Dear Santa, I've been good again this year and am very excited for Christmas.
Thank you for all of the wonderful Native-made presents you brought my family and me last year. Will you please do the same this year? Since none of this stuff is made at the North Pole you'll have to buy it again from Indian Country -- you know, Buy Indian -- OK?
For my mom, please bring her a purse or scarf made by Dorothy Grant. She will feel so good wearing something so beautiful.
For my dad, please bring him all the Umqua Indian Foods beef jerky he can eat. He’s easy to please.
For my oldest brother, please bring him a Louie Gong print Psycho Killer Whale Linocut Print. It will look cool in his college dorm room.
For my older sister, please bring her a Litefoot action figurine, with flat-billed lid, high tops and beat-box accessories. She has a major crush on him. If he is out of stock, please bring her a Litefoot gift set.
For me and all of my brothers and sisters, please bring them something from Native Threads, Nakota Designs, HYDZ Gear, or Haida Shoes. All of that Native-made gear is awesome.
For me and my cousins, please bring us Gyasi Ross' new book, "Don't Know Much About Indians."
For the singers and drummers in my family, please bring them a JBear Rawhide hand drum.
For my great aunties, please bring them something authentic from the Quileute Nation. They are huge Twilight fans and would love anything made by Quileute People.
For my mom, aunties and grandmas, please bring them Sister Sky indigenous bath and beauty products. I know they’ll love the stuff's smell and feel.
For my uncles and grandpas, please bring them Tanka Gift Baskets. They’ll love the buffalo snacks.
For everyone, please put Tanka Bars in our stockings. Another great stocking stuffer: Star Nayea’s Christmas Dream CD. Life’s Beautiful Journey holiday cards by Linley Logan would also be a nice touch.
Finally, for my tribe’s and all tribes’ leaders, please give them the tools to build vibrant small Indian business sectors and inter-tribal economies so Indian Country will prosper for generations to come, especially when Indian gaming fades away. Unfortunately you must have run short on these tools last Christmas, as Buy Indian still isn’t a reality in Indian Country in 2011. Hopefully that will change in 2012.
Oh, and although I left you homemade chocolate chip cookies last year, I hope you will try the Tanka Bar I left you this year. It should allow you to squeeze down those chimneys a bit easier.
Thank you, Santa!
Jimmy Indian, age 9
