okay guys so here are my aunt and my mom!!! what’s that tattoo you ask? well, it’s a tattoo that alaska native women who are inuit, yup’ik, gwich’in, unangax, and other groups would get traditionally as a sign of their womanhood, their triumphs, their stories (small thread)

it was super common, which is probably why it was shared among the different natives in alaska, and is super culturally significant. when the government started forcing natives to assimilate tho, one of the rituals that indigenous ppl were made to stop was this tattooing

but, in recent decades we’ve seen some really passionate cultural decolonization efforts, and alaska native women of all ages have been reclaiming halted traditions like this one, which is super dope.

there’s also a lot of light-skinned or just different looking alaska natives who are sometimes told that they’re not native enough to call themselves indigenous- colonization has happened to more than just land

this tradition helps those alaska native women who don’t feel as connected bc they don’t “look” native enough- it’s a VERY STRONG and direct form of decolonization that i feel like contributes majorly to the long-term goal of reviving almost forgotten aspects of our cultures