By American Libraries — 2013
The bestselling author discusses her role as a global citizen and her connection with nature, history, and activism
Read on americanlibrariesmagazine.org
CLEAR ALL
“Just a reminder: the system in what is currently known as the US isn’t ‘broken.’ It was designed by male white supremacist slaveowners on stolen Indigenous land to protect their interests. It’s working as it was designed.” ~Dr. Adrienne Keene (Cherokee)
No one disputes that decades ago local Indians were unfairly deprived of hundreds of thousands of acres that were guaranteed to them in perpetuity by solemn treaty; yet no one can agree about what should be done to correct that injustice today.
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Thirteen matriarchs from indigenous cultures are currently touring the world, promoting peace, unity, and a respect for nature. nicola Graydon meets one of them, Mona Polacca.
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“Women are like a mirror image of Mother Earth. We feel her pain. These heartaches that we feel are part of the compassion that women have, and we need to act on that compassion.” Mona Polacca.
In my upbringing, I was taught that everyone is my relative. That we are all relatives. My parents and grandparents instilled this value since I was a child and I notice that, without question, it helps me to see the value in each person and living thing.
Cultural appropriation in fashion plays a huge role in the continued dismissal of indigenous cultures as primitive, dismisses indigenous people as playthings, and perpetuates the idea that we are relics of the past.
It’s so ironic. A country that was established by white immigrants and refugees continues, year after year, to debate whether refugees and immigrants from other countries should be allowed to cross onto our sacred soil. - Chelsey Luger