Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
Laurel Emanuel (Lumbee) as told to Nick Martin (Sappony) at The New Republic says How I Found My Voice as the Only Native Student in My Class:
I’m a senior this year at a high school in Wake County, which is the largest public school district in North Carolina. I’m also a member of the Lumbee Tribe. And this year, the Wake County Board of Education officially recognized Indigenous Peoples’ Day for the first time, thanks in part to a speech I gave last fall. [...]
The thing is, the proclamation has to be a first step for the schools. The education on Indigenous peoples that we’re given in school isn’t that great, holiday or not, and our schools aren’t really taking steps toward fixing the curriculums, which then makes it feel like it’s my responsibility. But it’s not.
In elementary school, my dad would come to my class to talk with my classmates. Part of the response from them was because they were elementary schoolers, but people would say stuff like, “I have Cherokee blood,” or comment about all Native people riding horses and teepees. One time, my dad asked what anyone knew about Indian people, and someone said, “They didn’t wear clothes,” which, I guess, was kind of funny? I also remember, in third or fourth grade, that we watched a video about Christopher Columbus. It showed him and his men on their boats and how they were sailing to the New World. It ended right before he got here—before they met any of us.
I’m a senior now. I’ve taken American history at several stages throughout my time in school. And I don’t really think that we’ve learned, in any history class, about Native people at any point after the nineteenth century. What we learned about Indigenous people is always super limited and vague. And it’s always past tense, if it’s there at all.
I understand that a lot of the off-putting things that people usually say or ask about us, even if they don’t mean to be rude, is because of misinformation and ignorance, not necessarily because of hatred. We need to be taught—in school, specifically, where we’re currently located—things like: Are there Indigenous tribes who still live there? And if there aren’t, why? Indigenous literature should be assigned. The American Indian Movement was super influential, but we never learn about it. A lot of contemporary Native culture and Native issues just aren’t taught, which is why we’re still facing the issues that we’re facing today. This lack of education leads to a real lack of empathy. [...]
If you want a place to start educating yourself about Indigenous Americans, here are my 13 recommended books about and by American Indians from last year. I am working on another for Native American Heritage Day the day after Thanksgiving.
There is also a 2010 film made by the Cree Neil Diamond—Reel Injun: On the Trail of the Hollywood Indian. Here is a trailer and a short review and commentary. Unfortunately, I cannot find a link to the full movie that will play correctly. If someone else does, I will add a link to it here.
TOP COMMENTS
QUOTATION
“These were the words given to my great-grandfather by the Master of Life: ‘At some time there shall come among you a stranger, speaking a language you do not understand. He will try to buy the land from you, but do not sell it; keep it for an inheritance to your children’.”
~~Aseenewub (Red Lake Ojibwa)
TWEET OF THE DAY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
At Daily Kos on this date in 2009—Chambliss wants economic stimulus for Afghanistan:
Well this pretty much tells you everything you need to know about what Republicans think is really important: appearing on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday, Georgia Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss endorsed a new economic stimulus package...for Afghanistan. […]
Developing Afghanistan's economy may be a laudable goal, but it's too bad Chambliss doesn't feel the same way about America, where he continues to oppose any sort of legislative initiative to create jobs and rebuild the strength of our economy.