These Indigenous
and Native American TikTokkers use their platforms to teach, connect
and share culture.
"I'm probably the only Native American that has come up on
your For You page, so listen up."
That's Jojo Jackson, a Navajo teen, in a now-viral April video
on TikTok. The statistics he shares next aren't pretty: 50 deaths
and more than 1,200 Coronavirus cases confirmed on the Navajo reservation.
As of June
23, that total has climbed to 335 deaths and over 7,000 cases
the highest
infection rates per capita in the United States.
Jackson points out the disparities in healthcare, in grocery stores
and in relief aid between the reservation and a U.S. state like
West Virginia.
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Credit: @jojojaxn / TikTok
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TikTok's public image might be Charli
D'Amelio, the 16-year-old girl posting videos of herself dancing
to Doja Cat songs. But the social media app has also become a platform
for education and community.
Under hashtags like #native and #indigenous, creators like Jackson
are schooling folks of all backgrounds about social and economic
justice, culture and history and connecting with other Indigenous
creators. And sharing memes, of course.
Seventeen-year-old Theland Kicknosway, of the Cree and Potawatomi
Nations, grew a huge following on the app by posting videos in regalia,
explaining the significance behind his braided hair, singing and
dancing.
But he also gets political, posting videos about Indigenous reconciliation
and oil pipelines, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Patricia Christensen, a 20-year-old Salish and Pend d'Oreille college
student who grew up on the Flathead Reservation, "educates
you on Native American things so you don't sound ignorant."
She busts myths like "Native Americans don't pay taxes"
(they do) and "Native Americans get free money from the government"
(not that simple).
Rewire spoke to these TikTok creators about their work and why
they decided to make their voices heard.
Patricia Christensen, @._.tricia
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Credit: @._.tricia /
TikTok
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Several of your videos directly tackle stereotypes about Indigenous
people. What was behind those?
When I wear my regalia and go out in public, I've had people come
up to me and say, "I like your costume, that's a really nice
costume." I want to educate people.
I kind of understand it to a certain degree. Native Americans make
up less than 2 percent of the U.S. population. It's not too surprising
because if you want to learn about Native American things, your
best bet is talking to a Native American.
You started a hashtag #teachyourindigenouslanguage and you encouraged
other Indigenous folks to share theirs. Tell me about that.
I was born and raised on the Flathead reservation, and my mom and
my stepdad have been working so hard to help my tribe preserve the
language. They've always taught me that language is the most important
thing.
I went to a Salish language immersion school for seven years, and
one of the elders there said to me, "One day the government
is gonna come to our land and they're gonna ask if we know our language.
And if we don't know our language, then what marks us different
from everyone else?"
We're losing so much of our language already, we need to do more
to keep it alive in the young people.
What has the response from other TikTok users been like?
When I started coming out with educational things, I had so many
people be disrespectful to me. For example, the regalia, they were
like, "Well, that's just a costume," or people were saying,
"You were conquered, not robbed." All these rude things.
I do have a positive reaction as well. Native people recognize
my videos and they're like, "Hey, I'm Native too. It's so awesome
to see Native representation on this app, because I don't see it
very often."
It was pretty weird at first because I was like, I don't really
know what I'm doing and I don't want to be rude to anybody. But
I'm tired of the way that people see Native Americans. Our culture
is beautiful, but there's more to us than just our culture.
We're not just dressed up all the time. Mainly the media notices
us when we're dressed up in our regalia wearing feathers or when
we're proving that we're Native American.
Jojo Jackson, @jojojaxn
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Jojo Jackson is a tik
tok creator and influencer. REWIRE PBS Our Future indigenous
Credit: @jojojaxn / TikTok
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In one of your videos, you point out inequalities that exist
between the Navajo Nation and U.S. states. Why did you decide to
speak up?
Initially it was just scrolling through all my social media and
reading all these articles.
I thought more of what our lifestyle on the reservation is should
be brought to life, what really is reality living on the Navajo
reservation. I brought it on myself to basically do that.
This all happened at 4 in the morning. I fact-checked everything,
I read the articles, I watched the videos, I made this TikTok at
4 in the morning, uploaded it, went to sleep and, gradually, it
blew up.
I wanted the video to create conversation and make awareness of
our situation.
You mentioned on YouTube that you lost someone close to you
to COVID-19. I'm so sorry for your loss. Has being so close to it
changed your viewpoint on the virus at all?
Right now, I'm staying with my mom away from the reservation. The
first outbreak was five miles down the road. Initially we thought
it would be a good idea to move back to the reservation.
Once the outbreak on the reservation happened we thought it would
be very small, since everyone's living far apart, and it's such
a rural and remote reservation and it wouldn't spread as fast.
The Navajo people are very interactive with each other, so that's
one of the factors of how the outbreak happened. It really changed
my perspective, and the numbers climbed.
There's still tens of death counts coming in every day. We were
one of those families that had a death in the family. It's really
mind-changing, and I wanted to bring my experience into my video
to bring awareness and have an eye-opener.
At the beginning I was one of those people who thought it was like
the flu. But I educated myself along the way.
You're 16, but you're speaking out about politics and using
your platform. Do you have advice for other young folks, maybe those
who are younger than voting age, to get involved?
If you're not old enough to vote or anything because of your age,
it's best to use your platform to the greatest potential. That's
what I tried to do, to persuade and educate people about what's
going on. I've been an advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement,
and I've listed resources, and I've donated, and really encouraged
people to do so as well.
We have family talks here too. I really encourage my parents and
my older sister and brother to vote and how important it is.
Theland Kicknosway, @the_land
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Theland Kicknosway is
an indigenous tik tok creator and influencer. REWIRE PBS Our
Future Indigenous Native American. Credit: @the_land / TikTok
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Long before you started a TikTok, you began a
run for missing and murdered Indigenous women at age 9. Why
did you want to get your voice out there at such a young age?
For me, growing up, I was always raised in the culture. That includes
knowing that I put my family first, I put my community first. Knowing
that whatever needs to get done gets done.
Because I had recently learned about the epidemic of missing and
murdered (women) ... at the age of 9 saying, I need to do something
to raise awareness and tell my peers, my friends, we all need to
know that this is going on in our daily lives.
The first idea was to run across Canada. As a 9-year-old I was
pretty eager, and Canada was really big.
I tried to scale it down, and I said, I'm going to run to my auntie's
house, Kitigan Zibi,
in Quebec, Canada.
We believe in a cause that people, my age, younger and older, need
to know. Our women, our two-spirited people, our men are going missing
and are being murdered.
We had decided to embark on this 134-kilometer journey. We had
completed the run for four years. And then we moved onto a virtual
run this past year. The previous year it was held at Algonquin College
here in Ottawa, Canada.
It's always a new learning for all of us. Just trying to get that
message out there that I as a young man, I will not harm women,
that was the way that I was taught.
I will be doing a run across Canada in 2021. We'll be running from
Victoria, British Columbia, back to Ottawa, where I live.
On TikTok, you share music and sing quite frequently. Tell me
more about that.
When I was in my mother's stomach 17 years ago practically, when
the mothers can feel their babies kicking against their stomach?
That's our first dance that we have. Those were my first dance moves
when I was kicking in my mother's tummy. I guess it means a lot
now.
And that first cry that we have as children, as newborns, that's
our first song that we sing.
I've been dancing and singing even before I was in the physical
world. Singing songs and dancing are part of my spirituality. They
are part of who I am as a proud Indigenous person in the modern
society every day. When I'm in my regalia, when I'm fully decked
out in all my beadwork, it's like I am connecting with my ancestors,
like I am almost going back and trying to see through their eyes.
That's why I dance for my spirit, dance for my ancestors, dance
for those who can't dance, just trying to carry on those teachings.
How do you wish the media would cover Indigenous people?
I believe that we're all born equal, but sometimes we're all not
treated equally. Mainstream media, especially when it's referring
to Indigenous people, they will sometimes say, these Indigenous
people are having riots.
That's our basic human right of standing up for what we believe
in.
Our reason for living is to take care of this land, to take care
of our mother and only take what we need.
We can't change people's minds. The most we can do is stand up,
spread awareness and, hopefully, make a change.
Editor's note: These interviews have been edited for length
and clarity.
For more stories like this one, visit "Talking
About Race."
Gretchen Brown
Gretchen Brown is an editor for Rewire. Shes into public media,
music and really good coffee. Email her at gbrown@rewire.org, or
follow her on Twitter @gretch_brown.
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