I feel like Iâve said this all before, but you keep doing it, I keep saying it. It is 2017. RPC, can we please acknowledge:
Saying âtribe native american ethnicityâ, ânative american (tribe) ethnicityâ, âtribe (native american) ethnicityâ, etc. is redundant. Iâve been guilty of this in the past, I acknowledge it, but itâs just redundant. Native American is a race, that tribe is the ethnicity. To say âKorean East Asian ethnicityâ, âEast Asian (Korean) ethnicityâ, âKorean (East Asian) ethnicityâ, etc. would just appear redundant and wrong, and itâs the same here. The only time you should say Native American in the ethnicity is if youâre saying Unspecified next to it (i.e. âNative American (Unspecified)â, âUnspecified Native Americanâ).
That being said, also stop disrespecting the vastly different cultures and tribes by using tribes interchangeably. Weâre not talking about Europeans here. Using Cody Christian (Penobscot) as a Navajo, Sioux, Quileute, etc. man or Devery Jacobs (Mohawk) as a Shoshone, Pamunkey, Blackfoot, etc. is just wrong, problematic, and offensive.
Also stop using names like âMorningStar RedEagleâ as names for your native character unless you know that comes from the language of their tribe. Itâs really cringy. A lot of native surnames are English/Gaelic, French, or Spanish in origin due to the colonizers. Itâs also less common but not impossible to find natives with German, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Danish, or Norwegian in origin as they, too, colonized. Same goes with first names, though there is a good number giving their children first names that reflect the language of their tribe. Common surnames for natives can be found in the following: Top 100, I donât actually know how many are here but more.
Also not every native person is multilingual. Many of our languages are on the border of extinction, and a good number are already extinct. Many who do know their language often only know a few phrases, with only a small amount reporting fluency. It is not a large number.
âAmericanâ or âCanadianâ can only be an ethnicity to Natives, if they even chose to use that (many will just go by their tribe). Jeon Somi is not âHalf Korean, Half Canadianâ, sheâs half Korean half Dutch (you could even say Dutch-Canadian and it wouldnât be as wrong as just Canadian). Ross Buter is not âHalf Chinese-Malaysian, Half Americanâ, heâs half Chinese-Malaysian half British (you could even say British-American and it wouldnât be as wrong as just British).
âTwo spiritâ is a great gender identity, and two spirit people deserve to be recognized as legitimate, but not all non binary natives use it. Some choose not to because it doesnât translate into all languages, some feel itâs better to identify with non binary terms their tribe has had for longer than âtwo spiritâ (âtwo spiritâ was introduced in the early 1990s as a way to let go of European terms like ânon binaryâ but others, such as my tribe [Blackfoot] who has Awowaaki and Ninauposkitzipxpe, the Lakota have Winkte, and the Zuni have Lhamana that have existed longer and members of these tribes may choose to id with that instead of âtwo spiritâ).
Blake Lively isnât native, but actual natives can have blonde hair (see Brittany LeBorgne, Mohawk), actual natives can have green/blue eyes (see Kaniehtiio Horn, Mohawk), actual natives can have red hair (see Allyson Pratt, Metis of Plains Cree descent), actual natives can be pale (see Amber Midthunder, Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux, Hudeshabina Nakoda Sioux, and Sissiton-Wahpeton Oyate Dakota Sioux) and they are just as native as any of your Hollywood-stereotype looking natives. Also black/Afro Natives (see Aranesa Turner, Pomo) are also legitimate.
Naming an rp after a tribe just because thereâs towns and street names and shit like that also named after them is wrong.
An alcoholic/drug dependent native, a native just so in touch with nature thatâs all they love to do, etc. are horrible stereotypes you should stay away from. See this guide for more.
No matter how hard your native character works, if they were in the armed forces or anything, they wonât have a Plains-style war bonnet (or âheaddressâ) unless they are male and a member of one of the Great Plains tribes. They may own one if a parent/grandparent had one, but they wouldnât wear it.
Regalia also isnât worn on an everyday basis, usually just special events that call for it or if they dance in pow wow.
Okay, Iâm sure thereâs more, but thatâs what I can think of for now. Thank you.