Martha Berry (Cherokee)
Butterfly
Beaded Bandolier Bag
Hey cool, butterfly in Cree is kamamak. Weird!
“Wakan Tankan Nici Un,” May the Great Spirit walk with you.
Lol, why is a Lakota phrase tagged as Cherokee? And a phrase that was translated from English (and from settler perspectives) into Lakota?
does anyone have the tumblr post which proved the “Two Wolves” “Cherokee” story was not Cherokee?
i apparently need to bust out the receipts for someone
(who apparently can’t read b/c they just said “it doesn’t say it was written by Cherokee” when it’s in the damn fucking story with fake ass “Native” pictures on it)
I know you found the post already, but I expanded on it and explained why it is harmful, as well as how to avoid this kind of thing going forward, if it’s at all helpful.
Cherokee Wisdom
An old Cherokee told his grandson,“My son there’s a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.”
The boy thought and asked, “Which wolf wins?”
The old Cherokee replied, “The one you feed.”
No.
Transliteration: Kamama
IPA: [kɑmɑmɑ]
Whoa…the word I know for butterfly in Cree is kamâmak.
I am officially tripped out. It is not a word for elephant though.
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,…
This is a nice little story. It makes sense to people and makes them think.
But why do people have to pass it along and attribute it to the Cherokee?
Which Cherokee? Which community? Who told the story? Who told that person the story? What is the provenance of this story?
If you’ve never asked yourself these questions when reading or hearing these kinds of stories, why not start now?
The next time someone tells you a story and claims it’s a Native American story, ask the person where it comes from exactly. If they can’t answer you, then more likely than not, this story is something someone made up and decided to call ‘Native’ to add a bit of mystique to it.
There’s nothing wrong with these kinds of ‘moral tales’. They can be interesting and useful. But if they aren’t ours, please don’t perpetuate the lie that they are.
ay-ay
