Category Archives: Indian

Get over your Self

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

What if there is no self? How would we approach life, discourse and communication if we were able to put our Self in abeyance? On hold? I listened to a talk recently about how selves–our egos, I guess–get in the … Continue reading →

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Separating Facts from Values

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

One critic charges that Western Science separates facts from values. The provenance of science is to define the facts, while “politicians and moralists” are left to define values. Problem is, according to Bruno Latour, you cannot distinguish facts from values, … Continue reading →

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Spokes of the Wheel

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Amazing how the spokes of my blog’s metaphorical wheel offer traction for other folks. Today I received an email from a lass who said she recognizes what it feels like to self-silence: she had read my blog on Dana Crowley … Continue reading →

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Indian Thanksgiving

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

My family always celebrated Thanksgiving, no matter if we were in Teheran, London or Salinas, California. And while we grew up knowing we were descendents of Osage and Lakota forebears, it wasn’t until college that I came to appreciate native … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, Indian, Osage | 2 Comments

Authenticity and Identity

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

One of the key aspects of the political debates surrounding Kennewick Man invokes Indian authenticity, particularly in light that some (not all) anthropologists judged the 9,400-year-old skeleton as Caucasoid, a term that quickly transformed in media coverage as “Caucasian.”

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Faux Indians and Halloween

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

In my insular world of email and Facebook there’s a load of chatter about Indian costumes worn at Halloween. After searching the internet, I found plentiful websites that sell Native American “costumes” as “part of the American Halloween scene” where … Continue reading →

Posted in authenticity, Indian, Osage | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Broken Hearts, Broken Promises

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I thought my heart would break as a read through the treaties in a large volume dated in 1825 during my visit to Chicago’s Newberry Library last week. The volume contains page after page of US-Indian treaties. John Quincy Adams … Continue reading →

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Appropriation vs. Reclamation

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) presented us with images that invited us to think about Indian artifacts—when are they appropriated and when they are merely reclaimed? Her talk, sponsored by the Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Center in Chicago, focused on the edges … Continue reading →

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Ethics in Indian Country

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

The Newberry Library’s D’Arcy McNickle Center in Chicago sponsored a talk this week on indigenous views of ethics, and I was delighted to attend with first daughter Wak-o-apa (Megan). The four presenters discussed perspectives about art, appropriation and sharing from … Continue reading →

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When Names Aren’t What They Seem

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Cynthia (Istá Thó Thó) Coleman Emery

I discovered that family names can be invented, forgotten and even lost in the branches of the family tree.

Posted in authenticity, Francis Parkman, Henri Chatillion, Indian, Lakota | Tagged , | 4 Comments