Modern Boheme | November 2021: Indigenous Peoples Month Resources

November is Indigenous Peoples Month and ahead of Thursday, I wanted to share some resources and reading around Thanksgiving and the indigenous perspective.

Thanksgiving Day Reclamation/Day of Mourning

A Wampanoag retelling of Thanksgiving: “A Wampanoag citizen retells us the true story about the first meeting between the Wampanoag people and the pilgrims.”
For Many Native Americans Thanksgiving is a Day of Mourning: “A plaque at the [Plymouth Rock] site notes: ‘Thanksgiving Day is a reminder of the genocide of millions of their people, the theft of their lands, and the relentless assault on their cultures. Participants in National Day of Mourning honor Native ancestors and the struggles of Native peoples to survive today.”
Rethinking Thanksgiving Toolkit: “Thanksgiving is based on myths that hide and erase the genocide that the United States is founded upon. What would it mean to tell a different story; an honest story?”

The Land Back Movement

From the Land Back Movement website, powered by NDN Collective, “The Land Back Movement is a movement that has existed for generations with a long legacy of organizing and sacrifice to get Indigenous Lands back into Indigenous hands.”

Further Reading:

What Is the Land Back Movement? A Call for Native Sovereignty and Reclamation: “On its face, the land back movement involves the physical reclamation of ancestral lands by the Indigenous people who lived there for time immemorial. But to get to the heart of the matter, we must dive deeper.”

Eco-Activists & Leaders

23 Indigenous American Food Activists, Educators, and Other Figures to Know: “The traditional foodways of Native American tribes have been largely suppressed since the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, but the following people have worked hard to revitalize and promote indigenous food and agricultural practices.”
Allen of Lil Native Boy: “23. Diné.Oglala Lakota.Tohono O’odham.Writer. Learning & Unlearning.”
Charlie/Amáyá of Dine Aesthetics: “Indigenous trans femme with great hair.”
Kara Roselle Smith: An “Afro-indigenous model + writer.”

(A Non Exhaustive List of) Organizations to Support

Four Directions: “We now protect our communities and our rights by going to the polls to vote.” *
Indigenous Womxn Climb: “A virtual and Land-based volunteer community dedicated to self-determination and representation of Indigenous Womxn/non-binary and Two-Spirit climbers in the outdoors.”
Indigenous Women Hike: “Healing through our inherent connection to the land.”
Lifted Voices: “An action-oriented organization aimed at defending the lives and rights of marginalized people.”
Line 3 Legal Defense Fund: “The Line 3 Legal Defense Fund provides support to people facing arrest, jail time, and state repression because of their opposition to Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline project.” *
National Indian Child Welfare Association: “NICWA works to support the safety, health, and spiritual strength of American Indian and Alaska Native children along the broad continuum of their lives. We support tribes in building the capacity to prevent child abuse and neglect through positive systems change at the state, federal, and tribal levels. We are the most comprehensive source of information on American Indian and Alaska Native child welfare.” *
Navajo Hopi COVID-19 Relief Fund: “The Relief Fund was established March 15, 2020 when Ethel Branch, the former Navajo Nation Attorney General, started a GoFundMe Campaign to raise money to purchase food for a few remote Navajo and Hopi families with elders, immunocompromised, or children. She sought to provide these families with two-weeks' worth of food so they could safely self-quarantine and be protected from the initial onslaught of COVID-19.”
Women of Bears Ears: “Women of Bears Ears seeks to restore Indigenous women's matrilineal roles as decision-makers, culture bearers, and nurturers of our shared ancestral lands, and of future generations.”

Sources: *Ms. Kelly M Hayes via Twitter

in solidarity,