NDN Humor
If you don’t get it, you
probably aren’t NDN
Is humor cross-cultural?
What does humor do for us?
What makes a good joke?
Trickster stories: coyote, spider, raven, rabbit
Do oral tradition peoples tell better
‘stories’?
Oral tradition retains currency, so many jokes
combine traditional and very contemporary issues.
Where do jokes come from?
Jokes about things that make you mad
Top Ten Signs your Medicine Man is a Scam Artist
10. He tries to sell you your own personal mile of the Red Road
9. You begin to suspect his traditional herbal medicine is really just
crushed up Tylenol from IHS
8. His Sundance is sponsored by Frito-Lay
7. Suddenly, all his ceremonies seem real familiar after you watch
the movie "Billy Jack" again
6. The only tribal nation he is affiliated with is Donation
5. Rich blonde ladies from California are convinced he needs a
different colored 1999 4x4 truck for each of the 4 directions
4. Not only does he have a website, but the address is
www.sellout.com
3. The only thing in his pipebag is a portable credit card machine
2. In order to attend one of his sweats, you need to contact
Ticketmaster first.
1. His sacred white buffalo reeks of spray paint
Jokes about the White Man
NASA asked this elder Dine' guy to record a message to put on their
newest SETI satellite, along with messages from other cultures and
languages. He records the message, the satellite is launched, and
one day CNN broadcasts the messages being sent into outer space
from the spacecraft. A huge belly laugh is heard coming from the
entire northern portion of Arizona. When CNN asks why the people
are laughing, a man from Chinle tells them, "The message says that
if they are hearing this, to stay quiet and don't respond, because as
soon as the white man knows where those aliens live, they'll come
over for dinner, and end up NEVER going home!“
Jokes about the Bureau of Indian Affairs
The BIA Ten Commandments
1. You shall have no other forms of government before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an independent and self-sufficient government, for
I am a jealous bureaucracy and will punish the Indian children for the sins of their
fathers to the seventh generation of those who hate me.
3. You shall not misuse my name or my symbols, for I will impale you on my flagpole.
4. Remember the first of each month by keeping it holy. The rest of the month you
shall go hungry, but the first day of each month is a tribute to me, and you shall
receive welfare checks and commodity food in exchange for your continued
dependence.
5. Honor your Indian father and Indian mother because I have stripped them of their
land, language, and hearts, and they need your compassion, which is a commodity I
do not supply.
6. You shall not murder, but I will bring FBI and CIA agents to your reservations and
into your homes, and the most intelligent, vocal, and angriest members of your tribes
will vanish quietly.
7. You shall not commit adultery, but I will impregnate your women with illegitimate
dreams.
8. You shall not steal back what I have already stolen from you.
9. You shall not give false testimony against any white men, but they will tell lies
about you, and I will believe them and convict you.
10. You shall not covet the white man's house. You shall not covet the white man's
wife, or his hopes and opportunities, his cars or VCRs, or anything that belongs to
the white man.
Jokes about race
Careful what you wish for...
• A skin dies and goes to heaven... he's sitting outside the
gates of heaven with a black guy, an oriental guy, and a
white guy. God's voice booms out, "All you guys, from
the darkest to the lightest, run off the edge of the cloud,
make a wish and you will become it!"
• The black guy runs and jumps off the cloud. He says,
"Condor!" He becomes a majestic condor.
• The skin runs, jumps, and says "Eagle!" And he flies
away as a beautiful spotted eagle.
• The oriental guy runs, jumps, says "Dragon!" Then flies
away as the strange, powerful creature.
• The white guy runs, slips, falls off the cloud and yells "Oh
S**T!"
Jokes about other tribes
Indian Heaven
Three Indian women died and were brought before the Great Spirit for
judgment. The Great Spirit said,"I will let you into paradise if the beliefs you
lived by were proper.
Tell me what you believed when you were alive. "The Lakota woman said, "I
have always believed in the Grandfathers and the Generations, and that is
how I lived my life." "Fine," said The Great Spirit. "You may enter paradise
and sit on my left.
What did you believe?" he asked of the Arapaho woman "I have always
believed in Goodness, and I have tried to live my life in a good way."
"Fine! You may also enter paradise and sit on my right."
Then he turned to the third woman, a Navajo. "And what do you believe?"
The Navajo woman said, "I believe you're sitting in my chair!"
What do you call six _____ women/men at a powwow? A full set
of teeth
What’s the favorite Sioux sandwich? A BLT/Black Lab on Toast
Jokes about being NDN
Stranger in Indian Country
A tourist traveling through the prairies of the USA stopped at a
small border town and went to a bar. He stood at the end of
the bar, ordered a drink, and lit up a cigar. As he sipped his
drink, he stood there quietly blowing smoke rings. After he
blew nine or ten smoke rings into the air, a big angry Indian
stomped up to him and said, "One more remark like that and
I'll smash your face in!"