#NativeTwitter
[Ali note: A previous version made a reference to ‘amoeba’, “Are we Indigenous or amoeba”. I’ve been informed that the “amoeba” reference has been inflicted on Natives in general but has also been used to specifically target the Lumbee. While my use of the phrase didn’t have that intention, it’s important to note that this … Read more
How much or how little that I speak on this issue is dependent on the energy I have to put toward it. Thus, this may end up being more of a small series. While I have not spoken previously on this ‘alleged pretendian list’, I am aware of it. I’d meant to look into it … Read more
For the millionth time. Elizabeth Warren is not Native. This weekend, a number of Natives ended up schooling Diana, whose ignorance had her attempting to dominate a Tweet by @aliwatson117, dismiss the education given her about Warren’s genealogy by numerous Natives, attempted to namedrop a former Cherokee principal chief as though yet another wild claim … Read more
This is our third year of proposing Native content and inclusion for the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) conference. Until 2018, I don’t recall seeing any Indigenous content from SXSW or by topic in panels. Our first year in 2018 of applying gave us some insight about how little visibility that modern Natives have in … Read more
Many Natives in the U.S. were not aware that a petition has been put forth that pushes for loosening and changing regulations over who can request and possess feathers and bird parts from protected species, such as eagles. The original Facebook post indicated that the original deadline was July 1st to submit comments. It was … Read more
There’s a few stereotypes about non-Natives that many of us roll our eyes at to this day. Claiming to be Native based on family lore, ‘I have Native in me’, ‘I’m part Native/tribe’ – ‘I’m a descendant of Pocahontas’. In the real world, when I’m among the general public, it’s often that, one hundred percent … Read more
Image from Twitter account @MikaelaPaw On March 16th, a tweet from the account Turning Point USA made a bold claim that ‘if you want to see an example of failed socialism, visit an Indian reservation’. It included a video tagging the account @/MikaelaPaw. It also included a truncated video of Russel Means, a well known … Read more
When using the term ‘Pretendian’, a mashup of ‘pretend’ and ‘Indian’, many Indigenous peoples will recognize it while some non-Natives may be left wondering. There are at least two different avenues leading to a Pretendian. We’ll be looking at the two most common. One will be familiar enough immediately. The second, not so much so … Read more
Ali Watson and Johnnie Jae have submitted a SXSW Panel Picker proposal for the 2019 SXSW conference. The topic is “Playing Indian and Other Racist Nonsense“. With this panel, we propose to address the harm of trends such as Pretendian-ism, or the act of pretending to be Indigenous, such as claiming to be Cherokee or … Read more