Intro Post

 Hey guys, welcome to my blog! Be sure to check out my 'projects' page and the 'about me' for some cool stuff! Thanks for stopping by!

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Love Letter to the Realeather Scrap Bag

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  Sometimes, the ability to follow the principles of one's culture comes in surprising forms. For example, in my case, I can follow old principles of my culture through the use of the Realeather Scrap Bag.  Something that is very important to the Lakota people is the idea of minimizing waste. In our ways, to take from the environment must be meaningful in order for one's life to be worthy and honorable in existence. In the old days, before colonization and reservation life, the Lakota hunted the buffalo across the northern plains region of North America. To us, these animals were some of the most sacred because they allowed us to live, and we were thankful to them before all else. We understood that without their continued existence, we too would cease to exist.  These beliefs of the duality of our existences resulted in deep parts of our spiritual beliefs. We understood the necessity of preserving the species that were so sacred and important to us. To kill a pregnant buffalo
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Cultural Appropriation of Beadwork and Native Designs

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'Iron Eyes' Cody  In my opinion, Native American culture is one of the cultures that has been the most casually appropriated through recent history. While   populations plummeted in the past century, the image of the Native     American was an appropriated one by Hollywood. Natives in Cinema have a long and rich history, but in the mid-1900s, County Westerns exploded in popularity. Natives were a part of these movies, and the white executives in charge of writing these movies pushed stereotypical Native caricatures instead of flushed-out characters as parts of these films. This extended to costume, as the 'Indian look' was an important factor in differentiating the white characters from those who were meant to be Native.     'Iron Eyes' Cody (true name Espera Oscar de Corti) was an Italian-American man who became famous in Hollywood for portraying Native Americans in the 1900s. Not only did he act in films, but his roles spread to real life where he pretended,
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The Importance of Passing the Wisdom On - Aging Artists Would Mean End of Culture

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 For at least two generations, an aging population has meant the extreme loss of Native culture. This goes back to the beginning of reservation days, when things like regalia-making, powwow-dancing and spiritual practices were outlawed by the United States Government, in order to eliminate the Native American Tribal identity from existence. My great-grandmother would tell us stories of these events: according to her, when she was a child, only those sixty and older were allowed to take part in powwow dancing and singing. New drums and drumsticks were not allowed to be made. New dancing clothes and regalia were not allowed to be made, and younger people were not allowed to even stand at powwows. In this way, much of our traditions were lost because they were forced to be taught in secrecy. Moving forward, younger people lost these cultural connections, and the amount of people who participated in things like beading and regalia-making sharply decreased.  Earrings made by me In the prese
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