Find your tribe in a Sea of Creativity
To continue the conversation from the last message I received, I do want to address why I choose to depict America as native. To preempt, my perspective should not be taken as speaking for other natives, as we all have our own respective opinions.
It should go without saying but the United States as a governed superpower is a country that has purposefully failed and harmed black and indigenous people both on the mainland and abroad. The history of this country is cruel, brutal, and inhumane, and it should seldom be forgotten.
When it comes to America, the character, I do not see him as being involved in the crimes done unto these communities. I do believe it's because I truly love this character and I cannot imagine him doing these things to his own people-- but I can see why that would be a very infantile opinion to have on my part. Hetalia is inherently a political concept; personifications that represent governed states, therefore making their identities directly align with their national policies.
This is my personal headcanon but I always saw America, like Canada, and other Hetalia characters, as a manifestation of the land their state stands on, rather than being the direct personification of the imperial/colonial entity. This was one of the reasons I began depicting Alfred Jones as native and drew him that way (while keeping the more recognizable elements of his design)-- the main reason why I made him native is because as a native, I cannot see the imperialist nation being indigenous but I can absolutely see the land itself being indigenous: because it is.
However, after hearing other natives speak on this, I recognize that this is very much a cope of mine... In Hetalia, the personifications are very much shown to be involved in pivotal parts of history and it is implied that they get along with their overseers (most of whom were a bunch of racist old fcks). If a native personification existed, they wouldn't be okay with this.
I treat his identity similarly to my own because he has become my favorite character and I am not above inserting my identity troubles into my fictional faves. I am a reconnecting native (Nahuatl, Wixarika) who often feels so without identity that drawing a native AJ heals me. But that does not change that AJ, as a personification of the United States, represents everything that has traumatized native folks.
I do want to let other natives know where I stand in this conversation because I do not want my choices to be perceived as a vanity project to place indigenous faces wherever I please-- it comes from a true love for indigenous identity, my identity, and a great love for Alfred Jones.
From now on, I do think I may just make my own indigenous ocs in the future. it's the best way to ensure I never mix ndn identity with oppressive governmental states.