The drunk Indian

A thread:

The drunk Indian is a stereotype based in some reality. It was illegal for indiands to drink so our ppl had to down their drinks as not to be caught and arrested.

It was also a coping mechanism after years of system oppression. Without booze, without numbing ourselves, how many of us would be here? How many of our parents?

This was a world where if you didn't get taken to a residential school you still had to face racist hospitals (where Indian children still faced sexual abuse).

Where you were told to look down when you walked in a store. Where Chinese food became a staple because those restaurants were the only ones that would serve Indians.

After the potlach ban.. the first potlaches were a lot different. The drummers had jugs of wine by their feet. Old timers smoked in the back room.

But they kept the culture alive. They breathed life into our gukwdzi. Into our songs. Who are we to judge them?

The drunk Indian saved our ppl. We owe a lot to that Indian. They are as sacred as the most "traditional" Indian.