Native American youth are increasingly using social media to counter harmful stereotypes about Indians that persist in the media and popular American culture.
"I think here in the United States, we are pretty much an afterthought," said journalist Tristan Ahtone, a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and a 2018 Nieman Fellow working to improve mainstream media coverage of indigenous communities.
"These folks on Twitter and other social media outlets who are trying to have their voices heard are, if nothing else, looking to supplement the American education system, which has done absolutely nothing to inform citizens about indigenous people," he said.
Some tweets look to dispel the myth that Indians are relics of the past.
#DearNonNatives Our culture is still alive..because our spirit is stronger. Our circle never broken..never faded. AHO pic.twitter.com/Y20FXJ0fY7
— Esatoyah (@bearmedicin) July 31, 2015
#dearnonnatives my culture is not dead. It is alive and not dying out soon
— kae is dead (@FaiirlyDun) September 19, 2015
They'd like non-Natives to stop lumping them into a single, generic culture...
#DearNonNatives every tribe is different. Have our own language, beliefs,& traditions. Hollywood has lead you to believe we are one cultures
— Jo Mama (@nava_jo) August 7, 2015
#dearnonnatives we%27re not just "some drunk Indians" we%27re people with traditions and sacred things
— kae is dead (@FaiirlyDun) September 19, 2015
...and to stop romanticizing them.
#DearNonNatives We are not your mythological, magical, or the highest level of noble savage shaman.
— #NoDAPLCat (@pixiewthascythe) July 31, 2015
They'd like textbooks to stop sanitizing U.S. history.
#DearNonNatives start teaching the dark side of your history in school. Stop trying to hide everything you%27ve done.
— Olowan Young (@olowanyoung) August 4, 2015
They'd like non-Natives to stop using "Indian" imagery to name sports teams and mascots.
#DearNonNatives if u really support us do not support teams like: @Redskins @Indians @Braves @NHLBlackhawks. They do not honor us...at all.
— wolves riding lightning tshirt (@heather28df) August 5, 2015
"It’s a common problem in the United States," said Ahtone. "Our images have been appropriated for selling everything from tobacco to tires to insurance."
#DearNonNatives we are #notyourmascot pic.twitter.com/0nnpolPLta
— PowwowJamz.Com (@pwjamz) July 31, 2015
Some Native Americans get depressed around American holidays, especially Columbus Day, which honors the Italian explorer whose arrival in 1492 opened the door to the slaughter and oppression of indigenous populations...
#DearNonNatives #DearNatives Listen, understand, respect. ColumbusDay = WhiteSupremacy https://t.co/eqxTMm28LO UNITE TO #AbolishColumbusDay!
— Yo-G (@TheRealYoG) August 6, 2015
...and Thanksgiving, which commemorates a 17th Century harvest feast British settlers shared with Wampanoag in Plymouth, Massachusetts. To many Native American minds, the holiday promotes colonization as something peaceful and advantageous to everyone.
#dearnonnatives #CulturalAppropriation is when you take all beautiful aspects of our culture w/o the history and pain associated with them
— Brandon Stevens (@yellowbird_4) August 11, 2015
Native Americans would like non-Natives to stop appropriating their clothing and ceremonial regalia...
#DearNonNatives My culture is not a costume. My regalia is sacred, important and part of my identity. Thank you. #NotYourNativeStereotype pic.twitter.com/IOGACwT2Yu
— Kai is my cousin (@PernellThomas) October 16, 2016
...as well as their spirituality, especially for commercial profit.
#DearNonNatives its not tradish to run around nekkid at New Age sweat lodge u paid $250 for
— G-Rowntree Quiñones (@GrimTree) August 1, 2015
They would like non-Natives to stop "educating" them about their own history or telling Natives how they should feel.
#DearNonNatives Just because you%27re a grad student studying Native religion, you don%27t get to tell me what our traditions %27really%27 mean.
— Nichole Lucero (@nichole_lucero) August 1, 2015
And they want a voice in mainstream media.
Write about #Native peoples? Here%27s a handy bingo card to avoid stereotypes & clichés https://t.co/lVJ697vnOM @najournalists #DearNonNatives pic.twitter.com/c164QUSATe
— Amy Loyd (@amyloyd1) September 7, 2017
"Mainstream media isn't designed to have voices outside of affluent, white America," said Ahtone, a sentiment VOA has heard from several Native journalists.
"I talk a lot about diversity in media and newsrooms. But as far as I am concerned, you can throw all the diversity you want at a newsroom, but if that newsroom doesn’t actually think the stories those people can produce are important, then it’s a complete waste of everybody’s time."
#DearNonNatives in journalism: invite us to write our stories. Bring us on as editors. Stop the colonized narrative and empower ours!
— Kenzie Allen 🌵 (@cerena) July 31, 2015
Ahtone cautions that these posts in social media represent only a small cadre of individuals in Indian Country, which comprises 573 tribes with distinct cultures and experiences.
"And a lot of times in social media, its just political posturing, just rhetoric," he said. "If you want to get to real, in-depth stuff, you’re going to have to go past the facade of what social media offers."