#there were a lot of cool redrum bikers too

[mueritos]

happy indigenous peoples day ^-^ a year ago i found out my family is half indigenous, so ive made it a personal duty to try and reconnect in order to honor those ancestors and histories. it's not my fault that I may never know my tribal affiliation (we know they lived around Popocatépetl), but it is my responsibility to do my best to honor them. since starting grad school, i've made an effort to talk about my indigenous roots more often, and to be honest about the fact that i do consider myself mixed indigenous. I also talk about this taking into account that I have white privilege, and how this has complicated my relationship to indiginiety.

anyway, i went to an ipd event outside of boston today and was so happy!! i had to leave early for a health emergency (thank u random uti) but it was so fun and i experienced and learned a lot. loved the mexica dance group who danced for Huitzilopochtli (i love you Huitzilopochtli he was pulled for me during a tarot reading and he told me to be fucking strong!!!!), and i especially loved experiencing the seven sacred directions where the entire crowd moved as one. i talked to some lovely indigenous people and they gave me so much guidance and love! it made me feel so happy...I wish I was able to stay longer, but I enjoyed being in a space where I was so welcomed.

if you're detribalized like me or trying your best to reconnect, never be ashamed of the fact that you were forcibly removed from your tribal affiliation. never be ashamed of how you look like either! there were so many "white passing" indigenous folks there embracing and celebrating with those in full regalia, and so many people of many appearances joined in for ceremonial dance. even if you're 10% or 3% indigenous, I still think you deserve to know your ancestor's culture and history! i still think you deserve to honor those parts of you! they wanted us to forget about our indigenous roots for a reason, and i refuse to colonize my mind any longer. opening yourself up to indigineity, even if you don't know your affiliation or "how much" is in you, is far better than never learning a damn thing about indigenous folks.

i hope everyone had a lovely indigenous peoples day ^-^