Category Archives: american indian

How to be a lady, Oscar Wilde style

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I owe a debt to Oscar Wilde in my transformation to being a lady. The term lady is heavy with meaning. As children my sisters and I were encouraged to be ladies. When we got rambunctious or rude our mum … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, cinema, native american, native press, Native Science, neuroscience, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Return the bones

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

You would probably get upset if someone wanted to remove your grandparents’ bones from their graves and put the skeletons on display in a museum. That’s a no-brainer. So it’s no surprise that Native American tribes have tried to protect … Continue reading →

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Practicing invisibility

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I’m practicing my invisibility. Working with coyote—who hides objects from me when I need them the most—lets me meddle in indigenous ways.   Once I asked my friend Ann, who has aged so gracefully that 60 seemed a minor blemish, … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, authenticity, ethics, native american, native press, Native Science, writing | Tagged , | 4 Comments

By the Numbers

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

It’s all in the numbers. Let’s say you want to conduct a national survey of American voters and you want to make sure that you’ve heard from minority groups. National pollsters who interview voters will survey about 1200 people. That’s … Continue reading →

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Vanishing Race

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

When our girls were little we travelled up and down the Oregon and California coasts to visit relatives. One day we stopped at a tourist outpost in the redwoods. The outpost sold American Indian jewelry and crafts manufactured in Taiwan—not … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, authenticity, framing, Indian, Indian relocation, manifest destiny, native american, native press, Native Science | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

What did you accomplish in 2013?

Posted on January 1, 2014 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

We still receive holiday cards. And I still send them. Cards are a way to keep in touch with friends we talk to only occasionally. We were a bit lazy this year: we posted our greetings, sent calendars, but failed … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, authenticity, Indian, Lakota, native american, native press, Native Science, Osage | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Show me your indigenous people

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

We hoped our journey to Sri Lanka would find us within indigenous communities. We thought the best approach would be driving through the villages far outside the main cities. Earlier this week we walked through a village to the entrance … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, authenticity, Indian, Lakota, native american, native press, Native Science, Osage, science communication | Tagged | 1 Comment

Just one more relic

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Just one more relic lost to collectors. That’s what I thought when I read the Facebook posts by American Indian bloggers and activists about the sale of Hopi objects at an auction in Paris in December. Just one more mask. … Continue reading →

Posted in american indian, framing, Hopi masks, Hopi masks at Paris auction, Indian, journalism, Native Science, science, science communication, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Think before you tweet

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The headline reads: Cher blasts Thanksgiving. The celebrity apparently tweeted the holiday signals the devastation of Indian peoples. So she doesn’t honor the holiday. When I was in high school I shared her feelings. I rejected materialism, capitalism, marriage—and anything … Continue reading →

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Let’s get rid of the Redskins’ name

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Talk about cognitive dissonance. A story circulating on Facebook lauds Dan Maffei, a democratic congressional representative from New York, who asks fellow legislators to rid the Washington Redskins of its name. American Indians and others detest the use of Redskins … Continue reading →

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