86% of #Indigenous people in America live outside reservations, often in cities like #Denver, #Seattle and #Portland, where they resettled following the Relocation Act (hi 👋 ).
Indigenous people comprise 2.6% of America’s population, but in 2023, they accounted for 3.9% of those experiencing homelessness. And the #housing inequity is worse in Western cities.
But building affordable housing for Natives is tricky.
To get around racial discrimination laws, NAYA (#PDX’s Native community center) and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians tried an innovative approach: they took Indian housing block grant money, which is earmarked for tribal housing, and instead of building on-reservation housing with it, they built off-rez apartments… in #Portland. The apartments are technically, legally “tribal housing,” so NAYA and Siletz can give preference to tribal members.
Some people (“The” “Government”) consider Native identity a racial classification, and it’s illegal for landlords to give preference to one race over another. That means when someone builds a “Native-friendly” affordable housing complex, it usually fills up with white people.
That’s what happened with NAYA’s Generations building in #Portland in 2017.
Ever wonder why when you were a kid in Oregon, you learned about the Iroquois and Cherokee tribes of the Eastern USA but nothing about local Native Americans? Why you learned about the pioneers crossing the plains on the Oregon Trail, but nothing about what they did once they arrived?
...Or maybe you didn't even notice how much was left out until this very moment, reading my words?
Here is the missing piece.
"Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley" by David G. Lewis.
Fair warning, this book made me so upset that I cried. Not at the author, he's done an excellent job. At the astonishing cruelty, violence, and dishonesty shown to native people by (many) white settlers. At how little they asked for, and still didn't get. At how little is left of the ecosystems that sustained people and wildlife and were carefully maintained by native people. At how much astonishing wealth has accrued to those who stole from natives, even to the modern day.
Land acknowledgement statements are not enough! If you are a white person in Oregon, you need to read this.
Looking for people, especially those who are #blind or #VisuallyImpaired, who live or have lived in the #Portland, Oregon area. I find myself in the exciting but stressful position of needing a place to live in a few months, and I'm exploring my options. I'd love to connect with someone who can answer some questions!
Setting up my wearables installation with the CETI Institute in the Lloyd center (old GAP storefront) for the Portland Winter Lights Festival. Just need to clean up and tape down the power wires now. There are lots of other people setting up awesome original illuminated projects in the same space. If you're in the area, come by and check it out sometime this weekend. Info here: https://ceti.institute/event/constellations-2024/
"...Over 100 community members assembled under trans flags. A table with pies of a variety of flavors hosted a large stack of flyers detailing the hate group. Posters of the reactionaries’ faces and personal details covered the neighborhood. Even though the library had closed, many initially skeptical bystanders in the local community quickly pivoted into enthusiastic in support for the disruption after being shown the extent of WDI and WoLF’s trans-eliminationist activities and policies."
Hey PNW mastodon friends! I’m Rhys and I’m a journalist @ KGW in #portland ! I hope to kinda be your direct connection to the newsroom/get feedback on how to use platforms like #mastodon to get news to you!
A new investigation shows that far-Right trolls, the police, and the media who parroted their lies were all wrong - and protesters in #Portland were right.
"The research agency Forensic Architecture collaborated with survivors on a reconstruction of the attack, analyzing helmet-camera video recorded by one of the victims, police radio traffic obtained through public records requests, and the testimony of 11 witnesses – including the volunteer armed guard who stopped the rampage by shooting and disarming the gunman.
The accumulated evidence flatly contradicts what Portland’s police chief told the public and city council staff in the days after the attack: that the gunman, 43-year-old Ben Smith, had opened fire only after he had been confronted by “armed protesters”.
That false characterization of the unarmed victims as aggressors, which was repeated in dozens of local and national news reports, remains uncorrected on the website of the Portland police bureau (PPB) even today, as the survivors mark the second anniversary of Smith murdering their friend, June Knightly."
Of the 574 federally recognized tribal nations, only five have free press protections in tribal law.
But some #Indigenous journalists are fighting tribal council for a free press --- so they can hold tribal government accountable.
And others are making documentaries about it.
Next Sunday in #Portland, watch BAD PRESS, which follows a Mvskoke journalist's crusade for a free tribal press during a Muscogee (Creek) Nation election.
Hey there, I’m Jake from #Portland, Oregon. I’m a computer engineer who does #FPGA stuff at places that design processors.
I’m more of a lurker than a poster but I’ll try to remain interesting. I’m into photography, #guitar, #running (especially on trails), #retrocomputing, and any kind of fun hardware hacking on computers. Love my wife, kids, and dog!
The dog is more photogenic than me so I’ll leave you with a picture of her.
More garbage from #Portland City Hall, this time they are actually reversing progress on a bike lane in downtown #PDX, presumably because business owners don't like it. I don't like traffic fatalities more, does that count for anything? #BikeTooter
"We’re having a #BIPOC#book fair and inviting all kids who want to be there to come. Join us on Saturday, September 23; we’ll be at #Portland, Oregon’s Norse Hall with a bunch of #books by and about Black people, Indigenous people, and all kinds of people of color. Each kid’s admission ticket gets them one FREE BOOK and the chance to buy as many more books as they like."
Plus, readings & Q&A with award-winning authors Nisi Shawl & K. Tempest Bradford!
AEW DYNAMITE Discussion Thread 11/08/23
It's Wednesday, you know what that means!...