The TurtleIsland.social Mastodon instance is Native owned and operated for Native/Indigenous people and true Allies only
TurtleIsland.social is a (Twitter-like) Mastodon instance originally established Dec 2022. User registrations are available through the ‘Create Account’ portal at https://TurtleIsland.social/about.
TurtleIsland.* sites are ad-free, corporate-free, bigotry-free, and culture respectful environments for Native/Indigenous people and their allies to be in community and safe spaces. Join today!
bsky.app login screen at the top right showing account creation changed to turtleis.land
Our Bluesky Personal Data Server joins our Mastodon server for a more complete Native/Indigenous social media experience
The Bluesky Native community is much larger than it is on Mastodon, so we are happy to offer this option to any North American Native/Indigenous person and true allies. To join TurtleIs.land, you will need an invite code.
TurtleIsland.social and TurtleIs.land are complementary to each other. Neither one replaces the other and both should be around for some time to come. Our TurtleIs.land PDS is self-hosted at the same place our web server is. Maybe some day there will be managed hosting options available but for now this relatively new technology is running very well. Bluesky is committed to its PDS software. My basic impression is the software is very professionally written and well cared for. It should also be noted TurtleIs.land is very resource scalable and has virtually unlimited high-speed CDN image storage.
Turtle Island sites are ad-free, corporate-free, bigotry-free, and culture respectful environments for Native/Indigenous people and their allies to be in community and safe spaces. Join today!
#LandBack #DigitalBack
Thanks! -Yehuda
This post is subject to content updates/additions. If you think any content should be updated or added, please leave a private comment on Mastodon TurtleIsland.social/@Yehuda or Bluesky @Yehuda.TurtleIs.land.
All social media has racists, bigots, trolls and shitasses
TurtleIsland.social/Mastodon and Bluesky are no exception to this. Though both currently lean to the left and are generally respectful, over and above the racists, bigots, trolls and shitasses, there is this whiteness that pervades much on both platforms.
TurtleIsland.social and most of Mastodon block at server level the majority of right-wing servers. Bluesky at best labels conservative elements that seem to be on the rise as the platform grows.
However, on both platforms, it is the self righteous liberals and the authoritarian far left that produce the most anti-Indigenous energy.
Moderation differences
On TurtleIsland.social server level and personal level blocking tools work well, but mostly because they are combined with an Indigenous instance moderation that is anti-Indigenous savvy. Most moderation reports on TurtleIsland.social are anti-Indigenous in nature and easily closed without issue. On a non-Indigenous instance this would not necessarily be the case. There will always be white people that think they understand Indigeneity better than actual Indigenous people, but not on TurtleIsland.social.
TurtleIsland.social/Mastodon has server level and user level block lists. You can also upload following lists and feed lists. With a friends help, you can very quickly get an account up to speed.
On TurtleIsland.social and many small or medium sized Mastodon instances, users have a personal relationship with the admins/moderators and/or the admins/moderators are very accessible.
On Bluesky, one can report schmucks to who knows who and hope it goes well. For the most part though, users are reliant on personal blocking tools which fortunately are more extensive than Mastodon. Users can subscribe to public/shared blocklists on Bluesky as well as block various labeled type of users. Near as I can tell, Bluesky does not delete/suspend even extreme users but it will label them.
It is worth noting that on Bluesky and TurtleIsland.social/Mastodon, block lists can be abused and in some cases are a weapon of racists or white bigots that think they are anti-racist. Such is social media…
Algorithm differences
Both platforms have some generalized feeds and user created list capabilities. Bluesky also has feed customization features and lists are always public. Mastodon has no feed customization features and lists are always private. I wish lists on both platforms could be individually set to public or private.
Because TurtleIsland.social/Mastodon is community based, the local feed (live feeds > this server) is the most important feed to me. Bluesky is not community based, so there is no local feed. Both have some generalized feeds and follower feeds. Both platforms benefit greatly from user specific lists or hashtag feeds in my opinion.
Culture differences
The REALLY BIG BIG BIG THING about Bluesky is there are so many more Native/Indigenous people on #NativeSky than #NativeMastodon. Not as many as were on #NativeTwitter but there is a big gap between the numbers on Mastodon compared to Bluesky. Hopefully this changes over time, but in the meantime Turtle Island has community and engagement advantages.
A part of where Mastodon falls short in my opinion, has to do with getting on the right instance. A TurtleIsland.social experience is going to be much better than a Mastodon.social experience, especially if you are Native/Indigenous. But will you know TurtleIsland.social is a choice when you head to Mastodon.social to sign up? Probably not. And does white Mastodon care? Probably not. So more often than not, inexperienced users have to overcome their fear of migration or just start fresh on Turtle Island.
Engagement differences
Bluesky does not have a culture which promotes sharing (reposting). With no algorithm, this requires much higher follower counts than Mastodon. At the moment, I have ~2400 followers and engagement rates equal to or higher than someone on Bluesky with 10,000-20,000+ followers.
Bluesky also has many more follower collectors that just collect follow-backs and do not engage with them. Likewise, Bluesky has many more bots and spammer/scammers than Mastodon. Mastodon does have its share of romance spammer/scammers, but they generally only last a few hours tops before they are deleted.
If you want real followers and real results, TurtleIsland.social has the edge here generally.
Supporting Native social media
The mass majority of non-BIPOC users do not support BIPOC instances on Mastodon, preferring white ownership. A great deal of BIPOC users also do not support BIPOC instances on Mastodon. I think this is an effect of colonialism, leaving many people with false impressions that white ownership is more stable and reliable. Of course this is not true, and Turtle Island seeks to help change that.
There is a set of allies that are very supportive to TurtleIsland.social, including financially. Allies have been instrumental in keeping TurtleIsland.social alive. Many allies want to see BIPOC instances succeed and some even make TurtleIsland.social their home instance.
Naturally on Bluesky there is no such thing as a BIPOC instance, but I have no doubt if there were, there would be similar rates of BIPOC disinterest to Mastodon.
Decolonization of digital spaces
Bluesky, of course, will always be a colonial space subject to the mercy of corporate and government control. No amount of advertising will change that.
TurtleIsland.social holds the promise of a relatively decolonized space as the community grows, and benefits of Native ownership and administration/moderation. Fortunately for today’s political climate, I repeat TurtleIsland.social servers are in France, so there may be some respite from the extremist US government, should things continue to escalate.
All the above said, I enjoy both TurtleIsland.social and Bluesky. Together they make for a fairly complete Native/Indigenous experience. If I had to choose one, it would definitely be TurtleIsland.social.
Thanks! -Yehuda
This link will become live when Part 4 (Technical) is released shortly: A Native perspective: TurtleIsland.social vs. Bluesky Part 4
This post is subject to content updates/additions. If you think any content should be updated or added, please leave a private comment on Mastodon TurtleIsland.social/@Yehuda or Bluesky @Yehuda.TurtleIs.land.
This is the best all in one information source I could find, but I don’t share Facebook links directly as I know many won’t or can’t look there. This is not a specific endorsement, but find the lie. I don’t think you will. This is strictly a cut and paste with no time formatting. The best I can do, sorry.
Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo
[The author of this is unknown to me, I have seen it posted a number or places]
Okay, let’s get into Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the prison in El Salvador where the Trump admin is sending men that they believe are “in gangs”, with no due process.
I’d like to start by saying, we found out yesterday that of the 238 men that Trump has sent to CECOT, 179 of the men have NO criminal record, here or abroad. Please let that register before you continue reading. No. Criminal. Record. Whatsoever. 75% have clearer backgrounds than a lot of the people you know. The names of possibly innocent men are towards the bottom of this post.
I’m going to try to break this down in easy to understand sections. Please forgive me if I’m repetitive.
About CECOT
+ Designed and completed in 2023 in response to overcrowding in other El Salvador prisons.
+ Built to house up to 40,000 inmates.
+ For the “worst of the worst” gang members.
+ Its aim is to be a PERMANENT solution, no rehabilitation, no return to society. The justice minister bluntly stated that prisoners at CECOT will “never return to their communities.”
+ 8 pavilions with 256 cells.
+ Cells house 80 – 100 men, sometimes more. 100 square meters in size.
+ 19 guard towers, multiple layers of fencing, 24/7 surveillance.
+ CECOT officials refuse to disclose actual population.
DAILY REGIMEN
+ Total lockdown. Prisoners are confined shoulder to shoulder in their cells 23.5 hours a day.
+ No outdoor time whatsoever.
+ Fluorescent lights remain on 24 hours a day. They have no sense of time and no sleep cycle.
+ They receive 30 minutes a day of tightly controlled corridor exercise.
+ No jobs, no classes, no books, no programs of any kind. Nothing.
+ CCTV watches prisoners 24 hours a day like “silent Gods.”
COMMUNICATION AND ISOLATION
+ No visits from family or lawyers.
+ No letters or phone calls.
+ All cell signal is blocked for a 1.5 mile radius.
+ Mass virtual trials via video link with up to 900 prisoners at a time.
+ Most inmates have never been formally charged or sentenced.
DISCIPLINE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTROL
+ Prisoners arrive barefoot and shackled with their heads bowed.
+ Forced to kneel in tight rows with their heads shaved upon arrival.
+ If they are to be punished, they are put into an even smaller cell that is completely dark.
+ Swift violence for perceived “disobedience” or breaking of any rule.
+ Juveniles, around the age of 16, are in cells with hardened gang members.
+ Inmates are required to be “alert and obedient” at all times during the day.
+ Most sit idly. They are often required to remain silent. The rest of the time they remain mostly silent out of fear.
+ Some inmates have reportedly lost their voices from prolonged silence and stress.
+ Journalists who have been allowed in reported an atmosphere of “unnatural, tense silence.”
+ The guards are armed and wearing balaclavas to increase fear.
LIVING CONDITIONS
Sleep
+ Each cell is designed for 80 people, but often it far surpasses 100.
+ Inmates sleep on concrete floors without mattresses or on iron bunk tiers where they must lay across the metal slats.
+ Cells are so crammed full they sleep standing up or take turns laying down.
+ No pillows or blankets.
Food
+ Meals are minimal, rice and beans. Sometimes a tortilla. Sometimes an egg.
+ No utensils, prisoners eat with their hands.
+ Water is extremely limited. They share a jug within their cells.
+ Malnutrition is common and has been contributed to multiple deaths.
Hygiene
+ Each cell has 2 toilets and 2 sinks for 80+ men.
+ No privacy, ever. Constant filth and foul smells.
+ Bathing and “laundry” is done by buckets inside the cell.
+ Diseases are rampant. TB, scabies, fungal infections, stomach illnesses.
+ NO outside medical care is allowed, ever.
+ Over 350 inmates have died and most were due to medical conditions or abuse from guards.
+ If someone falls gravely ill, they are treated (if at all) in an on-site infirmary. “No prisoner ever leaves the premises alive” for medical care outside, a CECOT official told journalists, a chilling acknowledgment that even medical transfers are off the table.
ABUSE AND VIOLENCE
+ Much of the abuse is only recorded from President Bukeles former facility, the secrecy and lack of oversight at CECOT makes all reporting difficult. Nobody comes out, and dead bodies are viewed through photos. Human rights inspectors are denied access.
+ Beating by guards are common, especially upon first arrival. One man temporarily detained said he watched guards beat all new arrivals for an hour straight. When he tried to tell the guards he was wrongfully detained, they broke his ribs and threw him in a “dark hole” with 320 other men who also beat him.
+ Reported use of water torture and extended kneeling.
+ “Simulated drowning” has been repeatedly reported.
+ Guards often choose to humiliate. At the former CECOT facility, guards would strip inmates naked, push their faces into ice water until they nearly drowned while calling them “dogs” and “scum.”
+ Solitary confinement is used as punishment.
+ In the 350+ deaths since 2022, there were signs of asphyxiation, fractures and blunt trauma seen in photos.
+ Bodies are buried in mass graves, with no family notification.
+ Rival gangs are mixed together as punishment.
+ Government claims gang hierarchy is broken, reports suggest otherwise.
+ One of the few people ever released from CECOT said they often had to sleep and live next to the corpses of their cell mates until the guards got around to removing them.
+ Another man said they had to kneel for hours and if someone collapsed from exhaustion, they would “drag them out like an animal.” He said many of the men there were “not even gang members.”
LEGAL
+ Held without trial.
+ Virtually NO releases
+ Officials state openly they will never leave.
+ Many are serving decade long sentences without a trial.
+ The United States has sent 238 perceived Venezuelan gang members, 179 with no criminal records in the U.S. or abroad, under a $6,000,000 a year deal.
+ Humans rights refer to it as a “transnational penal colony” and a U.S. judge has referred to it as “wholly lawless.”
+ President Bukele has acknowledged that thousands of men in El Salvador prisons were “actually innocent”. Many of those men were released from those prisons, but prisoners in CECOT go through a one way door.
TESTIMONIES FROM INSIDE
+ CNN and CBS report that inmates sleep on concrete or bare steel.
+ Gang members claim it “breaks them emotionally.”
+ Inmates describe it as a place of “torture and death.”
+ Witnesses report having to sleep next to dead cell mates.
+ Guards claim “brutality is necessary.”
+ Police whistleblowers have admitted innocent men have been detained and abused.
+ One guard stated “they have nothing, so they have nothing to lose.”
HUMAN RIGHTS AND GLOBAL RESPONSE
+ Condemnation from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Inter-American Comission on Human Rights
+ CECOT violates Nelson Mandela Rules (UN Standard of Prisoner Treatment)
+ Cristosal reported 3,300 violations in the first year alone.
+ Human rights organizations refer to it as a “black hole for human rights”.
Some things I’d like to add:
+ Our country has sent innocent men here, we already know that. Some for tattoos that they misunderstood, some from “administrative errors”, some have been swept up simply for being neighbors, family or friends of the “perceived gang members.”
+ These men go into CECOT knowing they will never see or hear from their families again. Imagine being innocent?
+ Is this what you really wanted, MAGA? Do you think Jesus thinks this treatment of his children is ok? Or do you understand human rights exist for a reason? What does your gut tell you? If you know this is wrong, please help us. Please get involved. He didn’t tell you he was going to do this, you didn’t vote for this cruelty. The best time to do the right thing was the election, but the second best time is right now. Use your voice.
——————————————————-
NAMES OF MEN WHO MAY BE WRONGFULLY INCARCERATED AT CECOT
The names of the men we need to push to get back or at minimum, due process:
+ Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national and Maryland resident, was mistakenly deported to El Salvador’s Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in March 2025. Despite a 2019 U.S. immigration judge’s order protecting him from removal due to credible fears of gang persecution, Abrego Garcia was apprehended by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on March 12, 2025, during a routine check-in. He was subsequently deported on March 15, with the Trump administration later acknowledging the action as an “administrative error.”
+ Andry José Hernández Romero: A 31-year-old gay Venezuelan makeup artist seeking asylum in the U.S., Hernández Romero was deported based on tattoos interpreted as gang symbols. His attorney clarified that these tattoos were religious and cultural symbols common in his hometown. Despite having no criminal record and a credible asylum claim, he was sent to CECOT, where concerns for his safety have been raised due to his sexual orientation and the prison’s notorious conditions.
+ Jose Franco Caraballo Tiapa: A barber who entered the U.S. seeking asylum, Caraballo was detained after an immigration officer noticed a tattoo of a clock on his arm, symbolizing the time of his daughter’s birth—a common design in Venezuela. Despite lacking a criminal record and having a pending asylum case, he was deported to CECOT under allegations of gang affiliation.
+ Jerce Reyes Barrios: A 35-year-old former professional soccer player from Venezuela, Barrios fled persecution and sought asylum in the U.S. He was detained and deported due to tattoos, including one resembling the Real Madrid logo, which authorities misinterpreted as gang-related. Despite providing evidence of his innocence and lack of criminal history, he was sent to CECOT.
+ E.M.: Identified only by initials for safety, E.M. fled Venezuela with his girlfriend and was granted refugee status in the U.S. He was detained and deported based on tattoos of a crown, soccer ball, and palm tree, common symbols in Venezuelan culture. His family was not informed of his deportation and later discovered his fate through media reports.
+ Francisco Javier García Casique: A 24-year-old Venezuelan hairdresser, García was deported and featured in a Salvadoran government video showcasing shackled prisoners. His family and advocates assert he has no gang affiliations and was wrongfully detained based on superficial indicators like tattoos.
+ Mervin Jose Yamarte Fernandez: a Venezuelan national, was deported despite having no criminal record. He was apprehended during a routine immigration check-in, with authorities citing alleged gang affiliations based on superficial indicators. He is currently detained in CECOT, with ongoing legal efforts seeking his return.
+ Jhon Chacin: a Venezuelan tattoo artist, sought asylum in the U.S. After his asylum application was denied, he agreed to voluntary deportation to Venezuela. However, his flight was rerouted, and he was instead sent to CECOT in El Salvador. Chacin remains imprisoned in CECOT, with his family and legal representatives advocating for his release.
+ Maiker Espinoza Escalona: Espinoza Escalona was detained by U.S. authorities and held at Guantanamo Bay before his deportation. Despite legal challenges and a court order prohibiting such deportations, he was sent to CECOT on March 17, 2025. He is currently incarcerated in CECOT, with limited information available about his well-being.
HOW TO HELP
+ Raise Public Awareness
• Speak out on social media
• Share the stories of men like Andry José Hernández Romero and Jose Caraballo Tiapa, whose cases highlight the injustice and lack of due process.
• Tag journalists, members of Congress, and human rights organizations when sharing posts to increase visibility.
+ Contact Your Representatives
If you’re in the U.S. (or another democratic country), contact your elected officials and ask them to:
•Demand accountability for wrongful deportations, especially of asylum seekers.
• Pressure the State Department to work with El Salvador for the release of innocent detainees.
• Support oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
You can use sample language like:
“I’m calling to express deep concern about the deportation of Venezuelan asylum seekers to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, where many are held without charges under abusive conditions. I urge you to call for their return and an investigation into this violation of due process.”
+ Support Legal and Human Rights Groups
Donate to or volunteer with organizations that are actively working on these issues:
• Human Rights Watch (HRW)
• Amnesty International
• ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project
• RAICES
• Cristosal (El Salvador-based human rights org)
• International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP)
These groups can:
• Help mount legal cases.
• Collect testimonies.
• Apply international pressure.
• Assist families of the detained.
+ Engage Media and Petition Platforms
• Start or sign petitions demanding that the U.S. and Salvadoran governments release innocent detainees from CECOT.
• Share firsthand accounts, where available, to humanize the crisis and move it out of the “policy” category and into the public conscience.
+ Pressure International Bodies
• Write to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights or the United Nations Human Rights Council.
• Demand they investigate abuses in CECOT and intervene diplomatically.
• Urge them to monitor deportations from the U.S. for violations of international refugee law.
+ Connect with Families and Survivors
• If you’re able, amplify the voices of affected families, especially those with loved ones trapped in CECOT.
• Many are already speaking out through platforms like CBS News, The Guardian, and El País, reaching out or supporting those efforts can magnify impact.
TurtleIsland.social runs on plain vanilla Mastodon, the most stable and widely supported kind. We also use professionally managed hosting. Together, these mean developer level support. TurtleIsland.social may be a small community but we are part of a large block of Mastodon instances that receive very adequate attention. Software updates including important security patches are applied within a few hours of release and seamlessly (no downtime). Our uptime is as good as it gets. Configuration files, media and database storage are backed up daily to a remote secure object storage (again no downtime). Content is enterprise-level safe.
Not all Mastodon instances can make the technical superiority claims that we make. And Bluesky, with its multi-million dollar setup and information technology team, has nothing on us. TurtleIsland.social is equal to or (most likely) better than any enterprise level social media. As a retired IT professional, it is very important to me that TurtleIsland.social runs grief-free and without technical excitement. I like to sleep during sleep hours…
Similar but different
Both TurtleIsland.social and Bluesky are Twitter-type clones. The basic look and operation are very similar.
TurtleIsland.social posts allow up to 500 characters and unlimited live editing though. Bluesky posts allow up to 300 characters and no live editing. In actual use, these two facets make for an improved experience on TurtleIsland.social. 500 characters makes a huge difference in the amount of multi-post messages as well as the content quality of your posts. Editing fixes a lot of typos and stops a lot of reposting for typos or updates.
Better, more accurate posts equals more engagement and less misunderstanding.
On the other hand, an organization that needs to post content on both platforms will find it easy to cut and paste content from Bluesky to TurtleIsland.social. The reverse however, may not fit into Bluesky without breaking your post into two posts.
Media mode is great for artists
The media tab on Bluesky filters out posts with no media, that’s it. On TurtleIsland.social, the media tab also filters out posts with no media, but additionally goes into an Instagram-like grid mode (see header image above), which is very cool. I even have a 2nd TurtleIsland.social account geared just for media mode to replace Instagram.
Happy days… this is a real strong point for artists, photographers or anyone that wants a portfolio of their work. My hope is that Mastodon continues to improve media mode, which is already great.
As a side note, the Fediverse Instagram clone which shall remain nameless, pretty much sucks, especially from an independent server perspective, so I was very glad to discover this.
Direct Messages
In my opinion Mastodon Private Mentions (Chat) kind of suck. On Bluesky, Chat is a separate function, pretty easy and clear. On Mastodon, Private Mentions are part of the regular post function with a private flag that is easy to forget and accidentally produce a public post (eek!). Personally, I would suggest Signal over either private message function anyways, but for small communications on Mastodon, just be careful. It usually takes one kablooey to learn your lesson, ha!
Federation differences
As I mentioned in Part 1, TurtleIsland.social is part of a federation of ‘over 8000 Mastodon instances. Billionaire corporate independence is a reality today’. There is a rich variety of privately owned Mastodon instances of all types of communities that TurtleIsland.social is federated with today. Not only is Mastodon federation mature and problem free, but the cost of entry is relatively low and within reach of small groups, thus enabling unique communities like TurtleIsland.social to exist and thrive.
Technically, Bluesky is federated (to a proprietary standard), but the feature is unimplemented. The design is such that cost of entry is high, requiring expensive servers, centralized connection/resources, and major technical expertise.
Bluesky is centralized and susceptible to billionaire takeover
Regardless of the Bluesky ‘billionaire-proof’ lie, it is very susceptible to being forced by the fascist Trump administration to be MAGA friendly. Bluesky is also a prime candidate for a billionaire buyout. In fact, the more successful Bluesky is, the more likely it is that it will be bought out and/or forced to be MAGA friendly.
I hate to say it but it is sad to see people joyfully breaking free from Elon Musk and his X disaster, or Meta and their nonsense, to only be setting themselves up as prime targets for another digital refugee situation.
Again, fortunately, TurtleIsland.social servers are in France. Mastodon servers are privately owned, there are far too many of them to centrally control. Even if the Mastodon flagship sold its soul (which is very unlikely) the Fediverse network itself is an embraced standard (unlike the proprietary Bluesky standard) and the open source servers (with low cost of entry) would continue on. And of course, Mastodon has account portability, so you can move your account to any one of the more than 8000+ instances.
This post is subject to content updates/additions. If you think any content should be updated or added, please leave a private comment on Mastodon TurtleIsland.social/@Yehuda or Bluesky @Yehuda.TurtleIs.land.
Both have pros and cons, let’s start with background
For background, most people reading this understand that X (formerly Twitter) and Meta (Instagram and Facebook) are owned by slimeball MAGA billionaires and are very disrespectful to BIPOC and left of center people. I’m not going to expound on that.
That said, for many it is difficult to disengage from X and Meta for a variety of reasons. Primarily BIPOC communities, institutions and brands. Institutions ranging from government to brands to entertainment stars, etc. are deeply embedded in commercial social media.
For me, Facebook is hard to ditch. As an off the rez urban Native, it is a primary information connection to my Native Nation and its resources, and other important Indian country tribal information. Many Native people, especially creatives are deeply connected to Instagram. X as disgusting as it is, is still the go to place for at this moment news and official government information etc.
BIPOC communities can be significant on all those platforms. Many Native people and organizations have thousands and thousands of followers. In most cases, those followers are not just numbers but real important community members. There are many personal and business relationships that you just don’t throw away without pain, or even total destruction.
TurtleIsland.social is born
In my mind, October 27, 2022 was the seminal moment, when Elon Musk bought Twitter. Within a week or so, in November of 2022, my favorite relative Tzipporah and I joined a Mastodon instance. Within a month, we decided to operate our own instance and on December 5, 2022, what was to become TurtleIsland.social was alive. A short stint as Mvskoke.social was too narrowly focused we decided. We switched to Woodpecker.social which was great, but even though woodpeckers were important medicine birds to us, it didn’t ring out as a Native Indigenous instance to others, so on July 19, 2023 the final configuration of TurtleIsland.social opened. This has been super, and won’t change.
On September 10, 2023, TurtleIsland.social moved to managed hosting, a huge step forward in reliability, performance and expandability. This also freed up a lot of my time allowing me to concentrate more on building community instead of system administration. The upshot was now we had the best possible Mastodon instance. We were ready for high demand or celebrity users. The sky was the limit for Native owned and operated social media.
The most important facts here: TurtleIsland.social is a Native owned and operated Mastodon instance. Beyond that, there are already over 8000 Mastodon instances. Billionaire corporate independence is a reality today.
Bluesky is born
There has been a lot written about this that I won’t duplicate, but Bluesky opened registrations to the general public on February 6, 2024, a year after its release as an invite-required beta. I think everyone knows that Bluesky came from the belly of Twitter, and is a traditional billionaire owned tech company. All the typical billionaire social media risks apply to Bluesky. In standard corporate baloney fashion, Bluesky touts itself as “billionaire-proof”, but real hurdles to this imaginary freedom exist. Especially for BIPOC people, the entry level cost for a fully standalone Bluesky network node is too high. It is not realistic to fork off 100% independently from Bluesky. But for now, Bluesky is left of center leaning and friendly to BIPOC people.
The most important facts here: Realistically viewed, Bluesky is a mostly centralized platform. It is owned and operated by a single billionaire drenched entity. You must be registered by Bluesky to connect to and use required Bluesky services (meaning an evil Bluesky could easily disconnect you and hide you from the network). The imagined “billionaire-proof” freedom Bluesky touts is a pipe dream.
TurtleIsland.social and Bluesky provide new ways forward
At this point in time, I consider both TurtleIsland.social and Bluesky to be essential for Native/Indigenous social media experiences. Ordinarily I try to think forward 7 generations, but I don’t think any specific social media will last that long. However I do think it is worthwhile to consider what will happen over the next 10 or 20 years. Seriously, today there is a lot of pressure on social media and all forms of news and information to succumb not only to billionaire whims, but to a quickly degrading fascist US government as well.
This post is subject to content updates/additions. If you think any content should be updated or added, please leave a private comment on Mastodon TurtleIsland.social/@Yehuda or Bluesky @Yehuda.TurtleIs.land.
Native people are angry and with damn good reasons
Native people have been practically exterminated in North America. The killing and oppression have not stopped. It may be under-reported in mainstream (white culture) media, but Native people see non-stop deaths. Our women and children are raped, dismembered and more. Our coffins are garbage bags. Our graves are garbage dumps. All this is a continuum that stretches from invasion to today.
But yeah, let’s talk about your white fragility. Or its evil sibling, fragility of the assimilated. Or dominant religion fragility. Or liberal politics fragility. Or numerous other facets of the dominant white-drenched culture of North America. Geez, give me a break…
All social media is filled with racism and bigotry
It’s not just Nazis and conservatives either. There is plenty of racism and bigotry in the liberal quarters. Even in the far left or the authoritarian left. It’s been pretty amusing and so rich watching the dominant culture of all stripes squirm and shudder, finally feeling a fraction of what BIPOC and other marginalized people have always known and felt from day one, as the fascist Trump administration puts them too in its sights.
And by the way – no, TurtleIsland.social doesn’t hate white or non-Native people. We celebrate diverse cultures. We don’t try to homogenize them. TurtleIsland.social has some amazing allies who join Native people in equality and don’t need to dominate and oppress. Of course Native culture is a bit more expressive, more sexually liberated, more foul mouthed, less colonizer religious, and understandably more pissed off than the dominant culture. Any true ally gets it, and gets it without fragility tizzies.
The case for Native ownership and moderation
All the above demands Native social media ownership and moderation as the only solution. There is no non-Native social media that can respect us. Or protect us and our Native values. Even our very lives. Not on Mastodon (Fediverse), not on Bluesky, and certainly not on Xitter or Meta social media. Native people need to control our own digital land and destiny.
TurtleIsland.social doesn’t get a lot of moderation reports, but when we do most of them are anti-Native and follow a similar path. No broken rules referenced, just ‘Other’. No description of the complaint, just check-marking Native posts or replies. Most likely because if you put a description to the racism, bigotry or fragility, it would sound incredibly stupid and wrong as it actually is. The moderation reports are just yet another racism, bigotry or fragility weapon. There are no valid justifications. Just dominant culture shitasses being shitasses.
The dominant culture needs to stop being so sensitive. They need to open their eyes and flush their own toilet. Stop killing and oppressing Native people. And yes, even on social media.
Native people are done with keeping our mouths shut and our culture hidden or legislated away.
Indigenous Critical Reflections On Traditional Ecological Knowledge – Edited by Lara A. Jacobs
I read a lot, pretty much day and night, but mostly social media and short to medium length news or information articles. I don’t read many full length books these days. I just don’t have the brain bandwidth considering how much else I read. So, when I do buy and read a book, you can believe it is special.
Indigenous Critical Reflections On Traditional Ecological Knowledge, is one such book. This book is definitely my top 2025 choice.
Lara A. Jacobs is a citizen of Muscogee (Creek) Nation with Choctaw heritage. She is a complex systems scientist who focuses her research on Indigenous value systems, TEK, the ecological and pathogenic impacts of outdoor recreation activities on Tribal treaty lands, co-equity-based management and #LANDBACK paradigms.
Contributors: Melinda M. Adams Joe Anderson Coral Avery Andrew Kalani Carlson Kathryn Champagne Brandie Makeba Cross Joanna M. DeMeyer Jonathan James Fisk Pat Gonzales-Rogers Celina Gray Rhode Grayson Zena Greenawald Jennifer Grenz Joy Harjo Mandi Harris Jessica Hernandez Victor Hernandez
David Iniguez Michelle M. Jacob Lara A. Jacobs Lydia L. Jennings Eileen Jimenez Stephanie Kelley David G. Lewis Tomás A. Madrigal Tara McAllister Lauren Wendelle Yowelunh McLester-Davis Angeles Mendoza Kat Milligan-McClellan Todd A. Mitchell swalítub Don Motanic ‘Alohi Nakachi Kaikea Nakachi Kobe Natachu
Ululani Kekahiliokalani Brigitte Russo Oana Jennifer R. O’Neal Lily Painter Britt Postoak Leasi Vanessa Lee Raymond Anamag Margaret H. C. Rudolf Oral Saulters Sam Schimmel Paulette Steeves Joni Tobacco Angelo Villagomez Vivi Vold Margaret Palaghicon Von Rotz Luhui Whitebear Joseph Gazing Wolf Monique Wynecoop Cherry YEW Yamane
Lara is also the author of Settler Colonialism Introduction which she graciously allowed us to copy to this site and is a huge hit on TurtleIsland.social. The Settler Colonialism Introduction post at TurtleIsland.social has moved a couple times, so the boost/favorite totals are incomplete, but there have been hundreds and hundreds of boosts (reposts) and favorites (likes). Many people have found Lara’s slides on this important subject to be tremendously helpful and educational.
Anyhoo, I totally recommend you grab a copy of Indigenous Critical Reflections On Traditional Ecological Knowledge. You will be glad you did.
Sunday, September 10, 2023 – TurtleIsland.social moved to professional Mastodon instance hosting, including a complete migration of all the users and content too. So now we can scale to thousands and thousands of users, handle unlimited celebrities or other high impact users. And no more install/upgrade/backup headaches/anxieties for me. I can totally concentrate on the community now.
This will also increase our uptime. No more hour long Wednesday snapshots. All configuration files, media and database storage are backed up daily to a remote secure object storage. In the extremely unlikely event of a system corruption, Turtle Island can be restored fresh in about an hour tops.
Ditto with system upgrades, due to the more surgical nature of the backups, upgrades will be a mere blip and not even noticeable.
New Native-American beadwork online store now open
Tzipporah Rothschild-Manory, Muscogee Nation citizen, today announced with great excitement that Cvkvlv.com Beadwork is now ready and open for business.
In celebration, their first collection of unique handmade Native-American beadwork is now available for purchase. As of this posting, there are 12 individual sets of earrings in stock and ready to ship!
