Indian (1493) means those native to the Americas, those whose families were there before 1492, when Columbus arrived. Inuits (Eskimos) are not seen as Indians in English, while Filipinos in Spanish are (or were).
Because the word can also mean someone from India, sometimes people use
- “American Indian”,
- “Red Indian” (British),
- “Native American” (U.S.),
- “First American”,
- “First Nations” (Canadian) or
- “Amerindian” (scholarly).
Because “American” in English mainly means the U.S., still further confusion is added.
Indians who come to Anglo America from Latin America are seen mainly as Latinos, Mexicans and so on by Anglos. According to this way of thinking, Mayans are Mayans only in the history books or in their native land, but not if they move to Los Angeles.
Russell Means of the American Indian Movement:
I abhor the term Native American. We were enslaved as American Indians, we were colonized as American Indians, and we will gain our freedom as American Indians, and then we will call ourselves any damn thing we choose.
In the US, most Indians seem to use “Indian”, just as most blacks use “black”.
Indian is a racialized term: it not only sees Indians mainly according to race but, by putting 2,000 different cultures under one word, it leads to stereotyping and profoundly false conclusions. All those other terms, like “First American” and “Amerindian”, make the same mistake. About the only thing Indians have in common is being seen and dealt with as “Indians” by whites, which in turn makes race into reality, as socially constructed as it is.
That means if you are “Indian” in White American society it is best to own it and be proud of it. The “Just Be American” approach has been tried – it was government policy in the early 1900s – and has been found wanting. Big time.
The term “Indian” comes from a letter Columbus wrote in 1493 where, in an offhand way, he called the people of the Caribbean “Indians” – because he thought they were in India. In those days Asia east of the Indus river was called “India”, like on this map that Columbus may have used:
In 1501 Amerigo Vespucci discovered the mistake: that the Americas (named after him) were not part of India at all. But it was too late.
The word came into English in the middle 1500s from translations of Spanish accounts of the Americas. The words “negro” (1555), “race” (1580), “European” (late 1500s), and “whites” (early 1600s) soon followed.
Until the 1600s the most common English term for the people in the Americas was “savages”. That laid the groundwork for many of the ill-informed stereotypes that were poured into the racialized frame of “Indian”, leading in time to genocide and lasting down to this day.
My general practice has been to talk about Americans and then, when race is important, add “White”, “Black”, “Native” or “Asian” in front of it or, where “American” is understood, to drop it and just say “blacks”, “natives”, “whites”, etc.
– Abagond, 2012.
Sources: Robert F. Berkhofer, “The White Man’s Indian” (1979), Charles C. Mann: “1491” (2006), “Shorter Oxford English Dictionary” (2007), Harold E. Driver, “Indians of North America” (1969), especially his cultural maps where it soon becomes apparent that before Columbus Indians had very little in common, The word “race”, growing up Native American, The eight stages of genocide
See also:
It says something when folks base their ideas from Columbus taking a wrong turn! Another thing I find interesting is the origin of state names in the U.S. Many states (and areas within) based their names/titles from various native languages.
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I think its safe to say that just about any word used in English, or Spanish or Portuguese or Italian , to describe what happened in the continents between China and Africa and Eurasia, is going to be tainted.
Precisly because there is a guy like Russel Means, is why there really is no definition that is not going to be scrutinised by someone. Its why intent is much more important than which word is used. If most Indians use Indian like “black” is used by black Americans, “Native American ” is going to feel funny to them…at least to Russel Means…I would rather take it on an individual basis based on if a person of Indian heratige was having the conversation with me…I dont think someone who is not of Indian heritage would be right to tell me what is “wrong” to use, they could be giving me bad information like not knowing how a guy like Russel Means feels
Common sence is the best guide…communication of ideas and the meaning of the communicator is what is important
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In Canada, First Nations people are also referred as Aboriginals.
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That is the shittiest world map I’ve ever seen. No wonder Columbus was confused. lol
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Does anyone ever notice how the racial classifications for racial minorities are so confusing, but the “White” category always means the same thing?
What do others think?
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WordDefinition
Your search [word => ‘american’ ] returned 3 results.
american
AMER’ICAN, a. Pertaining to America.
AMER’ICAN, n. A native of America; originally applied to the aboriginals, or copper-colored races, found here by the Europeans; but now applied to the descendants of Europeans born in America
http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/search/word,american
None of these people look copper coloured. is the 1828 Webster dictionary incorrect? Why was the Copper used to describe rather than red?
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@ Ms. J yeah whats up with THAT ish?
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@ Abagond
Thanks for this post. I wrote to Russell Means and learned of their struggles.
He’s offering anyone who renounces US citizenship full Lakota citizenship. I contributed to their cause.
Natives come in shades of pale, red. brown(my family) and black, like along the Mississippi Delta. We also have Aboriginals in the islands…like my brother. We intermarried and raised our kids with a mixture of both cultures.
When I heard that the Cherokee, one of the largest nations/ tribes, threw out the Africans when they received reparations, I was very heartbroken. Those blacks have been in the family for generations! Love of money is indeed an evil thing.
Funny how most whites think Natives are savages. They had languages, astronomy, math and entire villages like the African before any European but we’re the savage!
Go figure.
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In finish language there are two words from the same root: Intiaani, that is an american native, and Intialainen, that a person from India. So even if they come from the same word, those little differences distinct them from each other.
When I was in USA way back when, most natives I met talked about indians, meaning themselves and other native nations, and were pretty much on the same lines as Russell, that they can call themselves what ever they want (one guy recommended Walking Dead), and not what some one else wants to call them.
This was the time when Political Correctness was coming very fashionable and one native guy with whom I used to train at local gym found it hilarious that after generations of genocides and oppression whites were now arguing what was the polite and poltically correct name for the original people. All the different nations had different names, just like in Europe people have their own names, and white americans wanted to have one name for all, just like when they came up with the Indian.
For the guys I met and talked to all this arguing about what new name to give them was just stupid because many, once asked who they were, replied just simply The People.
I had an encounter with some federal law enforcement people with some natives over there and even though the situation was a bit tense with guns and all and I was scared s******s, one of native guys just said: “Here we go again”. As a joke. I guess they did not take whites too seriously anymore, not even the ones coming up with polite new name.
What surprised me perhaps the most was how much people still were scared of the natives, particulary those who had any traditional signs, like long hair, braids etc. And it was not just the whites, it was the black americans too. Walking into a store with few natives was an experience, the looks, the whispers and expressions on peoples faces were something that spoke more than words.
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@bulanik:
Yes, it is confusing and particulary in case of people from India. And yes, they were treated by their brittish opressors much in the same way as was done in Americas. And if we talk about racist stereotypes of the people of India, then Gunga Din is a perfect showcase. There is a heroic indiand fellow who is willing to die for white man and who fights with the white men against his own people who, by the way, are zombie like maniac assassins and stranglers and absolutely pagans, devil worshippers hell bent on human sacrifices etc.
But what name indians have themselves? I gather there are several linguistic and cultural groups, people, living in India proper. Do they consider themselves as indians belonging to India or do they, the sikhs and tamilis for instance, see themselves a part from others?
Also, when the idea of India began? I know it was considered to be a one cultural entity at very early on, but who were the first to call the whole sub continent as India and identify it as a whole?
Thanks for anyones information. This is interesting and I think the history of the name India/indians is interesting too in connection of the use of the name in Americas.
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To Abagond:
Indians who come to Anglo America from Latin America are seen mainly as Latinos, Mexicans and so on by Anglos. According to this way of thinking Mayans are Mayans only in the history books or in their native land, not if they move to Los Angeles.
Mexica is what the Aztecs called themselves in their native language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexica
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To Bulanik:
I’ve noticed that the Indians of India tend to be looked down upon as lower down than the native peoples of the Americas.
I can see that in an abstract conceptual sense but I am pretty sure your average Indian guy (from the country..) in Silicon Valley gets treated better on a day to day basis than an Indian (who ancestry in the US goes back thousands of years..) in South Dakota or Oklahoma. Diversity in my company is one guy from Hyderabad, one from Bangalore, and another from Chennai. When a group of people dominate an industry you can’t get away with treating them like crap.
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Frankly, it’s pretty annoying that the terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Asian’ aren’t used in their geographical meaning. It creates unnecessary confusion as they are still used in their geographical meaning in scholarly works. Why not just stop honoring the mistakes?
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It sure would have to include the whole Americas North and South, that the incredible history of India and its people is just off their radar. It sure isnt in Brazil…I cant say as an American that I ever heard of those stereotypes that the American writer wrote in 1920’s, India was just not gone into with much detail in our American lives, unfortunatly…India is an incredible country with a culture unbeleivibly rich…
The strange dichotomy is, seeping into American pop culture now is millions of Americans practice some form of pop yoga…and, some Americans practice Transcendental Meditation…they are probably closer to going after the rich cultural spirituality in a pop way of India culture than the deeper spiritual aspects that Afro Diasporic culture has to offer (I dont mean practice an Afro diasporic religion like Candomble, I mean the concepts that those African religions used and appropriated from the African culture that the people were producing in its ancient expresions that opened their souls up and put them in alpha states and learning to get in touch with intuition ) and Afro Diasporic culture is right under the nose of most Americans and they dont even want to pursue it any farther than as some pop entertainment or watered down whitened jazz university class
What Americans are doing now with Yoga is exactly apropriating culture but not have an afinity with the people who produced the culture from India
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@bulanik: yeap. thanks for info. but what about the name India? Who and where used it for the first time? Is it the name by the outsiders for India or by the people of India for themselves?
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@sam
we were taught in history classes when Alexander and his army came to the bank of the river Sindhu to the extreme north of India(that was the only way Alexander could have come to India), they could not pronounce Sindhu and called it Indus instead, and from that word came the name India. The Indian name for India is Bharat.
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To Bulanik:
Bulanik said:
“I’ve noticed that the Indians of India tend to be looked down upon as lower down than the native peoples of the Americas.”
UM said:
“I can see that in an abstract conceptual sense but I am pretty sure your average Indian guy (from the country..) in Silicon Valley gets treated better on a day to day basis than an Indian (whose ancestry in the US goes back thousands of years..) in South Dakota or Oklahoma.”
Abagond has already touched on this with his Fake Indians post. Some people, mostly Whites, will pretend (sometimes rather effectively..) they are fully American Indian or have native heritage because it’s considered cool or what have you…. however, I have read that American Indians are treated poorly in places with they have relatively high numbers such as the Dakotas or Oklahoma.
In the mind of the average American an Asian Indian may not be considered cool… but Asian Indians in Silicon Valley have a huge impact on the local IT industry and are generally financially well off, which basically increases their social status and control over their personal lives.
I do not know about other areas of the US.
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Columbus thought he was in the East Indies, or what is now the area including “Indonesia”. The islands he discovered are often called the “West Indies” as a result.
I see the name “Hindustan” for a large part of the area comprising India on old maps. An Indian guy I work with has told me that practically every state in India has its own language and culture. A unified culture is still in many ways being forged there. I wonder if it would of occurred without the British.
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@ Joshua
I agree with the second sentence but the first is misleading.
In 1492 Columbus thought he was right off the coast of China. In fact he thought Cuba was China, the same place Marco Polo had been.
For Columbus the Indies were Asia east of the Indus river: not just what we call Indonesia but also India, China and all of South East Asia.
Earlier still, like in the 1100s, East Africa was one of the Three Indias. In Spanish “Indies” is just “Indias”, the plural of India. In English it is “Indies” because India used to be called Indy.
As late as 1900 the East Indies were what we now call South East Asia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indies
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To Bulanik:
You know 3 Indians (from Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai) and far more about Silicon Valley than I do, but what that proves about history and over 1.2 billion of the world’s population, is a mystery.
I was responding to your phrase:
“I’ve noticed that the Indians of India tend to be looked down upon as lower down than the native peoples of the Americas.”
Which appeared to discuss the current conditions of Asian Indians in the US versus American Indians in the US, not conditions in the rest of the world nor what happened historically.My reference to 3 hypothetical guys from Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Chennai was to illustrate that Asian Indians have a very strong presence in Silicon Valley, I certainly know more than 3 Asian Indians.
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Hahahaha!
Thanks Bulanik, you made my day. I can almost hear what the guy is thinking…”please grandma, not in front of my homies…”
People really should respect and appreciate their inheritance and understand its value. Too many try to act cool and bow to the american cultural hegemony. I can see finnish kids hanging tough and acting like little thugs and it is ever so unappealing. Nothing wrong as appreciating american popular culture (me myself being a sequential narrative aficionado), but you should not throw your own heritage in to the bin and have it completely replaced, turning world into a monoculture.
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I learned as a youngster that Columbus misnamed Indigenous Native Americans as Indians because he though he had landed in India, so I was shocked to see when traveling through Arizona the U.S. government installed road signs using the term “Indian”. I never saw a U.S. government road sign use other term. I believe that’s a very conscious decision because the U.S. doesn’t want European Americans to realize that they are guests on Amerindian land. I always thought that if I was Amerindian I would not call myself Indian. And especially now that there is a huge migration of actual Indians from India to the U.S. – it’s makes little practical sense to call Amerindians Indian. I always think how awkward Indians from India feel when they hear the term Indian to describe Amerindians. This craziness in terms that the U.S. has started confuses each new generation of children.
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Indian is not the only mythogeographical term for a race:
Caucasian – what do white people have to do with the Caucasus mountains?
Oriental – means east, but east of what? East of Europe would make some sense, as a Eurocentrism, but while Americans call carpets from Iran and Pakistan “Oriental”, they do not call the people there Oriental.
Strange stuff.
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@abagond:
That “caucasian” is really weird indeed. Who the hell still uses it and why? I mean, it is 2012! And yet… I’ve noticed that some white americans get a bit upset when you tell them that caucasians are actually azeris and tshetshens and those guys.
Also, “Oriental” referred orginally to the Mid East part, Ottoman Empire, arab lands etc. but still… How a carpet can be oriental and come from Iran, and then iranian is not oriental but iranian?? And who drew the line to where of Orient and why it is still there??
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Abagond:
Why are Amerindians from Central and South America still identifying themselves under the name of their slavemasters? The terms latino and hispanic are offensive to me. It’s convenient for whites spaniards and portugese to hide behind the indians and africans they enslaved. They can maintain control over them and escape the scrutiny of indians in the US and africans throughout the diaspora. Who are they fooling with that nonsense? As black people, we should not partake in the foolishness that is spanish culture. Call them as they are…indians are indians, blacks are black. I don’t care what white Cubans, Dominicans, and other whites think…they have no say in the convo. They need to stop the madness, slavery is over, Columbus is not a global icon, Spain is not relevant anymore, etc.
Tyrone
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@Sam
“That “caucasian” is really weird indeed. Who the hell still uses it and why?”
For scientific purposes, and within health studies “caucasian” is used in place of whites as there is no other term that can be used. So, lots of people still use it.
As you can see here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/08/30/edmonton-halle-popowich-donors-men.html
“Caucasian” ^ here usually implies Euro-Canadians.
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“Tyrone,
The terms latino and hispanic are offensive to me. It’s convenient for whites spaniards and portugese to hide behind the indians and africans they enslaved. They can maintain control over them and escape the scrutiny of indians in the US and africans throughout the diaspora. Who are they fooling with that nonsense? As black people, we should not partake in the foolishness that is spanish culture. Call them as they are…indians are indians, blacks are black”
Linda says,
Tyrone, you are wrong on so many levels, I don’t know what to say.
I do know that you obviously believe in the white American “one-drop” rule because you (and majority of posters) really don’t seem to get the reality:
Majority population in Spanish Caribbean/Central America are mixed-race mestizos, mulattos, creoles, etc – they are not ONLY European, African, or Amerindian…majority are mixed –their society did not force segregation — they did the opposite.
You’re looking at people like George Lopez and telling him, he should only identify as “Indian” because he looks like it to you and rest of America, right…when in reality, he is mestizo (he undertook a DNA test and found out he is 55% European, 32% Native American, 9% East Asian, 4% sub-Saharan African)
I know it’s hard for you to accept or understand, especially with those, as you call them, “self-hating” black/brown people coming to America and cozying up to white people because back in their homeland, their white forefathers had no problems marrying black or brown women;
but Latinos have their own internalized racism /colourism to deal with and don’t need black or white Americans telling them “who or what” they are supposed to be.
Why do you think your American “one drop rule” is true and their Latino version of the one drop rule, “Blanqueamiento” is not?
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And just so we are on the same page, let me put this out there.
not every self-identified Spanish-speaking so called “white” person is ashamed of their Amerindian or African blood, but unfortunately, colourism dictates how people self-identify.
In Latin America, there is a saying–“Money Whitens”– because being white is connected more to socio-economic status than to specific phenotypic traits. The people in power are/have always been, white Spanish/European descendants.
The Latin American “one-drop” theory is opposite your American rule: 1 white Spanish/European ancestor is enough to make you “white” or “non-black” — at least, no longer considered African or Indian.
Unlike USA, this unofficical, non-government sponsored Latino “one drop” rule is a called “Blanqueamiento”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanqueamiento
I am not saying that there aren’t black, white, or Indian Central/South Americans who have no admixture (pure blood) –yes, this population of people are there of course, the Amerindians never left and they are still intact but put it in perspective:
Europeans immigrated to South America and changed the landscape for certain countries (like Argentina) and lightened up the population for many.
These countries do have white Europeans who are not mixed and make up at least at least 40% of the population…but that depends on the country, not the entire Continent.
and not all Africans mixed with other people, such as the Maroons in Columbia or Suriname or the blacks in Peru or Brazil. So yes, there is definitely people who are not mixed but they are not the majority in most Latino countries.
I know you don’t like the Latin American mindset because it puts “White” or “light skin” at the top of the totem-pole (I don’t like it either being part-Latina myself)
I know it’s hard for you, Tyrone, because you happen to live with a bunch of racist Cubans and Latin Americans who don’t see themselves as “black” or “Indian” — but the reality is, they are mixed-raced and the “dark-skinned ones” choose to not be defined by America’s “one drop theory”
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Linda, for sure some things you have said aply to Brazil
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Russell Means R.I.P.
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Indian American = Heritage from India
American Indian = Heritage from America
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The Canadian Mi’kmaq are getting a rough deal at the moment.
http://halifax.mediacoop.ca/story/rcmp-bring-60-drawn-guns-dogs-assault-rifles-serve/19358
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWorGYMlDBI&feature=youtu.be)
Another chapter in the unending chronicle of expansionist European invasion, theft and oppression.
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“In Latin America, there is a saying–“Money Whitens”– because being white is connected more to socio-economic status than to specific phenotypic traits. The people in power are/have always been, white Spanish/European descendants.”
Actually, in Mexico full-blooded indigenous people could be at the top. Right after the conquest the Spanish made some of the Aztec royalty “honorary Spanish” and around the time of Lincoln Mexico had a full-blooded Indigenous president, Benito Juarez. The key was that he was not culturally indigenous. He actually did forced relocation of the Yaqui in a Mexican kind of Trail of Tears.
In high school I studied for a time outside of the U.S. and I had a Mexican teacher with a PhD who was really Indigenous looking, while I am much more European looking than her. However, it was obvious that she felt superior to me socially and would ask things like if I was planning on going to college (middle-class college educated Mexicans think of Mexican Americans a lot like white liberals do). She also spoke with a British accent. It was a good move on her part actually as if she spoke English with an American accent she would get a lot of racism in the U.S., but with a British accent people would probably treat her with more respect.
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“Chican@ and Indigenous Connections: Long Overdue Conversations at UC Davis”
http://www.notesfromaztlan.com/2015/04/03/chican-and-indigenous-connections-long-overdue-conversations-at-uc-davis/
“UC Davis 46th Annual Native American Culture Days Presents:
Chican@ and Indigenous Connections: Long Overdue Conversations
April 7th, 2015 4-8pm SCC- Multi-Purpose Room
This two-part event will engage the relationships between Xican@s and Native American and Indigenous peoples, in the U.S., the borderlands, and Mexico. Some of the questions to be addressed are: As communities, where are we? Where are we going? How do we relate to each other’s indigeneity? What are the tensions, obstacles, and challenges to our understandings of each other? What are some of the positive advances that have brought our communities closer together? How can we come together as peoples who are original to the Americas? How can we manifest solidarity through our relationships with each other?”
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“Pat Bellanger, prominent Indian activist from Minneapolis, dies”
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/298643451.html?page=all&prepage=1&c=y#continue
“One of the founders of the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968, an Indian activist organization that began in Minneapolis, she was an unassuming leader who participated in some of the seminal Indian protests of the modern era, including the takeover of the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington, D.C., in 1972, the occupation of Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973, and last year’s mass march in Minneapolis to protest the Washington Redskins’ nickname.”
“Long’s wife, Jacqueline Long, now a Hennepin County public defender, was working for the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis in the 1970s when she said she met Bellanger, who told her, “We need you to help our people in the court system.” Jacqueline Long said Bellanger was concerned that many American Indian youth were being lost to white foster homes and white adoptions. She said Bellanger helped to lobby for the Indian Welfare Act, a national law that requires Indian children to first be placed with the family, then families in the same tribe before other placements are considered.
“She helped create programs in the Twin Cities that implemented that law, programs for women who had lost their children to alcohol abuse, helping them back on their feet and get reconnected to Indian culture,” Long said. She said hundreds of mothers were reunited with their children thanks to Bellanger’s work.”
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“Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Van Hunnik”
https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/oglala-sioux-tribe-v-van-hunnik
March 31, 2015
“Three Indian parents, the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a class-action lawsuit to challenge the continued removal of Indian children in Pennington County, South Dakota from their homes based on insufficient evidence and without proper hearings, in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 and the constitutional right to due process.”
“When children are removed from their parents based on an allegation of neglect or abuse, a substantive hearing should normally be held in order to determine whether their children should continue to be separated from them. Instead, the lawsuit contends, Pennington County officials hold a cursory hearing in 48 hours that sometimes lasts no more than a minute, where all of the documents are kept a secret from the parents and they are not permitted to introduce any evidence, and their children are then removed for a minimum of 60 days and usually 90 days, according to the complaint. Most parents are also unfairly coerced by the court to “work with” the state Department of Social Services (DSS), which essentially authorizes the department to hold the children for at least two months under whatever terms DSS wants. DSS rarely seeks to assist the family.”
“On March 30, 2015, in a sweeping victory for Indian families, a federal court ordered South Dakota officials to stop violating the rights of Indian parents and tribes in state child custody proceedings on several grounds.
In a 45-page ruling, Chief Judge Jeffrey L. Viken wrote that “Indian children, parents and tribes deserve better,” agreed with all seven of the ACLU’s claims, and ordered the state to:
•Provide parents with adequate notice prior to emergency removal hearings
•Allow parents to testify at those hearings and present evidence
•Appoint attorneys to assist parents in these removal proceedings
•Allow parents to cross-examine the state’s witnesses in the hearings
•Require state courts to base their decisions on evidence presented during these hearings.”
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“Cindy Gladue case sends a chilling message to indigenous women”
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/cindy-gladue-case-sends-a-chilling-message-to-indigenous-women/article23609986?service=mobile
“Initiate an appeal of Justice for Cindy Gladue”
https://www.change.org/p/honourable-jonathan-denis-qc-mla-minister-of-justice-and-solicitor-general-initiate-an-appeal-of-justice-for-cindy-gladue
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” I’m Not Your Disappearing Indian”
Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/04/03/im-not-your-disappearing-indian-154311?page=0%2C0
“I forget that most people, even other people of color, have never met a Native American. That the figure they have in their minds is some kind of rough construct adorned in feathers and wearing fringed buckskin and saying little. When they meet me, with my long, black hair and dark eyes and high cheekbones, it doesn’t occur to me that they may be trying to fit me into that jumble of stereotypes they carry around. I have always seen myself, until now, as a member of this group of PoC journalists and activists.”
“And what is the antidote to these stereotypes that fill the minds of so many of our fellow Americans, regardless of ethnic background? It is hearing and seeing Native people in the media and social media as we are today. We must not only challenge these images but also fill the void left once we get rid of them. And I do believe we will get rid of Native mascots. I also think that each time we remind our allies and reach out to journalists who forget about us in their coverage, things will get better there, too.
For instance, Jeff Yang (or @originalspin on Twitter) of the Wall Street Journal, who authored an article about the New Tiger Lily has been responsive to my request to include Native voices. He promptly began following us and when the story about the Colbert Report’s satire of Snyder’s foundation came out, he included us in his article. He is the only one so far, but if we keep it up more will follow. And our Asian American allies? An online activist organization representing Asian American and Pacific Islanders recenly tweeted at us that they want to help and are planning a campaign to take on Snyder and his foundation.
We really can talk to our allies and to the media. They will listen. But we have to speak up.”
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“Epithet that divides Mexicans is banned by Oxnard school district”
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/28/local/la-me-indigenous-derogatory-20120528
“Earlier this month the Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project in Oxnard launched the “No me llames Oaxaquita” campaign. “Don’t call me little Oaxacan” aims to persuade local school districts to prohibit the words “Oaxaquita” and “indito” (little Indian) from being used on school property, to form committees to combat bullying and to encourage lessons about indigenous Mexican culture and history.
Indigenous Mexicans have come to the U.S. in increasing numbers in the last two decades. Some estimates now put them at 30% of California’s farmworkers. In Ventura County, there are about 20,000 indigenous Mexicans, most of whom are Mixtec from the states of Oaxaca and Guerrero who work in the strawberry industry, according to local organizers.”
“”One of the main themes is the discrimination, bullying, teasing and verbal abuse that they receive from other Mexican immigrant classmates who are not indigenous,” he said. The abuse, which often goes unnoticed or is minimized by teachers and administrators, has left some of the indigenous students too embarrassed to speak their native languages, he said.
Educators and others in the U.S. often don’t recognize diversity within the Mexican community, said Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, a researcher at the UCLA Labor Center who has written extensively about indigenous Mexican migration.
“We forget that it’s a multilingual, multiethnic community,” he said. “We forget about the fact that 62 indigenous languages are spoken in Mexico.”
The organizing project’s campaign, Rivera-Salgado said, “is a really interesting way to confront, very directly, something that the Mexican nation and the Mexican immigrant community sometimes sweeps under the rug, and that’s the prevalence of racism and discrimination that indigenous people have to endure in Mexico and that is reproduced here in the United States.””
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“Missing Students Case Also Highlights Racism in Mexico”
http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/01/missing-students-case-also-highlights-racism-in-mexico/
“The missing students and their families who are searching for them tirelessly are poor peasant farmers, most of whom are indigenous.
That is the description, in fact, of the students of the colleges that train the schoolteachers who work in Mexico’s poor rural villages with the aim of helping their communities combat the poverty, hunger, marginalisation and discrimination faced by the country’s indigenous people, who officially number 12 million in a total population of 122 million.
The Mexican census identifies people as indigenous if they preserve their native languages, traditions, beliefs and cultures. There are 54 indigenous peoples in Mexico. The great majority of the population identifies as “mestizo” or mixed-race.
At least half of the 43 missing “normalistas”, as rural teachers college students are known in Mexico, belong to the Me’phaa, Nahuatl or Mixteco indigenous peoples. And when an indigenous person dies, a language, culture and hope die out a little more, the victims’ families and experts point out.”
“The southern states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Chiapas have the largest indigenous populations and are among the poorest states. In Guerrero the native population officially numbers around 600,000 people from the Amuzgo, Mixteco, Nahuatl and Me’phaa communities.”
“The government’s National Programme for Equality and Non-Discrimination 2014-2018 (PRONAIND) reports that 76 percent of the country’s indigenous population lives in poverty, and has “historically suffered from discrimination.”
In Mexico, indigenous people, the small black minority, and the rural population are poorer and less educated, and have lower incomes, less social protection and limited access to justice and participation in politics, according to PRONAIND.
“There are clear signs of discrimination,” activist Maurilio Santiago, head of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Advice for Indigenous Peoples (CEDHAPI), based in the state of Oaxaca, told IPS. “Indigenous people are seen as third-class citizens. There is no equality in education and access to justice.””
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“Forging a New Path”
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/social-affairs/20140215/forging-a-new-path
“The discrimination indigenous Mexicans face is a problem few outside of the Mexican community are aware of but one that is causing a rift at schools across the state.
Laura Flores who was also born in Oaxaca said she felt embarrassed at her class’ ignorance. For years, children have bullied her with the slurs “indito” and “Oaxaquita” because of her indigenous roots. “I wouldn’t want to go to school anymore,” she said, adding that the names are similar to the N-word.
It’s a problem that Flores has been trying to address through awareness as the president of RAICES Indigenas de Mexico, a 3-year-old student club that serves as a safe haven where indigenous students share their experiences, learn about cultural awareness and become involved in the community. By organizing, the teens are strengthening their own identity that encompasses their indigenous, mestizo Mexican and American cultures.
“Discrimination against indigenous Mexicans is deeply rooted in history,” said Angelina Trujillo, who teaches the indigenous language Mixteco at San Diego State. “Mexico is very diverse. People don’t know that.”
Linguists estimate that more than 350 indigenous languages are spoken in Mexico. In California, indigenous Mexicans speak 23 of those languages from 13 Mexican states, according to a 2010 study on indigenous farmworkers.
Because of cultural discrimination in the fields, indigenous Mexicans often earn less and work the hardest jobs while being harassed.
“Indigenous farmworkers have less upward mobility than the general mestizo farmworker,” said Maureen Keffer, director of the indigenous program at the California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. “They are the newest wave of immigrants, but there are also these unspoken and spoken systems in place that do not allow them to advance.”
Children bring the same prejudices as their parents to the classroom where the bullying often goes unnoticed. They are sometimes targeted for their stereotypical short stature and dark skin.”
“Rocelia Cruz was a founding club member and is now a sophomore at UC Santa Cruz. She said she never felt comfortable speaking Mixteco at school.
“In high school, every time they saw me speaking Mixteco, they would imitate me in a funny and rude way, mocking me,” she said. “I was bullied for three years in middle school, too. They would tell me to go back to my town. They would tell me I didn’t belong here and that I should go back.”
The bullying became so bad that she no longer wanted to go to school. “I couldn’t even defend myself in Spanish because I didn’t speak it,” Cruz said.”
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“Latinos outgrew Sábado Gigante’s racism and misogyny long before it ended ”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/20/latinos-sabado-gigante-racism-misogyny-lended
“When it comes to blatantly racist portrayals, the show’s mockery of indigenous peoples in the Americas is profoundly demeaning. Sábado Gigante’s interracial sketches illustrate the stubborn inequity among Latinos in the Americas: although we share a geographic region, Latinos are not one race of people. There are black, indigenous, white, Asian and mixed Latinos who are all subjected to a racial hierarchy – an order that Sábado Gigante doesn’t challenge. As a Latina who’s also indigenous, I connect with the show’s use of the Spanish language yet strongly reject the way that indigenous peoples are portrayed.”
“Sábado Gigante brought Latinos together across continents and generations, it’s true, but its misogyny and racism became its hallmarks even as the Latinos watching outgrew them. It’s probably too much to hope that the hatred for women, people of color and other marginalized people it perpetuated and institutionalized will die when Univision pulls the show’s plug on 19 September 2015 – but I can dream.”
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https://twitter.com/bad_dominicana/status/590866546878124033
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https://twitter.com/PoCBeauty/status/488864274551304193
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“‘By Blood’ Tackles the Untold Legacy of Slave-Owning Cherokees”
http://www.colorlines.com/articles/%E2%80%98-blood%E2%80%99-tackles-untold-legacy-slave-owning-cherokees
“It’s an obscure part of antebellum history, but members of no fewer than five Native American tribes participated in chattel slavery. Before they were driven from their lands in what’s now known as the U.S. South, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole nations all had members who bought and sold black people as property.
In 1838 and 1839, when the U.S. government forced the Cherokee, the largest tribe, to relocate from their land east of the Mississippi River to what is now known as Oklahoma, enslaved black people, black spouses of Natives and mixed children joined them.”
“Why is this film important in 2015?
I think it’s emblematic of what’s happening around the country. In the last six months or so, we’re seeing manifestations of race as it relates to police brutality, all around the country. We have to understand African-American history and I think part of the reason I’ve been so fascinated with this story is that it’s been excised from our historical narrative. It begs the question: Why? Why is it that everyone I talk to about this film don’t know about Native Americans owning slaves?
At some point in the film, [former U.S. Rep.] Barney Frank says, “Victims can be perpetrators, too.” It’s important for people to understand that.”
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“Native Actors Walk off Set of Adam Sandler Movie After Insults to Women, Elders”
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/04/23/native-actors-walk-set-adam-sandler-movie-after-insults-women-elders-160110#.VTk4J4KJdZA
“The examples of disrespect included Native women’s names such as Beaver’s Breath and No Bra, an actress portraying an Apache woman squatting and urinating while smoking a peace pipe, and feathers inappropriately positioned on a teepee.”
“When I began doing this film, I had an uneasy feeling inside of me and I felt so conflicted…We talked to the producers about our concerns. They just told us, ‘If you guys are so sensitive, you should leave.’ I was just standing there and got emotional and teary-eyed. I didn’t want to cry but the feeling just came over me. This is supposed to be a comedy that makes you laugh. A film like this should not make someone feel this way.”
“I felt this was all really disrespectful,” she said. “Our costumes did not portray Apache people. The consultant, Bruce spoke to the crew and told them we should not have braids and chokers and he was very disappointed. He asked to speak with Adam Sandler. We talked to the producers about other things in the script and they said ‘It’s in the script and we are not going to change it.’ Overall, we were just treated disrespectfully, the spoke down to us and treated everyone with strong tones.”
74-year old David Hill, Choctaw, a member of the American Indian Movement, also left the set. “They were being disrespectful,” he said. “They were bringing up those same old arguments that Dan Snyder uses in defending the Redskins. But let me tell you, our dignity is not for sale. It is a real shame because a lot of people probably stay because they need a job.”
“This isn’t my first rodeo, if someone doesn’t speak up, no one will.”
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“A Thousand Voices: Native Women Correct History, Reclaim Their Power ” (article and video)
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/02/19/thousand-voices-native-women-correct-history-reclaim-their-power-159285
“”Imagine always believing that men and women were equal,” reads a portion of the trailer for a documentary by Silver Bullet Productions. It’s a concept Native American women are reclaiming in a the documentary A Thousand Voices.”
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“Idle No More Short Documentary – GROUNDED NEWS”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzXI7aznBtc)
“The reality is, they’ve tried every kind of genocidal tactic on us, and we are still here!”
“John Lennon On Native Americans”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N2lJfSsd3U)
“John Lennon talks about Native Americans and how one day they will ask about their rights.”
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