Pinkflipphonez - Ya Wey

yo but what if all nations are born from the origin stories of their respective cultures/religions?

here’s my rusame secret santa gift for amerus king @ironicorange!

I hope I did the funny christmas sweater concept justice (ivan totally knitted them both) and it was a huge honor to draw something for you! thank you for representing the amerus/rusame community as amazingly as you do, much love! xo

I feel the cordial moments between Russia and America are soooo underrated. Such as the Poltava aka Operation Frantic (the joint US-Soviet base operations in Eastern Europe in WW2), Van Cliburn (the American pianist who won the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow), Apollo-Soyuz Space Mission (do you know US & USSR even co-produced commemorative cigarettes), and if we go back in history, there was 1863 when Russia sent fleets to America to show support for the Union (“God bless the Empire that loves the great Union; Strength to her people! Long life to the Czar!”) and when Nicholas I invited American engineers to help build the first railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow, and so on. They share far more history than that meets the eye.

As we commemorate 76 years of the Nakba, it's crucial to remind everyone again that the Nakba was not an isolated incident that began and ended in 1948.

76 years ago, when Israeli generals like Moshe Sharett said things like "we have forgotten that we have not come to an empty land to inherit it, but we have come to conquer a country from people inhabiting it, that governs it by the virtue of its language and savage culture", of course current ones will carry the same genocidal notion with calls for "a Nakba [in Gaza] that will overshadow the 1948 Nakba".

The genocide that is carried out in Gaza today is only a continuation of the violence and massacres committed by now dead Israeli officials in the 1940s; it is an extension of policies that Israel founded itself on.

Make not mistake, the Nakba continues to this very day. With it, our pursuit of justice persists. And with the shifting tides, our call never wavered: Free Palestine.

after not seeing much of each other (or the best of each other) in the 50s-60s, I'd like to think that alfred and ivan enjoy exploring musical media of that era together in modern day. for example, alfred loves to show ivan how to dance the twist and ivan will share his x-ray record collection of contraband music with him.

ivan won't let him know that he's been to a maya kristalinskaya concert or two and he's already learned the dance. alfred won't let him know that he owns multiple muslim magomayev lps and once snuck past the iron curtain to hear vladimir troshin live.

so uh...

would y'all read an unnecessarily long one-shot about alfred f. jones retelling his fall off the grand canyon to ivan braginsky that leads to a talk about immortality existentialism?

Hi,

I'm not indigenous so you can dismiss this as being overstepping if you want and you'd have every right to as a native person. I was thinking of maybe sending this on anon but anon messages are far easier to be construed as bad faith (I want to stress I'm not sending you this ask to dunk on you or ague with you or something) and also I think it's best to be honest so I'm doing this off anon.

I'll admit I was personally kind of uncomfortable at your Koryak Russia headcanon when I saw it, particularly because of the history regarding the Russian colonisation of Siberia, and especially because you chose the Koryaks in particular. However I am not indigenous so of course my opinion is definitely not one which should be amplified. I just want to give some context on Siberia/the Koryaks which might help explain further why the Koryak anon was upset.

Unlike the USA, Russia was an already established country when it undertook its colonisation of the far East. The indigenous Siberians were never originally "Russian" and had very little to no contact with Russians before the Russians invaded, and, again, Russia was an already established country at that point. The formation of Russia as a nation had nothing to do with engaging with Siberian indigenous, however Russia as we know it today with its huge landmass is a result of the later Russian colonisation of Siberia (Tsardom of Russia established 1547, Russia began its invasion of Siberia in 1580).

I didn't want to say anything because well I'm not a Koryak nor am I am indigenous Siberian nor am I indigenous at all however seeing as a Koryak spoke out, I just wanted to give a little more context of Russia's treatment of Siberian indigenous and Koryaks in particular. Again, I'm not sending this ask to shout at you, I just wanted to give further context.

Russia, as the previous Koryak anon pointed out, has been disproportionately mobilising indigenous Siberians, hence why the "Free Buryatia Foundation" was founded in an attempt to combat this, I've made some posts on this myself, including the recent Russian crack down on Siberian activists in which they've sentenced the leader of Free Buryatia to 7 years in prison.

Indigenous Siberian soldiers in Ukraine have also been frequently scapegoated for Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine, including by the Pope himself,

"The cruelest are perhaps those who are of Russia but are not of the Russian tradition, such as the Chechens, the Buryats and so on,” he said."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/11/29/europe/pope-francis-chechens-buryats-intl/index.html

Not only do indigenous Siberians face Russification, grapple with the Kremlins mistreatment of them and suffer from disproportionate mobilisation, but they are also being scapegoated for the brunt of Russian war crimes in Ukraine

https://www.media-diversity.org/the-savage-warriors-of-siberia-how-an-ethnic-minority-in-russia-came-to-be-unfairly-blamed-for-the-worst-war-crimes-in-ukraine/

To give some further context on Russia's treatment of the Koryaks in particular, not the full history but:

In the 1930s Koryak children were sent to boarding schools, where they were expected to adopt new ideas, including anti-religious views and criticisms towards their own traditions. This led to the loss of their natural way of life and traditions, with many Koryak settlements forcibly disbanded. In 1954, the teaching of the Koryak language was banned - this lasted for 2 decades. Affluent herders and shamans were executed during Stalins reign.

I can only find one source which says this so take it with a grain of salt , but nuclear testing. Apparently nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s caused severe problems for the Koryaks. Radioactive contamination harmed their immune system. Reindeer-herders' bones contain significantly more lead and caesium, resulting in a surge in diseases. Again, I could only find 1 source for this which is why I said "apparently" however regardless of if this factoid in particular is true or false doesn't necessarily take away from Russia's overall mistreatment of them.

On the Koryak infant mortality rate: "Infant mortality is also very high..The highest rates recorded in official statistics are among the Koryak, at 52.6 per 1000" (Peoples of the Arctic: Characteristics of Human Populations Relevant to Pollution Issues)

The average Koryak lifespan at one point was less than 50 years and iirc it's still quite low.

When it comes to their fishing:

"In September 2014, the parliamentary assembly of Kamchatka Krai introduced a bill aimed at reconsidering the management of those territories that have been traditionally used by indigenous peoples. The bill set out a proposal to considerably reduce their area and to prevent indigenous peoples from cultivating the land in the south of the Kamchatka Krai region – a move that deprives many of the ability to maintain traditional livelihoods such as fishing."

https://minorityrights.org/minorities/koryaks/

I'm not trying to point a finger at you because I'm sure you did not have any bad intentions with your post especially because you yourself are native and I'm not so I would be seriously overstepping, and of course it's always amazing to see more indigenous rep and I myself have my own Siberian ocs, but I just wanted to try and give some further context as to why perhaps the Koryak anon was upset at your depiction, however again I'm not indigenous so my opinion on the matter holds a hell of a lot of less weight. You don't have to feel obligated to post this, I know it's a heavy subject, and again I'm not indigenous/native so you could just dismiss this all if you wish. I hope this didn't come across as me overstepping

I truly appreciate your taking the time to message me. I do not mind, as anyone who recognizes something is wrong should say something. Being native does not excuse my choices, so please don't feel bad for correcting me or adding context.

I mentioned my intentions in the anon's ask because I wanted them to know my making Russia Koryaki was not to erase these humanitarian injustices, but to see a character I adore as indigenous. No matter my intentions, I should have known better than to connect an oppressed native culture that I have no connection to, to the literal embodiment of its invader.

Your message is important to me and because you used multiple sources, I do want to share it as it is a great way for more people outside of Russia to know about the plight of Koryak people. To the anon, I altruistically apologize for my depictions.

rusame were the ones fucking in the US senate by the way

look at this BEAUTIFUL portrait of cowboy America, created by amazing artist (and parent to the greatest Mexico OC) @dahliamorena for an art trade we did!

my opinion on a native alfred f. jones

To continue the conversation from the last message I received, I do want to address why I choose to depict America as native. To preempt, my perspective should not be taken as speaking for other natives, as we all have our own respective opinions.

It should go without saying but the United States as a governed superpower is a country that has purposefully failed and harmed black and indigenous people both on the mainland and abroad. The history of this country is cruel, brutal, and inhumane, and it should seldom be forgotten.

When it comes to America, the character, I do not see him as being involved in the crimes done unto these communities. I do believe it's because I truly love this character and I cannot imagine him doing these things to his own people-- but I can see why that would be a very infantile opinion to have on my part. Hetalia is inherently a political concept; personifications that represent governed states, therefore making their identities directly align with their national policies.

This is my personal headcanon but I always saw America, like Canada, and other Hetalia characters, as a manifestation of the land their state stands on, rather than being the direct personification of the imperial/colonial entity. This was one of the reasons I began depicting Alfred Jones as native and drew him that way (while keeping the more recognizable elements of his design)-- the main reason why I made him native is because as a native, I cannot see the imperialist nation being indigenous but I can absolutely see the land itself being indigenous: because it is.

However, after hearing other natives speak on this, I recognize that this is very much a cope of mine... In Hetalia, the personifications are very much shown to be involved in pivotal parts of history and it is implied that they get along with their overseers (most of whom were a bunch of racist old fcks). If a native personification existed, they wouldn't be okay with this.

I treat his identity similarly to my own because he has become my favorite character and I am not above inserting my identity troubles into my fictional faves. I am a reconnecting native (Nahuatl, Wixarika) who often feels so without identity that drawing a native AJ heals me. But that does not change that AJ, as a personification of the United States, represents everything that has traumatized native folks.

I do want to let other natives know where I stand in this conversation because I do not want my choices to be perceived as a vanity project to place indigenous faces wherever I please-- it comes from a true love for indigenous identity, my identity, and a great love for Alfred Jones.

From now on, I do think I may just make my own indigenous ocs in the future. it's the best way to ensure I never mix ndn identity with oppressive governmental states.