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And not a single person got tossed around lol❤
08/01/2025

And not a single person got tossed around lol
❤

My grandfather's tomahawk. He braided leather for the handle, then soaked the leather in water and it hardered when it d...
08/01/2025

My grandfather's tomahawk. He braided leather for the handle, then soaked the leather in water and it hardered when it dried, tightening the leather around the stone. It's still almost as good today, as the day he made it 87 years ago.

𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He w...
07/30/2025

𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 (born Harold Jay Smith; May 26, 1912 – March 5, 1980) was an Indigenous Canadian actor and athlete. He was well known for his role as Tonto, the Native American companion of the Lone Ranger in the American Western television series The Lone Ranger.
Jay Silverheels was born on Canada's Six Nation's Reserve and was one of 10 children. He was a star lacrosse player and a boxer before he entered films as a stuntman in 1938. He worked in a number of films through the 1940s before gaining notice as the Osceola brother in a Humphrey Bogart film Key Largo (1948). Most of Silverheels' roles consisted of bit parts as an Indian character. In 1949, he worked in the movie The Cowboy and the Indians (1949) with another "B movie" actor Clayton Moore. Later that year, Silverheels was hired to play the faithful Indian companion, Tonto, in the TV series The Lone Ranger (1949) series, which brought him the fame that his motion picture career never did.
Silverheels recreated the role of Tonto in two big-screen color movies with Moore,The Lone Ranger (1956) and The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold (1958). After the TV series ended in 1957, Silverheels could not escape the typecasting of Tonto. He would continue to appear in an occasional film and television show but became a spokesperson to improve the portrayal of Indians in the media.
Familiar Canadian Indian actor who shot to fame as Tonto, the faithful Indian companion of the masked man on the US television series The Lone Ranger (1949). A member of the Mohawk tribe of Canada's Six Nations Reserve, Silverheels excelled at wrestling, horse racing, football, boxing, and hockey, and became a renowned lacrosse player.
With the help of actor Joe E. Brown,Silverheels obtained work as a stuntman and extra in Hollywood films. Following military service in World War II, Silverheels returned to film and landed small, often stereotypical roles as Indian warriors in Westerns. John Huston cast him as one of the fugitive Osceola brothers in Key Largo (1948), and Silverheels followed with the two roles that would define his career, Tonto and the Apache leader Geronimo, whom he would play several times beginning with the Western classic Broken Arrow (1950). Silverheels' enormous fame as Tonto overshadowed everything else, although it did not prevent him from playing other prominent roles. Even after completing The Lone Ranger (1949)series, Silverheels continued to reprise Tonto for commercials, comic guest spots, and spoofs.
Silverheels became an outspoken activist for Indian rights and a respected teacher within the Indian acting community. He appeared on talk and variety shows performing his own poetry. In later years, he began a second career as a harness racer. His health failed in the 1970s, and he died of a stroke in 1980, a beloved figure to the Baby Boom generation America. His son, Jay Silverheels Jr. has acted in television as well.

"This is indigenous land, you're not supposed to have walls here. We never did for a millennia. We never had a prison; w...
07/30/2025

"This is indigenous land, you're not supposed to have walls here. We never did for a millennia. We never had a prison; we always took care of our elders, took care of our children, always provided for them, taught them right from wrong. I wish I could see that energy... put that energy to making this country really, really great."
- Nathan Phillips -
Omaha Elder
Vietnam Veteran
Former director of the Native Youth Alliance
Keeper of a sacred pipe
Honoring Native American Veterans at Arlington National Cemetery
Water Protector at Standing Rock ND

To the ones we often forget to thank... but never forget in our hearts.You were always there —Not loud, not asking for p...
06/24/2025

To the ones we often forget to thank... but never forget in our hearts.

You were always there —
Not loud, not asking for praise,
Just steady… like the earth under our feet.

You stood through the hard times,
Carried more than we ever knew,
And still found a way to smile when we needed hope.

Some of you are still here,
quietly guiding your families.
Some of you now walk with the ancestors,
but your teachings still live in our bones.

We miss your voice.
We remember your hands —
calloused, tired, strong.
We carry your lessons in silence,
like old songs only the heart remembers.

To anyone reading this:
If you had someone who stood by you,
who protected you in their own quiet way —
hold that memory close.

And if you're that person for someone else today…
you are seen, you are needed, you are not forgotten Native History

We need a big A'ho❤️
05/27/2025

We need a big A'ho❤️

LONG HAIRTraditionally, long hair was always a symbol of masculinity. All of history's great warriors had long hair, fro...
05/23/2025

LONG HAIR
Traditionally, long hair was always a symbol of masculinity. All of history's great warriors had long hair, from the Greeks (who wrote odes to their heroes' hair) to the Nordic, from the American Indians (famous for their long shiny hair) to the Japanese. And the longer and beautiful the hair was, the more manly the warrior was considered. Vikings flaunted their braids and samurai wore their long hair as a symbol of their honor (they cut their braid when they lose honor).
When a warrior was captured, his mane was cut to humiliate him, to take away his beauty. That custom resumed in what is today military service. There when new soldiers begin their training the first thing they do is cut their hair to undermine their self-esteem, make them submissive and make them see who's boss.
The Romans were the ones who "invented" short hair so to speak, between the 1st and 5th centuries AD.. In battles they believed this gave them defensive advantages, since their opponents couldn't grab them by the hair. This also helped them to recognize each other in the battlefield.
Short hair on men is a relatively new "invention" that has nothing to do with aesthetics.
But today we often see men being humiliated, sometimes called "gay" for wearing long hair, not knowing that short hair is actually the "anti-masculine" and is a repressive social imposition, while long hair symbolizes freedom

Hopi girls. Late 1800s. Arizona. Photo by John K. Hillers. Source - Denver Public Library.
04/25/2025

Hopi girls. Late 1800s. Arizona. Photo by John K. Hillers. Source - Denver Public Library.

I NEED HI FROM native LOVERS
04/25/2025

I NEED HI FROM native LOVERS

"The Voice of the Rainkeeper"Long ago, when the land was dry and rivers had forgotten how to sing, the people gathered i...
04/24/2025

"The Voice of the Rainkeeper"
Long ago, when the land was dry and rivers had forgotten how to sing, the people gathered in silence, looking to the sky for mercy. Crops withered, the earth cracked, and animals wandered in search of water.
But deep beneath the roots of an old cedar, a small frog dreamed. His skin shimmered with the colors of life—blues of water, reds of warmth, and black lines carved like the veins of the land itself. He was not just a frog—he was a Rainkeeper, born from thunder and prayer.
One night, under the light of the full moon, the frog climbed to the highest rock and let out a sound that shook the silence. It was not just a croak—it was a song that carried the memory of rain, the rhythm of rivers, the heartbeat of the earth.
The clouds heard it. The sky listened.
And the rain came.
From then on, the people honored the frog as the keeper of renewal and transformation. They painted his image on their drums, danced to his song, and whispered to him when the earth grew thirsty.
This image is not just of a frog—it is a sacred reminder: small voices can awaken great powers. Healing comes to those who remember how to speak to the land. And even the tiniest among us can call down the rain.

"The Elephant Who Carried the Earth’s Wisdom"Long ago, when the world was still young and the skies had yet to choose th...
04/24/2025

"The Elephant Who Carried the Earth’s Wisdom"
Long ago, when the world was still young and the skies had yet to choose their colors, the Earth was entrusted to the guardians of balance—creatures who held the memories of creation in their bones. Among them stood the Elephant, not just a being of flesh and might, but a sacred keeper of wisdom etched in every wrinkle and carved upon every step.
Unlike other animals, this Elephant bore patterns across its body—symbols from the stars, rivers, mountains, and hearts of ancient peoples. These were not decorations, but sacred maps. They told stories of peace, courage, grief, and rebirth. Whenever a community lost its way, they would seek the Elephant, who never spoke but always listened.
In silence, the Elephant would kneel, and the patterns on its body would shimmer with memory. The people would place their hands on its skin and feel the stories rise—reminding them who they were, where they came from, and what they must protect.
It is said that the Elephant never forgets—not because it remembers facts, but because it remembers feelings. The sorrow of destruction, the joy of harmony, the trembling hope of forgiveness.
This image is a tribute to that sacred Elephant. A symbol of strength without violence, wisdom without arrogance, and memory without judgment. It reminds us that true power lies in stillness, in gentleness, and in carrying forward the truths of our ancestors.
For as long as the Elephant walks the Earth, so too will the stories that make us whole.

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