Everyday Native American people are breaking negative stereotypes as they continue to form
their own positive narratives while also honouring the past and ancestors from before us.
Often times you don't see Native American representation in the mainstream media.
So I think it is important to give this minority group more attention. I believe we should be
recognised everyday. So many people think of us in an historical content but we're still here.
Native American Heritage month is important to me because I'm proud of my culture and who I
am. What about you? Well I don't think it's enough though I want to see more representation
of Native Americans such as artists, creators and scholars. How do you feel about this?
I am thankful the month November is a time to recognise Native Americans but it should not
only just be during Native American heritage month where native people are recognised
it should be every single day. What about you? We're not people of the past, we’re not people
that are ancient, so it's important to start seeing native people as present day people.
The main reason why I joined TikTok was to bring more attention to MMIW. MMIW stands for murdered
missing indigenous women. There are 5000 Native American women who have been missing or murdered
and only 116 of those cases have been brought justice to. My content is to bring more awareness
to that, to bring more justice for native women. Important issues I have spoken about through my
TikTok include missing murdered indigenous women, intergenerational trauma or climate change.
Educate others about Native American Heritage Month. Doing that by supporting indigenous creators
and donating to indigenous programmes. I speak out about these issues because it directly
affects me and my day-to-day life. Spreading awareness to those who may not know about
it is essential in order to make sure that native people get the help that they need.
I use TikTok as a creative outlet to show the world my bead work.
So bead work is not only important to me but to a lot of our indigenous people.
As a Native American artist to be able to put my bead work out into the world and to really show
positive side of Native American people because a lot of people like to look at native people in
these negative old out of date stereotypes. For indigenous peoples braiding her hair is sacred.
I did not have a mentor growing up I had to learn all this information on my own through my
own research. I would like to be the person, the liaison for a native person to be able to learn
more about themselves and their culture. We need more Native American representation everywhere,
but what also is important is to start including Native American people in your discussions. Start
including Native American people in your social discussions, in your academic discussions and
in your political discussions. Politicians need to start supporting and listening to indigenous
people when it comes to our concerns such as land concerns this was our land before many others
came here and often times we are not brought into issues when it comes to the decisions of the land.
It is seen as sacred to us. All land is sacred to Native Americans
and I think we should have more of a say in whether we do something with it or now.