Real Native American Story Group

06/11/2025

The “Remember the Removal” team visited Port Royal State Park in Adams, Tennessee, today and walked a preserved part of the Northern Route of the Trail of Tears. It is always an emotional experience.
The hands of Cherokee Nation Remember the Removal cyclists on the sign located at Port Royal that shows how far they have traveled and how far they have left to go to reach Westville, Oklahoma. Beyond Westville, they will have 50 miles to ride to reach their destination of Tahlequah on June 23.

06/11/2025

An American Indian veteran salutes his comrades. The men who fought together and died together are listed together on The Wall. They came from all creeds, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

06/11/2025

In August 2024, an 8-foot-tall sculpture by Samuel Stitt (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) was installed facing toward Ireland at the Choctaw Nation Capital Grounds in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma. Called "Eternal Heart," the design combines a Celtic trinity shape intertwined with a heart on a concrete base edged with diamond shapes, a Choctaw symbol of reverence to the diamondback snake.
The Choctaw and Irish are entwined because of an act of kindness almost two centuries ago. The Irish potato famine of the 1840s had starved one million people and a million others emigrated to the United States to survive. In 1847, the Choctaw Nation responded to this tragedy, even though their own resources at the time were very meager, having just endured forced removal from their ancestral homelands. They came together to raise money and sent that, along with corn and blankets, to the Irish people of Midleton in County Cork.
Pictured: Samuel Stitt (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), "Eternal Heart," 2024. Photo courtesy Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.

06/11/2025

Do not feed bread to ducks and geese.
Bread causes permanent harm to ducks and geese, leading to deformities like “angel wing,” which prevent them from migrating and escaping predators. Please avoid giving them bread.
Instead, opt for healthier options such as cracked corn, peas, mealworms, romaine lettuce, watermelon, or sliced grapes!

06/11/2025

lol🤣🤣…

06/11/2025

WE ARE ONE!!!

06/11/2025

06/11/2025

Cole “Coco” Brings Plenty was more than a name or a headline. He was a bright light, a storyteller, a bridge between generations, and a proud Mnicouju Lakota. His presence carried both the weight of his ancestors and the hope of his people’s future. As an actor and a media student at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas, Cole was on a journey—not only to share his gifts with the world, but to redefine representation, identity, and truth in media. His sudden and tragic death on April 5th, 2024, in a wooded area near Edgerton, Kansas, left behind heartbreak, questions, and a family determined to uncover what happened to him.
Cole’s life was one of intention and passion. He did not just pursue acting; he embodied it as a means of cultural resilience. For Native communities, storytelling is a sacred act—an extension of memory, land, and spirit. Cole channeled that tradition in his work, bringing not only talent but authenticity to his roles. His education at Haskell Indian Nations University reflected his commitment to grounding that creative work in community and heritage.
His disappearance in early April, after missing two auditions he had been eagerly preparing for, set off alarm bells for those who knew his character and dedication. It was not like Cole to go silent. When he was found deceased days later, the grief was not only personal for his family and friends—it became collective for Native communities across the country. This loss echoes the pain too many Indigenous families have felt for too long.
There is a bitter familiarity in stories like Cole’s: a promising Native youth gone too soon, unanswered questions, and a system that does not move fast enough—or at all—for justice. Cole Brings Plenty is not forgotten because he is not alone. He joins a tragic list of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP), and his story fuels a movement that demands recognition, accountability, and change.
But Cole’s story is also one of strength. The legacy he leaves is not solely one of tragedy, but of inspiration. He was living his dream. He was showing other Native youth that their stories matter, their voices belong in every room—from classrooms to casting calls. And now, even in his absence, he speaks through the memories of those who loved him, the art he created, and the awareness his life and loss continue to raise.
His family continues to seek justice—and in doing so, they carry the flame of his spirit. They remind us that Cole’s life mattered deeply, and that his story deserves truth, dignity, and peace. In the face of silence, they speak. In the face of loss, they fight for justice.
To Cole “Coco” Brings Plenty: You are not forgotten. Your light is not extinguished. It lives in every drumbeat, in every camera flash, in every heart that dares to demand better for Native youth. Your story is a thread in the fabric of resilience that cannot be torn. And your name will be spoken—today, tomorrow, always.
Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ — We are all related.
John Gonzalez
Standing Bear Network

06/11/2025

[Image Description:
The picture is a black and white photograph of a young indigenous girl. She is looking directly into the camera with a relaxed expression. She is wearing a traditional shawl and beaded necklaces.
Her hair has been parted in the middle placed in large buns that fan out in an arch on either side of her head.
In a white text box in front of her, the quote says: "May the 4th be... A day where we give the land back to indigenous people" in black text. The hashtag StarWars Day is written beneath. There are small stars on either side of the text box.[

06/11/2025

""I am an old woman now. The buffaloes and black-tail deer are gone, and our Indian ways are almost gone. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I ever lived them.
My little son grew up in the white man's school. He can read books, and he owns cattle and has a farm. He is a leader among our Hidatsa people, helping teach them to follow the white man's road.
He is kind to me. We no longer live in an earth lodge, but in a house with chimneys, and my son's wife cooks by a stove.
But for me, I cannot forget our old ways.
Often in summer I rise at daybreak and steal out to the corn fields, and as I hoe the corn I sing to it, as we did when I was young. No one cares for our corn songs now.
Sometimes in the evening I sit, looking out on the big Missouri. The sun sets, and dusk steals over the water. In the shadows I see again to see our Indian village, with smoke curling upward from the earth lodges, and in the river's roar I hear the yells of the warriors, and the laughter of little children of old.
It is but an old woman's dream. Then I see but shadows and hear only the roar of the river, and tears come into my eyes. Our Indian life, I know, is gone forever.""
Waheenee - Hidatsa (North Dakota)."