Indigenous

Our guest speaker, Loren Yellowbird, did an amazing job discussing his culture with us. I really liked how he started by talking about his language and how important it is for the language to stay alive (I think you will find out more about this next week). The movie "Our Spirits Don't Speak English: Indian Boarding School" is a fascinating movie and honestly somewhat difficult to watch. I would have loved to show it because most of us are not aware of the boarding schools that we sent Native Americans to. We wanted them to act a certain way and leave their culture behind (this is where I strongly disagree with the melting pot theory because I think it almost allows the culture of Native Americans to 'melt off' and then take on the culture of others.) and take on the culture of the European-Americans.

When Loren discussed how some Native Americans from other tribes still call him a trader, I think it tells us some important aspects. First, it tells us how different the cultures of the Native Americans are (sadly, I think most people think we can 'clump' all of these individuals together and expect that they are the same). It also tells us how some things will be held on to forever. When Loren told the story about the burial grounds and the comparison to 9-11, it was like the light bulb came on for me. Why do we expect them to forget their culture and their history if we don't let go of our own?

I really appreciate that Loren was open about disliking whites for a part of his life. I also found it interesting how he was able to overcome those thoughts and ideals. I think this proves that we don't always understand diversity until we are in a different environment. We don't understand how diversity works and how other people (cultures) are until we are immersed in it.

In case you missed some of the authors that write about the Arikara tribe, here they are:
O G Libby
Melvin Gilmore
Douglas Parks
George Will

Books about the boarding schools include:
Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience 1875-1928
Kill the Indian, Save the Man: The Genocidal Impact of American Indian Residential Schools

Like I said last night, I think part of the reason we know so little about the Arikara tribe is because there is so little literature. The literature I had you read was about Navajo and Sioux. (If you are interested in the Lakota, Joseph Marshall III is an excellent author. Louise Erdrich is an excellent author too. She re-tells stories that are/were told to her by people from the Fort Berthold Reservation.)

Remember, what we are told and taught is very westernized. We don't know about the boarding schools because it is not a part of history our country wants us to know about. We are taught the 'white version' of the "Battle at Little Big Horn" we don't necessarily know all of the correct details. (Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong)

Anyway, one last book for you to look at  (if you are interested) is 1491. It contains lots of  details about what this land was like prior to Columbus coming. I asked what people thought about Columbus Day last night. Honestly, I think it is a joke. I feel that the Native Americans deserve to have a day and we need to do more than just acknowledge that they exist. It was brought to my attention that November is Native American Heritage Month. http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/

The article on Australia's Indigenous People was a mirror image of what we have done here. We have stereotypes for them, we confiscate their land, we put children in boarding schools, there were massacres of their people, etc. A good source on this is the Rabbit Proof Fence. It is very good!!

I hope viewing the pictures from the Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation opened your eyes to some of the severity of places. I hope reading about the indigenous people of Brazil also opened your eyes to how logging can wipe out populations (I am not advocating for or against logging in any way).

The movie that I couldn't think of last night is called Waterbuster. The description I found on Amazon is as follows: "Waterbuster Price: $29.95 Add To Cart J. Carlos Peinado (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) returns to the Fort Berthold Reservation to discover how a federal multimillion dollar damming project displaced the Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara Nation and surrounding North Dakota communities. . More » Program Length: 57 minutes Production Staff: Producer: J. Carlos Peinado (Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara) Production Company: Brave Boat Productions Program Website: Waterbuster Format: DVD Additional Resources: Viewer Guide Public Broadcast Release Date: November 2008 A personal story of how a multimillion dollar project displaced the Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara Nation in North Dakota. Producer J. Carlos Peinado returns to the Fort Berthold Reservation and discovers stories of the past as he assesses tribal identity. Through interviews and archival footage, a uniquely Native American perspective emerges, giving light to a portrait of resilience and survival in the face of catastrophic change."

I hope you all learned something last night. Please start embracing knowledge and other cultures!

Until next week...