Happy Columbus Day, if you're feeling that way, or Indigenous People's Day, for the rest of you. This is one of those tough holidays, delivering a wallop of guilt if you stop to think about it.
And yet sitting around feeling guilty for what happened hundreds of years ago is kind of a waste of time, especially when so much destruction still ripples onward today. Photographer Aaron Huey took his camera and his heart to the Lakota in South Dakota. He brought back pictures, of course. I think his heart's still there.
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Giving back the Black Hills doesn't seem enough now.
So.... if I post a video like this to my friends, or if I tell the story of what is happening to indigenous people in the Americas, many of my friends will answer, "It's very sad, but how is this my fault? What am I supposed to do about it? How can I change the past?" I'm not sure I know how to respond. But my first thought is that, before anything can change, we have to change our attitudes. We must view and teach history through different lenses and refuse to accept the one narrative view most of us were raised with. It's the only way I know to begin.
What do you think?
Tell them this..."No, you didn't make the mess. But unless you want to live in it, with it, around it, and pass it to your children...you need to do something to clean it up."
Exactly, Ali. Seven generations yet unborn are affected by every decision that is made. Writing politicians can help (though some cannot be persuaded- I'm looking at Demint where I'm at).
I've always grown up with the thought of the Native Americans getting boned by the US, but never really aware of the details.
The pictures have changed with time...the story remains the same.
Give back the Black Hills and more...
HFC - did you watch the video? Give the Lakota lands back to the Lakota, to do whatever they want to do (or not do) with.
<p>Give it back to the Souix, the people it was stolen from. There was actually a supreme court case that found that the black hills were illegally stolen. To do what with? To live on and enjoy. Does there need to be anything else? There is an old attitude that indians (aka native americans) should not have their land because "they don't do anything with it". They don't pave it. "develop" it, dig it up, posion it, start a tourist attraction or otherwise destroy it, so they are "wasting" it. </p>
The lands were ceded as part of a treaty that the United States government failed to adhere to. That invalidates the contract. The people the US government "bought" the land from had no legal right to sell it. That is why the land transfer was included in every treaty with the Native peoples. NOT ONE TREATY was honored by the United States Government. The treaty is a contract. When one party fails to complete their obligations under such a contract it become void.
Wasicu ... our legacy continues.
Once we took from the indigenous of the Americas. Now we are the Wasicu to the world. Oil and gas have replaced land and buffalo. The Hotchkiss has been replaced with drones and the JDAM. The pursuit of wealth at any cost, at all cost, is our war cry. Profit vs. life, as long as it's your life so I can profit.
We must teach our children not to follow the path of the Wasicu. We must begin to teach that life with people is the sacred, not against people.
"I believe that to meet the challenges of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for one self, one's own family or one's nation, but for the benefit of all humankind. Universal responsibility is the key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace." 8 Oct. - Dalai Lama
HFC: Nuclear weapons. Intervention in Central America in support of dictators. Two (2) wars in Iraq. 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Polluting the planet like there's no tomorrow while refusing to sign treaties to improve our pollution output. Creating wealth off the backs of 3rd world countries. Yes, I can see how the US is spreading the message of peaceful cooperation.
Loving my country is not the same thing as agreeing with how it does things. Loving my country is insisting we fix the things we do wrong.
Read the real history about the genocide & other injustices committed against the Indigenous People of Turtle Island (North America) by the u.s. govt., those identifying w/the u.s. & those whose descendants created the u.s. in, among many sources, A Peoples' History of the United States, by Howard Zinn, documenting in part the actual history & present status of the u.s. as a "nation" established through & maintained by land theft, genocide, imperialism, colonialism, war, slavery, white supremacy, & environmental destruction.
hopefaithcharity banned, rereg of hatenomor.
Good, What a jerk. Since these are the original inhabitants of North America the least we can do now is give them this land.
Now if only hatey can be kept from coming back. Oh, well. No big deal since I found Newsvine's 'ignore' feature. Good for keeping blood pressure down.
I know a little bit about these issues (that is, tribal lands) and it's not just a matter of treaties being broken. Of course that's a significant thing, but from an economic perspective a very important development was the Dawes Act of 1887. Also called the Severalty Act, this act provided for the allotment of tribal lands to individual native families as if they were homesteaders. By itself that would have been fairly harmless, but the act also provided that all 'excess' land left over after allotment were to be sold to whites. When first established, reservations were all fairly large. The Dawes Act was the culmination of a process of taking most of reservation lands away from the tribes with the result that they (most of them) became too small to be economically viable for the populations they contain. The crushing poverty of the tribes is largely (but not entirely) due to the Dawes Act and it's consequences.
mmwahaha =)
*happy dance*
thank you tyler... a million times - thank you.
Have been to Pine Ridge to visit my adopted Grandmother. Have another friend (sister) in Eagle Butte. Thank you for putting this out. philamayaye
read bury my heart at wounded knee to realize the revisionist history being taught. hell we even stabbed our native allies in the back after they fought w us during the revolution.
I've visited the Black Hills and Lakota Nation (and many others), lived on the fringe of the Navajo and Hopi Nations for many years, and grew-up in the heart of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy). There isn't a person living in North America today who can't say something similar and who doesn't owe a lot of their life and culture to the indigenous people who were there before them. The founding principles of governance by the people enshrined in the U.S. Constitution are not a European idea, but are an indigenous idea that was around for centuries before the arrival of Columbus.
We should formally re-make this holiday as a celebration of what we all owe to the indigenous people of North America along with a somber acknowledgment of what was done to them, and yes, honor the treaties that were made with the people of those nations.
@susanb - You're right in that the vast majority of the damage can not be undone. It's just not feasible to have the 300 million of us who aren't Indian to pack up and go back to where our great grandfathers came from (tempting though that idea might be to some). But things we (meaning non-Native Americans in general, not aimed at you) can do/attitudes we can change:
- We can stop bitching that Indians pay fewer taxes and get more rights and casinos. The fewer taxes they pay or more hunting rights they have is on the Res, which is supposed to be their own sovereign nation. It's like resenting Canada because they don't pay property taxes to America. And considering it that way, for being sovereign nations, the Indian reservations continue to be heavily oppressed and controlled by the American Government. When an Indian comes to town for supplies or for their job they pay the same sales and income tax as the rest of us.
- We can understand that the oppression and takeover of the Native people's has not ended. Their lands, their sacred places, their culture, continues to be overrun, strip-mined and marginalized. Example: I'm in Flagstaff AZ, where thousands-years old Hopi shrines, the equivalent of our historical monuments or churches, were destroyed to mine pumice to make the stone-washed jeans that became so popular a few years ago. Screw you and your culture; we want our pretty blue jeans. Currently, a private company wants to expand its ski resort and pollute the mountain with reclaimed (hardly washed waste) water. That mountain is sacred to at least 13 tribes, let alone the environmental costs. The argument/political lie is that the resort is somehow critical to Flagstaff's economy. It isn't. They pay no city or county taxes and they are not a major source of hotel/restaurant revenue. Grand canyon and other national monuments are. If the ski resort is slow because of a warm winter, that same warm weather brings more tourists in for other reasons. The profits from the ski resort all go into pockets of the owners who live out of state. A millionaire's playground at the expense of another culture. And throughout this political battle the tribes continue to be treated like subhuman savages; not like real people with a valid culture.
- We can stop bitching about scholarships and grants for Natives to go to college. Most reservations were designed from the start to be economically destitute. "Just leave the reservation" is not as easy as it sounds for most. Besides that it means leaving family and culture to go into a world where your culture is seen as significantly "less than," it takes money to make money. The reservations sorely lack schools and job training. If you're lucky, you can get a minimum wage job somewhere. Minimum wage does not pay living expenses in this country, much less college. As a taxpayer, I have little problem with scholarships and grants designed to help the disadvantaged get back on their feet; be it an Indian kid from the res, a black kid from the ghetto, a single mom trying to provide for her kid, someone unemployed trying to make a fresh start.
- We can understand that Indians are people too. It's real easy to turn our nose up at so much alcoholism and addiction without understanding that addiction follows poverty. That isn't to say the individual doesn't have a great responsibility in that, but we need to acknowledge that the system does as well.
- We in Arizona can stop making laws that turn you into a suspect for having brown, hispanic-looking skin.
- Finally, we can re-think Columbus Day. In terms of the backward religious thinking of his day, Columbus' expedition is indeed a huge landmark in history and for that should be acknowledged. But what should not be celebrated is Columbus' "discovery" of America. As comedian Sinbad has put it, "It's like me breaking into your car and saying I discovered your stereo." Columbus was not even the first European on these shores. He himself was unaware until his 4th and final trip that he hadn't landed in Indonesia. To an entire hemisphere of people, what Columbus' landing symbolizes is genocide and the end of their culture and rights to govern themselves.
Great, thoughtful comment -- excellent food for thought. Tucson salutes you!
Heh, and Flagstaff salutes you back!
I admire you greatly for your comment! It's comforting to know that my two younger sisters and I aren't the only one's who feel as you do about the Native American's who's culture and lands are all but subsumed by European domination. And what do they get to show for it? Sky rocketing suicide rates, the above living conditions, low tax rates and the right to own a casino? ...That doesn't seem like much to me. You're right about everything...sigh! I admire soooo much!!!!
Alls I have to say is that I will forever hate Christopher Columbus and all of the other early explorers. With all the rape, sex slave and worker slave trading, genocide, and everything else put aside I will hate them for one additional reason- because as an Indian American I cannot have a conversation where I introduce myself as an "Indian" without someone asking me "what tribe am I from?" EVIL 15th CENTURY EXPLORERS!
I can't really blame those explorers. What they "achieved" was bound to have happened sooner or later. The hemispheres couldn't have gone on mostly ignorant of each other forever. And it could have been worse.
Did you know that when the Portuguese were feeling their way down the western side of Africa, looking for a way around, that Chinese explorers were at the same time doing the same thing on the eastern side? But when the Portuguese finally made their way around the Cape, the waters were free of Chinese ships because the Chinese government had decided to put an end to exploring the world. They figured China was enough of the world to suit them. Now, imagine China hadn't gone insular. Try imaging the history of the Americas over the past 500 years with Europeans squeezing the natives from the west and the Chinese from the east.
Sometimes, playing 'what if' with history is fun. This topic, not so much.
I still can't go anywhere and explain to someone the difference between Indian and Indian. But overall, yeah you're right. It's just a personal frustration.
Of course, there's no real harm in expressing your frustration. You could always tell people you're a member of the Uranidjit tribe.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for putting up this video. So many people don't know or understand Native history or concerns, and this is a great start. Let me also recommend Vine Deloria's Custer Died for Your Sins.
We cannot possibly undo hundreds of years of injustice within our lifetimes, but we can continue to insure that the TRUTH be told. Every generation, especially the young people in this country, must know.
Thank you for this! The mainstream media completely neglects the story of our Native Americans and what they endure on a daily basis. Between October of 2008 and August of 2009 EMTs responded to 96 suicide attempts or completions among the youth of the Pine Ridge reservation (Lakota). In November of 2009 alone there were 17 calls of suicides or attempts - among teens. The teen suicide rate on the Pine Ridge reservation is off the charts. What can "I" do? Well - anything is better than NOTHING! And it is time attention, by the mainstream media, was paid to these people.
Custer Died for your Sins is a great book....hold on to your heart/spirit if you read it.
TO HFC
Taking land from "the people" is like taking ones soul. Herd people on to the res, camps, plantations and it just cuts thru one's soul.
HF and C step back and learn - sometimes land does not need to be stretched and her life blood does not need to be gutted so we can drive, fly and used for war. Somtimes, the land and the people connected to her need to heal. Unfortunatlly, I see people have become too detached from the earth - sad.
If what you saw in those pictures was a people who have failed themselves or somehow failed your expections then...I just don't know what to say.
Living with a foot in both worlds is not an easy thing to do. Life on the res with respect to ones culture and life in the greater world do not always mesh.
Many years ago, on tv, the Hopi expressed their concern about how we are treating our earth and the ramifications if we continue to treat her with so much disrespect.
Montana has seven Indian Reservations, some good land, most not. We have the first elected Native American state Superintendent of Schools in the country. We have Indians elected to the legislature. Indian education is part of the currriculum in the schools for EVERY student. These are steps in the right direction, but only a beginning.
aside from it being indigenous people's day, it is also my birthday, the day Eleanor Roosevelt was born, National Coming Out day and former President Jimmy Carter won a nobel peace prize.
When I was younger we went to Mesa Verde and the Indian reservations. Their farming practices are so much more gentle with the earth. They work with nature, not rape it.
Happy Birthday and thanks for your contributions.
________| . . . broken lines
That which has passed can never be repaired. So honor what we still may, today.
Wanted to take a sec to chime in on the chorus of gratitude for sharing this with us today, Team Rachel. It was important and difficult to watch, especially from where I'm sitting in the occupied Palestinian territories, where there are too many parallels for me not to feel enough pain that my soul comes out feeling a little bruised. Such a tragic, tragic story of 'washichu' who greedily 'taking the best part of the meat' to keep repeating; such a challenge to grapple with how -- and if -- we could possibly "fix" any of this.
My partner and I have sent some time "on the res" in northern Wisconsin - where the poverty is as Mr. Huey states, heartbreaking. Alcoholism and the abuse that goes with it is also rampant. What the white man hath wrought on these peoples cannot be undone, yet the least we can do is to return a portion of the land that was stolen by we the European invaders. Return the Black Hills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1IChVVcRdQ
I never acknowledge Columbus Day. It is an example though, of how history is taught from one aspect only. It would be nice to say Columbus was an explorer from Italy that set sail for one destination and found a place Italians were unaware existed.
He did not "discover" America.
thanks for this, rachel... in addition to properly framing "columbus day," it will be helpful in a humanities class i'm taking, "american cultures." the school rightfully decided to add native-americans to the syllabus, and aaron huey's speech is a great place to start, i think.
Very well done presentation. Give the Lakota back the Black Hills and reparations for centuries of oppression.
Use to have occasions to drive up to Farmington, NM. to pick up loads of potatoes on the Navajo Res. You'd drive for miles and never see a power pole, but see homes and trailers off in the distance. Use to wonder "...how in the world do they survive?"
Give back the Black Hills? What about the Trail of Terrors? How do we fix that? How do we undo all the tribes that were displaced to build this country? I don't know, I don't think anybody has a REAL workable idea. Maybe something like this.
Why do we allow the indigenous people to live the way we do? The billions we send overseas, to help other countries, could be better spent, IMO, right here...not only for these people, but all that have to live as they do.
Don't know, just what I think.
I wish people could get over the Black Hills. Do people really think that if the Black Hills are returned to the Lakotas then everything will become just fine for every one of the 500+ federally-recognized tribes (and however many aren't) as a result? Go back and read what I wrote about the Dawes Act and understand that just about every tribe has seen their original, fairly large reservations reduced to tiny patches which cannot support the people living on them. (And even the ones that still have large reservations, like the Navajos, are still being screwed economically in other ways.)
Giving the Black Hills back to the Lakotas may help the Lakotas, but it will do nothing for the Crows, or the Omahas, or the Santees, or any of the rest. If all you can say is "Give back the Black Hills!" then you're just asking for symbolic action. The problem of tribal poverty is a coast-to-coast one and one little patch of ground isn't the solution.
Actually, starting off saying people should 'get over' the Black Hills was a bad way to begin and makes it sound like I'm going to be making a very different argument to the one I actually do make. So, try to get past the 'get over' if you can.
Monk, your sincerity on the issue is appreciated. I just don't know or have heard of any realistic answer that will help the more remote tribes prosper in sovereignty while retaining what's left of their culture. Giving back the hills seems more like a gesture to all.
Though hundreds are successful, not all tribes can rely on gaming enterprises or natural resource management. It just hurts watching, knowing more heritage is at risk of disappearing as conditions degrade and generations urban assimilate.
Grandfather Whitecloud was a Navajo War Captain. His children contacted me because Grandfather (82 at the time) was talking about taking his "last walk". His children were full blooded Navajo but had no idea about any of the ceremonies. A friend of a friend knew I had studied with a couple of Cherokee Medicine people, one man, one woman and a Lakota Pipe Carrier. Somehow a Crow heard and came to share a pipe ceremony.
I was asked to assist Grandfather with his rites. I took him to a Medicine Wheel I had dedicated in the mountains nearby. He taught me the Navaho prayers while I performed a ceremony in the Medicine Wheel. His family called to thank me and to say that Grandfather had decided that it was not time for the "last walk". I saw him several times later leading the Grand Entry and starting the Friendship dances at several Pow Wows after that.
http://indiancountrynews.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10262&Itemid=56
"There is a monstrous specter haunting Indian Country – a specter that when it last appeared sentenced tens of thousands of Native Americans to hideous, agonizing deaths. A specter that American Indians would have never imagined to rise again from the depths of Hades to anguish Native people; Andrew Jackson has been exhumed.
The wraith has taken the profile of an art form – the play Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson. This iniquitous, malevolent production parading itself as historical “satire” arose in Los Angeles in 2008, and after a “successful” run at the Public Theater in New York is now set gracing the lights of Broadway at the Jacob’s Theater. Its current run began on September 20. This foul creation is replete with the most racist anti-Indian lines passed off as “humor” and the most flagrant, biased stereotypes of Native people. This drama was meant to appeal to an undercurrent of anti-Indian hatred flowing through white America. It has been a sold out show and the subject of rave reviews including those appearing in the New York Times. In fact one reviewer said “The last ten minutes are best, when Jackson offers Native Americans a final solution. This comment refers to Jackson’s statement to a Native character “What I know to be true is that the extinction of your people is inevitable”.
Sound familiar – Hitler’s “final solution” was to send the Jewish people to the crematoriums. The Nazi leader was the first to use the term the “Final Solution,” and now incredibly it is resurrected in reference to Native Americans by mainstream journalism."
"As for the Trail of Tears, Jackson was the evil architect and enforcer of Indian removal. He signed the Indian Removal Bill on May 28, 1830 and militarily enforced fraudulent treaties resulting in the agonizing deaths of tens of thousands of Native American men, women, children and elderly.
Jackson carried out the most murderous removal campaign against American Indians in U.S. history. The most egregious of the so-called treaties was the infamous Treaty of New Echota that brought death to thousands of Cherokees.
So bent was Jackson on Indian extermination that he even tried to prevent the issuance of soap to Cherokees on the Trail. This was after he was no longer president, and his successor Martin Van Buren was carrying out his wishes."