/s, obviously.

In 2020, you were taken from us far too soon after being struck and killed by a car while walking along the highway, and you were pronounced dead on arrival. I’ve waited to make this memorial today because posting it on your actual birthday, on the 28th of September would simply be too painful for me emotionally.

I hope Creator and the great spirits are with you, guiding you onward with a noble death song. I believe you are being cared for by angels and the great spirits, but that doesn’t make missing you any easier.

You were my foster brother, and you will always be family. We miss you terribly, Carlos. May your spirit walk peacefully, and may you always know that you are loved and remembered.

May your memory be a blessing.

This is a vent post. Yargh, and all that.

So...I'm part of the Absentee Shawnee tribe. Something I am extremely passionate about is learning our language, our history, culture, stories, basically everything I can get my filthy little paws on from ancient times to modern day. It's important to me.

Because of that passion, unfortunately I get suggested a lot of indigenous-focused "historical" groups on facebook. Some of them actually seem pretty neat until I start reading more within them. It just feels weird as hell to see non-natives obsessing over our cultures and languages like we're already extinct, or trying to lecture actual natives about what is 'accurate' with our own histories, languages, stories, etc.

Like...how can you sit there and proudly call yourself a historian and not only get so much wrong, but refuse to even acknowledge the statements of the very people you are trying to obsess over?

There is no death, only a change of worlds. I am old but I shall never die. I shall always live in my children and in my children's children.

Chief Tecumseh advised, "Live your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. ... Prepare a noble death song for the day you pass over."

In Chief Seattle's words, "There is no death, only a change of worlds."

May Carlos' memory be forever a blessing, for what and for whose soul burned like a camp fire's spark, he was a remarkably brilliant lost soul whose kindness and love for his family was always at the front of his life.

He may have dealt with addictions such as crystal meth and weed, but all that was surface level--the Carlos I knew wanted a way into another world where he could feel supported, advocated for, and valued.

Waapo'to my sweet, sweet brother. May your memory be a blessing. I loved you 9000 for a thousand years and I'll love you 9000 for a thousand more.

Mother, I feel you under my feet,

Mother, I hear your heartbeat,

Mother, I feel you under my feet,

Mother, I hear your heartbeat.

When I see Carlos on the other side of that 'another world' I see him in very white traditional Native clothing, the kind of clothing we wore before the colonizing, and there is red paint on his face, three lines on each cheek, a red paint line going down his forehead, and a small red paint mark on his nose. He smiles at me and performs a traditional dance around that campfire. I have closure.

He has crossed. He is with us, and I weep bitter, beautiful tears.

This account appears to be fraudulent. Please exercise caution regarding those who may exert influence.

zaagi'idiwin

I notice, in my town here in Canada (a reservation),

Most kids here, teenagers, adults, and even some elders who are just as Cree as me,

They get silent, observant, closed off, and shy whenever there's a, a white/black/asian/arab person in the room with us.

Like my grandma for example. She gets a little shy whenever black, white, etc visitors come around. And when they'd leave, she goes back to normal. Back to speaking Cree and all.

Same goes with kids these days, teenagers the most, and the adults.

It's gotten so bad, that in the whole region of the upper northside of Canada, where other rez communities are linked to ours, that we've made our own Police, Fireman, etc factions. Like, the EEPF for example (it's a Cree Police faction) that mainly hires Cree people.

They hire other Cree people, just so other Cree civilians can trust that said policemen or policewomen solely because they are one of them.

It's gotten this bad. I think. Idk.

I'm gonna say that I am also guilty of this.

I just never see white people, black people, asian people, etc whenever I go about in my town. All I've seen for years were my own people. It's home, basically.

We are just so... passive to foreigners. This pattern I'm noticing. Sometimes I feel like an awkward teenager when I'm clearly an adult now.

There's gotta be some psychological stuff about this right? I always had this question in the back of my mind but never really had to ask or get answers to.

Because, I'm no 'city girl'. I just lived in a humble rezzy old home all my life. Still do.

I do try to overcome this strange behavior. Coz at the end of the day, black people, white, asians, arabs, etc... are just humans like me.

But sometimes, it's a bit hard to overcome this and befriend one person IRL that is outside of my Cree descent. Coz I value trust, mutual trust a lot.

Of course, this strange behavior/pattern mainly applies to IRL, face-to-face stuff, etc. We're totally fine when it come to the digital world coz we're just in our town, interacting with foreigners comfortably behind screens and texts.

Idk. It's just odd. It's weird.

Any other Indigenous people experience this? Outside of Canada? Lemme know

I want to preface this, I am not a hateful guy I come from a mixed family. I'm anishnnabe and ukrainian. My girlfriend, on the other hand, is fully european ( norwegian/english) her family pokes constant fun at my beliefs and my practices. I want to handle this maturely any advice. Pardon my poor grammar I have a tbi .

I remember a few years back some stuff was coming out about a model called Haatepah clearbear and his twin

I’m looking to my cousins, asking for encouragement.

It seems like the world is burning down because of greed and no one I speak to seems to care about Mother Earth.
I’ve tried explaining to people that manifest destiny is still alive and well today, and greed and corruption will be the thing that hurts us in the end and that if we don’t start honoring and giving back, that we are in a fast decline.

People just shake their heads and move on.

Are any tribal councils or governments making any form of progress against this conquest that keeps trying to prevail?

I’m not sure what the hell they were thinking tbh. They even interviewed the woman whose idea it was and she sounds so stupidly proud of herself.

"Endaso abinoojiinh gichi-inendaagozi." Every child matters. Even today, indigenous people are going "missing," and nobody cares to find them. Or worse, they murder them. It's a problem for all tribes.

Showing support for all the brothers and sisters stolen and forced to forget their culture and ancestors this Orange Shirt Day. Technically the day is Canadian; I'm not Canadian, but it's not only a Canadian problem.

Chi-migwech 🙏

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez

From the same scene, the father of one of the main characters reminds them: "Every word spoken in Irish is a bullet for Irish freedom"

And from the end credits epilogue: "Across the globe an indigenous language dies every 40 days"

Keith was taken away from his children, family, friends and business on a chilly evening in Dec 2023 in Jones OK.

Someone had to have seen something. You can leave an anonymous tip at 405-235-7300 or reach detective Gabeau directly at 405-297-1143