Author Archives: Stephen Carr Hampton

About Stephen Carr Hampton

Stephen Carr Hampton is an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation, an avid birder since age 7, and a former resource economist for the California Department of Fish & Game, where he worked as a tribal liaison and conducted natural resource damage assessments and oversaw environmental restoration projects after oil spills. He writes most often about Native history and contemporary issues, birds, and climate change.

Magical realism in Tennessee

Posted on April 8, 2023 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Yesterday the Tennessee legislature put three of their own on trial, one white woman and two black men – the so-called #TennesseeThree. They did not really consider them their own. The three had been concerned about children killed by … Continue reading →

Posted in my own thoughts | Tagged #TennesseeThree, legislative lynching, magical realism in Tennessee, Native remains, Prince Cornblossom, Tennessee Valley Authority | Leave a comment

The 2020 US Census: Where did all the new Native Americans come from?

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Comparing the 2020 census to the 2010 census, the Native American population nearly doubled. Where did all these new Natives come from? The 2020 US Census reported dramatic increases, relative to 2010, in all non-white populations. This was overwhelmingly driven … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged 2010, 2020, blood quantum, census, mixed race, mixed relationships, native americans, Pretendians | Leave a comment

I’m not related to Pocahontas and neither are you

Posted on March 19, 2023 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Probably. Right up there next to the my-grandma-says-I’m-descended-from-a-Cherokee-princess thing is an almost-as-farfetched American white people myth: that you’re related to Pocahontas. It’s difficult to go a month in online forums about Native ancestry without someone claiming it. So it came … Continue reading →

Posted in my own thoughts | Tagged Ancestry, Cherokee, FamilySearch, faux genealogies, Native American Project, Pocahontas, Powhatan, related to Pocahontas, rolfe, WikiTree | 14 Comments

My badass great-grandmothers and the power of Native women

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Women have always occupied positions of strength and respect across Native America. For starters, most tribes were matrilineal. This generally meant that when a couple marries, the husband moved into the woman’s town and joined her family. Her brothers, the … Continue reading →

Posted in my own thoughts | Tagged Andrew Jackson, Cherokee, detachment, grandmother, Indian Territory, indigenous, Nancy Ward, Native women, Pocahontas, Power of Native Women, Richard Fox Taylor, Susannah, Trail of Tears | Leave a comment

Dear Justice Alito, I heard your question

Posted on November 14, 2022 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Dear Justice Alito, I listened to the oral arguments in Brakeen v Haaland. I heard your question: “but why — why is it rational [to foster a child in the home of someone from another tribe, as a third-tier option]? … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged Brakeen, child welfare, culture, ICWA, justice, Justice Alito, powwow, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, tribes, war | 5 Comments

Rescuing Navajo babies

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Lest one think the White Savior Industrial Complex is a recent development, Christians have been rescuing Navajo babies from their families for centuries. And the Supreme Court is considering it again. The Catholics It started with the Spaniards, but continued … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged adoption, Catholic, Evangelicals, ICWA, Indian Child Welfare Act, Mormons, navajo, New Mexico, Supreme Court | 2 Comments

Swimming pools and death threats: America comes to the YMCA

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Stephen Carr Hampton

Day 1 We were taking my one-year-old grandson to the local YMCA to go swimming. It’s the only public pool in town. My wife was doing a shift as lifeguard, helping to keep the pool open as they struggled to … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged city council, death threats at the YMCA, pool, port townsend, protests, swimming, trans, transgender, YMCA | Leave a comment

Indigenous bird names today

Posted on August 25, 2022 by Stephen Carr Hampton

As the American Ornithological Society (AOS) contemplates changing potentially dozens of English bird names to names more representative of the bird, and more inclusive of our society, many have voiced interest in and support of indigenous bird names. This post … Continue reading →

Posted in my own thoughts | Tagged birds, consultation, Indigenous Bird Names, ivory-billed woodpecker, kiskadee, tanager | 4 Comments

Merciless savages: The Supreme Court’s attacks on women and Native Americans

Posted on July 3, 2022 by Stephen Carr Hampton

In the majority opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the Supreme Court relied upon social and historical mores in the 18th and 19th century to interpret the US Constitution. Because Roe v. Wade, they argued, relied upon the 14th … Continue reading →

Posted in news | Tagged 14th amendment, abortion, Alito, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Dobbs, eurocentric, Haudenosaunee, history, huerta, hyde, Iroquois, liberty, merciless Indian savages, PL 280, rights, Roe, Roe v Wade, SCOTUS, sovereignty, sterlization, Supreme Court, tradition, tribal, white supremacy | Leave a comment

I remember when White Evangelicals were Democrats and abortion was a minor issue. I remember what happened next.

Posted on June 25, 2022 by Stephen Carr Hampton

I remember when I was in 5th grade Jimmy Carter had won the election, famously describing himself as a “born again” Christian. He was a Democrat, as were many White Evangelicals. Abortion was a Catholic issue, part of their pro-life … Continue reading →

Posted in my own thoughts | Tagged abortion, born again, carter, christians, democrats, election, falwell, history, hitler, reagan, republican, resolution, southern baptists, trump, white evangelicals | Leave a comment