Native American Heritage Month

SUBMITTED BY ISABELA LEONOR ROSALES

In September, I wrote on my lived experiences with Hispanic Heritage Month because I have been labeled ‘Hispanic’ my entire life. Within my last piece, I explored how delegating the term ‘Hispanic’ for a group consisting of a vast array of hybrid identities erases the history of colonization. This history exists within my own hybrid identity as my father’s family has both European Hispanic and Latinx Indigenous ancestry. In my last blog post, I also explained how disconnected I am from my indigeneity as a result of colonization, lack of access to family records, and the white-washing of of my identity. With this said, when our executive director asked me to write on Native American Heritage month, I had to reflect on how I could do this appropriately. As a Latina with European and Indigenous ancestry, it is difficult for me to write on a month honoring a demographic with whom I have never identified. Furthermore, my indigenous ancestors did not live on what is contemporarily recognized as U.S. soil. The experiences between my Indigneous ancestors and the Native American people of the United States are very different though we experience similar struggles today. In order to best support my Native American siblings, I believe the best thing I can do is pass the mic to other Native American voices. This piece will be a little different as I step aside and highlight what Native American Heritage month means to Native Americans and what non-native people of color and white allies can do to best support them. 

First, I wanted to share an Instagram story from Karen Ramos that speaks to the complexity of the relationship between Migrant Indigenous people (from a Latinx perspective) and Native Americans. Ramos is an outdoor activist and student who shares her passion for the outdoors, intersectionality, diversity, and inclusion through her beautiful stream of photos on her feed. To see her full story, visit her instagram page @naturechola and watch her saved story labeled “Indígena”.

Other great resources on Instagram include, but are not limited to:
@kaitlincurtice
@queerquechua
@rebeccanagle
@caliwolf
@red_berry_woman
@tazbah
@misscorinne86
@kimtallbear
@nativeapprops
@matikawilbur
@alex_pi3

Check out the Podcast:
All My Relations hosted by Adrienne Keene, a Cherokee professor & writer, and Matika Wilbur founder of the @project_562, which is a photo project dedicated to photographing over 562 Indigneous Nations. 

If you partake in the Twitter universe, a dear friend of mine (with a much stronger Twitter presence) recommended following these accounts:
@NativeApprops
@4directionsvote
@rebeccanagle
@KimTallBear
@KaitlinCurtice

A lot of these accounts are the same people I recommended for Instagram, but note the differences in capitalization. After doing more research, I have discovered more accounts to follow on Twitter:
@kstosie
@NanibaaGarrison
@chakenbake
@chiefladybird

If you’re a non-native POC or a white ally, I implore you to visit these accounts, especially this month as we confront the reality that we all walk, live, and commune on stolen land. After visiting these accounts and engaging with each person’s experiences, I have found that the story of Native American/Indigneous people is one of profound resilience and strength. We all have much to learn from these voices. Moving forward, I believe Native Americans are owed much more than one month of national recognition. I also believe that any form of reconciliation after mass genocide, family separation, and geographical displacement is much further down the justice timeline. We must first humble ourselves to face this country’s atrocious past while uplifting, honoring, and prioritizing Native American voices every day.