brady braves

Brady Bravin' into 2010 ...

2009-04-14T09:22:00.003-04:00

heya to this blog's 42 random readers of redface, 14 TV theorists, 7 sitcom enthusiasts, 2 blogspot “followers,” and 1 trilingual rez dog: this blog’s been quiet, obviously, for some time now … the crew is chipping away at several projects, including a book manuscript that will have a companion web site later down the road … so, prepare for the bigger, better, much improved, and lowly anticipated "Brady Braves Experience" and resource center for pop culture "Indians" and Ind'ns, tentatively set to launch via a new site (with links to it from this blog) in Spring 2010 ... meanwhile, feel free to check out the previous 89 posts and stay strong, stay Brady Bravin' strong ...

Peace.

Bureau of Brady Braves Announcement ...

2008-11-25T18:01:00.006-05:00

heya, brady braves ... as has been apparent lately, bloggin' from the bbb (i.e., bureau of brady braves) staff is rather slow and looks to be that way through december ... but very good news is that the bureau proudly welcomes a new 8-lb-9-oz brady bravin' baby boy ... take good care, (and appreciate the sleep you're receiving) ...

Todd Palin to Blame ...

2008-11-06T15:23:00.004-05:00

Bobby NewBuffalo here with psychoanlaytical spin ... heya, bloggers and bloggees and blogospherans ... a few random highlights, or lowlights, to report from our staff's election night channel surfing (amid the limited dozen channels on the bureau of brady braves' basic cable):

kudos to CSPAN2 for carrying canadian broadcasting corporation's election coverage ... (notice how important u.s. prez election is worldwide but how insignificant other nations' and countries' changes of leadership are in the u.s.? americans asking, "who's stephen harper?")

kudos to CSPAN for enduring call-in comments like those from a female in Florida who said, "I'm White, but this [election] ain't about race" (yes, she said this with seriousness) and who gave props "to the Blacks" for Obama's win but then advised African Americans thus: "don't run with the ball" (i.e., don't go get a swelled head of hubris) ... and so, it's as if Whites "gave" this Obama victory to Blacks but that they better recognize that ... talking of inferior/superiority complexes?

Brian Williams of NBC news gushing over Obama-as-prez-elect, adding on air that Obama is "astonishing" ... Meredith Viera of NBC Today gushing as well ...

kudos to CSPAN for enduring a call from Pennsylvanian who says she voted for "Governor McCain" (governor?!) and that she thinks Obama supporters are "insane" for voting in a "Muslim" and a friend of "terrorists" ... (i didn't realize Obama and Prez Bush are friends ... new news ...)

Williams and Viera still gushing ... Williams says, "astonishing" again ...

i'm questioning why the CSPAN host didn't question the New York caller who identified as a democrat and said he and his family voted for McCain because a democract prez AND a democrat congress is too much power for one party to have! (or maybe a non-White prez is too much non-White for those New Yorkers?)

no new news about Williams and Viera other than their faces freezing with giddiness ...

hey, Obama mentioned "Native Americans" in his victory speech ...

award for most bizarre phrase of the night: to Tom Brokaw who called Obama the first "postmodern president" ... any pomo theorists having a field day with that one?

as to the question of why the Republican party lost, folks from NBC to WGN to CSPAN and beyond have their theories ... but no one's pointing out the obvious: if, as this brady bravin' blog claims, all the world's a cherokee, then blame todd palin for being of yup'ik heritage (or does he actually say he is yup'ik?) ... we all know bill clinton has went on cherokee charades and look where it got him: the white house ... ergo, if palin had claimed cherokee-ness, he'd have pushed mccain and gov palin onto victory with the strong support of a world of cherokees* ...

*theoretical exception: Obama became Crowbama after being adopted into Crow Nation ... all the world ain't a crow, yet Obama is prez-elect ... strange occurrence ... so strange, in fact, that perhaps he is a postmodern president ...

attn: Comanches in Bronte, Texas

2008-10-28T14:43:00.008-04:00

on this day in 1852: Fort Chadbourne became official in western Texas "to protect the local settlers and the Butterfield Stage from the local Comanche" ... near present-day Bronte, 'bout 30 miles from San Angelo and 1/2 mile from the nearest out-of-business Dairy Queen ... according to 2000 census, 0.19% of Bronte's 1,076 citizens is Native ... so, a special brady bravin' "heya" to that partial person and his dog ... perhaps a Comanche and his sarii/dog who didn't get the memo 'bout heading north? ...

and for those in Bronte and elsewhere with internet access, you gotta check out the new pro-Obama Ron Howard video, starring Opie, Andy, Richie the C, and The Fonz, at http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d ...

Sailing with 1492 Sales at Old Navy

2008-10-10T13:16:00.006-04:00

heya, brady braves ... here at the bureau, we have recently discovered a place that sells clothes and clothing accessories--it's something called "old navy," but we can change that (as goes with colonizer naming) ... for since we have discovered it, we lay claim to it in the name of patriarchal leader mike "big eagle of large nest" brady ... hence forth, we proudly take ownership as allowed to us through the doctrine of discovery*

*special thanks to christopher columbus, the american discoverer, who helped to facilitate this colonizing takeover ... his name was recently evoked in an old navy promotion for celebrating columbus day and 1492 (aka columbus' inaugural year for soon-to-be enslaving and killing) by choosing from 1,492 items under $14.92! old navy celebrated a bit prematurely as the sale was last weekend, even though Stolen Land Day, er, Columbus Day ain't until october 13 this year ...

btw, Glamour.com's daily style blog promoted the sale in its story "Party Like its 1492 at Old Navy this [past] Weekend" ... the blog is called "Slaves to Fashion," but you'd think the author Tracey Lomrantz could have gotten more creative by briefly calling it "Slaves to Columbus" ... unlike Ms. Lomrantz, some Indigenous Peoples can probably relate to this "1492 party" ...

Heya Silver: It's Tonto Scissorhands ...

2008-09-25T11:06:00.005-04:00

heya, brady braves ... reports coming in that johnny depp, one of the bureau's favs in hollywood, is set to play jack sparrow again in pirates 4 and the mad hatter in a tim burton version of alice in wonderland ... but check this out, courtesy of MTV in the UK:

"Mr. Depp has signed up for a big screen adaptation of The Lone Ranger that will be produced by Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Alas, Johnny won’t be rocking a white cowboy hat, he’s set for the role of trusty sidekick Tonto. Depp’s grandmother was a full blooded Cherokee and Johnny’s embraced his native American roots before in his self directed movie The Brave."

besides offering us further support for our theory (that all the world's, indeed, a cherokee), the report reminds us of one of the much stronger films in the '90s: jim jarmusch's dead man (surely, you weren't thinking dances with wolves), starring depp as white character William Blake and Cayuga actor gary farmer as the indigenous Nobody ... perhaps farmer will re-appear as a pseudo-lone ranger in whitefaced disguise and take out the subservient tonto once and for all? or perhaps this big-screen take, which i hear may be an origin story [as solid as the origin story in batman begins?], will re-envision the lone ranger-tonto relationship through a decolonial framework? oh wait ... nevermind--it's being overseen by Walt Disney Studios ...

Ura, Judge DeGiusti

2008-09-23T17:31:00.005-04:00

heya, brady braves ... following up from a previous posting ... here's good news from comanche country: "A federal judge today sided with the Comanche Nation and ordered the U.S. Army to stop construction near a sacred site in Oklahoma." the article at http://indianz.com/News/2008/010989.asp continues:

"In a 34-page decision [which can be accessed here, Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti said the tribe demonstrated that it will be harmed by a $7.3 million warehouse at the foot of Medicine Bluffs in Fort Sill. He said the U.S. Army failed to consider alternatives that would not obstruct ceremonies at the site, a place of immense healing and spiritual medicine for the Comanche people.

"The construction of a permanent structure on a site considered sacred by the Comanche people, and the substantial burden the presence of the structure would impose on their traditional religious practices as detailed ... would constitute irreparable harm," DeGiusti wrote.
The permanent injunction, which can be appealed, will stay in place until the case is resolved. The tribe alleges violations of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the National Historic Preservation Act.

DeGiusti said the tribe demonstrated a "substantial likelihood of success" on the merits of the case, so the injunction represents a big victory. Tribal leaders say they weren't properly consulted by the U.S. Army about the construction.

"As a Comanche man, Medicine Bluffs is the spiritual center of my religious beliefs and the heart of the current Comanche Nation," Jimmy Arterberry, a tribal member, said in a court declaration. "The Medicine Bluffs site is an extremely important sacred place to me as a Comanche man."

Arterberry told the court that the warehouse, if constructed, would prevent him from viewing Medicine Bluffs as he prays and conducts ceremonies. DeGiusti noted that the construction site is the last remaining place with an "unobstructed view" of Medicine Bluffs.

The U.S. Army calls the warehouse "essential" to the future at Fort Sill, which will be seeing an influx of activity in the coming years. Due to base closures across the nation, Fort Sill will be training more and more soldiers for military operations around the world.

"The United States is now at war," the Department of Justice said in court papers. "Training is the top priority of the Army. It is the cornerstone of combat readiness. Training is what Fort Sill does."

But DeGiusti said the record, so far, is "utterly devoid" of evidence that the U.S. Army considered a different location for the warehouse that would be less intrusive on the tribe. He noted that the timing of decisions affecting construction indicated the tribe's objections were never considered.

The 94,000-acre Fort Sill was built during the Indian wars of the late 1800s. It is a National Historic Landmark and Medicine Bluffs was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974."

Brady Bravin' on Book TV

2008-09-12T16:27:00.006-04:00

for those of you brady braves who can’t make it to the comanche nation casino for tonight’s fights, you’re still in for mighty fine TV treats on CSPAN2 this weekend …

if'n you're having difficulty with any writing projects, then sounds like you need your BookTV ... this saturday night: ultra-conservative Pat “Build-a-Wall-Then-Build-it-Bigger” Buchanan--your close pro-Indian Country friend and mine--will share what cspan calls "insightful" thoughts about his "writing methods" … if this don't help writer's block, what will? ... and if that weren’t enough, why, buchanan’s talk will be followed by a tour of his library (only on cspan, ennit?) ... no doubt Ruth Beebe Hill and Carlos Castaneda and Chief Red Fox and Ian Frazier books will be featured …

and here’s another eye-catching talk for this weekend's Book TV: "Leslie Sanchez, Los Republicanos: Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other" (Sunday 1:15 PM ET) ... "need" is such a strong word, ennit? But where’s the Indian-ized version of this talk: "Redfaced Republicans: Why More Indians than just Charles Curtis Should Assimilate and Destroy Indigenous Sovereignties" ...

Boxing Tonight: Comanche Boy

2008-09-12T12:37:00.004-04:00

heya to brady braves across ind'n country, especially there in lawton, where you can watch george "comanche boy" tahdooahnippah (13-0-1) in action against jonathan "the native sensation" corn (47-19-2) for the native american boxing council's super middleweight title at the comanche nation casino ... [update: congrats to Comanche Boy on becoming the NABC Super Middleweight champ!]

attn: pseudo-Indian actors named "Sammy"

2008-09-10T13:07:00.006-04:00

heya, brady braves ... google "native american sitcom" right now and here are your Top 5 hits:

5) a definition of "sitcom," along with a supposed Seneca "Native American" proverb thrown in down the page: "He who would do great things should not attempt them all alone."

4) a casting call for an indy sitcom pilot in ny with "[p]ossible pay and future roles if the pilot goes to series" ... besides looking for a "Mr Falafel: A Pakistani character destined to become the breakout star," the company's searching for a Native character: "Sammy: Sammy is a Native American chain smoker, ex-heavy drinker with a stuttering problem. Sammy enjoys chain-smoking, reminiscing about drinking red wine in unconventional manners, and stuttering" ... uplifting and inspirational, ennit? so, move over John Redcorn--here comes Sammy the Indian who "enjoys ... stuttering" and sharing stories of ("unconventional") alcoholism while smoking off-brand Marlboros? based on "Indians"-in-comedic-TV history, look for CBS to pick this one up ...

3) bronze medal goes to a 2008 article in the journal American Indian Quarterly by one of the brady bravin' leaders of this site ...

2 and 1) sherman alexie's entertainingly critical "sit-com american" interview with npr, an excerpt of which is included at the start of the aforementioned AIQ article ...

Indian + Vegan = Indivegan?

2008-09-03T17:07:00.011-04:00

straight from the bbb inbox, courtesy of a brady brave at nc a&t university: "On the Fox Sunday gas bag show they said that Palin's parents have a bumper sticker on their truck: Vegetarian = Old Indian Word for Bad Hunter." (apparently, 18th-century pundit andy rooney once said this with "lousy" instead of "bad.") man, i feel for those non-bumper-sticker-applicable Indians who don't even eat meat ... as for Indians as "bad hunters," guess they weren't as lucky as the Settlers ... buffalo, for example, were too busy--as Stephen Colbert's character said in the "Trail of Tears" episode of Strangers with Candy--getting in the way of the White Man's bullets ... but on a brighter note, i wonder if Palin's parents drive a jeep "cherokee" or a "pontiac" firebird? perhaps she'll address this tonight at the RNC ...

update: the closest Palin's rhetoric got to Indians was a very quick post-occupation, post-union, post-hobby reference to her husband's "ancestry": "Todd is a story all by himself. He's a lifelong commercial fisherman ... a production operator in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope ... a proud member of the United Steel Workers' Union ... and world champion snow machine racer. Throw in his Yup'ik Eskimo ancestry, and it all makes for quite a package." with that "throw-in," sounds like a borderline exoticized "package" or recipe: "add in two drops of 'Eskimo' and voila: you, too, can build a fire from snow" ... and how about "ancestry"? like "heritage" (i.e., "yeah, i got a story or two about great-great-great Eskimo grandmothers")? additional reading on Palin and Indigenous Peoples: "Todd Plain No Poster Boy for Yup'ik ..."

one Flo to go, please

2008-08-28T13:34:00.009-04:00

heya ... brady here ... in a rush 'cause i'm [ironically] waiting in e-line for my washington redskins flo card ... what's the "flo," you ask? ... why, it's the latest must-have for us supporters of our redskins ... it'll get us through lines at 'skins' ball games at least 30 seconds faster (guaranteed!) ... and if half-a-minute closer to my $349 seat can happen with prompt payment of just $100/yearly, then that's a bundle of buffalo nickels well spent ...

and it makes sense that such an important and valuable card for getting me through redskins' gameday lines 30 seconds faster would require the following: "It is MANDATORY for enrollment [into flocard] that TWO forms of identification documentation are brought to the enrollment." no problem there--i got xeroxed copies of my "Whirling Rainbow" fan club member card and--thanks to my well-spent $600 to Grand Chief Thunderbird IV--my "Kaweah Indian Nation" citizenship card. (attn: naysayers--i'm confident that the illegalities and disputes of my Kaweah-ness will be overturned anyday now, and then i'm in like flynn and on the go with my flo) ...

meanwhile, nba coach phil jackson is speaking on university of north dakota's "fighting sioux" mascot and logo ... as reported by usa today earlier this week, "Jackson did not specifically say UND should do away with the nickname, but he asked officials to ponder what could be gained by keeping it. Jackson said he had been asked by his Lakota friends to speak out against the nickname. He said UND has a chance to embrace change." what a slap from jackson to his alma mater during und's honoring of him ... it's like you just can't "honor" anyone nowadays without them speaking out against your indian mascots ...

ya ever see that 1999 outside the lines episode on "THE native american sports experience"? (THE one experience as shared by millions of native peoples, ennit? yes, that's THE one) ... it discussed jackson's "lakota teachings": "Phil Jackson, the former Bulls' and current Lakers' coach, uses teachings of the Lakota Sioux in his coaching. He would burn sage to cleanse the team of negative energy and show game film intercut with clips from a movie about a Sioux warrior. [val kilmer in thunderheart?] Jackson says he decorated the Bulls' team room at the Berto Center with Native American artifacts to reinforce in the players' minds that their journey together each season was a sacred quest."

Medicine Bluff

2008-08-26T13:24:00.005-04:00

heya, brady braves ... as reported last week, "A federal judge has blocked the U.S. Army from starting a construction project at Fort Sill in Oklahoma out of concern for the religious rights of the Comanche Nation. The tribe says it wasn't consulted about the development of a training service center near the foot of Medicine Bluffs, a sacred site at Fort Sill. Work was scheduled to begin on Monday until Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti issued a temporary restraining order. 'The court finds that, given the nature of the interests which plaintiffs in this case seek to protect, irreparable harm will result if the construction project commences,' DeGiusti wrote in the five-page order." that order can be read in its entirety via a link near the bottom of the page at http://indianz.com/News/2008/010446.asp.

in light of this critical situation, we--the staff of the bureau of brady braves--share with you an excerpt from wallace and hoebel's 1952 book the comanches: lords of the south plains (205-206):

"Medicine Bluff is another place commemorated in name and held in great reverence by the Comanches as being the abode of a powerful, benevolent spirit. It is located in Comancheria at the confluence of Cache and Medicine Bluff creeks. The two creeks empty into Red River [Pia Pasiwuhunu] and are overlooked by a precipitous bluff--Medicine Bluff. It is a mile in length, forming a perfect crescent, rising at once from the bed of Medicine Bluff creek, which flows at the base of the perpendicular scarp, to the height of 310 feet. The surface of the face of the bluff is perfectly regular and smooth. Moss covers the sides with a garb of pale green. The greater portion of the face is perfectly bare, though at some places a few stunted cedars have found lodgment in the crevices. From the rear the bluff presents three knolls, the center one being the highest. Mount Scott, about eight miles distant, stands forth with its pyramidal outline like a sentinel guarding the eastern gate of the Wichita Mountains.

There, from the bluff, according to a Comanche legend recounted by Thomas Battey, a powerful spirit looked over and cared for his people, saw that game was abundant and that his children were prosperous and happy. Comanche medicine men erected a cairn about six feet in height upon the summit of the principal knoll. Here the sick repaired or were brought by their relatvies or friends, and here they were left to its invisible and subtle power. Especially those who were past the cure of the medicine men were deposited on the altar and left to be disposed of by the spirit. If the sick had not offended the supernatural powers, they were suddenly healed and returned to their kindred. Sometimes they were transported bodily to the after world. But if they were notoriously bad, they were allowed to die, and the ravens descended from the air, and the wolf came up from the valley and devoured the body, and the bones were gathered up by the Evil Spirit and deposited in the land of terrors. At times the vicinity of the bluff became suddenly lighted up as by a great fire. The dews of night, the rain, and the wind circled about the spot of the altar at the very summit, but none of these agencies of nature trespassed, and the patient was thus left sheltered better than in his own tipi.

To the spirit was attributed the power of resurrection. Once an old warrior, who had long lived among the women of the village, having ceased to hunt or go on the warpath and having been turned out to wait his time to join his fathers, had struggled to the top of the bluff to die and be borne away to the after world. Each night after his departure, when darkness covered the face of nature, the awe-stricken people of the village below observed a great blaze, as if a fire had been built to alarm them. On the morning after the third night, a young man equipped as a warrior was seen descending the bluff, along the trail to the village. He approached the chief's lodge and sat by the fire. The warriors gathered around, but no one recongized him and so remained silent, waiting for him to speak. Lighting his pipe, decorated with beads and feathers of strange birds, the stranger, after all had made the ceremonial smoke, began his story.

When he had reached the top of the hill, he could see the village and hear the laughter of children, the mourning of his kindred, and the barking of the dogs. He could see the buffalo and deer in the distance, and the young warriors in all their pride and strength. Then he asked himself, 'Why do I live any longer? My fires have gone out. I must follow my fathers. The world is beautiful to the young, but to the old it has no pelasures. Far away to the setting suns are the hunting grounds of my people. I will go there.' After these words, he had mustered all he could of his failing strength and leaped into the air from the giddy height before him. He knew no more of the woes of life. He was caught up in midair and transported into a smiling country where there was no rain and no wind, where the great chiefs of all the Comanches were assembled. They were all young and chased the buffalo and feasted. There was no darkness. The Great Spirit was everywhere and everybody was happy.

The story capitvated the minds and imagination of the listeners, and the strange young warrior became at once an oracle and a big medicine man in the tribe. His counsel was all-powerful, and his abilities to cure were considered infallible. Reverence for the bluff was enhanced; and in the years that followed no Comanche would ascend to the summit of the hill except for a most sacred purpose. When white soldiers fired shots at the cliff to hear the echoes, the Comanche guide, Blue Leggings, was horror stricken, and he refused to scale the peak with the soldiers.

At times a young man, eager to take the warpath for the first time, ascended to the sacred spot in quest of his vision. Having provided himself with a shield, in accordance with ceremonial instructions the youth proceeded to the highest point of the bluff, reminaing for three successive days. A part of the cerremony included preenting the face of the shield to the rising sun each morning, as if warding off an arrow or a spear. The sacred surroundings of the place and the Sun, the emblem of the Great Spirit, casting its rays upon the shield were supposed to endow it with supernatural protective powers."

may those "protective powers" intervene now in preventing fort sill from disturbing Medicine Bluff.

Crowbama's Chosen 10

2008-08-18T13:38:00.003-04:00

revealed today are brief bios of the 10 individuals who will join Sen.
[Cr]O[w]bama backstage at the upcoming DNC in Denver ... among them is an Indigene: Holly Miowak Stebing of Anchorage, Alaska ...

"Holly, a 20-year-old Alaska Native Inupiaq, is spending her summer break from Stanford University at the First Alaskans Organization interviewing native elders about their experiences with segregation. Holly is passionate about improving healthcare access for Native Americans, and protecting Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. The 2008 presidential election is Holly's first as a voter. She says: "This was the first campaign I felt I needed to support. I don't have a lot of money, but I donate what I can because I believe in [Barack]." She will attend the convention with her mother who is the first Native American woman to pass the Alaska bar." (this info courtesy of a personal email from Barack to me ... and a few other thousands ... and thousands ...)

what's the word? grand chief thunderbird!

2008-08-14T22:17:00.005-04:00

heya, brady braves ... long time, no blog ... into fightin' illini country now ... no "chief illiniwek"-rezurrected spottings thus far (other than seeing pro-"chief" bumper stickers and "we love OUR chief" t-shirts and pro-"chief" yard signs and "chief before charmin" TP and ...) ... gotta love those folks who love their indians (over real indigenous folks) ...

heya, remember stephen colbert claiming 1/13 chickasaw-ness before winona laduke on the colbert report? now check out the colbert retort authored by j.d. colbert, a real chickasaw ... in case the link doesn't work later down the road, it's called "indian is as indian does" ...

as you faithful brady braves know by now, we here at the bureau like frauds; for without them, we'd have lesser material with which to work ... and dangit if we don't find it an outrage that one of 'em's in legal troubles right now in kansas ... as noted today at indianz.com ("leader of fake tribe guilty in immigration scam"), "A federal jury found a Kansas man who claims he is the leader of a tribe guilty for scamming immigrants with promises of U.S. citizenship. Malcolm Webber calls himself the Grand Chief Thunderbird IV of the Kaweah Indian Nation. Prosecutors said he sold $600 'tribal membership' cards to immigrants and told them it would help them cross the border and win U.S. citizenship."

well, sounds like the jury is anti-Family Guy ... so what if webber confused his "grand chief" moniker with peter griffin's great-grandfather's name "chief grand cherokee" (whom peter initially called "jeep grand cherokee") in the first-season episode "the son also draws" ... and sounds like the jury is anti-thunderbird wine, too ... ol' school'ers--you know what's the word: it's [grand chief] thunderbird [iv] ... and how's it sold? ... good and cold ... but apparently, the jury ain't hearing that ...

perhaps it'd do the kaweah indians good to sit-in on an upcoming panel at the Cherokee Nation's State of Sequoyah Conference ... the session's titled “Stealing Sovereignty: Fraudulent ‘Tribes’ and ‘Individuals’” ... heck, the kaweahs could even be the subtitle's guests of honor, ya know? ... but if all the world's a cherokee and if all the cherokees attend, then there just might be a whole lotta stealin' going on ... still, with whirling rainbows and big chief thunderbirds in attendance, wouldn't seeing the name tags alone be reason enough to attend?

Matt Lauer spotted at IHOP on Mars ...

2008-07-28T08:58:00.007-04:00

hey, Lauer-loving Brady Braves ... on this morning's today show, mr. "where in the world is matt lauer?" previewed what was coming up post-commercial break: "You, too, can conquer the space frontier if you have enough money" ... [cue Lauer smile]

just alter-spin "space" to "[wherever-Indigenous-Peoples-were/are]," add "guns" and "greed" after "money," and you've got yourself, today show fans, an historical global formula--from "australia" to the "americas"--tried-and-true ... as for the segment's topic? sir richard branson's virgin atlantic globalflyer ... for just $200,000, you can sign up for travelling to space, the new "colonization-awaits" vacation destination ... sweet ...

speaking of sweet, what was the first commercial after the segment on space travel? IHOP's "Discover America Pancakes" ad, of course ... yeah, IHOP's only about 516 years behind on that one ... we all know Mr. Ohio State Capital discovered america ... don't listen to those sources that tell ya Native folks were here pre-1492 ... those are the same sources that'll try to brainwash you into believing that Ind'ns, not IHOP, discovered pancakes ...

so, let us envision IHOP, the space-colonization, today show promoting pancake house, on Mars [sorry, Pluto--you don't count] ... and let us start a campaign for Lauer to appear in the soon-to-be ad campaign "IHOP Discovers Space Pancakes [and then profits from the Indigenous beings of outer space]" ... so sweet again ...

speaking of travels, the bureau of brady braves is relocating (again) this week ... something about ind'ns and relocation, ennit? ... once settled in like a 1907 sooner settler, we'll be back to the blogosphere ... take care ...

Medicine Bluff: Sacred

2008-07-25T10:06:00.006-04:00

dear brady braves ... what follows is an urgent July 24 letter from William Voelker, Chairman of Comanche Nation NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act):

"Dear Friends:

Medicine Bluff, located at Fort Sill, Oklahoma has been a place of immense spiritual importance to Native Peoples since time immemorial. To the Numunuh (Comanche People) Medicine Bluff is a Sacred site and one of the last places of "tubitsi Puha" (True Medicine) that remains in close proximity to the main resident body of the People. The U. S. Army plans to desecrate the lee side of Medicine Bluff with the construction of a Training Service Center. There have been objections to the proposed building for over one year. The site is located north of Randolph Road directly across the road from the site of an unearthed burial which had to be exhumed only nine years ago. It stands to reason if a burial was disturbed south of Randolph Road the area North of Randolph and closer to the Bluff is even more sensitive. The decision to build in this particular site is totally arbitrary. There are many other suitable places on the base that could accommodate the building of the Training Service Center. We call on all those who still believe in keeping our Sacred Sites safe. In this eleventh hour, only public outcry will turn the tide. If you stand with us in this battle, please send your appeal to:

Major General Peter Vangjel, c/o Chief of Staff COL. Sam White at "sam.white@us.army.mil
Indications are that Friday, July 25, 2008 may be the last day we can appeal this plan that will forever impact this hallowed ground.

Udah! (Thank You!)Wahathuweeka a.k.a. William Voelker"

for video footage on this critical issue from the july CBC (Comanche Business Committee) meeting, see www.campcrier.net/comanche_news.htm.

another knockout ...

2008-07-24T09:57:00.004-04:00

update: congrats to Tahdooahnippah on his 2nd round KO tuesday night ... fight footage currently available, courtesy of the good folks at CampCrier.net, at http://www.campcrier.net/comanche_news.htm.

Comanche Boy in Action Tonight

2008-07-22T11:10:00.005-04:00

the bureau of brady braves sends good thoughts to Comanche Boy (12-0-1) and his opponent tonight. headlining at Remington Park this evening, George "Comanche Boy" Tahdooahnippah making Numunuu proud ... and good to see this morning's following coverage by Robert Przybylo in NewsOK.com:

"By day, Lawton's George Tahdooahnippah tries to protect the environment. Working as an environmentalist for his Comanche tribe, he said he's a certified tree-hugger. By night, it's his opponents who need protection. The 29-year-old super middleweight enters tonight with a 12-0-1 record with 11 wins coming by knockout. Tahdooahnippah, the "Comanche Boy,” highlights tonight's main event at Remington Park presented by CatBOX Entertainment.

He's taken the road less traveled to reach this point, but he wouldn't change a thing. A standout wrestler at Lawton Eisenhower, Tahdooahnippah attended the University of Delaware. In his second year there, he started to feel homesick. And that's when he found his calling. Tahdooahnippah, with a background in kickboxing, took a stab at a Toughman Contest. He reached the finals, and suddenly, the wrestler was turned into a boxer. "I've always had the speed and the movement, so it wasn't that tough a transition,” Tahdooahnippah said. "My grandfather used to participate in Golden Gloves tournaments, so fighting runs in the family.”

And with huge support from the Comanche tribe, Tahdooahnippah brings to each fight a distinct fan advantage. It starts with the entrance. A drum beats, native dancers walk out, and Tahdooahnippah enters the ring to rap from more native people. "I like to utilize everyone,” he said. "It's important to get the crowd on your side and bring that energy.”

Tahdooahnippah does his part, too. After each KO, he does his own victory dance. But with two boys, Nacona, 4, and George Jr., 1, and a fiancé, Mia, Tahdooahnippah knows it's time to step up the competition. When training for a fight, Tahdooahnippah wakes up at 6 a.m. to go on a morning run. From there, he goes to his environmentalist job. After work, it's to the gym for more training. So far, it's been working. Tahdooahnippah fought at Remington in April, winning via first-round knockout and is 3-0-1 this year.

With little amateur experience, each fight presents something new for Tahdooahnippah. "I'm still learning the game and all the little nuances that come with it,” he said. "But I'm very dedicated and really want to represent my people well.” Tahdooahnippah trains in a tiny gym in Elgin. He said he hopes his success spurs others into joining the sport and into giving back to the community.

Success in Lawton is nothing new. Grady Brewer won The Contender Tournament two years ago and grew up with Tahdooahnippah. "It's great to have someone like Grady for kids to look up to,” Tahdooahnippah said. "We want to show the kids that they can become something.”All of Tahdooahnippah's knockouts have occurred within the first three rounds. He's only fought 23 rounds in 13 fights. "I'm a crowd-pleaser,” he said. "I'm looking to get him out of there as soon as possible. That's what the people come to see.'"

the "r-word" chronicles ...

2008-07-16T10:59:00.007-04:00

First, belated happy 108th b-day wishes to Martha Berryhill, Muscogee/Creek.

Next, a brady [johnny] bravo [yes, a brady bravo is a good thing] to Ian Thomsen, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, who recently wrote advice to Seattle's NBA franchise owner as he, an Okie, moves the club to Indian Territory/Oklahoma. On what not to call the new team, Thomsen says, "And don't get me started on how wrong it is to call a team the 'Redskins.'" Good to hear from someone at such a recognized sports news source.

Less recognized is something called BleacherReport.com. Robert Johnson, a writer over there, posted one of those articles yesterday, you know, the kind that's replete with the same pro-"Redskins"-as-mascot arguments. Our response, posted at the same site, reads as follows:

"Mr. Johnson: We ran across your article via http://www.indianz.com/. You wrote, "Our story begins nearly 20 years ago. During the early '90s a new fad was born. The phrase 'Politically Correct' entered the lexicon. [...] The 'Native Americans' began to find other places where they felt slighted: sports teams."

OUR STORIES (i.e., Indigenous Peoples' stories) began long before this one, on lands known dominantly today as "America." As for saying that "Indian"-related mascots did not become an issue until "the early '90s" for "Native Americans" (i.e., a non-Native-constructed term), you have thus ignored the work of preceding decades. Since the 1960s, over 3,000 schools (from elementary to college) have dropped "Indian"-related monikers. Folks, including non-Natives, are starting to understand.

Your perspective, Mr. Johnson, is arguably part of a shrinking collective of mindsets that supports "Redskins" and Wahoos as mascots and logos. You seemingly do not know what it means to be Ind'n, to be Indigenous, in the 21st-century. You're a newcomer to these lands, yet this is how you speak to Ind'ns? How can you tell folks, especially Indigenous youth, what should or should not offend them? It's not about being politically correct; it's about being humanly respectful (and respectfully human). Although you show little respect to Native Peoples in your trite, flawed writing, we still wish you well and hope that your research will lead you towards learning in good ways from your elders.

Respectfully,

Brady, http://www.bradybraves.blogspot.com/

UPDATE:

here's Robert Johnson's "starting-to-'get-it'-but-still-far-from-'it'" response to readers (and notice the apology to the if-offended, also known as an "apologizing-but-i-don't-know-why-i-am-apologizing" apology):

"So many responses, so many valid points. When I initially wrote this article, my intent was not to offend, but to point out how crazy this "politically correct" world has become.

It was never my intent to offend any of the surviving relatives of the indigenous people of what is now North America. If any were so offended, then I sincerely apologize.

Many have been quick to label me a racist based on my views. That's fine, you have that right.
I have never had anyone refer to me as a Redskin in anger or disgust. So my niavete I guess would be in the fact that I would never think to refer to anyone in that manner as the team name has a positive-feeling attachment for me...not a negative one. I'm not alone in this. The Washington Redksns have a huge fan-base. Hundreds of thousands of fans who all probably feel pretty much the same way. The images of a bounty on the head of every "red-skin" is not what I associated with the term, it was my team. I still feel that way. I will be honest and say that until it was brought up, and all of this fuss was created, I never would have known that word would have such power over anyone as to hurt them or cause anger.

This isn't a retraction, and it doesn't mean that my opinion has changed. To be honest, the only thing that would change my opinion would be if the team did change it's name because then all that would be left for me with that specific term would be an out-dated racial slur."

attn: arizona voters and music fans across the lands ...

2008-07-14T14:17:00.013-04:00

for an example of someone not playing indian, not masquerading in redface, check out this July 11 story ("Titla: The audacity of inclusion") at Indian Country Today. Mary Kim Titla (San Carlos Apache) is running for the congressional District 1 seat in Arizona. If elected, Titla will be the first Native woman in Congress. You can read her inspiring story here. The Bureau of Brady Braves encourages all brady bravers to check out www.gomarykim.com.

speaking of Titlas, another San Carlos Apache for y'all to check out is Boe Titla, a country singer-songwriter. his CD Native American Balladeer is available at cdbaby.com/cd/titlaboe. and anthropologist David Samuels, in his very impressive 2005 book Putting a Song on Top of It: Expression and Identity on the San Carlos Apache Reservation talks at length about Titla's musical expressions. the book’s title, which derives from what a young Apache said after she won a local pageant by performing Plains Sign Talk to Mariah Carey’s song “Hero,” refers to Apaches putting influences from inside and outside of their local communal spaces on top of each other. as discussed in chapter five, “Boe Titla’s Idiosyncratic Authenticity,” Titla—a self-described “Apache ballad singer and writer” whose influences include Apache relatives and country music performed by George Jones and Merle Haggard—fuses his singing of Apache-themed lyrics with his playing of country-western music.

speaking of relationships between Indigenous Peoples and country music, we look forward to reading more on the topic in the forthcoming (2010, says the publisher) Songs Out of Place: Country Musics of the World, edited by Aaron Fox and Christine Yano, from Duke University Press. hmmm ... wonder if Duke would also be interested in the intersecting stories of a lovely lady (who was bringing up three very lovely girls) and of a man named Brady (who was busy with three boys of his own), all six kids of whom would one day form--for 1 episode, ennit?--The Brady Six, that singing sensation behind the Greg Brady-penned classic tune "We can make the world a whole lot brighter." and then they met Indians in the grand canyon. THE END.

These Lands of Ours-Yours-Theirs

2008-07-11T11:28:00.012-04:00

To the Brady Braves in Comanche Country, you know our Nation’s Homecoming (54th Annual Pow-Wow) is coming up July 18-20 in the usual locale: Sultan Park in Walters, OK, with usual temps, so says Weather.com, of 100, 99, and 98, respectively. Good thoughts to all the dancers, including the Comanche Little Ponies. And don't forget, as stated on the flyer, "Committee not responsible for accidents, theft or divorces." Ayyyy--snaggers beware ...

To Brady Braves in Westerville, OH, with time-travelling abilities, you can check out “Otterbein College Summer Theater” as they perform A. R. Gurney's Indian Blood (June 26-29). Thanks to a fellow brady brave who brought this news to the bbb’s attention. This play focuses on a Buffalo (the city, not the animal or that big dude from Houston in an early episode of Conan O'Brien) family in the 1940s, though our informant was hoping for a “postmodern, revisionst take on Buffalo Bill's Wild West.” As a NY Times reviewer says with the following “Indian” eye-catcher [not to be confused with an “Indian” dream-catcher at your local dollar store]:

"Eddie ascribes his penchant for the milder forms of troublemaking to a drop or two of Indian blood [that he received from another character—his grandfather] in his veins." Wha? No great, great, great Indian Princess grandmamma responsible? And no “greats” before the grand? A revolution to the evolution of determining 1/1032 Indian blood descendants, ennit? Naw, just another piece of non-Native writing playing with Indianness through a character that associates the mild wild with savagery. ("Eddie, a student at the private Nichols School, uses his historical Indian bloodline as an excuse for a lewd drawing he made in class.")*

*Incidentally, the preceding portion of this blog post has been nonsensically sponsored by http://www.dnatribes.com/, which eerily popped up as a banner ad in the email we received informing us of the Indian Blood play. Perhaps the DNA folks, then, can assist Eddie. Or he can just claim Cherokee—most everyone else does, not counting that handful of pseudo-Wampanoags in Utah.)

To Brady Bravin’ fans of Barbra Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed comes her new book This Land is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation. (June 23 footage of Ehrenreich on Chickasaw-in’ Colbert Report here.) “Their” as in “Native Peoples,” ennit? And associating Ind’ns with the present through the verb “is”?! (unlike Wendell Hunt’s book This Land WAS Theirs: A Study of Native North Americans. [capitalization added]) Hold up, though—turns out her new book contains, as Publishers Weekly states, “62 previously published essays that show the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.” Where're the Ind'ns?

A play off of Woody Guthrie’s classic 3-chordin' “This Land is Your Land,” Ehrenreich’s book title—like Guthrie’s song title—refers to Americans without addressing who’s been on these lands far longer than Italian immigrants and Swedish settlers combined, without addressing whose creation stories talk of originating here, without addressing the ambiguities of “your land” and “my land” and wondering who’s being included/excluded in the process and who’s being strongly urged to “share.”

Commendably, however, Ehrenreich uses “Their” to refer to that elite corporate America 1% who bring in more $$ than almost all the rest of Americans together. And so, Ehrenreich’s “Their” as the mighty, mighty monetarily rich—not Native Peoples—does evoke a joke from Vine Deloria, Jr.’s, Custer Died for Your Sins: when a White person asked an Indian “What did you call this land before [certain land-hungry, power-wielding, pre-"corporate America"] Europeans arrived?” the Ind’n simply replied, “Ours.” But "This Land is Ours Land" would be grammatically awkward; thus, in brady bravin' logic, we now understand.

here come the "indians" [again]

2008-07-06T18:45:00.009-04:00

1 year ago today, fellow brady braves, the guardian printed yuval taylor's article "Native American reservations" on representations of "indians" in pop music ... interesting examples and far too rare of work being reported on--so, "brady bravin' luck" to ya if'n trying to locate sources on this topic ... here's taylor's work:

"Perhaps OutKast will be straight on the internet this morning, trying to be the first to get tickets for the 2007 Native American Music Awards ceremony, which go on sale today. The hip-hop duo have a record of embracing Native American culture, after a fashion. During the 2004 Grammy Awards, a teepee descended from outer space and out popped OutKast, dressed in fake American Indian outfits, performing their hit Hey Ya! in the most outrageous example of contemporary minstrelsy I've seen.

But there was nothing that new about it. Pop songs have been both ridiculing and venerating Native Americans for well over a century now, doing everything but portraying them as real human beings. (OutKast's particular trope - Indians appearing from outer space in order to rescue a dying earth - had already shown up in places as diverse as Caetano Veloso's Um Indio in 1977 and Kansas's album Monolith in 1979.) [see Monolith cover to the right.]

There were plenty of songs about Native Americans in the 19th century, but the earliest 20th-century example I've found is Navajo, from 1903, whose chorus runs, "Nava, Nava, my Navajo/ I have a love for you that will grow." Making love to Indians was a popular fantasy: it's the subject of old folk songs such as Little Mohee and Shenandoah; Tin Pan Alley numbers including Mineola (or the Wedding of the Indian and the Coon) and Arrah Wanna (An Indian Irish Matrimonial Venture), and Yiddish comedienne Fanny Brice's 1921 I'm an Indian, a fantasy about marrying one. But it didn't stop when most other racial attitudes from that era became unacceptable. Even that most bleeding-heart of songwriters, Neil Young, sang: "I would give a thousand pelts to sleep with Pocahontas"; and Slick Rick devoted not one, but two jaw-droppingly explicit songs to sex with squaws.

There's an opposing tradition: the Indian as martyr. Again, you find this in old cowboy, Tin Pan Alley and country songs, but it became much more common in the 1960s and 70s, when we were treated to Johnny Horton's The Vanishing Race, the Raiders' No 1 Indian Reservation, Elton John's overblown Indian Sunset, Cher's No 1 Half Breed, and, of course, at least four Neil Young songs. The protagonists of these songs aren't fierce warriors: they're all Christ-like. A typical example is Joe Ely's much-covered Indian Cowboy, who saves the circus from burning down but dies in the process. The death doesn't seem necessary - why couldn't he have been a living hero? I guess things don't work out that way for Indians.

Brits liked their Native Americans fiercer. In the early 1980s they gave us Siouxsie and the Banshees; Adam and the Ants' stirring Kings of the Wild Frontier; the Cult, who devoted their career to the idea of the martyred savage; and Iron Maiden's galvanic Run to the Hills, the angriest Indian massacre song of all.

What about real Native Americans? Plenty of them have made music, from appalling acts such as the southern rock band Blackfoot to terrific performers such as Link Wray and Buffy Sainte-Marie, but none of them had hits with Indian-themed songs. The one exception was an intensely charismatic rodeo cowboy named Peter LaFarge, who wrote more than half of Johnny Cash's astonishing and gut-wrenching hit album Bitter Tears (1964) and made four records of Indian protest songs before his death in 1965, at the age of 34, most likely from a mixture of booze and pills. LaFarge wrote the only hit song about American Indian life that avoids romanticisation, ridicule, and hyperbole - Cash's The Ballad of Ira Hayes. Moreover, he was an Indian himself, who had been adopted at the age of nine by the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Oliver LaFarge, president of the Association on American Indian Affairs.

At least, that's what people think. In fact, I've ascertained that the greatest advocate for American Indians in pop music history was only pretending to be an Indian: he was actually LaFarge's natural son, with at best less than one percent Indian blood.

But in order to get his message across, didn't Peter LaFarge have to pretend to be an Indian? After all, in the pop-music world, real Native Americans don't exist. Which is why you won't be seeing the winners of the Native American Music Awards crashing the charts any day soon."

taylor elaborates on this discussion in a four-part series of posts at his co-authored (with hugh barker) blog http://www.fakingit.typepad.com/ (in reference to their 2007 book Faking It: The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music) ... "Here Comes the Indians, Part One" available at http://fakingit.typepad.com/fakingit/2007/05/here_come_the_i.html ...

attn: Pseudo-Cherokees

2008-07-01T13:12:00.009-04:00

hey'all, brady braves ... from the Joint Council of The Cherokee Nation and The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, here is their adopted, as of 4/9/08, "A RESOLUTION OPPOSED TO FABRICATED CHEROKEE "TRIBES" AND "INDIANS":

WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians since time immemorial have exercised the sovereign rights of self-government on behalf of the Cherokee people; and
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are federallyrecognized Indian Nations with a historic and continual government to government relationship with the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, the Joint Council unites the Legislative Branches of government of the CherokeeNation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, representing approximately 294,000 Cherokee people throughout the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, the two Cherokee Tribal governments share a common history prior to forcedremoval in 1838, and then separate histories to the present, yet our common language, culture, and traditions have made the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians distinct and unique Native people from other Indian Tribes and other people, as was declared by the Joint Council in Resolution No. 3-92, adopted on August 11, 1992 in Cherokee, North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, the Cherokee Nation has been aware of a growing number of non-Indian groupsclaiming to be Cherokee tribes or bands and that these groups have been organizing and attempting to gain federal recognition, this problem being acknowledged by the Joint Council in Resolution No. 008, adopted on October 3, 1988 in Cherokee, North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Branch ofAcknowledgment and Research maintains the responsibility for addressing specific applications for federal recognition and the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians fully support the federal recognition process; and
WHEREAS, the history of the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is well documented and no other tribes or bands of Cherokee Indians exist aside from those already federally recognized, which includes the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma; and
WHEREAS, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Cherokee Nation in Joint Councilassembled in Resolution No. 4-96, adopted on October 4, 1996 have previously expressedopposition to the "state recognition" process by the State of Georgia or other states in the United States who may seek to recognize a group of 'Cherokee' that do not already have federal recognition; and
WHEREAS, public funding by pseudo-Cherokee Tribes is of epidemic proportions and ofteninvolves membership fees; misleading presentations to school children and interference in a multitude of government functions including child welfare cases; and
WHEREAS, the sovereignty and reputation of the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band ofCherokee Indians, as well as members the general public continue to be in jeopardy due to the acts of individuals who organize and administer fabricated Cherokee tribes; and
WHEREAS, untold millions of federal dollars that are appropriated for the benefit of tribalpeople are being diverted from their intended purpose, including money distributed by federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Native Americans, the Department of Labor, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture and other federal agencies.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Joint Council of the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians do hereby support the federal recognition process of the Department of the Interior as administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs Branch of acknowledgment and Research, and endorse the criteria used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as appropriate; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians denounce the state or federal recognition of any further 'Cherokee' tribes or bands, aside from the those already federally recognized, and commit to exposing and assisting state and federal authorities in eradicating any group which attempts or claims to operate as a government of the Cherokee people; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that no public funding from any federal or state government should be expended on behalf of non-federally recognized 'Cherokee' tribes or bands or the individual members thereof; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Cherokee Nation and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians shall call for a full accounting of all federal monies given to state recognized, unrecognized or 501(c)(3) charitable organizations that claim any Cherokee affiliation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the federal and state governments should stringently apply a federal defInition of "Indian" that includes only citizens of federally recognized Indian tribes, to prevent non-Indians from selling membership in 'Cherokee' tribes for the purpose of exploiting the Indian Arts and Crafts Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that no 501(c)(3) organization, state recognized or unrecognized groups shall be acknowledged as Cherokee unless they are given written permission from a Federally-recognized Cherokee tribe; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any individual who is not a member of a federally recognized Cherokee tribe, in academia or otherwise, is hereby discouraged from claiming to speak as a Cherokee, or on behalf of Cherokee citizens, or using claims of Cherokee heritage to advance his or her career or credentials; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this Resolution shall be the policy of the Joint Council of the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.

[editor's note: thanks to our friend, a Real Cherokee Nation Citizen in Tahlequah, for sharing this resolution with us.]

Custerology: far more than the study of "Custer"

2008-06-26T10:44:00.010-04:00

hey, brady braves ... michael elliot's l.a. times op-ed "the patriots who killed custer" (6/25/08) can be read at http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-elliott25-2008jun25%2C0%2C3134423.story ... recommended reading is elliot's new book custerology: the enduring legacy of the indian wars and george armstrong custer ... as the author states in the intro, "my focus is on the continuing production of knowledge of Custer and the nineteenth-century Indian Wars in which he fought. Custerology therefore includes not only those who seek to honor the memory of Custer and his Seventh Cavalry but also those who celebrate the indigenous resistance that defeated him—and believe that by doing so they are providing historical redress for the injustices suffered by American Indians” (2)

working as a presentist (i.e., one who looks at how history matters today), elliot later writes what we see as one of the strongest past-present-future connecting passages in Custerology: “The secret to the historical power of the Battle of the Little Bighorn is that the defeat of the Seventh Cavalry means that twentieth-century and now twenty-first-century whites can commemorate the violent work of Western expansion without having to feel entirely guilty about the fate of the American Indians whom the United States attempted to conquer. Custer’s loss so sharply resists the tides of history, as commonly understood, that it has seemed to one generation after another as though it were the outcome of some unknowable, preternatural force. The spectacle of defeat explains why generations of Custerologists have pored over the arcane details of this one conflict in the Indian Wars when so many others remain relatively neglected; why Custer continues to exert power as a romantic hero even when the larger public sympathizes with his foes; and how a historic event can be transformed into an object whose aesthetic appeal rivals that or artistic masterpieces” (187)

and for those wes anderson fans in the brady bravispheres: any book willing to open, as elliot does in his book's first sentence, with reference to eli cash (owen wilson's character in the royal tenenbaums movie) has gotta receive a look ... not to be confused with the neglected (by elliot) johnny cash who sang the peter-lafarge-penned tune "custer" (on the bitter tears album) criticizing the general ("to some he was a hero, but to me his score was zero, and the general he don't ride well anymore") ... eli cash is an "indian" playin' character who writes a book about custer, saying, "Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is ... maybe he didn't?" and so, Custerology continues for the next generation and the next and ...

Stephen Colbert: "1/13 Chickasaw" yet not enrolled to be the Biggest Loser

2008-06-18T13:58:00.003-04:00

brady bravers ... if ya didn't catch Winona LaDuke last week on The Colbert Report, check it out at http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=173622 ... you can see that the self-identifying "1/13th Chickasaw" Stephen Colbert received a fitting Ojibwe nickname from LaDuke: "giboodiyez," translated into English as "smarty pants." [our brady bravin' spelling is likely incorrect, though we did attempt to locate the term in our handy copy of A Concise Dictionary of Minnesota Ojibwe. closest word we saw was giboodiyegwaazon, or pants.]

Colbert (who, incidentally, played an anti-Indian teacher in a "playing Indian" episode of Strangers with Candy a few years back) closed the segment with satirically calling the Indigenous-activist-Harvard-educated LaDuke an "oppressed elitist" ... (looks like Colbert got elitism confused with those intellectual Harvard Class of '08 snobs/graduates who recently de-intellectually snubbed their commencement speaker J.K. Rowling) ... perhaps LaDuke, who was momentarily at a loss for words, could have chimed back with Harvard's initial founding as being an educational institution for Indians? ... or just simply remind him that he's a "giboodiyez."

speaking of pants, did ya hear about the current recruitment efforts for a "Native American" to be dropping pant sizes on the next season of the TV show Biggest Loser? (and you compained about lack of representations of Ind'ns on American television?! shame ...) man, of all the shows out there, we're talking Biggest Loser? don't sound like much competition for John Redcorn or Adam Beach's character on Law and Order: SVU ...

speaking of Beach, he was on Ellen last year ... an interview in which not one direct mention of Beach's Indigenous-ness was included, even during his discussion of his role as Ira Hayes in Flags of our Fathers ... yet Colbert repeatedly focused on LaDuke's Ind'nness, attempting to have her be a spokesperson for all Ind'ns ... interesting dichotomy of interview approaches there ...

givers to indians ...

2008-06-11T13:13:00.005-04:00

Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabeg) is scheduled to be on Colbert Report (Comedy Central) thursday night at 10:30 Oklahoma time.

National Native News reported june 11 that an organization is donating $1.22 million to 209 tribal libraries for resource enhancement. good to hear of building up resources to reach Native Peoples. but following the mathematics smarts of mike brady [all brady braves know mike's an architect when he's not being an expert on "indians" in the grand canyon], that's around $5,834 for each library, barely enough for the complete brady bravin' DVD collection, a Whirling Rainbow gathering, day-old frybread, and a box of Red Men Club ballpoint pens, ennit? (had to mention the pens as one of our brady bravers apparently used one with "Red Men Club" printed on it to sign a restuarant receipt yesterday.)

will any of those libraries purchase CDs by the Turtle Island Quartet in hopes of hearing Native-authored classical sounds? as stated on the Quartet's site, "Its [group's] name derived from creation mythology found in Native American Folklore, the Turtle Island Quartet, since its inception in 1985, has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings." but the main "Native" thing happening here is found through appropriation of the name "Turtle Island." (looks like Turtle Island Foods enjoys playing with "Indian" names, too.)

for Indigenous classical, the Bureau of Brady Braves highly recommends instead Brent Michael Davids (Mohican).

quote of the day: john wayne and indians ...

2008-06-02T15:19:00.003-04:00

"I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them.

There were great numbers of people who needed new land,

and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves"

~John Wayne (quoted in Roberts/Olson's 1995 biography John Wayne)

Whirling Rainbows, Twirling Frauds

2008-05-30T13:37:00.005-04:00

calling all brady braves ... a new brady bravin' leader has arrived: White Eagle Woman aka the less colorful-animalistic-gendered Rachel Holwarth (a self-proclaiming Seneca. too bad the real Senecas don't recognize her, ennit?) ... according to http://whirlingrainbow.com/whiteeagle.htm, Rachel, er, White "is the director and drum keeper of the International GrandMother Drum Peace Project. She is an international shamanic healer, seer and performance artist." and for the low, low cost of $3, 665 and a 100 cents, you can whirl with the rainbows from Loveland, Colorado, to Vancouver Island, Canada, for a "transformational journey with all venues, weekends and healing sessions of our five month tour." (bbb editor's note: unlike the whirling rainbow site, we don't place three 6's next to each other.) oh, but that cost was pre-february 8. however, you can check White out at different tour stops. ("white-out" to describe a self-proclaiming Seneca? like the picture below, that's brady bravin' clever and revealing, ennit?)
now, it's time for the bradylicious ethnic fraud test. Angela Gonzales, Hopi, defines ethnic fraud as “the deliberate falsification or changing of ethnic identities in an attempt to achieve personal advantage or gain.” White Eagle falsifying? White Eagle changing ethnic identities (we hear she's claimed to be Jewish instead of Seneca, too, to fit a gig's situation)? White Eagle charging $$ for "spirituality"? ergo, White Eagle = Ethnic Fraud. (yes, sometimes tests can be as groovy as watching Greg Brady morph into and out of the Johnny Bravo persona.)

doodle 4 google

2008-05-22T18:59:00.006-04:00

here's the 2008 winning entry by Grace Moon for "Doodle 4 Google," featured today at google.com:

cool. but how about, too, this Eric Hamar doodle entitled, "What if Europeans didn't colonize?"

Crowbama for Prez!

2008-05-19T13:07:00.004-04:00

breaking brady brave news: according to National Native News, Sen. Barack Obama is scheduled to become an adoptee of the Crow Nation this afternoon ... his soon-to-be Crow name means One who helps people throughout the land. more info to follow ... may 20 update: "The Native Voice: On the trail with Sen. Obama" at http://indianz.com/News/2008/008844.asp ... http://www.native-voice.com/ ...

indians and duct tape

2008-05-08T10:15:00.008-04:00

of interest to brady braves, columnist Ron Morris wrote on Newberry College's (South Carolina) decision to stop calling itself the "indians." (thanks to a Real Cherokee Nation Citizen friend of the bbb for the link to the article "A change in name only".) Chuck Wendt, VP of Institutional Advancement (not to be confused with George Wendt of Cheers fame), says, "Absolutely not" when asked if the "Indians" team name is racist. (if you'd like to educate Chuck, pictured on the left, about intercultural relations advancement, then chuck.wendt@newberry.edu) the name change is due not to any recognition of racism but rather, in compliance with NCAA's ruling for getting "indians" and indian-related team names OUT--wendt ignorantly says the ruling is "ridiculous" and "political correctness gone amok." somehow, the bureau of brady braves gets the feeling that Wendt ain't Ind'n ...

for newberry, they wanna host NCAA post-season play, i.e., make more money ... and, oh yeah, be fair to the student-athletes. Wendt: "In the final decision, the board centered [on] what is right for the kids. That’s the important thing, the student-athletes. It wouldn’t be fair to them not to allow them to be able to host playoff games, or they would have to cover up their ‘Indian’ name with duct tape if they went some place to play.” besides the nice possessive use here of their Indian (yes, it is their imagined Indian), is there anything that duct tape can't do? (image from http://www.ducktapeclub.com/.)

but here's another kicker: Newberry's bringing in Citizens of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation (North Carolina) to their (their = Newberry) campus or, dare we am-brady-biguously say, their (their = Cherokees) land? Newberry's hoping to get permission to call themselves the Cherokees. ayyyyy! that's a good one ... what? oh, they're serious? well, then why not be the Newberry Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation of N.C. in S.C.? or, for t-shirt, toilet paper, and other marketing purposes, just go with the easy-to-remember acronym N.E.B.O.T.C.N.O.N.C.I.S.C. ... why not? ... well, because that would make about as much sense as Seminoles in Florida approving a university to call themselves the Seminoles. oh, wait a second ...

Googlin' Indians?

2008-05-06T14:17:00.002-04:00

in article "Judge calls Indian 'tribe' bogus" from today's edition of The Seattle Times, AP writer Paul Foy reports, "A federal judge has ordered a $63,000 civil judgment against four people who claim to be chiefs of an American Indian tribe [Wampanoags] in eastern Utah." playing indian for profit? ... again? as Gayle Andrews, Mashpee Wampanoag spokeswoman, says, "A lot of white people are like, `I'm Wampanoag.' But you can't just Google yourself into membership. It's not doable." however, these four pseudo-Wampanoags don't even have to apply for membership into the Brady Brave Hall of Shame--they're IN! ... welcome, wannabes, welcome ...

Woody and Wilcox Return

2008-05-01T20:36:00.005-04:00

okay, a very short hiatus since posting yesterday, but here's a quick follow-up to the Anchorage DJs story: "Two Alaska radio DJs apologized repeatedly on Wednesday for making derogatory remarks about Alaska Native women. Woody and Wilcox from KBFX 100.5 were back on the air after being suspended for the remarks on their April 9 show." check this Anchorage Daily News article for more elaborate discussion.

may those hurt by their earlier sickening comments be healed, may these DJs learn, and may listeners who still don't get what the fuss is about finally understand what the "fuss"is about ... like Joe Garcia, NCAI Prez, said recently, "As is the case when comments like these are made, someone will inevitably come to the defense of those who made them asking where our sense of humor has gone. I have yet to hear from an American Indian or Alaska Native who sees humor in these insulting and derogatory remarks."

hi-ya-tus ...

2008-04-30T14:28:00.004-04:00

brady bravin' faithful: on another short trip away from the brady braves blogosphere ... wrapping up another semester over the next several days ... meanwhile, remember the wise words of mr. dale gribble, as spoken to john redcorn in king of the hill:

"On behalf of the white man, I would like to formally apologize for everything my people have done to your people."

be brave, be good, be brady bravin' good ...

g105 update ...

2008-04-17T13:57:00.005-04:00

as reported today in The Fayetteville Observer, "The N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs on Wednesday accepted an apology from Raleigh radio station G105 for derogatory and racially charged comments made during a broadcast of the 'Bob and the Showgram' program.
The Commission of Indian Affairs also agreed to partner with Clear Channel Communications, which owns and operates WDCG. The collaboration, according to a commission news release, would be “on future efforts to promote and support issues of importance to North Carolina’s American Indian population.”

Dick Harlow, vice president and general manager of WDCG, agreed to “no more negative discussion on G105 and the ‘Showgram’ about American Indians,” said Greg Richardson, the executive director of the N.C. Commission of Indian Affairs. Harlow met with four American Indian officials for a couple of hours Wednesday in Raleigh. The meeting included Jimmy Goins, the Lumbee tribal leader, and Ed Brooks, a lawyer for the Robeson County-based tribe. Goins, who had demanded that Clear Channel pay $50,000 toward American Indian education, was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

“Showgram” host Bob Dumas and his morning radio crew have been the target of criticism since they made on-air remarks April1 about Lumbees and other American Indians. American Indians were called lazy, and members of the Lumbee tribe were said to be inbred. “I really don’t think Mr. Harlow realized how deep the wounds were for the message they sent out on their airwaves about American Indians,” Richardson said. Harlow provided the commission with an audio copy of the on-air apologies that Dumas and Harlow had given that will be made available online to people who were offended.

Richardson called the compromise historic in scope. “We settled on a historic agreement between a major corporation in the United States and Indian tribes,” he said. “Are we completely happy with the agreement? No. Do we feel all American Indians will be happy with the agreement we made today? No. The healing process is going to go on for some time.” Richardson said the meeting was positive, adding that Harlow apologized throughout. Harlow described the meeting as productive. “We’ll be doing a lot of things with these folks in the weeks and months ahead,” he said. “Everybody in this meeting wanted this to be fair to all. We apologized. We were sincere with our apology, and they felt it.”

more on-air venom ...

2008-04-16T11:07:00.005-04:00

as reported at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24144141/, "A radio station suspended two disc jockeys Tuesday over a derogatory remark about Alaska Native women made on their show.
The Anchorage DJs, known as Woody and Wilcox, were joking about what makes someone a real Alaskan, when one of them said it is somebody who makes love to the Yukon River and urinates in a Native woman. It is a twist on an old saying _ also offensive to many _ that real Alaskans have urinated in the Yukon River and made love to an Alaska Native woman."

sick, twisted rhetoric and imagery ... would woody or wilcox speak such venom directly to Indigenous women? ... would any brady bravers want to hear such comments directed at their Grammas, their Aunties, any of their beautiful female ancestors and relatives? (yes, we know "beautiful female" is redundant) ...

as listener Michelle Davis, Tlingit, said in response, "I was horrified, It was a very ugly image." that sounds like real emotion to us ... and no one can tell Ms. Davis that she should not be horrified; no one can tell any Indigenous Peoples how to feel. critics can say that the djs were just attempting to be funny, that they meant no harm, yet they did harm ... they harmed through words--which are far more than just words--Ms. Davis and we imagine many other listeners ... unlike G105, this Anchorage station took quick action ... but do the djs, whose race(s) the msnbc article did not mention (and yet "Alaska Native" was highlighted) understand why they're being suspended? ... their picture, which appears below a woman in a bikini on the 100.5 FM home page, says, "clueless" ... wonder if the "sensitivity training" will help? ...

what you talking about, ... Oswegos?

2008-04-15T16:24:00.004-04:00

brady braves: set your tivos, dvrs, vhs, and 8-trax ... just read on tvguide.com that BET will air the Diff'rent Strokes episode "burial ground" (originally aired 1/7/82) at 8am and 2pm central time on wed, april 16 ... (of course, air dates/times may vary from place to place) ... how many brady braves have been awaiting this one? an episode in which, as tvguide.com says it, "Arnold goes on a hunger strike to protest construction on one of Drummond's sites, which may be a Native American burial ground" ... guest starring ned romero (as "chief of the oswego indians"), who can be seen as a cool old ind'n in rick stevenson's Expiration Date movie ... couple this Strokes episode with Barney Miller's 4/29/82 episode "Bones" (a museum presses charges when an Indian retrieves his tribe's ancestral bones from an exhibit), and you've got an early '80s "indians in hollywood" brady bravin' bash ...

april 16 update: the bureau staff watched "burial ground" this morning ... it's like brady bunch's grand canyon episodes revisited new york style with white guy (mr. drummond instead of mr. brady this time) as the problem solver ... whole lotta stereotypes, including several enacted by the "chief," and sad attempts at educatin' ...

some of the week in review ...

2008-04-09T16:32:00.007-04:00

the Lumbee Tribe held a press conference at the NC State Capitol: http://indianz.com/News/2008/008071.asp

3 on-air personalities suspended for 3 days (if doing the math, a brady bravin' avg of 1 day per person): http://www.robesonian.com/articles/2008/04/09/robesonian/news/radio%20remarks%20april9.txt

from Ed Brooks, Lumbee Attorney: "send emails to showgram@G105.com and carbon copy randiwest@clearchannel.com. Randi is the Production Manager for the station. She is responsible for the on air personalities. Be sure to [...] voice your displeasure with their comments, and that you will be submitting a formal complaint to the FCC. To submit a complaint to the FCC, simply log on to their website at http://www.lumbeetribe.com/Press%20Room/Chairman%20calls%20for%20firings.html. Complete the electronic complaint form."

Kiowas purchase Indian City U.S.A. in Anadarko: http://indianz.com/News/2008/008074.asp Looking to get the Made-in-China products out, the Native-made in.

Upcoming hearing on UND sorority party: http://indianz.com/News/2008/008079.asp

David Treuer (Ojibwe): "Going Native: Why do writers pretend to be Indians?" (March 2008) http://www.slate.com/id/2185856/

G105 FM in Raleigh ...

2008-04-08T14:03:00.006-04:00

for ill-informed remarks spewed on-air last tuesday, april 1 ... check out these april fools who weren't playing no joke ... more like playing with anti-indianness ... if interested in the sickening audio, email us at brady_braves_bureau@yahoo.com ... for a very brief and general apology, read the two-sentence "we're sorry" bit here ...

here's excerpts of the Lumbee Tribal Chairman's press release (available in its entirety at this site):

"The Tribal Chairman of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina issues a call to Lumbee tribal members through out the country to call and demand the termination of Bob Dumas, Mike Morse, and Kentucky Kristin, with G105 radio station in Raleigh. The call comes after derogatory comments were made on the radio station with the “Bob and Showgram” program on Tuesday, April 1, 2008.

“This is unbelievable. To have a radio station that can continue to broadcast such garbage, and in the state capitol; Raleigh” states Tribal Chairman, Jimmy Goins. “I expect more out of the citizens of Raleigh and would expect this type of ignorance to be dealt with by our state leaders.”The controversial statements such as, “Indians are lazy…,” “Lumbees are in-bred…,” and references to Pocahontas as “Poca-Ho-tas” and Sacajawea as “Sacacooter” are slanderous and insulting to all American Indians, as well as the descendants and families of these two great historic American Indian women. The dialogue referring to a “teepee warming party” demonstrates that these individuals have no knowledge of Lumbee culture or that of other American Indian tribes and cultures in North Carolina. “If G105 will not terminate Dumas, then I will call on Lumbee tribal members to go further with the protest and boycott their advertisers” state Chairman Goins. “We’ll go after their pocket books; they issued a statement that says they do not condone inappropriate behavior, language or insensitive remarks- well that’s a lie-unless they fire them today-because this is a pattern, and if you don’t deal with a pattern-well then you do condone the remarks.” [...]

The show defensively asked the Tribal Chairman and the executive director of the NC Commission of Indian Affairs to appear on the “Showgram” to educate them on American Indians. [...] “Don’t call me now, just so you can now make it look like you’re concerned or sensitive.”The Tribal Chairman is also asking for tribal members to visit the tribal website: www.lumbeetribe.com and download a letter and sign it to send to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)."

UIAP: A Request for Support ...

2008-04-06T11:51:00.002-04:00

dear brady braves ... it is with seriousness that we write this post ... we encourage you to visit http://urbanindianadvocacyprogram.org/3.html and to read about the good work that our kiowa-comanche cousin and the UIAP staff are doing in albuquerque ... we recently toured the facilities, heard some of the stories, and were moved by what we witnessed ... if you are interested in supporting an organization that works hard to protect and to empower Native women and children--two of the most beautiful populations in the world--in albuquerque, then we hope you'll contact the Urban Indian Advocacy Program ...

with thanks and appreciation,

the bureau of brady braves

re-running redface ...

2008-04-01T14:47:00.005-04:00

it's april 1, that day of the year that's just too obvious for trickster appearances and clever coyote ... now onto legit news, for like Hammer, bradybraves.blogspot is [prepare hand motions] too legit, too legit to quit, heya ...

morning of march 21, 2008: AMC (American Movie Classics, though we prefer American Movie Colonialism) aired Blood on the Arrow (1965). TV description reads, “An outlaw helps a mother and child survive an attack by marauding Indians.” yeah, nice representation. even brady better was AMC's airing this past weekend of the Audie Murphy-starring Walk the Proud Land (1956), a story of John Clum--former San Carlos Apache indian agent. talk about cinematic White savior goodness ... one of the Native leaders, who sees Murphy's character ready to leave the San Carlos, pleads to the White star: "If you go, we [San Carlos Apaches] will be lost. Who will take care of us?" might we recommend indian agent James Randlett?

speaking of Comanche-associated names ... what film should air on AMC after Walk the Proud Land? none other than the epitome of anti-Comanche cinema--The Searchers.

American Movie Classics? Whose "Classics"?

all three above films are part of AMC's big bright-lettered series known simply as “COWBOYS," followed with the (sub-title) caption “Long live cool.” In the context of these films, are we talking settler survival? In the context of these Hollywood westerns, are we talking of long live [the] cool [in images of heroic cowboys who fight indians, kill indians, and rescue white heroines?]

but then, to continue the Hammer-quoting kick, it's all good when we see later that day two White folks on an old Game Show Network-aired episode of Let's Make a Deal dressed as "Indians," one of which made a cash deal with Monty Hall ... good times ...

it's 30 below, and i'm an "indian" player ...

2008-03-24T17:35:00.005-04:00

hey, brady braves ... any of ya attend the november 2007 redfacin' soiree sponsored by a sorority at the university of north dakota? check it out in one of today's indianz.com headlines: http://indianz.com/News/2008/007787.asp

a former sorority prez says the party's theme was cowboys. apparently, some folks didn't get the memo. or perhaps they were just doing a brady bravin' good deed of completing the cowboys 'n' indians dichotomy ...

mascots and dna

2008-03-14T10:03:00.003-04:00

good ol' boy dan rogers of somewhere outside of bradyville says in a letter to the editor that "most Americans believe the American Indians should hold their head high and be proud to be referred to as redskins." another example of a mr. brady-like father figure telling ind'ns what to "be proud" about, ennit? and check the dichotomy: "americans" as separate from "american indians." your arguments so old and so trite, mr. rogers, that you're not wayne's-worldly-worthy to be in the brady brave hall of shame ...

for something more original, check out WA Post's article on indian DNA ... "Nearly all of today's Native Americans in North, Central and South America can trace part of their ancestry to six women whose descendants immigrated around 20,000 years ago, a DNA study suggests.
Those women left a particular DNA legacy that persists to today in about about 95 percent of Native Americans, researchers said." calling all brady bravers across the americas: forgive this sentence-ending preposition and take your pick of which of the six you're with ... a new song for disney? 1 little, 2 little, 3 little cherokee princesses, er, p[americ]an-indian princesses ... 4 little, 5 little, 6 little ...

and then there were 10 ...

2008-03-07T11:43:00.003-05:00

a month since the last brady update? ... well, here's a quick one for you brady bravers ... if you're looking for redvoiced music, in particular, a classic colonialist oldie, then check track 17 of disney's children's favorite songs ... according to sales on amazon.com, "ten little indians" looks to still be a favorite ... #2 in educational children's music ... #6 in sing-a-longs kids' tunes ...

a seminal seminole ...

2008-02-08T16:28:00.000-05:00

heard a good story the other day ... here's how we at the bureau of the brady braves remember it:

a russian lit professor told his students that dostoevsky had a seminal mind. on an essay exam, one of his students wrote back, dostoevsky had the mind of a seminole indian. ayyyyyy!

left: Dostoevsky (seminal), right: Chief Osceola (Seminole)

Obama at IndianCountry.com

2008-02-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

The following statement by Sen. Barack Obama can be found at IndianCountry.com:

The 2008 presidential election will determine the future direction of the country, and I am running for president to change the national policy agenda so that it provides opportunity and improves the quality of life for all Americans, not just the most privileged among us. It is my goal to run a campaign from the ''bottom up'' - a campaign that empowers individuals at the community level who do not accept the national priorities set by their current government leaders in Washington. And I hope that American Indians will give my campaign a serious look and join our coalition for change.

As a youth I lived for several years in Indonesia. I began my professional life working as a community organizer in an impoverished Chicago neighborhood devastated by steel layoffs. I know, I have seen the desperation and disorder of the powerless: how it twists the lives of children on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, in much the same way as it does the lives of children on Chicago's South Side or the lives of many children of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. I know the response of the powerful to this disorder - alternating as it does between a dull complacency and downright indifference. And I know that many residents of these communities have already given up the hope that politics can actually improve their lives.

It is this experience that reinforces my respect for tribal sovereignty and my unwavering support for Native tribes' government-to-government relationship with the U.S. government. It is clear to me that Washington's ''one size fits all'' solutions don't work in Indian country and never have. Instead, my experiences have taught me that the real solutions - the solutions that work - are the ones that come from the affected communities themselves. The simple truth is that sound Indian policy must have at its core, the empowerment of tribal nations to address their own problems. That will be an important emphasis of my presidency.

It is time for the president of the United States to communicate directly with American Indian leaders and include them in important policy decisions that impact Indian country. I will appoint an American Indian policy adviser on my senior White House staff so that Indian country has a strong voice at the highest levels of the Obama administration. And I will call an annual meeting with Native leaders to develop a national Indian policy agenda.

We must make sure that it is not just the BIA and IHS dealing with issues impacting Native communities. The president of the United States should meet on a regular basis with the American Indian leadership and ensure relationships of mutual dignity and respect.

In my three years in the United States Senate, I have been at the forefront of the fight to pass the Indian Health Care Improvement Act. I led the effort to stop voter identification requirements that have been used in several states to suppress voter turnout on Indian reservations. And I voted to dramatically increase funding for the IHS and urban Indian health programs. In addition, I have been an advocate for fully funding the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that will provide critical aid to many impoverished reservation communities.

As president, I will support full funding of the IHS and continued funding of urban Indian health programs. Having been raised by a working single mother who understood the importance of education to her children's future, I understand that dilapidated reservation schools are intolerable, and I will insist on robust funding of school construction in Indian country. Further, I also understand that tribal colleges play a vital role and are doing a magnificent job in preparing their students to compete in the modern economy, and I will support their enhancement and expansion. And I understand that Indian gaming revenues are important tribal resources for funding education, health care, law enforcement and other essential government functions.

Additionally, tribal communities must be empowered to protect their citizens and it is therefore essential to provide greater funding for tribal police programs and tribal courts and for correcting by statute the jurisdictional gaps that inhibit tribes' ability to protect their communities. And I will advocate legal protections for sacred places and cultural traditions, including Native ancestors' burial grounds and churches.

Furthermore, I firmly believe in the words of Justice Hugo Black that ''[g]reat nations, like great men, should keep their word.'' So under my presidency, we will live up to the federal government's solemn commitments enshrined in treaties with the tribal nations. And I will ensure that we live up to our commitments in ensuring the effective, efficient and honest management of trust income, as this Nation has promised to do, and to equitably redress the errors of the past.

My opponents are fond of pointing out that I have not been in Washington long. My answer to them is that I have been there long enough to know that things in Washington must change. And nowhere is that more true than in our Nation's policies with respect to the First Americans.

playing comanche on cbs ...

2008-01-25T14:22:00.000-05:00

fellow brady braves and other friends have been asking the bbb (i.e., bureau of brady braves) our reactions to cbs' recent (and from what we've seen and read, an ode to anti-"indian" hollywood westerns) miniseries Comanche Moon. well, we have it recorded but have been in no hurry (not to mention being very busy) to watch wes studi "play comanche" and to see adam beach kill and steal ... from the limited footage we've seen, it appears to be violence stacked upon violence with an extra dose of violence and little context on larger intercultural, historical relations ... for now, we do recommend that brady braves visit http://www.nativevue.org/blog/?p=776 and http://www.nativevue.org/blog/?cat=11 for perspectives on Comanche Moon.

once again, we're asking, "is this what cbs means by diversity?"

Obama: Pro-"Indian" or Pro-"Indian" Player?

2008-01-23T15:25:00.000-05:00

hey, brady braves ... following up from this bureau's recent blogosphere announcement of supporting Obama for prez, we see that the illinois senator spoke on u.s.-indigenous relations in nevada the other day ...

as stated at indianz.com, "At a campaign stop in Nevada, Manuel Couchum of the Te-Moak Tribe asked Obama what he would do to help tribal members. Obama said he would first address the "tragic history" between tribes and the U.S. "We have not always abided by treaties. We have not always been honest and truthful in our dealings and that's something that's history that we have to acknowledge if we are going to be fair and honest about moving forward," he said. Obama also said he the Bureau of Indian Affairs won't be the only entity that deals with tribes. He said the White House would create a relationship of "dignity and respect" with Indian Country. Finally, Obama said he would work to improve the health and welfare of Native Americans. He is a co-sponsor of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act that is being debated in the Senate this week [Sen. Dorgan, Dem from ND has been on CSPAN today speaking on the urgent, long, long-overdue need for "improvement"].

but earlier this month in new hampshire, Obama spoke the "r-word," that dehumanizing cousin of the "n-word," and hence the bureau's support has a footnote to include now (one which we feel could be corrected if Obama were to get educated on the "r-word/reds**n" ... Oglala Lakota journalist Tim Giago caught Obama's "r-word" reference:

"[D]uring the New Hampshire debates, a debate that saw the Republicans take the stage first, Obama was asked if he had been watching the Republican debate before he came on and he replied, “I was switching between it and the Redskins football game.” I use the “R-Word” here as a direct Obama quote and in this case the “R-Word” does not mean “Recession.” This lack of sensitivity resonated in Indian country. It made one wonder whether Obama ever considered the meaning of the word that is as hurtful and degrading to Native Americans as the “N-word” is to African Americans."

noting the recent media blasts at Sen. Clinton for saying that it took Lyndon Johnsons' approval/passing of the Civil Rights Act to help enact Dr. King's "dream," Giago later continues that"Sen. Obama should learn how Native Americans feel about the 'R-Word.' If he looks it up in the dictionary he will find that the word 'Redskin' is an insult to all Native Americans. Now where is the national mainstream media, a media so [quick] to jump all over the Clinton’s, when it comes to a Black presidential candidate demeaning Native Americans? Are racial insults reserved for African Americans only? Where is the Indian Al Sharpton?"

who puts the "rez" in "prez"?

2008-01-10T17:04:00.000-05:00

okay, brady braves ... it's (disappointingly) official: new mexico governor bill richardson has dropped out of the presidential race: "It is with great pride, understanding and acceptance that I am ending my campaign for President of the United States." ... here at the bbb/bureau of brady braves, we, like many native relatives, have been strong supporters of gov. richardson and now hope to see him as VP ... the bureau's support for prez shifts, for now, to senator obama but we also continue to consider sen. clinton ...

"majority draw" and another "washo" spotting

2008-01-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

hey, brady braves ... hope ya caught Comanche Boy's fight on espn2 last friday night. apparently, only one judge saw the fight, scoring the 4-rounder in favor of Tahdooahnippah. other two judges musta been watching something other than the match because they somehow ruled the fight a draw ... hence, a "majority draw" for the boxers, but Comanche Boy's still undefeated. (didn't hear one mention of "Comanche Nation" on Friday Night Fights. just kept hearing the taibo announcers playing with how to say "Tahdooahnippah.")

maybe those two "draw" judges were too busy watching their portable tvs with news highlights of gov. huckabee after those iowa republican primary results came in. and who was standing behind the governor, celebrating the iowa victory?? none other than walker "washo" texas ranger.

Comanche Boy on ESPN2

2008-01-01T12:15:00.000-05:00

happy new year, brady braves!

tune in to espn2 his friday night to watch a real comanche box numunuu style. according to campcrier.net, "George 'Comanche Boy' Tahdooahnippah's next fight is this Friday January 4th, 2008 at the Osage Million Dollar Elm Casino in Tulsa, OK. Tahdooahnippah 9-0 (8KO’s) will be facing his toughest opponent, James Cook 10-3 (7KO’s) from Springfield, MO."

http://www.comancheboy.com/

happy holidays, brady braves!

2007-12-21T17:50:00.000-05:00

here at the bbb, we've been slacking on bringing you brady bravin' goodness. not much bloggin' for the holidays.

as the elections draw closer, we encourage you to check out http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/ to read about someone who KNOWS and has the SUPPORT of many Native folks ... okay, so he doesn't have the support of part-time super-"indian" chuck "washo" norris, but gov. huckabee can have all 10 votes from them fictional texas cherokee rez-idents ... btw, a close relative of this brady bravin' editor was eating in the same restaurant as "washo" the other day in addison (dallas area), where chuck resides ... some folks get all the luck ...

peace ...

2007-11-22T11:15:00.001-05:00

St. Paul Pioneer Press update ...

2007-11-21T15:37:00.000-05:00

Brady Braves: remember the november 13 St. Paul Pioneer Press headline about adrian peterson's knee injury: "The Vikings must now fight the battle of... Wounded Knee"? (see our november 14 post for additional info.)

replying last friday to a brady_braves_bureau email, the senior sports editor wrote, "Thank you for writing. I can't tell you how bad I feel about this [headline]. I will say to you what I have been saying to everyone who has written to us about this. In hindsight, it was a poor choice of words, and I apologize for that. We absolutely should have been more sensitive. I appreciate your feedback."

and we appreciate this sincere apology. we are glad to say that we won't be placing the st. paul pioneer press sports folks into the bureau of brady braves "hall of shame." besides, the hall is so crowded already with the chief wahoos, wannabe yahoos, billy jacks, and those texas-rangerin', infomercialin', mike huckabee endorsin' chuck "chuckabee" norrises.

First of the Mohicans?

2007-11-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

hey, brady bravers ... espn.com is playing indian via speech today ... they're addressing "mohawk" hairstyles in college football, asking who is "first," not last, "of the mohicans." greg garber's article "does the mohawk make the man?" begins, "Some believe it was University of South Florida senior linebacker Ben Moffitt. Others credit junior center Jake Griffin. If it's a stalemate, freshman wide receiver Carlton Mitchell is more than willing to claim responsibility for being the first of the Mohicans." man, we at the bbb didn't know mr. mitchell was "indian." playing ball for south florida, he's playing indian a long way from home, eh? as garber actually takes the time to add, "The Mohawk was first identified on Mohawk Iroquois Indians in upstate New York by a Dutch Reform church minister named Johannes Megapolensis more than 350 years ago."

we pity the espn fool because everyone knows that the mohawk began in 1980s hollywood with [cue the theme music] the A-Team.

knee injury in minnesota = wounded knee,1890??

2007-11-14T20:56:00.000-05:00

the bureau is a fan of adrian peterson, not necessarily because he plays for the vikings up the road from the bureau's new home but because he played college ball at OU aka the university of oklahoma. and yes, we wish him a speedy recovery from his knee injury against the packers this past sunday.

but folks like those at the St. Paul Pioneer Press aren't helping much with their tuesday, november 13, headline about peterson's injury: "The Vikings must now fight the battle of... Wounded Knee." as observed by professor eric buffalohead, the headline is used for "a story on Adrian Peterson's injured knee. Why on earth does it reference Wounded Knee? What does a football injury have to do with the 1890 massacre of over 300 Lakota men, women, children and elders by US Soldiers in 7th cavelry? This headline only appears in the print version, not online. Spread the word to let the Pioneer Press know they should be apologizing for such poor taste in choice of a headline."

or how about this blogger titling his post as "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: Is the NFL Any Good Any More?" referencing dee brown's novel yet still "playing" with serious words in order to make a reference to a football player's injury? man, these folks look to be trying out for the bureau of brady braves' hall of shame ...

post-halloween ...

2007-11-05T16:19:00.000-05:00

hey, brady bravers ... did you have a pseudo-"indian"-free halloween? no little pseudo-"indians" running savage-like in your neighborhood? did you not see that peanuts t-shirt the other day in kohl's department stores on which marcy is dressed up as a witch and her friend peppermint "hey, chuck" patty dressed as an "indian" with single-feathered headband? or how about the sweatshirt at another store with winnie the pooh trick-or-treating as an "indian"? man, winnie, say it isn't so. thought halloween costumes were more about witches' hats, mummy cheesecloth, ghost bed sheets, and teenage mutant ninja turtles, not about faux "indian" pipes, faux "indian" buckskin, faux pocahontas mini-skirts, and faux headdresses. some adults, apparently a couple of faculty and/or staff members, at a major university in ohio didn't get that memo, from what i've heard. they dressed as "indians" like so many others have done and continue to do. must have been a case of post-wahoo-losing blues from not making it to the world series ... again ...

or what about blackface costumes? since 2001, there have been many recorded instances (and no telling how many undocumented) of blackface parties hosted by predominantly white fraternities. the "mummy" costume gets replaced by blackface "mammies." the white sheets for caspar-like ghosts get transmorphed into kkk costumes. from auburn's 2001 party (disturbing pics included) to colorado college's 2007 golf outing (in which four of the players reenacted sitcom characters from family matters) to blackface at yale university last week (and blackface stops in-between at virginia, texas a&m, connecticut, syracuse, etc.), blackface ain't slowing down much. (the bureau here especially encourages brady braves to check out that link to an impressive article from two students at yale.)

and don't forget brownface "south of the border" and twisted "cinco de mayo" gatherings, such as those at university of delaware and uc-santa clara. they remind us, among other things, that racialized costumes aren't limited to appearances on october 31 of each year.

happy post-halloween,

bureau of brady braves

update on nov 6: another instance of blackface, this one with a homeland security employee who won an award for best costume: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21644765/

this just in: Real Native Defeats Psuedo-"Indians"

2007-10-22T15:48:00.000-04:00

after the red sox were down three games to one in the american league championship series, i predicted they'd come back and knock out those pseudo-athletic "indians." sure enough, last night, the boston red sox defeated the wahoo-logo-wearing cleveland "indians" 11-2 in game 7. and guess who assisted in that KO? red sox outfielder jacob ellsbury, a real native, a dineh/navajo. when asked why one should cheer for the sox, blogger pepe lepew's top reason was, "The Red Sox have an Indian on their roster, not on their hat." well said, mr. lepew (who also reported that foxnews.com had a headline on oct 17 reading "Indians Scalp Red Sox").

and another twist? a 1675 law banned real Native Peoples from entering boston, and the law was never repealed. finally, in 2005, politicians voted to repeal the archaic law. that's good news for ellsbury.

wonder, though, if boston could replace the law with a new ban, one which keeps out bad redfaced impersonations of "indians," like "chief wahoo" with his grinning pearly whites? (man, the bureau of brady braves ain't ever known an indian with such white teeth! that's what i told a dental assistant once a couple of years ago when she had me reclined in the chair for a teeth cleaning, and there above me on the ceiling? a giant "chief wahoo" poster. yet another way to get kids to relax in the dentist's chair, eh? but at whose expense?)

chris "clueless of columbus" berman

2007-10-09T20:59:00.000-04:00

so, it's already october 9, brady bravers. continuing to be quiet in the blogosphere but busy elsewhere in life. had hoped to return strong to blogging, but don't give up on bradybraves.blogspot.com. perhaps middle buffalo and the other braves will get fired up soon and send out smoke signals as misguided as chris berman's comment last night on ESPN. the bob costas of ESPN, berman told viewers yesterday, "happy columbus day!" and then went on to associate "columbus" with having "discovered america." what a trip. i thought the notion of a european "discovering" a place already inhabited by millions was rather passe, like so-last-century. apparently, berman (who's known for adding in clever middle names to players' names) didn't get the memo. and i guess he's never heard the bureau of brady braves' friend's call for changing "columbus day" to "stolen land day." maybe frybread man can "chief noc-a-homa" (going ol' school here for those keeping score with pop culture references) some sense into the baseball-announcing berman.

coming soon ...

2007-10-01T22:32:00.001-04:00

greetings, brady braves ... hope you had a good august and a good september ... coming soon: the return to the blogosphere of peter "middle buffalo/leaping lizard" brady ... wonder if he gets a mention in maureen mccormick's (actress who portrayed marcia brady) upcoming book? thus far, the media's attention is on that brady brave sister known as "dove of the morning light."

be well, friends,

bureau of brady braves

a bloggin' hiatus ...

2007-07-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

hey, brady bravers. due to this and that and another, the bureau of brady braves is closing, as far as new posts go, in august and september. the bbb continues to welcome your ideas at brady_braves_bureau@yahoo.com for what you would like to see the bureau address in the fall. we sure appreciate the attention you've shown, and we will see you in october with brady braving goodness once the bureau relocates and resettles, this time in minnesota, and once the staff returns from the bloggin' hiatus to bradybraves.blogspot.com … take care.

blackface, a redface cousin ...

2007-07-23T12:18:00.000-04:00

check it out: blackface, german-style, as reported and impressively commented on at BlackWomenInEurope.Blogspot.com. english translations appear beside these degrading german ads.

"some teachers suck, no teachers sucks even more."

"i'm waiting for my last day in school, the children in africa still for their first one."

"in africa, kids don't come to school late, but not at all."

"in africa, many kids would be glad to worry about school."

brady brave thought of the day ...

2007-07-20T10:58:00.000-04:00

"Once we abandoned ourselves for television, the box that separates the dreamer from the dreaming. It was as if we were stolen, put into a bag carried on the back of a whiteman who pretends to own the earth and the sky. In the sack were all the people of the world. We fought until there was a hole in the bag." ~Joy Harjo, "A Postcolonial Tale"

INDIANA-nizing INDIAN play

2007-07-12T11:09:00.000-04:00

hey, brady bravers ... INDIAN play appears to be alive and well in southern INDIANa ... here are pics from a trip to the hills of brown county last month ... the left one is from one of those ol' time photo studios. poor guy couldn't decide whether to play cowboy, indian, or cavalry; so he went for the white-indian trifecta. regardless, bobby "little bear who loses way" brady will be glad to welcome him into the brady brave hall of shame.

the other two are off a back road in brown county. the sign with the older "indian" welcomes ya to "camp palawopec." another sign (not pictured) a few miles earlier depicts a younger "indian," suggesting that you may age by the time you get to the camp but that everyone can be a "kid at heart" when they join in redface revelry? the pic on the right is a "tipi" out on camp palawopec's lawn. i hear this lone "tipi" will star in the upcoming disney flick Last of the Tipis.

turns out this camp palawopec has a website, which includes this pic of one its campers in "warpaint" doing a bad grizzly imitation. just $495 for a week at the camp. more payin' for playin', eh?

btw, no chuck norris spottings in indiana. where ya at, walker?

pay to play? part II

2007-07-06T16:21:00.000-04:00

following-up to a previous post ... the bureau of brady braves declares here and now that one does not have to pay to play [NDN]. during the past two ventures to a local toys r us for the latest in elmo gear, the bbb has spotted the dvd version of disney's peter pan playing on a tv near the registers. and both times, it's been different scenes in which non-native characters play "indian." (is that all they do in that movie?) having seen this reminds us that we brady braves don’t need to pay to play.

rather, just hang out in toys r us and watch peter pan. for further authenticity in "indian" play (authentic pseudo-"indians"?), be like zack "running zack" morris in that 1990 episode of nbc's teen sitcom saved by the bell in which running zack dresses up in full headdress for a class presentation. for how-to instructions, tune into tbs. or tune into tv land and nick-at-nite and superstation wgn, where you can learn from barney "chief noogatuck" fife how to choke on a pipe in the andy griffith episode "the pageant," learn from granny clampett how her great-great granny "scalped redskins" (her words) in the hillbillies episode "family tree," learn from peter and bobby brady (before they receive "indian" names) how to run around in construction paper feathers, clap hand to mouth, and yell "woo woo woo" (or is it "waa-waa-waa"?), and learn in a 2006 episode of disney's suite life of zack and cody how to construct a headdress.

really, brady braves, why pay to play when you can learn the ways of opie's tomahawk club in andy griffith and bart's pre-teen braves in the simpsons? why pay to play when you can learn how to "count to five in american indian" from ralph malph in happy days? and the list of "how to play" as according to sitcom stars goes on and on--from 1950s lucy to today ...

or scratch the above and just call up chuck "walker, texas ranger" norris for all your brady bravin' occasions. unless he's busy infomercialin' the latest in fitness equipment or hangin' out on the bogus texas cherokee rez in hallmark channel reruns, walker should be ready to show you a few moves he swiped from billy jack.

bbb

Descartes Indians

2007-07-02T16:07:00.000-04:00

brady braves:

here's your peter "middle buffalo/leaping lizard" brady thought of the day,

courtesy of drew hayden taylor:

"Descartes Indians"

"I think Indian,

therefore I am Indian."

playin' cherokee

2007-07-01T08:36:00.000-04:00

hey, brady bravers ... if'n you're lookin' to pay to play [indian], then check out this ad by Reverend Tim Cottonmouth:

"This here's the Reverend Tim Cottonmouth. Speakin' to ya from the national I Wannabe a Cherokee network in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ...

Ifn your having a little tribal uncertainty, ifn the drum is telling ya the Apache, the Choctaw, the Osage is not fer you, ifn ya say Iroquois and the white man thinks you're from the Middle East, then come on down to the Cherokee Meeting House.

Ifn y'all had bad credit, a turn a bad luck, think to yourselves, Indian brothers and sisters, maybe y'all need a new identity. An' ya can have it right here, no questions asked an'no references needed. Y'all had grandmommas, ain't no more needed than that. ...

Send us your money now, Indian brothers and sisters. ... Don't be left out of the new Cherokee Nation.
Cherokee. We mean Indian."*
*source: Cherokee novelist Betty L. Bell's Faces in the Mooon, pages 57-58

or as a real Cherokee friend has reported to the BBB, beware of a woman on the powwow trail who claims to be Cherokee and pronounces Tahlequah, the home of the Cherokee Nation, as Tuh-lee-kwuh! wonder if she also drinks Cherikee Red? (yes, a real sugar-filled drink owned by a subsidiary of Dr. P/7-Up)

as the BBB, in academic settings with ethnic fraudin' professors, has sang it before (along with a martin guitar) in the key of D:

all the world's a cherokee / at least that's how it seems to me / people talkin' loud in the academy / when they don't even know a real cherokee

the siouxpranos

2007-06-28T08:44:00.000-04:00

greetings, brady bravers ... we've been at the native art market in INDIANapolis and been away camping brady brave style in southern INDIANa ... will resume bloggin' bravely, brady bravely, soon ... meanwhile, check out our cousins' artwork at http://www.noconaburgess.com/ and http://www.quanahparkerburgess.com/ ... and for those looking for the sopranos, indian-style, check out the siouxpranos ...

paying "indians" to play "indian" ...

2007-06-21T09:27:00.000-04:00

thanks to Newspaper Rock (Where Native America Meets Pop Culture) for Indian Country Today link to an article entitled "paying to teach and 'play indian.'" folks across the u.s. continue to pay for "indian" spirituality. as D'Shane Barnett (Mandan and Arikara) was quoted in the article, "People cannot claim to understand our ways with one breath and then offer to sell them with their next breath.''

here at the bureau (a free site, incidentally, for all the brady bravers out there, unlike supposed "new age native healing" sites where you, too, can find the inner-"indian" for just $99), we don't want to disrespect those who are trying to find their way in this world. but some folks are profiting from other people who, as Barnett has been told by "a couple of different medicine people," are "filling a void.'' cultural appropriation time and again for hundreds of years here, and it continues time and again. (NBC's Today Show, as the bbb has mentioned before, helps to promote it.) many people are seriously hurting, are in need of healing, and others are cashing in on that.

here at the bureau, we'd add that in many settings, the phrase paying "indians" has interelated ambiguities: 1) paying as a verb, as in non-natives forking over money to "indians," which in quotes here, means those pseudo-"indians" who base their work on non-indigenes' understandings of indigenous approaches. 2) paying as an adjective, as in the new pseudo-"indians" becoming "indians" through payment. continuing today's language lesson, bobby "little bear who loses his way" brady will now demonstrate it in a sentence: the paying "indians" are paying "indians" for playing indian to become paying "indian" players. thanks, bobby.

but pseudo-ers/pretenders don't need to pay to play. in the next bbb post, we'll share with you what to do. stay tuned ...

greetings ...

2007-06-15T15:50:00.000-04:00

a big brady brave greeting to the million brady brave readers out there. (a million or a hundred, something like that with some zeroes in it.) many thanks to old friends and new ones for reading. many thanks as well to those of you writing the bureau of brady braves (brady_braves_bureau@yahoo.com) with your praise and kindness. many thanks to www.racialicious.com/ for posting the bbb's bit on the civil rights game (back in march) and more recent bit on martha stewart. in a bit of a bloggin' slump right now as we work on several projects and likely prepare to relocate the redface "bureau" to elsewhere in indian country. (may soon return to central time zone, i.e., texas time). also rethinking the current brady brave boundaries and approach for the content here.

meanwhile, the bbb still expects to return with posts next week, quicker'n you can say carol-marsha-jan-cindy-mike-peter-bobby-greg-alice-sam-tiger-cousin oliver-and chief eagle cloud. (a special smoke signal shout-out to angie, brady bravin' fan! this list-a-familiar names is dedicated to you.)

peace,

bbb

Playing "Indian," The Week in Review

2007-06-08T16:12:00.001-04:00

this week ... the Bureau of Brady Braves spotted a quick instance of redface in a rerun of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-1960, CBS). the usual characters of lucy, ricky, ethel, and fred performed a skit set in the wild west. fred played a bartender; lucy played an "indian." with tomahawk in hand, she tackled fred behind the bar. they reappear in a few moments with fred's bald head now covered with lucy's hair, and lucy wears a bald skincap. so, playing "indian" means here: scalp or be scalped? of all american sitcom characters (and that includes thousands since the 1940s), lucille ball (the actress) may have played "indian" more than any other non-native character: in I Love Lucy episodes "the adagio" (as an "apache" dancin' 'round foolishly) and "the indian show" (as a hiawatha-wannabe) and in The Lucy Show (as the "wife" of an "indian chief" who gives her the state of utah for a wedding gift).

and where can you, like the bbb did this week, catch Lucy in redface? on a local Christian channel. no, not surprising. for the bbb, a local Christian channel supplies viewers with occasional "indian" players in the forms of Little House on the Prairie, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Beverly Hillbillies (i.e. "wholesome" family programming for ... you know ...) Ever thought about what constitutes family programming on Christian channels? ever thought who's included and who's excluded, exploited, and exoticized in their comedic programming?

earlier today, on superstation wgn, aired an episode of the sitcom home improvement. looked like an early episode, maybe season 1, in which the youngest son and his cub scout friends want to play "indian" like some other cub scouts they know did: by constructing a tipi and eating "beef jerky made from real meat," as the youngest son said. i had heard recently from a Ho-Chunk friend about home improvement and "indian" play. i'm guessing she was referring to this episode.

yesterday, on everybody loves raymond, a guest character (who's better known for portraying uncle leo on seinfeld) teased frank, ray's dad. there was talk of the macho, tough-talking frank petting a pet bunny that ray and his brother had when they were little. and the guest character said that he and frank's other friends were going on and on about it. while motioning like he was banging drums, frank's friend said, "it's like tom-toms. [chanting] 'Frank pet a-bunny, Frank pet a-bunny.'" a strange bit within the realm of "indian" play? [note: the bbb is not known for watching a lot of tv, especially since not much good is on tv. all three of the above references, for example, were caught while flipping channels during a time (5:00-6:00 pm) that the bbb's 10-month-old daughter was not chewing on the remote.]

elsewhere in playing "indian" this week, a "California man won $3.2 million on penny slot machines at the casino owned by the Pauma Band of Mission Indians." okay, not exactly playing "indian," but still worth noting it's the biggest prize ever in penny slots in California.

the bbb emailed martha stewart's tv people about the "katonah" trademark but no response. not surprised.

recently-retired "chief illiniwek" (formerly of the university of illinois) is currently accepting offers for summer gigs. so, for your next lone-ranger-and-tonto-themed birthday party, atlanta braves' tomahawk chop soiree, or intimate new age gathering, consider hiring "chief illiniwek" for your entertainment. call 1-900-ANTI-N-D-N, ask for the "Retired Racism" department, and tell 'em the BBB sent ya. first 50 callers receive a free foam tomahawk.

to read about three real indigenous folks (all Navajos) not playing "indian," but instead receiving doctorates in engineering in spring 2007 from the university of arizona, check out this article at indiancountry.com. congrats to all three and to all other indigenous graduates! the bbb wishes you well. may you use the education to benefit your peoples, your nations, yourselves.

Martha Stewart, Playing with "Indian" Names?

2007-05-31T10:06:00.000-04:00

Well, this was a rare moment: a story on Indianz.com involving Martha Stewart. She has a place (i.e., 153-acre estate purchased in 2000 for the trifling cost of $16 million) in Katonah, NY. Now, Stewart wants to trademark “Katonah” for some of her products. Never mind if Katonah residents (of the Village Improvement Society in Katonah) are not pleased. Never mind if today’s descendants of Chief Katonah of the Lenape Nation are not pleased. As reported by Jim Fitzgerald, AP, Diana Pearson, a Stewart spokesperson, says Stewart "seeks to honor the town and the hamlet by using the word `Katonah.'"

And I suppose the Hornell Brewing Company had “honor” in mind when it slapped the revered name Crazy Horse on malt liquor bottles in 1992. (Crazy Horse, says David Wilkins (Lumbee) in American Indian Politics (2001), “is remembered as a staunch Sioux nationalist who remained committed to his people throughout his short life. He never signed a treaty with the federal government, and he opposed the use of alcohol by his people” (229)). I suppose Liz Claiborne, fashion guru, also had “honor” in mind when her clothing company threaded Crazy Horse (and Cherokee) on tags. Although one of Stewart’s lawyers said that his client’s use of the name “will not stop Katonah residents - or anyone else - from using the name Katonah exactly as they always have," what will happen? Likely, Katonah becomes synonymous with Martha Stewart products (much to Stewart’s delight, the BBB imagines), not with Lenape People, not with descendants of Katonah, not with respect for Indigenous Peoples, not with honor for Katonah, New York, residents. To Ms. Stewart and Ms. Stewart followers: One’s intentions do not always match the effects.

As said before in “Indian” mascot debates and other contested arenas, it is difficult to honor those who are not honored, including Autumn Scott (Ramapough Lenape), the New Jersey State Commission on Indian Affairs co-chair. “We trust,” Scott explains, “that Martha Stewart intended no malice in seeking to have her corporation trademark the name of one of our great ancestral leaders, but for her to say she is doing so to honor him and our tribe is absurd, especially when it is being done solely for profit.” Although Stewart is talking of honoring the town, a place of refuge for her, the town is named after the Lenape (Delaware) leader. Stewart, then, would do well to address certain Native People’s warranted concerns. So far, she has greeted them with silence.

Stewart may not talk, but we Brady Braves can. Thoughts of righteous anger can be sent to television@marthastewart.com (address available at www.marthastewart.com, more specifically this page) A customer service number available at www.marthastewartstore.com is 1-800-357-7060.

sweat lodges and rosie ...

2007-05-26T09:54:00.000-04:00

yes, the bbb knows the major tv networks are easy to slam when it comes to their misunderstandings and exclusions and disrespectful visible representations of indigenous peoples. but silence from us is not much of an option. so ... yesterday, on the may 25, 2007, edition of the today show on nbc, the bbb tuned in just in time to see dana dickey, a white female, promoting various spa therapy treatments. and then ... it was time to promote, as ann curry announced rather awkwardly and somewhat hesitatingly "the native american sweat lodge." (just one lodge, eh? and it's the lodge, eh?) here we go again ... now, the bbb likes curry, the person-of-color interviewer in this segment of the show, but she was nearing a borderline of brady bravin' indian play by not questioning (and thus, accepting) dickey's native-inspired new age talk. curry listened intently as the new ager spoke of using [and profiting from the promotion of] sweat lodges, which are part of what dickey described as the spa treatements' "multi-billion dollar industry."

no discussion of cultural appropriation/theft followed. no discussion of non-native personal gain via native practices. note: not saying that all non-native new agers (and king of the hill's new age-indian john redcorn) are just seeking profits. but some folks (non-native and native) are playing "indian" for ill-gotten gain and profit. so, for the today show at least to mention/acknowledge (though it didn't even come close) that cultural appropriation has been going on (and going native) for hundreds of years on these lands at the expense of many indigenous peoples would be a good step. see bluecorn comics, shari huhndorf's going native and carter meyer and dianne royer's selling the indian: commercializing & appropriating american indian cultures.

meanwhile, on the may 26, 2007, edition of abc's good morning america, one of the obvious headlines was rosie's early exit from abc's the view. gma addressed many of the major rosie controversies, including her shouting match with co-host elizabeth, her calling out kelly ripa for a homosexist remark, and her battles with trump. but no mention of her racist "ching-chong" bit. it's little surprise here at the bbb that it didn't make gma's "list" of rosie-on-the-view moments. perhaps not surprising either to those who called out rosie, including poet beau sia's "open letter" video on youtube, after her ching-chonging yellowvoice/yellowface, a cousin of redface.

Welch's "Indians"

2007-05-21T09:08:00.000-04:00

According to http://theimaginaryworld.com/fod17.html, Welch's Grape Juice used to present the adventures of Pow and Wow, the "Woo Woo Indians," along with Foxy-Loxy, on its packaging. More images at the above site ...

The adventures of Pow 'n' Wow are in the Americana past, but some of today's Muscogee Creek and Cherokees in Oklahoma--real Indigenous Peoples, not caricatures--are apparently using Welch's grape juice for grape dumplings. As reported by Indian Country Today, though, "the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah said some Cherokee cooks continue to make their grape dumplings by gathering and cooking wild grapes, called 'possum grapes,' instead of grape juice." That's good to hear, not good saleswise for Welch's and Pow 'n' Wow, but good for Native folks.

"Michael's Tribe," Part II

2007-05-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

[Part I of the BBB response to the My Wife and Kids 2002 episode "Michael's Tribe" can be found below.]

A side storyline in “Michael’s Tribe” involves Michael’s teenage daughter Claire and her plan to sneak out of the house with Tony, one of her friends. Learning of the plan from his son Junior, Michael asks, “How?” To which Junior replies, “Are you asking me a question or are you speaking ‘Indian’?” After Junior explains how Claire’s friend will arrive at midnight and use a ladder to climb up to Claire’s room, Michael turns to storytelling to recruit the Indian Princesses to help him catch Claire and her friend.

MICHAEL. Many, many moons ago, there was Princess Claire-awatha. She was the daughter of the greatest chief ever. One day a brave from another village came to steal away Princess Claire-awatha and this made the chief very, very angry.
RACHEL. Wait a minute. Claire-awatha? Is this just a thinly veiled reference to your actual life?

Michael tells the Princesses of Claire’s plan and asks them to help make sure Claire stays “here in the village” (i.e., at home). Next, the Princesses prepare for what Bald Eagle labels as “war” while dancing senselessly and chanting “hi-ya uh-ya-ha hi-ya uh-ya-ha” with their chief. Chief Bald Eagle also leads the Princesses in a rendition of “the sacred song of our Indian People.” In unison, they sing “three little, two little, one little Indian” from the well-known Septimus Winner nineteenth-century minstrel song (and later nursery rhyme) “Ten Little Indians.” “Indian” players in My Wife and Kids unabashedly sing a tune about the counting of “Indian” deaths. As Kanatiyosh (Onondaga/Mohawk) states, “Asking children to sing ‘Ten Little Indians’ is pure racism. The song is an Indian annihilation song that the Pioneers sang to their children to sooth [sic] their fears. If you remember the song, they count up and then they count backwards until there is only one Indian boy left.”

The time arrives, Bald Eagle tells his warriors, “to prepare our faces for war with paint.” The girls, who now wear a headband with a single feather, shout in excitement as they line up to physicalize redface. Donning a red, white, and blue headdress, Michael tells them, “Step forward, close your eyes, and look to the moon” before he slaps their faces with a paintbrush. Next, he teaches them the war dance and soon begins to do the robot dance. When one of the Princesses recognizes the familiar dance, Bald Eagle declares, “Oh, you are wise. That’s because we must be brave like robots.” Not surprisingly in this episode of dehumanization, “Indians” are objectified into robots as everyone performs the robot dance.

Having prepared for war, the Chief and his Princesses attack. When Tony arrives to the house, he begins to climb a ladder to Claire’s upstairs room. The Princesses hide in the bushes and, upon Bald Eagle’s command, hit the young man with toy arrows. Bald Eagle instructs them to take Tony away. Viewers then see Claire’s friend tied to a chair in the living room while the Princesses yell and run circles around him. Rachel, the supposedly educated one, asks Bald Eagle, “Do we get to set him on fire now?” She sounds well-versed in Hollywood footage that depicts “Indians” dancing around captive White men who are tied to wooden stakes. In The Flintstones “Droop-Along Flintstone” (1961), for example, White characters Fred and Barney are tied to stakes by “Indians.” Whereas their wives Wilma and Betty rescue them, Bald Eagle in My Wife and Kids declares, “We should let [Tony] go back to his village so that he may tell others what happens when they try to mess with our women.”

To recognize and applaud his efforts for the Indian Princesses gathering, Kady says, “Daddy, I had a good time tonight. You’re the best chief ever.” In a self-aggrandizement of confirming his ability to be a pseudo-“Indian,” Bald Eagle replies, “You got that right.” If the use of “best” can mean the best in playing “Indian” in one of the most anti-Indigenous, disrespectful, and misinforming American sitcom episodes in television history, then Kady may be onto something.

My Wife and Kids "Michael's Tribe," Part I

2007-05-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the episode "Michael's Tribe" of the former ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids, starring African American actor Damon Wayans, aired on a local Fox affiliate. "Michael's Tribe," as the following Brady Brave Bureau response may reveal, entails disturbing illustrations of redface.

Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans) serves as the adult “Indian” figure while his youngest daughter Kady is like Opie Taylor with his interest in “Indians” in several episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. At first, Michael hesitates to play “Indian” not because of its potential disrespect to Indigenes but because he is more interested in a sports game on television. When he hears that his daughter’s “Indian” Princesses group will be camping at the house of a family he does not know, Michael demands that the camping be at his house. As he tells his wife Jay/Janet (portrayed by Tisha Campbell), “I’ll be the chief. I’ll watch the game and then I’ll go out there and play ‘Indian.’” Jay explains that he will not have time to see the game because he will be with the girls “the whole day and night” and thus, too busy “[teaching] them the culture and the history of Native Americans, the arts, crafts, dancing, all of that.” Obviously, one “day and night” would not suffice in teaching effectively about the millions of heterogeneous Indigenous Peoples and hundreds of Indigenous nations, yet effectiveness in education is not a characteristic of learning about the sitcom’s “Indian.” Not wanting to back down after volunteering, Michael replies, “Fine, I can do that.” As the rest of the episode unfolds, he shows that he is clueless about as well as racist towards Indigenous Peoples. The only clue he has is being well-versed in Hollywood “Injun” stereotypes, which suffices for the sitcom’s “Indian.”

Calling himself “Chief Bald Eagle,” Michael sits lazily near his radio in the backyard and listens to the game. At one point, one of the Princesses brings him a beer. In return, Bald Eagle gives her the “Indian” name Little Fetch-Me-Beer. When Jay reminds Michael that he must teach the girls about Indigenous Peoples, he interrupts her by speaking in a Hollywood “Injun,” broken English monotone.

MICHAEL. Silence! Maiden no tell Chief how to act, what to do.

JAY. Michael, if you ever want to get into this maiden’s wigwam again, you’ll do as I say.

MICHAEL. Whoa. Poked-out hiney.

JAY. Hey!

MICHAEL. I see where you have hidden sacred drum. Can’t wait to bang drum slowly.

Jay’s threat of withholding sexual relations leads to Michael expressing his desire to “bang drum slowly,” an obvious reference to sexual intercourse. Michael’s comparison between a Native drum and his wife’s backside is one of the most vulgar jokes in “Indian” play throughout the history of redface in Amerian sitcoms. It represents a large shift in what has become acceptable to say in sitcoms. Unfortunately, to use a revered Native object like the drum for a sitcom’s sexual metaphors and innuendos is reflective of contemporary sitcom material.
Michael’s main resistance to seeing the game is a White, red-headed “Indian” Princess named Rachel. Known to Michael as “Little Pain-in-Butt,” Rachel repeatedly has reservations about Michael and his un-educational tactics.

RACHEL. This is ridiculous. All we’re doing is waiting on you hand and foot.

MICHAEL. Yes, yes, because you are a maiden, and a maiden must tend to the needs of the chief.

RACHEL. You gotta be kidding. You’re overly simplifying things. The Native Americans had a very advanced culture.

Speaking of oversimplification, Rachel generalizes by speaking of a singular, monolithic “culture” from the past. The hundreds of cultures from historical and contemporary times are ignored. “Despite the cultural differences among tribes,” academic and activist Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw) explains, “many non-Indians believe that all Indians are alike” (20).Rachel then explains that Indigenes “were the first to openly accept gay people.” Is she referring to all Indigenous Peoples of all Indigenous nations? What time period does she have in mind? To apply almost any concept or belief as representative of all Native Peoples is, to say the least, a major fallacy. Michael has no understanding either. His response to Rachel’s comment on accepting homosexuality is a made-up reference to “the tale of Little Drop the Tomahawk,” which is an “Indian”-specific version of jokes about men dropping bars of soap in locker room showers.

part 2 of the bbb's analysis of "michael's tribe" will appear in our next post.

another racial masquerade ...

2007-05-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

brownface, a cousin to redface, has surfaced again, this time at the university of delaware in a twisted cinco de mayo frat party. after learning that their racial masquerading has brought disrespect and hurt to many latina/o peoples, some partygoers have apologized. for their apologies, the bureau of brady braves has decided not to induct them into the Brady Brownface Hall of Shame. pictures from the "south of the border" party can be seen at http://www.campuslaraza.org/racism.html.

at the Campus Alliance de La Raza site is the following: "My name is Brian Brady and I am the president of Phi Sigma Pi National Co-Ed Honor Fraternity. I, as president, and we as the Executive Committee are deeply concerned and offended by the actions of a number of our organization's members and non-members [at the University of Delaware] ... Such conduct ... is unacceptable, immature, and hurtful to others." (the rest of the letter can be read at the aforementioned site.)

in line with our e-research center's name, we at the bbb are asking, "who is brian brady? a distant cousin to greg, peter, and bobby? a nephew of mike brady? a brady family member still waiting to receive his indian name in the grand canyon?" sounds like brian brady is against brownface. cool. but what about redface? due to the sitcom family history, the surname "brady" is ever suspect at the bbb, ya know? ;)

welcome, friends ...

2007-05-08T09:48:00.000-04:00

greetings, brady bravers and blogwindow-shopping, potentially soon-to-be, y'all come back now, ya hear, brady bravers! the staff here at the bureau of brady braves has just returned from an indigenous studies/native studies gathering in norman, oklahoma. to those we met in norman and to everyone else, welcome to the bbb.

after your visit here, the bbb encourages you to check out www.voicingindigeneity.blogspot.com for good podcastin' times from good podcastin' folks ...

brady bravin' the blogosphere,

bbb

Smurfing "Indians"

2007-04-29T07:43:00.000-04:00

above, that's Rain Dancer, Spear, and Indian Smurfette. in case you didn't know, the smurfs in europe are trying to make a comeback with the Blue Imps Smurf Collection. in 2005, new versions of "classic" smurfs, like papa and smurfette, were released. in 2006, halloween smurf figurines. and now in 2007, joining the company of "classics" and dracula smurf, werewolf smurf, and other costumed smurfs is ... a Native American series of 8 smurfs?

not surprised. the company is in wales, UK. the figurines are made in germany. and for those familiar with playing "indian," you know it's an international thing. don't have real Indigenous Peoples in your country? then the (il)logical step is to make some, right? then you, too, can join in redface revelry. and be sure, as the smurfs do, to construct "indians" from the past, from former imagined times, in misinformed ways that have been going on for hundreds of years ... if you'd like to let 'em know what you think, the company's email is thewebs@blueimps.com. for now, we at the bbb place the new "indian" smurfs in the Brady Brave Hall of Shame. congrats to peace pipe smurf (below) and the others ...

Louise Erdrich, Not Playing "Indian"

2007-04-24T12:04:00.000-04:00

MS. ERDRICH,
REAL INDIGENE
long time no redface. the bbb has been behind in brady bravin' the blogosphere. looks to be that way until around mid-may.

for now, the bbb applauds Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) for declining an honorary degree from the University of North Dakota due to the school's continuing use of the "Fighting Sioux" mascot name. Ms. Erdrich is a good example of one who is not playing "indian" here. for a Native person to accept the degree from a school with such a nickname would be playing "indian" by approving and conforming to the expectations
of what Robert Berkhofer has called the White man's "Indian." a big brady brave bravo [not to be confused with greg "johnny bravo" brady] to Ms. Erdrich.

"FIGHTING SIOUX," "INDIAN" PLAYER

Disney's Revolutionary "Indians"

2007-04-12T12:43:00.000-04:00

Set in Boston at a hotel, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody targets young Disney viewers as it follows the adventures of twin teenage White brothers Zack, the carefree troublemaker, and Cody, the studious dreamer. In the 2006 episode “Boston Tea Party,” Boston city hall plans to transform Liberty Park, one of the boys’ hangouts, into a paved lot. Cody writes a lengthy letter of protest in which some of the key words, he announces, are “boldfaced” for emphasis. Zack, growing tired and, as he calls it, “boredfaced,” inattentively listens to his brother and falls fast asleep. The episode then goes into a dream sequence of flashing back to what I label a redfaced reenactment of the Boston Tea Party.

Set in 1773, the year of the Tea Party and three years before the official founding of the United States of America, the dream depicts the non-Native cast engaging in talk of revolting against England’s high taxes on imported tea and of forming their own country. That same year, a group of American colonists in Boston dressed as Mohawk “Indians” to disguise themselves while throwing English tea overboard. Like the real colonists in Boston, the characters’ plan is to dress as “Indians” and dump the latest shipment of English tea into the Boston Harbor. In the next scene, several characters are seated on Liberty Park’s lawn and constructing their “Indian” headdresses. “During our raid on the tea ship,” one character explains, “these Indian headdresses will disguise us so the British won’t know who we are.”

For colonists to have played “Indian” at the real Boston Tea Party and in The Suite Life’s reenactment functions as far more than mere disguise. To be pseudo-“Indians” enabled colonists to take on characteristics they linked with “Indianness.” For one, the colonists associated “Indians” with courage. To be dressed as “Indians,” Cody adds, “will show [the British] we can fight!” The Suite Life plays on the Euro-American rationale of believing that all “Indians” are warriors who will go to any length to protect themselves and their homelands.

To associate “Indians” with violence occurs again in the next scene. Dressed in their exotic “Indian” regalia of feathers and beaded necklaces and belts with multicolored paint on their faces, the non-Native characters enter the hotel and celebrate their off-screen dumping of the tea. Another character, who did not play “Indian,” sees them and yells, “Indians!” After the pseudo-“Indians” duck in fear, she screams, “Indian attack!” One of the “Indian” players proudly responds, “We’re not Indians; we’re revolutionaries!” As a signifier of revolutionary and uninhibited freedom, “Indian” denotes who is not British. Attracted to what they perceive as Indigenous characteristics of exoticness, freedom, courage, and violence, the “Indian” players in The Suite Life, like the historical American colonists, looked to become different from the British. The Boston Tea Party, Philip Deloria states, “offers a defining story of […] American character.” It functions, he adds, as “a catalytic moment, the first drumbeat in the long cadence of rebellion through which Americans redefined themselves as something other than British colonists” (see Deloria's book Playing Indian, pg 2). The Tea Party portrays a pictorial semblance for colonists to assume an authentic American identity.

To play, not be, “Indian” enabled the White revolutionaries to move away from being British and towards original Americanness in the form of “Indians,” America’s original inhabitants. Thus, White revolutionaries in Boston engaged in playing “Indian” to serve their purposes without claiming permanent “Indian” identities. In the process, they perpetuated the notion of “noble savagery,” which Deloria denotes as “a term that both juxtaposes and conflates an urge to idealize and desire Indians and a need to despise and dispossess them” (Playing Indian 4). The Suite Life characters ethnomasquerade as “Indians” one moment, fear an “Indian” attack the next, and then proudly proclaim to be non-“Indian” revolutionaries.

Awaking from his dream, Zack is inspired to save the park, a symbol of his joy in America. This time, he does not resort to “Indian” disguise. Instead, he checks the park’s historical significance of a huge tree in the park and learns of its ties to the Revolutionary War. While waiting for a permit from a local historical preservation society, Zack and other characters stage a protest on the same lawn where the “Indian” headdresses were constructed. The encouragement and revelation from Zack’s dream of “Indian” players reaches fruition as a permit is issued and the park is saved from the awaiting demolition crew.

“Boston Tea Party” never mentions that most of its cast, like Boston colonists in 1773, dressed as “Mohawks.” Instead, it refers to generic, tribeless “Indians.” In the epilogue, the female character who yelled “Indians!” in Zack’s dream enters the hotel lobby with her hair styled into what she calls a “Fauxhawk,” or a fake Mohawk hairdo. Now, she, too, joins the “Indian” play, but in a more subtle manner. Nevertheless, I strongly suspect that the scriptwriters were aware of the ambiguity here as they temporarily transformed numerous characters into faux Mohawk “Indians.” But I do not credit The Suite Life of Zack and Cody with knowing of the offensiveness and disrespect associated with redface.

Playing “Indian” and Speaking Back in Song

2007-04-05T10:37:00.000-04:00

let's begin with a song on playing "indian" in the form of cigar-store wooden indians ...

“kaw-liga” (1953) excerpts by hank williams, sr.

KAW- [Dm] LIGA, was a wooden Indian standing by the door
He fell in love with an Indian maiden over in the antique store
Kaw-liga [A], just stood there and never let it [A7] show
So she could never answer "YES" or [Dm] "NO"
He always wore his Sunday feathers and held a tomahawk
The maiden wore her beads and braids and hoped someday he'd talk
KAW-LIGA – [A] too stubborn to ever show a sign
Because his heart was made of knotty pine.
CHORUS [D] Poor ol' KAW-LIGA, he never got a kiss
[G] Poor ol' KAW-LIGA, he don't know what he missed
[D] Is it any wonder that his face is [A7] red
KAW-LIGA, that poor ol' wooden [D] head

tribal poetics, tribal politics

at the 1992 university of arizona “poetics and politics series,” 13 indigenous intellectual writers, like joy harjo and simon ortiz, “not only examined the extraordinary emergence of Native American literature, but presented that literature within a living context.” yes, a living context, unlike w/hank williams’ kawliga, because indigenous peoples are still here, though that may be contrary to some mindsets.

i’m considering poetics in musical expression and politics in social constructions of race. namely, i situate this discussion near the poetics in Native Americana and the politics of playing “Indian.” Native Americana is an Indigenized lyrical-musical hybrid of Americana/roots/alternative folk music. and I’m thinking of the politics of playing “Indian” in American culture as it appears in sports mascots, television, and movies. my purpose is to shed some light on how tribal poetics and tribal politics are intertwined, how, more specifically, Indigenous songwriting and Indigenous scholarship inform each other in this interweaving. for many indigenous peoples, politics and poetics already intersect. they’re already related, all part of a larger circle. You might say that indigenous peoples are not only the original inhabitants of this land but also the original interdisciplinarians on this land, contrary to the one-dimensional stereotypes we may see elsewhere.

for Arigon Starr, a Kickapoo musician, songwriter and playwright, she connects the process of playing “Indian,” of enacting redface, with the absence of respectful Indigenous representations in tv and film. in fictional tv and cinema, to play “Indian” is a process in which non-Native characters appropriate and/or fabricate Indigenous identities and perform on-camera as “Indians.” As Arigon Starr says [chords added],

"please do not touch the indians" excerpts by arigon starr

[D]They put a white guy in tan makeup/[D]They put a [G]black wig on his D]head[D]

It's no wonder we ain't on tee-vee / [D] They all [G] think we're [A] dead
They write songs and they make movies / About Indians long ago

All those pictures never look like / Indian folks I know

Please do [G] not/Touch the [D] Indians / they’re my [G] world / My only[A]home

Please do [G]not/Touch the[D]Indians / Way[G]ya hey[A]ya/Way[G]ya hey [D]yo

Old time westerns show warriors / As fools and as a liars

Cartoon Indians dancing around / A captive set on fire

A producer takes a call / From a studio on the phone

They want him to make "Geronimo" / With Sylvester Stallone

Please do [G] not/Touch the [D] Indians / they’re my [G] world / My only[A]homePlease do [G]not/Touch the[D]Indians / Way[G]ya hey[A]ya/Way[G]ya hey [D]yo

with Native actresses and actors as the invisible on American television, representations of redface stand in as the visible. Playing “Indian,” w/its artistic expressions, w/its intentions to entertain, and w/its power to wield influence on audiences, also brings about entertainment at Native People’s expense and brings about disrespect and brings about misinformation, which, in turn, lead to political-poetical protest in Indigenous intellectual songwriting by Indigenous intellectual-artists like Litefoot, a consciousness raising Cherokee hip hop artist and actor. (yeah, he’s that NDN in the film Indian in the Cupboard, not to be confused with the sequel ... White Man in the Pantry). Litefoot's song “What’s it gonna take?” asks what it will take for intercultural peace. Speaking on racial hypocrisy, he asks why Eminem gets called a racist for saying the N word while hip hop folks who go ’round wearing Cleveland NDNs and Atlanta Braves hats aren’t called out for perpetuating the objectification of native folks. Eminem gets called out while biz markie and flava flav wear headdresses and ignore Indigenous tradition and respect for tribal leaders in certain indigenous nations who wear headdresses.

like Arigon Starr, Litefoot, turns to televisual redface and tries to make sense of television’s colonial discourse, asking, what’s it gonna take for respect?

can you speak to me about what the world screams to me

Disrespect so d*** blatant whose reality's on TV

Got the money to buy the box, What's this comin out my box?

It ain't respectin me! What the f*** is on my TV?

Saturday Night Live got a comedian named Billy Smith

He don't look like no ’skin I know and he ain't funny for s***

He got a cowboy hat on and of course a braid out the back

But he don't talk good English and oblivious to why he's laughed at

I guess basically what Lorne Michaels and Jimmy Fallon tryin to say is,

I'm in the past what you doin here trying to be today

That me and my people just some washed up has-beens

That we couldn't even tell a joke or be funny to get some friends

SNL saying the same as the movie biz and Hip Hop

We only good with feathers on we don't exist when they off

I punch the remote feelin like my whole race is a joke

I wanna grab em by the throat but instead I burn this Cedar for hope

and Litefoot goes on to talk about being invited to perform at a hip hop concert in NY in 2003 w/busta rhymes and other predominantly African American hip hop artists. But as litefoot explains and as cristina veran reported in "rap, rage, REDvolution," he was not too welcomed.

Show time and its chaos the coliseum's sold out

Jadakiss spits, Ludacris grabs the mic and out

Before Busta Rhymes, it's time for Litefoot and his crew

I jumped on stage; Grass Danced and I spit the truth

Then the crowd split between cheers to "F" this skin

I thought this was America people? Guess we ain't equal again.

Now a year later I'm watchin' the Grammy's - It's 2004

The crowds praisin Outkast dressed like Indians jumpin round on the floor man

(And that ain't disrespectful)

So what's it gonna be for you and me to see

That we brothers and sisters we all need equality

This world ain't just white it ain't all black either

Takes the brown, yellow and red to complete the people

susan shown harjo, a Cheyenne activist, agrees that outkast and cbs, who aired the grammys, didn’t show respect. Harjo describes the scene: "Andre 3000 [of outkast] wore the kind of wig that white guys wear in movies to 'look Indian'; each of the women dancers wore a wig of long braids, topped with a headband and a solitary green feather, standing upright. Above knee-high silver boots, they wore sea-foam tops and shorts with shake-your-tailfeathers fringe. And, there was the USC Trojan Marching Band, not in the usual helmets and burgundy and gold colors of the University of Southern California, but in green and white uniforms and plumes, with green and yellow paint on their faces." "Whoever dreamed up the production," harjo adds, "was going for an Indian effect, but it more closely approximated the Jolly Green Giant and dancing vegetables on crack."

this is a way by Harjo, like by many Natives, to approach offense with humor. It’s part of trying to speak back and to decolonize the images/words/and discourse in representations of redface. It’s what Haunani Kay-Trask calls “a collective resistance to colonialism.” For me, it’s not about being politically correct; it’s about being humanly respectful; it’s about being respectfully human; it’s about raising awareness/consciousness that something like outkast’s grammy performance and other recent instances of playing “Indian” are rooted in hundreds of years of colonization. We cannot take what may look like isolated instances and separate them from a larger historical and contemporary context, or like that Arizona poetics and politics series says, a larger living context.

in closing, please remember that just because it’s play, don’t make it okay.

coming soon to the bbb ...

2007-04-01T17:26:00.000-04:00

* an exclusive bbb interview with recently-retired "chief illiniwek" of the university of illinois

* a report from a recent conference presentation by the bbb on redface in american culture

* the establishment of the Brady Brave Hall of Redface Fame

until then, be brady. be brave. be ... a brady brave.

bbb

Greg, Peter, and Bobby = "Indians"?

2007-03-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

Any resemblance between Alice and Gen. Custer?

In The Brady Bunch episode “The Slumber Caper” (1970), Marcia, the oldest daughter, prepares to have a slumber party. The Brady family of Mike and Carol and their children Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby, and Cindy and housekeeper Alice does not try to reenact the June 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn in Montana, in which Custer and his men of the Seventh U. S. Cavalry were killed by an alliance of indigenous nations. Rather, they make explicit references to Custer and “Indians” and metaphorically reenact the battle in their home.

Marcia’s parents plan to go out for the evening and leave Alice in charge of the “fort,” as Mr. Brady says, if she is willing. “Oh, I don’t mind holding down the fort,” Alice replies. “Just bear in mind those were the last words of General Custer.” Sensing that trouble will occur in a houseful of children, Alice aligns herself with the defeated General Custer and the Cavalry. To play Custer encourages her to be strong and courageous yet aware that defeat and destruction may be imminent. Mr. Brady recognizes Alice’s new pseudo-identity and prepares to jokingly “tell General Custer to take her boots and saber out of mothballs.” Alice reassures him that she can oversee the slumber party: “Remember, you have left the cavalry in charge.” Alice’s self-alignment with Custer implies that she, a White female, associates herself with a White male. Rather than applying the WWFD ("What Would Fonzie Do?") strategy by making parallel references to Crazy Horse, who fought the Seventh Cavalry, Alice relies on standard rhetoric from White heroes who “protected” American homelands from “Indian” attacks. For the scriptwriters of “The Slumber Caper” to associate Alice with Custer may sound like innocent fun; but to speak of Custer, one must include “Indians.”

In The Brady Bunch, the “Indians” are marginalized and compared to children in the process. Because the Brady boys eagerly plan to sabotage the party, they are positioned in the episode as the “Indians" but playing “Indian” on a metaphorical level. Reminiscent of nineteenth-century White American mindsets that feared “Indian” attacks at any given moment, Brady Bunch writers equate three boys and their juvenile behavior with “Indians” who fought for their homelands and survival. The girls camp in sleeping bags in the living room, which could serve as a symbolic locale of a central area of the Little Big Horn battlefield. When the girls listen to a ghost story in their camp, Bobby howls like a wolf from the kitchen, suggestive of an “Indian” hiding before an attack. Later, a lit-up toy skull in the refrigerator frightens Alice. Then she and the girls see a fake spider in a sleeping bag. Possibly associating the multiple “Indian” tribes at Little Big Horn with the three antics by the three Brady boys, Alice remarks in cliché fashion, “It looks like there’s more than one tribe on the warpath.”

The boys’ sabotage concludes once the girls start itching profusely because of the itching powder that the boys planted in the sleeping bags. Upon Alice’s command, the young ladies sprint upstairs, hence fleeing the battlefield, to wash it off. While Custer was in charge of the Seventh Cavalry, Alice extends her duties to oversee not only the girls (read: innocent White female Americans) but also the boys (read: wild “Indians”). As Custer and the cavalry rolled into one, Alice is to protect the girls from the boys’ savage attacks. But she, like Custer at Little Big Horn, fails.

In the epilogue on the following day, Mr. Brady notices another prank. Alice hands a box of cookies to Mr. Brady, who finds a fake spider inside, perhaps the same one from the sleeping bag. “The party’s over,” Alice comments, “but the melody lingers on.” Similarly, the Battle of Little Big Horn ended long ago, but its impact surfaces today. As evident in rerun versions of “The Slumber Caper,” Custer’s (and hence, America’s) defeat by Indigenes in June 1876 linger on in American imaginations.

senseless in memphis ...

2007-03-22T21:33:00.000-04:00

as i sit here and watch the men's basketball teams from texas a&m and memphis battle for a spot in the elite 8, i am reminded that the cleveland "indians" baseball club has been invited (along w/the st. louis cardinals) to play in major league baseball's inaugural Civil Rights Game in memphis on march 31, 2007. so, here's a game devised to recognize and to remember "the home of the National Civil Rights Museum and the city where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968." and mlb invites the "indians"? (and invites them to a city that's part of the "trail of tears"?) the playing goes beyond a sport when "indians," led by their "chief wahoo," are involved. we're talking playing "indian"; we're talking redface. but heck, why not make it an all anti-real "indian" day by inviting the atlanta "braves," too? and since the game is in memphis to call attention to african american civil rights, why not change the name of cleveland "indians" to cleveland "blacks"? or as artist oscar arredondo suggests, the cleveland "negroes"?

so many folks still not getting it, eh? sports fans' claims to honorable intentions of the use of "indian" imagery, intentions of being pro-"indian," do not dismiss nor outweigh the disrespectful effects that many native peoples experience. an example of one of those effects? ironically, many pro-"indian" mascot/logo/image critics verbally attack the real native peoples who call for the eradication of such "indian" representations. so, those critics honor their "indian" images and "indian" objects, their "indians," but they disrespect and dislike the real natives?

reflecting back to a protest years ago of the university of illinois' mascot "chief illiniwek," tim giago (oglala sioux) writes, "I joined the protest one year as a newspaper reporter. I walked near the protestors taking pictures as they marched. I was once again overwhelmed by the degree of hatred aimed at these protestors. Profanity such as 'F- you squaws' or 'Get the hell out of here you drunken Indians,' rained down on the protestors on their march to the stadium. My God, what a proud tradition! How can a people exude such hatred for real Indians while honoring a phony chief?"

and check out what cleveland's general manager mark shapiro said in response to his "indians" being invited to memphis: "The history of civil rights needs to be honored. The pursuit of civil rights, for compassion and for tolerance, needs to be fought for not only in our game, but also in our country and in our own organization. It's that belief system and that history that is the root of our pride and why we are participating in this game." sounds like "our country" and "our pride" isn't about including indigenous peoples. sounds like "compassion" and "tolerance" aren't to be shown to indigenous peoples. sounds like mr. shapiro isn't used to being objectified, dehumanized, commercialized, exploited, and all else that accompanies being associated with a ridiculously racist image known as "wahoo." instead, mr. shapiro is among those who continue to objectify, dehumanize, commercialize, and exploit native peoples through the use of "wahoo" and "indians."

to reward his hard work and dedication to promoting playing "indian," we at the bbb are now making mr. shapiro an honorary brady brave.

Hualapai and the Skywalk

2007-03-16T22:23:00.000-04:00

it has become a u.s. national story among mainstream headlines that typically don't welcome news from indian country. but this new headline, like most headlines in this "indian" gaming era of mainstream anti-"indian" gaming news, is sometimes not one that praises indigenous peoples. this time, the headline's about the Hualapai and their newly-built Skywalk in the Grand Canyon West area. (today, buzz aldrin was among the guests at the Skywalk opening ceremony.)

some critics say that the Skywalk (which 120 people can simultaneously be on at the rather "steep" (yes, poor pun intended) price of $25 each) is unnatural and is desecrating the Earth. the underlying message? that building the Skywalk onto the Earth does not fit with non-Native interpretations of "Indian." so many non-Native peoples (and Natives who internalize non-Native ideas/imaginings of "indianness") have difficulty in not equating all Indigenous Peoples with having oneness with nature, with Mother Earth.

why is it that many non-native writers cannot see native peoples as non-static beings? why can some people not see "indians" in economic ventures, in business, in doing what they can to benefit their elders, their young, their people? in line with the work of the bbb, some might ask, "are the Hualapai playing 'indian,' more specifically, playing a form of the white man's "indian"? in his opinion piece, writer john weeks would have you believe so, that yes, they're playing. yet who is john weeks or any non-Hualapai peoples (which would be everyone in the world except for the around 1,400 enrolled citizens) to say that the Hualapai should not do this? i haven't walked a mile in their moccasins (or shoes for non-moccasiners).

neither has the brady bunch. in the first 3 episodes of season 3 in 1971, including "grand canyon or bust," the brady family (soon-to-be brady braves) ventured to the grand canyon to learn, as patriarch mr. brady said, about the Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, and Navajo. Peter, the middle son, asks the origins of “such strange names.” it sounds like many critics have peter's "strange" mentality as they find the Skywalk to be strangely at odds with how they view what "indians" should (and should not) do to maintain an image of playing their version of a white man's "indian."

for me, i like to hear from folks who know what it's like for the Hualapai, such as Robert Bravo [not greg "johnny bravo" brady], a citizen of the Hualapai Nation. in an interview with Kim Landers of ABC Radio, Bravo spoke on the importance of the Skywalk: "This is going to benefit, you know the Hualapai nation, Hualapai children, and that's the beauty of it. It's going to create jobs for us, it's gong to create the revenue that we need, you know, for schooling, different departments that our tribal government has. So it's definitely exciting." on a less critical level, i also can't help but think of the Skywalk as reminiscent of the carrier that Luke rides in at home on Tatooine early on in the original Star Wars. (and seriously, i thought of that carrier/transportation device before seeing that Skywalk is very similar to Luke's surname: Skywalker). may the force [of brady brave power] be with you.

calling all brady braves ...

2007-03-11T08:50:00.000-04:00

If you wish to be a brave Brady and want to receive your very own BradyBrave “Indian” name, then you need to join the Brady Brave Blogspot e-club.

Here's how:
1) First, say Brady Brave Blogspot five times as fast as you can. Master this tongue twisting feat so that you will not forget the name of this site.
2) Second, leave a comment/request for the bbb, and you just might receive an honorary “Indian” name, intended to be as frivolous and hokey as any episode of the Brady Bunch.
3) Third, please feel free to share with us any instances of or personal interactions/ confrontations with “redface.” For instance, does your high school or college have an “Indian” mascot? Did you play cowboys and “Indians”? Have you seen non-Natives fiscally profiting from their appropriation of Indigenous ways? Have any good “Cherokee princess” stories? Ever worn Liz Claiborne “Crazy Horse” clothing? Seen any “Indians” on TV lately (including in reruns)?
4) Fourth, feel free to invite other potential Brady Braves. With enough readers, the bbb can be a site for Brady Braves to gather 'round the fire and revel in redface resistance.

The Fonz's "Indians" ...

2007-03-10T23:58:00.001-05:00

One might expect a long-time national news journalist and well-known anchor to be well-versed in his choices of words and adages. Yet on the March 9, 2007, edition of NBC’s Nightly News, its anchor and managing editor Brian Williams showed his ignorance or, if he’s aware of the historical context of what he said, then he gave a glimpse of his prejudice. Speaking on the “U.S. invasion in Iraq,” Williams interviewed U.S. General David Petraeus.

WILLIAMS: But it's been the crux of the anger problem for a long time in ways the people haven't realized. they [Iraqis] go from, a lot of these people had p[o]wer and water before the U.S. entered, and it's been four years. They have very little of both now. When is the cavalry coming? Is that fair to ask?

PETRAEUS: It is fair to ask. Actually, the cavalry has come and has come repeatedly. Unfortunately this is yet another area in which al-Qaida Iraq has sought to do anything it can to derail the new Iraq.

Once again, U.S. ("US") versus al-Qaida ("THEM") gets framed in historical U.S. military ("US") versus the “Indians” ("THEM") terminology. How is it that Native Peoples come to be equated with al-Qaida? (Or what about this parody of the racist minstrel song "Ten Little Indians" that replaces "Indians" with "Talibans"?) Although one can counter that Williams and Petraeus did not explicitly mention Indigenous Peoples, their references to the “cavalry” obviously imply the unmentioned. (And no, I'm not talking political correctness here. I'm talking about dis/respect. It's like times have changed, but deep-rooted mindsets have not.)

So, we at the bbb now wonder, "What would the Fonz do in response to these 'cavalry' remarks?" As a long-time non-Native Indigneous ally throughout the series Happy Days, the Fonz once said, “I don’t like the Cavalry, man. I like the Indians!” Us, too, Fonz. Us, too.

But hold your horses and hold down the fort and wait! The Fonz said in the same scene of the same episode ("Fonzie the Flatfoot," the one in which he becomes a cop and is looking for heroic inspiration to save the day), that he identified with the hero status of the Lone Ranger. Well, nevermind, Fonzie.

At least Brian Williams doesn't wear a mask when he marginalizes "Indians." Just makeup ... a hint of redface? ;)

here's the story of a lovely lady ...

2007-03-07T08:20:00.000-05:00

"... until the one day when this lady met this fellow, and they knew that it was much more than a hunch that this group would somehow form a family. that's the way they became the brady ... [braves?]"

this blog's name is inspired by the 1971 brady bunch episode "the brady braves", in which the white brady family, including carol and mike and their six children and housekeeper alice, become the first situation comedy, or sitcom, family to be “adopted” into a Native “tribe.”

escaping from their regular suburban America confines, the brady bunch open its third season with a three-episode adventure to the grand canyon. there, they attend an exhibition of supposedly hopi dancers doing what mr. brady says is a “rain dance.” concerned with authentic "indianness," cindy, the youngest brady, asks if they are “real Indians.” later, when she and her brother bobby wander from their campsite and become lost, they encounter young native jimmy pakaya, who eventually serves as their guide back to camp.

“Gee! An Indian boy!” cindy exclaims. he runs; they chase. (a reversal of circling the wagons?) later, cindy is concerned again with ethnic authenticity. “Are you a real Indian?” she asks. the Bradys soon learn that Jimmy has runaway from home because he is “tired of being an Indian.” he wishes to “be an astronaut” instead. how does a profession replace an ethnic identity? (reminds me of vine deloria, jr., saying that many natives are putting their work title before their tribal affiliation. reminds me of jeff corntassel saying, "I am a Tsalagi [oklahoma cherokees' own name for each other] first and a trained political scientist second.") “Jimmy,” mr. brady says in his fatherly manner, “You can be both of those things. You can be proud of your heritage and be what you want to be.” yeah, jimmy ... an astrondian! or better yet, an indonaut!

after mr. brady reunites jimmy with his grandfather chief eagle cloud (portrayed by jay silverheels of tonto fame), the “chief” says to the bradys, “I ask you to journey to our village tonight. In a ceremony, I will ask you to become members of my family and tribe.” He assures them that they will have a “groovy time.” (first "indian" to say "groovy" on primetime tv?) to set the stage, Native flute music plays and a few “Indians” sit in the distance. Chief Eagle Cloud stands and declares, “All these people [the Bradys] sitting around this fire shall belong to my [unnamed] tribe from now until forever.” he then gives “Indian” names to each of them.

and here we go ...
Mike: Big Eagle of Large Nest
Carol: Yellow Flower with Many Petals
Greg: Stalking Wolf
Marcia: Willow Dancing in Wind
Peter: Middle Buffalo, then Leaping Lizard (Peter rejects both)
Jan: Dove of the Morning Light
Bobby: Little Bear Who Loses Way
Cindy: Wandering Blossom
Alice: Sq--- in Waiting

and to return to a slightly modified theme song etched into americana consciousness, "that's the way they became the brady [braves]."