Quote from: Annie on August 26, 2021, 05:36:16 AM
Alice in wonderland and Pocahontas? In the 90s? Acceptable. We are not going to Kenya her 
GODya pushed back on the backlash for wearing that headdress costume by saying it's part of her heritage . but Indigenous-ness isn't just "one" culture or "one" type of clothing . .... they're all very distinctive based on the group.
My great grandma's regalia/clothing is what helped me finally identify
what TYPE of Indigenous person she was.
For the longest time I was questioning why her clothing kinda gave me a "Russian" vibe, even though she is clearly Indigenous. Kinda threw me off and confused me.
Someone saw her pic recently and immediately said, "She's
Sami". At first I was like wtf is a Sami? Never heard of them. No, she's Indigenous AMERICAN. But since I had questions still in my mind - especially with her clothing, I entertained the theory presented. I was open to at least research it. And I'm glad I did. Her regalia/clothing AND my DNA all specifically point to Sami.
The Sami are an Indigenous group with deep ancestral roots in what is now known as Russia, who migrated to and now reside in Scandinavia. Many of them
fled Scandinavia in the 1800s to America to escape genocide that was occurring against their people from their White oppressors - unfortunately not only do they look like North American Indians, their STORY is very similar is well.
And unfortunately, it appears my great grandma was one of the Sami who fled Scandinavia for her life.
The time matches up perfectly.
Her being Sami explains why goddess gives me slight Russian teas with her attire ->
QuoteThe ancestral land of the Sámi, like other Uralic peoples, is the region along the Volga in Russia, which is the longest river in Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sámi_people Sami do not have an official "category" on these DNA sites - like Native Americans do.
But still,
the test CLOCKED their ancient origins AND migration in my DNA - perfectly.
Their
migrations from the area of Eastern Europe/Russia to Scandinavia centuries ago are literally etched out in my DNA. And between the East Europe/Russia and Scandaniva results, the PERCENTAGES match up almost perfectly to what I should expect from my GG grandma.
She was a "full blooded" Sami.
QuoteThe Sami-specific mtDNA lineage carrying one of those motifs, denoted haplogroup U5b1b1, has been suggested to be of eastern European origin.
https://www.nature.com/articles/ejhg200888 
The REGALIA.
Sami are known for their big hats and capes!
With this thread being about appropriation I kinda feel bad because I was thinking Native American for the longest cuz I was so sure. I mean in my defense, many Sami and Native Americans look alike because they kinda have deeper ancestral roots in the same regions.
I was so desperate to make a connection that I maintained contact with this NA tribe in Virginia based on some info I found about my grandfathers family also having origins in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was like OK...that has to be it. That's native american territory. I was just willing to take the
closest thing I could find to a solid answer, and that tribe wasn't state or federally recognized, and they are struggling so they were just happy to have someone who was willing to join their cause it seems.
They were like "Oh yeah! We heard of that name before - you must be kinfolk! Welcome! lolz" sddssdssd
But I'm so glad I never went as FAR to put on clothing/regalia from any specific tribe with those questions still lingering in the back of my mind. I think part of me knew that I still hadn't figured things out completely. That's sacred.
But now, if I wanna wear GATKI (Sami regalia/clothing), I absolutely can.
To honor great grandma and keep her legacy/culture alive.
Honestly, I would have NEVER figured this out on my own. The answers were hiding in clear sight in front of me for literally years and I didn't catch tea.
