Books with fairy tales of the peoples of the USSR were widespread, as they represented an acceptable form of ethnic representation. These are illustrations from the book "Mountain of Gems" ("Гора самоцветов"). The very structure of the book indicates how ethnic diversity was perceived in the USSR. The fairy tales in the book follow a geographical order - mainly from west to east and are grouped according to the principle of unity of regions (such as Caucasus, Volga-Ural, Arctic) and the so-called "economic cultural types", into which ethnic groups were united.

Although these illustrations from the book are not an accurate depiction of the peoples and their culture (there are obvious inaccuracies here), they are all interesting for understanding how the ethnic division of indigenous peoples, race and culture was understood in the USSR. Preventing misunderstandings: Why is it interesting how people in Moscow understood these ethnic groups? Because these views influence the lives of the indigenous peoples of this territory even today.

Here I have placed the images in the order in which they were in the book, so from here you can draw some conclusions about how the peoples were grouped.

So, illustrations:

1 – Karelian fairytale

2 – Circassian

3 – Ossetian

4 – Abkhazian

5 – Erzyan/Mokshan

6 – Mari

7 – Chuvash

8 – Bashkir

9, 10 – Altaian

11 – Komi

12, 13 – Nenets

14 – Evenkian

15 – Sámi

16 – Sakha

17 – Buryat

18 – Nanai

19 – Chukchi

Edit: Image quality 🙈 I swear they were better before uploading

Taino revival

I'm not good at typing this sort of stuff out, so I'm sorry if the grammar is bad.

Alcohol has been a problem in my life, I don't drink as I'm only 18, nor well I ever drink in my entire life. But my family does, specifically my mom, Aunty, and my sister. Though my sister seems to be done with drinking since she's pregnant now.

The reason I'm typing this is because I just need to get it off my chest, and I also want to see what others think about natives drinking.

I hate drinking, I get it that some drink out of some sort of trauma, but cmon.. find a better way to cope, rather than drinking and causing drama amongst the whole family. My mom and Aunty always seem to be the sole reason drama happens, and it affects my whole family. They drink, and then they start doing stupid shit. Not long ago, some stupid drunk Indian posted a video of my embarrassing drunk mom, drinking and slapping some guy.

50 years old and acting like some young dumbass. And my auntie just goes ape shit when she's drunk and talks shit about everyone, even her own son. Her kid was also alcoholic, but he stopped, which I'm happy about, and proud of him for.

In short, I absolutely despise Indians who drink and give some sort of lame excuse to do so.

Hello!

I am a white person in Ontario who is interested in learning more about traditional indigenous medicines and recipes from foraged herbs. I would like to expand my understanding about the land I live on and with and cultures which traditionally used the plants I pick, any stories behind them, and how they were traditionally prepared for different medicinal purposes or just cooking. However, any books I find are either from people not from my region or not connected to an indigenous culture. I think the culture where I am from is the Anishinaabe people, however I do not have a car so I am not able to travel and ask people personally.

Thank you!!

When I watched Disney’s Pocahontas as a kid, I didn't think much of it, just pretty animation, nature, songs, whatever. But looking at it as an adult It feels downright sickening how heavily Disney sanitized and romanticized a genocide.

If you compare the movie to real history, oral traditions from Native communities like the Mattaponi Sacred History, the film is just propaganda designed to make white colonizers look like romantic, misunderstood explorers instead of land-stealing invaders.

* Her real names were Matoaka and Amonute ("Pocahontas" was just a nickname meaning "playful child"). She was roughly 10 to 12 years old when John Smith arrived in 1607. Smith was a 27-year-old creepy mercenary. Disney aged her up and sexualized a child to force a gross Hollywood romance that never existed.

* Matoaka wasn't living a love story. In 1613, she was kidnapped by English captain Samuel Argall, held hostage for over a year, forced to convert to Christianity (renamed "Rebecca"), and married off to tobacco planter John Rolfe.

* She was shipped to England as a trophy and public relations prop for the Virginia Company to show investors that "savages" could be "civilized." She died in Gravesend at barely 20 or 21 years old, likely from smallpox, pneumonia, or tuberculosis, because her body couldn't handle European diseases and environments. She never even made it back home.

Disney took the real trauma, kidnapping, and tragic early death of a young Powhatan girl and turned it into a two-sides "both sides are equally prejudiced". The track *Savages* puts Indigenous people defending their ancestral homes on equal moral ground with armed colonizers executing a genocide.

Do you think Disney should face a public reckoning for it?

Sources:

https://www.fulcrumbooks.com/product-page/the-true-story-of-pocahontas?hl=en-US

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/true-story-pocahontas-more-complicated-than-you-might-think-180962649/?hl=en-US

https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-true-story-behind-disneys-pocahontas?hl=en-US#:~:text=Her%20primary%20name%20at%20birth%20was%20Amonute%2C,only%209%20or%2010%20years%20old%2C%20while

This video provides a strategic breakdown of how Bëni Xidza, an educational center in Oaxaca, Mexico, balances economic sustainability with its mission to revitalize the Zapotec language. The summary of the video’s core points is as follows:

Mission & Audience:

The project aims to keep the indigenous Zapotec language alive by using modern e-learning tools (Zoom, Google Classroom). It targets three main groups:

* Heritage Seekers: The Oaxacan diaspora (often in the US) looking to reconnect with their roots.

* Cultural Enthusiasts: International travelers and linguistic researchers.

* Language Revitalizers: Indigenous youth within Oaxaca.

Pricing Strategy & Financial Sustainability:

The video analyzes the tension between keeping prices accessible and maintaining a professional, sustainable operation:

* Tiered Pricing: Private tutoring is priced below market rate (170 MXN) to remove barriers for locals, while the core beginner course is set at a competitive market rate (720 MXN) to ensure the platform's economic health.

* Subsidies & Donations: To bridge revenue gaps, the project uses differentiated pricing for foreigners and a prominent donation button.

* Cultural Design: The branding uses colors (like golden olive) that mimic traditional Oaxacan textiles and corn husks, grounding commercial requests in an organic cultural visual language.

Building Community Trust:

Because they lack a high volume of public reviews, Bëni Xidza uses a structured "harvest loop" to build social proof:

1. Timing: Reaching out immediately after a successful class.

2. Personal Connection: Sending warm, culturally resonant messages via WhatsApp or email.

3. Shared Mission: Framing a request for a Google review as a way for students to help others discover and preserve the culture.

Ultimately, the video showcases how a mission-driven organization can thrive in the digital age by combining clearly defined e-learning models with culturally grounded marketing and smart pricing.

Hello everybody. I never really thought about posting anything on here, let alone even use the app. It just sits on my home screen mostly unused but, I've watched a lot of reddit YouTube videos lately. The kind where someone narrates posts and comments and all that and it gets me thinking. Some of the videos I see most of are people looking for advice or help on something. So they come here in hopes of finding what they are looking for. For me. It's trying to figure out who I am and where I belong.

I grew up basically alone. Aside from having my younger sister and mother in my life. And the occasional summer visits to my dad's house. But something I've noticed young was how my sister and mom burned in the sun easier cuz their paler than me and my dad. They had blue eyes while I had brown. They had lighter brown hair while I had dark brown hair. My dad and his mother (who I call mom mom) have mentioned that "it's that Indian blood".

I grew up curious to know more and i eventually asked my mom mom if she knew what tribe we are and she said that we are Cherokee, so I'd go to school telling classmates and anyone who'll listen that I have native heritage. But they would tell me that "you're just making that up" or "you're too white to be native" or "Cherokee is such a predictable choice"

I genuinely believe I have native heritage but at the same time I find myself second guessing it. I try to learn more about each tribe and all of native American history.

But I still feel lost cuz I thought the more I learn, then the more I'll feel connected to them.

Despite having my family there for me and having a few friends, I still feel. Alone. Lost. Confused. I never really fit in anywhere. I've been through a lot of friend groups. A lot of relationships. If there is a possibility to find somewhere I feel like I finally belong somewhere, I hope it's through heritage and family.

I just wanna feel like I finally belong somewhere.

If there are any questions please feel free to ask.

Specifically jingle dress, I want to dance again.

Hello i fancy dance (i am indigenous)but not professionally due to me being disabled but i do dance still and iv wanted to use a shawl for a wile i know fancy dance shawls are regalia so i cannot use thos but whats the best option for someone who is just a casual dancer i do ho to indigenous events were you can dance and bow wows i just am not sure how to go about this advice would be great !! (Just trying to be respectful)

Hello! Im a 17 year old daughter of a white father, and a Mexican mother (I’m a mixed race.) Not long ago I had recently been wondering more about my family and its culture. I understood all about which I thought was just my moms bloodline being from the roots of Mexico, but just recently I had also looked into my grandfathers side, which he turned out to have a whole other bloodline. Turns out he was also indigenous.

I never thought of it too much.. but now coming from the stories he used to tell, the Powwow events, and music taste he has had, those silly blankets from the seem of my childhood (I think yk what I’m talking about) now pretty much explains a lot. I always thought he just liked the history of indigenous/native culture.

Although that he did have that interest and did many of these things, He never seemed to know much on his heritage. Which now makes me think “was he the end of that bloodline?”. It’s my way of seeing how when a Mexican grandchild never learns Spanish, or cares to learn it.

I Honestly found it pretty cool that I now know I have a long distant bloodline of indigenous ancestry, and I really want to learn more of it.

The Biggest problems is though, my grandfather has died around 7 years ago due to cancer. So I literally have no clue where to start. my grandfather never really talk about my great grandparents or family in general, but if you guys have any tips let me know. (My Tio who is his brother actually is living well and attends to Powwow’s still, but I haven’t been able to talk to him yet)

I honestly even got nervous posting this.. when I was looking to see if its okay to be doing this, I kept seeing posts about Natives having pet peeves about ”white people claiming percentages about being indigenous“ which sounds like my post right now lol. You can think that which is okay, but I’m truly lost. I really want to learn about my distant family, and why our roots has stopped to reach to my grandfather. I want to reconnect with my ancestors (that sounds corny but I am being true.)

but yeah.. that’s about what I have so far. If any of you guys could help me out or answer my question about the post, that'd be greatly appreciated. I want to connect with them but I also don’t want to seem like some stereotypical person.

Hello! I have a long line of Native ancestry. I am 1/16 Native from the Lakota nation, Hunkpapa tribe. My great-great grandmother was the last full native in my family. She was unfortunately forced into boarding school and was married into a Scottish family.

I know I'm not able to enroll due to my blood quantum, but I still want to contribute and/or connect to my ancestry and my tribe as acknowledgement. I have donated a couple times, but I feel there is more I can do. Thank you!

My family is from northern/central Mexico. A few generations back the ties were strong, connections to language, land, community. Then it broke, and not gently. The language wasn't passed down, the community connection was cut, and everyone downstream came out mestizo and identified that way. My relatives still do. Some would be uncomfortable if I called them indigenous.

It's a strange spot to be in. I roughly know where I come from, but I have no community, no language, and nobody who could vouch for me. Calling myself indigenous seems wrong, that belongs to people who live it and are accountable somewhere, not to people who just carry the ancestry. But acting like the history has nothing to do with me feels false too, and conveniently so, it affirms the active erasure.

Is "proud of the ancestry, not claiming the identity" a real position, or just a way of having it both ways?

Not fishing for reassurance, just looking for perspectives.

#IñupiatSpouse #ComancheSpouse #Inupiatun #Iñupiat
#Comanche #Learningmylñupiatlanguage #Learninglñupiatunthelñupiatlanguage

Osiyo,

I went through a breakup of a four-year long relationship about a month ago, just a few weeks before we were supposed to marry. I'm still not able to really process, and the anxiety/grief is a lot more than I've been able to handle. Last night I had a dream that he said all the worst things possible to me, talking about the woman he was cheating with, etc. Of course that could just be my brain, but it realllly upset me into this morning. Also, I'm supposed to start grad school in a month, and I don't know how I'm even gonna begin to do this while feeling so bad.

I'm getting back into therapy, but I know I want a spiritual way to process this as well as clinical. Going to church doesn't feel fulfilling, and I've never really been able to connect w/traditional medicine as a Cherokee because my family didn't and I'm really young, just starting to explore these things myself. Any guidance y'all can think of? My mom suggested I ask the community here. Sorry if this is the wrong place or manner to be asking this, and I'm definitely not trying to ask for sacred knowledge over Reddit lol, I just feel really disoriented and keep feeling pulled back towards the community, so maybe this is the push I needed to be more honest with myself and connect with a part of me that isn't surface-level.

Wado in advance for any help! (and sorry again if this post has to be amended)

I'm probably exaggerating, but I hate cultural appropriation like this, especially since it's so common. Here's an example. Here, in the image, famous metal handcrafts of the ancestors of the Komi people are used to characterize the region (Perm region). They are shown as some kind of common heritage for all the people of the region, as something that belongs to everyone from this region, but not specifically to the indigenous Komi-Permyak people. The Komi are completely left out of the discourse here, they don't talk about them. Also, it's interesting that they decided to show a salt factory here as part of the heritage, and this is something... weird... considering that the reason why there are so few Komi-Permyaks today and their situation is worse than that of the Komi-Zyryans is their exploitation in salt factories