Thread by @TECHNOPlNK, things you might not realize are appropriating the culture of native americans, [...]

things you might not realize are appropriating the culture of native americans, from a native american

1. calling any sort of meeting a powwow: powwows are enormous celebrations that require months of planning. they are a way to celebrate native culture, art, and community. taking the idea of a powwow and using it to describe a 10 minute hang out with your friends is appropriation

2. it's NEVER okay to call something your 'spirit animal.':whether or not a tribe follows the ideals of spirit animals, animals in general play a huge part of native culture. for someone to say they have a spirit animal because a buzzfeed quiz told them so is extremely offensive

3. i'm not indian. i'm native american, indigenous, or first nations: our primarily white government in the united states has made "american indian" the official term for natives. the official federal agency that oversees native land management is called the bureau of indian-

-affairs, but a lot of natives don't like being called indians. we aren't from india. a good way of avoiding this is calling us natives, indigenous, first nations, or by our specific band or tribe.

4. racial slurs are racist, no matter what they are: terms like "redskin" and "injun" are racial slurs against native americans and are never okay words to say. a number of schools and football teams have their mascots as "redskins" which is also never okay to say even if you-

-like their school or team. if i hear you say this around me, i'll educate you and explain why these words are not for you, but if continued, our friendship will not continue.

5. don't call natives, or anything we do, "savage.": for me, i don't care if you're describing something your friend did as "savage" but please refrain from saying that to natives. people are forgiving about this one, but savage is a major trigger for a lot of natives.

6. our culture is not a costume. a lot of people are finally speaking out about this and to those who are, thank you. dressing up as another race is never okay. this one is pretty self explanatory.

7. don't refer to someone as "chief": it's a nickname that reduces us solely to our race. it's an honorable title reserved for leaders of our tribes. i don't run my tribe, please don't call me chief.

8. claiming dubious indian heritage is offensive: if you're part native, then that's great. take the time to learn about your tribe, ask family about your culture. a lot of people tend to claim they're native without any proof, and it's a lot more common than you think-

-native americans are classified as natives by the pedigree of our blood, making us one of 3 things on earth determined that way, along with horses and dogs-

-the worst part of this is that these people love to claim native ancestry, but when was the last time they did something for the betterment of a tribe? these people usually never know or care about native issues like MMIW, the fact that native teens have a death rate-

-2 to 5 times higher than that of white teens in the same age range, and native teens have suicide rates 2.5 times higher than the national average. if you claim to be native for vanity, and don't care about us or our cultures, you're part of the problem.

that's the end of this thread for now. if you have any questions i'm always open for answering them! thank you for reading and for caring about me, about us.

this thread's gaining some traction which i'm definitely grateful for, but here's a list of things related to black lives matter (petitons, bail funds, gofundmes, etc) for you to sign https://twitter.com/but3rz/status/1308970953968422912