Becky, don’t touch my damn feathers – or – Fake Feminism
I really hate hypocrisy. However, there are times where people behaving hypocritically manifests itself as a very telling and ironic lesson. In this case, it’s a lesson on fake feminism and its corresponding lack of humanity; but don’t let me mess the story up. I’m gonna let my Native sister Hokte give you a first-hand account of it as she experienced at the so-called “Women’s March” that transpired January 2017:
Alright. Here is one indigenous woman's take on the #WomensMarch on Washington, in a sea full of white women (WW). This will be a thread.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
Many women of color (WOC) have criticized this march already. I'd like to share an indigenous experience of colonization and stolen land.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
First off, I'd like to point out I marched with a group of indigenous women/people with @indigwomenrise. We stayed together as a collective.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
We were surrounded by good medicine in DC, the belly of the beast. You could tell by our spirits we came from 100's of years of resistance.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
We started a prayer circle in the morning in front of the American Indian Smithsonian museum, next to all those ancestors. It was powerful.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
We took smoke from Ponca elder Casey Camp-Horinek, we sang warrior songs together. There were so many nations that came together as one.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
I want to make it clear that I had my people with me, that I had a home in this march that was absolutely plagued with white supremacy.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
I everyone to understand that our prayer circle was sacred & full of good spirits in those moments. And how leaving the circle was toxic.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
My @IndigenizeOU partner and best friend Ashley and I wore our regalia. She wore her jingle dress and I wore my ribbon skirt & ribbon comb.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
We were visible. They took pictures of us and then refused to take our fliers on pipelines, fracking, and #MMIW in Oklahumma.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
The WW told us we "looked beautiful" and took pictures of us without our permission, but wouldn't listen to what we face as NDN women.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
Ashley and I started a chant, "You're on stolen land." WW shot us ugly looks. One shouted in her face, "We know but it isn't our fault!"
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
Multiple WW scolded us for being "too loud." Multiple WW mocked me for lulu'ing (war cry, of sorts) alongside Ashley while she chanted.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
You could hear what the WW said. "They're real Indians." "They're still here?" "I think they're faking it." "Why do they look like that?"
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
All the while I kept trying to focus on the energy & history of the land I was standing on. Washington DC. Capital. Stolen Piscataway land.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
I always try to think about my connection to the land. Think about whose ancestors I'm standing on. And these WW ask me if I'm a real human.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
Outside the prayer circle WW are taking pics & videos of us in round dance. Several WW roll up in R*skins hats. WW asking me "What is this?"
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
WW try to walk through our prayer circle and are immediately called out by our elders present. This is all before the march even starts.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
When the march starts several WW try to join our group to march with us. Two WW beside me told me "Guess we're Indians today!" and laughed.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
We responded, "We don't get to choose if we're native or not. This is our reality & you are not Indian. You are disrespectful & need to go."
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
WW responds: "I'm from Minnesota. I can name a lot of the lakes around me and they're all in Indian. I even know some tribes too."
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
None of us are amused and we ask her to leave. She calls us and our march "rude" and said "it's unfortunate that Indians can't take jokes."
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
When the march begins I am surrounded by WW holding up signs like "smash the patriarchy" "keep your hands off our pussies" and so forth.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
We begin our first chant, "Mni Wiconi, water is life." WW look confused. WW staring at us or just acting oblivious like we weren't there.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
And it makes me so, so fucking angry to type this. The tone-deafness of all these "angry" white supremacists around me. Their lack of care.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
I'm crying now typing this. One day it's a pipeline. The next our babies are stolen. Next our sisters go missing. Next we're killed by cops.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
And I'm marching and trying to hold my head up and remembering my Mvskoke ancestors who marched on the Trail of Tears for me to be here.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
The whole time I am treated by non-Natives and especially WW like a marching spectacle while they refuse my fliers. Like a real life museum.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
These WW are saying "this is just the beginning." Our ancestors have marched since 1492. This is our whole lives. This is who we are.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
WW want to call me their "sister," but my sisters don't touch me or my regalia without my permission. They don't speak over me.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
You want me to hold hands with you and sing kumbaya and be "equal," while you stand on our ancestor's graves and this is your first march.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
You, WW, are complicit in my genocide, & until you abandon ur white fragility & acknowledge this you're a white supremacist, not a feminist.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
What did I learn from the way WW treated native women at #WomensMarch? That we aren't human. Just museums of a past you know nothing about.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
To WW we are living museums of a past you refuse to acknowledge & refuse to learn about. Treated as a guest on our own ancestral lands.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
White feminists treat us like we are burdens or that we are divisive. Because it's inconvenient for you to let go of your whiteness.
— hokte (@sydnerain) January 23, 2017
So listen WW, if you care about women's issues, if you consider yourself a feminist, then at a minimum, DON'T TOUCH THESE LADIES' FEATHERS.
Best,
Hannibal Pace