MAKE AMERICA WHAT AMERICA MUST BECOME

A Note from the Editors of Bulbancha Is Still a Place

 

In 1828 the first edition of the Cherokee Phoenix rolled off the press in New Echota, Georgia. It was the first Native American periodical, and the first in an Indigenous language. Its necessity was due to a lack of Indigenous viewpoints and representation in other media. It brought forth a lasting and positive legacy for Indigenous Peoples in colonized and occupied territories, opening a pathway of expression in print.

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Our own anthology zine Bulbancha Is Still a Place: Indigenous Culture from "New Orleans" is an answer to a lack of Indigenous representation in Bulbancha, the original name for what colonists attempted to rename as “New Orleans.” We say “attempted” because there are still some of us who use the original name, meaning “the place of other languages” in Choctaw, a name referring to a multi-lingual place of cultural and economic interaction before European incursions into the area.

 

Indigenous People have never stopped living in Bulbancha.

 

We present to you a few images and article snippets from Bulbancha Is Still a Place here, and thank our many zine contributors and supporters in this journey. What follows contains the work of these contributors: Mato Redhawk; Catherine T. Nelson; Leila K. Blackbird; Jonathan Mayers; Fernando López (photos); Ida Aronson; Ayeta Chaouacha; Daniela Capistrano; Pippin Frisbie-Calder; Jessi Parfait (“Indians? What Indians?”piece); members of the Tunica-Biloxi Language and Cultural Revitalization Program; Rain Prud’homme-Cranford; Winter White Hat; Andrew Jolivétte; and our editorial team. Bulbancha forever!

 

Ozone504, Contributing Arts and Design Editor

Jeffery U. Darensbourg, Contributing Editor-Who’s-not-a-Chief