An Honorary Member?

      With all of the contreversy around blood quantity over cultural quality in the Native American culture, you would think that you would have to have some drop of native blood in your body in order to be accepted. This is usually the case. In the case of the black seminoles, it is most definitely a big issue. Many Afro-Native Americans either have been raised in the Native culture or have some type of Native American culture, but still find difficulty in feeling accepted into their tribe if they can not prove their blood ties.
      However, with all of these rules against being easily accepted into the Native culture, President Obama among many other politicians have been made honorary members of the Crow tribe. They have each even been given their own tribal name. President Obama was adopted by Hartford and Mary Black Eagle and therefore carries the adopted name Barrack Black Eagle. He sees this as a great honor.
      Although, a great honor, this can also be seen as an insult to the many Afro-Native Americans who fight everyday to be accepted. Those African Americans who were raised in a Native tribe and the culture is all they know and identify with are being treated as outsiders despite their love for the culture, while politicians are being accepted simply because of their social stature. Is this fair?

Native Culture, A Fashion Statement?

      One of the many reasons that Native Americans have created the "One Drop Rule" is to stop their culture from being exploited. The Native American culture is often exploited in many ways and this can keep their culture from remaining pure as they have tried to so hard to maintain.
      One of the main ways that the Native American culture can be exploited is through using aspects of their tribal clothing in everyday clothing in America. Native American culture has become a fashion statement.  Many designers have taken pieces of traditional tribal outfits and used them in their recent lines. Strong symbols of the Native culture such as the feather and the beading and embroidery on tribal costumes can now be seen on the runway as well as on the sidewalk. people of all social classes and races are enjoying the new fashion statements made from their culture.
      The question is, does this fashion statement empower Native Americans or poke fun at their beliefs and traditions? The rest of America might see this fashion statement as a tribute to the culture, but as a race that has worked so hard to keep their culture pure, this could be seen as an insult. This is surely one fashion statement that is being heard loud and clear.

"They Came Before Columbus"

      Contrary to popular belief, Christopher Columbus was not the first person to discover America. In fact there was nothing to be discovered because there were always people here. American history teaches us that Columbus discovered a "New World" in 1492. We are told that there were people there before his arrival and that Columbus and his men made peace with the previous inhabitants of the "New World" and lived in complete harmony.

      However, that is far from the truth. The previous inhabitants or Native Americans did not easily give up their rule of the land. They were actually forced to conform to the unexpected, new way of living brought to them by the Europeans. Many of the Natives were murdered for lack of conformity. These people were told that they were no longer allowed to live their normal lives on their own land.

      Eventhough, they came before Columbus, the Native Americans were mistreated and treated like an inferior minority. Like many minorities in America, Native Americans have had their share of hardships, but have used it to make them stronger and continue to prevail in society. Today Native Americans live peacefully but often separate from other communites. They keep their original culture strong and continue to remind people that they came before Columbus. 

What's Your Mix?

       America is a melting pot of nationalities. Not only do we have several individual races in this country but we also have several mixed races that create new beautuiful ethnicities that help make America so culturally diverse. These mixed races, such as Afro-Latinos and Afro-Indians are combinations of strong cultural backgrounds that come together to create people who should be proud to represent both of the cultures. However, many of these people are not able to truly represent both sides of their culture.
      Unfortunately, people of mixed race are often forced to choose one or the other depending on which ever race they can most easily identify with. It's a sad reality, but this takes place in America more than you would ever imagine. Hopefully one day, people will be able to truthfully answer when they are asked the question, " What's your mix?"

African-Native Americans

      As the name states, African-Native Americans, are Americans with African and Native American ancestry. African-Native Americans, also referred to as "Afro-Native Americans", go through the same type of prejudice, if not more, than any other minority. They face the unfair laws against Native Americans that involve their rights to land and respect, as well as the pain and struggle of the African American race. The mix of the struggles of the feather head dress and the black power fist is what makes this race of people so strong.
       Unlike Afro-Latinos, Afro-Native Americans dont have to hide their heritage in order to be excepted. Instead, Afro-Native Americans deal with the struggle of proving their ancestry. In order to truly be considered a Native American, you must prove that you are Native by blood. In the Native American community, once you have proven that you are Native by blood you can claim the rights of a Native American. This process is further discussed in the online exhibit "IndiVisible- African-Native American Livesin the Americas."
     

What Ethnicity Are You to America?

       People around the world know America as the beacon of equality and justice. Though this may be true to some extent, America is very one track minded on how it views ethnicities and race. Although their is much diversity in America, people are only identified with one solid race, or the race that is most apparent. For example, a person may be composed of a complex racial pedigree by being Italian, German, and Swiss, but are only considered Italian, because it is the most apparent race to society. The problem with this is that society as a whole is completely neglecting to realize the background of those people that come from blended families; the most common being Afro-Latino persons. Afro-Latinos are often viewed by society as one race or another, but never a combination of the two. This is a struggle that is expressed in detail in Willie Perdomo's poem "Nigger-Reecan Blues." 
      America only realizes an individual as African American or a Latino, not acknowledging the fact that they contribute both cultures to society. By failing to identify those individuals as biracial individuals, the individuals will attempt to acculturate, eventually causing the extinction of blended races across America. Giving credit and simply acknowledging that they are more than one race would create a better sense of pride in diversity, thereby truly making America the melting pot that it is praised for being.

     

The Story Behind Pocahontas

   

     We have all seen the Disney produced movie of the love story between the beautiful Native American Princess Pocahontas and the American hero John Smith. As children we were all exposed to this lovely story of how young Pocahontas saved John Smith from her native tribe and in the process fell in love with the good looking "Prince Charming" type character and lived happily ever after with him as all Disney characters do in the end. However, what Disney so often fails to do is tell us the truth behind the sugarcoated love story.
      The truth is, there was no love story, there was no intense relationship between the two, and there was probably no happy ending. In all actuality Pocahontas was not the 20 something young woman she was depicted as; she is said to have been around 12. John Smith was also not the young man he was made out to be; he is said to have probably been about 42. Their relationship was not a love-filled one, but rather one of possible rape. As you can imagine this false interpretation came to Native American viewers as a surprise and an outrage. In fact over 100 members of the Native American group "NatChat" signed a petition to boycott the film when it was first released. This Disney classic was simply just another example of American mythmaking.
     It is believed that Pocahontas is a white man's depiction of the story of the Indian princess in order to hide the truth about the trials of the Native American race. America has been hiding the truth about the struggle of minorities for years. A production company designed for children is no different. America has even made something as innocent as a Disney movie. So next time you allow your child to watch Pocahontas, remember that you are carrying on the tradition of disrespecting the original Americans; the Native Americans.