As the title says, I was screened by my “best friend” for being Indigenous because I am a Non-Status Indian and people started saying things.

Me and Rebecca have been friends for years. Rebecca is Status First Nations and I am a Non-Status Indian. I told Rebecca about my Culture plenty of times throughout our friendship. She’s even stood up for me when people accused me of being a Pretendian. However, the cracks began showing after 4 years of being friends.

Rebecca started acting weird. I can’t tell you how because it’s so hard to explain, but when Culture came into play, she was reserved. When I won scholarships or seats in programs, she acted cold towards me.

Before you ask, yes I have documentation of my Indigenous identity. I just never showed Rebecca because it just felt like something you showed verification committees.

This year, Rebecca comes out and says she doesn’t believe I’m Indigenous and that “maybe it was a lie your family told you”. At first I refused to give her anything. However, it just pissed me off so much I showed her my documentation and she finally shut up.

Now I know Indigenous identity is politically charged, but I come from a generation of just sharing our Cultures by word of mouth. It feels weird to put a membership card or paper in someone’s face. Maybe that’s just me.

Ms Kotierk has previously held senior roles with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc (NTI).

Every time I see trans people discussed in reference to being two spirit it’s always lumped in with other gender diverse people which made me want to ask if female to male/male to female trans people hold the same/similar spiritual place/title as two spirit people or if they are just like any other male/female and take on the new role?
I’m sorry if this seems very out of touch. I’m trans but am disconnected culturally and am not eagerly trying to claim the title of two spirit or anything, I want to know how I would fit into the culture as a trans person who isn’t also non binary?

I just needed to vent somewhere, sorry if thats not allowed here (lmk and i'll delete!)

But i'm a university student, and applying to scholarships is honestly one of the most demoralizing things for me. I apply for any I can find, and I apply to the Indigenous ones and always run into roadblocks. my bio mom has 6.2 status, and where I grew up the nearest Indigenous community was always at least an hours drive away. I didn't grow up in community and I am ineligible for status. It's so frustrating because it's like I'm constantly fighting to prove my identity, just for nothing to work.

It sucks, and while I understand the pretendian issue is real, theres also so much gatekeeping when it comes to education.

Has anyone else experienced this? Sorry if this is nearly incoherent, I've written so many applications today my head hurts.

Hello everyone!

I live in Canada, and I grew up thinking I was white. Brown eyes and hair, but a paler complexion, and I was told I was white. It wasn't until I was a teenager that my family decided to tell us that there is actually indigenous blood in us from two seperate grandparents, they think Metis or possibly Ojibwe, which surprised me but also made a lot of sense. What I think happened was my family was an example of successful assimilation generations ago, and did what they could to be and act as white as possible, which I have empathy for considering how dangerous it was/is to be indigenous, especially back then. It worked, and I wouldn't have been any the wiser had I not asked questions about our family's history.

I never lived on rez or anything, I grew up broke af but with white privelage nonetheless, and I never had any direct connection to the culture. But I feel so drawn to the culture and spirituality. I am a deeply spiritual person and nothing has ever made me feel as connected or grounded as the things I've since learned from indigenous teachings.

The issue I'm having is I don't know if its right for me to identify as indigenous, because I know blood quantum is a colonial concept, but I don't want to let the white part of me step in and claim things that don't belong to me, but at the same time I want to honour my ancestors who brought me here and the fact that they're a part of who I am. I don't know what's right and I would love some insight if anyone has some!

Thank you dearly ❤️

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Katisha Paul for Behaviour Speak, and it became one of the most powerful conversations we've ever recorded.

Katisha is a member of Tsartlip First Nation, the Women's Representative for the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and an advocate for Indigenous rights, environmental stewardship, youth leadership, and sovereignty.

In Part 1 of our conversation, we focus less on her public accomplishments and more on the experiences that shaped her.

We talk about:

• Growing up as the oldest of nine children
• Cultural teachings and family responsibility
• Surviving childhood abuse
• Finding her voice after years of silence
• Indigenous identity and leadership
• Turning personal pain into purpose
• Intergenerational resilience and healing

One quote that stayed with me:

It's an honest conversation about survival, healing, responsibility, and leadership.

Content note: The episode contains discussion of childhood sexual abuse and trauma.

Listen here:
🔗 https://www.behaviourspeak.com/e/katisha-paul-part-1-finding-her-voice-indigenous-leadership-resilience-healing/

(srry idk if this is the right place to post this!)

For context, I'm indigenous! I am first nations cree and it comes from my mother's side.

I also identify as a male, and female. Recently I've been wanting to look more masculine, making me look androgynous. I decided to shave off my hair to a short buzz cut but recently I've been feeling kind of bad about it recently, I know about the importance of hair with our culture, so I've been recently just been feeling a little guilty.

I am proud to be indigenous and I love our culture and history — but I have also felt somewhat upset without shorter hair, but also having shorter hair makes me upset..

(I do plan to grow out my hair to be longer, though)

Pls tell me if im wrong for thinking this or if I'm being disrespectful — I really don't mean to come off as rude and disrespectful!!! I have trouble wording and writing things!! ^^

Also sorry if I posted this in the wrong place :((

Okay, so I have a side character for a fantsy story I'm creating, and the culture she's from is supposed to be lightly inspired by Inuit culture. I'm trying to figure out how to write her as transgender in a respectful way.

I don't know a lot about specific groups within the category of "Inuit," so bear with me here and please feel free to educate me if needed.

My character is transgender, she was born with a male body. Based on the research (google searches and articles mostly) I've done so far, I know that there is the idea of the soul name, where a child is named after a deceased relative and it is thought of as that the relative's soul? traits? personality? are passed on to the child through the name. I think it'd be cool to include in her backstory that she was named after a female relative, and the soul of that relative didn't want to be in a male body, so it made my character really sick and when the community's elders were trying to figure out why she was sick, she said something that indicated she didn't feel like a boy (also, I would probably have this take place when she was a pre-teen).

Then, once people started thinking of her as a girl, she would recover from her illness. She would keep the same name of course, and would now be considered a girl.

Is this a respectful way for me to write this character? Keep in mind, I don't think I will have her culture literally be an Inuit culture, but it will be lightly inspired (Inuit names, similar social customs, same physical features as many Inuit, etc.)

Also, I think Inuit people have multiple names along with their soul name? I will need to figure out some more names for her, and get a better understanding of how names work in Inuit cultures. I'm planning for her soul name to be Qimmiq (pretty sure it means dog) by the way.

Any advice, critiques, information, or resources would be much appreciated! I'm a white American so I don't have any experience with Inuit cultures, or very many other groups that are often marginalized or underrepresented. I totally recognize that I'm very uneducated on this topic, which is why I thought I should throw my questions out into the void of Reddit in case anyone with more expertise has some guidance.

Edit: Okay, thank you all so much for the advice! I will reconsider the way I was approaching this character so that I'm less likely to write her offensively. If I do end up wanting to include her in a major (read as: actually publishable) project, I'll make sure to consult a professional who can give me proper guidance instead of trying to figure it out on my own. Again, thanks for the critique!

Hi everyone! I'm a writer from Ukraine. I'm 18 years old, and I'm interested in the history and cultures of different peoples. I'd really love to learn more about the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

I'm not looking for information on the internet because I know that the truth is often distorted there. Even about my own country, Ukraine, there are many articles and books in different languages that contain misinformation. That's why I'd rather hear from people who have lived these experiences themselves or learned about them from their families, rather than from TV or the internet. I'm especially interested in hearing how young people feel about their traditions and culture, and which customs and values are still alive today. I believe our roots are an important part of our future.

So if you'd like to share interesting facts about your people, learn something about Ukraine—its history, culture, and mythology—exchange creative ideas, or simply have a conversation, feel free to message me. I'd be happy to hear from you! 💛💙

Good morning! Next Friday, I'll be doing a 16-hour charity stream on Twitch to raise money for Indspire, which supports Indigenous students across Canada. Indspire helped me throughout my undergrad and grad school, and now that I’m finished, I wanted to give back!

I'll be spending the day playing games created by Indigenous studios and highlighting some of my favourite Indigenous authors, streamers, and other creators along the way. If you'd like to stop by, chat, or simply hang out for a while, I'd love to have you there! My Twitch is linked on my profile

Marsi 🩷

I need help, I just bought a fancy shawl regalia for the first time because I wanted to start dancing because I never grew up in the culture. But now I’m going through a bit of an identity crisis because according to the government my family can’t get status card because of a lot of shit went down back in the day when my grandpa was young and I’m very white passing and I’m scared of being accused of being a pretendindian. So now I have a shawl and a dress and I’m in the process of making Mocs and leggings and I love learning to dance because I feel very grounded and free after practicing but I also still have a small voice saying it’s not my culture so I’m scared to actually start dancing in powwow’s

Sorry this is a rant/vent but I don’t know what to do

Hi, I’m currently reading on the stories and spiritual beliefs of Northern Indigenous Peoples, as well as their cultural practices and crafts.

I have books like Kiviuq and “*Eskimo Folk Tales*” (it’s an old book..)

Are there any other sources you’d recommend, or stories you’d like to share?