Thanks Senab. Beautiful.
I'm amazed at how dark they are. You don't see very many like this today. They have lightened up considerably.
And it seems the lighter they got, the farther away from us they became. They helped us a lot during slavery and before and after. Even when the whites tried to get them to be our enslavers... their slavery of us was different. I heard they allowed us to still intermarry and participate in their politics as 'slaves' of theirs.
Many blacks or mixed NA/Black were on the trail of tears.
Now, a lot of them are prejudice against AA's and they take favors of whitey a lot. In the meantime, Native Americans are the most coveted group for AA's for hair and their attractiveness.
"oh she got them indian cheekbones"
"oh my grandmother was NA and that's where we get our long hair. She had hair passed her butt"
"redbone must have a little NA in ya"
"yeah, you know we gotta lotta indian in our family"
Bunk that. I don't be covetin no long haired indian ancestors. I'm just black.
I like NA's. I appreciate and like their culture, spiritualism, history, their beauty (physical and otherwise) and all that.
but it just seems like blacks spend a lot more time on appreciatin and loving NA culture and history a lot more than they african history/culture. they have a lot more reverence for it.
Maruawe MedusaNegrita,
First, I would like to address the question of color among First Nation peoples. Their color has not lighten up considerably over the years no more than African American folks compared to native continental Africans. Indeed, you have alot of Metis among them, but they have always been of a lighter shade compared to African people. Many of the photos posted here show people darker than what they actually were.
Now to address the division between First Nation people and those folks of African descent. The history of the two groups has always been quite complex and far beyond any simplistic rendering we wish to apply. Some groups did historically embrace African runaways and incorporated them into their societies through the adoption process. Many of these groups were at the time in direct conflict with the invading Euro-American settlers, frontierman and pioneers to their land. They had obviously political motives to accept African runaways into their "tribes." On the other hand, those groups that maintained more cozy business relations with Euro-Americans or whom had succumbed to the missionary work of Christian preachers in their land and among their people assumed the same attitudes of the business partners when it came to African people.
As someone of very immediate First Nation ancestry (not trying to tout any Native ancestry just because - it's just the plain truth), I still see this trend today. Nothing has essentially changed besides the fact that the interactions between Black folks and Indian people have decreased and both groups are relatively unfamiliar with each other in this day and age. Thus the separation due to isolation and rarity of contacts have lended credence to the various stereotypes both groups harbor of the other.
Now just why would African Americans develop such a stronger affinity to Native Americans than they would to Africans? The reasons are multifold, but can definitely not be dismissed as some illegitimate wannabeism or Black self-hatred. There are many Black people who identify with their Native side that have been on the forefront of emphasizing the Africanity in Black folks. I know... it sounds like an oxymoron, but you can not place everything in neat little boxes that suit your own perception without understanding that the world is much more than black and white, clear cut and clean. There are many hues that help to color an otherwise bland reality of this vs. that.
For myself, my NA ancestors appear to me more than my African ancestors. It's just true. There is no bias in that statement that I can in all honesty perceive. My spirits for the most part that guide me are Indian. I am not ashamed of it. Another thing that makes it real for me is when I have aunts, uncles and first cousins still on the rez as BIA (like that really matters) card carrying people. These people aren't Indians or Native Americans to me - they are my family just like my supposedly African American family members. My family, regardless of color or ethnicity, recognizes me as family - not as some outsider or cultural other.
I have been down this road before on Destee and completely understand the purist interpretation of what Black means, but I can not completely wrap my mind around the inherent validity of the purist stance. Many people like myself are a product of two groups, two cultures, and as such we choose to celebrate both of them as freely as the person who only sees their African heritage. It is a fine dance but it is a dance many of us are compelled to do far beyond the Euro rational understanding of absolutism in the physical world that those who seek to criticize think with.
![Michel'le - Something In My Heart [Video]](/data/xfmg/thumbnail/4/4766-9f32b8565c3854ad8b992c42afb24954.jpg?1561828322)
