isuggestlandback

[isuggestlandback]

I have a suggestion

[isuggestlandback]

Annoyed at both US and Canadian liberals acting like Canada is an oppressed Global South country that is under the boot of US imperialism and full of progressive revolutionaries when it's actually one of the wealthiest countries in the world and an enthusiastic ally of the US in its imperialism most of the time, and when it isn't, it has its own imperialist and colonialist projects, especially mining, both in the Global South and on stolen Indigenous land within so called Canada - don't even get me started on how reactionary Canadian settlers are either, and it's not just the white ones born here bc a lot of non-white diaspora and immigrants are just as nationalistic and hate both Indigenous peoples and the Global South, even if their families are originally from the latter.

[isuggestlandback]

She's finished! I'm so happy with how this set turned out ♡

This is what's called a 'top set' for a powwow dancer. It's the beadwork that a dancer (usually a female dancer) wears from the chest up.

This set includes braid ties, earrings, a back barrette, and a head band. It's made of hand painted deer rawhide (aka parfleche) recycled/thrifted suede, wild moose hide, cowrie shells, and glass beads.

I would love to see this set on an old style jingle dancer 🥺

[isuggestlandback]

I am going into surgery today to have an 11.5cm (thats 4.53 inches in freedom units) cyst removed from my right ovary. I am chronically ill and intersex, which complicates things, and it will likely take me about a month to recover. I'm going to miss out on a lot of vending opportunities during the busiest season of the year for me!

If you would like to help a disabled Indigenous craftsperson pay their bills, you can send me money by PayPal, or tag your rich white friends in the notes 👀

[isuggestlandback]

Something that I get chills about is the fact that the oldest story told made by the oldest civilization opens with "In those days, in those distant days, in those ancient nights."

This confirms that there is a civilization older than the Sumerians that we have yet to find

Some people get existential dread from this

Me? I think it's fucking awesome it shows just how much of this world we have yet to discover and that is just fascinating

[isuggestlandback]

Derry Girls – 3.04: The Haunting

[isuggestlandback]

So heeeeere's a suggestion...

When my plan for a third worldist maoist revolution succeeds, every Usamerican shall be forced to attend geography classes

[isuggestlandback]

"There's a difference between those who see themselves merely as a Native descendant, versus those who embrace their Native roots as being a living and integral part of who they are. One who considers themselves only a descendant says things like, "I'm 1/16th (insert random popularized Native Nation title)” or, "My great grandmother was a Cherokee princess."

This statement may or may not be true, but either way its declaration is largely anecdotal, and only acknowledged when it's perceived as beneficial to them, i.e. a job, a scholarship, a new boyfriend's Pocahottie fetish, or as an excuse for why it's ok for them to wear a headdress while half dressed and drunk on Halloween or at a concert, festival, or sporting event.

These folks will go weeks, months or years without considering their Native ancestry and it's certainly not a part of their everyday lives.

That's why they don't care about the tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women, treaty rights, or extreme poverty in Native communities.

While not a “full blood” others with mixed ancestry can and do embrace their Native roots and a sense of ownership takes place.

When they see race based mascots or ridiculous Native caricatures, they don't see some remote extinct group being "honored." They see that they personally are being mocked, and know they are not a buckskin pantied sexbot, or a silly redskinned stereotype.

They know Natives are alive, human and real because they are Native. They also understand that the land and water and our ceremonies must be protected, because it is theirs as well as their grandparent's, and children's, and children's children.

They are not just descendants- they are Native. As such they will seek out the truth of their heritage and you will find them thirsting for knowledge about their people, culture, language, and ways. They become part of the whole- from tiospaye to Oyate."

-Ruth H. Hopkins

[isuggestlandback]

The reality of being Indigenous in so called Canada

• Indigenous women and girls make up 50% of human trafficking victims, while only making up about 2% of the population.¹

•If the territory of Nunavut was an independent country it would have the highest suicide rate in the world (135 per 100,000, which is 10x the canadian average)²

•Despite Calgary having a fairly low crime rate the Calgary Police kill more people than any other police force in Canada. In 2018 CPS killed more people than the police forces of Winnipeg, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto and Edmonton combined. ASIRT, the provincial police watchdog, has never charged an officer for these murders. If you control for population, the rate of civilians killed in Calgary by police is 8 times higher than in New York City. ³

•Between August 30th and December 14th 2024, 15 Indigenous people were killed by police in Canada. 15 people in under 4 months. Because Canada does not collect data on victims of police violence it's difficult to know exact numbers, but it's estimated that Indigenous people make up 16% of police killings, while only making up 4.1% of the population. Indigenous people are killed by police at a rate 10x higher than white canadians.⁴

•28% of people federally incarcerated are Indigenous. This number is as high as 40% in women's prisons. Indigenous women are incarcerated at a rate 12.5x higher than non Indigenous women. ⁵

•29 reserves in Canada are under drinking water advisories. Some of these advisories have been in place for more than 25 years. ⁶

•53.8% of kids in the foster care system are Indigenous. In the province I live in (Alberta) that number is more than 70%. ⁷

• 7% of non Indigenous Canadian children live in poverty. 38% of Indigenous children in Canada live in poverty. ⁷

Canada is not America-lite. Canada is not America's polite northern neighbour. Canada has its own brutal colonial history, and sits on forcibly occupied Indigenous land.

Sources:

¹ https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f75a4af6-cb87-4796-afa7-02c15c861241/resource/c21f2213-09d4-4fab-b55a-9e91f1bb44f5/download/jsg-reading-stone-survivors-lens-human-trafficking-2022-06.pdf

² https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4501584/

³ https://www.projectcalgary.org/d2f_track_record

https://www.cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/episodes/above-the-law

⁴

https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/deadly-force-an-inside-look-at-the-police-involved-deaths-of-2024/

https://newsroom.carleton.ca/story/police-involved-deaths-canada-rise/

⁵

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/oip-cjs/p3.html

⁶

https://canadians.org/fn-water/

⁷

https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1541187352297/1541187392851

[isuggestlandback]

Annoyed at both US and Canadian liberals acting like Canada is an oppressed Global South country that is under the boot of US imperialism and full of progressive revolutionaries when it's actually one of the wealthiest countries in the world and an enthusiastic ally of the US in its imperialism most of the time, and when it isn't, it has its own imperialist and colonialist projects, especially mining, both in the Global South and on stolen Indigenous land within so called Canada - don't even get me started on how reactionary Canadian settlers are either, and it's not just the white ones born here bc a lot of non-white diaspora and immigrants are just as nationalistic and hate both Indigenous peoples and the Global South, even if their families are originally from the latter.

[isuggestlandback]

Well!

So first, let's clear a common misconception: no, President Abraham Lincoln did not love Black people nor see them as human equals. At best he was centrist about it (though, even his implication that 'exceptional' Black men ought to vote got him assassinated).

"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do, it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union...I have here stated my purpose according to my view of official duty; and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free."

The "freeing of slaves" after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 was meant to kneecap the economic and military powers of the seceded South. Lettuce stop making a white savior figure out of Lincoln, or thinking that my people's shackles were unchained via anything other than desperate war strategy and extreme violence. Think on that, for a moment.

That being said!

But not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as "Juneteenth," by the newly freed people in Texas.

Consider going through the Smithsonian website to learn about Juneteenth! Recognize why it's an actual day of freedom, versus July 4th and the independence of a select few.

[isuggestlandback]

Donald is stupid I have a better idea

THE ENTIRE WEST IS BEING PUT UP FOR SALE AND I AM BEGGING YOU TO CALL YOUR SENATORS

Trump’s budget bill has many, many things in it, but buried amongst it is the MILLIONS OF ACRES OF PUBLIC LAND FOR SALE.

This is the entirety of the Arizona state forests, the entire Cascades mountain range. Swathes of pristine desert around the national parks in Utah. On the doorstep of Jackson Hole.

THIS BILL IS BIG, BUT IT CAN BE AMENDED AND ABSOLUTELY MUST NOT PASS AS IS please.

If you have ever enjoyed the wilderness, we stand to lose it all forever.

CALLING your senators - NOT JUST IN THE WEST. ALL SENATORS, is CRUCIAL.

Outdoor alliance has a great resource for reaching out.

I don’t have a huge following but please, everywhere I have ever loved, the forests I grew up playing in, the land I got married on, is all at risk and I am begging.

[isuggestlandback]

I gotta be honest... I think some of yas might be a little stupid

[isuggestlandback]

Master doc that contains different resources and support for many countries including Palestine, Congo, Haiti, Hawai’i, etc ((op is underneath the link))

[isuggestlandback]

If you voted, please read the rest of the post:

I am making this post on behalf of a trans woman named Magala (@lovelyimuhshin) currently living in Gorom refugee camp, South Sudan.

She has been organizing aid for a group of transgender and other queer refugees who have been under constant threat of violence on top of the dangers inherent to life as a refugee. Some members of the group also suffer from health conditions such as HIV and cancer.

Your solidarity should not only extend to the western queer community. Magala and the rest of the queer refugees in Gorom are just as deserving of your solidarity and support as anyone else, and they need your help badly. Information provided to me regarding contact and donations can be found below:

Phone Number: +254794011191

Name: Mukisa Davis

Country: Kenya

City: Nairobi

GoFundMe Link

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-save-lives-of-lgbt-sudanese-refugees

[isuggestlandback]

This year some of my favourite books I read were written by indigenous American authors and I just wanted to shout out a couple that I fell in love with

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Horror being my second most read genre, I did not think books could still get under my skin the way this one did lol. It follows four Blackfoot men who are seemingly being hunted by a vengeful... something... years after a fateful hunting trip that happened just before they went their separate ways. The horror, the dread, the something... pure nightmare fuel 10/10

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

An apocalyptic novel following an isolated Anishinaabe community in the far north who lose contact with the outside world. When two of their young men return from their college with dire news, they set about planning on how to survive the winter, but when outsiders follow, lines are drawn in the community that might doom them all. This book is all dread all the time, the use of dreams and the inevitability of conflict weighs heavy til the very end. An excellent apocalypse story if you're into that kind of thing.

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

This book follows Jade, a deeply troubled mixed race teenager with a shitty homelife who's *obsessed* with slasher movies. When she finds evidence that there's a killer running about her soon-to-be gentrified small town, she weaponises that knowledge to predict what's going to happen next. I don't think this book will work for most people, it's a little stream of consciousness, Jade's head is frequently a very difficult place to be in, but by the last page I had so much love for her as a character and the emotional rollercoaster she's on that I had to mention it here.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Taking a bit of a left turn but this charming YA murder mystery really stuck with me this year. Elatsoe is a teenage girl living in an America where myths, monsters, and magic are all real every day occurrences. When her cousin dies mysteriously with no witnesses, she decides to do whatever she can, including using her ability to raise the spirits of dead animals, to solve the case. The worldbuilding was just really fun in this one, but the Native American myths and influence were the shining star for me, and the asexual rep was refreshing to see in a YA book too tbh

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

The audiobook, the audiobook, the audiobook!!!! Also the physical book because formatting and illustrations, but the audiobook!!! Tanya Tagaq is an Inuit throat singer, and this novel is a genre blending of 20 years worth of the authors journal entries, poetry, and short stories, that culminates in a truly unique story about a young girl surviving her teenage years in a small tundra town in the 70s. It is sad and beautiful and hard but an experience like nothing else I read this year.