What It Means to Be Both Black and Indigenous
Thousands of people in the United States identify as Black-Indigenous or Afro-Indigenous. This community often faces issues like colorism and the erasure of their identities. Their experiences raise questions about conceptions of Indigeneity revealing the complex and often vexed relationships between cultures in the Americas.
To explore these questions and commemorate Black History Month, the Center for Native American Youth hosted the event
The group examined the relationship between their Black and Native cultural identities. They also shared how erasure and misperceptions impact those identities. Autumn began by recognizing how intersectionality is left out of critical conversations. The histories of Black and Indigenous peoples in the US are interwoven yet the relationship is often ignored and rarely taught. She also addressed the prevalent issue of colorism. In both the Black and Indigenous communities, the color of one’s skin