round the world to home

I come across all sorts of interesting articles in my travels around the net.

A great analysis of the 'big' movie New Moon from a Native American viewpoint. Source Native  Legal Update

"Perhaps the most troubling issue with New Moon and the entire Twilight series is the use of the wolf as the basis for Quileute identity. The Quileute people do not even have a wolf myth in their cultural lexicon – although other Tribes such as the Seneca and Cherokee do. In New Moon, when members of the Tribe come under stress or confront a significant challenge, their common reaction is to morph from a sentient human being into a feral beast whose favored mode of behavior is bloody violence. The audience can understandably view this as a message sent from the film’s writers, consciously or unconsciously, that when it comes to Native Americans: “Deep down, they’re really just wild animals.”"

Or perhaps the 'big'movie 2012, this article from Racewire is called 2012 - A Race Odyssey which is a very witty title.

"Say what you want, but “2012” succeeded in at least one respect; it put forth strong characters of color in less than stereotypical roles."

A great article from Indian Country Today that will really get you thinking

"The dominant society of the United States presumes that American Indian nations and peoples are obligated to accept and live in accordance with a non-Indian perspective on American Indian existence. Unfortunately, we as Indian people don’t spend enough time challenging that presumption."

The native Ainu are fighting for their rights in Japan - sourced from indigenouspeoplesissues

"The Ainu were only recognized in June last year as Japan's indigenous people, in a resolution passed months before Japan hosted a summit of world leaders, the Group of Eight conference, on Hokkaido."

"Ainu men kept full beards while women adorned themselves with facial tattoos which they acquired before they reached the age of marriage. Ainu clothes were robes spun from tree bark and decorated with geometric designs."

And this article sourced from redmegaera blog was a very interesting discussion on racism and the various detours that we throw up

"We internalized our beliefs about people of color, ourselves, other white people and about being white. Those internalized attitudes became actualized into racist behavior. As I continue my journey toward becoming a re‐conditioned and effective anti‐racist, I have become aware of “habits,” attitudes and their attached behaviors, which divert me from my intended goal. To change the detouring behavior, I must first be fully conscious of what I’m doing, the behavior and its consequences. Next, I need to reflect on the behavior’s attitudinal roots. Finally, I determine the prescribed, desired change I want to make and the best strategy for achieving it. Sometimes I need to remove the behavior from my personal repertoire. More often though, re‐tooling is necessary, replacing the discarded pattern with new behaviors. It will likely take repeated attempts before I have fully internalized and externalized the desired change."

Pretty weighty topics that i hope you find thought-provoking. Let me know if you come across an article or post that inspires you or helps you see things from a different angle.