How the Indigenous Community Assisted the Fort Sill Protest
Paul Tomita is a third generation Japanese American who attended a protest in June, against the Trump Administration’s plans to incarcerate 1400 children at US army post, Fort Sill this month. The organizers of the event were Japanese American, and some were elders who had experienced forced relocation and incarceration by the United States government during World War II.
An Indigenous Perspective On July Fourth
July 4th is a federally recognized holiday, observing the day North American colonists formally adopted the Declaration of Independence from Britain.
Makah tribal member, Cynthia Savini shares the complex indigenous relationship with this holiday, with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama.
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Music and ideas 91.3 KBCS Bellevue, a listener supported public service of Bellevue College online at KBCS.fm. Welcome to this special edition of Thom Hartmann program for July 4. On this federally observed holiday, we celebrate the voices of Indigenous women. As folks fire up their barbecues for this day, we take a moment to honor the original people of this land. What is an indigenous perspective on the federally recognized Independence Day? KBCS’s Yuko Kodama has this phone conversation. Next,
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I’m going to have you introduce yourself.
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My name is Cynthia Savini, and I’m an enrolled member of the Makah tribe in Neah Bay, Washington
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Now July 4th is coming up tomorrow. And other days that celebrate the the white settlership is Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. And it can be about you know, fireworks and barbecues for the fourth and Thanksgiving is about gathering and having food. But there’s this kind of backdrop behind it. So tell me how the indigenous community comes into thinking about these holidays?
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Well, I, you know, I’ve had an interesting, growing up and experience. I spent the first part of my life in Washington, DC, my dad worked for the Pentagon. And so going from that first part of my life being very, very indoctrinated into a very urban white setting. And then when my dad retired, and we moved back to my reservation, and he was teaching there I was completely immersed in my culture. So my experiences a little bit different than somebody who may have been born and raised on the reservation. And it comes from that space, which is also very common for a lot of natives, in being patriotic, Native Americans have the highest percentage of involvement in the military of any minority group per capita basis. So it’s really interesting to see how we really walked out, all through our history, our own protection of our land. And we felt that being warriors and being protectors of America, regardless of who was in charge, or in office, was an important role for us to play it something that we understood. So patriotism, runs very, very high on reservations, which is such an unusual thing. When you think about what that actually means. It means embracing, in some ways, our captors, so existing in that tension is a really interesting place to be, especially once you become aware, and it’s something that I feel like there’s becoming this mad awakening of people who are recognizing just how propagandized we’ve been how whitewash we’ve been for so long. Now 2019 a lot of tribes are exercising their own sovereignty. They have ways of diversifying, and capitalizing on things other than just natural resources like we have in the past. So we’ve got the like gaming, we have firework stands, it’s interesting to see how many people are embracing this Americanized version, of celebrating our independence, by blowing things up and having barbecues, and then seeing how a lot of Native people are becoming much more culturally aware of what they have given up by participating in that. So I’m seeing a real division in some indigenous communities where some people are really pulling back and they’re not being involved in the firework stands. And they’re not being involved in the parades and their reclaiming Thanksgiving, their reclaiming Columbus Day and their reclaiming the Fourth of July and being reflective about what that means to their ancestors. And now to them. It’s not necessarily that it’s become such a huge movement to be anti Fourth of July. And I think part of that has to do with some of the money that is able to be made by fireworks stands. Just here in Kitsap County and the mayor of Bremerton, I don’t know how successful he was, but there was discussion about him talking to the neighboring tribes to try to limit the kinds of fireworks that they would be selling because they are afraid of what could happen, because we’re supposed to be having a drought. And to me, that was one of those things where I went, thats a really careful conversation that you need to have, because a lot of people depend on this time of year to make money. It’s kind of like fishing for them. It’s seasonal work. Many people they’ll save up their vacation days and will take time off of their regular job to work this job as a side hustle. Because it’s going to then fund back to school clothes or vacations or what have you. So there’s a very real dollar value that’s also attached to specifically the Fourth of July. Thanksgiving and Columbus Day, that’s a little bit easier to unravel and to unpack for people, once they know the true stories. And it’s just at this point, now trying to be that voice of education, and enlightenment, we’ve already had to see Serena Williams deal with being cast in that light of being the angry black woman in expressing herself and where she was coming from. And we always have to deal with that as well. You know, becoming those angry natives that are so upset, why can’t you just get over it? Well tell the true story about Thanksgiving and how it was a celebration of the white people that they were thankful for surviving the massacre that they just placed on on 300 people and then came back and celebrated. Why are you forcing us to live down that story and to reframe it for our children so that our hearts don’t hurt any longer. Columbus Day is again, another one that’s relatively easy to unpack for people. Because unless you’re Italian, it makes a lot more sense. I think there’s a lot of Italians who have difficulty letting go of Columbus. But I argue that if I was Italian, I would be upset that they chose Columbus, why not Amerigo Vespucci. That’s who America was actually named after. He actually wasn’t as big a jerk as Columbus was. So to me, I feel like both of those are so much easier than the Fourth of July because there’s so many interwoven issues that go along with the Fourth of July. And a lot of that, again comes back to native people just really, really still having that connection to our own indigenous land. And, I’m being proud of the fact that we defend it even under the flag of another people.
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That was Cynthia Savina, a registered member of the Makah tribe speaking with KVCS’s. Yuko Kodama yesterday. Thanks for joining us here on 91 three KBCS for this special best of Thom Hartmann program for today July 4. Find out more about KBCS by going online to our website kbcs.fm.
Indigefy – Definition of Resilience Honors Indigenous Hip Hop
Indigefy: Definition of Resilience highlights the dynamic stories of Native American hip-hop MCs.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 6 – Women Are Water Carriers
The Prayer Skirt, a long skirt adorned with ribbons, is ceremonial regalia for the Plains tribes. During the demonstration against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, indigenous women of many different tribes began to wear the prayer skirt at ceremony in solidarity with the Plains Tribes women.
Prayer skirts, have also been adopted into events calling for more awareness and support for families of missing and murdered indigenous women. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama spoke with Noel Parrish, a member of the crane clan of the turtle mountain band of Chippewa Indians, about the relationship of the prayer skirts, missing and murdered indigenous women and the struggle to protect our waters from the fossil fuel industry.
Special thanks to Jim Cantu for additional help with editing this story
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 5 – Kristen Millares Young’s Investigative Article
Misty Upham was a successful indigenous actress from the Blackfeet Nation, winning roles alongside stars like Benicio Del Torro in the Cannes Film Festival acclaimed Jimmy P: Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian, and Ewan MacGregor in August: Osage county. Misty Upham also went missing on October 5th 2014. Her body was found in Auburn, Washington by her friends and family eleven days later.
Kristen Millares Young is a freelance journalist for the Washington Post and the current prose writer in residence at Hugo House. Millares Young wrote an investigative article for the Guardian about Misty Upham’s case in 2015. SHe shared what she came away with in an interview with Jim Cantu for KVRU LPFM Radio.
Photo Credit to Natalie Shields
Special thanks to Jesse Callahan for help with editing this story
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 4 – A Story of a Missing Aunt
A report released by the Urban Indian Health Institute in 2018 shows that over 500 cases of missing or murdered indigenous women have been found throughout the United States – many since the year 2000. 70 women had gone missing or were murdered in Seattle and Tacoma. 6 were reported in Portland. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama interviewed Kayla Crocker of Chemanis First Nations about her journey of looking for her aunt, who had gone missing.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 2 – Prayer Skirt Sewing Circle
Indigenous women have taken the lead in increasing awareness of the high numbers of their sisters who go missing and die to violence. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama takes you to a red skirt sewing circle, a community building event which builds support for, honors, and assists in the healing of the community mourning their missing and murdered indigenous women. Thanks to Jesse Callahan for help with editing.
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91.3 KBCS music and ideas listener supported radio from Bellevue College.
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Indigenous women have taken the lead in increasing awareness of the high numbers of their sisters who go missing and die to violence. Roxanne White from the earlier story organized a community building event with the focus of supporting indigenous women. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama went to the gathering and brought back this story.
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I walked into a small church in Renton, there’s a large spread of food and drinks in the corner, a potluck. A handful of kids chase each other in the hallway and under tables. The table tops are covered with sewing machines and brightly colored material. On the walls are posters with photos of women. There’s bold lettering saying “missing”, then the woman’s name, and the date and place of their last sighting. The event is a red skirt sewing circle. It’s a community building event for women to come together to sew ribbon skirts. This sewing circle was themed for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. A group of about 11 women and youth work away at measuring, cutting and sewing fabric to make the skirts – an a-line long skirt decorated with brightly colored ribbons and patterns. This ribbon skirt or prayer skirt is ceremonial regalia of the plains tribes. Noel Parrish is from the plains area. She’s from the Crane Clan of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Parrish describes what the prayer skirt represents.
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We wear our skirt because we, as women, as life givers, are sacred. Our colors connects us to the Mother Earth and who we are as women, as life givers. And so we choose our colors so that creator knows who we are.
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I’m no expert. I’m a Yakama woman, but the way I feel about it is is that when I put this skirt on, it’s sacred. And it’s a covering. It’s a protection. It’s who I am as a woman is an indigenous woman, a native woman.
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That was Roxanne White from the Yakama, Nez Perce, Nooksack, and Gros Ventre tribes. White is a leader in the missing and murdered Indigenous women movement. She’s also the organizer of the sewing circle. The ribbons, skirts are plains tribes regalia. Indigenous women from other tribes began wearing them in solidarity with the tribes at Standing Rock. The skirts have taken on an additional life, as a symbol of prayer and solidarity among women, which is relevant at this event: the red skirt sewing circle.
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Women’s skirts is becoming a thing where women, from all tribes, from all nations, are excited to make their own ribbon skirt. We decided to have this event open because of the importance of solidarity and how we all work together as one people. This is good medicine. It’s for each one of these women and their children and their families. Even the little kids, even the little girls went and picked out their material and whatever they saw themselves wearing. And then they’ll learn and when they wear it, they’re going to feel proud because they’re wearing culture. And that’s what it’s all about.
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So the women at the red skirt sewing circle are building a nurturing support network for each other amidst the growing number of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. For KBCS. This is Yuko Kodama.
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The red skirt sewing circle was held in December of 2018.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women 1 – What’s Needed
Roxanne White, of the Yakama, Nez Perce, Nooksack and Gros Ventre tribes, is an activist who advocates for the families of missing and murdered women (MMIW). KBCS’s Yuko Kodama spoke with White about the MMIW movement at an indigenous prayer skirt sewing circle organized as a community building event in honor of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
Find Your Family at Bingo
Lose a bet, and find a family; that’s what happened to one local indigenous woman. KBCS’s Esther “Little Dove” John spoke with Wendy Burdette, at the Muckleshoot Elders Complex, about how she found her blood relatives, after years of searching, by going to a bingo hall.
Yes! Magazine: Native Photographer Reflects on His Time at Standing Rock
Yes! Magazine’s Bailey Williams speaks with Josue Rivas, an award winning photographer and film director, who specializes in challenging the main stream narrative of indigenous people. In Yes! Magazine’s Spring 2018 “decolonize” issue, he published a photo essay about his time at Standing Rock. In this interview, Rivas reflects on his time at Standing Rock and discusses his larger project, titled “Standing Strong”.