UNC Native American Resource Center

When you mention Native American Indians, the first thing that comes to my mind is the Lumbee tribe of Robeson County, North Carolina. So I was delighted to discover that the University of North Carolina Pembroke’s Museum of Native American Resource Center was one of the online options available for this module. The Resource Center is engaged in scholarly research related to southeastern Indian communities with a particular focus on the Lumbees. The museum also offers educational information about the history, art, culture and contemporary issues of American Indians, as well as the collection and preservation of Native American material culture.

The Resource Center provides first-person testimony by Native American women and is developing links to expand its collection of historical events.  In one section titled “Never That Far: Lumbee Men and World War II,” testimony is given of Indian men going off to fight in World War II and then returning home to battle discrimination and the Ku Klux Klan. During their military service, they had tasted equality and upon returning home, demanded that they be treated in the same way. They organized, became politically involved, demanded and then won the change they were seeking. Another interesting story is that of Henry Berrie Lowrie, who led an outlaw band during the Civil War. Lowrie fought against the white establishment to avenge the death of family members and became a symbol of pride and hope for the Indian people. Much of the site's recorded history for this group of Native Indians was only available as transcripts for sale which is typical of most museums.

The center’s history began as the Croatan Indian Normal School in 1887, later becoming the Indian State Normal School in 1940.  Although normal schools were teaching colleges, early Indian Normal Schools had a dual agenda- teach the teacher to educate the American Indian student and then send them back to the reservations to help erase their Indian ways. This was thought to be the best way to assimilate them into white culture.  Interestingly, this institution that is presently dedicated to the preservation of Indian culture first began as a school whose primary purpose was to destroy that very culture.

Indian State Normal College, 1940

UNC Pembroke State College, 1960

Source: The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. http://www.uncp.edu/academics/opportunities-programs-resources/opportunities-programs/native-american-resource-center/museum-collections/history/indian-state-normal-college-1940 . Web. 22 Oct. 2014.

The Pawnee’s and other plain groups still live in the plains and their beliefs and ceremonies continue today. They viewed the earth as sacred and the bison as the most sacred animals (Sutton, 253). The Pawnee’s used every part of the animal they hunted. They used the skin as clothing and blankets for warmth, the meat to eat and survive, and they used the bones to make tools and weapons. The bison was the single most important economic task of the plains people (Sutton, 250).  In the early 1800’s there were approximately sixty million bison that roamed the plains, but by the mid 1800’s, the bison’s numbers reduced to approximately twenty million.  This was caused by the easterners beginning to commercially kill millions of them for finical gain, instead of the Pawnee’s or other native people respecting them and using only what they need. It comes down to respect of their surroundings and living things that are used for survival. Do not get me wrong, I am not anti-hunting. I do understand the need to keep certain animal populations down and I am not a vegan or vegetarian, I am a proud meat-eater. I feel that if we had respect for the earth and animals put on it or in it, we would be much better off. I respect the native people’s views of having respect for mother earth and what is on it. The native people needed Bison to eat, but they would always respect them and hold them as sacred and would perform ceremonies to show the bison the respect and reason why they needed to hunt them.    

I watched a clip from In the Light of Reverence, in the commentary filmmakers Christopher McLeod and Malinda Maynor discuss the First Amendment Right of freedom of religion and it pertains to the American Indian. The fill makers assert the opinion that the most basic of all rights, freedom of religion, does not apply to them. The wilderness for most Indians represents a holy place, a place for them to worship and practice their spiritual customs.

There is a clash of cultures when it comes to wilderness and spirituality. On the side you have the dominant American culture that doesn’t understand the marriage between family and spirituality a value the American Indians hold dear. One Indian woman refers to prayer as the “backbone of everything we do.” Americans have long thought the wilderness to be a product of their invention.

Maynor expresses that these two worlds collide as a result of the sense of entitlement that Americans have toward wilderness coupled with the lack of knowledge about Indian spirituality. The resulting effect is the denial of the for American Indians to practice a freedom that every American enjoys.   

Reference:

http://www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/video_interview.php#.VD884Esafy9

Boarding schools to solve the Indian problem.

 When I was a teenager I read a book called, Indian School Days written by Basil Johnston. This book was about a 10 year old Ojibwa boy from Ontario who was removed from his home and sent to live in a residential boarding school in Northern Ontario. I don't remember many details about the book but it left its mark. It has been probably 25-30 years since I read it and I remember the title and how it made me feel guilty and sorry for people who came before me and were treated so poorly by people who should have known better.
Looking at the American Indian Issues web site, http://americanindiantah.com/index.html brought me back to that book. I feel that the more you take something away from someone the more they want it. To make someone want sugar, put them on a diet. To make someone patriotic, move them away from home. The same can be said for our Native Americans. The more they were pushed into reservations, the more they wanted to maintain their traditions. In 1867 The Indian Peace Commission came up with idea of reservations. The web site explains that the reasoning was that the Natives could be "civilized", taught english, farming and converted to Christianity. It didn't work. In 1879 the idea of boarding schools was born. The idea was to remove the children from their homes and "teach" them to be white while they were away from the reaches of family and reservation life.
This video from you tube is a good memoire of a few people who were raised in a boarding school in New York called the "mush hole."

Children were removed from their homes. They were not allowed to speak in their native language. If they did speak in the native languages they were punished. Their hair was cut short, sometimes shaved off entirely. They were fed "white" food and made to wear "white " Clothes. Some children were as young as 4. These children saw their parents sometimes as little as once per year. When they were re united they did not speak the same language and did not know the history or ways of their people.
Perhaps one of the most startling facts about the residential schools is that they continued to run into the 1970's. This practice was not specific to one area of the country or a particular tribe. It was all across the US and Canada.


Indian School Days by Basil Johnston Key Porter Books 1988 Toronto

http://americanindiantah.com/index.html

Indians, Redskins, Chiefs and Apaches. When is a Mascot racist?

Indians, Redskins, Chiefs and Apaches

When is a Mascot Name Racist?

If you've ever watched any type of sport, you've seen them -- mascots and team names derived from Native American culture.  Recently, these names and mascots have been under fire in all sports.  Just this year, the NFL made the decision to release the copyright of the Washington Redskins name.  Names like this have even prompted the President of the United States to say, "I would suggest a name change if I were [the] owner of the team" (1).  

Helmet of the NFL team Washington Redskins with the likeness of an Indian "Redskin"

As seen above, some of the mascot logos can be extremely racist.  Calling a Native American a "Redskin" is akin to calling a black person the "N-word".  So, why is it socially acceptable for a multi-billon dollar team that is located in OUR NATION'S CAPITOL to have an NFL team that has a blatantly racist logo?  Short answer -- it isn't, and Americans are letting them know.

Another professional team, the Cleveland Indians (MLB) have taken steps with their mascot and logo to become more sensitive to the Native Americans.  They no longer use the "Chief Wahoo" logo on any of their uniforms, opting instead for a red "C".  However, they are still selling merchandise with the Chief Wahoo logo.

Thankfully, most teams are becoming more culturally more sensitive to Native Americans, a movement that is long overdue.  I understand that these teams have been using these mascots for decades, but that doesn't make it right.  Sports teams (from junior high to the professional level) should be taking more steps to ensure that racism is squashed in their organizations, despite the loss of profits.  You can't put a price on being sensitive to a groups' race, color and origin -- all ideals that the United States was founded upon. 

Indian Removal Act

I was reading the Indian Removal Act, 1830 administered by President Andrew Jackson. The Indian Remove Act authorized the President to grand unsettled lands west of the Mississippi in exchange for Indian land within existing state borders. Many tribes had clear opposition to this new law; nearly 125,000 Indians occupied thousands of acres of land in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. According to the Library of Congress website, during the fall and winter of 1838 and 1839, the Cherokees were forcibly moved west by the United States government. Approximately 4,000 Cherokees died on this forced march, which became known as the "Trail of Tears."

I looked up more information on the Trail of Tears and this is what I found; bands of Cherokee Natives were forced to walk thousands of miles to a designed territory across the Mississippi. Many of the Natives died during this walk, hence the name. The White man wanted this land to grow cotton; they despised the Natives for occupying the land. They used bullying tactics like stealing livestock and burned their villages until they were forced to leave. The White man believed that they should be civilized and by civilized they meant to see the real value of the land and how much profit and wealth could be had by all. 

According to History.com, by 1840, tens of thousands of Native Americans had been driven off of their land in the southeastern states and forced to move across the Mississippi to Indian Territory. The federal government promised that their new land would remain unmolested forever, but as the line of white settlement pushed westward, “Indian country” shrank and shrank. In 1907, Oklahoma became a state and Indian Territory was gone for good.

http://empire1.esc.edu/library/intresourcesv2.nsf/bykeyredirect/8926?opendocument

http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears

                Viewing the video  “ 500 years in two minutes” by  Cree:  Wab Kinew on UTUBe was not only informative, it was entertaining. It discussed the history of  the Native Americans using humor and sarcasm.  It undertook very serious topics of plague, dishonesty, false treaties fur trade and  schools designed to “ kill the Indian in the child. Most of what was covered in the quick, funny , insightful video I had learned or heard of before. It was the Indian boarding schools, that before this class I had never heard of before. This is not a common known fact. I have taken countless history classes, read many books, but never before did I hear of these forced boarding schools to decimate the “Indian in the child.” Everyone knows the general mistreatment of the Native Americans, but I would venture today that many Americans have no knowledge of Indian children being forcefully removed from their families being sent as far away from home as possible, to become more Americanized and assimilate into American culture. I always thought, that the last despicable act of the United States government was to just dump the remaining Natives onto a Reservation, and just forget about them. Out of sight out of mind type thing. And I believe most Americans would agree, that’s where they think the story of the natives end. On, some levels it is just beginning. This video, gives you the five hundred year history, and although he uses sarcasm and humor to topics that are despicable, yet they also open up your eyes and want you to learn more,.

American Indian and Cultural Center

The heart of Indian country may be in Oklahoma where the American Indian Culture Center and Museum is currently being built. The place is set to open in 2017 and looks to be an eye opening place to go to learn about the American Indian and all the contributions that they have made to the United States throughout its history. When this great museum is finally done being constructed, it help to show and share the beliefs and customs of these great people that were here on the American land long before white settlers set foot on the boats to cross the Atlantic ocean to come to America. This culture center is going to show all the different languages that were and are still spoke in Oklahoma by the American Indian, as well as the heart that these people still have to continue their traditions through all the hardships they have been through over the centuries. The museum will also show the “circle” which is symbolic to the circle of life that is also extremely important to the American Indian’s way of doing things. The circle represents a handshake to a new relationship that can be made with these people, which also includes the different elemental colors in the circle such as: air (negative space in the symbol), red (rich land and soil), yellow (the sun), and blue (the sky). The actual site that the museum is being built on has been home to oil wells over the years and the cleaning up of the site has been part of the construction process along the way. All in all, the site will have a plethora of things to do besides the museum including: white water rafting on the Oklahoma river, and the Oklahoma River stadium for sporting events.

References:

American Indian Cultural Center, OK http://www.aiccm.com/

What is it like to be a Native American?

The American Indian Cultural Center and Museum will be opening in 2017. It is being built by the Native American Cultural and Educational Authority (NACEA). Its goal is to “generate awareness and understanding of the history of tribes and their relationship to Oklahoma today” (http://theamericanindiancenter.publishpath.com/default.aspx). The Center’s values and behaviors will be as follows:

·        “Adaptability: Welcome new direction and innovation.

·        Communication and Teamwork: Foster an open, collaborative and inclusive environment.

·        Constituent Focus: Develop and provide effective, progressive programs and services.

·        Hospitality: Provide a welcoming environment.

·        Positive Environment: Foster a zeal for work while maintaining a balance between professional and personal life.

·        Professionalism: Reflect dignity, trustworthiness and integrity.

·        Quality: Insist on quality in work, take pride in results, and embrace continuous learning through professional development.

·        Relationship: Nourish the spirit of partnership and create an environment where everyone’s contribution is valued.

·        Responsibility: Promote accountability in all aspects of behavior.

·        Respect: Honor the diversity of all cultural values and perspectives.

·        Reciprocity: Embrace the mutual and cyclical exchange of sharing and receiving.

·        Stewardship: manage effective and efficient use of resources” (http://theamericanindiancenter.publishpath.com/default.aspx).

The center is going to be about the Oklahoma tribes and the impact they have had on Oklahoman history. I learned just from the website about the construction of the center that there are as many as 50 tribes just Oklahoma based. That does not include the rest of the USA Tribes or Canadian Tribes. There are a lot of Native American Tribes out there! In this museum they are going to tell the story of where the Oklahoma Native Peoples started out and where they are now. They will take you through the first peoples to the settlement of the Europeans to today. The tribes being portrayed in the museum from Oklahoma are the Caddo, Wichita, Quapaw, and Osage tribes. What I found most interesting about The Center is that they have a performance and film venue. People wanting to learn everything about these tribes can go through all the exhibit rooms (4 in total) and the discovery room that gives them hands on experience making Native American crafts etc. They can even eat at the café that has traditional foods these tribes would eat! It is a great way for us to get the whole picture of what Native American Peoples are like. Lastly, the most interesting fact I got off of the website was that the words Okla and Hooma translate to Red Peoples in the Choctaw language. Oklahoma is full of red clay. These Native Americans had an impact on the name of the state…what else did they do that we have today?

http://theamericanindiancenter.publishpath.com/default.aspx

New Perspectives on the West (PBS)

Like many Americans, I’ve always known of the hardships and suffering of the Indian people at the hands of the European invaders; and like many Americans, I had not bothered to look into the depths of this suffering, instead favoring the homogenized versions created in a Hollywood movie studio and projected on the big screen.  Having read many pages of Indian testimony during the first weeks of the course, I realized that much of what was being conveyed had been left out of the history classes I had sat through in school.  I was curious to find out how PBS, an “educational” studio, would portray these historical events in their documentary, The West.

The documentary is described as “a story of conquest, of competing promises and competing visions of the land.” It is presented from both native and non-native perspectives and attempts to offer an unbiased view of events. PBS did not give the Indian side of the story or the white side; instead it told “a” story of events that took place during that time. I say “a story of events” because all stories are subject to the voice of the storyteller. The stories told are first-hand testimonials, spoken documentaries, letters written by individuals, and narrations by subject matter experts, all attempting to offer a glance from differing positions.

Portrayals were not restricted to events depicting brutality against Indians by whites or against whites by Indians. There is the story of the Cheyenne Chief, Black Kettle, who in seeking peace and to show good faith, returned four white captives they had rescued from other Indian bands. He returned to his reservation with a promise from the Army that his people would be safe. That very evening, the reservation was raided and men, women and children were brutally murdered. When questioned about his pledge to provide safety to the Cheyenne, Army commander John Chivington replied “Damn any man who sympathizes with Indians… kill and scalp all, big and little, nits make lice…”

But in another episode PBS tells the story of Red Cloud, a Lakota who had spent much of his early life at war with neighboring Pawnee and Crow.  The Lakota warrior organized the most successful war any Indian nation has ever fought against the United States. There are also stories of young Cheyenne warriors attacking stage coaches and destroying white ranches located on the outer regions of settlements near Denver. As described on June 15, 1864 by the Denver Commonwealth: “The bodies… were brought in to town this morning… It was a most solemn sight indeed, to see the mutilated corpses, stretched in the stiffness of death…the general remark of the hundreds of spectators… was that those that perpetrate such unnatural, brutal butchery as this, ought to be hunted to the farthest bounds of these broad plains and burned at the stake alive…” 

I thought this resource went to great lengths to present a balanced view of the historical events and yet am left to wonder why we have not made any real effort to rectify the misrepresentations that continue to plague our grade school textbooks.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/program/

Stereotypes of Native Americans

Stereotypes of Native Americans

I was particularly interested in the information provided by the American Philosophical Society site on Native American Images and Stereotypes. Images have played a large role in spreading incorrect or exaggerated ideas about Native peoples. Portraits of Indigenous people paved way for non-natives to falsely identify them as ‘inferior’, ‘superstitious’ and ‘uncivilized’ peoples. During the 1800’s, the intense century long conflict between natives and non-natives allowed the depiction of native warriors (those who fought for their land and rights) to be portrayed as ‘bloodthirsty savages’.  In the 1800s and early 1900s, many scientists tried to prove that whites were a superior “race” by measuring, recording, and comparing the physical features of people from different ethnic groups. In actuality Native Americans were far more civilized than given credit for; having their own form of government and full knowledge of how to cultivate the land.

 

Native stereotypes are prevalent still; some natives have been able to manipulate stereotypes by what the APS refer to as ‘chiefing’. This is more of a performance for non-natives, what they expect to see when they think of Indians. Dressing in full garb; headdress, deerskin regalia, with bow and arrow.

Being a Native American and living on a reservation I have experienced stereotypes on a lesser scale. I was once asked if I lived in a teepee (yes, that was an actual question I was asked). It wasn’t too long ago either, which was the sad part. I have to attribute this to the lack of Native American history in our education system.

Online Resources:

http://amphilsoc.org/exhibit/natamimages/stereotypes