Today I learned +

[dragoner]

The mere tendency to speak of "native americans" as a homogenous group is itself racist and colonialist. There were thousands of nations speaking hundreds of languages. And like every other peoples on the planet, some of them were grade A [REDACTED].

One of my friends calls himself "Injun" just to differenciate. Yes, though like with my wife's family who are Chiricahua, they say Native American, or just Indian as it's easier, esp dealing with outsiders who aren't going to know the actual names. It is also important to realize they still exist, have homes, jobs, work and live in the cities. Even a long time ago, such as with the town around here, they had adopted Catholocism, had Blacksmith's and were farming in towns.

 

[dragoner]

I just listened to an episode of The Dollop where they talked about a man that acted as an ambassador to Russia only because he was the closest rich American in Europe at the time. Or he was the only one that responded to the letter.
He was also the founder of the ASPCA.

Henry Bergh - Wikipedia Henry Bergh - Wikipedia

That is interesting, I never knew that. I know they sent their Navy to US ports, partially because the their main enemy were the British, who supported the South.

 

[Aeson]

That is interesting, I never knew that. I know they sent their Navy to US ports, partially because the their main enemy were the British, who supported the South.

War makes for strange alliances. Look at Finland in WWII.

 

[Whisper-Kitten]

Honestly sounds like a terrible place to live, not surprised they still exist, however.

It‘s not a university in the traditional sense.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The mere tendency to speak of "native americans" as a homogenous group is itself racist and colonialist. There were thousands of nations speaking hundreds of languages. And like every other peoples on the planet, some of them were grade A [REDACTED].

I can see an argument as to "racist" but I'm not sure I buy "colonialist". You see similar lumping for groups in all kinds of geographic areas that is similarly off, sometimes even from within the group ("Europeans", "Africans", "Asians"). People tend to overgeneralize about that sort of thing in all kinds of groups and all kinds of social levels, many in groups who never have done significant colonial expansion in their ethnic histories.

As a multiethnic American POC living in the South most of my life, I tend to use “Native American”, “First Nations” or the generic “indigenous populations” when referring to the people here before the European arrival.

…and I can trace my ancestry to the Choctaw, Taino, and an as-yet undetermined peoples from Peru.*




* and that’s just a few of the ancestral crayons in my box of 64.

 

[Aeson]

It‘s not a university in the traditional sense.

Oh no, for sure. No one should ever confuse it for one.

 

[Reynard]

As a multiethnic American POC living in the South most of my life, I tend to use “Native American”, “First Nations” or the generic “indigenous populations” when referring to the people here before the European arrival.

…and I can trace my ancestry to the Choctaw, Taino, and an as-yet undetermined peoples from Peru.*




* and that’s just a few of the ancestral crayons in my box of 64.
View attachment 439623

All I am saying is that if folks think that all of those First Nations folks fit into a single box, THAT is a result of racism and colonialism. I am not making any accusations against any person in particular. I am talking about how our society has erased the vast diversity of the people that lived here before European colonialism, embodied by how the term "Native American" is used coloquially.

It is also important to remember that even progressive people and even people of color themselves have been subject to and are deeply impacted by that colonialism, in attitude and language. People aren't immune to those social forces by mere chance of birth.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That cartoon was most likely produced by Prager U a right wing propaganda mill.

Honestly sounds like a terrible place to live, not surprised they still exist, however.

It‘s not a university in the traditional sense.

Oh no, for sure. No one should ever confuse it for one.

To clarify: Prager U is an American right wing think tank whose primary focus is producing books and audiovisual materials for educational purposes. Predictably, the content of their products is extremely divorced from what is taught in mainstream historical education.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

All I am saying is that if folks think that all of those First Nations folks fit into a single box, THAT is a result of racism and colonialism. I am not making any accusations against any person in particular. I am talking about how our society has erased the vast diversity of the people that lived here before European colonialism, embodied by how the term "Native American" is used coloquially.

I believe I’m with @Thomas Shey on this one. Merely using the term “Native American”- at least as I’ve seen it used- is no more racist or colonialist than using “European” “African” or “Asian”. I mean, how many different cultures are you lumping together within those terms?

The reason we don’t call them just “Americans” is to distinguish their cultures & histories from those who came from those here now who came from other continents- a good thing, IMHO.

 

[Ryujin]

As a multiethnic American POC living in the South most of my life, I tend to use “Native American”, “First Nations” or the generic “indigenous populations” when referring to the people here before the European arrival.

…and I can trace my ancestry to the Choctaw, Taino, and an as-yet undetermined peoples from Peru.*




* and that’s just a few of the ancestral crayons in my box of 64.
View attachment 439623

I'm about as pale as you can get. Mostly Scots Irish with a little English thrown in, plus one German who managed to sneak past the border, a few generations back. I practically glow in the dark.