Remembering the fallen who gave their lives so we could live out ours in freedom. 

I know, if you read my books, you gotta be thinking what is this crazy chic thinking when, as part of the New Seminole, they killed American soldiers and airmen. Although it was in self-defense, that doesn't mean Nokosee and I don't admire the courage of those who were trying to kill us. They, like us, were caught up in lofty ideas worth fighting for. That makes us one in spirit. And pawns in a much bigger game we have little control over, a game where its real purpose is hidden by lofty ideas, patriotic music, and pow wow dancing. That said, I come from a long line of men and women who served in this country's armed forces and there is no way I'm going to forget their sacrifices despite what happened in my life.  God bless America. It needs it more than ever.

Despite our bad press, the New Seminole is not all about blowing shit up. We have an aesthetic, too. Like most Native American tribes do. When it comes to "cool," ours is indiscriminate about where it comes from-- like Nokosee was with me-- and I, him. Especially in fashion. So when I see something like that bag up above that incorporates traditional NA bead work AND punk elements, I gotta have it-- or at least promote it. Since I'm holed up in the Miccosukee Embassy seeking sanctuary from Uncle Sam and don't have a job, I'll give a shout out to Jamie Okuma and her over-the-top exciting blending of NA and punk artistic elements. As an artist, her work has been shown in galleries around the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Her work has also found permanent homes in

museums, including the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Aside from that to-die-for-bag-- and you would die for it if you tried to take it from me-- she also has reimagined the moccasin.  How can you not LOVE these platforms? For someone as petite as me they would sure come in handy for trampin' around the Everglades in the dry season, you know, so I can see over the sawgrass (just kidding, there is no way I'd wear these babies out there). Plus, like the spiked bag, both would make great weapons because those stilettoes aren't for pussies. BTW, I know how to walk in them and I'm not afraid to use them as a weapon. As a last resort, of course. 

I blame it on the news. And Donald Trump. Here I am a mom with an uncontrollable urge to spike my hair and get a little punky at the Miccosukee Embassy* which is, I guess, a whole lot better than "acting out" like I did with Nokosee and the New Seminole. For a while there I was beginning to settle into my new life as the first ever person to score "sanctuary" on Native American land. In the beginning my confinement for the most part went unnoticed by me because I was 100% into being a mom to my new baby girl Haalie. Heck, I didn't even miss Nokosee that much (just kidding-- Haalie kept my mind off him, otherwise I would have gone straight up bonkers).

And then Trump got elected. And the news kept getting worse with announcements each day and week that the idiot in the White House was, with the stroke of his pen, dismantling decades of laws protecting the environment and our national parks.

​So, yesterday I rediscovered my rebellious self-- to Haalie's delight. You can't see her behind the glass, but she's got spiked hair too. I went as far as actually going outside, something I haven't done since arriving here.  I don't know who took that picture, but I think it went up on the Net before I got back in the door. I suspect it was taken by Micco Mann, the FBI guy out to get me and Nokosee-- or one of his minions since I never met the man. Anyway, I was shocked to see how pale I was. I use to have a great tan. At least I'm not giving the guy who shot that picture the finger. I must be mellowing out. 

*This video outtake shows the caves beneath the Miccosukee Embassy and Lee Tiger, the son of Buffalo Tiger, the founder of the Miccosukee Tribe (Lee also happens to be half of the rock band "Tiger Tiger"-- his brother Stephen-- now passed-- is the other half).

After reading what Trump is doing to our earth in his first 100-days with one "Presidential" order after-the-other: the roll back of EPA regulations, the lifting of restrictions on the Dakota Access Pipelines and the Keystone XL pipeline, and to reexamine keeping designated national parks are just a few examples. Many of these protections have been decades in the making. Some for over a century. All for what? So people and their corporations can make money.

Closer to home, it saddens and frustrates me to learn that Florida has made it a law that no city can ban plastic bags. Coral Gables was the first and last city to do this until the "Money First" corporations and their lobbyist minions found out and made sure something like that never happened again. Our state reps should be ashamed but since the majority of them are Repugnicants, shame is always Trumped by greed.

Image from Native Outlawz. 

Juliana Ossa is 10-years-old. Recently an alligator had her by the leg and was trying to drag her into the water. Although she screamed, she had enough presence of mind to remember what she was taught at Gatorland, a local Orlando attraction: stick you fingers in the animal's nostrils to make it let you go. She did. It paused, she grabbed its snout and yanked her leg from its mouth.
Pretty cool. 

Hope my little toddler, Haalie-- from the Seminole word for alligator: Haalpatee-- never has to fight off a gator but if she does, she'll do it like my newest favorite-- and youngest-- fierce heroine did it.