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Howdy! We've amassed tons of information and important history on this blog since 2010. If you have a keyword, use the search box below. Also check out the reference section above. If you have a question or need help searching, use the contact form at the bottom of the blog.
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This is a blog. It is not a peer-reviewed journal, not a sponsored publication... The ideas, news and thoughts posted are sourced… or written by the editor or contributors.
2019: This blog was ranked #50 in top 100 blogs about adoption. Let's make it #1... We hit 1 million reads! WOW!
2019: WE NEED A TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION Commission in the US now for the Adoption Programs that stole generations of children... Goldwater Institute's work to dismantle ICWA is another glaring attempt at cultural genocide.
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Beauty Without Boundaries
We
are all examples of true beauty, yet we live in a culture that tells us
differently. The society of today does everything it can to put us in a
box, doing its best to contort us into its shallow definition of "ideal
beauty." These unrealistic standards are completely one-dimensional,
and they fail to encompass the wide variety of beauty that abounds in
the human race.
Living in two worlds
American Indians often discuss the struggle of trying to live and thrive in two worlds:
the world of their culture and ancestors and the one of a modern day
civilization that is a melting pot of ideals, customs, and beliefs. When
Indigenous people embrace their physical beauty and inner uniqueness,
the conflict between these two worlds becomes even more apparent.
In a recent article titled "She's So Pale" that was posted on Native Appropriations, Adrienne
Keene, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, discusses the
stereotypes that so often bombard Native Americans. She explains how so
many people “think that Native identity is tied to looking like
something off the side of a football helmet...they want to be able to
categorize and move on. But Native identity isn’t just a racialized
identity. Native identity is political. We are citizens of tribal
nations. So we can’t just talk about our identities purely in racial
terminology. There’s also a deep power issue here—who has the 'right,'
especially as an outsider, to determine someone’s identity for them?”
Adrienne’s
pale complexion has caused many to cast judgment and challenge her
Native heritage. This fact alone exemplifies the danger of trusting our
eyes to be the only valid source of truth. She is determined to make a
difference and expose these obvious misconceptions, stating “instead of
feeling ashamed, I’m trying now to turn the tables and think that I,
instead, am the colonizer’s worst nightmare. Because history has tried
to eradicate my people by violence and force, enacted every assimilating
and acculturating policy against my ancestors, let me grow up in white
suburbia, and erased all the visual vestiges of heritage from my
face–but still tsi tsalagi (I am Cherokee)....fighting back against misrepresentations, through a keyboard and the internet.”
KEEP READING
Survivors, write your stories. Write your parents stories. Write the elders stories. Do not be swayed by the colonizers to keep quiet. Tribal Nations have their own way of keeping stories alive.... Trace
Please support NARF
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| Indian Country is under attack. Native tribes and people are fighting hard for justice. There is need for legal assistance across Indian Country, and NARF is doing as much as we can. With your help, we have fought for 48 years and we continue to fight.
It is hard to understand the extent of the attacks on Indian Country. We are sending a short series of emails this month with a few examples of attacks that are happening across Indian Country and how we are standing firm for justice.
Today, we look at recent effort to undo laws put in place to protect Native American children and families. All children deserve to be raised by loving families and communities. In the 1970s, Congress realized that state agencies and courts were disproportionately removing American Indian and Alaska Native children from their families. Often these devastating removals were due to an inability or unwillingness to understand Native cultures, where family is defined broadly and raising children is a shared responsibility. To stop these destructive practices, Congress passed the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).
After forty years, ICWA has proven to be largely successful and many states have passed their own ICWAs. This success, however, is now being challenged by large, well-financed opponents who are actively and aggressively seeking to undermine ICWA’s protections for Native children. We are seeing lawsuits across the United States that challenge ICWA’s protections. NARF is working with partners to defend the rights of Native children and families.
Indian Country is under attack. We need you. Please join the ranks of Modern Day Warriors. Please donate today to help Native people protect their rights. | | |
To Veronica Brown
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