#arapaho

[tinyuglyworld]

Arapaho woman named Pretty Nose from Fort Keogh, Montana. Photographed by Laton Alton Huffman, 1879

[beyondtheadobe]

arapaho brave, circa 1880

[nobrashfestivity]

James Mooney Ceremony, Ghost Dance n.d. (1900?) Black and white gelatin glass negative gelatin glass negative National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution Arapaho, Oklahoma--Cheyenne & Arapaho Reservation

[fragrantblossoms]

James Mooney. Hanacha-Thiak (SItting Bull) with Half-Brother, Scabby Bull, Both in Partial Native Dress with Ornaments, One with Peace Medal, 1891.

[mr-laveau]

SO HI IT'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY

This is your reminder that, I am an afro-indian and indigenous creator! I'm Mr. Laveau, an audio RP VA who is Caribbean and Kalinago!

My channel + stories are filled with Indigenous characters, lemme show them off to you!

Nikolas Ortiz is Chinese, Latino & Mexica while Julio Vela is Afro-latino & Mexica!

Nikolas was inspired by Quetzelcoatl and Julio was inspired by Tepeyollotl! Nikolas is a powerful daemon who's just moved to California to attend a magical college but finds that making friends and being a good boyfriend are easier said than done while figuring out how to be social again! Julio is one of his newly made friends who helps him settle.

Joseph Hunt, Trevor & Bull are all of the Navajo Nation!

Joseph was inspired by Odin while Trevor and Bull are inspired by Huginn and Muninn as well the navajo myth of the hero twins, Nayenesgani the slayer (Trevor who was named after Trevor Belmont) and Water (Bull, named after the Bull river). They're all headed to Washington to investigate the disappearance of the MC's brother, but the twins are looking for their father who they think might be around there too!

Percy and Aman are Caribbean and Afro-indigenous, Aman is Black & Taino, Percy is Black & Kalinago!

Percy was based on the Kalinago's connection to the ocean as sea-farers, and Aman is based on Huracan, the taino god of wind and Aeolus! Their story centres on the idea of lost opportunities, grief, lonliness and the consequence of colonization in the Caribbean!

Ezra is Latino & Maya, Jackson is Afro-Inuit and Zee is Afro-arapaho!

Ezra is based on the mayan god, Ek Chuah and owls (which is like funny because owls are associated with witches and she's a witch)! Ezra is the head of her own coven that is stationed in Appalachia, but is moving to expand their operations in Chicago and keep an eye on his parnter!

Jackson is based on the Akhlut, a shapeshifting spirit that can take the forms of both a wolf and an orca. He is an alpha forced into the positon after his predecessor was framed for a murder they did not commit. As of now, he's currently trying to manage the disappearance of his pack members that goes unnoticed

Zee is an eagle shifter whose concept is based on the thunderbird! She made her debut killing a magical cop, and is a spy for an anarchist group looking to fight their government's tyranical hold over magical people.

Jericho Boucharde is Black & Chitimacha, and Aranck is Cree!

Aranck's character was made around the concept of the Cree writing system, hence he was designed as a Wizard! He is venturing out to prove himself as a mage and make his people's language academically recognised within his world due to the dissonance between human cultures.

Jericho is based on a creature who-I-cannot-name (hint:W) and Gargoyles! Jericho is the obsessive ex-lover of one of the listeners within Blood Moon! After being isolated for most of his life, he became a vampire to find community only to descend into monstrosity.

That's it! Those are my indigenous character and they are cool, and you're cool if you read all of this! If you're looking for work that centers and highlights indigenous culture while being amazing then consider checking me out!

[littlefeather-wolf]

Snake and Big Belly ... Snake and Big Belly C. 1867 ... Arapahoe

[deathsmallcaps]

I was curious so I checked - Disney+’s Moana (2016) version does NOT have any of the Pacific Islander options for the audio or subtitles. That feels unfair. That means one can only watch it in Te Reo Māori, Hawaiian, or Tahitian if one bought the dvd. I feel like that is kind of predatory and uninclusive. If the stock runs out, what are people who want to watch Moana in those languages supposed to do? And what if they’re already paying for Disney+? That seems unfair. Additionally, Frozen II has a Sámi dub, The Lion King has a Swahili dub and apparently Bambi has an Arapaho dub (random???* Would love to know more. This clip is adorable). None of which are available on Disney+.

I will acknowledge that my family subscribes in the USA, and that this might be different in different areas. But also, Moana got dubbed in Hawaiian (by the original English language actress, Auli’i Cravalho!) and Hawaii is in the USA … so where the hell is it???

*okay looks like it was an Arapaho-led effort meant to help raise money and encourage young learners, due to the short and simple dialogue. Not like when Disney just decided to assign Swahili as the Lion King’s language because both are African ig

Walt Disney’s Bambi – The Arapaho Language Version

Videotape produced by Walt Disney Corporation and Wyoming Indian Schools (1994) Distributed by Wyoming Council for the Humanities, 1315 E. L

[whencyclopedia]

Nih'a'ca Tales

Nih'a'ca tales are Arapaho legends concerning the trickster figure Nih'a'ca, who, according to Arapaho lore, is the first haxu'xan (two-spirit), a third gender, often highly regarded by many Native American nations, including the Arapaho. The Nih'a'ca tales are similar to the Wihio tales of the Cheyenne and the Iktomi tales of the Sioux.

North American Panther

Rodney Cammauf /National Park Service (Public Domain)

Circumstances and situations differ between the Nih'a'ca tales and those concerning trickster figures of other Native peoples of North America, but the central character of the trickster plays the same role – sometimes as sage and mediator, sometimes as schemer and villain – in them all. In the case of Nih'a'ca – always referred to by the male pronoun in English translations of Arapaho tales – he is frequently depicted in legend as someone who tries to better himself, usually at the expense of others or by trying to take shortcuts, and suffers for it.

At the same time, Nih'a'ca can be wise, offering advice, or clever, as in the story Nih'a'ca Pursued by the Rolling Skull, in which he must find a way to escape death. His identity as a haxu'xan is often, though not always, central to the story's plot – as in Nih'a'ca and the Panther-Young-Man where he, identifying as a woman, marries a panther – and, in stories where his gender is highlighted, serves to teach an important cultural, moral, lesson.

The Nih'a'ca tales are still told in Arapaho and Cheyenne communities, as well as others – including LGBTQ organizations – not only for their entertainment value but for the lessons they offer on personal responsibility and the proper respect and treatment to be shown to others. Like the trickster figures of other nations, Nih'a'ca is often depicted as, or associated with, the spider – spinning webs to catch others which often wind up entangling himself.

The Two-Spirit & Nih'a'ca

Two-Spirit is a modern designation, coined as recently as 1990, for the third gender recognized by many Native American nations for centuries before their contact with European immigrants. Because the term is so new, the two-spirit is often, incorrectly, assumed to be a recent 'discovery' made by anthropologists when, actually, European accounts going back to 1775 reference a third gender among North American Native peoples and the oral histories, myths, and legends – like the Nih'a'ca tales – also attest to the long-standing recognition of two-spirits in a given community.

As the term implies, a two-spirit is someone who recognizes both a male and female spirit dwelling within and often, though not always, dresses in the clothes and performs the duties of their opposite biological sex. Because they are understood as both male and female, two-spirits are recognized as possessing especially keen insight and often serve as mediators – in the present as they did in the past – in resolving personal or communal disputes. They were, and are (or can be), also regarded as holy people – "medicine men" and "medicine women" – serving as mediators between the people and the spirit world. Scholar Larry J. Zimmerman comments:

The relationship between a holy person and the spirit world is almost that of a personal religion. The first meeting with the spirits becomes the personal myth, and the power of this myth is important for establishing the holy person's credentials with the tribe, on behalf of which his or her skills are used to locate game, find lost objects, and, above all, treat the sick. The holy person can enter a trance at will and journey to the sacred world.

(132-133)

While Nih'a'ca is sometimes depicted as a holy person, he is more often quite the opposite, possessing characteristics such as selfishness, cruelty, and a blatant disregard for cultural norms. Through the Nih'a'ca tales, which frequently conclude with the central character suffering for his misdeeds, higher values including selflessness, kindness, and respect for tradition and the feelings of others are highlighted.

Nih'a'ca, then, usually serves as an exemplar of bad behavior and is given the identity of a two-spirit – in fact, the first two-spirit in the world – because the recognition of the sacred aspect of the two-spirit further emphasizes just how misguided Nih'a'ca's choices and actions can be. The tales themselves are a kind of 'trickster' turning expectations upside down and, in so doing, offer an audience the opportunity for reflection on their own behavior and the possibility of transformation.

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