#indian national

[53v3nfrn5]

A roadside pond in Odisha, India, offers cooling waters, and red water lilies and sparkling pads add a touch of beauty. Photo: Atanu Paul

[coolestguyonearth]

Hi everyone, serious post!

If you've been following me for a while or you're a mutual of mine, you probably already know that I'm Native American, but I feel the need to expand a little bit.

I'm a member of the Chinook Indian Nation - I don't expect you to know that name. We've been fighting for recognition as long as I've been alive, even though we've been here since the beginning of European presence in the West Coast, and long before it.

We are constantly fighting. The vast majority of our population was killed by disease and colonization, and with that we lost our language. But after that hardship we are still here. We are still alive. The government has effectively spat in our faces and said that not only are we unworthy of their time - we are unworthy of respect. Of dignity. I'm asking you, the people who take the time to read this post to dedicate even a fraction of your time to signing our petitions, boosting this post, or using the ChinookJustice hashtag on any major social media platform.

We don't just want our land back, we want our home back. We want the bodies of our ancestors, which are routinely dug up during construction. We want the relics of our tribe that are hanging up in museums to be returned, but first there needs to be a home for them to return to. Our campaigns have shockingly low amounts of signatures, but I'm hoping that the good people I know are here can change that.

Here you can sign the petition to restore our federal recognition. Here residents of Washington and Oregon state can contact their legislators in support of federal recognition for the Chinook Nation. Here you can donate to help us continue fighting. Here you can find information about Chinook justice, and here is our official Instagram.

If you spent time reading this, thank you, but if you went out of your way to sign our petitions, donate, or spread awareness, I love you for it.

[usnatarchives]

Navajo papoose on a cradleboard with a baby lamb, Window Rock, AZ, 1936. 🐑

Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (NARA ID 519160).

[orofeaiel]

Wildflowers, Olympic National Park

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #NationalMothWeek:

Mughal miniature of an Atlas Moth, dated to the reign of Jahangir (r.1605-1627)

Brush in colors, black, white & gold, gouache, on paper; sheet H 214 mm × W 152 mm

Rijksmuseum RP-T-1993-116

[rebeccathenaturalist]

For those following the Chinook Indian Nation's work toward regaining federal recognition, this is an important endorsement. I posted a while back about a petition for the state of Washington to give the now-closed Naselle Youth Camp to the Chinook. The NYC is on unceded Chinook land, and specifically the portion of land the Chinook asked to retain almost two centuries ago as part of an unfulfilled treaty with the U.S. government.

A state task force formed to determine the fate of the NYC has officially recommended the NYC be given to the Chinook Indian Nation. Not only would this put the facility into the hands of people who will make excellent use of it, but the Chinook have also stated their intention to restore the on-site wastewater treatment facility and salmon hatchery. The former would additionally be a boon to the entirety of Pacific County, which currently ships its wastewater all the way to Centralia, WA, over 100 miles away from southern portions of the county.

If the NYC is indeed given to the Chinook, this will be an important statement that can be used to pressure the U.S. government to restore their federal recognition. To find out ways you can help the Chinook in this effort, please visit ChinookJustice.org.

[vintagecamping]

A camping party cooking over a campfire and eating near tent in Indian Henry, Mt. Rainier National Park.

Washington

1911

[pointandshooter]

The National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC

photo: David Castenson

[decolonize-the-everything]

Housing insecurity is racist & violent

"Seventy-five national, state, territorial, and local domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking organizations filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) urging it to support the rights of people who are homeless, including unhoused survivors, in City of Grants Pass, Ore. v. Johnson. This case is one of the most important SCOTUS cases regarding homelessness in the past 40 years. The amicus brief, authored by the National Housing Law Project and Sexual Violence Law Center, argues that housing is extremely limited for gender-based violence survivors, often forcing them to make impossible choices between sleeping outside or suffering continued violence. Criminalizing survivors will only increase their and their families’ risk of violence, trauma, and housing insecurity."

Article from July 29:

Housing advocates across Indian Country say Native Americans and Alaska Natives likely will feel the full weight of a June 28 Supreme Court ruling that has cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on unsheltered people sleeping outside in public places. Native Americans experience homelessness at a disparate rate. Advocates say the housing crisis is a reflection of our society’s unwillingness to address systemic issues.

“It’s criminalizing poverty,” said attorney Caroline LaPorte, who is an immediate descendant of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. “We are much more comfortable with putting, and paying, for people to be incarcerated.” LaPorte is the director of the STTARS Indigenous Safe Housing Resource Center, a project of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, and she is the board chairman for the StrongHearts Native Helpline. STTARS focuses on the intersection of housing insecurity and gender-based violence. A lawyer, she said the Supreme Court’s decision was enraging. “Everybody belongs in our communities. They deserve to be safe, and it is our responsibility. We are required to make sure that those people have the things that they need,” LaPorte said.[...]

Announced on June 28 in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, the court found that outdoor sleeping bans don’t violate the Eighth Amendment, which protects against cruel and unusual punishment.

[balkanparamo]

William Whitaker: Indian Maiden, 1975

[bucephaly]

It's kinda shocking to me how few people seem to know how prevalent the 'my great grandmother was cherokee' myth is and how it's almost never actually true, especially when it comes with things like 'never signed up' or 'fell off the trail' or 'courthouse burned down destorying the documentation' etc etc.

People just don't even seem to know the history like.. when the Trail happened. My great great great grandfather was 2 years old during Removal in 1838, so peoples 'my great grandmother hid in the mountains!' is so clearly wrong. And we have rolls. From before and after removal, rolls done by cherokee nation and others by the government, rolls that were not stored in one random flammable courthouse. It's not difficult to find the actual evidence of ancestry.

And just.. there are lots of ways those family stories get started. It was a practice during the confederacy to claim cherokee ancestry to show one's family had 'deep roots in the south' that they were there before the cherokee were removed. Many people pretended to be cherokee and applied for the Guion-Miller payout just to try to steal money meant for cherokees - 2/3rds of the applicants were denied for having 0 proof of actual cherokee ancestry. [We even see lawyers advertising signing up for the Miller roll just to try to get free money.] And the myth even started in some families in the cherokee land lotteries, where the land stolen from us was raffled off, including the house and everything that was left behind when the cherokees were removed. We have seen people whose families just take these things stolen from the cherokee family and adopt them into their own family story, saying that they were cherokee themselves.

If you had some family story about being cherokee and you wanna have proof one way or the other, check out this Facebook group run by expert cherokee genealogists that do research for free. Just please read the rules fully and respect the researchers. They run thousands of people's ancestries a year and their average is only around 0.7% of lines they run actually end up having true cherokee ancestry.

[humanrightsconnected]

It’s Indigenous People's Day! As we honor this significant day, learn about 14 influential Native American figures 👇!

[kemetic-dreams]

Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was born on July 7, 1906, in Mobile, Alabama. Though many speculate it may have been more like 1903.

According to Paige, his mother sent him to earn money carrying luggage for businessmen at the train station, but he was frustrated with the little money it paid. So he rigged a pole to carry several bags at once to make the job pay better, and his co-workers purportedly told him, "You look like a walking satchel tree." And his nickname stuck.

At the age of 42 in 1948, Paige was the oldest major league rookie while playing for the Cleveland Indians. He played with the St. Louis Browns until age 47, and represented them in the All-Star Game in 1952 and 1953. He was the first player who had played in the Negro Leagues to pitch in the World Series, in 1948, and was the first electee of the Negro League Committee to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

[jasongr-ace]

It’s so frustrating how much of Piper fanart looks like it could be here

[coolestguyonearth]

Another serious post!

Thank you all SO much for your support regarding my initial post about the Chinook nation. I'm hoping you'll lend me your attention one more time in preparation for this year's election.

Political candidates have time and time again promised aid to our nation only to utterly fail us when elected. I'm asking you all to get really mad about that on social media. It sounds silly, I know, but anger is a valuable weapon, especially during election season. Outrage fuels action. Today, our chairman sent out an email and provided us with these instructions:

1. Share the message and graphic below on social media to show your federal representative candidates that you are a #ChinookJustice voter, and justice cannot wait.

Copy the text below, paste it into a new social post, and update the bracketed text:

This November, I'm voting to support leaders who prioritize restoring federal recognition of the Chinook Indian Nation. [Tag your federal candidates] — if elected, what will you do to ensure  #ChinookJustice is restored?

^ these graphics are made to fit facebook, instagram, and twitter formats

2. Once you've taken action online, you can order shirts, stickers, lawn signs and more to show your community that you are a #ChinookJustice voter. All proceeds support community needs.

This is our redbubble store, and this is our printify! There are cute totes, pins, stickers, and even license plate frames.

I'm once again linking our Instagram, where you can see a variety of posts from birthdays to tribal events. And you can donate to us here and here.

also, a disclaimer - I am NOT an official of the Chinook Nation. I am not affiliated with council, nor am I a general representative. I'm just a guy fighting to protect his family. Thank you for choosing to support us <3