In working towards a Stolen Nation objective of filling what I believed to be a huge gap, I realized that there are thousands of people with the same intent. There is a continual and escalating cross-world movement of collaboration towards the visibility and advancement of indigenous people.
We are using social media to identify, attract, and educate the masses about not only the injustices against the indigenous population, but the on-going struggles, movements, and successes. We are excelling in education, film, music, entertainment, health, government, science, sports, law, environmental, and every discipline in between.
I challenge you then to consider why Native’s are a people group, who for the general population are an afterthought, a parade reminder, a month of November revisit, an un-credited extra in a movie, a shadow rarely noticed.
Flashcard.com definitions for people groups include:
Minority Group: A subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than do the members of a dominant or majority group. [While struggling for sovereignty]
Racial Group: A group that is set apart from others because of obvious physical differences. [The stereotypical “redskin”]
Ethnic Group: A group set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. [Assimilated Indian Nations]
Here is what colonization attempted:
Racial Formation: A socio-historical process by which racial categories are created, inhibited, transformed, and destroyed. (Example- With the creation of reservations for Native Americans in the late 1800s, distinctive tribes were all pushed together into one group.)
Here is what the American Indian Movement began:
Pluralism Mutual: Respect for each others cultures among the various groups in a society, which allows minorities to express their own cultures without experiencing prejudice.
We must all endeavor to learn, document, and teach our heritage so the truth can be known about our history and we can be who we are without having to prove it.
Can we live on and off the reservation comfortably, safely, and with dignity? When will it be common for our Nations to be seen regularly in media as entertainers, artists, authors, talk show hosts, reporters, doctors, scientists, specialists, sports figures, and Nobel Peace Prize winners? Can we achieve the Native dream?
We don’t all speak our historical language and we don’t stand out among pop-culture without becoming the stereotype intentionally portrayed by #TheLastAmericanIndianOnEarth. So how do we become visible? How are we not an afterthought?
We continue to use social and Native media to connect, to identify partnerships, to learn, and to educate. We commit to support indigenous people, retailers, businesses, and museums. We seek out and attend Native events and talk about our culture. We fill our work spaces with posters of indigenous super stars like Goyathlay (Geronimo), Tooyalakekt (Chief Joseph), Tatanka-Iyotanka (Sitting Bull), Russell Means, Dennis Banks and countless others. We educate about how broken treaties, theft of the Black Hills, Neyuheruke, the Trail of Tears, Wounded Knee, slavery, and genocide caused the third-world problems that exist in many indigenous communities. We promote indigenous film and music and stand firm for Leonard Peltier’s release!
We unite to strengthen our numbers and our presence- just as our ancestors did.
We’re in a revival. Come and dance!
Mitakuye Oyasin.
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