Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Native

Quinoa help me out with this dish?

oflinkey — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:45:45 -0800

Quinoa salad at Mitsitam Cafe in DC--where can I find the recipe? I was in DC last week and hit up the Mitsitam Cafe for a glorious lunch. I had the quinoa salad and fell in love. I am not sure if it changes, but the version I had was fruity and vinegary and had blue sweet potatoes in it (I am pretty sure). I asked about recipes, and I was referred to a book, but I wonder if anyone has any knowledge of if the quinoa salads change... and if anyone knows this recipe (or if it is in this book). I have found the wild rice with watercress recipe online (wee!), but the quinoa eludes me.

"Twin" Translation

madmamasmith — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:28:47 -0800

I am looking for translations for the words "twin" and "sister". I have used babelfish and other sites but really want the pronunciation not just foreign writings I can't decipher. Also, translations in other languages not listed such as different Native American tribal translations. Help?!

Cultural appropriation or 70's pop culture?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:46:32 -0800

Sensitive question about cultural issues and a halloween costume I might wear. Is this cultural appropriation or 1970's pop culture? Me (a white person) along with some other people want to dress up for halloween as "The Village People." I have been chosen to be the native american one. Is this a bad idea.

Also, when going to parties and such dressed in this costume, I would be with one other "village person" at all times, and we will probably be hamming in up by drunkenly singing "YMCA" and "In the Navy" if that makes a difference either way.

Would it be okay since I am dressing up as a village person, not a native american, or is it still too problematic to do?

Perspectives, especially if there are any Native American readers of this question who would be willing to answer, are greatly appreciated.

If anybody doesn't want to post their reply here, I will be reading replies sent to me at metafilteranon@live.com

Going native with Seattle plants: R U doing it wrong?

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:10:38 -0800

Seattle gardening and native plants: How hard should I be trying to stay native? If not native, what's good for this climate? Hi there ... I have a large-ish swath of yard that I'd like to re-plant, and I've been focusing on native plants with mixed success. How hard should I be trying in my efforts to "go native?" If not native, what plants are good for this environment? Maybe some that are not native, but not invasive, either?

For example, sedum is being used by local "green" projects, but the ones most commonly used are native to Europe and are considered "naturalized" to North America.

Stipulations: I've already been to Molbak's and have raided their native plant section.

Looking for picture of chain-saw carved bear for tattoo reference - hard to find

bkdelong — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:54:00 -0800

Looking for a picture/drawing of a bear statue from behind (possibly facing forward) - from what I recall, it looked like a chainsaw-cut carving of a brown or black bear out of a tree. Could be B&W lineart of one and I recall the grooves of the "fur flaps" being very deep but symmetrical - not rough-cut and not rounded. Thinking of using it along with a drawn "cub" of similar look & feel for a tattoo. Any help is welcome...looking for reference pics. Everything I find is too cartoony, small, smooth, rough etc. This image projected a feeling of native origin but most native totems of bears look far different. It was almost like someone took an oak, cut off the top about 12-15 ft up, created pointed ears and cut deep, wide grooves to resemble bear fur. The reason I think it was B&W lineart is because I recall a white background. It could very well be a sculpture or another animal.

Japanese conversation practice with a native speaker in the Portland, OR area (or maybe Skype)?

wastelands — Tue, 19 May 2009 17:17:28 -0800

Japanese conversation practice with a native speaker in the Portland, OR area (or maybe Skype)? I took three years of Japanese in high school, almost 11 years ago. Lately I've taken an interest in relearning it. Right now I'm still re-memorizing hiragana and katakana, so I at the beginner level for sure. But eventually it would be cool to get conversation practice with a native speaker without necessarily spending the hundred of dollars and the firm time commitments of a college course.

Ideas? I tried posting to the craigslist "activity partner" section, but nothing came of it.

ありがとうございます。

Morning Run

phrontist — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 14:01:37 -0800

In this episode of 30 Days Morgan Spurlock lives on a Navajo reservation and takes part in various rituals. One of these is a morning run... where could I read more about that?

What’s a Single Girl to do with 2 months off?

Jenny is Crafty — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:40:51 -0800

In the not so distant future, I will hit 7 years with my employer, which entitles me to the company benefit of 2 months off, with pay. I have been saving (I have about 5k set aside for this) and I want to start making plans within the next 6-12 months. Until recently, I had been spending the time and saving the money planning a trip for two as my ex receives the same benefit at the same time. I am afraid if I don’t plan something and kick myself in the butt, my two months will be spent as a recluse in my apartment or visiting my mother in Idaho, which well, would be worse than not having the time off. I am having a really hard time picturing what to do now that I am very single. I can’t picture going on vacation by myself, but I need to get over that as I will be!

One idea that I have had is to drive to Seattle and park my car on the Alaskan Ferry and then see where life and 5k leads me, but I cant really see that stretching for two months. Besides, I have never been out of the USA and I would like to do some world traveling specifically for museums, history, and native culture. I don’t like densely populated areas or large crowds AT ALL. I know I would not enjoy resorts or a cruise or visiting a large city and want to travel off the beaten path, but I am clueless as to where to go that would still be safe.

Does anybody have experience with this or suggestions on where to go? Can you offer advice on getting over the mental weirdness of traveling alone for such an extended period of time?

Foreigner wonders what others think of him

the_dude — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:21:34 -0800

What do you think of a person when you find out that they are foreigners. I'm specifically asking if you have noticed yourself acting differently to a person with an accent. Lengthy description follows. So here is the deal

I have spent a few years in the States now but it's all been in an academic setting. And by academic setting, I mean a technical school where it feels like there are more international students than American ones.

I have an accent, specifically a Turkish one. Not a very strong one and I have little to no trouble communicating but it is there and noticeable. I'd say my English is pretty good so that's not the point. I also have a strong grasp on American culture.

What I am wondering is how people think of when they meet someone foreigner. Suppose you approach a person in a bar and then you find out that they are not from there, do you put those people in a special place in your mind -not necessarily for the worse or the better-? Do you think they'd not get your jokes? Do you start, without even thinking, talking differently?

I'm giving the bar example because it's a place where a lot social interaction occurs but it really applies to anywhere. Meeting someone at work, do you think a person with an accent, someone who clearly isn't local or native, is a bit more clueless?

To be brutally honest, I'm asking because I do not know how I'd react to such a person myself.

I guess it's different in America but I have a feeling no matter how liberal, open-minded and tolerant you are, inherently people can't think of people who can't speak their language as well the same way they think of others. Not that that makes anyone racist or xenophobic -it's what you do matters in the end- but I'm just curious.

This is not to spark up a heated debate or blaming people implicitly of racism. I just want to hear up other people's comments as people I know tend to give me "hey it's fine" attitude all the time. Where I currently live, as said before, it's a bit hard to gauge that effect since it's *extremely* common for even an American looking person to turn out not from the states so people are either more used to it than normal or just being nice.

Where is this stone woman from?

metahawk — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:59:49 -0800

Can anyone identify where this statue of woman might have come from? (pictures and details inside) I recently received this statue from grandmother. There are pictures of it here
and this one and this one from the back.

Does anyone have any idea where it might have come from? It seems like some kind of native art. It is stone on a painted wooden base. There are no maker markings that I could find. The fish appears to be glued onto the woman's hands (rather than being made of one piece). It was probably acquired by my grandparents sometime in the 1940's or 1950's.

FroggyBack

kittens for breakfast — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:02:29 -0800

Is anyone familiar with ancient Native American legends of giant frogs riding people? Well. That's about it. This is yet another one of those books I remember reading as a little kid. Giant, malevolent frogs that got on people's backs and forced them (the people) to carry them (the frogs) around piggyback. This wasn't a work of fiction -- well, I mean, it was, in the obvious sense that giant frogs probably never enslaved humanity, but the book itself was about folklore. ...Anybody?

What shurbs are native to Chicago/Illinois?

blackjack514 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:11:36 -0800

I would like to plant some native plants/shrubs to adorn the front of our Chicago Bungalow. Problem is I don't know which plants are native to the area and i dont knwo where to get them. I would like to plant some native plants/shrubs to adorn the front of our Chicago Bungalow. The problem is I don't know which plants are native to the area and I dont know where to get them. The planting bed is rather small, maybe ten feet by four feet and is in the front of the house so I would like to plant some taller shrubs, some medium size shrubs and some flowers.

Question is which plants should I look for. Bonus points if they can be found at the local big box retailer. If not, any Chicagoans know of nurseries specializing in this area on Chicago's Northside?

Bonus question: Should I dig up the hostas that are already there?

oddly tragic voting radio story

amtho — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:07:02 -0800

NPR-story-with-little-to-go-on-filter: Several years ago, I heard a radio story involving a tribal election in which one candidate was represented as being for re-investing funds in the tribe, while another was for direct payments to tribe members. An tribe member, interviewed, said he'd vote for the latter, although even he didn't think it was best for the tribe or for him in the long term -- because he wanted the cash. I think the interviewee said he's probably spend the money on alcohol or something like that. The funds were, I think, from a casino. The story may have been about how casinos do or don't benefit tribes, or it could have been about that particular tribe's election.

It struck me deeply how this sort of decision-making is so deeply ingrained in us that it's really, really difficult to get past it. The reporter may have been leading him a little, but the interviewee just ended up almost baldly stating that he was going to vote in a way that even he didn't think made sense. It was a weird moment.

This bit was toward the end of the article, I think.

Does anyone else remember this? I'm not sure how to search for it.

Sort, OCR, export text from PDFs

Mo Nickels — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:13:13 -0800

I am in need of a server-side Linux or Unix-based software solution that will sort uploaded PDF files that can be PDF-native (that is, created in such a way that the text in the PDF is freely copyable), PDFs with embedded text over images (usually the result of a previous OCR job), and PDF-scanned, which are PDFs containing no text, only scanned images. The PDF-native files and PDFs with embedded text it will extract text from, the PDF-scanned files it will then OCR and export that text. This means it should not be Windows-based, it should not run on the client or desktop side, and it should be scriptable.

I hate naming!

pmaxwell — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 10:29:56 -0800

I am involved in branding a "company" that has a casino, theater and hotel as part of its assets. Part of the brand development is naming. The company is located in Northern New Mexico (Espanola – which, I've been informed is a leading provide of Black tar heroin!). Anyway, I'm looking for recommendations for reference books or even novels that focus on that area/culture and might spark some inspiration for names. The "company" is actually a Native American tribe or Pubelo that is known for its Black pottery.

What should I get for my friend

nimkip — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:34:13 -0800

Gift ideas for a friend who's really into Native American culture? Around $50 or under, please.

Words that native English speakers mispronounce

pravit — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 06:25:35 -0800

I'm a native speaker of English but I pronounce some words incorrectly. What other words am I pronouncing wrong? Some time ago at a gathering of friends, I mentioned "tire iron" and was greeted with hysterical laughter. You see, I pronounce the word "iron" as "eye-run", and everyone thought it was funny because apparently "tire iron" is supposed to rhyme and the correct pronunciation of "iron" is "eye-urn." I had never heard of this before, but I checked dictionaries and it really is the right pronunciation for both British and American English, alas.

There have been a number of similar incidents with the words "heifer", "heir", and "cache", which I pronounce(d) "high-fer", "hair", and "cay-sh", respectively. There are probably some other words I have a habit of pronouncing incorrectly that I can't recall now.

I consider myself a reasonably educated person, so the only explanation is that I picked up some peculiarities from my parents, who are non-native speakers of English. It seems most of my pronunciation errors are a result of pronouncing words as they are written (as a kid I read a lot and didn't talk much). My English is otherwise completely standard midwestern American.

So, I guess what I'm looking for is a list of words often pronounced wrong by native English speakers or just some anecdotes from other people with the same problem. Thanks!

What should I read to learn about Native American History?

pluckysparrow — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 21:48:45 -0800

What should I be reading to learn about Native American history and material culture? I want to learn as much as I can about Native American culture, history, people and objects, particularly relating to tribes from the Great Plains region, but am open to other interesting suggestions as well. I'm looking for suggestions on books, articles, researchers and writers. Can anyone suggest some reading material?

What is the Osage word for "please" (phonetic spelling)?

jackypaper — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 16:59:14 -0800

What is the Osage word for "please" (phonetic spelling)?

Ghostly

Jacen — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:50:48 -0800

Are there any Native American stories or legends or beliefs about the deceased coming back as horses? Possibly as spirit animals?

Historical Story Reference Needed

Gingercat — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:25:36 -0800

Quotefilter: Need both source and text from a historical story I once read for a sermon/homily this weekend. The story concerned a Native American who was shown a church by a missionary, and the Native American responded to the effect of "why do you keep God in a building?" That's all of the detail I have, and my Google-fu is failing me on this one ....

Why am I sun burned so badly?

Jimmie — Thu, 24 May 2007 23:23:11 -0800

I'm 50% Native American, and 50% Sicilian. Why am I sun burned so badly? I was out in the sun earlier today, used SPF 15 sunblock, and re-applied every 30 - 45 minutes. I was outside for less than 3 hours. I have never been severely sun burned in my life, and am 21 years old.

Spending nearly all of my days indoors (as a computer programmer), I thought a little natural light would be healthy. I haven't been out in the sun for an extended period of time for over a year (which gave me some nice dark color!).

I have no freckles, dark brown hair, and green eyes. I have a decent amount of curly, dark brown body hair. I typically get wonderful, healthy-looking tans, as if I've been restored to my natural skin color.

Today, I turned into a lobster. My lips are so dark I am considering seeking medical attention if they show no signs of improvement in the morning.

Oddly enough, my burned skin (practically my whole frontal-body) is not in much pain at all. I've been applying vinegar and aloe-vera every hour or so. I hope to purchase some cocoa butter tomorrow morning.

Why all of a sudden have I become so sensitive to the sun? Lack of protein in my recent diet maybe? If you have any suggestion for me, please shell them out :)

Also, I know the dangers of UV rays to my body. Please be constructive, as I am already burned, and telling me of my stupidity will do nothing more than hurt my character.

American Indian/Native American Blogs

_sirmissalot_ — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:14:57 -0800

What are some good American Indian (or "Native American") blogs or community politics/culture/what-have-you discussion sites?

Hiring on the res?

Skwirl — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:29:37 -0800

How do I advertise my open job positions within the Native American community? I work for an American Indian/Alaskan Native non-profit in Oregon and we're hiring for several full-time volunteer with living stipend positions through AmeriCorps. I'm in charge of the recruitment campaign and my grandiose marketing plans fell through when I was sidelined for a week with an unexpected illness. I'm hitting up all the regular recruitment resources, but I feel like I should put a greater effort into recruiting within the tribal community and on reservations.

What are the best channels to go through to reach the Native American audience? I'm so-so new and we're an urban agency, so I'm not particularly familiar with the Oregon tribes and reservations yet. How should I go about advertising these positions in tribal newspapers and at tribal colleges? Are there other resources that I should seek out? Bonus points for efficiency, since the application date is mere weeks away. Are there any sensitivities that I should be aware of?

A book on native pain rituals?

psyward — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:40:37 -0800

I'm looking for a book on ancient rituals of piercing and tattooing. Particularly among tribe members for purposes of adornment. My wife and I have had a look on amazon, and there dosent seem to be anything.

Can anyone out there reccomend a book on this topic?

Thanks in advance.