Some context:

I’m pretty laidback, my voice is deep monotone (relevant according to peers), and I’m not always the neatest. I am also a student at a PWI in an area with a little exposure to us.

A bit ago I applied to a fast food job referred by a friend which I did not receive for a pretty particular reason as is revealed by the title.

According to my friend (non-indig), this is entirely to do with my presentation given I did have pretty stale braids in and I was 3 minutes late. However, I think its plausible that some things I discussed in the interview may have had a sway in what the GM said.

Like I was asked about what I do outside of my classes to which I replied I am in elected positions for the Native Cultural organization on our campus as well as heavily involved in service including seed-saving for tribes, language revitalization, and why they are important.

It is generally my real-lived experience that people do internalize stereotypes that anything to do with any indigenous culture, especially if relationship to land is brought up, is just tree-hugging hippie bullshit (especially given but not solely due to cultural appropriation by “hippies”)

My friend believes that since the GM did not explicitly say it, it must not be the case that what I discussed had anything to do with it. I think though that if the GM had said that then it would lowkey be a fucking crime so like ofc they wouldn’t admit it and that they don’t even have to be conscious of it for it to be a thing. Furthermore, if it was solely about my presentation and punctuality it just seems that unprofessional or sloppy would make a lot more sense.

I want to disclaim that I don’t think the GM is some monster nor is it the case that my friend is a terribly ignorant person. Furthermore, it sucks i didnt get the job, but in general I am not passionately disheartened by not being hired or the comment itself, I just have my reading of why she said it to which my friend was upset I suggested such a thing.

I worry now I could be reading too much into it, please let me know if I’m being unreasonable. This disagreement has driven a wedge in our relationship.

The first tribal nation in the U.S. to sue opioid manufacturers, Cherokee Nation is using settlement money to build a culturally competent healthcare system for people struggling with addiction, including a new treatment center opening next year.

Hi all,

I am panicking and needing some insight from members who also bead.

Basically, my dad is graduating from college in two weeks, he’s a grandfather already, so many roadblocks in his life to access education, I’m so proud of him and (yes crying now) problem is, he didn’t tell me the grad date until today and that he already did everything on his own/has tickets/whatever.

I lost track of time because, just life/work being crazy, and realized I will definitely not have time to bead his grad hat.

So question, I have only been beading seriously for 5 years, have done lots of types of work, earrings, ropes/lanyards, small medallions, popsockets, , edgings of bags with some small flat work designs (non leather), edgings of leather bags, hats edging, etc.

With that said, can I finish a largish medallion in two weeks? Is this a plan for disaster? I am intimidated, but also feeling determined?

Also my dad is a pretty big person so rope will have to be longer than usual and I want it to be peyote x-x

Thank you in advance for any of your insights.
Also trying to be realistic and will have to accept if this is just too crazy to work out.

UPDATE: Thank you everyone for all of your help!
I was actually having an anxiety attack due to stress when I posted, but am feeling better and have a game plan now.
I’m gonna do a feather and see if I have time to do just an edge on the cap with coordinating colors.
Thank you for all the good ideas! Gonna keep these in mind for the future.

Ive seen fair critiques of the movie, such as the white savior trope (which the 1st movie did fall heavy on) and that comes from critiques and fans alike. And, James Cameron has made insane and dehumanizing comments (one that comes to mind was his quote of. "If the Lakota knew the future, maybe they would've fought harder". I have no idea if he's done any amends for that and I will not be defending him). But I've seen a segment of a Native American podcast talking about how they feel of the movies and they were pretty fair in judgment. And it made me ask the question "Is it better to keep the topic of Na'vi as it's own fictional idea. Rather than advocate 'Well they were inspired by this group of people' or, is the latter more offensive?

I can see the argument for appropriation because it does bastardize a lot of real native context. But if you were to take the Na'vi and their premise out of context to that fictional world, it sounds way worse than it is. Because there is a lot of made up aspects of the Na'vi that isn't centered around the cultures there based on. Like, if I were to describe this in this way:

"The main character is put into the skin of one of the natives and learns to live like them". You'd think I was describing some insane body horror. But if I kept it in the context of:

"The main character is put in a machine that can transfer his consciousness via a mental link into a lab grown body meant to replicate the natives and learns their ways of life." That's still a crazy premise, but unlike the first one, it's a lot less horrifying and a lot more "How does that work?"

What I mean is, a lot of aspects in these movies are somewhat based in reality, but it is not something that could make sense/work in reality. Just like the premise of the Na'vi is inspired by real cultures, but it is NOTHING like the real cultures and will never be. So if we can separate the science and logic of it as "this only exists in the movies context" should we advocate more for saying,

"This film is not representation to any culture. It's just a fantasy that takes some surface level notes" ? Or does that fall under Appropriation?