mural unveiled in southeastern Calgary on Sunday that was painted in memory of her grandmother, Gloria Kaily Black Plume." (Gavin Young/Calgary Herald)

Charlie Hill at One Nation Rally

One Nation Rally Shows Many Faces

By Robin MartyComedian Charlie Hill warmed up the crowd with topical zingers from a Native American's perspective. "If you want to fix America," he said, ask the Indians, because "we've got the owner's manual. … The immigration problem started at Plymouth Rock and we've been fighting terrorism since 1492."

He also gave a shout-out to Dick Gregory, the 1960s comedian turned civil rights activist, who was seated near the stage, saying Gregory, 77, paved the way for the likes of Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Native Pastor at Beck Rally and Conservative Rallies = White Self-Pity.

What "I want my country back" means

A columnist asks the question I've asked before. When conservatives say they want to "take the country back" or "go back to the way things were," what do they mean?

The Noble 'I Want My Country Back' Thing

By Robert J. ElisbergWell, listening closely, there is such an America they are referring to. And this is what appears to be what the radical right and Tea Party corporations want when they say "I Want My Country Back."

They want to go back to an earlier time, a friendlier time, a better time in America of our youth, a time when everything was taken care of for us by our parents, and the time of our grandparents. A time of that mythical Shining City on the Hill. A warmer time that we see in old movies. A happier time.

"I Want My Country Back," they say.

Back. To that good, gracious wonderful time in America back where there were--

Picket fences.

Smiling neighbors.

Pride of country.

A handshake was your bond.And:Womenfolk knew their place.

Blacks knew their place.

Mexicans knew their place was in Mexico.

Muslims were invisible.And:"I Want My Country Back." I want--

Street cleaning. Garbage collection. Mail service. Public schools. The food supply protected. Water supply protected. Police protection. Firemen. Road repairs. Air traffic safety. The military.

But no taxes.

And a budget surplus.

And no black president.Comment:  Yes, let's go back to the good ol' days when men were men, women were housewives, and minorities were servants and field workers.

This is a fairly accurate statement of what today's conservative/libertarian/teabaggers want. It's basically the fictional world of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Father Knows Best, and Leave It to Beaver.

In those days, women served men and were happy about it. Blacks were maids or porters. Asians were gardeners or launderers. Latinos were farm workers or handymen. Indians were dead and gone. A white man was president, we looked our Commie enemies in the eye, and Elvis wasn't seducing our children into the nightmare of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll.

For more on the subject, see:

Why we believe in Columbus
Culture war over who's American
Obama smeared as Luo tribesman
Bigots protest brown-skins on 9/11
Book Burners for Christ

Etc.

Below:  The "real America" of Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, et al.

Asians in Hawaii Five-0 remake

My comments on the second episode of the new Hawaii Five-0 series:

Pan-Asian Hawaii Five-0: Chin Ho Kelly, Chinese with an Irish surname, has a cousin named Kono Kalakaua, supposedly Native Hawaiian. Kono says she has a cousin in Kyoto, presumably Japanese. No word on whether they have any Vietnamese, Thai, or Filipino cousins.

I'd love to see their family tree!

And Korean American actors play both characters. But they all look the same, so it's okay.

This led to the following discussion on Facebook:Yeah, how do y'all tell us apart? lol ;) I actually don't mind Asian actors playing a character of a different Asian ethnicity, since European American actors play different European ethnicities all the time. But I understand why it bothers some people.That happens all the time in Native productions too. It's not great but not terrible either.

But considering a central theme of Hawaii is diversity, it's kind of lame that they didn't try harder to cast within the proper ethnic groups. When Wes Studi played a Cherokee in Trail of Tears, that was good. When he played Geronimo the Apache, that was not so good. He didn't look right for the role and that was part of the movie's problem.

Many people may not notice, but I notice Hawaii Five-0's mismatched ethnicities. It takes me out of the show a little, which is never what you want.Yeah. But as a friend reminded me, problems like poverty, unemployment, suicide, addiction, and domestic violence take precedence over issues like sports logos and Hollywood stereotypes. However, I do think these issues are all related.We can tackle both. That's what multitasking is for. And yes, they're related.

For more on the subject, see Why People Don't Care About Indians and The Harm of Native Stereotyping:  Facts and Evidence.

Indian Trails Bus Line

Indian Trails celebrates milestone with community

By Jessica RobisonThe taxi service was originally known as Phillips-Taylor Livery Service, and later after a few name changes became Indian Trails Bus Line 1935 in reference to its travel along US 12, which is locally known as the “Old Indian Trail.”And:When the name changed in the early 1930’s to Indian Trails, Cora added to the theme and began the tradition of naming each motorcoach in honor of a native Michigan chief. Even today after many years, it is still tradition, with each Indian Trails’ coach proudly bearing the name of an Ottawa, Potawatomie or Chippewa chief.Comment:  I don't think buses have pride in their names. Or in anything else.

For a related subject, see Hiawatha Trains and Logo.

Below:  "To bring more awareness to the benefits of motorcoaches, the motorcoach Chief Niauega was given a full-wrap design."

Shinnecocks become 565th recognized tribe

Shinnecocks Get Final Word, Become 565th Recognized Tribe

By Brendan O'ReillyThe Shinnecock Indian Nation received word Friday afternoon from its tribal attorneys that it is now officially the 565th Native American tribe to earn recognition from the U.S. government, according to Shinnecock Tribal Trustee Lance Gumbs.

The Interior Board of Indian Appeals, or IBIA, on Friday dismissed two objections to granting the Shinnecocks federal recognition, removing the last remaining obstacles in what became a process for the tribe that covered more than 32 years.Fun on Facebook

In response to this news, I posted a note on Facebook:Shinnecocks become the 565th Indian tribe to be federally recognized. Thousands of websites referring to 561, 562, or 563 tribes are now out of date.This led to the following discussion (slightly rearranged to read better):

This also demonstrates how difficult it is to get recognized these days. Which contradicts gaming foes who claim the feds are handing out recognition like candy.I know a number of Indians who think it gets handed out like candy, too, actually...and I'm never quite sure how to take that, so I just keep quiet + listen real close.No. 564 was the Wampanoags in 2007. One tribe every three or so years doesn't sound like a fire sale to me.

You can tell people something like this:http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/home/content/Connecticut-based-group-attacks-Shinnecock-acknowledgment-99621369.html

It looks like most of you missed an important point. They filed for recognition in 1978 ten years before the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Ten years before casinos became widespread. It's not their fault it has taken 32 years for the Federal Government to act.How recognition worksHow exactly does that fed process work? Is it like "Oh hey I've seen you somewhere before" or "Yeah I recognize you, you used to date my sister"?That's about what gaming foes think.

Actually, they think white people label themselves Indians, dress up in rags, and beg the feds for alms. Our liberal/socialist/fascist government gives them a casino as "reparations," a type of welfare handout for minorities. It's all part of Obama's plan to turn America into a Third World country.

I wish this were a joke, but it's only a slight exaggeration.

Tribes have to provide volumes of evidence to prove their political and cultural continuity since colonial days. Since many of them were terminated and assimilated into the surrounding population, that's usually hard to do.http://lieberman.senate.gov/assets/pdf/crs/indianaffairs.pdf

The criteria is ridiculous to say the least. 99% of the population would have a hard time proving this.Right. The actual criteria is difficult to meet, which is why most tribes spend 30 years compiling data and going through reviews only to get turned down.Ya know the funny thing about that casino thing is...in all the ones I have been in...and I have been in a lot. The vast majority of patrons are not Indians. So you would think that if the good people did not want Indians to have casinos...they would stay the f--k out of them.Right again. Gaming supporters sometimes say that no matter what critics claim, people are voting with their feet.

How recognition doesn't workIf the right federal palms are greased by foreign investors with their infallible strategies, then all things are possible, e.g., the Shinnecocks, Pequots and Mohegans.I think all three of those tribes applied for recognition before IGRA and Indian casinos existed.But their foreign masters had the incredible foresight to get the ball rollin'!Yes, incredible. As in "not credible." <g>

Actually, I think foreign investors became involved only after IGRA passed in 1988. Which would've been several years after the tribes applied for recognition.Imagine Fu Manchu on steroids with a mighty assist from Wall Street insiders....

Not only sought fed rec. before gaming, but have been fighting the same issues with the Feds for nearly 80 years--since the IRA [Indian Reorganization Act of 1934]. Really stale candy.

I can't believe it takes that long to process be recognize as Indian tribe. Wonder how many are still on the list for evaluation to this day? Interesting subject....Hundreds, I think. But most are "wannabe" tribes that don't have a legitimate claim.Good conversation. And the tribes went for foreign investors because American banks would not lend to the Indian gaming industry.Comment:  Clearly our "Fu Manchu" commenter needs the same education a previous commenter needed about who's an Indian.

Also, a note: A couple hundred of these "tribes" are actually Alaska Native villages or corporations. We call them tribes only for the sake of convenience.

For more on the subject, see Searching for Connecticut's Indians and How the Pequots Got Recognized.

Why no Bloody Jackson protests?

Down with ‘Jackson’

By Eric R. LocklearThe following appears on the website for “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”--bloodybloodyandrewjackson.com--“Broadway is heralding ‘Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.’ The New York Times and Rolling Stone called it ‘the season’s best musical.’ Now, by populist demand, their bloody brilliant show is packing up its tight, tight jeans and heading to Broadway! In ‘Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson’ (BBAJ), rising star Benjamin Walker reprises his role as America’s first political maverick. A.J. kicked British butt, shafted the Indians and smacked down the Spaniards all in the name of these United States--who cares if he didn’t have permission?”

Why is this atrocity not receiving the same airplay as the mosque proposed for New York’s Ground Zero?And:It is without question inappropriate for any effort to have been put forth to make humorous the genocide of our ancestors. I ask Indian country in full united force to bombard the media heralding the absurdity and disrespect demonstrated by this stage play. I ask Indian country to open wide your emotion (without violence) against the proposed Oct. 13, 2010 Broadway opening of this contemptuous ideal.

I would love to see funding in Indian country generated to somehow publicly dismiss this production on Broadway. Our more affluent tribal populations and organizations might consider making something happen to speak for the dead in “BBAJ” and cry “bloody, bloody” murder. My spirit cringes that an acronym is being used to reference the deliberate and systematic destruction of our people.Comment:  I agree with Locklear's conclusion. This play sounds as bad as MTV's Dudesons episode and worse than Bloomberg's anti-Indian remarks. Yet no one except a few writers is protesting it.

As Oneida representative Ray Halbritter said, everyone should be protesting these egregious examples of stereotyping. So where is he, the AIM activists, and everyone else? Thousands of New York tastemakers are seeing this play and learning from it. A protest outside the theater in the media capital of the world would draw a huge amount of attention.

Locklear also writes:The decision to popularize the murderer Andrew Jackson is a bold move of malice and hatred.I don't know if I'd go that far, but it's definitely part of our myth-making process. Ultimately it celebrates the Euro-American conquest of the ignorant Indians.

We put Jackson on the stage and the $20 bill because he's our idea of a hero. Like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett--the fictional versions, anyway--he tamed the West and thwart the Indians.

The play is also more evidence that people don't care about Indians. A show about a slaveowner and buffoonish slaves wouldn't get this much acclaim. But Indians--like cavemen and pirates--are "safe" targets for satire.

For more on the subject, see Racism in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Stereotypes in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.

Girl attacked for supporting gays

Man Attacks 14 Year Old Girl For Carrying Rainbow Flag

By Admin (Eric)La Crosse, Wisconsin--A 14 year old girl on rollerblades was getting ready to march in the Maple Leaf Parade with the LGBT Resource Center’s float, she was carrying a rainbow/American flag hybrid. But it got ugly when Mark Schneider ran up, grabbed the flag, pushed her and screamed, “Go to a country where they will hang people like you.”

Horrifying, this was a child! Police are investigating the incident, and assault charges are pending.Comment:  The posting identifies the assailant as "Commodore Mark Schneider"--presumably a member of the US Navy. Since most people in the military are Christians, it's an extremely good bet that he's one too. So we have someone who probably believes in the teachings of Jesus and has sworn to defend the Constitution assaulting a child for expressing a opinion. That's America's "live and let live" attitude for you: "I'll let you live, but I'd prefer that you die."

‎"Go to a country where they will hang people like you," Schneider the good American said. In other words, gays are like Latinos and Muslims. They're all foreigners who don't belong in the country. Because all bigotries are similar. They're all about establishing the primacy of white Euro-Christian power.

More comments

A few snarky comments on Facebook:

Gay is the new brown.Thanks for posting Rob--people are sick...the bottom line is that this is a child--and some twisted asshole assualted her--the fact that she wanted to show her support for gay pride is secondary--the guy was looking for an excuse to fucking hurt a child.Gay Indians were here first!Seems like people need an new target to direct their "9/11 mosque" rage at. Might as well be the gays, right? So dumb.Right. They're inventing a series of controversies to stoke the anger of their base. From Obama's birth certificate to "death panels" to this, it's all about keeping white conservative Christians in power.

For more on Indians and LGBT issues, see Grandmothers Don't Like Radical Advocacy?, Star Trek vs. Star Wars, and Comic-Con Protest vs. Dudesons Protest.

Concentration camp on CRIT reservation

Growing grace in a forlorn land

By Dan KriegerThe Nishijima family experienced a reversal of environmental fortunes in 1942. They were forced to move from the gentle climate of Pismo Beach to the fogs of the Central Valley. Then they had to leave Delano and travel in a guarded train with the window shades pulled down to a forlorn site in the Arizona desert.

The Poston War Relocation Camp was built on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. The Tribal Council objected to the camp’s presence.

It wanted no part in the incarceration of Japanese Americans in the same way its own people had once been rounded up.

But the Bureau of Indian Affairs regarded the camp as a means to encourage and fund Indian farming operations.

The bureau also thought that the Nisei farmers (first-generation Japanese) could serve as mentors to the Chemehuevi, Mohavi, Hopi and Navajo peoples who had been relocated to the inhospitable lands beginning in 1865.

The War Relocation Authority was not permitted to spend funds to help the Native Americans, but some of the Nisei volunteered to teach modern farming methods to the tribe.Comment:  I hadn't heard about this before. Talk about a story dripping with irony! Reservations were figuratively equivalent to concentration camps, but now we learn one reservation was literally a concentration camp.

I like the phony mentoring excuse, too. "The Nisei will teach the Indians how to really farm, although the Indians have been farming for hundreds of years. But we won't give them any money to teach with, because that would mean we really want them to succeed.

"No, this is more of a hope: that the Nisei we've locked up like stray dogs will volunteer out of the goodness of their hearts. One brown-skinned set of anti-American agitators helping another...isn't that a beautiful dream?"

For more on the subject, see The Sandy Lake Tragedy, Bosque Redondo = Model for Auschwitz, and Aleuts Interned During WW II.

P.S. Is Geno the cowardly commenter still claiming that Americans respect and care about minorities? Here's the evidence you somehow missed, dummy. Read it and learn.

Arctic movies and autumn TV

Indian Comics Irregular #197:  Movies Hire Alaska Natives

Poverty makes people sick

The grinding reality of growing up poor

By Petula DvorakSome people think that this kind of childhood wreaks greater havoc on a child than almost any Pat Conroy-child-abuse scenario.

"Poverty trumps mistreatment, absolutely," said Sheryl Brissett-Chapman, executive director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda.

She explained that being extremely poor grinds down a child, that poverty gets into the brain and under the skin. Literally, actually.

Studies show that increased levels of cortisol, a chemical produced in the body as a result of stress, can seriously affect a child's brain development, stunting memory and disrupting learning patterns.

The stress of living in poverty gnaws at children. Poor kids who took part in one study were found to have elevated levels of cortisol in the morning. When the children showed up at a high-quality, small-group day-care center, where they bonded well with their teacher, the cortisol levels dropped. By afternoon, they were similar to the morning levels of their middle-class counterparts.

So, essentially, being poor costs a kid at least half a day in the classroom just to get the brain back to normal.Comment:  Indians are poor because the white man stole their land and herded them onto reservations. Poverty causes stress that's worse than child abuse. This--not the "primitiveness" of Indian cultures or the "socialist" nature of Indian societies--is what causes the "plight of the Indian." Poverty leads to violence, crime, substance abuse, depression, and suicide. And poor performance in school, of course.

For more on the subject, see Intergenerational Trauma = PTSD and Only Whites Blame "Intergenerational Trauma"?

LSU mounds protected from football fans

Indian Mounds to be fenced again

By Jordan BlumAfter meeting with LSU archaeologists and anthropologists this week, the administration decided to erect temporary fencing that would be removed after each football game day.

“It’s fantastic that the entire LSU administration and faculty and students are combined in support for the preservation of the mounds,” said Patrick Hesp, LSU geography and anthropology department chairman.And:Hesp insisted the fencing is only needed on game days when the overflow crowds lead to too many people trudging on the mounds at once. Such heavy traffic can cause permanent damage to the mounds, he said.

Early in the week, LSU faculty had complained they felt abandoned when the university administration opted to remove the ropes and poles protecting the mounds.Comment:  I say fence them off permanently. At least put a rope around them to discourage children from trampling on them.

If the kids strangle themselves on the ropes, it'll serve them right. Tell them to heal themselves with their free-market healthcare.

In other words, zero tolerance for the destruction of irreplaceable Indian artifacts, artwork, and sites.

For more on the subject, see LSU Tailgaters Play on Mounds and White Christians Say What's Sacred.

Below:  "Children used 'Please do not slide on the mounds' signs as makeshift sleds on the LSU Mounds prior to the LSU-West Virginia football game." In other words, kids show the typical American's "respect" for Indians. (Heather McKillop/LSU)

Documentary about Hearing Radmilla

Radmilla Cody comes to Civic Center

By Alysa LandryShe grew up without running water or electricity.

Her reign as Miss Navajo Nation was controversial.

An abusive romantic relationship landed her in federal prison.

Yet Radmilla Cody, 34, credits her challenges for carving her into the woman she is. Her life is the subject of a film showing at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Farmington Civic Center.And: The film "Hearing Radmilla" was 10 years in the making, producer Angela Webb said.

Webb, a Los Angeles-based filmmaker, started filming when Cody was Miss Navajo Nation.

"I didn't realize I would still be working on it 10 years later," she said.

The film evolved as Cody's life did. Webb particularly wanted to capture Cody's activism against domestic violence, she said.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Celebrity Fundraiser Against Domestic Violence and Radmilla Cody Visits Russia.

Below:  Radmilla Cody, former Miss Navajo.

Cameron criticizes oilsands "curse"

James Cameron lends star power to fight against oil-sands ‘curse’

By Josh WingroveIn a visit rivalling that of a royal dignitary, Canadian director James Cameron emerged as a high-profile voice for first nations groups who call Alberta’s oil sands “a curse,” pitting the Hollywood heavyweight against oil companies and the province that has long supported them.

Mr. Cameron effectively lent his celebrity to the leaders of several Alberta first nations by appearing with them Wednesday, thrusting their long-held complaints to unprecedented prominence.

Mr. Cameron, who recognizes there is apprehension about 'drive-by environmentalism,' urged Alberta to consider the environmental pressures the multibillion-dollar industry is putting on the province, pointing to the polluted Athabasca River in particular: 'I can't imagine being told by mom I can't swim in the river.'

But while many were wary of what Mr. Cameron describes as Hollywood “drive-by environmentalism,” he wielded a keen understanding of the industry and its intricacies, after wrapping up a three-day oil-sands tour. He was praised even by his opponents for listening to industry, government and first nations alike.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Cameron Tours Oilsands and Cameron to Visit Oilsands?

Fake tribes dilute true culture

Seek truth about Cherokee

By Ginger BrownThe Cherokee Nation does not question anyone’s claim of heritage or ancestry, but merely points out the significant difference between claiming heritage and having citizenship in a federally recognized Indian tribe.

Fraudulent groups and individuals passing themselves off as Native American have become big business over the past two decades, with more than 200 groups that claim to be some sort of Cherokee tribe. There are also hundreds of individuals who claim to be Cherokee or from the Cherokee Nation and offer services that range from teaching culture to spiritual advice.

However, there are only three federally recognized Cherokee tribes--the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians both located in Oklahoma and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians located in North Carolina. The Cherokee Nation is alive and well in Tahlequah, Okla., as it has been for 170 years. Cherokee language and culture still thrive here, as well as in North Carolina with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. No group outside of North Carolina and Oklahoma has ever been recognized as a legitimate Cherokee sovereign.

Fake tribes and individuals with unverifiable ties to Native American citizenship often claim to be passing on Cherokee cultural knowledge and traditional arts. But the reality is these groups and individuals dilute true Indian culture and identity. Many of them pass along cultural information that is incorrect or that perpetuates harmful stereotypes.Comment:  For an example of this issue, see Miss Oklahoma USA Is Cherokee? For more on the subject, see Trafficking in Tribal Membership and More Than 200 "Cherokee Tribes."