The price of intervention

Recently, I saw a comment on a Facebook thread that set my teeth on edge. You've probably seen comments that do this to you as well. The commenter is being lighthearted and the content of the photo or link has nothing to do with the comment - it is just an add-on - a tangent. And yet, it is so potent and offensive in its casualness. Let me explain.

Here is the portion of the comment that caught my attention:

"...I want to run like the wind with a Pocahontas costume..."

For those of you who know me and know that my academic focus is Indigenous Rhetorics, you know that this kind of fun, easy, seemingly innocuous comment is anything but fun and innocuous. Easy? Yes, because of the ubiquity of misinformation about real Indigenous peoples and because of the ubiquity of misappropriation and misrepresentation about real Indigenous peoples, past and present. Fortunately, my friend whose photo this thread was on is understanding and reacted exceedingly well to my intervention comment. 

To intervene or not? That is, perpetually, the question. Vine Deloria, Jr. wrote in Custer Died for Your Sins that "we need a cultural leave-us-alone agreement." He meant American Indians need us white people to leave them alone - stop writing about, studying, trying to help - just stop intervening. All respect to Deloria and his motivation for making this statement, but I disagree to a certain extent. 

The price we pay for NOT intervening and NOT trying to help change the narrative about real Indigenous peoples and cultures is the continuation and predominance of misinformation, stereotypes, and misappropriation of Indigenous peoples, their cultures, practices, sacred items, languages, names, everything. If you doubt what I say, consider this brief list of products and organizations:

Cherikee Red soda, Washington Redskins, Calumet Baking Soda (logo), Land 'o Lakes Butter (logo), Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves (and their fans' charming "tomahawk chop"), Disney's Pocahontas, Princess Pocahottie (Halloween Costume), "What Makes the Redman Red?" (Disney song), Lone Ranger and Tonto (TV show and newer film), Firewater Whiskey, Jeep Cherokee, Ford Thunderbird, Winnebago (this is the "Chieftain" model), Crazy Horse Malt Liquor, Sue Bee Honey, Urban Outfitters' "Navajo Panties" et al, hipster headdresses. . . .I could go on.

Argument: All of these representations are racist.
Counterargument: "But we're honoring Natives!"

Here, read this. She says it better than I could. And has all of the persuasive visuals to back up her argument embedded in the post. 

As an outsider to this issue, all I can do is feel sympathy and offer action in my own small way. So I post stories to Facebook, I teach college students, and I intervene online when I see a seemingly innocuous comment that I know was not intended to be offensive. Most people just don't know. And while I do have a great deal of sympathy for this unwitting lack of knowledge, I also understand that 'not knowing' is just shy of being a lame excuse. However, as I am committed to changing the narrative, I do my best not to be too aggressive in my approach. But the hesitance that I still feel, even after years of studying this issue, writing about it, and educating people. . .that hesitance is what bothers me.

I paused when I saw that FB thread comment. Stared at it. Read it over and over, in fact, debating whether to say something or not. I knew the stakes. My friend and her friend may not take too kindly to being told, even in the kindest terms, that Disney's Pocahontas is a complete misrepresentation that sets the stage for believing Native peoples to be fantasy relics of the past - invisible to our current lives. The stakes for me are fairly straightforward whenever I make public activist statements that advocate strongly for a position or a group - I may lose friends, I may make enemies, I may be thought of in ill-terms, or at least thought of with accompanying eye rolls. Interestingly, all of these thoughts did cross my mind, but then another thought dominated and it is the one that caused me to act. 

I can handle losing friends, making enemies, and being thought of with eye-rolls. What I choose not to handle with silence (which, to me, implies acceptance) is the persistent expectation that Indigenous peoples do not currently exist and do not have feelings if they do. I consider myself fortunate to have many colleagues who hail from such diverse nations as Miami, Citizen Potawatomie, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Osage, and more. When I see such lighthearted comments, I think of my colleagues and students and the harm these types of comments are doing to them. And I just can't sit quietly by for the sake of peace in the family and friend circle. 

I've never been one to leave anything alone, least of all a blatant injustice. I encourage you to consider intervening the next time you see any kind of lighthearted comment made about a group of people that you care about. The personal price is miniscule and worth paying if the result is just one more person who gets it. 

Change may be slow, but as individuals, we must be willing to pay a small personal price in order to make progress. We will enjoy a more open, tolerant, and knowledgeable society, and that is the result of intervention. 

Why I'm not thankful for Thanksgiving (and you shouldn't be either)

Where to begin. Oh, yes.

Racial and cultural stereotypes.  Romanticized misinformation. Seductive mythology. Historical distortions.

Shall I continue?

Lots of people have corrected the misinformation over the years, quite publicly, and yet we still see “the first Thanksgiving” being taught to kids in schools fully focused on everything in my opening lines, from war bonnets and fringed loin cloths, to noble Europeans feasting openly in friendship with the noble “Indians.” Did you know that the colonists may have raided the Wampanoag food cache just to survive that first winter? That’s not friendly or neighborly; it’s desperate. But instead of punishing these white-faced morons, the Wampanoag taught them better planting techniques and skills the following spring so that they would stop raiding their winter food stores. (Feeling the Thanksgiving love yet?)

Read this for more information about the truth of why that first “thanksgiving” event was indeed a happy one.

Singular perspective.

The story of the “first” mythological “Thanksgiving” is always, always, always told from the European Pilgrim perspective, never from the Native American perspective. Not only is this wrong, it is disingenuous and irresponsible. Try this story on for size - Happy Thanksgiving: An American Indian Perspective.

If you are a parent and you know that your kid’s school is perpetuating this myth and the accompanying stereotypes, then you are responsible to correct this misinformation. Call the school. Complain. Ask for the Native American perspective to be included in the lessons. Talk about why Thanksgiving is a Day of Mourning for many indigenous peoples in this land, instead of a day filled with jubilant overeating and family goofiness. Ask that the students be exposed to some of the original documents from that time period so they can get a more accurate picture instead of fantasy images that have no connection with reality. Case in point:

At least this early school activity says "Native Americans." Small miracles, I suppose. But here's the other problem related to this image...


"Indians are dead, right? A thing of the past?"



When I teach Contemporary Indigenous Rhetorics, or talk to people, even casually, about this subject, the reaction is sadly often reflective of this statement. I'm taking liberties and being blunt, but this is the assumption: Native peoples WERE, not ARE. They existed in the past - the past celebrated by this ridiculous holiday that doesn't "honor" anyone. Rather, this holiday only serves to relegate these vibrant, real, present peoples to a past steeped in Euroamerican myths and misconceptions.

We even apologize badly.

Did you know that every year since 1990, the U.S. President has issued a Presidential Proclamation declaring November to be Native American Heritage Month.

On one hand, it is a positive rhetorical move. On the other, there is no practical action attached to it, which essentially makes the gesture moot. Be honest. Did you even KNOW about this proclamation? Even if you did know, what do you do to celebrate real Native peoples and cultures this month? And don't say "celebrate Thanksgiving." Some schools and towns might hold a "Native American Festival" for a day or a weekend and invite regional tribal peoples and groups to hold dances and traditional craft demonstrations. Good stuff, right? Wrong. We are keeping over 500 federally recognized tribes buried in the past because we can't be bothered to question and reverse our comfortable "truth."

The past is present.

One of my favorite Ojibwe comedians, Jim Ruel, had a great bit in one of his comedy shows (wait, you're thinking, Indians aren't FUNNY?! And they have stand-up comics?! Whaaa? It's ok. I'll give you a moment to watch this clip and then I'll continue with the story):

http://www.myspace.com/nativecomic/videos

Anyway, the bit involves physical gestures that ends with the classic middle finger. His friend asks him if Indians celebrate Thanksgiving and Jim responds, "We do. We call it You're Welcome Day."

Manifest attitude.

From the hideous days of Manifest Destiny when white Euroamericans made it their mission to take everything from Native peoples, from food, clothing, and culture, to ceremonies, identity, land, and life, to today when us white Euroamericans continue this oppression by simply ignoring and not even having the courtesy to acknowledge this devastating reality connected to our "day of thanks" national holiday.

It is disgraceful. And we are culpable. We should care. We could try harder. Maybe it's time for more of us to feel distinctly uncomfortable with this reality and share these facts with our friends and families. Share this post - that's a start. Go ahead and stuff yourself and play silly board games and love Mom's pumpkin pie...but take a moment to acknowledge the truth behind this holiday.

Knowing is the first step.

Harvest feast celebrations have always existed with human populations; but our time to celebrate should also include honoring the truth of the past and acknowledging that Native American peoples still exist as vital, modern cultures who practice traditional beliefs while surviving and thriving. Educate yourself, share the knowledge, and be thankful that you are no longer perpetuating a lie or continuing a stereotyped myth.

Sharing the knowledge is a better beginning.

The Discordant Dash for Doctoral Degrees

Let’s start with the premise that the pursuit and award of a doctoral degree equals economic privilege. Add in a dash of consideration for J. Elspeth Stuckey’s idea that by the time mainstream students reach the ninth grade, they have already achieved an elite academic status (The Violence of Literacy). Now take a quick glance at table #283 (page 23) in the Census Bureau’s updated 2004-2005 Statistical Abstract of the American Indian and Alaska Native Population: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/sa04aian.pdf.

This should be disturbing to more people than myself. I am just one short week away from taking my comprehensive exams (for my doctoral degree), so am trying to concentrate on reviewing, but find my attention sidelined by details such as this. Once again, as with my prior post on economic disparity within my home academic institution, I find myself distracted and upset and wondering what the hell is the answer to this problem?

Look specifically at the “Doctor’s degrees” section of Table 283 “Degrees Earned by Level and Race/Ethnicity: 1981-2002.” Notice anything strange?

The number of doctoral degrees conferred to Blacks, Hispanics, Asian or Pacific Islanders (which, by the way, is a misnomer since many Pacific Islanders consider themselves more “indigenous” than “Asian”), and Nonresident Aliens (whatever the hell that means) ALL increased in the number of degrees earned from 1981 to 2002. The number of degrees to whites went down 18%, but I honestly don’t think that’s a problem, considering whites still outnumber all other groups by a considerable sum. The only group that stayed the same was American Indian/Alaska Native - .4% in 1981 and .4% in 2002. The real number difference shows a total increase of 50 degrees, but with a severe drop in 1990 to 98 (a drop shared during that same time only with Black/Non-Hispanics…have to wonder if U.S. economic policies of the 1980s had anything to do with that), which means that unlike Hispanics, Asians, and Nonresident Aliens that made consistent upward progress in this category, American Indians and Alaska Natives somehow found themselves fighting an uphill battle for elite academic (and ostensibly economic) status.

But wait. This uphill battle is a pretty consistent problem for Native peoples – from challenges with literacy to continued treaty and land disputes with the U.S. federal government, tribes are certainly striving in their own, self-defined ways to overcome considerable obstacles, but this doctoral degree disparity seems especially problematic. Why? Well, for one thing, remember that I started with the premise that we can all agree, regardless of racial or economic background, that obtaining a PhD equates to economic privilege and status…and flat out more money. Anyone with a doctorate is generally going to make more than someone without a doctorate – regardless of field or industry and irrespective of how and where that degree is used (whether in a university or in the government or in the private sector). The fact that American Indians are essentially earning almost the same number of doctorates in 2002 as in 1981 while all other non-white groups saw some kind of positive change indicates that perhaps Native communities don’t value this highest degree as much as other groups? Or perhaps not enough Native undergraduates matriculate and continue on into graduate school? Or perhaps a lack of funding opportunities, despite an abundant focus on diversity initiatives and affirmative action-esque quotas on college campuses?

I don’t have an answer to this frustrating and easily identified problem, but it seems pretty clear that there is a problem related to higher education in our Native American communities. Of course, I know that the problems run much deeper than this. However, education and economic opportunity have always been tightly bound together, especially in the U.S. and especially now in modern (or “postmodern”) times. Looking at these numbers is like looking at a fence…the barrier is clear. The disparity shown by this formal statistical table relates to thousands of Native people living in less-than-desirable economic situations. Think about it. If more Native students went on to graduate school, chances are pretty good that they would make more money for their families…if we can look at other groups and our own situations as comparable examples.

If we, as a people in this nation, claim to believe that education is the “answer” to economic problems…why aren’t we doing more to help this particular group solve its own problems through higher educational achievement? At the very least, more non-Native people should be aware of this problem. And more people should give a damn about it - maybe then our leaders would also pay attention to disparities such as this.

Interesting that no politician currently running for President has meaningfully addressed Native communities and their concerns thusfar, beyond some lip service. Telling. Very telling.

(Edit: The Dems allowed this one tribal college president to speak: http://www.reznetnews.org/article/united-tribes-technical-college/tribal-college-president-decries-poverty-indian-country
...wonder if the Repubs have a similar plan?)

21st century consequences: Part 1

As an opening salvo to this blog, I intend to share some of my recent research on the state of African Americans and Native Americans in 21st century America. I have just begun to research this issue and am planning to attempt academic publication, but I also feel the need to share my findings with normal, everyday people on the off chance that it might inspire others to take even a small beneficial action. Hence, my plan is to incorporate ideas for action and potential solutions into future posts and I hope to inspire others to consider entering the conversation, suggesting solutions, and perhaps acting on them. One of the elements lacking in contemporary American society is action. We all like to talk a good game...but how often does that translate to tangible positive action with workable solutions? Not often enough.

This first entry introduces the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party, and the American Indian Movement from the perspective of the women who were involved in these movements. If you learn something new, I encourage you to investigate the history of these groups, learn more, and share that knowledge with others. (A small list of suggested reading can be found at the end of this post.) One of the sad results of my current research is the realization that too many people don't know about these groups - not as they really are. Rather, we are fed lies, such as "Members of the Black Panther Party were terrorists." I heard this - or something to this effect - recently on Fox News. Couldn't be farther from the truth. But too often, the truth is lost among fallacies and detrimental, fear-based rhetoric. Trust no one - least of all television and cable news channels. Don't even trust what I'm writing...always investigate and research for yourself.

Here we go - I hope you enjoy, learn something new, and please feel free to respond with your own ideas, comments, and knowledge! And thank you for visiting!

- Amanda

A View From Inside

Typically, when the Black Power Movement (BPM) and the American Indian Movement (AIM) are the subject of discourse, one reads about men, the male perspective, the male opinion. However, the women in these movements were powerful, opinionated, and strong. Consequently, their voices contribute acute observations from inside that allows for a broader perspective when considering the movements’ long-term ramifications. Mary Crow Dog, author of Lakota Woman and former AIM member, cites an “old Cheyenne saying: ‘A nation is not dead until the hearts of its women are on the ground.’”[i] Indeed, women are the heart of these two movements because they are the oppressed within an oppressed group. To be American Indian or African American and female in America in the late 1960s and early 1970s was to be in the ultimate position of struggle. To survive this position, or even thrive, succeed and inspire others, these women possessed strong hearts, great dignity, and wise words. According to Black Panther member Connie Matthews in a speech delivered at a Vietnam Moratorium demonstration in October 1969, “We have to understand that the struggle at this moment is a world struggle [. . .] the oppressed versus the oppressor.”[ii] These words find an echo in Huey Newton’s writings, Malcolm X’s speeches, and Amiri Baraka’s rhetoric. Lorelei DeCora Means writes about the secondary nature of womanhood to the main struggle in “Women of All Red Nations” in 1974: “Native women took on both traditional and activist roles: some cooked, some took care of children, and others marched, petitioned, occupied, and fought alongside their brothers to force the U.S. government to acknowledge its treaty obligations […] to open a new era of tribal self-determination and native rights.”[iii] Because of this gender equality of labor and purpose within AIM and the BPM, one could argue that women had just as much, if not more, at stake in this battle. Means continues,

We are American Indian women, in that order. We are oppressed, first and foremost, as American Indians, as peoples colonized by the United States of America, not as women. [. . .] Decolonization is the agenda, the whole agenda, and until it is accomplished it is the only agenda that counts for American Indians.[iv]

More than anyone else, women had the most to gain and to lose in this national and global struggle for economic, political, and cultural parity. Means’s words make a clear distinction between her fight and the larger women’s liberation movement. Unlike participants in the second wave feminist movement in the dominant American culture, Indian and black women’s homes, economic and political futures, and families were at stake.

In Joan Bird’s case, she joined the New York Black Panthers in 1968 after receiving a nursing degree and wanting more. She writes, “I needed and wanted to be fully aware of myself, the changing world, my people’s true identity and their roles in society and the need for us to unite if we are ever going to achieve any sort of power.”[v] The desire to learn about herself, the black community, and to assist in the fight for power drove Bird to embrace the Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program and become an active volunteer. Likewise, Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther Party member, epitomizes the resolve and passion required by women of color to thrive under multiple layers of oppression. In her letter from the New York Women’s House of Detention, Shakur writes,

We know that we are a colony, living under community imperialism. The U.S. that we see is not one of freedom, beauty, and wisdom, but of fear, terror, and hate. This is a nation of your laws, run by your police, and based on protecting your economic strength. The poor are politically, economically, and legally non-existent.[vi]

This colonization, imperialism, and division Shakur refers to finds echoes in Lorelei Means’s and Mary Crow Dog’s words, and can doubly apply to the underlying themes of the American Indian Movement.

Far from the grit of New York, on the other side of the country at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota in 1971, Mary Crow Dog first encountered AIM at a powwow after the Sun Dance. She writes in retrospect, “I recognize now that movements get used up and the leaders get burned out quickly,” but at that time, as a “wild rebellious teenager,” Crow Dog was enthralled with the visual and verbal messages of AIM’s leaders.[vii] She recalls one Chippewa man who “spoke about genocide and sovereignty, about tribal leaders selling out and kissing ass—white man’s ass. […] He had himself wrapped up in an upside-down American flag, telling us that every star in this flag represented a state stolen from Indians.”[viii] One young man told Crow Dog, “‘We are AIM…American Indian Movement. We’re going to change things’.”[ix] Change was heralded by the vibrations of these puzzle pieces moving into place, with women staunchly supporting the fight for jobs, better health care, and decent housing for their families and communities. Crow Dog also acknowledges AIM’s explicit connection to the Black Power Movement: “We took some of our rhetoric from the blacks, who had started their movements before we did. Like them we were minorities, poor and discriminated against, but there were differences.”[x] Some of these differences are revealed when comparing the two groups’ written platforms. Despite some programmatic variations in themes, goals and actions, many aspects of the Black Power Movement and AIM were frighteningly similar, such as the effect each movement had on their own communities and the dominant white society. Crow Dog writes succinctly: “Some people loved AIM, some hated it, but nobody ignored it.”[xi] Indeed, the same can be said about the Black Power Movement and the Black Panther Party. Ultimately, without the support of each community’s women, these movements likely would not have lasted as long as they did or had the resulting impact on the shifting American landscape.

---

[i] Lakota Woman, p. 80

[ii] Black Panthers Speak, p. 154

[iii] Alvin M. Josephy Jr., Joane Nagel, & Troy Johnson eds. Red Power: The American Indians’ Fight for Freedom, University of Nebraska Press, 2nd edition 1999, p. 51

[iv] Red Power, p. 52

[v] Black Panthers Speak, p. 160

[vi] Black Panthers Speak, p. 162

[vii] Lakota Woman, p. 74

[viii] ibid, p. 75

[ix] ibid p. 75

[x] Lakota Woman, p. 77

[xi] ibid, p. 74

Suggested Reading:

Alvin M. Josephy Jr., Joane Nagel, & Troy Johnson eds. Red Power: The American Indians’ Fight for
Freedom, University of Nebraska Press, 2nd edition 1999.

Baraka, Amiri. “Tokenism.” LeRoi Jones, HOME social essays. New York: William Morrow, 1966.

Crow Dog, Mary. Lakota Woman. New York: HarperPerennial, 1991.

Foner, Philip ed. The Black Panthers Speak. Orig. New York: HarperCollins,1970. Cambridge, MA: Da
Capo Press 2^nd ed, 2002

(More suggestions will be made with each post)
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