Alright, everybody, I’ve been noticing answers to this thread which do nothing but further the agenda of fake natives. People are getting on here and saying things like “If you’re 1/13th Native American and you practice Native American spiritualism, then you’re Native American!” Guys, I’m talking about a people group here. Many years ago, time out of mind, they came from what is now eastern Russia, crossed the Bering Strait into Alaska, and then populated not only Alaska, but all of the American continent as well, from Greenland, to Canada, all the way down into South America. They have brown skin, brown eyes and dark hair. They speak their own languages, such as Cherokee, Navajo, Lakota, Shawnee, Inuktitut, Quechua, Nahuatl, and others. They are a people who were (allegedly, and by several historical accounts) nearly exterminated by settlers from Europe. They are an ethnic group of people, a minority now. They may practice any religion they want, and it doesn’t make them less Native American that they don’t all practice Native American spiritualism.
Just imagine it. Would we take it seriously if we heard a white person say, “I’m 1/15 Zulu by blood quantum, and I practice witchcraft; Therefore, I’m black/native African.”? No, we would think that white person was being ridiculous, and tell him, “Dude, you’re white.” So, if we wouldn’t even do this to black people, why do we do it to Native Americans so much?
The moment you know someone is not Native American, is the moment the words “blood quantum” escape their lips. I will know a Native American when I see one. He/She does not have to tell me his/her blood quantum. I can simply look at him/her and think to myself, “Aha! I see he/she is an American aborigine.”
White people who are only a tiny, tiny, tiny bit Native American, but proclaim themselves to be “genuine Apache!” (or whatever) are really just trying to game the system to get the best of both worlds.
They want to enjoy the advantage of being white, and also enjoy the “interesting/unusual/diversity” advantage of claiming to be minority/Native American.
You mean they can open casinos?
What definition of Native American makes these things so?
What definition of black/African makes it so that one should have dark brown skin and be of African ancestry?
What definition of white makes it so that one should have pale pink skin and be of European ancestry?
The definition of Native American that makes these tings so is the definition that says they are the indigenous people of the Americas who lived in the western hemisphere before anyone else. And the ones who lived in the western hemisphere before anyone else happen to fit my description.
I am trying to take down impostors here, people. Fake natives. I want to put them in their place lest they cause the real natives to be forgotten.
Not mine.
Not mine either.
There are plenty of Native Americans that are also descended from people from other parts of the world that do not conform to your specifications. Or are they not Native American?
How do you feel about African-Americans? It’s virtually the same thing you describe.
Why shouldn’t I view myself as a native? I was born here, and have lived here my entire life. My mother, father, and grandparents and great grandparents the same. How many generations need pass before one can rightly view himself as a native?
Lawl. :rolleyes:
No, it’s not the same as I described. African-Americans were not the first people here, nor do they speak Cherokee, Navajo, etc. as they’re native languages. I’m talking about the indigenous population.
Nice thing about being Amerind - or not. There is actually a legal definition. Each tribe decides who is and who is not.
So, if you are a legal member of a tribe, you are. If not- not.
However, I was born here. I am thus a native of the United States. Commonly, however the term “Native American” is used to delineate members of the Amerind or Eskimo tribes.
Descended from what** other parts of the word? What in the name of Balthasar Johannes Vorster are you talking about?
Phssthpok?
Is your definition some kind of reverse “one drop” rule? If your descent includes anything non-First Nations, you can’t possibly call yourself a Native American? If your father was Scottish and your mother Cherokee, but you inherited your father’s red hair and fair skin, you’re not Cherokee? Does that apply to your Scottish side, too - if you have straight brown hair and brown eyes, that negates your European ancestry?
I don’t run around telling folks I’m of Native American descent, nor of Irish, African, Welsh, etc. descent. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not any of those things. And ultimately, that does effect me in subtle and obvious ways: from my hair and eye color, to the religious tradition in which I was raised, to a tendency toward diseases or disorders that may be more common in certain groups of people.
sidetrack: A friend of mine used to work for a local newspaper. The staff had a story in development about a local tribe celebrating some kind of holiday. They had a picture of a ceremony that showed the participants standing in a line, waving their arms skyward, and chanting. The staff debated on what to use as a headline, and somebody suggested “Trail of Cheers.”
It didn’t get used.
I’m fairly certain that Native Americans in the 21st century are able to handle plastic shamans and twinkies showing up at powwows. They don’t need you to be the Great White Savior on their behalf.
This sort of thing (whitey knows best) is exactly what Native Americans have been fighting against, FFS.
Exactly, basically they’re saying, “I know I seem boring but here’s an interesting (albeit, made up) fact about me.”
I made it quite clear in my original post that I am against** the “Great White Father” crowd. I am not** trying to champion the “whitey knows best” position. When I tell people to stop being pretendians, I am talking to my fellow whiteys. I am in no way telling real natives what to do, or trying to force my views on them. I’m simply trying to drag impostors from my ethnicity out of the midst of real natives. After the alleged genocide, this type of pretendianism is even more destructive of real native identity, as it causes real natives to become more and more forgotten as fake natives pop up like rabbits and define the real ones out of existence. I dare suggest pretendianism is racist in and of itself, and is part of the actual genocide.
Nerd.
Not true. You can been Indian (genetically), but not accepted by any tribe or not be part of a recognized tribe.