COMPILED & REVIEWED BY CLAUDIA A. FOX TREE, M.Ed (Arawak). Here are resources I recommend in courses I teach about Native Americans - like book lists, websites, video clips, music/songs, curriculum ideas, and other thoughts thrown in for explanation…
Mostly, this blog is a place to present truths and perspectives about the Indigenous People of the Western Hemisphere (with particular focus on the Caribbean) not easily found in other places.
This blog was added to the Top 50 Native American Literature Blogs. Scroll down to the "Rest of the Best" after the Top 5
The Replica Senate Chamber at Edward M. Kennedy Institute (Boston, MA)
Photos by Claudia A. Fox Tree
When I hear someone say, "politically correct," it is usually in the context of criticism or making fun of something that is responding to the needs of a historically oppressed group. It essentially says, "I don't want to hear the truth" or "I am making fun of the people who want to spread the truth." It is often spoken by someone show has had their voice and story told and who hasn't had to fight for that right. The folks using the phrase should feel embarrassed because it signals they don't feel like they have anything to learn or unlearn.
Don't you know that everything is "political"? What we choose to include and what we choose to exclude from education are all political decisions, so that phrase doesn't even make sense. Everything is political, and putting something down by saying it is "politically correct" means only listening to one perspective, typically the one not telling the whole truth, raising one voice, and continuing to oppress another. It acknowledges that there is a missing information, and often an unwillingness to learn. It's a way to put down people who want to respect all our relations and right historical inequities. The truth is that things can't be fixed without knowing the truth. In fact, you can't have "Truth and Reconciliation" without truth, it's that important.
We can only offer the Indigenous perspectives from community (that we've
grown up with) and lessons from history (that we have had to relearn
because they were omitted). Communities and individuals need to think about where they are going and what legacy of justice they want to leave the next generation.
Here's the missing introduction
that is "clipped" off in this video: "Claudia Fox Tree and Savannah Fox
Tree - McGrath are First Nations persons of Arawak descent. Claudia Fox
Tree is a professional educator and leads conversations on Native
American identity, culture, and history. She is affiliated with the
Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA) and the
United Confederation of Taino People (UCTP). Her daughter, Savannah Fox
Tree, will sing in Cherokee. Savannah is a student at Roger Williams
University, majoring in architecture." Thanks to my
friend, Jan Shaw, who took the video of Savannah Fox Tree-McGrath and me
with my camera from the side of the stage at today's Boston Women's
March as we stood before over 150 THOUSAND people. We were the first
speakers after the 11am program began - America the Beautiful by the
Boston Children’s Chorus, the Pledge of Allegiance by Commissioner
Giselle Sterling, the emcee Mariama White-Hammond, and then us. This is
one of the most meaningful moments of our lives - representing our
people, and all people, for equity and social justice!
Bo
Matum (thank you) to the Wampanoag, Nipmuc, and Narragansett who originally
inhabited this land we now know as Massachusetts.“Welcome” to everyone else.
All
summer and fall, I and others have been standing in solidarity with the water
protectors at Standing Rock in North Dakota. Without water, we have no
life. Today, I stand in solidarity with my sisters from Boston, and around the
world in places, such as, Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Nairobi, Athens, Cape Town,
Rio De Janeiro, San Jose, and Vancouver.With solidarity, we have hope.
We
are the few who have the privilege to be here because we can afford not to be
working on a Saturday, we can walk out of our homes, we are healthy, and we
have help for children who may have been left at home. We stand beside those who fight for equal pay, disability awareness,
healthcare, and childcare.
As an indigenous first nations person of Arawak descent, my ancestors greeted Christopher Columbus. We have been fighting attempted genocide, intolerance, hate, lies about our people, lack of recognition for our achievements and contributions, racist mascot representations in media, schools, and sports, and acts of violence for over 500 years. We are the original “survivors.” “Standing up” is in our blood!
Today,
we are reminded that our struggle is not over, it is part of what makes us
women, humans, and survivors.We are
stronger when we stand together as allies, activists, agitators, and
accomplices. As our ally James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced
can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”Today is the next chance to face the
challenge of keeping our hard-won rights and creating more equity for those who
are still fighting!
In
our indigenous communities, women are often the ones who keep the culture
alive. We pass on traditions to our daughters AND to our sons, as well as
through our unique community ties. We lead by example. We “stand
up” for the environment, humanity, and the other sentient beings with whom we
share this Turtle Island.
Two of my three daughters could not be
here. My oldest, Cheyenne, has devoted
her career to doing social justice work and activism.She is completing a Master’s Degree in Social
Work at Salem State University, though she is right now at the Women’s March in
Washington, D.C.
My
youngest, who is a twin, Indigo, is at Framingham State University where she
does activism through student leadership on campus and in her artwork.I, myself, am a product of the University of
Massachusetts (Boston) and Fitchburg State College.Massachusetts is fortunate to have a free K-12
public education system and fabulous state universities that need to remain
open, accessible, and affordable to all!
I’m elated to have the other twin, my daughter,
Savannah, standing by my side now.She is
going to sing a song that represents the ability to change, even in the darkest
of times, Amazing Grace.First in Cherokee, and then in English, at
which point all are asked to join in and sing the first verse with her.
* Two words have been added, since speaking on 1/21/17. They are "schools" and "affordable."
Nearly 1,200 Missing, Murdered Aboriginal Women in Canada: RCMP
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/05/03/nearly-1200-missing-murdered-aboriginal-women-canada-rcmp-154722
The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on Thursday May 1 confirmed to
reporters that its own data search had yielded 1,186 cases of indigenous
women—1,026 who had been murdered and 160 of whom are missing—over the
past 30 years. This dwarfed the previous high number of 824 determined
by a researcher in Ottawa earlier this year, as the Winnipeg Free Press
reported in January. Even that number was higher than figures compiled
by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, which had documented 582
cases.
Olympic Games in Fairbanks, Alaska - Where Culture Counts http://projects.aljazeera.com/2014/eskimo-olympics/
“Traditionally you had to rely on your own physical strength and
mental preparedness to survive,” she said. “You also had to rely on your
community to survive.”
The Education System Is Failing Native American Students. Here's Proof STATISTICS and CHARTS http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/18/native-american-education_n_5593253.html
1. Native American Students Have The Lowest High School Graduation Rates In The Country
2. In Recent Years, Their Average ACT Scores Have Declined Substantially...
...And Their SAT Scores Are Substantially Lower Than White Students' Scores
3. Native Students Have Less Access To High-Level High School Courses
4. Most Are Not Proficient In Reading Or Math By Eighth Grade
A meeting in Rapid City in
October 2007, one of the first of its kind in that state, had people reporting
that racism is alive and well in the public ...
