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Alabama Slammer
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2004
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I can't say it any better than Terri Jean, Author of The Native Truth, so doing the dreaded cut & paste. Celebrate, y'all. 
So why is AIHM different than other monthly cultural celebrations? Does one group of people deserve more recognition and acknowledgement than another? Has one made more contributions to society? Could one group have a more powerful collective story? More heroic leaders? Or more traditions or stories of "triumph over tragedy?"
Of course not. So why the lack of recognition for American Indian Heritage Month?
I have a theory: A country that continues to justify land theft, forced assimilation and tribal extinction while denying their own acts of genocide and celebrating those who enslaved, massacred and tortured indigenous people is not a country willing to step up to the plate and honor the very people they are still trying to assimilate (and eradicate). After all, the very first step in truly honoring Americas first people would be to admit responsibility for centuries of brutal, racist treatment. But don't expect the US government to admit to anything just yet. It's going to take a massive grassroots effort and a public demand for truth and recognition from the media, the public school system, and publishing industry, before any real changes will be made.
According to the 2000 US Census, nearly 4.1 million Americans identified themselves as American Indian (this includes those who marked the "multi-cultural" box). This self-identification increased 110% - or by 2.2 million people - from 1990. This number could increase even more with the next census, genealogist predict, because more than 12 million people living in the United States today have a possible long-lost Native American ancestral link - albeit, some links are far more minuscule than others - and wish to lay claim to their heritage.
Native people are quite possibly the most misrepresented, stereotyped, and lied about subset of the American population today. Often perceived as holiday novelties, or as a culture of the past, the ideology of many holds the American Indian within a time warp. The displaced Indian of the 1800's seems to be the image that comes to mind whenever a Native person or culture is referenced. Of course, it doesn't help when such imagery is used to sell everything from toys, cigarettes, soda pop, bed linens, and Halloween costumes, to alcohol, vehicles, and clothing. But popular culture is 'fascinated' with indigenous Americans - the savage and the noble, the real and the fictionalized - and love to collect their faces on plates, keychains and posters. America also celebrates the Native culture by mimicking their traditions and dances at sporting events across the country. This is all done in "honor"... to remember the proud heritage of a proud people. Of course, there is no honor in mass producing dreamcatcher earrings, drinking Crazy Horse beer or doing the tomahawk chop at a baseball stadium with thousands of others. But tell that to the general public and they'd think you've gone PC-crazy. After all... it's just Indians. Right? And they aren't really real anymore.
The sad truth is to many, Native people no longer exist. And those that did weren't really Americans. They were rivals, barriers to proper civilization. It was them against us and we won.
Little was told, in my history books, about the true plight of the Indian. How they were starving, confined to concentration camp-live reservations, unable to feed their children or survive most winters. My history lessons did not speak of broken treaty promises, women and children forced to eat rotten, mushy potatoes, or how those innocent white settlers were deliberately traveling on land they knew they weren't supposed to be on, and the US government used their deaths as a reason to go to war with the Native people.
Even today, some teachers continue do more harm than good. For example, I recently read the questions given to a 7th grader for a Social Studies Native Americans project. There were 20 questions each student needed to answer pertaining to their chosen tribal nation. Of those 20 questions, 19 were in past tense.
---- Where did your tribe live? What did their homes look like? What did they eat? Did they hunt or far (and how did they do it)? Did they interact with other tribes? Did they trade? What were their legends and stories? Did they have a "religion"? What happened to them? ---- and so on. Only the last question asked a question about the nation today 'Where are they today?'
From this assignment, what does a child assume about contemporary Native Americans? Would they learn about Native Olympic winners, astronauts, politicians, award-winning authors, entrepreneurs, artists and civil rights leaders? Or would the children conclude that most Natives alive today are merely remnants of a greater past? If all they learn in school is outdated information that concludes at the end of the 1800's, and all they see are stereotypical images on labels and television, the conclusions drawn could very well be that Native people no longer exist. And if they do, they have long black braids, moccasins and live in tipi's.
Educator's need to teach an inclusive history (one that includes the Native perspective) and present continuity between the past and the present by focusing on the entire history of a tribal nation, a Native person or the US-Indian relationship. It is also important to present material in which Natives are shown alive and well today - wearing blue jeans, driving trucks, living in houses and holding down normal jobs. These simple steps can ensure a more respectful and well-rounded AIHM student curriculum.
What you can do:
1. At the beginning of next school year, ask teachers, librarians, principals and the school board how they plan to celebrate AIHM. If they have nothing scheduled, or if their curriculum plan is inaccurate or incomplete, make suggestions on how to build a culturally acceptable AIHM curriculum.
2. Do the same for your local library and contact community leaders and program/organization/university directors. Check around to see if there are local festivals and/or events during the month of November and ask the director if AIHM can be included (even if it's just a booth or a poster or free handouts with tips and information).
3. Start sending letters of interest to television and radio news program directors in your area, plus newspaper and magazine editors (local, state and national) requesting they provide AIHM information.
4. Contact book publishers (especially children's book publishers) and let them know that more - and better - Native American books are needed to line the shelves of children's libraries.
5. Hold the media accountable for the images, words, and phrases they release to the general public. If something offensive is said or shown, call or write the station and protest. Organize a letter-writing campaign or offer to educate the person/station who said it.
6. Lastly, celebrate American Indian Heritage Month in your own home. Read appropriate books, watch Native-produced movies, visit community areas rich in indigenous history.
The only way to bring American Indian Heritage Month the recognition it deserves is to do it ourselves. And by November of this year, there might just be a little fanfare and acknowledgment, but if we turn this into an awareness campaign, AIHM will one day be known to everyone. It will be celebrated in communities, in the media and included in every child's curriculum. Perhaps then respect for the culture will truly be respectful and a public that claims honorable intent will finally know and understand what it is to be honored.
It can happen... and it WILL happen... But we have to MAKE it happen.
So why is AIHM different than other monthly cultural celebrations? Does one group of people deserve more recognition and acknowledgement than another? Has one made more contributions to society? Could one group have a more powerful collective story? More heroic leaders? Or more traditions or stories of "triumph over tragedy?"
Of course not. So why the lack of recognition for American Indian Heritage Month?
I have a theory: A country that continues to justify land theft, forced assimilation and tribal extinction while denying their own acts of genocide and celebrating those who enslaved, massacred and tortured indigenous people is not a country willing to step up to the plate and honor the very people they are still trying to assimilate (and eradicate). After all, the very first step in truly honoring Americas first people would be to admit responsibility for centuries of brutal, racist treatment. But don't expect the US government to admit to anything just yet. It's going to take a massive grassroots effort and a public demand for truth and recognition from the media, the public school system, and publishing industry, before any real changes will be made.
According to the 2000 US Census, nearly 4.1 million Americans identified themselves as American Indian (this includes those who marked the "multi-cultural" box). This self-identification increased 110% - or by 2.2 million people - from 1990. This number could increase even more with the next census, genealogist predict, because more than 12 million people living in the United States today have a possible long-lost Native American ancestral link - albeit, some links are far more minuscule than others - and wish to lay claim to their heritage.
Native people are quite possibly the most misrepresented, stereotyped, and lied about subset of the American population today. Often perceived as holiday novelties, or as a culture of the past, the ideology of many holds the American Indian within a time warp. The displaced Indian of the 1800's seems to be the image that comes to mind whenever a Native person or culture is referenced. Of course, it doesn't help when such imagery is used to sell everything from toys, cigarettes, soda pop, bed linens, and Halloween costumes, to alcohol, vehicles, and clothing. But popular culture is 'fascinated' with indigenous Americans - the savage and the noble, the real and the fictionalized - and love to collect their faces on plates, keychains and posters. America also celebrates the Native culture by mimicking their traditions and dances at sporting events across the country. This is all done in "honor"... to remember the proud heritage of a proud people. Of course, there is no honor in mass producing dreamcatcher earrings, drinking Crazy Horse beer or doing the tomahawk chop at a baseball stadium with thousands of others. But tell that to the general public and they'd think you've gone PC-crazy. After all... it's just Indians. Right? And they aren't really real anymore.
The sad truth is to many, Native people no longer exist. And those that did weren't really Americans. They were rivals, barriers to proper civilization. It was them against us and we won.
Little was told, in my history books, about the true plight of the Indian. How they were starving, confined to concentration camp-live reservations, unable to feed their children or survive most winters. My history lessons did not speak of broken treaty promises, women and children forced to eat rotten, mushy potatoes, or how those innocent white settlers were deliberately traveling on land they knew they weren't supposed to be on, and the US government used their deaths as a reason to go to war with the Native people.
Even today, some teachers continue do more harm than good. For example, I recently read the questions given to a 7th grader for a Social Studies Native Americans project. There were 20 questions each student needed to answer pertaining to their chosen tribal nation. Of those 20 questions, 19 were in past tense.
---- Where did your tribe live? What did their homes look like? What did they eat? Did they hunt or far (and how did they do it)? Did they interact with other tribes? Did they trade? What were their legends and stories? Did they have a "religion"? What happened to them? ---- and so on. Only the last question asked a question about the nation today 'Where are they today?'
From this assignment, what does a child assume about contemporary Native Americans? Would they learn about Native Olympic winners, astronauts, politicians, award-winning authors, entrepreneurs, artists and civil rights leaders? Or would the children conclude that most Natives alive today are merely remnants of a greater past? If all they learn in school is outdated information that concludes at the end of the 1800's, and all they see are stereotypical images on labels and television, the conclusions drawn could very well be that Native people no longer exist. And if they do, they have long black braids, moccasins and live in tipi's.
Educator's need to teach an inclusive history (one that includes the Native perspective) and present continuity between the past and the present by focusing on the entire history of a tribal nation, a Native person or the US-Indian relationship. It is also important to present material in which Natives are shown alive and well today - wearing blue jeans, driving trucks, living in houses and holding down normal jobs. These simple steps can ensure a more respectful and well-rounded AIHM student curriculum.
What you can do:
1. At the beginning of next school year, ask teachers, librarians, principals and the school board how they plan to celebrate AIHM. If they have nothing scheduled, or if their curriculum plan is inaccurate or incomplete, make suggestions on how to build a culturally acceptable AIHM curriculum.
2. Do the same for your local library and contact community leaders and program/organization/university directors. Check around to see if there are local festivals and/or events during the month of November and ask the director if AIHM can be included (even if it's just a booth or a poster or free handouts with tips and information).
3. Start sending letters of interest to television and radio news program directors in your area, plus newspaper and magazine editors (local, state and national) requesting they provide AIHM information.
4. Contact book publishers (especially children's book publishers) and let them know that more - and better - Native American books are needed to line the shelves of children's libraries.
5. Hold the media accountable for the images, words, and phrases they release to the general public. If something offensive is said or shown, call or write the station and protest. Organize a letter-writing campaign or offer to educate the person/station who said it.
6. Lastly, celebrate American Indian Heritage Month in your own home. Read appropriate books, watch Native-produced movies, visit community areas rich in indigenous history.
The only way to bring American Indian Heritage Month the recognition it deserves is to do it ourselves. And by November of this year, there might just be a little fanfare and acknowledgment, but if we turn this into an awareness campaign, AIHM will one day be known to everyone. It will be celebrated in communities, in the media and included in every child's curriculum. Perhaps then respect for the culture will truly be respectful and a public that claims honorable intent will finally know and understand what it is to be honored.
It can happen... and it WILL happen... But we have to MAKE it happen.
