About my avatar

by slimboyfat 30 Replies latest jw friends

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  Oubliette

  Cofty: Am I not right in saying that Canada is part of North America which is made up of Canada and the USA?

  Well, you obviously left out Greenland and Mexico. And according to many geologists/geographers, you should also include Central America and the Caribbean.
  

  And so, to include most of the 40 - 50 countries of the Americas:

  • Antigua Barbuda
  • Bahamas
  • Barbados
  • Bermuda
  • Cuba
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Grenada
  • Guadelupe
  • Haiti
  • Jamaica
  • Martinique
  • Netherland Antilles
  • Puerto Rico
  • St. Kitts & Nevis
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • U.S. Virgin Islands
  • Belize
  • Costa Rica
  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Mexico
  • Honduras
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • French Guyana
  • Guyana
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Suriname
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
  • there are more ... the list is long (did someone say the Falkland Islands?)

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  adjusted knowledge

  Also big distinction are Canadians favorite pastime is touting how much better they are than Americans. Then claiming they don't brag like those uncouth Americans.

  I love the sweeping generalizations of Americans by Canadians. You do know that there are millions upon millions of Mexican Americans and I doubt they complain about their relatives south of the border. My wife is an American and is from Cebu. I'm an American and my grandmother from my father's side and grandfather from my mother's side are Blackfoot Indians. USA is a true melting pot and isn't homogeneous as so many Canadians like to claim.
  
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  Oubliette

  North America:

  
  
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  Simon

  Also big distinction are Canadians favorite pastime is touting how much better they are than Americans. Then claiming they don't brag like those uncouth Americans

  We don't complain. It's banter. We do it with everyone in the UK and commonwealth countries, calling each other names, throwing insults. It's mostly friendly but I don't think American's always get it.
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  Simon

  Plus in more recent years I am interested in the philosophical notion of authenticity and what it really means. I now doubt whether there is a meaningful distinction to be made between appearance and reality at all. Grey Owl appeared to be an articulate Native American interested in nature and conservation. He was convincing partly because he tapped into powerful stereotypes. In what meaningful sense was he a fraud? His rising star in modern culture in some ways mirrors our own questioning of the notion of authenticity itself.

  Sorry, I derailed your thread.

  I think this is a good point - why are we more willing to listen to some yokel about the environment or a hippy in tie-died t-shirt and uncut hair than someone in a suit? Because they represent stereo-types and we form an opinion based on that.

  We often base views of people on the progress of their culture and how industrialized it was. Anyone conquered before industrialization is seen as being "environmentally aware" which isn't a given but more often they take just what they need to live in a sustainable way vs decimating an area for profit.

  If someone wears a hat to communicate something more effectively, especially ahead of their time, then I see nothing wrong with that.
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  LisaRose

  Interesting story SBF, I always wondered about your avatar.

  It seems like every family ( I am in the US) has their story about a connection to Native Americans. We just love to think we're connected to the Native culture I guess. Sounds more interesting than 'My ancestors were penniless squatters for two centuries.'

  Yeah, my family also. I was always told that my paternal grandmother had some American Indian ancestry. A relative did a geneology, it turns out that it's not true. They did discover that my paternal grandfather was illegitimate. Well, actually that was known, but the story was that my great grandmother's first husband died in the civil war. His commanding officer had promised to look after her in the event of his death, so he did, eventually having two children with her. He never officially acknowledged his children, although my grandfather did eventually take his last name.
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  GrreatTeacher

  In the American south, some of those claims of Native American ancestry are borne of racism.

  There is a lot of African American ancestry in the white American genome of the South. Lots of black folks have a white great granddaddy, and lots of white folks have a black great granny who could "pass."

  This was absolutely unacceptable to the whites involved and so it became a common thing to instead claim a Native ancestor to explain the darker skin.

  So, some folks who think they have a Cherokee grandmother actually have an African American one.

  The more you know...
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  I knew that GT, but hesitated to say it. Quite true.
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  Oubliette

  Should I be jealous?

  No one asks me about my avatar. Most just assume I'm a hot and sexy young French girl just waiting to be taken!

  If only they knew!

  (People should learn to Google).
  
  
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  kaik

  My friend is a partial native Indian. He has very difficult name and very strange physical features (he very tall). Once I asked him and he told me that his grandfather was native Indian from Oregon and his grandmother married him. He showed me album and some artifacts he has from his grandpa. It was very cool.