What happened to the Native American population during the civil rights movement?

The short story is that First Nations People (FNP) have been “social justice warriors” since first contact - so our "Civil Rights Movement" has been in place for over 500 years.

First it was about "keeping peace" (see Pocahontas, Massasoit, and Tisquantum/Squanto), not being enslaved (see Caribbean/Arawak, Pequot, Apache), and "keeping lands and way of life" (see reservations, Trail of Tears, “urbanization programs”).  FNP’s reaction to the colonial idea of “manifest destiny” encroaching upon land and culture lead to “Indian” wars, desire to educate our own children (see “boarding schools”), practice our own spirituality (see missions/missionaries), and avoid genocide (see programs to kill people and culture, like Jeffrey Amherst’s small pox infected blankets).

After the success of the African American Civil Rights movement in the late 1960s, many groups used similar language and the legal system to forge ahead with their own civil rights concerns (every group has particular issues for their own group), including ADA (Americans with Disability Act) and DOMA (LGBT rights).  FNP organized in the early 1970s (see AIM, American Indian Movement) and used strategies, such as nonviolent protest (see Ceasar Chavez) and occupation (see Alcatraz, 1971 and Wounded Knee, 1973), to gain awareness and a voice.

What follows is everything else - Indian Civil Rights Act (ICRA 1968), also called the Indian Bill of Rights (granted freedom from double jeopardy as a special relationship exists which creates a particular tension between rights granted via tribal sovereignty and rights that individual Natives retain as U.S. citizens), the right to educate our own children (see the National Indian Education Association NIEA 1969), the right to practice our “religions” (see “Ghost Dance” and American Religious Freedom Act 1978), keep out ceremonial objects/ancestor’s bone (see NAGPRA, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act 1990), create/sell our own art (see Native American Arts and Crafts Act 1990),, ability to define ourselves and own identity (see “blood quantums” imposed by U.S. government, as well as U.S. Census 2010 and multi-tribal/racial status of American Indians).  These are just samples and don’t include voting, traveling, land, fishing/hunting rights, fights, and laws.

There are also other (more current) things to consider like current health and medical issues (including mental illness, drug/alcohol use), self-determination/sustainability, having clean water and no pipelines running through our territories, and the elimination of stereotypes (sports/school “mascots”) with accompanying inclusion of accurate FNP information, history, culture, and contributions.

Question: What do you think about Christians hosting a Passover Sedar?

Answer:  I am not Jewish, but as a Native American I have an opinion on appropriating spiritual and religious practices from historically oppressed groups who many be struggling to keep their own cultural traditions accurate and authentic - it's not right to "borrow" especially if someone is a member of the dominant culture and then has the ability/power to "frame" the oppressed group's experience.   Doing something jointly across cultures or participating in another culture's activities, when appropriate, is fine.

What Can a Pow Wow Do for A Community? by CFT

Here's my thoughts on some questions which I frequently get in various forms. I notice my answers are somewhat the same each time, but threads or themes get emphasized more or less each time I see the questions - just depends on where my mind is at the moment! Here are my thoughts today…

How accurately are Native American traditions portrayed?

In what? Music, movies, video games, literature, advertisements, cartoons, in educational curriculum, by anthropologists? The list goes on. If you ask a child (and many adults), "What does a Native American look like?" You will get a visual of a person with feathers holding a weapon, sometimes he/she will have long hair. That image is so ingrained in the United States psyche that it is difficult to unravel because alongside the image is the teaching that most Native people are dead and that we all lived in the past. Movies and literature written by Native people have made many strides forward in accurate portrayals, however, generally are not as popular as writing and movies by nonNative people about Native Americans.

In sports, caricatures of Native people and stereotypical acts (tomahawk chop) exist and are accepted in ways portraying any other ethnic group would be seen as an obvious stereotype and eliminated. There are things about us that are true for some of us, but they are blown out of proportion and applied to everyone. Yes, many of us are spiritual, but not to the exclusion of other ways to be. Yes, we protect the land, don't we all want clean water and not chemically treated food? Yes, we complain about stereotypes and inaccuracies of us as a people, but that's because change for our community is coming at such a slow pace. There are many more things about us that are false: we don't all live in tipis, we don't all ride horses, we don't all wear leather or feathers or moccasins or head dresses…

What is meaningful about these types of gatherings? How does it affect those who attend them?

Gatherings, such as Pow Wows, are meaningful in multiple ways. For the public, in the most simple way, they offer a place to see a "real Indian," not the storybook stereotype, but a living Native person who is blending traditional and contemporary traditions and culture in today's world - just like everybody else. In a more complex way, visitors to a Pow Wow get to see (and sometimes experience) the original "American" culture, that of the indigenous people of the Americas. I refer to all indigenous people of the Western hemisphere because the United States political boundaries are much newer than the Nations who spread out and lived upon this land from Canada to South America. Visitors can also learn more in depth information by listening to the emcee and asking questions of dancers and vendors.

For us, a Pow Wow is a social gathering where we can see and interact and dance with other Native Americans in ways that our ancestors have been getting together for generations. It's like "FaceBook live." While we come from all over and have diverse backgrounds, we also share our common Native American heritage. We don't have churches or community centers in every town where we can get together, or even a radio station or television show where we can hear/see ourselves accurately represented. Pow Wow is a place to bring our families, be ourselves, and see some the diversity of the Native American experience.

What more could be done to integrate Native American traditions and ways of thinking into a town's day-to-day life?

Acknowledging that Native Americans lived on the very land that the town now lies on is a beginning. There are probably roads and lakes with Native American names. These road were probably once the trails and paths which Native people walked. The fields were probably clear cut by indigenous people. The balance that existed between living on the land and keeping the land healthy is another value that people in Haverhill can take into day-to-day life. And finally, gaining perspective on how we all share the world with many ethnic groups who have different practices and beliefs, that no one way is the only (or the "right") way to be. That perspective is a gift to everyone who thinks they are "just like everybody else."

Last of the Mohicans Movie Letter, 2008 by CFT

Dear Claudia,

What do you think about using the film, The Last of the Mohicans, to educate students? Would you consider this film inappropriate or personally offensive?

From,
George (name changed)

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Dear George,

In general, I think almost all resources can be used as a teaching tool, if the appropriate teaching is going on. That would mean stereotypes are being dismantled, critical thinking skills are being applied, omissions are pointed out, misinformation is being addressed, and such.

Having said that, I might give a more specific response depending on the reason a particular resource is chosen. So, why is the movie being shown?

Is it to learn about the Mohicans/Mahicans? (It would be important to connect with the Mohican nation via web or newsletters - obviously interesting since this book/movie is a fictional account about "the last" and the nation still exists, which is an important point to make, see here).

Is it to learn about the time period? (The preceeding events and subsequent events would need to be explained so that kids knew the NA perspective and impact)

Is it to learn about Native Americans of long ago? (It's important to always bring NA's into the present and to realize that this is a fictional account - therefore how accurate can it be?)

Is it to learn about current Native Americans? (The Mohicans left New York and came down to CT, where they split into the Mohegan and Pequot Nations)

Once questions like these are answered, the next question, "Is there a better choice?" arises. If not, then it would be important to discuss the issues I've mentioned.

Off the top of my head, things that come to my mind about this movie are:

• The stereotype of the "noble savage" which appears in this movie. It would be important to dismantle all the stereotypes.

• Non Native actors playing Native roles - Why is this? Who has respect in the acting field and who doesn't, how does this relate to the mythology of "playing Indian", etc. Who is making the money by telling the Native story? (NAs or non NAs). These questions go for novels about NAs, as well. Tony Hillerman (non NA) has made more money from one book about the Navajo than every other NA author put together (according to Sherman Alexi, a NA author).

• It's a fiction. Which means the history, ceremonies, etc. are probably made up. I'm not a Mahican expert, so I couldn't be exactly sure.

There is a critique here.

And this website said: "When James Fenimore Cooper wrote Last of the Mohicans in 1826, he made the Mahican famous. Unfortunately, he also made them extinct in the minds of many people and also confused their name and history with the Mohegan from eastern Connecticut. Unfortunately, this misconception has persisted, and most Americans today would be surprised to learn the Mahican are very much alive and living in Wisconsin under an assumed name ...Stockbridge Indians. With a similar language and name, the Mahican (Mohican) and the Mohegan may have been members of the same tribe before contact. The Mohegan, however, migrated east as part of the Pequot and settled in eastern Connecticut sometime around 1500, while the Mahican stayed in the Hudson Valley. Afterwards, these two tribes followed separate paths.
Although culturally similar to other woodland Algonquin, the Mahican were shaped by their constant warfare with the neighboring Iroquois. Politically, the Mahican were a confederacy of five tribes with as many 40 villages. In keeping with other eastern Algonkin, civil authority was not strong. Mahican villages were governed by hereditary sachems (matrilineal descent) advised by a council of the clan leaders. The Mahican had three clans: bear, wolf, and turtle. However, warfare required a higher degree of organization. A general council of sachems met regularly at their capital of Shodac (east of present-day Albany) to decide important matters affecting the entire confederacy. In times of war, the Mahican council passed its authority to a war chief chosen for his proven ability. For the duration of the conflict, the war leader exercised almost dictatorial power.
Mahican villages were fairly large. Usually consisting of 20 to 30 mid-sized longhouses, they were located on hills and heavily fortified. Large cornfields were located nearby. Agriculture provided most of their diet but was supplemented by game, fish, and wild foods. For reasons of safety, the Mahican did to move to scattered hunting camps during the winter like other Algonquin and usually spent the colder months inside their "castles" (fortified villages). Copper, gotten from the Great Lakes through trade, was used extensively for ornaments and some of their arrowheads. Once they began trade with the Dutch, the Mahican abandoned many of their traditional weapons and quickly became very expert with their new firearms. Contrary to the usual stereotype, most Mahican warriors were deadly marksmen. The mother of the famous Miami chief Little Turtle was a Mahican."
I could say more if I had more specifics about how the movie was being used, but I hope this helps.

Yours,
Claudia