In Which I Make A List Of Five Answers to Five Questions People Have Emailed Me About or "Another New Years List?" Yep.

1/3/2014

Hokay. Just so everyone knows. I do get your emails/ messages. I do read them. I have found that responding to them is sometimes hard but I try to get through as many as I can. Today I am working on my syllabus and class for our upcoming quarter and in between, wondering how I can best provide some information to people asking me sincere questions. I figure, I'll use it as a jumping off point for another cool (yep, COOL) list for the blog. So here is a list of five things that people have asked me about -- I hope it somewhat answers some of your requests. And now back to the syllabus.

Five (New-ish) Videos To Watch/ Use/ Learn From

I know Jim (the dude who plays "Red Jacket") because all Native people know each other. :) Actually it's because he went to Stanford and I went to Stanford which just goes to show you that all Native people eventually meet at Stanford.

Also "Ask a Slave" is a great You Tube series. You should go to there. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPZR1lUMS47BA-N2Ihrtlg?feature=watch

I don't know any of the 1491s (unfortunately) but I know people who know them, because the people I know are cool like that. If you haven't been watching the 1491s on You Tube you really should. When I show them to my students in class I usually get emails from students the next day that go "Hey, I just spent all night watching all of the 1491s videos. HA HA HA." #IndianHumor

http://www.youtube.com/user/the1491s

Is this the coolest way to do a short documentary that I've seen in a long time. Probably. Has this inspired me that there are SO MANY ways to get stories out there. Yes. Do I wish I had thought of this first? Daily. Can I draw? No.

('e:wa:k) Charlie Hill passed away very recently. He was a standout of standup comedy and he was a Native person. And if it is true (which I think it is) that humor, Indian humor especially, helps us to heal -- then Charlie Hill was a healer.

Four Native Organizations to Give To/ Support/ Like on Facebook/ Learn From

Native Women's Collective. I have to say this one because I am the Executive Director there. And from my work as a nonprofit fundraiser I have learned -- always be closing. No, wait, that's with Real Estate. It's actually "Always be asking." Support us!

We are a nonprofit that supports the continued growth of Native American arts and culture. We are an entirely volunteer run organization and we hope to continue to expand so that we can do arts, culture, language, educational and other projects that help support Native people and communities. In the past year we've done basket weaving retreats, bear grass braiding circles, cultural demonstrations, educational lectures, and started a project on the history of regalia pieces from our area. If you want you can donate to us. Visit our website.

Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. SGF is an organization that supports other Native organizations while also working on many of the important issues facing Indigenous peoples throughout the world. They encourage us all to "Be a Good Ancestor."

From their website: Seventh Generation Fund is an Indigenous non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of Native peoples and the sovereignty of our distinct Nations. We offer an integrated program of advocacy, small grants, training and technical assistance, media experience and fiscal management, lending our support and extensive expertise to Indigenous grassroots communities. Learn about us, the programs and services we provide, our grantmaking guidelines and giving philosophies, upcoming events, online publications and so much more! http://www.7genfund.org/

National Indian Child Welfare Association: Protecting our Children, Preserving Our Culture. The importance of what NICWA does was demonstrated this year with the Veronica Brown case. The very disappointing outcome of that case highlighted how NICWA is necessary to help educate the wider public about the importance of protecting Native families. You can find out more and donate to them on their website: http://www.nicwa.org/donate/

From their website: The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) works to address the issues of child abuse and neglect through training, research, public policy, and grassroots community development. NICWA also works to support compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), which seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families. NICWA improves the lives of American Indian children and families by helping tribes and other service providers implement services that are culturally competent, community-based, and focused on the strengths and assets of families. This work includes collaborating with tribal and urban Indian child welfare programs to increase their service capacity, enhancing tribal-state relationships, and providing training, technical assistance, information services and alliance building.

Hey Day Books. Most of the books I use in my classes on California Indian people are from Hey Day because Hey Day is really fantastic at publishing Native California authors, artists, poets and more.

Their California Indian Publishing Program: aims to celebrate Indian culture through our quarterly magazine, News from Native California, and books on Native life; hosting Indian events; and helping provide reading material to community members who would not otherwise have access to quality Indian publications.Along with News from Native California, we’ve also published more than forty books devoted to California Indian culture and history, we’ve sponsored scores of events,we’ve launched two museum shows that traveled the state, and we’ve been helpful to the Indian community in a number of significant ways.

From the website: Heyday is an independent, nonprofit publisher and unique cultural institution. As a member of the Publishers Club, you will receive discounts on books, invitations to thought-provoking events and festive book-launch parties, seasonal book catalogs, regular updates about what’s happening on the California cultural scene, and a meaningful way to participate in an enterprise that combines vision, intelligence, and creativity. https://heydaybooks.com/

Three Books to Read/ Buy/ Learn From/ Pass Along

Bad Indians by Deborah Miranda. 2013 for me was the year I found Deborah Miranda, fan girled out on her at the California Indian Conference, stalked her again at a reading in San Francisco, taught her book in my class, and decided that finally I had an easy answer to the question "well, what should I read then if I can't read this book written by some historian about the Mission system?" What did my students say about it - "This book made me laugh, cry and want to write a letter to my school telling them to stop teaching the Missions the way they do!" Read Deborah Miranda. You will not regret it. Buy it: http://www.amazon.com/Bad-Indians-A-Tribal-Memoir/dp/1597142018

Mark My Words: Native Women Remapping Our Nations by Mishuana Goeman. You know how there are those books that make you feel super smart when you are done reading them because (1) you understood what the author had to say and (2) you understood what the author had to say and that author is very smart and so that makes you feel smart? That may just be me. Mishuana Goeman wrote this book and I underlined basically the entire introduction. (She's also on my dissertation committee - because she makes me work super hard and do real good work even when I don't want to...) She's talking about space and maps and geography and Native Women. Actually, she's interrogating these things. Actually, she's (re) mapping and (re) defining what we talk about when we talk about maps, geography, space and Native people. Buy it: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-My-Words-Directions-Indigenous/dp/0816677913

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King. I just wrote a review of this book for the American Indian Culture and Research Journal. The book is funny. It's full of countless information. It's a quick read but packs a lasting punch. King is not just lecturing, he's having a conversation, and he's telling a few jokes here and there. The book talks about both Canada and the United States, which just goes to show you that there are Native people EVERYWHERE (even in Canada and the United States). I read the book in a day, but I also could see how it could take a while to get through. There is a lot of information in there. For instance: Did you know that before John Smith supposedly met and was saved by Pocahontas that, according to Smith, he had met and been saved by three other women in far off places like Turkey, Russia and France. "...all of whom assisted him during his trials and tribulations as a young mercenary." (8) King calls him a "lucky guy." Apparently, according to John Smith, women liked saving John Smith. (Or he made the whole thing up) Buy it: http://www.amazon.com/The-Inconvenient-Indian-Curious-Account/dp/0816689768

Two Hupa phrases to learn and use in your every day language

Ting-misge'gits!

(Translation: So Cute. No fer reals. SO -- CUTE. or Suh Ca-ute)

Poor Happy Endings - we hardly knew ye.

And this is not just because my Walking Dead blog entry went everywhere and even got a shout out in Indian Country Today! But also because the show is starting again soon -- so it will come in handy when you invite your friends.

ch'indin da:ywho'-ding ch'iwidil
(Translation: corpse, they were going along somewhere)

One Song to Listen to and Get You Moving in 2014 (Yes I'm dancing in front of my computer right now)

Does anybody know these guys? I want them to come to UC Davis and play a show. I may invite other people. Just putting it out there... Back to dancing.

Sometimes Writer-Blogger
Cutcha Risling Baldy