Becky Tallent

Most Native Americans will say both good and evil exist, but Indigenous concepts differ from Eurocentric ideas when it comes to evil. As I have said before, there are hundreds of Indigenous tribes, and each has their own cultures and religions. As a rule, however, most seem to believe in evil – not as a concept or an entity separate from humans, but as an action made by humans.

We have the right to say whatever we want, right? Isn’t that what the First Amendment says? Not necessarily. While the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law abridging the right of free speech, there is no such restriction on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thanks to a bipartisan vote that is soon to be signed into law by President Biden, my 40-year marriage will be safe in all states. No, I am not LGBT. I am a heterosexual Cherokee woman who happens to be married to a white man. And by white, I mean 100 percent Irish Welsh. The Respect for Marriage Act protects same sex marriage. It also, finally, protects interracial marriages.

Reporters are supposed to find the news, tease out rumor and innuendo to report facts; but too many reporters covering the story are using rumor as the basics of their stories. Too many are using words like “terrible” and “horrifying” in their work. I’m sorry, but: Duh. Of course the story is, they do not need to state the obvious. Following the memorial service at UI, too many reporters leaped onto the innuendo for their stories. One Spokane TV reporter speculating the crowd was uneasy because, “They did not know if the murderer was right next to them.” Talk about irresponsible reporting, that is a prime example. OK, I get it – the information is slow to come out. The police are protecting what information and leads they have. They absolutely do not want to jeopardize this case when it goes to court.

Images of Pilgrims in conical hats eating turkey with Native Americans wearing feathers encapsulates the myth of the first Thanksgiving. Few images can be farther from the truth. Today’s Thanksgiving is an image based on a lie; a falsehood made to soften history.

The silence from city officials, the police and UI officials seems so baffling since Sunday, Nov. 13. After people were told about the police finding the bodies of four students, it was very quiet until the names were released on Monday. Then, nothing again. It took a while for the police to finally say the four were killed by an “edged” item. Most people have taken that to mean a knife. The coroner said none of the dead were the perpetrator, ending the murder-suicide theories.

November is Native American Heritage month, and it is astounding how many stereotypical and wrong ideas are out there about America’s indigenous people. For starters: We are still here.