Joey Clift's Tumblr

Enrolled Cowlitz / Writer / Cat Guy - Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Nerdist, UCB + other places. Twitter: @joeytainment

[joeyclift]

Thanks For Having Me!

This Answer Time was really fun! I don’t have anything to promote right now, but if you liked this, follow me on twitter!

https://twitter.com/joeytainment

[joeyclift]

Real talk, so I'm ndot sure this will get picked - but ndn to ndn, how do you cope with the influx of racism Thanksgiving brings in every year? I heard my office is making a big deal of it this year and I said I'd work that day explicitly trying to avoid being depressed about Thanksgiving... Any tips you got would be appreciated. Ahéhee', have a good one.

Hey! I think my trick to celebrating Thanksgiving, NDN to NDN is that I just treat it as an excuse to hang out with friends and don’t focus on the other aspects of it so much.

Coping with the influx of weird racism is rough for sure, but I think for me, it helps that I’ve got a ton of Native friends (and Non Native allies) in my life who get it and are okay with me venting about it, and that helps a ton.

Hope that makes sense!

[joeyclift]

If you’ve read/seen the Thanksgiving Play by Larissa Fasthorse, what did you think?

Not yet, but I really want to!

[joeyclift]

Scott Hall or Scott Steiner?

Scott Steiner, easy

[joeyclift]

Should everyone stop celebrating Thanksgiving because of it's past? And how should we celebrate this holiday?

Hi! I actually was just interviewed for an Uproxx article where a bunch of Natives talked about this. The short answer is that it’s complex!

The article has some more details!

https://uproxx.com/life/what-does-thanksgiving-mean/

[joeyclift]

I am Native American...What kind of tips do you have for today's Native American women/girls?

Stay strong and don’t let lame folks get you down. A ton of Native tribes are “matriarchal” meaning that women traditionally are the decision makers. Keep that in mind, don’t be afraid to take up space and be aware that a lot of really bad ass Native women worked really hard to get us where we are!

Also, follow Deb Haaland on twitter. She rules!

[joeyclift]

I'm native american, but my family never taught me much about the culture. How can I celebrate and where are some places I can learn more about it?

. Thanks for the question! My advice is to figure out the exact tribe and do everything you can to check out their history as well as what they’re up to today! Most tribes have websites so if you google them, something should come up :)

[joeyclift]

What is something that non-Native Americans may be unaware of that we should be conscious of, both political movements/statements and culturally (things that we may be ignorant of). Thank you!

This is super broad, but I think what people should know about Natives is that they don’t know a lot about us. This is a statistic from the very awesome Non Profit IllumiNative, but something like 90% of US schools don’t cover Native American history after 1890.

Because of that, people don’t realize that we’re not a historical footnote. We’re still here, and in 2019 we’re doing a ton of cool shit!

You can check out more specific, IllumiNatives site has a bunch more data and neat info.

http://illuminatives.org/

[joeyclift]

What is your favorite movie?

Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. It’s so insane and SO GOOD!

[joeyclift]

Have you met many indigenous people in the mainstream entertainment industry?

Yeah! “Native Hollywood” is small, but there are a few dozen of us who are doing cool stuff. In fact, a bunch of us are putting on a comedy show at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater tonight!

Here’s the poster.

There aren’t a ton of us, but we’re doing a lot of cool stuff and we grow a little more every year, which has been cool to see :)

[joeyclift]

What kind of support can an individual give to local native causes?

Each tribe has their own struggles so my advice is to see what each individual tribes in your area are up to, what battles they’re fighting and if it would be helpful, do what you can to be educated and spread awareness on those issues.

Here’s a super broad issue that’s effecting a ton of folks.

Indigenous women are murdered and go missing at a super high rate and not a lot of people are talking about it so if you want to help, read up about it, post about it on social media and talk about it with folks!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_and_murdered_Indigenous_women

[joeyclift]

what’s your favorite part of being a comedian?

. Honestly, it’s that all of my friends are weirdos and that sometimes we get paid to sit in a room, be weird, make each other laugh and eat snacks. It’s a lot of work, but SO fun!

[joeyclift]

I had no idea who you were but I looked you up and you’re Native, and idk that just means a lot to me. I’m native and I was prepared to look up your name and find another white guy trying to tell our stories, you know? Anyway, thank you for talking about your experiences. It means a lot.

. Thanks! This legit means a lot.

Real talk, growing up I didn’t see any Natives on TV so I didn’t think I was allowed to work in comedy and it wasn’t until a bunch of my professors in college told me that I could that I believed I was even allowed to do it. Now I’m trying to be more visible to show Native kids like me growing up, who didn’t feel like they had a ton of options that it’s okay to have dreams.

Anyway, I just want you to know that in the entertainment industry, and around the world there are a lot of kick ass Natives doing awesome shit and whatever it is that you want to do with your life, we all support you and want you to succeed. Keep your head up. Keep kicking ass. You rule :)

[joeyclift]

Mr. Clift, I heard you on the Dead Meat podcast and I thought you were so insightful and funny. My question is this: I’m a teacher of US and world history. I have to teach (more or less) to the state standards I’m handed. Sadly these standards are almost entirely Eurocentric. How do I incorporate indigenous cultures better for my students when they either don’t exist or their existence is “They grew corn, beans, and squash. Then they suffered and died, The End.”

.Thanks for listening! Chelsea and James are the best :)

I think the best thing to do is to also spend time talking about the awesome stuff Natives are up to now! Folks like Deb Haaland, Nyla Rose, Taboo from the Black Eyes Peas. Talk about them and other awesome contemporary Natives so that people don’t think we’re only something that existed “way back when”.

One of the biggest things Natives are running into is “erasure” and talking about us as a badass contemporary people doing cool shit in 2019 helps rectify that.

[joeyclift]

What’s your favorite part about being Native American?

.Oh man, this is a good question.

This is really sappy, but I love my mom a ton. It’s through her that I get my Native lineage and she’s the person on my life growing up who really explained to me what it means to be Cowlitz and why and how that’s important, so I love that it makes me feel closer with her and through that, it makes me feel closer to my family, my tribe, and pretty much any Native I run into.

We’re not all related, but we are all fighting the same fight for visibility and there’s a bond there that is hard to put into words, but it’s really neat.

Also, us Cowlitz are a fishing people and the salmon dinners my tribe has sometimes are DOPE!

[joeyclift]

Recently watched CGP Grey's video on the subject of "Native American", and I think it's actually more respectful to call them "Indians" despite the historical connotations. Most people on actual reservations prefer the latter term. Given that's how the majority self identify, I don't think it's truly respectful to call them "native americans". Even if it is "accurate". If they say they're Indians, Indians they are. We oughtn't be naming other people anymore. Two wrongs don't make a right.

. I think it’s tough to make a blanket statement about how to refer to Native folks. There are 6 million of us on the US census and we all have different opinions. I prefer Native American (and use “Native” in casual conversation) but some folks get super offended by that because of the connection with America. Some folks prefer Indigenous. Some use Indian.

The way to make everyone happy is, instead of referring to them as “Indian” or “Native American” is to refer to them by their tribal affiliation. I’m not “Indian”, I’m “Cowlitz” because that’s what my tribe is and the people who claim me. Hope that makes sense!

[joeyclift]

How can an organization host an educational event about native people in a meaningful and appropriate way?

.This is just my two cents, but I think oftentimes when folks teach about Native history, they only really cover us as something that existed “then”. 

History is important, and if you’re hosting a local event about Native history, it’s a good idea to talk about the tribe who’s aboriginal land you’re on, but don’t stop at the 1700s. Also include what they’re doing now! Natives in 2019 are doing a ton of cool shit and more people should be talking about it.

My dream event would include stuff about Native history specific to that region while also having a section just highlighting awesome Natives alive and thriving today. Folks like Deb Haaland, Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas, Aaron Yazzie who’s working on the Mars Rover. We’re doing rad shit!

Also, start the event with a Land Acknowledgement and ask for your local tribe’s input to see what they’d like you to cover. It’s super important to involve us when you’re trying to tell our stories if that makes sense :)

If you want a list of cool Natives to follow, I name a bunch more names in this twitter thread.

https://twitter.com/joeytainment/status/1198999770959761410