letter from the editors Dear readers,
As we approach winter break, I would like to especially thank everyone for taking the time to read this issue of the mag. Greta and I recently bonded over grilled cheese, tomato soup, and the beloved cover story, exploring the topic of Online Activism. We’ve had so much fun putting together each story and collaborating with a handful of new reporters and editors. Co-founder of Drip Club, Faith Odhiambo, shares both her own impeccable style, and gives others advice in an interview led by one of our Arts and Entertainment editors, Anastacia Laux. We also took this opportunity to showcase others in our winter fashion feature, along with giving you a variety of different activities to pick up over the break. Happy Holidays and as always, see you next issue! Lots of love, Aala Basheir & Greta Stanier
4-5 6-7 8-9 10-13 14-15
2 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
12.17.21
FEATURING FASHION ADVICE FROM DRIP CLUB BOOK REVIEWS ONLINE ACTIVISM FOOD FEATURE
LEFT: Mary Cate Pugh ‘23 poses wearing a thrifted top paired with handmade earrings. PHOTO
REBECCA MICHAELI
BY
BELOW: Diego Loria-Eivins ‘24, Mary Cate Pugh ‘23, and Faith Odhiambo ‘22. PHOTO
MICHAELI
4 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
BY REBECCA
12.17.21
BELOW: Diego Loria-Eivins ‘24 wears jeans he cut, sewed, and painted himself. PHOTO
BY REBECCA MICHAELI
BELOW/RIGHT: Faith Odhiambo ‘22 styling a modern corset with jeans. PHOTO BY
REBECCA MICHAELI
F E AT U R I N G F A S H I O N
DRIP CLUB FASHION ADVICE Faith Odhiambo ‘22, a co-founder of Drip Club, gives advice on fashion for students of all styles
By Anastacia Laux Q: What inspired you to get interested in fashion and start Drip Club? A: I guess my interest in fashion started right before I got to high school. I was looking for an outlet to express myself. I tried a lot of different things, and fashion was what interested me the most. With Drip Club, I had the idea in junior year, but it was kind of an awkward year [to start it] with Covid. My friend Erin and I just decided to make [Drip Club] because we knew a lot of kids would be interested in it, and we hadn’t seen anything like it at City High yet. Q: How have you been keeping up-to-date with trends when fashion changes constantly? A: I find Pinterest to be really useful. I feel like trends that get super popularized start on Pinterest. I use it a lot, and TikTok is also a common one for people. Q: Do you find any trends overrated or underrated? A: Yeah, I feel like there definitely are some trends that are overrated, but it’s just a personal opinion, like what you [personally] like and don’t like. Q: What are some styles you like during the fall? A: I feel like layering is really cool and important. Vests have been really popular, and I think that’s my favorite fall trend, whether it’s a sweater vest or just a button-up vest. And you can style [vests] in so many ways. Fall colors, like orange and emerald green, have been super popular recently, too. Q: Going into winter, what do you look forward to? A: I really like layering again, like outerwear, because you can wear jackets, and coats, and then there’s a lot more room to accessorize when it comes to winter because of layering. Q: What’s your favorite accessory? A: I always wear the same necklace. I guess that would be my favorite accessory. I like earrings, too. I feel like it’s good to have a staple like jewelry, it’s always a go-to. Q: What would you say is the most important thing that brings together an outfit? A: I feel like the biggest one is just being comfortable in [what you’re wearing]. If you can wear an outfit confidently, it’s automatically a good outfit. And if you can just add a little something extra, whether that be like an accessory of any kind, that’s always a good way to amp an outfit up. Q: What advice would you give to those trying to find their style? A: Find people whose styles you really like and that lines up with common things that you like on yourself, because if you feel confident in something, you’ll get really into it. Always wear what you’re comfortable in, don’t just try a new style because you think it’s cool. Make sure you like it on yourself. Q: How would you describe your own style? A: That’s always a hard question for me. It really can vary but it’s really [what I feel like]. It really just depends on the week. Sometimes it can be a bit colorful, sometimes it’s a little dull. Q: Where do you find inspiration? A: Music is a really big one for me, which may seem kind of off because it doesn’t directly relate to clothing. But if I’m into a certain type of music at a [point in] time, I’ll find myself basing what I wear around that because I feel like there’s an energy with it. I feel like for a lot of people, you can tell what kind of music they listen to by what they wear, and that’s really interesting. Q: What advice do you have for students? A: If you’re interested in branching out your fashion, and you’re a little nervous about it, and you have outfits that you like on yourself, you should go for it. School can be a high-pressure situation to try out new styles, but wear them on the weekends or when you’re hanging out with your friends, and then you’ll just build up comfortability.
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PHOTO BY REBECCA MICHAELI
Native Reads With Native American Heritage month passed, it is good to reflect and read books that tell the continued stories of indigenous people. City High Student Reyna Roach ‘24 recommends both fiction and nonfiction books that commemorate Native identity By Lulu Roarick and Haileigh Steffen
MARROW THIEVES BY CHERIE DIMALINE Q: Let’s talk about Marrow Thieves By Cherie Dimaline A: Marrow Thieves is great, it’s one of the more popular native books that is out there. It’s about these kids and adults who are working together to try and save themselves against people trying to capture them and take them away and to steal their bone marrow. I think that Marrow Thieves reflects a lot of things that happen to indigenous people globally, and in the United States and Canada. Where this is, is that Cherie Dimaline describes the places where they took kids to take their bone marrow as schools and stuff like that. In recent years, I think that more white people have acknowledged that boarding schools were a thing that happened to these people, but they have been happening for decades and decades. They only stopped like, three decades ago. So I think that Marrow Thieves reflects a lot of interesting things about indigenous life. It really focuses on language preservation, which is really important to me and my family. My dad’s a language teacher for my tribe. I’m trying to relearn my language, because a lot of it 8 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
has been taken from us through boarding schools and a lot of other effects of colonization. Q: In this book, the world is ravaged by global warming. What is the significance of this in the real world? A: Global warming is the apocalyptic thing that happens in the book. The way that Cherie Dimaline handles it is that all of the water that was readily accessible to white people was screwed over by global warming, and by their own effects of pollution. So they Q: Let’s talk about Elastsoe by started going after indigenous Darcie Little Badger A: Elatsoe is probably my favorite on this water in Canada list, not because I and places like that. That’s very “Elatsoe offers an inter- think it’s the best similar to a lot section of queerness written, I just think that it’s reof things that are happening to in- and indigeneity, which ally good. Elatsoe offers an intersecdiginous people isn’t super common.” tion of queerness now, because a and indigeneity, lot of us are havReyna Roach ‘24 which isn’t super ing water issues. People that live on reservations common, because it’s like one and other very Indian communi- thing to get an indigenous story ties just don’t have clean drink- out there; It’s another thing to ing water and don’t have water get your queer indigenous story access. There’s so many pipelines out there. The author is asexual that are trying to destroy indig- and the main characters’ asexuenous water sources, and all of al, you can see it throughout the book. But that’s not the main these different things.
ELATSOe BY DARCIE LITTLE BADGER point of the book. Elatsoe talks a lot more about indigenous ways of teaching and community. I think the most important bit is the way that magic works in this book. For Elatsoe, her power is passed down through a teacher. Which is really important to me, because I think a lot of times settlers get this idea in their head that indigenous self; like you as an indigenous person, is all about “ this is biologically my father” or “ this is biologically my mother”. Blood quantum isn’t how we do things naturally, instead, it’s a lot about kinship and knowledge sharing. So the way that magic is passed down is through knowledge sharing. 12.17.21
WATCH THE FULLVIDEOHERE!
Mongrels by Stephen GRAHAM JONES Q: Let’s talk about Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones A: Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones is a very good book. Stephen Jones is a popular native horror author. He’s written understand the life changing his- things like “The Only Good Intory of who was here. Indians of dians” and stuff like that. This is Iowa also talks about their ways the only one that I would really of life and how they existed; I recommend to highschoolers. I think that’s super important, it haven’t read also talks about who his other ones, they are now, which “Mongrels talks a lot but my dad is also important, said that about how commu- has because we are not they’re pretgone. nities are important ty for, like , adults. Mong Q: Do you think to indigenous people, rel’s kind of there is signifibut also how we are horror. It’s cance to having about all these indiginous peo- able to survive outside native people ple talk about inof those communi- who are werediginous history? wolves, and A: One hundred ties and still keep our the main charpercent. I’ve read acters are like a lot of books by knowledge system and w e r e w o l v e s white people, beor indigenous culture.” cause that’s mainly people who are what’s out there. Reyna Roach ‘24 disconnectThere’s just a really ed from their different amount communities, of respect and care that’s given. so they’re just traveling around And just you can tell it’s written going from one place to another. by a native person because of the Mongrels talks a lot about how amount that he cares about what communities are important to we do and who we are for sure. indigenous people, but also how
Indians of IOwa by Lance Foster Q: Let’s talk about Indians of Iowa by Lance Foster A: This is a book that I recommend to literally anyone who lives in Iowa. I think that it’s super important to know whose land you are on, because this is not our land. It’s not my land, my people aren’t from Iowa. Lance Foster is a super good source, because he’s a part of an Iowa Tribe. He’s done a lot of work with these people. In the acknowledgments for this book, there’s like a million different people. He’s worked with a bunch of different tribes, and he’s really well researched. Lance Foster doesn’t just say, “ Oh, these people were here, these people were there.” He talks about how they moved through time, because that’s another thing, the Meskwaki are the only native tribe here in Iowa right now. We’re not originally from Iowa. So you need to really think about it as a shifting thing. As people were pushed west, people took their places and more and more and more. So you need to
we are able to survive outside of those communities and still keep our knowledge system and culture. Q: Confusion about growing up strange and werewolves. In what ways does this connect to indignous identity? Symbolism with werewolves, etc? A: We know this, but werewolves are like pack people, right? Indigenous people are supposed to be; not supposed to be, but it’s better to be with your communities. I didn’t grow up near my community. Iowa City doesn’t have a large Native community, there’s like 10 Native families. I know at least half of them because you go to those Indigenous People Days events, and then you’re like, “ Oh my God, hi! I already know you” It’s really difficult sometimes to be so far away from your community. I think this book talks a lot about it, and it talks a lot about how being in an area that is not for who you are, and who your people are, and how that can be really troubling and different. I think the allegory is really interesting. I think that if you do read Mongrels as a settler, you should probably think about all of these things.
Misinformation AND
ONLINE ACTIVISM In our present world of social media, the contrast between activism and misinformation has become increasingly blurred. How are teens involved in this?
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PART 1:
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO
By Marina Escandell and Greta Stanier
P
atrick Johnson hits save as he completes another book chapter about the misinformation found on social media. Johnson, a former journalism teacher and current doctoral student at the University of Iowa, studies the issues of trust and morality in news contexts. “We’re so used to information being given to us through professional means. Meaning we see [journalists], for example, as these beacons of information,” Johnson said. “People who are able to not only collect information in an ethical manner, but to also distribute it in a way that people can understand and can be educated from. Pre-internet, this form of communication was something that people relied upon as a civically responsible and democratic norm.” Today’s youth share the experience of navigating the world through the lens of social media. The rapid and continuous spread of information, as well as misinformation, affects the way young media consumers interact with politics and advocacy. “With the use of social media, what happens is that anybody can share information, regardless if they’re a professional or not. We see a rise in misinformation and disinformation. People who don’t have experience or professional qualification feel the need to just ‘share their thoughts’,” Johnson said. “It became a very global message board that ended up essentially creating an environment where
people said whatever they wanted, and people stopped trusting those who should have been trusted.” Johnson explains that many recent and past incidents have showcased the downfalls of “spreading information” in the spirit of activism. “Look at the people who are using social media to find missing people, they’re young people. They know how to use it,” Johnson said. “That’s not the problem. The problem is, oftentimes they are also using it for bad reasons…in terms of activism, what is happening is that a lot of people are doing what we call ‘performative activism.’ These performative elements are actually becoming detrimental to the causes that these people are advocating for.” A particular form of non-impactful activism that stood out to Johnson was the black boxes posted on Instagram accounts during the summer of 2020. Intended to protest
against racial inequality and police brutality as a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, the posts tended to be more performative than actual measures of activism. “Last year, a lot of [performative activism] was surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. All of a sudden you had people posting cartoon images of Breonna Taylor. All of a sudden you had people posting about images from George Floyd’s memorial. You know for a fact people in Iowa City weren’t up at the memorial, so where did they get that photo?” Johnson said. Infographics and aesthetically pleasing posts have become commonly acceptable forms of “activism”, despite the fact that they are mainly used for boosting personal morale. “Previously, you didn’t have the ability to hide behind a screen. If you wanted to advocate for something you had to go do it,” Johnson said.
“[Social media] became a very global message board that ended up essentially creating an environment where people said whatever they wanted, and people stopped trusting those who should have been trusted.”
PATRICK JOHNSON U of I Mass Communication Ph.D. Student
PART 2:
N
By Anastasia Laux
orah Mettemeyer ‘24 scrolls through Instagram, occasionally finding posts she wants to share on her story. As a very active user on social media, Mettemeyer uses it to express her views and spread information. “I think [social media] can be a good thing, because it educates a lot of people, including myself, on things that aren’t as well known or talked about,” Mettemeyer said. “It also can be a bad thing, because social media is a huge source of misinformation. So many people get misinformed by so many different things that it’s a problem.” Mettemeyer makes many efforts to spread accurate information, paying close attention to sources and what she posts. “I don’t think that there’s anything necessarily wrong with posting from sources other than news sources, especially if it’s more for specific education on certain topics,” Mettemeyer said. “You just have to make sure that it’s not super biased in any sort of way for or against [the topic]. Whatever I see that I think will help other people, I share.” Mettemeyer had previously fallen prey to the vast amount of misinformation and performative activism on social media, particularly on Instagram. She reposted many of the “awareness” posts that came up on her feed. After learning more about performative activism, Mettemeyer became aware that many of the posts she was seeing were not actually there for the purpose of activism but rather for increasing an individual’s social capital. “I used to just scroll through Instagram and the recommended page. Whatever I saw that said these [groups of ] people need help, I would repost,” Mettemeyer said. “[Now], reading more about how certain accounts have affected people negatively and how they have taken peoples’ struggles and made money off of them, I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot, this is not right’. So now I’m a lot more careful with what I [post].” One of the ways Mettemeyer has changed her actions on social media is by sharing more information drawn from major news sources. However, she has not entirely chosen to avoid other sources. Instead, Mette-
12 The little Hawk - FEATURES
meyer always makes sure she is confident that what she is reposting is true. “If I see multiple posts about the same [news], then most likely, it’s probably more accurate. And then I look through the comments just to see what people are saying about it. Then, if I’m still pretty skeptical, I’ll look it up myself, just to make sure that it’s not wrong to repost that or [that it’s] problematic in any way,” Mettemeyer said. Johnson holds similar views to Mettemeyer about the importance of searching for reliable sources of information. “I think teenagers need to be better at thinking about ‘what am I using my social media for?’ So, if you’re using Twitter to gain information, then you need to just be following people who are going to give you the correct information,” Johnson said. According to Johnson, reducing time spent on social media is a critical step to improving the misuse of news spread and ac-
tivism on social media. By having this time to reflect upon oneself rather than feeling the impulse to increase social status through likes and shares, individuals are less likely to participate in performative activism. But in the reality of the world, disengaging from social media can be difficult, especially with it growing as a place for communication, learning, and creating global connections with others. This can be seen by the substantial number of social media users in the U.S., where over 70% of the population uses such platforms. “If you have been duped by something, learn from it. Give yourself grace that that happens. That happens all the time. [Simply think], how can I be a better version of myself tomorrow?” Johnson said.
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO
12.17.21
“IF YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED BY SOMETHING, LEARN FROM IT. GIVE YOURSELF GRACE. THAT HAPPENS. [SIMPLY THINK], HOW CAN I BE A BETTER VERSION OF MYSELF TOMORROW?”
PATRICK JOHNSON U of I Mass Communication Ph.D. Student
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO AND ANASTASIA LAUX
PUMPKIN C
Jump into your holiday baking spices, and topped with maple ci up with on
ABOVE: Drizzle spiced maple cinnamon icing on top of these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. PHOTO BY GRETA STANIER 14 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
12.17.21
CINNAMON ROLLS
g with these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Full of innamon icing, these treats are perfect to warm n a chilly winter morning.
Dough ⅓ cup milk of choice 2 TBSP unsalted butter ½ cup canned pumpkin ¼ cup sugar ¼ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp salt 1 egg 1 packet yeast 2 and ⅔ cups all purpose flour
Filling 6 tbs softened butter ½ cup dark brown sugar 1 tbsp cinnamon ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp allspice ¼ tsp ginger ¼ tsp cloves
Glaze ⅔ cup powdered sugar 1 tbsp maple syrup 1 tbsp milk ½ tsp cinnamon Directions: Step 1: Warm the milk and butter together until the butter is melted and the mixture is lukewarm. Whisk the pumpkin puree, sugar, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl. Add in the warmed milk/butter, egg, and yeast and mix until combined. Step 2: Using the dough hook attachment or mixing by hand with a spatula, mix in 1 cup of flour. Mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides as needed. Add 1 and ⅔ cups more flour and beat for 1 more minute. Knead the dough for 3 minutes, either by hand or in the mixer. Step 3: Put dough in a greased bowl and let dough rise in a warm place for two hours, or until about doubled in size. Step 4: Punch down dough to release the air. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an evenly thick 10x14-inch rectangle. Grease a 9-inch baking dish. Step 5: Spread softened butter evenly over rolled out dough. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices into a small bowl, and sprinkle it all over the butter. Roll it up tightly, and cut into 10-12 rolls. Arange rolls into prepared pan. Step 6: Cover rolls tightly and allow to rise until doubled in size, about one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake rolls for about 22-28 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top. After about 15 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent the tops from browning too quickly and baking unevenly. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing. Step 7: In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon until smooth. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls. Serve warm, or store covered for up to two days. Recipe from sallysbakingaddiction.com 15 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
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16 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
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letter from the editors Dear readers,
4-5 6-7 8-9
As we approach winter break, I would like to especially thank everyone for taking the time to read this issue of the mag. Greta and I recently bonded over grilled cheese, tomato soup, and the beloved cover story, exploring the topic of Online Activism. We’ve had so much fun putting together each story and collaborating with a handful of new reporters and editors. Co-founder of Drip Club, Faith Odhiambo, shares both her own impeccable style, and gives others advice in an interview led by one of our Arts and Entertainment editors, Anastacia Laux. We also took this opportunity to showcase others in our winter fashion feature, along with giving you a variety of different activities to pick up over the break. Happy Holidays and as always, see you next issue! Lots of love, Aala Basheir & Greta Stanier
10-13 14-15 2 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
12.17.21
table of contents
FEATURING FASHION ADVICE FROM DRIP CLUB BOOK REVIEWS ONLINE ACTIVISM FOOD FEATURE
LEFT: Mary Cate Pugh ‘23 poses wearing a thrifted top paired with handmade earrings. PHOTO BY
REBECCA MICHAELI
BELOW: Diego Loria-Eivins ‘24, Mary Cate Pugh ‘23, and Faith Odhiambo ‘22. PHOTO BY REBECCA
MICHAELI
4 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
12.17.21
BELOW: Diego Loria-Eivins ‘24 wears jeans he cut, sewed, and painted himself. PHOTO
BY REBECCA MICHAELI
BELOW/RIGHT: Faith Odhiambo ‘22 styling a modern corset with jeans. PHOTO BY
REBECCA MICHAELI
F E AT U R I N G F A S H I O N
DRIP CLUB FASHION ADVICE Faith Odhiambo ‘22, a co-founder of Drip Club, gives advice on fashion for students of all styles
By Anastacia Laux Q: What inspired you to get interested in fashion and start Drip Club? A: I guess my interest in fashion started right before I got to high school. I was looking for an outlet to express myself. I tried a lot of different things, and fashion was what interested me the most. With Drip Club, I had the idea in junior year, but it was kind of an awkward year [to start it] with Covid. My friend Erin and I just decided to make [Drip Club] because we knew a lot of kids would be interested in it, and we hadn’t seen anything like it at City High yet. Q: How have you been keeping up-to-date with trends when fashion changes constantly? A: I find Pinterest to be really useful. I feel like trends that get super popularized start on Pinterest. I use it a lot, and TikTok is also a common one for people. Q: Do you find any trends overrated or underrated? A: Yeah, I feel like there definitely are some trends that are overrated, but it’s just a personal opinion, like what you [personally] like and don’t like. Q: What are some styles you like during the fall? A: I feel like layering is really cool and important. Vests have been really popular, and I think that’s my favorite fall trend, whether it’s a sweater vest or just a button-up vest. And you can style [vests] in so many ways. Fall colors, like orange and emerald green, have been super popular recently, too. Q: Going into winter, what do you look forward to? A: I really like layering again, like outerwear, because you can wear jackets, and coats, and then there’s a lot more room to accessorize when it comes to winter because of layering. Q: What’s your favorite accessory? A: I always wear the same necklace. I guess that would be my favorite accessory. I like earrings, too. I feel like it’s good to have a staple like jewelry, it’s always a go-to. Q: What would you say is the most important thing that brings together an outfit? A: I feel like the biggest one is just being comfortable in [what you’re wearing]. If you can wear an outfit confidently, it’s automatically a good outfit. And if you can just add a little something extra, whether that be like an accessory of any kind, that’s always a good way to amp an outfit up. Q: What advice would you give to those trying to find their style? A: Find people whose styles you really like and that lines up with common things that you like on yourself, because if you feel confident in something, you’ll get really into it. Always wear what you’re comfortable in, don’t just try a new style because you think it’s cool. Make sure you like it on yourself. Q: How would you describe your own style? A: That’s always a hard question for me. It really can vary but it’s really [what I feel like]. It really just depends on the week. Sometimes it can be a bit colorful, sometimes it’s a little dull. Q: Where do you find inspiration? A: Music is a really big one for me, which may seem kind of off because it doesn’t directly relate to clothing. But if I’m into a certain type of music at a [point in] time, I’ll find myself basing what I wear around that because I feel like there’s an energy with it. I feel like for a lot of people, you can tell what kind of music they listen to by what they wear, and that’s really interesting. Q: What advice do you have for students? A: If you’re interested in branching out your fashion, and you’re a little nervous about it, and you have outfits that you like on yourself, you should go for it. School can be a high-pressure situation to try out new styles, but wear them on the weekends or when you’re hanging out with your friends, and then you’ll just build up comfortability.
6 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
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PHOTO BY REBECCA MICHAELI
Native Reads With Native American Heritage month passed, it is good to reflect and read books that tell the continued stories of indigenous people. City High Student Reyna Roach ‘24 recommends both fiction and nonfiction books that commemorate Native identity By Lulu Roarick and Haileigh Steffen
MARROW THIEVES BY CHERIE DIMALINE Q: Let’s talk about Marrow Thieves By Cherie Dimaline A: Marrow Thieves is great, it’s one of the more popular native books that is out there. It’s about these kids and adults who are working together to try and save themselves against people trying to capture them and take them away and to steal their bone marrow. I think that Marrow Thieves reflects a lot of things that happen to indigenous people globally, and in the United States and Canada. Where this is, is that Cherie Dimaline describes the places where they took kids to take their bone marrow as schools and stuff like that. In recent years, I think that more white people have acknowledged that boarding schools were a thing that happened to these people, but they have been happening for decades and decades. They only stopped like, three decades ago. So I think that Marrow Thieves reflects a lot of interesting things about indigenous life. It really focuses on language preservation, which is really important to me and my family. My dad’s a language teacher for my tribe. I’m trying to relearn my language, because a lot of it
has been taken from us through boarding schools and a lot of other effects of colonization. Q: In this book, the world is ravaged by global warming. What is the significance of this in the real world? A: Global warming is the apocalyptic thing that happens in the book. The way that Cherie Dimaline handles it is that all of the water that was readily accessible to white people was screwed over by global warming, and by their own effects of pollution. So they Q: Let’s talk about Elastsoe by started going after indigenous Darcie Little Badger A: Elatsoe is probably my favorite on this water in Canada list, not because I and places like that. That’s very “Elatsoe offers an inter- think it’s the best similar to a lot section of queerness written, I just think that it’s reof things that are happening to in- and indigeneity, which ally good. Elatsoe offers an intersecdiginous people isn’t super common.” tion of queerness now, because a and indigeneity, lot of us are havReyna Roach ‘24 which isn’t super ing water issues. People that live on reservations common, because it’s like one and other very Indian communi- thing to get an indigenous story ties just don’t have clean drink- out there; It’s another thing to ing water and don’t have water get your queer indigenous story access. There’s so many pipelines out there. The author is asexual that are trying to destroy indig- and the main characters’ asexuenous water sources, and all of al, you can see it throughout the book. But that’s not the main these different things.
8 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
ELATSOe BY DARCIE LITTLE BADGER
point of the book. Elatsoe talks a lot more about indigenous ways of teaching and community. I think the most important bit is the way that magic works in this book. For Elatsoe, her power is passed down through a teacher. Which is really important to me, because I think a lot of times settlers get this idea in their head that indigenous self; like you as an indigenous person, is all about “ this is biologically my father” or “ this is biologically my mother”. Blood quantum isn’t how we do things naturally, instead, it’s a lot about kinship and knowledge sharing. So the way that magic is passed down is through knowledge sharing. 12.17.21
WATCH THE FULLVIDEOHERE!
Mongrels by Stephen GRAHAM JONES Q: Let’s talk about Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones A: Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones is a very good book. Stephen Jones is a popular native horror author. He’s written understand the life changing his- things like “The Only Good Intory of who was here. Indians of dians” and stuff like that. This is Iowa also talks about their ways the only one that I would really of life and how they existed; I recommend to highschoolers. I think that’s super important, it haven’t read also talks about who his other ones, they are now, which “Mongrels talks a lot but my dad is also important, said that about how commu- has because we are not they’re pretgone. nities are important ty for, like , adults. Mong Q: Do you think to indigenous people, rel’s kind of there is signifibut also how we are horror. It’s cance to having about all these indiginous peo- able to survive outside native people ple talk about inof those communi- who are werediginous history? wolves, and A: One hundred ties and still keep our the main charpercent. I’ve read acters are like a lot of books by knowledge system and w e r e w o l v e s white people, beor indigenous culture.” cause that’s mainly people who are what’s out there. Reyna Roach ‘24 disconnectThere’s just a really ed from their different amount communities, of respect and care that’s given. so they’re just traveling around And just you can tell it’s written going from one place to another. by a native person because of the Mongrels talks a lot about how amount that he cares about what communities are important to we do and who we are for sure. indigenous people, but also how
Indians of IOwa by Lance Foster Q: Let’s talk about Indians of Iowa by Lance Foster A: This is a book that I recommend to literally anyone who lives in Iowa. I think that it’s super important to know whose land you are on, because this is not our land. It’s not my land, my people aren’t from Iowa. Lance Foster is a super good source, because he’s a part of an Iowa Tribe. He’s done a lot of work with these people. In the acknowledgments for this book, there’s like a million different people. He’s worked with a bunch of different tribes, and he’s really well researched. Lance Foster doesn’t just say, “ Oh, these people were here, these people were there.” He talks about how they moved through time, because that’s another thing, the Meskwaki are the only native tribe here in Iowa right now. We’re not originally from Iowa. So you need to really think about it as a shifting thing. As people were pushed west, people took their places and more and more and more. So you need to
we are able to survive outside of those communities and still keep our knowledge system and culture. Q: Confusion about growing up strange and werewolves. In what ways does this connect to indignous identity? Symbolism with werewolves, etc? A: We know this, but werewolves are like pack people, right? Indigenous people are supposed to be; not supposed to be, but it’s better to be with your communities. I didn’t grow up near my community. Iowa City doesn’t have a large Native community, there’s like 10 Native families. I know at least half of them because you go to those Indigenous People Days events, and then you’re like, “ Oh my God, hi! I already know you” It’s really difficult sometimes to be so far away from your community. I think this book talks a lot about it, and it talks a lot about how being in an area that is not for who you are, and who your people are, and how that can be really troubling and different. I think the allegory is really interesting. I think that if you do read Mongrels as a settler, you should probably think about all of these things.
Misinformation AND
ONLINE ACTIVISM In our present world of social media, the contrast between activism and misinformation has become increasingly blurred. How are teens involved in this?
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PART 1:
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO
By Marina Escandell and Greta Stanier
P
atrick Johnson hits save as he completes another book chapter about the misinformation found on social media. Johnson, a former journalism teacher and current doctoral student at the University of Iowa, studies the issues of trust and morality in news contexts. “We’re so used to information being given to us through professional means. Meaning we see [journalists], for example, as these beacons of information,” Johnson said. “People who are able to not only collect information in an ethical manner, but to also distribute it in a way that people can understand and can be educated from. Pre-internet, this form of communication was something that people relied upon as a civically responsible and democratic norm.” Today’s youth share the experience of navigating the world through the lens of social media. The rapid and continuous spread of information, as well as misinformation, affects the way young media consumers interact with politics and advocacy. “With the use of social media, what happens is that anybody can share information, regardless if they’re a professional or not. We see a rise in misinformation and disinformation. People who don’t have experience or professional qualification feel the need to just ‘share their thoughts’,” Johnson said. “It became a very global message board that ended up essentially creating an environment where
people said whatever they wanted, and people stopped trusting those who should have been trusted.” Johnson explains that many recent and past incidents have showcased the downfalls of “spreading information” in the spirit of activism. “Look at the people who are using social media to find missing people, they’re young people. They know how to use it,” Johnson said. “That’s not the problem. The problem is, oftentimes they are also using it for bad reasons…in terms of activism, what is happening is that a lot of people are doing what we call ‘performative activism.’ These performative elements are actually becoming detrimental to the causes that these people are advocating for.” A particular form of non-impactful activism that stood out to Johnson was the black boxes posted on Instagram accounts during the summer of 2020. Intended to protest
against racial inequality and police brutality as a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, the posts tended to be more performative than actual measures of activism. “Last year, a lot of [performative activism] was surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement. All of a sudden you had people posting cartoon images of Breonna Taylor. All of a sudden you had people posting about images from George Floyd’s memorial. You know for a fact people in Iowa City weren’t up at the memorial, so where did they get that photo?” Johnson said. Infographics and aesthetically pleasing posts have become commonly acceptable forms of “activism”, despite the fact that they are mainly used for boosting personal morale. “Previously, you didn’t have the ability to hide behind a screen. If you wanted to advocate for something you had to go do it,” Johnson said.
“[Social media] became a very global message board that ended up essentially creating an environment where people said whatever they wanted, and people stopped trusting those who should have been trusted.”
PATRICK JOHNSON U of I Mass Communication Ph.D. Student
PART 2:
N
By Anastasia Laux
orah Mettemeyer ‘24 scrolls through Instagram, occasionally finding posts she wants to share on her story. As a very active user on social media, Mettemeyer uses it to express her views and spread information. “I think [social media] can be a good thing, because it educates a lot of people, including myself, on things that aren’t as well known or talked about,” Mettemeyer said. “It also can be a bad thing, because social media is a huge source of misinformation. So many people get misinformed by so many different things that it’s a problem.” Mettemeyer makes many efforts to spread accurate information, paying close attention to sources and what she posts. “I don’t think that there’s anything necessarily wrong with posting from sources other than news sources, especially if it’s more for specific education on certain topics,” Mettemeyer said. “You just have to make sure that it’s not super biased in any sort of way for or against [the topic]. Whatever I see that I think will help other people, I share.” Mettemeyer had previously fallen prey to the vast amount of misinformation and performative activism on social media, particularly on Instagram. She reposted many of the “awareness” posts that came up on her feed. After learning more about performative activism, Mettemeyer became aware that many of the posts she was seeing were not actually there for the purpose of activism but rather for increasing an individual’s social capital. “I used to just scroll through Instagram and the recommended page. Whatever I saw that said these [groups of ] people need help, I would repost,” Mettemeyer said. “[Now], reading more about how certain accounts have affected people negatively and how they have taken peoples’ struggles and made money off of them, I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot, this is not right’. So now I’m a lot more careful with what I [post].” One of the ways Mettemeyer has changed her actions on social media is by sharing more information drawn from major news sources. However, she has not entirely chosen to avoid other sources. Instead, Mette-
meyer always makes sure she is confident that what she is reposting is true. “If I see multiple posts about the same [news], then most likely, it’s probably more accurate. And then I look through the comments just to see what people are saying about it. Then, if I’m still pretty skeptical, I’ll look it up myself, just to make sure that it’s not wrong to repost that or [that it’s] problematic in any way,” Mettemeyer said. Johnson holds similar views to Mettemeyer about the importance of searching for reliable sources of information. “I think teenagers need to be better at thinking about ‘what am I using my social media for?’ So, if you’re using Twitter to gain information, then you need to just be following people who are going to give you the correct information,” Johnson said. According to Johnson, reducing time spent on social media is a critical step to improving the misuse of news spread and ac-
tivism on social media. By having this time to reflect upon oneself rather than feeling the impulse to increase social status through likes and shares, individuals are less likely to participate in performative activism. But in the reality of the world, disengaging from social media can be difficult, especially with it growing as a place for communication, learning, and creating global connections with others. This can be seen by the substantial number of social media users in the U.S., where over 70% of the population uses such platforms. “If you have been duped by something, learn from it. Give yourself grace that that happens. That happens all the time. [Simply think], how can I be a better version of myself tomorrow?” Johnson said.
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO
12 The little Hawk - FEATURES
12.17.21
“IF YOU HAVE BEEN DUPED BY SOMETHING, LEARN FROM IT. GIVE YOURSELF GRACE. THAT HAPPENS. [SIMPLY THINK], HOW CAN I BE A BETTER VERSION OF MYSELF TOMORROW?”
PATRICK JOHNSON U of I Mass Communication Ph.D. Student
ART BY ROSE FLORES RUBIO AND ANASTASIA LAUX
PUMPKIN C
Jump into your holiday baking spices, and topped with maple ci up with on
ABOVE: Drizzle spiced maple cinnamon icing on top of these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. PHOTO BY GRETA STANIER 14 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
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CINNAMON ROLLS
g with these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Full of innamon icing, these treats are perfect to warm n a chilly winter morning.
Dough ⅓ cup milk of choice 2 TBSP unsalted butter ½ cup canned pumpkin ¼ cup sugar ¼ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp salt 1 egg 1 packet yeast 2 and ⅔ cups all purpose flour
Filling 6 tbs softened butter ½ cup dark brown sugar 1 tbsp cinnamon ½ tsp nutmeg ½ tsp allspice ¼ tsp ginger ¼ tsp cloves
Glaze ⅔ cup powdered sugar 1 tbsp maple syrup 1 tbsp milk ½ tsp cinnamon Directions: Step 1: Warm the milk and butter together until the butter is melted and the mixture is lukewarm. Whisk the pumpkin puree, sugar, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl. Add in the warmed milk/butter, egg, and yeast and mix until combined. Step 2: Using the dough hook attachment or mixing by hand with a spatula, mix in 1 cup of flour. Mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides as needed. Add 1 and ⅔ cups more flour and beat for 1 more minute. Knead the dough for 3 minutes, either by hand or in the mixer. Step 3: Put dough in a greased bowl and let dough rise in a warm place for two hours, or until about doubled in size. Step 4: Punch down dough to release the air. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an evenly thick 10x14-inch rectangle. Grease a 9-inch baking dish. Step 5: Spread softened butter evenly over rolled out dough. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices into a small bowl, and sprinkle it all over the butter. Roll it up tightly, and cut into 10-12 rolls. Arange rolls into prepared pan. Step 6: Cover rolls tightly and allow to rise until doubled in size, about one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake rolls for about 22-28 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top. After about 15 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent the tops from browning too quickly and baking unevenly. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing. Step 7: In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon until smooth. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls. Serve warm, or store covered for up to two days. Recipe from sallysbakingaddiction.com 15 The Little Hawk - FEATURES
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