“November brings #RockYourMocs. We take a look at this Native American Heritage month movement and other social media trends that are changing the conversation for Indian Country. The digital age has brought with it a resurgence of attention on Native-specific issues from outsiders, thanks in large part to social media.” T. Walker, Native Peoples Magazine
Discussion Questions for this post
Excerpt: 8 Top Social Media Conversations, By Tate Walker, Native Peoples Magazine
“Concerns, celebrations and images are liked, shared, retweeted, and discussed by the millions on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Here, we present a look at hashtags (i.e. digital conversation starters) that represent some of the most recent—and/or continuous—discussion trends happening across Native America.
#RockYourMocs
Photo credit: tumblir
“What started in 2011 as a small way for Natives to show off their tradish kicks has exploded into one of the most visibly appealing (and comfortable) movements around. this movement now encourages folks to celebrate Native cultures and National American Indian Heritage Month (or National Native American Heritage Month referenced in casual use) by donning moccasins of every Indigenous nation on November 15 and snapping foot-tastic photos to post on social media accounts.”
#MMIW
Photo credit: Cope378
“It stands for ‘missing and murdered Indigenous women,’ and the hashtag is used by many different groups and individuals primarily to discuss the hundreds unsolved disappearances and/or homicides of Canada’s First Nations women, although conversations cover indigenous women across Turtle Island.”
#VAWA
Photo credit: WUNRN News
“Back in 2012, when a renewal of the Violence Against Women’s Act was hotly debated in Congress, tribes and their allies pushed hard to include new provisions that would give more authority to tribes addressing domestic violence.”
#NativerThanYou
Nativerthanyou
“This hashtag is all for humor, and it takes a break from Indian Country’s super-serious social media discussions. It was first used in the early days of 2012, and is the digital equivalent of the kind of joking, teasing and slams that define Native American humor. ”
#NotYourMascot
Photo credit- thunderclap
“The brainchild of the group Eradicating Offensive Native Mascotry… The hashtag was unleashed during Super Bowl XLVIII, when it trended nationally with about 18,000 tweets in a few hours. Created primarily to draw attention to efforts protesting the use of Native imagery and racial slurs in college and professional sports.”
#IdleNoMore
Photo-victoriacouncilof canandians
“This is the hashtag of all Indigenous hashtags and is used or can be used in pretty much every Native activist conversation from environmentalism to mascots to violence to education to language. What began in 2012 with First Nations women protesting measures by the Canadian government to open treaty lands and territory, and remove protections for the environment, would later become a rallying cry for round dance flash mobs, protests and marches led by Indigenous people across the continent standing up against those who insult or threaten Native identities, values and sovereignty.”
“Native American communities have and always will be a part of modern America.” ~Jason Baird Jackson~
Discussion Questions for this post
- Why did the RockYourMocs hashtag begin?
- Which hashtag is humorous?
- What does the MMIW hashtag stand for?
- What year did the VAWA hashtag begin?
- The IdleNoMore hashtag is used for which Native topics?
