This summer, I saw so many people on social media hop on airplanes and head out West. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me. The American West is somewhere everyone should visit at least once in their lives. There is something so humbling, so freeing about standing in the shadow of the…

Native American erasure at its finest. — The U.S. election is finally over (unless you’re among the few who believe the fake news that the Trump campaign has a “fighting chance” in the courts.) Watching Biden’s and Harris’s victory speeches was cathartic for so many reasons. After four long years of tumult, there’s the promise of a…

Your willful ignorance isn’t cute — I don’t remember the first time you dressed as an “Indian.” It must have been sometime in elementary school. I don’t even remember the second or third time. But we went to a small private school, so by high school when girls start paying attention to these things, it was…

Native Americans were denied the right to vote for decades. Many still are. — November is Native American Heritage Month here in the United States and as a woman with Native heritage, it’s a time to pause and reflect. In an election year, it’s especially meaningful because thousands of Native Americans nationwide will hit the polls to exercise their hard-won right to express their…

#4: Your boobs will hurt. — I started drinking coffee in high school for reasons I don’t even remember. What I do remember is that it made me feel cool. Adults drank coffee — only children found coffee bitter and repulsive. By college, I couldn’t go without that morning cup. I was an athlete, and between…

A woman standing up for herself should not be so disruptive. — Last week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the floor of the House to address the vile language Florida Representative Ted Yoho hurled at her on the steps in front of the Capitol last Tuesday. In front of reporters, he called her “disgusting,” “out of your freaking mind” and a “fucking bitch.”…

From LGBTQ Rights to Black Lives Matter, the company just doesn’t get it. — Oh, Chick-fil-A. Where do I even begin? As a white woman from the American South, I know how Chick-fil-A is a lifestyle. Hungry after the Friday night football game? Chick-fil-A. Driving anywhere remotely far and need a snack? Chick-fil-A. Too busy to cook? Chick-fil-A. Goodness, when Chick-fil-A launched its breakfast…

It’s not worth worrying over what you can’t control. — For Thanksgiving a few years ago, my mother invited one of our neighbors who didn’t have family in the area to join us for the day. The weather was mild for November in Virginia, a soft sun warming the air around us. We were roasting oysters on the back patio…

His presidency enacted some of the most brutal policies against Native Americans. There should be no monuments to him. — Last week, in the wake of statues and monuments toppling across the country in protests against systemic racism and the murder of George Floyd, President Trump signed an executive order not to protect American citizens, but to protect the statues. There’s a lot that I could unpack in that sentence…