How did a #Georgia Klan leader transform himself into a faux-Native American from #Texas? A recent book uncovers the untold story of Forrest and Asa Carter, who were actually one and the same.
Today being #Thanksgiving, we can enjoy being treated to a host of historical commentaries & corrections
Gifted for you from behind the paywall, this important piece from 2021
Thanksgiving anniversary: Wampanoag Indians regret helping Pilgrims 400 years ago: Long marginalized and misrepresented in U.S. history, the Wampanoags are bracing for the 400th anniversary of the first Pilgrim Thanksgiving in 1621 Washington Post
And, keeping it here in Massachusetts, from our friends at WBUR :
Beyond turkey: How to start a conversation with children about Thanksgiving
A #NativeAmerican children’s book author who often goes to #schools to talk about gratitude has advice about how parents can reframe the story of Thanksgiving for their young children.
We revisit a conversation Here & Now’s Deepa Fernandes had last year with Traci Sorell, author of “We are Grateful: Otsaliheliga."
Is my personal #Pagan practice and something I will be speaking on from time to time on here. I have also created a subreddit at https://www reddit.com/r/MidgardMedicineWheel for those interested in the beautiful synthesis of #heathenry and #nativeamerican#spirituality
A MEDITATION ON FAMILY, HERITAGE, identity, and self-creation by a writer who is an enrolled member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe of the Pacific Northwest. Insightful observations weave deftly with personal reimagining of Indigenous myths. B PLUS
Reboot Representation & Pivotal Ventures partnered with McKinsey & Co. on this major, just-released report studying Black, Latina, and Native Americans inclusion & empowerment in information technology.
Three Feathers is a powerful graphic novel about restorative justice and traditional native ways. I loved the simple, but powerful message , as well as the transformative growth of the characters.
Today in Labor History August 30, 1813: The Fort Mims massacre took place during the Creek War. The Red Sticks faction of the Creek Nation, under the command of head warriors Peter McQueen and William Weatherford, stormed Fort Mims and defeated the militia garrison. Afterward, they massacred nearly all the remaining Creek métis, white settlers, and militia at the fort. Their victory spread panic throughout the Southeast. Settlers fled. Thousands of whites fled their settlements for Mobile, which struggled to accommodate them. The Red Stick victory was one of the greatest Native American victories. They were facilitated by the fact that Federal troops were bogged down at the northern front of the War of 1812. However, local state militias, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson and allied with Cherokees, ultimately defeated the Red Sticks Creek faction at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, ending the Creek War.
The Fort Mims massacre is cited in Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. Grandma Fontaine shares her memories of seeing her entire family murdered in the Creek uprising following the massacre as a lesson to Scarlett.
PHILADELPHIA’S MÜTTER MUSEUM IS REVIEWING ITS COLLECTION OF HUMAN REMAINS. HERE’S WHY THAT MATTERS FOR DISABILITY REPRESENTATION by Riva Lehrer (Art in America, 2023).
"The Mütter joins medical and natural history museums around the world who are debating the ethical treatment of human remains. There is the question of provenance: at the Mütter, some specimens may have been accepted into the collection under dubious or outright unethical circumstances. Mütter curator Anna Dhoty has written about one unclear holding. Other provenance issues have recently been resolved after decades of negotiation. And in some instances, there is virtually no paper trail at all.
All this gets at a deeper, more troubling question: can it ever be ethical to own, or exhibit, someone else’s body? And if so, how should those bodies be displayed?"
THE CARE/REPATRIATION OF HUMAN REMAINS HELD IN MUSEUMS.
As @ricketson points out, this is a problem that has been tirelessly debated for many years. And it is a multifaceted problem. Some examples (there are, of course, many more):
Today in Labor History August 21, 1680: Pueblo Indians captured Santa Fe from the Spanish. The Pueblo Revolt was an uprising against the Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México. The Pueblos killed 400 Spaniards and drove the remaining 2,000 settlers out of the province. However, the Spaniards reconquered New Mexico 12 years later. One cause of the revolt was the Spaniard’s attempt to destroy the Pueblo religion and ban their traditional dances and kachina dolls.
The Pueblo Revolt has been depicted in numerous fictional accounts, many of which were written by native and Pueblo authors. Clara Natonabah, Nolan Eskeets & Ariel Antone, from the Santa Fe Indian School Spoken Word Team, wrote and performed "Po'pay" in 2010. In 2005, Native Voices at the Autry produced “Kino and Teresa,” a Pueblo recreation of “Romeo and Juliet,” written by Taos Pueblo playwright James Lujan. La Compañía de Teatro de Albuquerque produced the bilingual play “Casi Hermanos,” written by Ramon Flores and James Lujan, in 1995. Even Star Trek got into the game, with references to the Pueblo Revolt in their "Journey's End" episode. The rebel leader, Po’pay, was depicted in Willa Cather’s “Death Comes for the Arch Bishop” and in Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.”
@MikeDunnAuthor@bookstadon here in Northern #California the original people vanished with very little evidence of their existence or resistance. It's tragic, just echoes of them. Here's a rare example of contemporary observation that I happened upon, looking at old timey stuff. These people were forced into labor or killed. Their way of life was wiped out, first by the Spanish, then by the gringo.
What a visiting British naval captain saw circa 1820 in northern California:
A Council of Dolls is gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, shining a light on the echoing damage wrought by Indian boarding schools, and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. With stunning prose, Mona Susan Power weaves a spell of love and healing that comes alive on the page.
AMERICA’S BIGGEST MUSEUMS FAIL TO RETURN NATIVE AMERICAN HUMAN REMAINS (ProPublica, by Logan Jaffe, Mary Hudetz and Ash Ngu, 2023).
"As the United States pushed Native Americans from their lands to make way for westward expansion throughout the 1800s, museums and the federal government encouraged the looting of Indigenous remains, funerary objects and cultural items. Many of the institutions continue to hold these today — and in some cases resist their return despite the 1990 passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act."
A very interesting source of information on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) are the minutes of the Review Committee Meetings. They are available on this website:
If you're looking for a character-driven, immersive, heartbreaking yet heartwarming novel, I highly recommend Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah. Stayed up late finishing it last night/this morning. Brilliant. @bookstodon#books#NativeAmerican#reading