Sovereign Innovations

In my hand, I hold a bingo card.

But don't worry.

We're not talking Natives in casinos.

That particular bingo card was made to inform journalists covering Indian Country how a lot of their coverage is stereotypical.

This is just one funny example of how Native people find the humor in our own situation.

Which brings us to today's episode.

How can laughter help Native communities heal from trauma?

Welcome back to another episode of Sovereign Innovations.

I'm your host and local Indigenous Creature, Cheyenne Bearfoot.

Some of you may have heard the phrase Laughter is the Best Medicine And if you haven't, well, now you have.

Indigenous peoples have use humorous storytelling to make our communities chuckle and sharply exhale through our nostrils for literally a millennia.

You'd think that with all the bad stuff we've been through, that we'd be the stoic, emotionless tropes you see on TV.

But I swear, Native Americans are really great, are taking pain, grief and parts of our grim history and turning all of that tastefully, mind you, into dark satirical comedy gold.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking dark comedy is not going to solve all wounds, and it's not so much the jokes as much as it is the community that you share them with.

Which is why I'm taking a well-deserved break here at the Gathering of Nations Powwow.

Come on!

So we're talking about, like, laughter medicine.

Do you have a favorite, like, Native joke or do you want to talk about the role that humor and laughter has played in your life, in your community as Indigenous people, as Native people?

Yeah, I think a lot of Natives are funny and it just like it just comes naturally.

We just we just love to laugh.

Why did the Native cross the road?

You dont say.

My cameraman's over there laughing.

He gets it, He likes it.

He thought it was funny.

What is the role humor is played in your life?

Im gonna ask you a joke.

You just say, no.

Do you know what a chicken rack, wrap is?

No.

Bawk, bawk, bawk Bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk That's a chicken wrap.

You know, I try to make people laugh and try to make peoples day.

Sarcasm is my thing.

Everyone needs laughter in their life.

How much?

(Laughing Out Loud) I feel like when we all get together and we're all just joking around and having fun, its just like that sense of community.

You know, when you go to ceremonies up in South Dakota but then in the camps, all you hear is laughter through whole camp, right?

And so it's always good.

It's good medicine.

You see, you don't mind if I eat right?

Native people love sharing fun stories with one another, and it doesn't all have to be grim, you know?

It's just about sharing in the joy of communication.

These gatherings are a critical part of maintaining connections with each other.

You feel the rumble of the Emcees voice from the speakers in the arena.

You see the groups of families and friends creating lasting memories and eating their fry bread.

And somewhere in the distance you can hear a pack of wild aunties cackling at their own jokes.

And I spoke with one such auntie you may be familiar with from the Internet, and I don't mean from SNAGMYAUNTIE.com I'm talking about TikTok.

That's right.

You don't have to only be in person anymore to have access to knee-slapping Native comedy turquoise.

With Native communities, we are able to take things that are probably difficult for us, you know, past things, ugly, yucky things, and really transform and like see the beauty in what we have now.

There's an alarm clock or a watch.

You use it.

We don't run on NDN Not-Doing-Nothing time here.

So when I think about how I started with this, you know, tough and rough, tell it like it is, Auntie.

I was really trying to get through the pandemic.

I wanted her to be a teacher.

I wanted her to be somebody who was that funny yet stern auntie that we all have, and I think all Native communities have that one auntie who are, or multiple aunties who are just tell it like it is, but they're telling you the truth.

Some people will tell you, oh you can't do that. You're not good enough. Dont listen to them.

Those ones are just all jealous, oochd.

You listen to Auntie here!

Don't listen to them.

Sometimes I think maybe Auntie Mayazhi is some of the things that I don't necessarily say when it's just me.

Like I want to say it, but when Auntie Mayazhi says it, it hits harder and like people get it.

So we're going around, as I mentioned, asking people how laughter is healing.

And with difficult subjects like this, how do you both manage that?

We're such a force to be reckoned with that we get together and we share stories about our loved ones who are missing and we just say funny things about them.

Or we try to have parties where everybody forgets about MMIWR and we just talk about what's going on and we just tell stories and tell jokes.

I think that's really important for people to take those moments where that when they're in trauma, to laugh and to think of other ways to, to deal with their pain.

Because I think oftentimes when we talk about Murdered, Missing, Indigenous Women and Relatives, there's not very much laughter.

That's a really powerful way to just be in community.

And then what about you?

What is the role, the healing role that laughter has played?

As a community we have to come together and also realize that the peer next here might be having issues that you can't control or anybody can control, but its always to find better way to bring something out.

Maybe a joke about someone like the other day, you know, one of the girls she said, I was so stressful! My sister here, her name's Ranelle Bennett She was missing by her sister, Anna Lu.

She's like, I had to go pick up my sister because she ran away to Shiprock.

She was talking about her poster and her flyer and her banner, and she put Ranelle next to her, and she told her, Stop running away! And she said she laughed.

But then, you know, she cried.

But you have to find your way of leveling it out.

And I always know that there's someone there behind you and tears come, but there's always going to be laughter.

Laughter can be a really effective tool at helping those who have suffered trauma heal and manage it better.

Laughing is known to boost your immune system, relieve pain and stress, lessen feelings of anxiety and depression.

You know, all those things victims of colonization and genocide might feel.

When we when we laugh, we produce these chemical endorphins or whatever you want to call it.

You know, if you only get in the science of it, right?

But you laugh and you you create humor and you create that self healing.

And this microphone is very powerful, it's very powerful.

But the Emcee that, you know, handles the Powwow, that's the voice of the Powwow, the way that a Emcee uses his humor, whether it's jokes on the fly, maybe jokes that he created.

And but my humor has a lot with my own traditional life experiences, my own growing up on the Rez with with with Rez similarities that are common amongst other reservations.

And then I've lived off the Rez, too, you know?

So I have that urban humor, lifestyle, things that just happen, funny to natives that travel, that Powwow, that kind of just live with blankets on the doors or or Rez cars or Rez dogs that have mange, that have three legs, you know?

I use a lot of education in my humor and my teachings and my teasing.

And I don't just tease anyone.

I use teasing in a teaching way.

And that's how it was back home.

You know, they they teased us to teach us.

But the only tease you, if they like you, they love you.

Okay, lets see how many of these stereotypes we covered today.

We saw drummers and horses and there was some dancing and we talked a little bit about violence, something Sacred thats me all the time.

I bring that sacredness to the set.

Okay, So I didn't get a bingo and we didn't really talk about all those things per se, but that's enough with the jokes.

Let's get real for a second.

This episode has honestly been kind of stressful to produce, and I really needed today's experience at the Gathering to feel somewhat whole again.

And I'm saying this all because your mental health is important.

Our relatives are okay with you slowing down, they're okay with me slowing down because they understand the work is difficult and sometimes you just need to sit with people you care about and make them laugh.

Thanks for watching.

That's all I got, until next time.