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Indigenous Blood, Los Angeles, CA (2026)

08/13/2026

The Arikara were a semi-nomadic group who lived on the plains of South Dakota for several hundred years.

The Arikara War is noted as the first Plains Indian War between the U.S. and the western Native Americans, ending in August of 1823.

Learn more: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-arikarawar/

[image: Arikara warrior, White Shield by Edward S. Curtis, 1908.]

08/11/2026

Last Prophecy of Crazy Horse:
"Upon suffering beyond suffering; the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things, and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am that place within me, we shall be as one." -Crazy Horse

08/10/2026

So, Should Native American man be allowed to wear their hair long at school! Traditionally, long hair was always a symbol of masculinity.

08/10/2026

The Highly Effective Silent Language of the Plains

By Aerianette McCrae
Administrator

For centuries across North America, travelers and traders could journey across vast distances—from the Canadian plains down to northern Mexico—and communicate fluently without uttering a spoken word.This was made possible through “Plains Indian Sign Language” (PISL), historically known as Hand Talk or Plains Sign Talk.

Far from being a basic set of gestures, Hand Talk was a fully developed, independent language system. It served as a practical lingua franca for dozens of culturally and linguistically distinct nations, including the Lakota, Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfoot, Kiowa, Arapaho, and many others.

Here is a look at how this system actually functioned in everyday life and historical strategy:

Trade, Diplomacy, and Community Life

Intertribal Trade:
The Plains region brought together nations speaking entirely different language families (such as Siouan, Algonquian, and Uto-Aztecan). Hand Talk provided a highly effective and practical way to negotiate, trade horses and goods, and establish treaties without needing a spoken translator.

Inclusion of Deaf Community Members:

Historical accounts note that Deaf individuals were fully integrated into tribal life. Because Hand Talk was widely understood within communities, Deaf relatives participated fully in daily conversations, governance, and social events.

Ceremonial and Tactical Silence:

During specific hunts, scouting missions, or sacred rituals where silence was mandated by tradition, Hand Talk allowed individuals to communicate complex thoughts and coordinate actions without making noise.

Cultural Nuances:

Hand Talk relied on direct observation of the natural world and conceptual metaphors. For instance, the sign for "think" or "understand" was traditionally drawn from the heart rather than the head, reflecting a different cultural framework for cognition and emotion.

Use in Scouting and Tactics:

In the context of historical conflict and hunting, visual communication offered distinct practical advantages over oral communication.

Stealthy Scouting:
When tracking game or scouting unfamiliar territory, making noise could ruin a hunt or compromise safety. Scouting parties used subtle hand and arm signs to report terrain features, animal movements, or the presence of other groups over long distances while remaining hidden.

Long-Distance Signaling:
Because hand gestures and arm movements could be seen across open prairies and ridgelines far better than a voice could carry against the wind, leaders used visual signals to coordinate movements across open ground.

Historical Pressure and Modern Documentation

During the 19th and 20th centuries, federal assimilation policies, boarding schools, and forced reservation living severely disrupted the transmission of traditional Indigenous languages and sign systems, leading to a sharp decline in fluent speakers.

Despite these pressures, Hand Talk was extensively documented by linguists, anthropologists, and Native speakers through historical film footage, written records, and oral histories.

Today, various cultural preservation efforts, tribal programs, and linguistic studies work to document and archive historical PISL materials for educational and cultural purposes.

From the sacred rituals of the past to the modern cultural gatherings of today, Hand Talk remains a living bridge across generations. Whether used by ancestors to maintain a reverent silence during ancient ceremonies, or utilized by today's cultural keepers to honor tradition and heritage, this remarkable language continues to be felt, seen, and carried forward in sacred spaces.

© 2026 Aerianette McCrae. All rights reserved.

08/09/2026

An Apache Chief Banished His Own Daughter After a Powerful Councilman Accused Her of Betraying Their People—Leaving Her Alone in the Wilderness With Almost Nothing. Days Later, a Lone Cowboy Found Her Beside a Stream and Offered Help Without Asking Questions… Just as Riders Began Following Her Trail Toward His Ranch.

The last thing my father said to me before sending me into the wilderness was not that he loved me.

It was not that he believed me.

It was not even that he was sorry.

He looked at me in front of the entire council and said, “Until the truth is known, you cannot remain among us.”

Then he turned away.

That hurt more than the sentence.

My name is Ayana.

I was twenty-eight years old when my father, Takakota, ordered me to leave the community where I had been born, raised, taught, loved, and expected to spend the rest of my life.

People outside our world sometimes imagined the daughter of a respected leader lived like some kind of frontier princess.

They were wrong.

My days were not filled with ceremony.

I worked.

I carried water.

Helped prepare food.

Sat with older women when they were ill.

Listened when children had questions.

Learned the trails, plants, stories and obligations that connected one generation to another.

My father had taught me from childhood that leadership was not standing above people.

It was carrying more when the burden became heavy.

That was why his judgment hurt so much.

He had taught me to seek truth.

Then, when I needed him to do exactly that, he chose fear instead.

The accusation concerned several bundles of medicine, dried food and winter supplies that had disappeared from a storage shelter.

The supplies were intended for families preparing to travel farther south before colder weather arrived.

Three days after the loss was discovered, a council member named Nantan stood before the elders and said witnesses had seen me near the storage area late at night.

That part was true.

I had been there.

An elderly woman named Meya had asked me to bring willow bark for her grandson’s fever.

Nantan left that part out.

He suggested I had secretly given community supplies to outsiders without permission.

There was no proof.

No one had seen me carrying bundles.

No missing goods were found among my belongings.

But rumors rarely wait for evidence.

By the second day, people were whispering that I believed being Takakota’s daughter placed me above council authority.

By the third, the story had become that I was building influence by distributing supplies myself.

Nantan had reason to dislike me.

For nearly a year I had opposed his efforts to control trading negotiations with nearby settlements.

He wanted every transaction to pass through a small group of men loyal to him.

I believed families should know what goods were worth before agreeing to trades.

We had argued publicly.

More than once.

I told my father that mattered.

He knew it did.

But Nantan was careful.

He never openly accused me of theft.

He said only that the council had to protect trust.

That was a stronger weapon.

At the hearing, my father sat in silence while people spoke around me.

Some defended me.

Others said the accusation itself had created enough doubt that action was necessary.

Finally I stood.

“Search everything,” I said.

My voice shook once.

I hated that.

“Search where I sleep. Search every bundle I own. Ask Meya why I went to the storage shelter. Ask who saw the missing supplies last. Ask who benefits from turning suspicion toward me.”

Nantan’s face did not change.

My father’s did.

For one moment, I saw the man who had carried me on his shoulders when I was five.

Then the chief returned.

“If I appear to protect my daughter because she is my daughter,” he said, “the council will say blood stands above responsibility.”

“And if you punish me because I am your daughter?”

The words came out before I could stop them.

The entire gathering went still.

My father looked wounded.

Good.

I was wounded too.

He asked the council for time.

They spoke privately.

When they returned, his decision was temporary banishment until the missing supplies could be accounted for.

Temporary.

That word was supposed to make the cruelty smaller.

It did not.

I was given my blanket, a water pouch, a knife and what food belonged personally to me.

One of the older women tried to press dried meat into my hand.

A council member stopped her.

Rules, he said.

I will remember that moment longer than I remember his name.

My mother’s turquoise necklace hung beneath my shirt.

She had died six years earlier.

I touched it once before walking away.

My father did not stop me.

I did not look back until I reached the ridge above camp.

From there I could see the fires.

Children moving between shelters.

Horses tied near the cottonwoods.

Everything familiar.

Everything mine.

Except I was no longer allowed to stand inside it.

I told myself I would not cry.

Then I did.

Only for a minute.

After that, survival had no patience for grief.

The first night I slept beneath a cottonwood beside a dry wash.

The temperature dropped harder than I expected.

I wrapped the blanket tightly around myself and kept my knife close.

Coyotes called from the hills.

I knew the land.

That saved me.

But knowing wilderness and living alone inside it are different things.

By morning, my water pouch was nearly empty.

I followed animal tracks toward lower ground and eventually found a narrow stream.

I drank.

Washed my face.

Ate the last of my dried corn.

Then I sat beneath a tree and wondered what happened to a person after home decided it no longer wanted her.

That was where Ethan Carter found me.

I heard his horse before I saw him.

My hand closed around the knife.

He appeared at the bend in the creek wearing a dark hat, brown coat, and the tired posture of a man who had spent more years in a saddle than in chairs.

Read more in the comment 👇

08/08/2026

After the Native American defeat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 the Indian Western Confederacy that fought American expansion in the Midwest collapsed. A year later the remaining individual tribal Chiefs were forced to sign the Greenville Treaty. The British were forced to accept abandon their forts in the Northwest Territory. Tecumseh, along with 250 warriors, did not accept defeat and withdrew to regroup and build a new alliance.

Meanwhile the victorious General "Mad" Anthony Wayne built a string of forts along the Maumee River. The Greenville Treaty established the boundary line dividing Native American territory and American settlers. Native Americans would receive payments in goods as incentive to honor the treaty line. Unfortunately, the white settlers did not honor restrictions placed on them. Conflict continued between the two peoples.

Tecumseh settled with his band in Greenville, Ohio, where Tecumseh joined his brother Tenskwatawa . Tenskwatawa (commonly known as The Prophet) could be described as a radical spiritual leader. His predictions gained him notice and increased following.

Struggling with transition and upheaval the Native Americans searched to push back the scourge of American settlement. They felt the need to purify and purge themselves of the addiction of the white culture. Indians were drawn to The Prophet's revelations and visions. His successful prediction of a solar eclipse in 1806 greatly enhanced his popularity. There is little evidence that Tecumseh was involved with the advancement of The Prophet's religious awaking, but found it useful in furthering his mission to remove the white presence from his homeland. In time The Prophet moved his people to Indiana and founded Prophetstown on the Wabash River.

Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa consolidated their power, building their base to push back the American expansion. This was a two front battle: Tecumseh traveled extensively, recruiting other tribes to join their confederation and Tenskwatawa continued to expand Prophetstown and control the hearts and minds of their followers. Tecumseh cautioned not to attack the Americans until their own force was strong enough to secure victory. Alarmed by the growing force, General William Henry Harrison marched a force of 600 men to disperse the confederacy’s headquarters at Prophetstown. Tecumseh was away recruiting allies in the south.
Tenskwatawa, encamped on the Tippecanoe River, could not resist attacking
Harrison’s force and ordered his 500 warriors into battle. The Battle of Tippecanoe was a total defeat for the Native American forces. Tecumseh's dream of a strong Indian nation that would stop white expansion was lost. Tecumseh later joined the British in Canada. He was killed at the Battle of Thames in 1813. This defeat eventually led to removal of Native Americans east of the Mississippi.

Image is of Tenskwatawa

08/07/2026

This photograph, titled Neu-monya - Walking Cloud, was taken by Charles Milton Bell. It depicts an Iowa (Ioway) man in traditional regalia for the time period:

A grizzly bear claw necklace, a headband featuring star motifs, a ruffled shirt, and a beaded/floral patterned apron or breech-cloth. He holds a pipe tomahawk in his left hand and an eagle feather fan in his right.

In the official catalog of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives, this portrait is recorded as undated (n.d.).
However, contextually:

Active Studio Period:
Photographer Charles Milton Bell operated his Washington, D.C. studio and took delegation portraits of Native American leaders between 1873 and 1893 (until his death).

Delegation Context: Tribal delegation portraits like this one were typically created when Native leaders traveled to Washington, D.C., which for Iowa (Ioway) tribal delegations occurred most notably around the late 1870s to 1880s. This photo likely circa 1880-1883.

The Iowa (or Ioway, who call themselves Báxoje) historically occupied a broad swath of the Upper Midwest before forced U.S. government land cessions and removals relocated them to reserved lands farther south.

Ancestral & Historic Homelands

Great Lakes Origins: Traditional tribal histories trace their earliest roots to Mayan Shuje ("Red Earth") near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin, alongside related Chiwere Siouan nations (the Otoe, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk).

Upper Midwest Heartland: Over centuries of migration, the Iowa established territories across present-day Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, western Illinois, and northern Missouri. They built semi-permanent villages along key river valleys—most notably the Mississippi, Missouri, Des Moines, and Chariton Rivers.

Treaty Eras & Forced Removals

Platte Purchase & Kansas/Nebraska Border (1830s):
Under increasing pressure from federal land grabs, the tribe ceded their remaining claims in Iowa and Missouri through treaties in the 1820s and 1830s. They were initially removed to a reservation strip along the Kansas–Nebraska border.

Split to Indian Territory (1870s–1880s):
In the late 19th century, the tribe fractured over assimilation policies and land pressures. One faction remained on the Northern reservation, while another group moved south into Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma).

Present-Day Federally Recognized Tribal Lands

Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska: Headquartered near White Cloud, Kansas.
Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma: Headquartered near Perkins, Oklahoma.

Photograph, Repository: National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution (BAE GN 00044 / Bell Collection 06635200)
Tribal Affiliation: Iowa (Ioway)

©Zebukiah McCrae Aug. 2026. All rights reserved.

08/07/2026

The man in this photograph was born to a Comanche war chief and a woman who was born white and never stopped being Comanche in her heart.

Quanah Parker was the son of the war chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, a woman who had been taken in as a child during a raid on a Texas settlement in 1836 and raised among the Comanche until Texas Rangers found her again in 1860, by then fully Comanche in every way but blood. Quanah grew up in that world, and by the 1870s had risen to lead the Kwahadi band, the last of the free Comanche to hold out against the reservation system closing in around them.

When the fighting finally ended, Quanah did something almost nobody expected. Instead of disappearing into defeat, he became the very thing his people needed most, a bridge. He learned to move between two worlds that had spent decades trying to destroy each other, negotiating with Washington, building a working ranch, sending his children to school, all while never once pretending the old world had not mattered.

He died in 1911 still respected on both sides of a divide almost nobody else of his generation had managed to cross. The photograph survives because by then the world had photographs to keep. What it cannot fully capture is a man who spent his whole life proving that surviving the end of one world does not mean you cannot help build the next one. 🪶

08/06/2026

~Kiowa Warrior~

This studio portrait was taken by William Stinson Soule at Fort Sill, Indian Territory (in present-day Oklahoma). Circa 1869–1874 (most frequently dated around 1870–1873).

Soule served as the post photographer at Fort Sill during this period, producing a notable series of portraits featuring Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, and Apache individuals posing in front of his studio backdrops and rock props

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