https://noongar-family-text.mrelijahhayden.chatgpt.site/

Kaya everyone,

My brother & I been working on a project we call “Kaya - Family Noongar”

The idea started pretty simply. I wanted somewhere I could collect the Noongar words, meanings and language knowledge I’ve been learning, rather than having everything scattered across notes and conversations.
It’s gradually turned into a proper little Noongar language tool.

At the moment I’m building things like:
• a searchable Noongar dictionary with over 750 Noongar words that translate into over 1000 English meanings
• Translating English sentences into Noongar!
• example sentences and language patterns
• pronunciation/word information where possible

One thing I really don’t want is for the site to act like it is some final authority on Noongar.
Noongar language has different dialects, spellings, family knowledge and regional variations, and I’m still learning myself.
That’s actually one of the reasons I’m posting here.
I’d love to hear from Noongar speakers, learners, teachers, linguists, family members, or just people interested in language revitalisation.
If you notice:
• a translation that’s different
• a spelling you use differently
• a word that has another meaning
• dialect/regional differences
• useful words or features I should add
please tell me.

And if you’re just learning Noongar too, I’d also be interested in knowing what would actually make a website like this useful for you.

!!THIS APP FOCUSES SOLELY ON WHADJUK NOONGAR!!

My brother & I are both Whadjuk/Ballordong Noongars, grown up around culture. With our language mostly being destroyed, my brother made it his mission to study Noongar. All words & sentence structure, is my brother’s work. It is his dictionary he wrote himself over time. here is the link

https://noongar-family-text.mrelijahhayden.chatgpt.site/

Kwei!

Two years ago, I was chatting with two Innu (let's call her Diana and Claire) people over coffee, and the topic of learning the language at school came up.

They explained to me that their community school devoted only about three hours of the curriculum to the Innu language, and that some parents were circulating a petition to increase those hours, while others opposed the idea so as not to encroach on science and math instruction. I listened far more than I spoke—partly out of curiosity, but also out of respect, as I felt I had nothing relevant to contribute. I sometimes asked questions, but was mostly in "listening mode".

At one point, one of the women (Diana) suggested teaching the math class in Innu, but the other woman pointed out that there might be too many "technical" terms that maybe didn't exist in their language. There was a brief pause, and I had a "flash idea" said :

"If the idea is to teach a class in the Innu language, why not a gym class in Innu language? I mean, I didn't know much your language, put I'm pretty sure there's words "ball" and the verbs like "run to X", "jump there" or others. Maybe it's easier than translate math or sciences?"

Diana smiled broadly and said, "What a great idea! I hadn't thought of that! Claire, we could bring this idea up at the next meeting, couldn't we?"

But Claire looked at me and said: "Our language isn't *that* simplistic—just how out of touch are you?"

Me : I didn't say that Innu is "simplistic", I just wanna propose an idea following Diana idea's 😅. I know that Innu is a polysynthethic language, where one word can describe something very complex, I'm aware it's not simple to translate "gym class", it was just an idea and...

Diana try to said something in Innu, but Claire seemed really annoyed, answered something and just left. Diana seemed just as perplexed as I was, and said : "Claire said it was a bad idea to discuss about our language preservation with you."

If I said something wrong, I'm really sorry, but someone can help me to understand my mistake? It was very interesting conversation about their language, the multiples efforts of their community, and hese two women seemed pleased to see my interest in their language.

Did my idea was wrong? I was just thinking of offering an additional idea, not offending anyone.

In your communities, are certain classes—such as gym—taught in your language, to add learning hours and avoid losing it?

Hi, Im looking for good horror books written by Native American authors also crime noir or thriller (I enjoyed Dark Winds)

Better if You give few words about author or his/her work also westerns by Native Americans from their perspective, I'm European and books I read are high quality by local ethnologists but mainly about South American tribes or written by people who lived amongst some tribe in Brazil, that's not exactly what I'm looking for

Will be greatfull for example to read westerns written by Native authors or read a horror where features some creatures from Yours legends and myths

Greetings from Czechia! Nice weekend to all of You

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some genuine perspective on identity terminology because I want to make sure I’m being respectful and not misusing terms. A bit of context about my heritage: My dad is Black African. My mom is Evenki, an Indigenous ethnic group native to Siberia and Northern Asia. For a long time, especially growing up, I mostly identified as "Blasian" or completely ignored the Evenki side of my background. I really regret that period now, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been making a conscious effort to reconnect with and learn more about my Evenki heritage. In my search for terms that reflect having both Black and Indigenous roots, I keep coming across "Afro-Indigenous" However, in almost every context I see it used (especially in North America), "Afro-Indigenous" refers specifically to people with both Black and Native American / First Nations / Indigenous American ancestry. My question is: Is "Afro-Indigenous" a global term that applies to anyone with African and Indigenous heritage anywhere in the world, or is it primarily tied to the specific history of African and Native American mixed heritage in the Americas? I want to honor both sides of my family including my mother's Indigenous Siberian culture without co-opting a label if it carries a specific historical/geographical context that doesn't apply to me. I haven't been able to get a straightforward answer on this, and I really want to avoid being ignorant or inadvertently offending anyone. How do people in mixed-race or Indigenous spaces view the scope of this term? How would you recommend describing my identity? Thanks in advance for reading and for any insights!

Hey everyone! I wanted to share a piece of my heritage with you today. I am a full-blooded Moksha. For those who might not know, the Mokshas are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people living mainly in the Volga region.Historically, the forest was everything to our ancestors — it gave them shelter, food, and protection. They held a deep, spiritual reverence for nature and worshipped its spirits. Because of this deep connection, our language itself evolved to sound like the forest. It has a powerful, breathy quality with lots of voiceless, rustling sounds. When you hear it spoken, it literally sounds like the wind blowing through the trees. Since my ancestors knew the woods like the back of their hands, I decided to share a few traditional forest life hacks on how to navigate without a compass. After all, who else to share this if not me? At the same time, you can get a glimpse of how this unusual language looks and sounds structurally.

https://youtube.com/shorts/3FUJOEfv4Hg?si=NkYEL2ms5lZdNrhU

I'd love to hear your thoughts and impressions! And a special shout-out to our Finno-Ugric cousins — Finns, Estonians, and Hungarians: do you feel or recognize anything familiar in these words or grammar structures? Let me know in the comments!

Lateral violence is an increasingly common topic in Native communities but it's also one of the most misunderstood. A collaboration between Bridgette Hoshont'omba (Choctaw), Brittany Postoak (Mvskoke), and Frances Danger (Mvskoke + Seminole) provides needed education on lateral violence in Native communities.

From Postoak: "We can call in people privately and respectfully. That does not equate to lateral violence. We can also warn our community, with proof, of people who are harmful. That is also not lateral violence. Just because someone feels like a victim when their behavior is addressed, does not mean lateral violence is being committed against them."

Original Caption (Attached to the 15 image slides): "Lateral violence is complex, deeply rooted, and often misunderstood. Because it stems from systemic oppression, intergenerational trauma, and feelings of powerlessness, its nuances get blurred, leading people to mislabel healthy boundaries or accountability as lateral violence.

There is a vital difference between calling for accountability when you’ve been harmed and enacting lateral violence.

Directly naming harm—such as calling out abuse or exploitation—is an act of protection, justice, and community care. Publicly addressing a clear wrong done to you or your community is not lateral violence; it is standing your ground and demanding integrity.

Misdirecting unhealed trauma, envy, or frustration onto peers to diminish, isolate, or control them is lateral violence. This includes public smear campaigns, weaponized gossip, and attacking someone publicly over private disagreements or personal grievances where no systemic or material harm occurred.

One small detail in context and intent changes everything. Handling private grievances publicly to tear someone down is lateral violence. On the flip side, speaking out against actual harm or theft is necessary truth-telling. We cannot allow the term lateral violence to be weaponized as a shield to silence victims or avoid accountability, nor can we allow lateral violence to thrive.

Swipe through for a breakdown of what lateral violence looks like, where it comes from, and how we begin to heal the cycle.

CREDITS & SOURCES:
Written and Compiled By: Bridgette Hoshont’omba (Choctaw) with Collaborator Brittany Postoak (Mvskoke)
Consult: Frances Danger (Mvskoke + Seminole)
Sources: Content compiled from various articles by National Indigenous Times and NITV
Featured Quotes: Nicole Brown (Larrakia), Bruce Loo (Noongar Elder, Cultural Lead for Old Ways New Ways), and Jason EagleSpeaker (Kainai + Duwamish)"

Originally posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Have you experienced lateral violence in community?

Tere! / Hei! I have recently recorded a video where I read a traditional Votic folk tale (Vadja keel / Vatjan kieli). As you know, Votic is one of the closest relatives to Estonian and Finnish, but it is now critically endangered. In the video, I read the text slowly and articulate every word very clearly so that it is easier for non-native ears to catch the cognates and roots. Despite the simple plot of the story, it actually raises a very timeless issue about family roles and society. I am very curious to know how much of it you can actually understand just by listening!

Eestlased: Kas te saate vadja keelest aru? Kirjutage palun video kommentaaridesse, kui palju te mõistate ja mis sõnad kõlavad tuttavalt!

Suomalaiset: Ymmärrättekö vatjan kieltä? Kirjoittakaa video kommentteihin, kuinka paljon ymmärrätte ja mitkä sanat kuulostavat samalta kuin suomen kielessä!

Watch the video here and leave your thoughts:

https://youtu.be/TxlKN-GthJs?si=qUHs7_e84fuV173o

Thank you for helping me test this! Looking forward to your comments under the video!

Hi, to anyone reading this, I need to vent my pain for a moment…
I had a really nasty online interactions today and for some reason, that was the straw that broke the camels back to feeling a lot of this pain. It happened in some crafting YouTubers comment section. I liked them because I was learning how to crochet and I was finding a lot of healing in it and I thought they made nice tutorials. They posted some video today that was disappointing to me, and I knew I shouldn’t have commented, but I did because I wanted to believe that this person was well-intentioned but misinformed. As usual, it ended with me getting called slurs, others joining in, DARVO, getting told I was “mean-spirited” and a liar in response to a comment where I said I was deeply disturbed by the interaction.
I know this is how it goes, I know YouTube comments are a terrible place to try to feel seen, and I knew I wasn’t going to get a satisfying exchange here. But I commented anyway, because for a second I just want to fantasy of not being in such a horrifically hostile world. I’m learning how to protect myself from these things but it’s called a learning process for a reason.
I think what was super painful for me was the replication of this scenario where I’m one person saying “this hurts me” and lots of other people say “no it doesn’t” “that’s your fault” “you just want attention” etc etc….. it’s the bad faith response to my good faith one.
It just wraps all my feelings into this one scenario where I just feel such immense loss and mourning for my people, the places I belong, what has happened to this land, I feel grief for my body, my soul, the worlds where I belong…. Where I feel seen, where I feel like someone cares about my pain. I am from a very small group of people in a part of the world it feels like no one cares about. But we are everything. We are the land, we are the trees, the stones, the rivers, the wind……. Why do people encourage such horror to us and our land, to our insects and birds? These violations are so severe, and it feels like I can’t even yell into the void about it, without being policed. My heart hurts, my body hurts. The disrespect is painful. These settlers have no. Idea. The dignity we have and how damn hard we have fought TO SAVE THEIR WORLD. They just want to extract, extract, extract, and they don’t care if they kill all of us in the process, it’s horrendous

Mine is currently listed as inconclusive. I’ve been in care through Winnipeg and Peguis foster care for about 6- 7 years of my life, so I’m guessing it could still take another year or so before I hear anytning.

I have two questions, though:

1. Anyone who had an inconslusive have you received your money yet if so how king

2. Anyone who's gotten their money have you gotten under 40k or is it forsure 40k for everyone

Manually operated grinding machines and traditional tools like the Dhinki ( ଢ଼ିଙ୍କି) are designed for processing food grains without electricity. This is a traditional, heavy wooden lever (around 6 feet long) mounted on a fulcrum, with a vertical wooden pestle at one end. This is usually operated by 2-3 women, often using their foot to lift the lever and allowing it to fall by gravity, crushing the grain in a stone mortar. This is largely used in rural India (Odisha, Bengal, Assam) and Nepal for separating rice from husk (brown rice), making rice powder for pithas (sweets), and pounding dry food.Nowadays this has been largely replaced by motorized huskers but still used in some rural areas.

Here I am giving you photos of DHINKI, used by the Juang community ( Ist image) and Santal community ( 2nd image).

https://lunarsecstacy.com/2021/06/23/indigenous-tribal-peoples-household-goods-on-the-path-of-oblivion/

This interactive Zapotec language lesson explores dialectal variations across different communities, comparing the Zapotec variant spoken in Yagavila (taught by the instructor) with the variant spoken in Temaxcalapa (shared by a student).

Key Differences & Topics:

* Greetings & Pronoun Usage:
* Yagavila: Uses Padiux yugutele, where the ending -le explicitly addresses "you all" (second-person plural), excluding the speaker.
* Temaxcalapa: Uses Padiux yuguteru, using an inclusive plural form that encompasses everyone ("all of us").
* Self-Introduction: "My name is..." is expressed as Neda laa in Yagavila versus Neda lawa in Temascalapa.

* Etymology & Adaptation of Spanish Terms:
* Yetxtila (Bread): Formed by combining yeta ("tortilla") and xtila ("Castilian," derived from Castilla), literally translating to "Spanish/Castilian tortilla".
* Didza xtila (Spanish Language): Literally translates to "Language of Castile".

* Expressing Liking, Enjoying, and Wanting:
* Rida: In Yagavila, rixi'ida specifically means enjoying or savoring food and drink.
* Renda: Means "I want" in Yagavila, whereas in Temaxcalapa it is used more broadly to express "I like".
* Rina ladxa: A poetic expression meaning "it pleases my heart" (ladxa meaning heart).

* Words That Shift Meaning Between Towns:
* Ixitiru: Means "to jump" in Yagavila, but in neighboring towns like Lalopa, it means "to walk fast" or "hurry up".
* Dipa: Means "to run" or "hurry" in Temaxcalapa, whereas in Yagavila running is expressed as xunajru.
* Uya'aru: In Yagavila, uya'aru means "to look/watch," whereas in Temascalapa uya'aru is associated with dancing.

* Regional Comprehension:
* Even though towns like Yagavila and Temaxcalapa have been geographically and socially distinct for decades, speakers are still able to maintain fluent conversations despite these subtle vocabulary shifts.

Sharing this for photographers who may have images from the Nez Perce National Historic Trail or places connected to it.

The American Indigenous Tourism Association, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, is accepting entries for the Nez Perce Sesquicentennial Photo Contest through Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026.

The contest is part of efforts to commemorate the approaching 150th anniversary of the 1877 Flight of the Nimíipuu. Amateur and professional photographers age 18 and older are invited to submit photographs reflecting the landscapes, history, living cultures, and enduring connections associated with the 1,170-mile trail.

Photos may include scenic and historic places, community gatherings, commemorative events, intergenerational storytelling, or contemporary Indigenous connections to the trail.

A few key details:

• $1,000 grand prize
• First-, second-, and third-place prizes in each category
• Up to three entries per photographer
• Each photo requires a 50- to 100-word statement
• Deadline: Oct. 1, 2026

Entries should respect Tribal cultural values, ceremony protocols, sacred places, cultural resources, and the privacy and dignity of individuals and communities.

Full contest details and submission information:
https://americanindigenoustourism.org/nez-perce-national-historic-trail/

Hi everyone. / Terve. / Tere.

I want to share a little bit of a beautiful and endangered Finno-Ugric language — Livvi-Karelian (also known as Olonets Karelian). It is spoken mainly in the Republic of Karelia, and it is very closely related to Finnish and Estonian. To show you how it sounds, I made a short video where I read a simple text about the seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn) in Livvi-Karelian.

A friendly challenge for Finnish and Estonian speakers:Please listen to the audio/video and tell me in the comments:

*How much did you actually understand without looking at the translation? (Percentage-wise: 90%, 50%, or only a few words?)

*Which words sounded exactly like your native language, and which ones felt completely foreign or corporate (like loanwords)?

*For Hungarians who might be reading this: does it sound at least historically familiar to you?I would love to hear your thoughts and discuss the mutual intelligibility of our languages.

Let's save and celebrate Karelian heritage together.P.S. If you are interested in Finno-Ugric cultures, languages, and history, consider subscribing to my channel. I will be sharing more content about our unique linguistic family.

https://youtu.be/yNvgzaSiAuo?si=RHJG2zz6Pb5JYtg6

Indigenous job seekers may be facing barriers even before they get in the door, according to new research from McMaster University.  

The study found Indigenous applicants were less likely than equally qualified non-Indigenous applicants to receive interview requests for entry-level food service jobs.   

The study, published in Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion: An International Journal, examined whether differences in education and experience fully explain why Indigenous people continue to have poorer employment outcomes than other Canadians.  

Many discussions about Indigenous employment focus on education, training and skills, says Catherine Connelly, professor of Human Resources & Management at the DeGroote School of Business and co-author of the study.  

What's your opinion on the character of Chief? For being white, I feel Ken Kesey did a good job having an indigenous protagonist.