suchasensualdestroyer:

Thom Hvlpvtv (Oklahoma Seminole), 21st Century Native American Unable to Speak His Language (self-portrait) from The Cultural Cringe series, print, c. 2008.

It’s a little hard to see in this picture, but when he gets up, he leaves his mouth behind.

Thom’s an acquaintance. His last name is said like hulbuttah - it means alligator in our language. We’ve spoken in halting, baby Mvskoke to each other. It’s terrifying. I speak fluent Khmer and I can barely toddle along in either my own Tribal language (Mikasuki) or its parent language (Mvskoke). Drives me nuts. Alienating.

(via adailyriot)