tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/american-indians-22909/articlesAmerican Indians – The Conversation2023-10-24T00:45:04Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2158102023-10-24T00:45:04Z2023-10-24T00:45:04ZIndigenous voices can be heard without being constitutionally enshrined, just look at the US<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555178/original/file-20231023-17-6rrpai.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C983%2C758&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-native-americans-traditional-garb-91654694">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It was always going to be a big ask for Australians to vote in favour of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.</p>
<p>There’s been much said about the challenges posed by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/voice-to-parliament-referendum-defeated-results-at-a-glance-215366">double majority requirement</a>.</p>
<p>In the wash-up, many are asking what the path to reconciliation is now. </p>
<p>Some answers may lay in other settler societies. </p>
<p>North American Indians provide an example of how representation can occur, without having to amend the constitution. </p>
<h2>Change in the face of harsh laws</h2>
<p>After 350 years of losing wars, land, and sovereignty, American Indians altered their approach to engaging with the federal government in the mid-20th century.</p>
<p>The National Congress of the American Indians (NCAI), a consulting organisation to the government, was central to this change. </p>
<p>Although American Indians could not alter their history, they did reverse its trajectory. </p>
<p>By the 1940s, they were about to face an era of government policies so harsh it is referred to as the <a href="https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/indigenous/termination">Termination Period</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/native-americans-have-experienced-a-dramatic-decline-in-life-expectancy-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-but-the-drop-has-been-in-the-making-for-generations-186729">Native Americans have experienced a dramatic decline in life expectancy during the COVID-19 pandemic – but the drop has been in the making for generations</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/bia/termination">Federal laws</a> took away tribal rights once promised by treaties. Government programs tried to end American Indian communities through <a href="https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/indian-relocation.html">assimilation.</a></p>
<p>In 1944, American Indians created the National Congress of the American Indians. Many of those involved had worked as government officials and had a good understanding of the system.</p>
<p>Despite its name, it can’t make laws, like the US Congress.</p>
<p>Rather, it is an organisation that lobbies and educates the government, like other industry and special interest groups. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three American Indian children in traditional dress dance in a circle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555186/original/file-20231023-21-zogbms.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Because of the work of the National Congress of American Indians, Indigenous Americans are served better by hundreds of programs and millions of dollars in funding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thaths/5736833559/in/gallery-ncai-72157627938609430/">thaths/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>Changing the trajectory</h2>
<p>Remarkably, by the late 1960s, through the National Congress of American Indians’ <a href="https://nit.com.au/11-08-2023/7180/exclusive-economic-resilience-and-tribal-sovereignty-in-the-united-states#:%7E:text=Over%20its%20history%2C%20the%20NCAI,Determination%20and%20Education%20Assistance%20Act.">efforts</a>, American Indians had not only survived, but the Termination Period had given way to tribal self-determination.</p>
<p>The National Congress of American Indians advocated for legislation such as: </p>
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<li><p>President Lyndon B. Johnson’s <a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/1600/presidents/lyndonbjohnson#:%7E:text=The%20Great%20Society%20program%20became,removal%20of%20obstacles%20to%20the">“Great Society” programs</a> that sought to ease poverty</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://www.bia.gov/sites/default/files/dup/assets/bia/ots/ots/pdf/Public_Law93-638.pdf">Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act</a> which allowed tribes to manage their own services and contracts with the federal government</p></li>
<li><p>the <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/browse/prelim@title25/chapter21&edition=prelim">Indian Child Welfare Act</a> which aimed to protect children while also keeping them within their tribal communities.</p></li>
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<p>School enrolments expanded, services increased, and education and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035886/">health programs</a> brought the highest quality of life many communities had known. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24398399">improved tribal schools</a>, children can now learn both English and their <a href="http://www.ncnalsp.org">Indigenous language</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-there-is-to-be-any-healing-after-the-voice-referendum-it-will-be-a-long-journey-214370">If there is to be any healing after the Voice referendum, it will be a long journey</a>
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<p>Healthy foods, <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2021/0222/Seeds-and-beyond-Native-Americans-embrace-food-sovereignty">grown by tribes</a>, are making a comeback on reservations that were once rural food deserts.</p>
<p>Of course, there’s a lot more progress still to be made. American Indian men have the lowest average <a href="https://theconversation.com/native-americans-have-experienced-a-dramatic-decline-in-life-expectancy-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-but-the-drop-has-been-in-the-making-for-generations-186729">life expectancy</a> of any ethnic group in the US. Issues with addiction, unemployment and trauma still loom large.</p>
<p>And American Indians remain displaced, having lost <a href="https://environment.yale.edu/news/article/near-total-loss-historical-lands-leaves-indigenous-nations-us-more-vulnerable-climate">99% of their ancestral lands</a> over time.</p>
<p>But compared to the situation 80 years ago, we’ve come a long way. </p>
<h2>Progress in real time</h2>
<p>My tribe describes the transformation of this period in a short story.</p>
<p>In the 1970s, our tribe had the following items in our posession: a trailer, a desk, <em>and</em> the phonebook sitting on top of it. </p>
<p>Our numerous ventures now <a href="https://www.potawatomi.org/blog/2022/09/09/citizen-potawatomi-nations-economic-impact-exceeds-700-million-in-2021/#:%7E:text=Citizen%20Potawatomi%20Nation%27s%20economic%20impact%20exceeds%20%24700%20million%20in%202021,-September%209%2C%202022&text=As%20an%20economic%20force%20in,and%20its%20communities%20in%202021.">contribute</a> one billion Australian dollars to the regional economy. </p>
<p>We run clinics, house elders, provide daycare, and our youth thrive in schools and careers. </p>
<p>We were able to build on the momentum created by the National Congress of American Indians and take control of our future. </p>
<p>The Congress focuses on policy. It mainly employs experts who research proposals, suggest changes to legislation, meet with government representatives, and provide reports to the public.</p>
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<p>Because of their work, American Indians are served better by hundreds of programs and millions of dollars in funding.</p>
<p>The National Congress of American Indians does this without being enshrined in the constitution.</p>
<p>In their nearly 80 years, the organisation has built social capital and credibility. </p>
<p>Because it’s so trusted, it secures funding from tribes, corporations, and government agencies. With yearly <a href="https://www.ncai.org/resources/ncai-publications/indian-country-budget-request/fy2022">financial surpluses</a>, it has set aside millions of dollars in assets to safeguard its future. </p>
<h2>A voice in a different form</h2>
<p>There has been a long history of trying to establish Indigenous representation at the federal level in Australia. </p>
<p>Most recently in 2009, Aboriginal communities established the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. </p>
<p>It was <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6443649/closure-of-aboriginal-organisation-means-loss-of-first-peoples-voice-former-co-chairman/">disbanded in 2019</a> after years of under-funding. </p>
<p>It’s hardly surprising a key lesson its leaders learnt was the need for stable funding. Being written into the constitution was seen as the way to get this.</p>
<p>The rationale is understandable, but amending a country’s constitution is a strong measure.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lies-fuel-racism-how-the-global-media-covered-australias-voice-to-parliament-referendum-215665">'Lies fuel racism': how the global media covered Australia's Voice to Parliament referendum</a>
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<p>Perhaps constitutional change was too big a logistical and psychological issue for the public to accept. A body like the National Congress of American Indians could be the alternative.</p>
<p>It would require long-term, bipartisan funding. The political appetite for such a plan is unclear. </p>
<p>But financial certainty could enable Aboriginal people to provide essential consultation and help train future leaders. </p>
<p>It may also prove more palatable for voters across the political spectrum. </p>
<p>In North America, such a lobbying and policy organisation has helped ensure much better outcomes for its Indigenous people.</p>
<p>With the right support, the same could be achieved in Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yancey Orr does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The failed Voice to Parliament referendum dashed the hopes of many mapping out a path to reconciliation. If we look to the example set by North American Indians, there might be another way forward.Yancey Orr, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, Smith CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1946912023-06-15T12:37:48Z2023-06-15T12:37:48ZAmerican Indians forced to attend boarding schools as children are more likely to be in poor health as adults<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503911/original/file-20230110-24-749og5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C19%2C4341%2C2883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research reveals what generations of tribes know firsthand: that forced assimilation and unhealthy conditions at compulsory boarding schools takes a permanent toll.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/senior-healthcare-assistance-in-a-home-royalty-free-image/1397246903?adppopup=true">RichLegg/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many American Indians attended compulsory boarding schools in the 1900s or have relatives who did. My family is no different. Three generations of Running Bears – my grandparents, parents and those from my own generation – attended these residential schools over a period stretching from approximately 1907 to the mid-1970s. </p>
<p>American Indians are very resilient, given the harsh history we have endured. Drawing upon the strengths of our spirituality, cultural practices and family and community interconnections, we continue to persevere. </p>
<p>Even so, as a young adult I recognized that – compared with the broader society – my community experienced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-018-1494-1">higher rates of mental</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242934">physical health problems</a>: depression, anxiety, suicide, diabetes and cancer, to name just a few. I wondered whether attending compulsory boarding school – an experience that sets American Indians apart from other minority groups – contributed to these health disparities. </p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://und.edu/directory/ursula.runningbear">scholar who studies public health</a>, so this question – and the fact that little quantitative scientific inquiry into it had been undertaken – was at the forefront of my thoughts when I had the opportunity to investigate the health effects of boarding schools on American Indians. </p>
<h2>Truth in the data</h2>
<p>When I embarked on this research in 2014, I began by analyzing a portion of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.9.1723">data collected from</a> the American Indian Service Utilization, Psychiatric Epidemiology, Risk and Protective Factors Project. That project focused on the prevalence of mental health disorders and service utilization among Northern Plains and Southwest tribes and collected some data on boarding school attendance and experiences. </p>
<p>For my study, I used the Northern Plains sample that included more than 1,600 randomly selected tribal-enrolled members from the Northern Plains and assessed quality of life – specifically overall physical functioning and well-being. I found that those who attended boarding school had on average <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-017-9549-0">statistically significantly lower scores</a> than those who did not attend. </p>
<p>As a researcher, I felt vindicated to find a statistically significant relationship between boarding school attendance and poor physical health – quantitative evidence of what I and many other American Indians already knew instinctively. Yet this finding was also deeply painful. Throughout my life I have sensed the unspoken pain and emotion of my family’s boarding school experiences. </p>
<p>These results made their devastation undeniable and much more tangible. </p>
<h2>Forced assimilation takes a physical toll</h2>
<p>American Indian boarding schools used brutal methods to assimilate their students into the dominant culture and inculcate Christian beliefs and practices. Although <a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-and-healing-commission-could-help-native-american-communities-traumatized-by-government-run-boarding-schools-that-tried-to-destroy-indian-culture-169240">those practices are well documented</a>, quantitative research into whether they had an effect on the long-term physical health of American Indian people who were subjected to them was hard to come by. </p>
<p>Using a subset of the Northern Plains sample, which included more than 700 American Indians who had attended boarding school, I examined the effects of five well-established aspects of boarding school experience. They included an age of first attendance of 7 or younger, rare or nonexistent visits with family, forced church attendance, punishment for use of their native language and a prohibition on the practice of American Indian cultural traditions.</p>
<p>I found that those who endured these experiences during boarding school had worse physical health status than those who did not. </p>
<p>However, the poorest physical health status occurred <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-017-1742-y">among people who had been older than 7</a> when they entered boarding school and had also experienced punishment for speaking their tribal language. I am not sure why this is the case, but one possibility is that older children were more proficient in their first, tribal, language, making it more difficult to transition to English, which led, in turn, to more punishment for failure to speak the colonizing language.</p>
<p>Again, although the findings hit me deeply, I was not surprised. Fortunately, today there are efforts to revitalize and restore American Indian languages and culture, such as the <a href="https://sicangucdc.org/wakanyeja-tokeyahci">Wakanyeja Tokeyahci Lakota Immersion School</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">In this 2021 MSNBC report, former attendees of American Indian boarding schools recount experiences of emotional, physical and sexual abuse.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Chronic health issues</h2>
<p>Recognizing the seriousness of all of this, and its potential effect on my immediate family, I examined whether <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097%2FFCH.0000000000000205">15 chronic health conditions</a> were statistically associated with having attended boarding school. These conditions include diabetes, hypertension, arthritis and kidney disease, among others. I found that former boarding school attendees were 44% more likely to have chronic physical health conditions, with seven out of the 15 chronic conditions statistically related to boarding school attendance. </p>
<p>For example, those who had attended boarding schools were more than twice as likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/napa.12092">report tuberculosis</a>. This, too, was not surprising, since historical accounts and health reports have <a href="https://narf.org/nill/resources/meriam.html">documented the overcrowded conditions</a>. In addition, windows were often boarded to prevent students from running away, which led to inadequate ventilation. </p>
<p>Boarding school attendees likewise had nearly four times the risk of any type of cancer as those who were not subjected to boarding school. One reason for this could be <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/DDT_FactSheet.html#">exposure to the pesticide DDT</a>, which was banned in the U.S. in 1972. Upon arriving for the school year, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/17/1129402172/interior-secretary-haaland-is-documenting-abuse-in-federal-indian-boarding-schoo">students were often coated in DDT powder</a> to target disease-bearing insects like mosquitoes. </p>
<p>I also found higher rates of diabetes, high cholesterol, anemia and gallbladder issues – diseases that can be associated with changing from a whole food diet to one higher in sugars, starches and fats. Given that this shift has been widely reported throughout the American Indian population in recent decades, it is worth noting that these effects appear to be even more pronounced in former boarding school students than in their peers who did not attend.</p>
<h2>Generational effects</h2>
<p>Finally, I examined whether a participant’s mother’s and father’s attendance was related to the number of chronic physical health conditions the person experienced. </p>
<p>I found that someone whose father attended boarding school had, on average, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/fch.0000000000000205">36% more chronic physical health conditions</a> than someone whose father did not attend. Notably, I did not find this effect from a mother’s boarding school attendance, although the reasons for that aren’t yet clear.</p>
<p>Although this study did not specifically look at epigenetics – shifts in gene expression that are heritable – <a href="https://doi.org/10.4161/epi.6.7.16222">it points to the possibility of epigenetic effects</a> that can produce biological changes that span generations.</p>
<p>All of this is to say that compulsory residential boarding school education has had profound consequences for several generations of American Indians. As troubling as that is, I have faith that, as evidence mounts on the impacts of boarding school attendance on American Indians, our communities and their allies will develop solutions that improve health and healing for all of our people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194691/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ursula Running Bear receives funding from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.. </span></em></p>Native Americans sent to government-funded schools now experience significantly higher rates of mental and physical health problems than those who did not.Ursula Running Bear, Assistant Professor of Population Health, University of North DakotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1867292023-02-03T13:46:44Z2023-02-03T13:46:44ZNative Americans have experienced a dramatic decline in life expectancy during the COVID-19 pandemic – but the drop has been in the making for generations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498814/original/file-20221204-56201-iupj03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5292%2C2981&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous patients who live in rural areas often have limited access to medical care. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/intense-navajo-man-portrait-in-monument-valley-utah-royalty-free-image/1434301879">THE PALMER/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Six and one-half years.</p>
<p>That’s the decline in life expectancy that the COVID-19 pandemic wrought upon American Indians and Alaska Natives, based on an August 2022 <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr023.pdf">report from the National Center for Health Statistics</a>. </p>
<p>This astounding figure translates to an overall drop in average living years from 71.8 years in 2019 to 65.2 by the end of 2021.</p>
<p>Although the pandemic is a major reason for this decline, it’s not the whole story. Even before COVID-19 emerged, life expectancy for Indigenous men <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256307">was already five years lower</a> than for non-Hispanic white men in the United States.</p>
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<h2>The grim reality</h2>
<p>As a <a href="https://und.edu/directory/allison.kelliher">Native American physician and board-certified M.D.</a>, I am all too familiar with the health challenges that Indigenous Americans face. </p>
<p>Growing up in remote rural Alaska as a member of the <a href="https://www.alaskan-natives.com/637/koyukuk-native-village/">Koyukon Athabascan tribe</a>, I heard stories of how infectious diseases like flu, smallpox and tuberculosis threatened our survival. My cultural group descends from three families that survived the <a href="https://theconversation.com/1918-flu-pandemic-upended-long-standing-social-inequalities-at-least-for-a-time-new-study-finds-195718">1918 flu pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>This history inspired me to become a traditional healer. Along with my training in Western medicine, I have also studied <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2010.03.016">plant-based medicine and earth-based science</a>, which was taught to me by my elders – practitioners who passed down thousands of years of accumulated knowledge to me. </p>
<p>Through both my medical and traditional practices, I have learned there are many reasons for the decline in life expectancy and the divide between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes. But this gap – if the government and the medical system will act – can be narrowed. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">“Young and Native American,” a short documentary produced by BBC News.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Poverty, unemployment and lack of health care</h2>
<p>American Indians and Alaska Natives die from diabetes at <a href="https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=33">more than twice the rate of non-Indigenous populations</a>. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows Native Americans have <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/67/wr/mm6747a4.htm#">significantly higher rates of obesity</a>, high blood pressure, cancers and general poor health status than other Americans. The suicide rate in Indigenous communities is <a href="https://www.nicoa.org/national-american-indian-and-alaska-native-hope-for-life-day/">about 43% higher</a> than that of non-Indigenous communities. And Native American women <a href="https://vawnet.org/sc/gender-based-violence-and-intersecting-challenges-impacting-native-american-alaskan-village-1">experience sexual violence far more often</a> than non-Hispanic white women.</p>
<p>There are many reasons for these disparities. For starters: Native Americans have the highest poverty rate among all minority groups, <a href="https://ncrc.org/racial-wealth-snapshot-native-americans/">perhaps as high as 25%</a>. </p>
<p>Unemployment among American Indians and Alaska Natives in <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/11/01/native-american-unemployment-rate-near-record-low/10652104002/">November 2022 was 6.2%</a>, compared to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/unemployment-rate-3-7-percent-in-november-2022.htm">3.7% in the general population</a>. Many Indigenous people, working only seasonally, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/race-and-ethnicity/2020/">are also woefully underemployed</a>. </p>
<p>American Indians and Alaska Natives are also <a href="https://med.und.edu/publications/biennial-report/_files/docs/sixth-biennial-report.pdf">underserved in the U.S. health care system</a>. The <a href="https://www.ihs.gov/">Indian Health Service</a> – the federal agency that provides medical care to Indigenous Americans – is funded at about US$6 billion per year. That translated to only <a href="https://www.nihb.org/docs/09072022/FY%202024%20Tribal%20Budget%20Formulation%20Workgroup%20Recommendations.pdf">$4,078 per person in 2021</a>. </p>
<p>The result is that there are fewer physicians, nurses and therapists seeing Indigenous patients, particularly those who live in rural areas. Those providing care have fewer technologies available to them, such as MRI and ultrasound machines, to help diagnose and treat disease earlier. Such shortages mean <a href="https://med.und.edu/publications/biennial-report/_files/docs/sixth-biennial-report.pdf">less access to either primary or emergency care</a>, which contributes to lower life expectancy.</p>
<h2>Historical trauma</h2>
<p>A shaky health care system is only part of the problem. <a href="https://theconversation.com/effects-of-childhood-adversity-linger-during-college-years-163157">Adverse childhood experiences</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/brain-scans-of-black-women-who-experience-racism-show-trauma-like-effects-putting-them-at-higher-risk-for-future-health-problems-165511">social marginalization </a> and toxic, relentless stress also contribute to shorter lives.</p>
<p>Then there are the effects of <a href="https://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/examining-the-theory-of-historical-trauma-among-native-americans/#:%7E">unresolved historical trauma</a> – the cumulative <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110263">emotional and psychological trauma within a specific group</a> that spans generations. </p>
<p>This kind of collective trauma cannot be overstated. A growing body of evidence <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2011.628913?">is documenting its effects on Indigenous people</a>. Historical trauma <a href="https://ssw.smith.edu/about/news-events/dr-maria-yellow-horse-brave-heart-returns-smith-give-rapoport-lecture">can produce physiological stress</a>, striking not just individual people, but entire families. There is recent evidence to suggest that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14091074">the body’s stress response</a> has caused epigenetic changes – meaning <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01419">changes in gene expression caused by the environment</a> – in Native Americans that can affect one’s health even before birth. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lozB8K_tnYc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Historical trauma and racism continue to contribute to the health disparities experienced by Native Americans.</span></figcaption>
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<p>To this day, the U.S. government has consistently created policies that sanctioned inequality – actions that have likely contributed <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr023.pdf">to the historical trauma and health disparities</a> present today. American Indian and Alaska Native communities have suffered from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01466">disease, war, internment and starvation</a> for centuries.</p>
<p>Not only were Indigenous people displaced <a href="https://guides.loc.gov/indian-removal-act#:">from the lands that were once our home</a>, the U.S. government even made it <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1053/american-indian-religious-freedom-act-of-1978-as-amended-in-1994">illegal for us to practice their traditions</a>. Throughout most of the 20th century, the U.S. government placed Indigenous children into <a href="https://theconversation.com/christianity-was-a-major-part-of-indigenous-boarding-schools-a-historian-whose-family-survived-them-explains-187339">boarding schools that separated them from their families</a>.</p>
<h2>Breaking the cycle</h2>
<p>It’s clear that Indigenous communities need new or upgraded hospitals and clinics, more and better diagnostic technology, more specialty services in dental care, obstetrics, pediatrics and oncology, and more alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs. </p>
<p>There is some good news: The Biden administration’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/15/fact-sheet-one-year-into-implementation-of-bipartisan-infrastructure-law-biden-%E2%81%A0harris-administration-celebrates-major-progress-in-building-a-better-america/">2022 infrastructure bill</a> makes $13 billion available <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Bipartisan-Infrastructure-Law-Tribal-Playbook-053122-.pdf">to address some of these needs</a> for Native American tribes. And an additional <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-11/how-native-tribes-are-using-20-billion-in-pandemic-aid">$20 billion appropriation for COVID-19 relief</a> will also provide help for some of the most immediate challenges.</p>
<p>But even with this aid, there is still a funding gap. The <a href="https://www.nihb.org/">National Indian Health Board</a>, a nonprofit advocacy group representing federally recognized tribes, recommends a commitment of $48 billion for the 2024 fiscal year <a href="https://www.nihb.org/docs/09072022/FY%202024%20Tribal%20Budget%20Formulation%20Workgroup%20Recommendations.pdf">to fully fund the health needs of Indigenous people</a>. The current budget, $9.3 billion, <a href="https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/pressreleases/2022-press-releases/statement-from-ihs-acting-director-elizabeth-fowler-on-the-presidents-fiscal-year-2023-budget/#:">is less than one-fifth of that</a>. </p>
<p>The recent increases in funding are certainly a step in the right direction. But the factors contributing to the shorter lives of Native Americans started generations ago, and they are still reverberating among the youngest of us today. </p>
<p>Both from a professional standpoint – as well as one that is very personal to me and my ancestors – more work in this area cannot come soon enough.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Kelliher receives funding from NSF EPSCoR and NIDA. </span></em></p>Unrelenting poverty, underemployment and historical trauma all contribute to the health challenges faced by Indigenous Americans.Allison Kelliher, Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of North DakotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886952022-11-23T15:03:23Z2022-11-23T15:03:23ZWilma Mankiller, first female principal chief of Cherokee Nation, led with compassion and continues to inspire today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496534/original/file-20221121-16-2a0kww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C5%2C3464%2C2271&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wilma Mankiller served in the top leadership role of the Cherokee Nation from 1985 to 1995.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chief-wilma-mankiller-of-the-cherokee-nation-news-photo/635967157">Peter Turnley/Corbis Historical via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you fish in your pocket or purse for a U.S. quarter today, there’s a chance you’ll see Wilma Mankiller’s face. She was the <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-mankiller">Cherokee Nation’s first female principal chief</a>, and she inspired generations of Cherokees and young Native people like me.</p>
<p>In 2022, <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/wilma-mankiller">Mankiller</a> was one of the first women honored by appearing on a <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coin-and-medal-programs/american-women-quarters">series of quarters</a>, along with renowned poet and activist <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/maya-angelou">Maya Angelou</a> and physicist and astronaut <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/sally-ride">Sally Ride</a>. Mankiller’s quarter, issued in the summer of 2022, marks the first time that a Native American woman has been featured on a U.S. coin since <a href="https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/circulating-coins/sacagawea-golden-dollar">Sacagawea appeared on the golden dollar</a> in 2000.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://history.la.psu.edu/directory/julie-reed/">historian of Native American history</a>, I credit my professional career to Mankiller, whom I heard speak at Salem Women’s College when I was an undergraduate student there. I had never seen a non-Native audience listen so intently to a woman who looked like my father’s ancestors and grew up in rural Oklahoma, as he did. Like many young Cherokee people, I was raised outside the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation.</p>
<p>Following her lecture, I tore through her autobiography, “<a href="https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/mankiller">Mankiller: A Chief and Her People</a>.” In her book and through her life’s work, Mankiller introduced a generation of people not just to Cherokee history but also to a model of <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sifters-9780195130812?cc=us&lang=en&#">Native women’s leadership</a>, leading by listening to the voices from her community and supporting the programs they sought. </p>
<h2>Early life</h2>
<p>Mankiller’s life resembled many Native people’s lives in the 20th century before she assumed the role of principal chief of the Cherokee Nation in 1985.</p>
<p>She was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, at an Indian hospital in 1945. She grew up on land secured by Cherokee people over three generations of shifting U.S. federal Indian policies, each with devastating results: the <a href="https://www.ncdcr.gov/blog/2015/12/29/the-treaty-of-new-echota-and-the-trail-of-tears">Treaty of New Echota</a> in 1835, <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=RE001">the Treaty of 1866</a> and the <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CU006">Curtis Act</a> in 1898.</p>
<p>Mankiller’s family relocated to San Francisco in the 1950s after Congress passed the <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469651385/indians-on-the-move/">termination and relocation policy</a>, seeking to <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/488.html">break up and relocate Native American tribes</a> to assimilate them. In San Francisco she met Indigenous people from diverse communities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="woman with thick brown hair sitting at a desk in a classroom and outstretching her arm" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496568/original/file-20221121-14-l5v3r5.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mankiller’s duties as chief included attending the Arkansas Riverbed Authority meetings to discuss multiple Native communities’ access to water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Maya-Angelou-Quarters/7b49eecf3fcf4b5bb3bc2852a8704cf8/21/0">Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP Images</a></span>
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<p>She came of age in San Francisco during the <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/red-power-movement-radical-fight-native-american-sovereignty">Red Power Movement</a>, which was marked by Indigenous people’s activism across the country and aimed to draw attention to broken treaty promises, widespread dispossession and police brutality. She and her siblings supported <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/us/native-american-occupation-alcatraz.html">the occupation of Alcatraz</a>, a takeover by Native activists that lasted 18 months. </p>
<p>She married young, had children and willed herself through a college education. She divorced and returned home to Oklahoma in 1976 as a single parent with two daughters. Mankiller’s family history, like that of so many Native Americans in this country, cannot be told or understood without understanding changes in federal Indian policy, which often dictated where Native people lived and the economic opportunities available to them.</p>
<h2>What she means to Cherokee people</h2>
<p>Mankiller’s life was similar to those of many families who remained in Oklahoma on allotments or within Cherokee communities after Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Until the age of 11, she grew up in Adair County, which was <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/adaircountyoklahoma/RHI325221#RHI325221">about 46% Cherokee in the 2020 census</a>. </p>
<p>When she returned to Oklahoma from California in the late 1970s to work for the Cherokee Nation, she prioritized and supported a community-driven project that <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/wilma-mankiller">brought running water to the Bell community</a>. Bell, a rural community in Adair County, is still home to large pockets of Cherokee people. This effort was later dramatized in the 2013 film “<a href="https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/523674">The Cherokee Word for Water</a>.” Mankiller’s commitment to improving the lives of Cherokee people was central to her work, even before she became chief.</p>
<p>Her rise to the position of principal chief in 1985 coincided with a moment when the efforts of civil rights activists, Black nationalists, Red Power and women’s rights activists of the previous decades were bearing fruit. She represented and modeled what people like <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2010/04/08/gloria-steinem-reflects-on-friendship-with-wilma-mankiller/61264327007/">Gloria Steinem</a>, with whom Mankiller formed an enduring friendship, hoped to see more people achieve in the larger U.S.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A tall white man with thick gray hair places medal around neck of shorter woman with cropped brown hair" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496549/original/file-20221121-19-7y2fws.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Clinton awards Wilma Mankiller the Presidential Medal of Freedom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-bill-clinton-places-the-presidential-medal-of-news-photo/51640661?phrase=wilma%20mankiller&adppopup=true">Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Mankiller’s impact extended beyond Cherokee people. In a nod to her accomplishments, President Bill Clinton awarded her the <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4173791/user-clip-wilma-mankiller-presidential-award">Presidential Medal of Freedom</a> in 1998. Mankiller understood that she <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/mankiller-wilma/#:%7E:text=so%20that%20helped.-,Chapter%2014%20%E2%80%94%205%3A18,-advice%20to%20Female">represented how far women leaders had come</a> and the hope we might still arrive where we need to be.</p>
<p>I still remember learning of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/us/07mankiller.html">her death from pancreatic cancer in April 2010</a> when I was a graduate student in history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, not far from Salem College where she first inspired me. I, like many others I imagine, wept for her, enormously proud of all she had achieved.</p>
<h2>The Cherokee value of gadugi</h2>
<p>Mankiller’s transition to chief wasn’t easy. People <a href="https://voicesofoklahoma.com/interviews/mankiller-wilma/#:%7E:text=took%20some%20doing.-,Chapter%2013%20%E2%80%94%206%3A34,-Opposition%20to%20Wilma">initially questioned</a> a woman’s ability to lead the tribe. If there was any doubt of Mankiller’s capabilities as a leader when she took over as chief in 1985, in her second election to office six years later, she received <a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/stories/wilma-mankiller-led-first-woman-principal-chief-cherokee-nation">almost 83% of the vote</a>. </p>
<p>She gained support by exemplifying <a href="https://cherokee.web.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/22035/2020/02/Cherokee-Community-Values.pdf">gadugi</a> – a Cherokee word that means working together collectively for the benefit of the whole community. She drew upon her culture, history and tribal identity as a leader, and she raised her daughters <a href="https://osiyo.tv/gina-olaya-a-living-legacy/">Gina</a> and <a href="https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/with-kidney-transplant-wilma-mankillers-daughters-saved-each-others-lives/article_aa42a8d1-63fa-566e-8bc0-a94d3d34f6f9.html">Felicia</a> Olaya to do the same. Though neither held office, both have worked for and supported the Cherokee Nation throughout their lives. </p>
<p>During her time as chief, Mankiller provided a foundation for the continued growth of the Cherokee Nation. Enrollment in Cherokee Nation <a href="https://womenshistory.si.edu/stories/wilma-mankiller-led-first-woman-principal-chief-cherokee-nation">doubled under her leadership</a>. She championed education and secured a <a href="https://hankmemoir.wordpress.com/tag/parade-magazine/">US$9 million vocational center</a>. A 1991 Parade Magazine profile described her leadership style as quiet but strong. </p>
<p>At her mother’s memorial, Gina, <a href="https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/tahlequah-ok/gina-olaya-10969530">who died in October 2022</a>, said that <a href="https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/news/wilma-mankiller-also-left-legacy-as-mother/article_78c8f8f8-0ce8-578d-8650-f98b28e7273d.html">her mother taught her family</a> “how to laugh, how to dance, to appreciate Motown music, to be a humble servant to our people, to love one another unequivocally and to cherish each and every moment we spent together as a family.”</p>
<p>Mankiller articulated what generations of Cherokee people knew – that Indigenous people are capable of <a href="https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/2017/03/21/rebuilding-the-cherokee-nation-april-2-1993/">generating the solutions</a> to the problems they face. As chief, she focused on issues that benefited some of the most vulnerable Cherokee people, such as rural development, housing, employment and education. Mankiller listened to community members to determine the way forward. I believe her legacy, now enshrined on a quarter, will continue to inspire new generations of people seeking to make a difference in the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Reed has received funding from various organizations for consulting work on Cherokee history including New York Historical Society, Cherokee Nation Businesses, and various k-12 textbook producers. She has also received fellowship and scholarship support from the Spencer Foundation, the American Philosophical Society, and the Cherokee Nation Education Foundation. She is citizen of the Cherokee Nation.</span></em></p>Wilma Mankiller’s groundbreaking tenure as chief of the Cherokee Nation introduced the US to the power of Indigenous women’s leadership.Julie Reed, Associate Professor in History, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1932632022-10-28T12:31:03Z2022-10-28T12:31:03ZSacheen Littlefeather and ethnic fraud – why the truth is crucial, even it it means losing an American Indian hero<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491938/original/file-20221026-19-k72etf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C12%2C4156%2C2792&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sacheen Littlefeather speaks at the 45th Academy Awards.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sacheen-littlefeather-speaks-at-the-45th-academy-awards-on-news-photo/515108640?phrase=sacheen%20littlefeather&adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Sacheen Littlefeather died on Oct. 2, 2022, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/10/03/oscars-activist-sacheen-littlefeather-dead/">obituaries reflecting on the actress and activist’s life</a> held her up as a <a href="https://time.com/6221718/devery-jacobs-sacheen-littlefeather/">Native American trailblazer</a>.</p>
<p>But there is serious issue with this assessment: A suspicion among those who knew her – myself included – that her claims to American Indian heritage were not what they seemed has developed into <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/oct/24/sacheen-littlefeather-faked-native-american-ancestry-say-family">outright claims of falsehood</a>. A report in the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Sacheen-Littlefeather-oscar-Native-pretendian-17520648.php?fbclid=IwAR3hwygk14GMDMPifAxZJMCJOjQIcCqqsxmLue1s8DoLlNjlKDvG9VXPjsM">San Francisco Chronicle</a> on Oct. 22 claims that Littlefeather was a “fraud.” </p>
<p>Written by author Jacqueline Keeler, whose running “<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/01/01/alleged-pretendians-list-exposes-allegedly-fake-native-americans/">Alleged Pretendians</a>” list documents cases of Native American ethnic fraud, the article cites two of Littlefeather’s sisters who say that their sibling lied about her heritage. Contrary to Littlefeather’s half-century long claims, she has no White Mountain Apache or Yaqui heritage, according to the report.</p>
<p>The article has unleashed bitter online arguments, <a href="https://variety.com/2022/film/columns/sacheen-littlefeather-who-gets-to-call-themselves-native-1235412067/">counter-articles</a> and <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/activist-jacqueline-keeler-claims-sacheen-littlefeather-wasnt-native-but-a-pretendian">intense criticism of Keeler</a>. In part, the reaction stems from calling out Littlefeather’s alleged deception so soon after her death.</p>
<p>It also reflects the esteem many held Littlefeather in. Littlefeather <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/notes-on-hollywood/revisiting-sacheen-littlefeathers-shocking-appearance-at-the-1973-oscars">skyrocketed to fame in 1973</a> when, based on her supposed Native American heritage, she rejected an Oscar for Marlon Brando in protest over the film industry’s deplorable treatment of Native people. It cemented her position as “persona non grata” in Hollywood but <a href="https://time.com/6221718/devery-jacobs-sacheen-littlefeather/">made her a heroine</a> to a new generation of American Indian people.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qakw0xYAAAAJ&hl=en">a scholar who writes and teaches about American Indian cultural appropriation</a>, I believe that scrutinizing Littlefeather’s claim to Native identity is necessary. “<a href="https://theconversation.com/fraudulent-claims-of-indigeneity-indigenous-nations-are-the-identity-experts-171470">Pretendianism</a>” – the act of falsely claiming American Indian heritage – does real harm, and the case of Littlefeather may shed light on why people make such claims, and how they get away with it.</p>
<h2>A narrative, unquestioned</h2>
<p>I reviewed Keeler’s documentation before it was published, and in my opinion it is solid research. Keeler’s work also revealed numerous other apparent falsehoods by Littlefeather over the years, including her claims that she was at the <a href="https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/indianed/curriculum/ReadytoGo/1969%20Alcatraz%20%28HS%29.pdf">1969 to 1971 Alcatraz Island Occupation</a>. </p>
<p>The allegations of falsehood also resonate with <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/a-recent-tv-slur-revives-debate-about-sacheen-littlefeather-and-her-role-in-marlon-brandos-oscar-refusal">my own experience</a> of working with Littlefeather. In 2015, she asked me to ghostwrite a memoir with her on the back of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/story/what-is-the-significance-of-the-oscarssowhite-hashtag">#OscarsSoWhite movement</a>. I spent several days interviewing Littlefeather at her home in San Rafael, California, but was later informed that Littlefeather had decided to “go in a different direction.” During our conversations, Littlefeather offered no information about any family connections to the White Mountain Apache or Yaqui tribes.</p>
<p>I later warned the makers of a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/SACHEEN-Breaking-silence-Sacheen-Littlefeather/dp/B09J261TFQ">documentary film</a> about my concerns about Littlefeather’s claims to American Indian heritage but otherwise kept my suspicions largely to myself. The truth is, it never seemed acceptable to question Sacheen Littlefeather’s identity – not now or not when she was alive. For generations, activists, writers and filmmakers who worked with her reflexively believed her assertions.</p>
<p>But here is the thing: The issue of Littlefeather’s heritage has never been about questioning whatever <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/03/movies/sacheen-littlefeather-dead.html">good work she has done as an activist</a>. It wasn’t even about whether or not she had any Indigenous heritage at all. Given that her father’s family was from Mexico, there is a good chance that she had Indigenous ancestry from that country. </p>
<p>Rather, it raises questions about why she would invent a fictitious narrative, and why no one questioned it, at least publicly, during her lifetime.</p>
<h2>The harm of ‘pretendians’</h2>
<p>Littlefeather became a cultural icon in large part because she made a life playing to the Indian Princess stereotype, and she certainly looked the part. This was especially true during the Oscars incident, in which she adorned herself in full Native dress, for example, because it sent an unmistakable message about the image she was trying to portray. It should be noted that the outfit was not of traditional Apache or Yaqui design, nor was her hairstyle.</p>
<p>The stereotype Littlefeather embodied depended on non-Native people not knowing what they were looking at, or knowing what constitutes legitimate American Indian identity. There is a pattern that “pretendians” follow: They exploit people’s lack of knowledge about who American Indian people are by perpetuating ambiguity in a number of ways. Self-identification, <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/native-american-dna">or even DNA tests</a>, for instance, obscure the fact that American Indians have not only a cultural relationship to a specific tribe and the United States but a legal one. Pretendians rarely can name any people they are related to in a Native community or in their family tree.</p>
<p>They also just blatantly lie. Pretendianism is particularly prevalent in <a href="https://www.nativetimes.com/index.php/life/commentary/8323-around-the-campfire-fake-indians">entertainment, publishing</a> <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/native-first-nations-scholars-fake-indians-prevalent-in-higher-education-/6511681.html">and academia</a>. </p>
<p>Littlefeather lived with a diagnosis of <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/schizoaffective-disorder/about-schizoaffective-disorder/#:%7E:text=Schizoaffective%20disorder%20is%20a%20condition,affective'%20refers%20to%20mood%20symptoms.">schizoaffective disorder</a>, as she <a href="https://deadline.com/2022/10/sacheen-littlefeather-fact-or-fiction-academy-museum-owes-exhibit-1235153768/">publicly disclosed</a> shortly before she passed and as she had spoken in depth with me about. We can’t say what role, if any, her condition may have played in her apparently false appropriation of Native heritage. But according to the <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizoaffective-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354504">Mayo Clinic</a>, one of the hallmarks of the disorder is delusional thinking characterized by “false fixed beliefs despite evidence to the contrary.” </p>
<p>It’s one thing when people indulge their fantasies about their supposed Indian heritage to make them sound more interesting at cocktail parties or to convince actual Native people that they are one of them. But it’s quite another when there are lucrative movie deals, publishing contracts, high-paying teaching jobs, big grants and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-cherokee-minority-contracts-20190626-story.html">business deals</a> at stake based on advancing an American Indian image.</p>
<p>After all, it is illegal to ask job candidates about their ethnicity in public realms like universities, which helps explain why American Indian ethnic fraud appears to be <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/native-first-nations-scholars-fake-indians-prevalent-in-higher-education-/6511681.html">so pervasive in academic institutions</a> in the hiring of tenure track faculty and postdocs in American Indian studies departments and related fields. There is no way to properly vet people’s claims legally. </p>
<p>Harm is caused when resources and even jobs go to fakes instead of the people they were intended for.</p>
<h2>The need for truth</h2>
<p>To my knowledge, Sacheen Littlefeather did not make a lot of money perpetuating an Indian identity. And it is only fair to note that Littlefeather is no longer around to offer a defense or provide documentation, should she have it, that would disprove the claims of ethnic fraud.</p>
<p>But if we are to accept the words of her sisters – and based on my own experience with her, including photocopies of five years of a handwritten journal she gave me in which there is no indication of familial ties to any Apache, Yaqui or other tribal community – I can only conclude that she benefited from this fraud by achieving something she desperately desired, fame, and that a lot of people were duped in the process.</p>
<p>Deception cripples peoples’ ability to discern truth. And what is that if not a form of harm? </p>
<p>We may never know the reasons for Sacheen Littlefeather’s fraud, if indeed it as that. What I do know is that I prefer the truth, even if it means I lose a hero.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dina Gilio Whitaker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new report disputes the heritage claims of Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather. A scholar explains why scrutiny over alleged ethnic fraud is essential.Dina Gilio Whitaker, Lecturer on American Indian Studies, California State University San MarcosLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1757262022-04-08T12:32:53Z2022-04-08T12:32:53ZOklahoma state officials resist Supreme Court ruling affirming tribal authority over American Indian country<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456194/original/file-20220404-19-a8mlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C2517%2C1237&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Large portions of Oklahoma are governed, at least in part, by tribal jurisdiction.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oklahoma_Tribal_Statistical_Area.svg">crimsonedge34 via Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s unusual for someone to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit one of its decisions. It’s very rare for that to happen almost immediately after the ruling was issued. But in the two years since the court’s ruling in a key case about Native American rights, the state of Oklahoma has made that request <a href="https://www.muskogeephoenix.com/news/oklahoma-ag-wants-people-released-on-mcgirt-back-in-custody/article_51421619-03db-5a48-9f42-6de3cfc455da.html">more than 40 times</a>.</p>
<p>State officials have also repeatedly refused to cooperate with tribal leaders to comply with the ruling, issued in 2020 and known as <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/18-9526">McGirt v. Oklahoma</a>. Local governments, however, <a href="https://kfor.com/news/local/tribal-attorneys-discuss-changes-within-tribes-13-months-after-mcgirt-ruling/">continue to cooperate</a> with the tribes and show how the ruling could actually help build connections between the tribal governments and their neighbors.</p>
<p>In the McGirt ruling, the Supreme Court held that much of eastern Oklahoma is Indian country under the terms of an <a href="https://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Treaties/TreatyWithTheCreeks1833.html">1833 treaty between the U.S. government and the Muscogee Creek Nation</a>. Based on that treaty and an 1885 federal law, the ruling effectively means that the state of Oklahoma cannot prosecute crimes committed by or against American Indians there. <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-upholds-american-indian-treaty-promises-orders-oklahoma-to-follow-federal-law-142459">Federal and tribal officials are the only ones</a> who can pursue these cases.</p>
<p>Since that ruling, federal courts have held that the lands in Oklahoma of five additional tribes – the Cherokee Nation, the Choctaw Nation, the Seminole Nation, the Chickasaw Nation and the Quapaw Nation – also remain American Indian country and are subject to federal and tribal jurisdiction under the 1885 federal law. Under these decisions, <a href="https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/judging-jurisdiction-federal-and-tribal-courts-in-oklahoma-grapple-with-the-aftermath-of-mcgirt">about 43% of Oklahoma</a> is Indian country.</p>
<p>Together, these court decisions have closed a <a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/maze-of-injustice/">major legal loophole</a>. Before these rulings, suspected criminals in eastern Oklahoma regularly avoided prosecution because police could not agree whether the state, tribal or federal government had jurisdiction over the land where the crime occurred. </p>
<p>The Supreme Court made clear that certain areas are tribal land, subject to federal and tribal criminal jurisdiction. This makes it harder for alleged criminals to avoid prosecution because now law enforcement officials, as well as average people, know definitively that federal and tribal authorities <a href="https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/judging-jurisdiction-federal-and-tribal-courts-in-oklahoma-grapple-with-the-aftermath-of-mcgirt">can prosecute these crimes</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A police officer talks to a man driving a vehicle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tribal police often interact with the public, including tribal members and nonmembers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/navajo-nation-police-officer-questions-a-driver-during-the-news-photo/1214810836">Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>State resistance</h2>
<p>Oklahoma’s governor and attorney general have resisted the McGirt ruling and made several claims that the decision harms the state.</p>
<p>They contend that it has undermined public safety because it has led to the <a href="https://www.law360.com/articles/1419373/tribal-leaders-say-okla-needlessly-stirring-fears-over-mcgirt">release of thousands of criminals</a> from state prisons.</p>
<p>However, most of the people released from state custody after the McGirt decision have been <a href="https://www.newskudo.com/oklahoma/tulsa/government/7028987-most-released-due-to-mcgirt-have-been-charged-either-federally-or-tribally-tulsa-world-analysis-finds">charged in federal or tribal courts</a>. Jimcy McGirt, whose name the Supreme Court case bears, has been <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edok/pr/jimcy-mcgirt-sentenced-life-imprisonment">tried and convicted in federal court</a> of sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl. He is now serving a <a href="https://www.mvskokemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/9-15-21_COMBINED_WEB.pdf">life sentence</a> without parole in federal prison. </p>
<p>State officials also argue that the McGirt decision <a href="https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/politics/2020/10/05/tax-commission-mcgirt-decision-will-have-significant-immediate-financial-impact/301393007/">threatens to cost the state</a> millions of dollars in tax revenue from income and sales taxes on tribal citizens in eastern Oklahoma. Tax experts <a href="https://www.cnhi.com/featured_stories/former-tribal-justice-law-school-dean-says-supreme-courts-mcgirt-ruling-has-no-affect-on/article_69a44cd6-c9be-11ea-ae3a-f753c26e583b.html">counter that the state has overstated the concern</a> because most of the land in eastern Oklahoma is owned by non-Native Americans and remains taxable by the state.</p>
<h2>Requesting reversal</h2>
<p>Based on these claims, state officials have repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to revisit its decision – and been rejected <a href="https://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/news/supreme-court-denies-overturning-mcgirt-31-times">more than 30 times</a>. In one of those attempts, in January 2022, the court declined to hear a case that would have applied the McGirt decision <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/10/international-arbitration-mcgirt-retroactivity-and-anti-discrimination-laws/">retroactively to convictions</a> that were final at the time McGirt was decided. Defendants with final convictions will not be able to challenge them and will serve out their sentences in Oklahoma state prisons.</p>
<p>The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether Oklahoma should have <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/supreme-court-agrees-to-hear-case-that-might-limit-mcgirt">authority to prosecute non-Indians</a> accused of committing crimes against Indians in Indian country, but refused to revisit its holding in McGirt. Any ruling in that case may adjust the McGirt decision, but cannot overturn it.</p>
<h2>No longer working together</h2>
<p>Beyond asking the Supreme Court to reverse itself, Oklahoma has simply stopped pursuing a productive working relationship with tribal governments.</p>
<p>In the past, Oklahoma had some mutually beneficial arrangements with tribal governments. For instance, the Cherokee and Choctaw Nations both <a href="https://www.kgou.org/indigenous-news/2021-12-14/oklahoma-gov-stitt-wont-renew-hunting-fishing-compacts-between-cherokee-choctaw-nations">say they have treaty rights</a> to hunt and fish on their reservation lands without state permission. But since 2016, they have <a href="https://www.cherokee.org/our-government/secretary-of-natural-resources-office/wildlife-conservation/">negotiated agreements to pay for state-issued hunting and fishing licenses</a> for tribal citizens to use on tribal land. They were willing to continue those agreements even after the McGirt ruling suggested that under their treaties with the federal government, the state has no authority over hunting and fishing on their lands. </p>
<p>Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt had celebrated the agreements’ renewal in 2020, but <a href="https://www.kgou.org/indigenous-news/2021-12-14/oklahoma-gov-stitt-wont-renew-hunting-fishing-compacts-between-cherokee-choctaw-nations">refused to extend the agreements</a> into 2022. He <a href="https://www.kgou.org/indigenous-news/2021-12-14/oklahoma-gov-stitt-wont-renew-hunting-fishing-compacts-between-cherokee-choctaw-nations">claimed that the agreements</a> gave unfair treatment to tribal citizens because the tribal governments paid a discounted bulk rate for the licenses. The state will lose <a href="https://www.kgou.org/indigenous-news/2021-12-14/oklahoma-gov-stitt-wont-renew-hunting-fishing-compacts-between-cherokee-choctaw-nations">$38 million</a> by not renewing the agreements. </p>
<p>However, state game wardens will still be allowed to <a href="https://tulsaworld.com/news/state-and-regional/state-game-wardens-remain-deputized-on-cherokee-land-after-hunting-fishing-compact-expires-dec-31/article_f0832560-6355-11ec-80b5-93aa2c1d8b35.html">enforce hunting regulations on tribal land</a> under a separate agreement signed in 2020. As the hunting and fishing seasons begin, it remains to be seen if the state will seek to prosecute tribal members hunting and fishing on reservation lands without a state license.</p>
<p>The state of Oklahoma has also sought to limit the ability of tribal governments to <a href="https://columbialawreview.org/content/toward-tribal-sovereignty-environmental-regulation-in-oklahoma-after-mcgirt/">regulate the environment</a> on tribal lands by requesting that the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allow the state to continue administering its environmental programs in tribal country. Federal environmental laws recognize the rights of tribal governments to set and implement environmental standards, including water and air quality, on their lands. Oklahoma’s actions seek to prevent this.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a coat and collared shirt stands in front of a microphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/456206/original/file-20220404-17-5bnsef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. is among those who has lamented the withdrawal of state interest in a hunting and fishing license collaboration with Oklahoma’s tribes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/LicenseCompactsOklahomaTribes/5ee34fa425594dad882441355e887ae3/photo">AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A more collaborative approach</h2>
<p>Despite the state of Oklahoma’s efforts to discredit tribal governments and their treaty rights, the McGirt decision has fostered <a href="https://definitions.uslegal.com/c/cooperative-federalism/">cooperative federalism</a>, or the sharing of responsibility among different governments to work together to govern people at the local level. </p>
<p>Local governments have cooperated with the tribes and built on preexisting relationships to implement the McGirt decision. Tribal governments <a href="https://kfor.com/news/local/tribal-attorneys-discuss-changes-within-tribes-13-months-after-mcgirt-ruling/">have responded</a> to the decision by increasing their law enforcement budgets, hiring additional public safety officers, prosecuting attorneys and judges, and improving their criminal codes.</p>
<p><a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/tribal-law-enforcement-officials-say-mcgirt-strengthening-public-safety">Choctaw Public Safety</a> has hired an additional 30 law enforcement officers. The Cherokee Nation, the Muscogee Nation and the Choctaw Nation have all entered into <a href="https://kfor.com/news/local/tribal-attorneys-discuss-changes-within-tribes-13-months-after-mcgirt-ruling/">cross-deputization agreements</a> with local law enforcement agencies to ensure the seamless administration of public safety. These agreements allow municipal officers to act as tribal officers and vice versa within specific areas and encourage cooperation among local and tribal law enforcement. </p>
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<p>The Cherokee Nation has signed <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/the-press-pool/cherokee-nation-donates-traffic-citation-funds-back-to-13-municipalities-after-mcgirt-decision">agreements</a> with 13 municipalities to handle fines for traffic citations. The McGirt ruling clarifies that the tribal government, instead of the towns, should receive the money. Under the agreement, the Cherokee Nation donates almost all of the traffic fines back to the local governments so they can continue to provide local law enforcement. <a href="https://www.paulsvalleydailydemocrat.com/news/local_news/tribal-pact-good-for-sheriff/article_103b8e7c-3ed1-5ad3-832b-57f278ec934c.html">Local officials</a> have praised the increased cooperation with the tribal governments.</p>
<p>The tribes and local governments are demonstrating an example of collaboration that the state could also be part of. <a href="https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/judging-jurisdiction-federal-and-tribal-courts-in-oklahoma-grapple-with-the-aftermath-of-mcgirt">Tribal governments</a> have expressed a willingness to work with the state of Oklahoma and acknowledged that they <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/tribes-seizing-mcgirt-opportunities-despite-hurdles">share common interests</a> in providing for their citizens. By resisting the McGirt decision, state officials are missing an opportunity to build connections among, and improve government services for, all the people who live in Oklahoma.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Matoy Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Local governments in Oklahoma are adapting to a 2020 Supreme Court ruling, but state officials have chosen a different path.Kirsten Matoy Carlson, Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1637872021-10-07T13:45:53Z2021-10-07T13:45:53ZLand acknowledgments meant to honor Indigenous people too often do the opposite – erasing American Indians and sanitizing history instead<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424871/original/file-20211005-24-1rresqt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C658%2C465&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A portion of a map that erases the borders Colonial powers drew, and shows instead the Indigenous territories, treaties and languages of North America.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://native-land.ca/">Native Land Digital</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many events these days begin with land acknowledgments: earnest statements acknowledging that activities are taking place, or institutions, businesses and even homes are built, on land previously owned by Indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>And many organizations now call on employees to <a href="https://www.csusm.edu/cicsc/land.pdf">incorporate such statements not only at events but in email signatures, videos, syllabuses and so on</a>. Organizations provide resources to facilitate these efforts, including pronunciation guides and video examples. </p>
<p>Some land acknowledgments are carefully constructed in partnership with the dispossessed. <a href="https://www.burkemuseum.org/news/acknowledging-land-building-deeper-relationships">The Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle describes this process</a>: </p>
<p>“Tribal elders and leaders are the experts and knowledge-bearers who generously shared their perspectives and guidance with the Burke. Through this consultation, we co-created the Burke’s land acknowledgement.” </p>
<p>That acknowledgment reads:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We stand on the lands of the Coast Salish peoples, whose ancestors have resided here since Time Immemorial. Many Indigenous peoples thrive in this place—alive and strong.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Land acknowledgments have been used to start conversations regarding how non-Indigenous people can support Indigenous sovereignty and advocate for <a href="https://resourcegeneration.org/land-reparations-indigenous-solidarity-action-guide/">land repatriation</a>. </p>
<p>Yet the historical and anthropological facts demonstrate that many contemporary land acknowledgments unintentionally communicate false ideas about the history of dispossession and the current realities of American Indians and Alaska Natives. And those ideas can have detrimental consequences for Indigenous peoples and nations. </p>
<p>This is why, in a move that surprised many non-Indigenous anthropologists to whom land acknowledgments seemed a public good, the <a href="https://aia.americananthro.org/">Association of Indigenous Anthropologists</a> requested that the <a href="https://www.americananthro.org/">American Anthropological Association</a> officially pause land acknowledgments and the related practice of the welcoming ritual, in which Indigenous persons <a href="https://youtu.be/4AnRzZgHSHY">open conferences with prayers or blessings</a>. The pause will enable a task force to recommend improvements after examining these practices and the history of the field’s relationship with American Indians and Alaska Natives more broadly.</p>
<p>We are three anthropologists directly involved in the request — <a href="https://anthropology.unc.edu/person/valerie-lambert/">Valerie Lambert</a> of the Choctaw Nation and president of the <a href="https://www.americananthro.org/">Association of Indigenous Anthropologists</a>; <a href="https://aaad.unc.edu/faculty-staff/michael-lambert/">Michael Lambert</a> of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and member of the <a href="https://www.americananthro.org/">Association of Indigenous Anthropologists</a>; and <a href="https://anthropology.sdsu.edu/people/sobo">EJ Sobo</a>, an <a href="https://www.americananthro.org/">American Anthropological Association</a> board member charged with representing interests such as those of the <a href="https://www.americananthro.org/">Association of Indigenous Anthropologists</a>. We’d like to further illuminate this Indigenous position, not from the association’s perspective but from our perspective as scholars.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1322967066970828821"}"></div></p>
<h2>‘What was once yours is now ours’</h2>
<p>No data exists to demonstrate that land acknowledgments lead to measurable, concrete change. Instead, they often serve as little more than feel-good public gestures signaling ideological conformity to what historians <a href="https://www.amnakhalid.com/">Amna Khalid</a> and <a href="https://www.jeffreyaaronsnyder.com/about">Jeffrey Aaron Snyder</a> have called – in the context of higher education’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts – “<a href="https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-fix-diversity-and-equity">a naïve, left-wing, paint-by-numbers approach</a>” to social justice. </p>
<p>Take, for instance, the evocation in many acknowledgments of a time when Indigenous peoples acted as “<a href="https://nacp.uconn.edu/land-acknowledgement/">stewards</a>” or “<a href="https://external.as.ucsb.edu/land-acknowledgment/">custodians</a>” of the land now occupied. This and related references – for example, to “<a href="https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/informational/land-acknowledgement">ancestral homelands</a>” – relegate Indigenous peoples to a mythic past and fails to acknowledge that they owned the land. Even if unintentionally, such assertions tacitly affirm the putative right of non-Indigenous people to now claim title.</p>
<p>This is also implied in what goes unsaid: After acknowledging that an institution sits on another’s land, <a href="https://youtu.be/LQyFfC7_U-E">there is no follow-up</a>. Plans are <a href="https://apnews.com/article/or-state-wire-native-americans-us-news-california-ca-state-wire-4786a72a304e29db02055dfa97d65597">almost never</a> articulated to give the land back. The implication is: “What was once yours is now ours.” </p>
<p>Additionally, in most cases these statements fail to acknowledge the violent trauma of <a href="https://usg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=eb6ca76e008543a89349ff2517db47e6">land being stolen from Indigenous people</a> – the death, dispossession and displacement of countless individuals and much collective suffering. <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/the-impact-of-historical-trauma-on-american-indian-health-equity">The afterlives of these traumas are deeply felt and experienced in Indigenous communities</a>. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://antidotezine.com/2019/11/27/four-hundred-years-of-wampanoag-dispossession/">because non-Indigenous people are generally unaware of this trauma</a>, <a href="https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/moscoe-heres-why-land-acknowledgements-are-both-meaningless-and-patronizing">land acknowledgments are often heard by Indigenous peoples as the denial of that trauma</a>. This perspective is reinforced by a tendency to <a href="https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/native/homepage.htm">cast Indigenous peoples as part of prehistory</a>, suggesting that the trauma of dispossession, if it happened at all, did not happen to real or wholly human people.</p>
<p>Further, land acknowledgments can undermine Indigenous sovereignty in ways that are both insidious and often incomprehensible to non-Indigenous people. </p>
<p>For example, non-Indigenous people tend to seek local “Indigenous” affirmation of their acknowledgment performance, such as by arranging for a conference blessing or <a href="https://kluge-ruhe.org/about/acknowledging-indigenous-owners/">Welcome to Country</a> ritual. Such rites often feature the voices of people who, in Indigenous Studies scholar Kim TallBear’s words, <a href="https://kimtallbear.substack.com/p/we-are-not-your-dead-ancestors">play at being Indian</a> – that is, those who have no legitimate claim to an Indigenous identity or sovereign nation status but represent themselves as such. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man dressed in Native American clothes, Iron Eyes Cody, giving President Jimmy Carter a Native American headdress. Neither man was Native American." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424588/original/file-20211004-27-18sfblv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Actor Iron Eyes Cody, left, with President Jimmy Carter in 1978, built a decadeslong career on pretending to be Cherokee. He was of Italian descent.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PresidentJimmyCarter/3d92ef7915994a5bb0c704f0e37dc36e/photo?Query=Iron%20eyes%20cody&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Peter Bregg</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sovereignty and alienation</h2>
<p>Appropriation of American Indian and Alaska Native identity <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-how-pretendians-undermine-the-rights-of-indigenous-people">by individuals who are not members of sovereign tribes</a>, referred to as “pretendians” by actual American Indians and Alaska Natives, is endemic. Actor <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/investigates/cowboys-and-pretendians/">Iron Eyes Cody, for instance, built a decadeslong career on it</a> despite his Italian heritage. </p>
<p>Demographic data suggests that <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-how-pretendians-undermine-the-rights-of-indigenous-people">pretendians</a> outnumber real American Indian and Alaska Natives by a ratio of at least <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/2020-census-native-population-increased-by-86-5-percent">4</a> to <a href="https://www.bia.gov/about-us">1</a>. In <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/25/magazine/cherokee-native-american-andrea-smith.html">some cases</a>, pretendians persist in their claims in the face of clear documentation to the contrary. </p>
<p>When non-Indigenous people allow pretendians authority regarding land acknowledgments and blessing ceremonies, it irreparably harms sovereign Indigenous nations and their citizens. The most threatening message communicated by these acts is that American Indian identity is a racial or ethnic identity that anyone can claim through self-identification. This is not true. </p>
<p>American Indian identity is a political identity based on citizenship in an Indigenous nation whose sovereignty has been <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/29/2021-01606/indian-entities-recognized-by-and-eligible-to-receive-services-from-the-united-states-bureau-of">acknowledged by the U.S. government</a>. <a href="https://www.brettachapman.com/post/what-is-native-american-sovereignty">Sovereign Indigenous nations</a>, and only these nations have the authority to determine who is and is not a citizen, and hence who is and is not <a href="http://www.thinktsalagi.com/blog/2020/2/13/-cherokee-scholars-statement-on-sovereignty-and-identitynbsp">an American Indian or Alaska Native</a>. </p>
<p>Anything less <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/06/17/indian-child-welfare-act-goldwater-institute-legal-battle/">would undermine the entire body of Indian Law, undoing tribal sovereignty</a>. As Rebecca Nagle of the Cherokee Nation explains in “<a href="https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/">This Land</a>,” American Indians and Alaska Natives would effectively cease to exist. </p>
<p>And so, particularly when they perpetuate misunderstandings of Indigenous identities, land acknowledgments done wrong are <a href="http://badndns.blogspot.com/2020/02/land-acknowledgment-why-do-it.html">heard by Indigenous peoples as the final blow</a>: a definitive apocalyptic vision of a world in which Indigenous sovereignty and land rights will not be recognized and will be claimed never to have really existed. </p>
<h2>Respect and restoration</h2>
<p>Land acknowledgments are not harmful, we believe, if they are done in a way that is respectful of the Indigenous nations who claim the land, accurately tell the story of how the land passed from Indigenous to non-Indigenous control, and chart a path forward for redressing the harm inflicted through the process of land dispossession. </p>
<p>What <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-12/native-land-stewardship-needs-to-follow-acknowledgment">many Indigenous persons want</a> from a land acknowledgment is, first, a clear statement that the land needs to be restored to the Indigenous nation or nations that previously had sovereignty over the land. </p>
<p>This is not unrealistic: There are many creative ways to take restorative measures and even to give land back, such as by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/05/return-the-national-parks-to-the-tribes/618395/">returning U.S. national parks to the appropriate tribes</a>. Following from this, land acknowledgments must reveal a sincere commitment to respecting and enhancing Indigenous sovereignty. </p>
<p>If an acknowledgment is discomforting and triggers uncomfortable conversations versus self-congratulation, it is likely on the right track.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163787/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Land acknowledgments state that activities are taking place on land previously owned by Indigenous peoples. They’re popular – but they may harm more than they heal, say three anthropologists.Elisa J. Sobo, Professor and Chair of Anthropology, San Diego State UniversityMichael Lambert, Associate Professor of African Studies and Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillValerie Lambert, President of the Association of Indigenous Anthropologists; Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1651402021-08-13T13:58:42Z2021-08-13T13:58:42ZThe disturbing history of how conservatorships were used to exploit, swindle Native Americans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415537/original/file-20210810-23-uj1h03.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4530%2C3336&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Osage Nation were once among the wealthiest people in the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-osage-nation-from-oklahoma-on-the-steps-of-news-photo/81598992?adppopup=true">FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pop singer Britney Spears’ <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/american-chronicles/britney-spears-conservatorship-nightmare">quest to end the conservatorship</a> that handed control over her finances and health care to her father demonstrates the double-edged sword of putting people under the legal care and control of another person.</p>
<p>A judge may at times deem it necessary to appoint <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/arts/music/conservatorship-guardianship-explainer.html">a guardian or conservator</a> to protect a vulnerable person from abuse and trickery by others, or to protect them from poor decision-making regarding their own health and safety. But when put into the hands of self-serving or otherwise unscrupulous conservators, however, it <a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-10-1046.pdf">can lead to exploitation and abuse</a>. </p>
<p>Celebrities like Spears may be particularly susceptible to exploitation due to their capacity for generating wealth, but they are far from the only people at risk. As <a href="https://udayton.edu/directory/law/seielstad_andrea.php">a lawyer with decades of experience</a> representing poor and marginalized people and a scholar of tribal and federal Indian law, I can attest to the way <a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-crime-massachusetts-courts-gun-politics-6349ecf90445bca896b33ae77f841538">systemic inequalities within local legal practices</a> may exacerbate these potentially exploitative situations, especially with respect to women and people of color.</p>
<p>Perhaps nowhere has the impact been so grave than with respect to Native Americans, who were <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED379113.pdf">put into a status of guardianship</a> due to a system of federal and local policies developed in the early 1900s purportedly aimed at protecting Native Americans receiving allotted land from the government. Members of the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/dawes/background.html">Five Civilized Tribes of Oklahoma</a> – Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole nations – were particularly impacted by these practices due to the discovery of oil and gas under their lands. </p>
<h2>Swindled by ‘friendly white lawyers’</h2>
<p>A <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/24/1009726455/britney-spears-conservatorship-how-thats-supposed-to-work">conservatorship</a>, or a related designation called a guardianship, takes away decision-making autonomy from a person, called a “ward.” Although the conservator is supposed to act in the interest of the ward, the system can be open to exploitation especially when vast sums of money are involved.</p>
<p>This was the case between 1908 and 1934, when <a href="https://doi.org/10.36644/mlr.117.6.failed">guardianships became a vehicle for the swindling</a> of Native communities out of their lands and royalties.</p>
<p>By that time, federal policy had forced the <a href="https://www.okhistory.org/research/airemoval">removal of the Five Civilized Tribes</a> from eastern and southern locations in the United States to what is presently Oklahoma. Subsequent federal policy converted large tracts of tribally held land into <a href="https://iltf.org/land-issues/history/">individual allotments that could be transferred or sold without federal oversight</a> – a move that fractured communal land. Land deemed to be “surplus to Indian needs” was sold off to white settlers or businesses, and Native allotment holders could likewise sell their plots after a 25-year trust period ended or otherwise have them taken through tax assessments and other administrative actions. Through this process <a href="https://iltf.org/land-issues/history/">Indian land holdings diminished</a> from “138 million acres in 1887 to 48 million acres by 1934 when allotment ended,” according to the Indian Land Tenure Foundation.</p>
<p>During the 1920s, members of the Osage Nation and of the Five Civilized Tribes were deemed to be <a href="https://www.davidgrann.com/book/killers-of-the-flower-moon/">among the richest people per capita in the world</a> due to the discovery of oil and gas underneath their lands.</p>
<p>However, this discovery turned them into the victims of predatory schemes that left many penniless <a href="https://www.davidgrann.com/book/killers-of-the-flower-moon/">or even dead</a>. </p>
<p>Reflecting on this period in the 1973 book “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/One_Hundred_Million_Acres.html?id=e2R1AAAAMAAJ">One Hundred Million Acres</a>,” <a href="https://www.hobbsstraus.com/professionals/kirke-kickingbird/">Kirke Kickingbird</a>, a lawyer and member of the Kiowa Tribe, and <a href="https://www.indianaffairs.gov/as-ia/opa/online-press-release/karen-ducheneaux-named-special-assistant-commissioner-indian-affairs">former Bureau of Indian Affairs special assistant Karen Ducheneaux</a> wrote that members of the Osage Nation “began to disappear mysteriously.” On death, their estates were left “not to their families, but to their friendly white lawyers, who gathered to usher them into the Happy Hunting Ground,” Kickingbird and Ducheneaux added.</p>
<p>Lawyers and conservators stole lands and funds before death as well, by getting themselves <a href="https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/culture/id/6553/">appointed as guardians and conservators</a> with full authority to spend their wards’ money or lease and sell their land.</p>
<p>Congress created the initial conditions for this widespread graft and abuse through the <a href="https://thorpe.law.ou.edu/treatises/statutes/Fct35.html">Act of May 27, 1908</a>. That Act transferred jurisdiction over land, persons and property of Indian “minors and incompetents” from the Interior Department, to local county probate courts in Oklahoma. Related legislation also enabled the the Interior Department to <a href="https://iltf.org/land-issues/history/">put land in or out of trust protection</a> based on its assessment of the competency of Native American allottees and their heirs. </p>
<p>Unfettered by federal supervisory authority, local probate courts and attorneys seized the opportunity to use guardianships to steal Native Americans estates and lands. As <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=gdI78xdT7ncC&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=When+oil+is+%E2%80%98struck%E2%80%99+on+an+Indian%27s+property,+it+is+usually+considered+prima+facie+evidence+that+he+is+incompetent,+and+in+the+appointment+of+a+guardian+for+him+his+wishes+in+the+matter+are+rarely+considered&source=bl&ots=ev6KKknlW0&sig=ACfU3U3sQ45cJLzgBIoCOE7pK4a0a0__AQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj8hf3T_qPyAhXAKVkFHY9LCCkQ6AF6BAgCEAM#v=onepage&q=When%20oil%20is%20%E2%80%98struck%E2%80%99%20on%20an%20Indian's%20property%2C%20it%20is%20usually%20considered%20prima%20facie%20evidence%20that%20he%20is%20incompetent%2C%20and%20in%20the%20appointment%20of%20a%20guardian%20for%20him%20his%20wishes%20in%20the%20matter%20are%20rarely%20considered&f=false">described in 1924</a> by <a href="https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/women-fight-for-the-vote/about-this-exhibition/more-to-the-movement/zitkala-sa/">Zitkála-Šá</a>, a <a href="https://explore.berkshiremuseum.org/digital-archive/she-shapes-history/zitkla-gertrude-simmons-bonnin-and-empowering-indigenous-americans">prominent Native American activist</a> commissioned by the Secretary of Interior to study the issue, “When oil is ‘struck’ on an Indian’s property, it is usually considered prima facie evidence that he is incompetent, and in the appointment of a guardian for him, his wishes in the matter are rarely considered.” </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=809&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415535/original/file-20210810-17-1963z8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Activist and writer Zitkála-Šá.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zitkala-Sa_American_Indian_Stories.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The county courts generally declared Native Americans incompetent to handle more than a very limited sum of money without any finding of mental incapacity. <a href="https://digitalprairie.ok.gov/digital/collection/culture/id/6553/">Zitkála-Šá’s report</a> and Congressional testimony documented numerous examples of abuse. Breaches of trust were documented in which attorneys or others appointed conservators took money or lands from Nation members for their own businesses, personal expenses or investments. Others schemed with friends and business associates to deprive “wards.” </p>
<h2>‘Plums to be distributed’</h2>
<p>One such woman in Zitkála-Šá’s report was Munnie Bear, a “young, shrewd full-blood Creek woman … [who] ran a farm which she inherited from her aunt, her own allotment being leased.” Munnie saved enough money to buy a Ford truck and livestock for her farm, with savings remaining in a bank account. Once oil was discovered, however, the court appointed a guardian, who appointed a co-guardian and retained a lawyer, each of whom deducted monthly fees that depleted Bear’s funds. During the period of her guardianship, she was unable to spend any money or make any decisions about her farm or livestock, nor did she control her bank investment.</p>
<p>Zitkála-Šá’s report displays the extent of this practice:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Many of the county courts are influenced by political considerations, and … Indian guardianships are the plums to be distributed to the faithful friends of the judges as a reward for their support at the polls. The principal business of these county courts is handling Indian estates. The judges are elected for a two-year term. That ‘extraordinary services’ in connection with the Indian estates are well paid for; one attorney, by order of the court, received $35,000 from a ward’s estate, and never appeared in court.” </p>
</blockquote>
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<p>Wards were often kept below subsistence levels by their conservators while their funds and lands were depleted by the charging of excessive guardian and attorneys’ fees and administrative costs, along with actual abuse through graft, negligence and deception.</p>
<p>Reports like that of Zitkála-Šá’s resulted in Congress enacting the <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/COMPS-5299/pdf/COMPS-5299.pdf">Indian Reorganization Act of 1934</a>. This put the Indian land that had not fallen into non-Indian hands during the federal policy of allotting plots back into tribal ownership and secured it in the trust of the United States. It also ended the potential for theft through guardianship.</p>
<p>But the lands and funds lost as a result of guardianships were not restored nor did descendants of those swindled ever enjoy the benefit of their relatives’ lands and monies either.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165140/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Seielstad is affiliated as a consultant with the National American Indian Judges Court Association, a national association comprised of tribal justice personnel & others devoted to supporting and strengthening tribal justice systems.</span></em></p>The discovery of oil and gas made members of the Osage Nation among the richest people in the world. But it also made them targets for exploitation.Andrea Seielstad, Professor of Law, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1620502021-06-03T21:04:25Z2021-06-03T21:04:25ZSupreme Court affirms tribal police authority over non-Indians<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404118/original/file-20210602-27-j75v5b.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C4%2C1017%2C761&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The actions of a Crow Nation police officer were in question at the Supreme Court.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/Crow-Tribe-Police-Dept-111290424048380/photos/a.111394970704592/111973780646711">Crow Nation</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Supreme Court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/593/19-1414/">unanimously affirmed the sovereign power of American Indian tribes</a> on June 1, 2021, ruling that tribal police officers have the power to temporarily detain and search non-Indians on public rights-of-way through American Indian lands.</p>
<p>In most communities in the United States, the local government has the authority to investigate and prosecute both misdemeanor and felony crimes. And local police can detain and search individuals suspected of state and federal crimes, at least until handing them off to the appropriate authorities. </p>
<p>Tribal governments – the local governments in Indian country – have the power to prosecute tribal citizens on tribal lands. When it comes to non-Indians, though, the situation is different. In 1978, the Supreme Court ruled that <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/435/191/">tribal governments could not prosecute</a> non-Indians for any crimes in Indian country. Tribal governments have to rely on state and federal governments to prosecute non-Indians – which <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-11-167r">doesn’t happen often</a>. Effectively, non-Indians have been able to commit crimes in Indian country with impunity.</p>
<p>Tribal police are often the first responders to reported crimes on tribal lands, regardless of whether the victims or the alleged perpetrators are American Indians or not. Now, with this latest ruling, the court has clarified that tribal police can search non-Indians suspected of state or federal crimes in Indian country and detain them until handing them off to federal or state authorities. </p>
<h2>A tribal officer’s encounter</h2>
<p>Late one night in February 2016, Crow Nation police officer James Saylor stopped to examine a truck sitting on the side of Highway 212 on the Crow Reservation in Montana. He wasn’t attempting to arrest the occupants, but rather <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/supreme-court-hears-another-sovereignty-case">thought they might need assistance</a>. </p>
<p>When he approached the truck, however, Saylor noticed that the driver, Joshua James Cooley, had watery bloodshot eyes. Saylor also saw two semiautomatic rifles sitting on the front seat.</p>
<p>He ordered Cooley out of the truck, conducted a pat-down search, and called for backup from other officers. Saylor then noticed a glass pipe and a plastic bag of methamphetamine in the truck. Upon their arrival, federal and state officers instructed Saylor to seize the drug evidence. <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/court-leans-toward-tribal-police-in-traffic-stop-and-search">Federal officers eventually arrested</a> Cooley.</p>
<p>A federal grand jury later charged Cooley with gun and drug charges under federal law. <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/593/19-1414/">Cooley sought to defeat the charges</a> by arguing that the drug evidence seized by Saylor could not be introduced into court because a Crow Tribe police officer lacked the authority to investigate crimes by a non-Indian.</p>
<p>Cooley’s argument included a claim that the Supreme Court’s 1978 ruling also limited the ability of tribal police officers to detain and search non-Indians in Indian country. </p>
<p>Federal Indian law attorneys <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/supreme-court-hears-another-sovereignty-case">feared</a> that a Supreme Court decision limiting tribal policing authority would further undermine the safety of Indians and non-Indians living in Indian country. They worried such a ruling could hamstring the ability of tribal police to detain and search potential criminals. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A police officer talks to a man driving a vehicle" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/404119/original/file-20210602-15-sgz068.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tribal police often interact with the public, including tribal members and nonmembers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/navajo-nation-police-officer-questions-a-driver-during-the-news-photo/1214810836">Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tribes have power on their lands</h2>
<p>The Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Cooley. Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the court, stated clearly that “<a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/593/19-1414/">no treaty or statute has explicitly divested</a> Indian tribes of the policing authority at issue.”</p>
<p>The new ruling built on another <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/450/544/">Supreme Court decision from 1981</a>, declaring that a “tribe may … retain … power … over the conduct of non-Indians … within its reservation when that conduct threatens or has some direct effect on the political integrity, the economic security, or health or welfare of the tribe.”</p>
<p>The new ruling made clear that this case unmistakably affected the health or welfare of the tribe, saying that “deny[ing] a tribal police officer authority to search and detain … any person he or she believes may commit or has committed a crime would make it difficult for tribes to protect themselves against ongoing threats.”</p>
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<p>This decision affirms the authority tribes have on tribal lands, and acknowledges the vital role that tribal governments play in <a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/maze-of-injustice/">keeping their communities safe</a>. </p>
<p>It also reinforces Congress’ recent efforts in the <a href="https://www.ncai.org/tribal-vawa/resources/tribal-law-order-act">Tribal Law and Order Act</a> and <a href="https://www.congress.gov/113/plaws/publ4/PLAW-113publ4.pdf">Violence Against Women Act</a> to close legal loopholes that have allowed non-Indians to avoid accountability for crimes committed in Indian country. </p>
<p>The justices’ focus on the practical importance of tribal sovereignty to ensure safety for everyone in Indian country signaled that non-Indians may be held responsible for crimes they may commit in Indian country. </p>
<p>Tribal police officers, like local police across the country, can detain and search non-Indians suspected of state and federal crimes in Indian country, including making suspects wait until state or federal officers arrive to take over the case. That decreases the likelihood of potential criminals getting away scot-free.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Matoy Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A defendant who is not a Native American claimed tribal police had no power over him, even on tribal land. The Supreme Court disagreed.Kirsten Matoy Carlson, Associate Professor of Law and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1588582021-05-27T17:53:19Z2021-05-27T17:53:19ZEnding food insecurity in Native communities means restoring land rights, handing back control<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403177/original/file-20210527-14-8c975g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C31%2C3535%2C2539&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Handouts from food banks are no substitute for self-sufficiency.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/native-americans-of-the-navajo-nation-people-pick-up-news-photo/1214295994?adppopup=true">Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For Indigenous people in the U.S., <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyr089">food is</a> considered <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10460-014-9548-9">a sacred gift</a>. Healthy and bountiful produce is received when we care for the land.</p>
<p>Yet, with <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/National%20Projections%20Brief_3.9.2021_0.pdf">one in four Native Americans lacking reliable access</a> to healthy foods and Indigenous peoples <a href="https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=40">disproportionately affected by diet-related diseases</a>, something clearly isn’t working as it should.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholars.okstate.edu/en/persons/valarie-blue-bird-jernigan">expert on Indigenous health and food insecurity among Native populations</a>, I argue that the high rate of food insecurity and poor dietary health of Native Americans can be traced to the events that disrupted Indigenous people’s relationship with the land: <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/assimilation-integration-and-colonization">colonization and</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-peoples-day-comes-amid-a-reckoning-over-colonialism-and-calls-for-return-of-native-land-147734">the widespread theft of territory</a> by white settlers. Any attempt to improve access to sufficient, nutritious foods today needs to focus on <a href="https://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/food-sovereignty">Indigenous food sovereignty</a> and <a href="https://knowledge.unccd.int/publications/land-justice-re-imagining-land-food-and-commons">land justice</a> – giving control and land back to Native communities to enable them to grow culturally appropriate, healthy produce and become self-sufficient.</p>
<h2>A broken system</h2>
<p>“A healthy food system is an indicator of a healthy community; one cannot exist without the other,” noted the Native Hawaiian activist <a href="https://onipaa.org/pages/kamuela-enos">Kamuela Enos</a>.</p>
<p>This view is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000487605">increasingly being echoed</a> by public health experts. Diet is the <a href="https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=40">number one risk factor for preventable disease</a> in the U.S. and is driven by a food system that comprises <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2011.597705">food production, access, marketing and individual dietary intake</a>.</p>
<p>Since the 1980s, an <a href="http://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980007001097">influx of fast food restaurants and convenience stores</a> and an exodus of supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods across the U.S. have led to <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djh296">chronic disease</a> disparities in <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2004.06.007">low-income communities and racial minorities</a>. This is especially true <a href="https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=4&lvlid=40">among the U.S.’s Native population</a>.</p>
<p>American Indian and Alaska Native adults are 50% more likely to be obese and 30% more likely to suffer from hypertension compared to white Americans. They are also 50% more likely to be diagnosed with coronary heart disease, and three times more likely to have diabetes.</p>
<p>Native Americans also experience <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/National%20Projections%20Brief_3.9.2021_0.pdf">high rates of food insecurity</a>, meaning they don’t have enough food to live an active, healthy life. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1300/J477v01n04_04">study of a Northern Plains reservation in Montana</a>, 43% of tribal households were found to be food-insecure. In Oklahoma, <a href="http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303605">more than 60% of American Indians surveyed were food-insecure</a>. This compares with a <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/National%20Projections%20Brief_3.9.2021_0.pdf">national food insecurity rate of 11%</a>.</p>
<h2>Structural, not short-term approaches</h2>
<p>Government and social service organizations have tried to address food insecurity by promoting <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-food-banks-help-americans-who-have-trouble-getting-enough-to-eat-148150">food banks</a> or encouraging use of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-snap-can-help-people-during-hard-economic-times-like-these-133664">Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a>, or SNAP, benefits. </p>
<p>But the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2011.06.002">limited existing</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2015.1112755">research shows</a> Indigenous communities are less likely than non-Native groups to use those services. This is due to a number of reasons including lack of access to places that accept SNAP or discriminatory practices such as being refused service at stores.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, public health efforts focused on encouraging healthy lifestyles – through eating more fruits and vegetables, for example – fail to acknowledge the systemic barriers that Native Americans face when it comes to accessing healthy, sustainable and traditional foods.</p>
<p>Feeding people is important, no doubt. But I believe it will never result in long-term health improvements in Native communities without looking and addressing the underlying roots of the problem.</p>
<h2>Stolen land, forced removal</h2>
<p>Indigenous people in the United States <a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2487-2">share a common deep ancestry</a> and a contentious colonial history with the U.S. that resulted in <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/a-nation-rising">land removal and confiscation</a> on a massive scale.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/native-american/removing-native-americans-from-their-land/">forced removal of Native people</a> from their traditional homelands in the 19th century to often unfamiliar and barren reserves disrupted Indigenous food systems and diets.</p>
<p>For example, in my own Native population, Choctaw, a type of river cane, <em>Arundinaria tecta</em>, was used not only as a food source but also in medicine, for clothing, to build houses and to make baskets. In the places where my people <a href="https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/279.html#:%7E:text=The%20Removal%20Act%20that%20President,more%20than%20500%2Dmile%20journey.">were forced to move</a>, this species of river cane did not exist.</p>
<p>Moreover, Choctaw are an agricultural society, yet many portions of reservation lands where Choctaws were forcibly moved to were arid plains or flood zones – places that were not able to be farmed. As a result, many people starved to death.</p>
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<p>This disruption was the impetus for the nutritional crisis seen today in Native communities. Forced removal was accompanied by a new reliance on government-issued foods for Native communities. From the earliest treaties with the U.S. government, <a href="https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.126.499.0055">Native Americans were promised food rations</a>. This reliance continues today through the <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/fdpir/fdpir-fact-sheet">Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations</a>, through which the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides canned and packaged foods to around 270 tribes with limited access to SNAP. It constitutes the primary food source for 60% of rural and reservation-based American Indians, but the foods tend to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/69.4.747S">high in fat and sugar</a>. Fresh vegetables <a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/07/AI-AN-obesity/">are rarely offered</a>. </p>
<h2>Toward food sovereignty</h2>
<p>To end reliance on government-provided foods, many Native communities are seeking a different approach: a <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302447">return to traditional foods and practices</a> that are healthy and culturally centered. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child uses a spade to break up soil during a gardening exercise with the American Indian Center in Chicago." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/403185/original/file-20210527-18-cva7ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Native American youth are being taught in urban gardens about the importance of their connection to the land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NativeAmericansUrbanGardens/1038b41f20d94b6fb629e62fef17bba8/photo?Query=NAtive%20American%20land&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=228&currentItemNo=30">AP Photo/Stacy Thacker</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indigenous food sovereignty – the right and responsibility of Indigenous people to produce healthy and culturally appropriate foods <a href="https://www.canadianscholars.ca/books/indigenous-food-systems">through traditional Indigenous food systems</a> – has emerged as an important strategy to support Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>It involves Native communities <a href="https://www.indigenousfoodsystems.org/food-sovereignty">taking greater control over their land and health</a> and reducing dependence on packaged and fast foods and government-provided food.</p>
<p>For example, the Osage Nation in Oklahoma is supporting the development of sustainable agricultural practices <a href="https://www.ncai.org/ptg/Osage.Nation.Case.Study.pdf">that provide a sustainable source</a> to increase their access to fresh vegetables, fruits and meat to their community.</p>
<p>“For us, food sovereignty means self-sufficiency,” <a href="https://www.ncai.org/ptg/Osage.Nation.Case.Study.pdf">explained</a> Osage Nation’s Assistant Principal Chief Raymond Red Corn in an interview. “If we fed ourselves for thousands of years, I don’t know why we can’t feed ourselves now.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous people in the US have high rates of food insecurity and dietary-related health problems. Any attempts to address the problem must start with land justice, argues a scholar of Native health and food.Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan, Professor of Rural Health, Oklahoma State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1451522020-08-31T12:25:43Z2020-08-31T12:25:43ZShortened census count will hurt communities of color<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355187/original/file-20200827-24-l37sv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C18%2C4013%2C2999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community groups, like this one in Phoenix, have been working to get people of color to contribute their information to the census.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/2020CensusBestLaidPlans/01fce68aaa8743b8bee855e67b4ede18/photo">AP Photo/Terry Tang</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau is having a harder time than in the past counting all Americans, and is now saying its workers will spend less time trying to count everyone.</p>
<p>In August, the Trump administration announced <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/delivering-complete-accurate-count.html">the plan to end the 2020 Census count a month early</a>, <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/2020/08/11/shaheen-asks-for-watchdog-probe-into-census-bureau-schedule/">on Sept. 30</a> instead of Oct. 31. With about a month left before that new end date, <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html">fewer than two-thirds of U.S. households</a> have been counted so far.</p>
<p>The result will be that the <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-95.html">census will count fewer</a> Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, Asian Americans and Americans of Hispanic or Latino origin <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/27/politics/trump-census-government-watchdog-high-risk/index.html">than actually live in the U.S.</a> That will mean less public money for essential services in their communities, and less representation by elected officials at the state and federal levels.</p>
<h2>An effort to find everyone</h2>
<p>Some people – including people of color, poorer people, rural residents and people who are not U.S. citizens – are <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/program-management/final-analysis-reports/2020-report-cbams-study-survey.pdf">less likely to respond to the census</a>. In part, that’s because they have less convenient access to the mail, telephone and online services needed to respond to the survey. </p>
<p>In addition, some communities <a href="https://aapidata.com/blog/census2020-asian-am-problem/">distrust the system</a>. Among Japanese Americans, that distrust is because they recall how <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/04/03/secret-use-of-census-info-helped-send-japanese-americans-to-internment-camps-in-wwii/">census data was used to round up Japanese Americans</a> for internment during World War II.</p>
<p>The Census Bureau starts the census by asking Americans to respond themselves. But for those who don’t respond, there is a second phase of counting, in which census workers fan out across the country to knock on doors and help people include themselves in the national count. </p>
<p>For 2020, this second phase was originally planned to begin on May 13, but the pandemic delayed its start until Aug. 9. With the advanced end date, there will be only 52 days to count the residents of more than one-third of all the <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/HSD410218">estimated 120 million households</a> in the U.S. In 2010, the in-person follow-up effort <a href="https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/2010-background-crs.pdf">had 71 days</a> to cover a <a href="https://gc.cuny.edu/Page-Elements/Academics-Research-Centers-Initiatives/Centers-and-Institutes/Center-for-Urban-Research/CUR-research-initiatives/Census-Self-Response-Rates-Mapped-and-Analyzed-2000,-2010,-and-(soon)-2020">smaller share of American households</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="BiQQg" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/BiQQg/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Missing people of color</h2>
<p>Even <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/2020-census/planning-management/planning-docs/operational-plan.html">before the delayed beginning and the shortening</a> of the second phase, the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, <a href="https://apps.urban.org/features/2020-census/">projected that the census results would systematically undercount</a> racial minorities and people of Hispanic or Latino origin.</p>
<p>All communities of color were projected to be underrepresented in the count – meaning the Census Bureau would report fewer people of that racial or ethnic background than actually live in the U.S. The biggest undercount projection was for Black Americans: The <a href="https://apps.urban.org/features/2020-census/">Urban Institute projected the census would fail to count</a> 3.2%, or more than 1.5 million. The census was expected to miss more than 1.7 million people of Hispanic and Latino origin, 2.8% of their real total. More than 1 in 100 people of Alaska Native or American Indian background would not be counted, and a similar share of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.</p>
<p>But these detailed estimates of how many people the census might miss do not make it easier to somehow correct the count. The Census Bureau does <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/coverage-measurement.html">extensive work to account for errors and missing people</a>, but only after looking at the entire response and conducting additional research. Complete census data also includes <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/about-questions.html">people’s ages, genders, whether they own or rent their homes</a> and whether they have other racial or ethnic backgrounds. The smaller those errors are, the more accurate the data will be.</p>
<p><iframe id="6rI8G" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6rI8G/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Hurting people on tribal lands the most</h2>
<p>The shortened timeline for counting will be especially hard on <a href="https://www.aisc.ucla.edu/news/akee_census2020.aspx">Alaska Native and American Indian peoples on tribal lands</a>, who have <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/06/census-coronavirus-native-americans/">historically low response rates</a>, in part because of longstanding distrust of the U.S. government, which has a history of <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-upholds-american-indian-treaty-promises-orders-oklahoma-to-follow-federal-law-142459">violating treaties</a> and <a href="https://www.usccr.gov/pubs/2018/12-20-Broken-Promises.pdf">imposing other injustices</a> on Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>In 2010, for instance, only <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html">29.4% of residents of Navajo Nation lands responded</a> to the census. At least so far in 2020, it’s even lower. For instance, as of August 28, just <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html">17.9% of Navajo Nation residents</a> have responded – and only 3.6% of the community used the internet to do so.</p>
<p>According to the latest government data, <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S25&g=0100000US_2500000US2430&tid=ACSST5Y2018.S2504&hidePreview=true">14.1% of households on the Navajo Nation reservation do not have telephone service</a>, and <a href="https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=S25&g=0100000US_2500000US2430&tid=ACSST5Y2018.S2504&hidePreview=true">71.5% of them don’t have internet service</a>. That’s compared with 2.2% of all U.S. households lacking phone service and 14.7% lacking internet service.</p>
<p>The low Navajo Nation response rate could be due to several other reasons, too. Many Navajo Nation households <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/10/06/some-native-americans-no/">have no formal home address</a>. Instead, they get their mail at post office boxes, which in some cases can be <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/experts-worry-push-2020-mail-voting-leave-native/story?id=70411683">70 miles from their homes</a>. That’s difficult, and expensive, to do – and may involve violating the Navajo Nation’s <a href="https://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/Portals/0/PDF/PHE/NDOH%20Public%20Health%20Emergency%20Order%202020-021%20Dikos%20Ntsaaigii-19.pdf">COVID-19 public health emergency curfew orders</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A mother and daughter sit outside their home on the Navajo Nation reservation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355191/original/file-20200827-20-1sw6xxg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People who live in the Navajo Nation’s reservation live far from mail service, and often lack telephone and internet service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakNavajoNation/80316ffea4f64337b34ca1a9c2c205b1/photo">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Long-term effects of undercounts</h2>
<p>Census data is used to determine how many members of Congress a state should have and to draw boundaries for congressional and state legislative districts. If the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/politics/census-citizenship-question.html">census records too few people</a> in communities of color, those people will have <a href="https://2020census.gov/en/news-events/operational-adjustments-covid-19.html">fewer representatives</a> in government, and <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-changes-2020-census-timeline-will-impact-redistricting">less power to choose them</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, census data is used to allocate billions of dollars in public spending by states and the federal government. Communities that are larger than their official count registers will receive <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/5/12/21250766/census-2020-undercount-black-latino-asian">smaller amounts than they should</a> of taxpayer money that provides education, health care and transportation to their residents. </p>
<p>Communities that are home to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are particularly sensitive to these effects because these groups are numerically small. So any one person not counted represents a larger proportion of the community as a whole, and a larger share of money and representation deserved but not received.</p>
<p>If these errors are allowed to happen – and made worse by a shorter timeline – their effects on Americans will last an entire decade, until the 2030 Census is completed.</p>
<p><em>Want to learn more about the 2020 census? We have designed an email course, which will send five informative emails straight to your inbox for three weeks. <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/census-72">Sign up here to learn more about how the census affects your community</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/145152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aggie Yellow Horse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The census will likely count fewer Black Americans, Indigenous peoples, Asian Americans and Americans of Hispanic or Latino origin than there actually are.Aggie Yellow Horse, Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific American Studies and Justice and Social Inquiry, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1419282020-07-14T12:40:31Z2020-07-14T12:40:31ZThrough protest and resistance, Lumbees seek to reconcile past with present<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345873/original/file-20200706-3980-1wm0s0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C951%2C634&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lumbee Reverend Dr. Mike Cummings, center with his back to the camera, prays for protesters in Pembroke, North Carolina.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Krista Davis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It may not have seemed unusual when a protest in support of Black lives and against police brutality moved through the town of Pembroke, North Carolina, in late June and faced off with counterprotesters.</p>
<p>But it was unusual because of who was involved – on both sides. The march was organized by several students from the <a href="https://www.uncp.edu/">University of North Carolina at Pembroke</a>, the state’s <a href="https://www.uncp.edu/about/history">historically American Indian university</a>. </p>
<p>Today, UNC Pembroke is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-south/campus-ethnic-diversity">recognized as one of the most ethnically diverse universities in the South</a>. According to one witness, “the people who participated were very diverse” and included African American and Native American students. </p>
<p>The marchers were met by <a href="https://wpde.com/news/local/robeson-county-town-grieved-by-mistreatment-of-people-during-peaceful-protests">a group of counterprotesters</a> who reportedly used racial slurs, threw beer and brandished rifles and knives in a stated attempt to “<a href="https://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/20200629/letter-lumbees-should-not-have-abused-unc-p-black-lives-matter-protesters-in-pembroke">protect their property</a>” from destruction. </p>
<p>The counterprotesters were mostly <a href="https://www.lumbeetribe.com/history--culture">Lumbees</a>, a state-recognized Native American tribe with about 55,000 enrolled members, of which I am one. </p>
<p>Pembroke, in Robeson County, is the seat of the Lumbee Tribe; Native Americans make up <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/geo/pembroke-nc">more than half of the town’s population</a>. Some Lumbees marched too, in solidarity with their Black neighbors and relatives. Many Lumbees publicly lamented the attacks on the marchers. </p>
<p>In a letter published the following day in the local newspaper, Lumbee historian <a href="http://malindalowery.web.unc.edu/">Malinda Maynor Lowery</a> said, “<a href="https://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/20200629/letter-lumbees-should-not-have-abused-unc-p-black-lives-matter-protesters-in-pembroke">Our ancestors did not fight for our lives</a> only for us to turn around and abuse our neighbors, co-workers and family members.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345571/original/file-20200703-33931-10ozm3a.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protester in Pembroke, North Carolina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Krista Davis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lowery and I both, as historians, saw 200 years of Lumbee history reflected in this encounter. It is a complex 200-year history of struggle, protest and resistance to white supremacy and its social effects, one shared by Indigenous and African Americans across the nation. </p>
<h2>The Lowry War</h2>
<p>Lumbees are no strangers to injustice. Beginning in the early 19th century, Native Americans in North Carolina suffered, as skin color became the determining factor for one’s status in society. In 1835, under the <a href="https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/constitution-of-1835/">revised state Constitution</a>, American Indians and other <a href="https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/slavesfree/slavesfree.html">free people of color</a> lost their right to vote. </p>
<p>In “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=yUJwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=a+nation+of+white+people+james+bryan&source=bl&ots=k_pIJ4glJQ&sig=ACfU3U3U8SOrt1_BTLPYMMOnYXzV7yWQhw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp6KCwyrvqAhWBmHIEHQCmD54Q6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=a%20nation%20of%20white%20people%20james%20bryan&f=false">a nation of white people</a>,” as North Carolina lawyer and lawmaker <a href="https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/bryan-james-west">James W. Bryan</a> described it in 1835, all people of color – including American Indians – in North Carolina would be considered legally inferior.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<p>After their disenfranchisement, Lumbees suffered legal and economic harassment and suppression for decades to come. Indians became increasingly antagonistic toward their white neighbors as <a href="https://www.ncpedia.org/lumbee/19th-century">oppressive policies</a> such as <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=owy00ho7Zs8C&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=tied+mule+incidents&source=bl&ots=yRl7bib8Ra&sig=ACfU3U1RxcbaTxT6oIjZlMx9KPncapOvKQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjurDbq7HqAhWVlXIEHQbRBbgQ6AEwAnoECAYQAQ#v=onepage&q=tied%20mule%20incidents&f=false">“tied mule” incidents</a> exploited Indian labor and confiscated Indian-owned land. </p>
<p>In addition, free people of color in North Carolina <a href="https://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/learning/educators/timelines/nineteenth-century-north-carolina-timeline">lost their right to own and bear arms</a> in 1840, leaving many defenseless to attacks. </p>
<p>As the Civil War ripped the nation apart, hostilities between American Indians and white elites in Robeson County led to an <a href="https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/477/to-die-game/">eight-year guerilla war</a> from 1864 to 1872 led by Indian vigilante <a href="https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/lowry-henry-berry">Henry Berry Lowry</a> and his “gang” of neighbors and kin. </p>
<p>The Lowry gang staged robberies and murdered proponents of white supremacy in violent protest of oppression. In response, Lowry and his associates were outlawed and sought after by bounty hunters.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345321/original/file-20200702-111305-14vnhe3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=478&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sketch of Henry Berry Lowery and his gang in a North Carolina swamp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/north-carolina-state-archives/9093553472/in/photostream/">Harper's Weekly, March 30, 1872, via North Carolina State Archives/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Henry Berry Lowry vanished in 1872, his bounty was never collected, and no one knows his fate for certain. </p>
<p>Now, many Lumbees celebrated Lowry as a hero, while other Lumbees view him as a criminal, condemning his use of violence and lawlessness. Historian William McKee Evans wrote that Lowry’s legacy serves as a symbol of resistance, giving Indians in Robeson County “<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wnF0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259&lpg=PA259&dq=william+mckee+evans+a+new+confidence+that+despite+generations+of+defeat,+revitalized+their+will+to+survive+as+a+people&source=bl&ots=Ga7w7pdSjp&sig=ACfU3U10O84UW6_ldjicbvnJ-dWLrbQlog&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi6laWr-LnqAhVphHIEHcK6BgkQ6AEwAHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=william%20mckee%20evans%20a%20new%20confidence%20that%20despite%20generations%20of%20defeat%2C%20revitalized%20their%20will%20to%20survive%20as%20a%20people&f=false">a new confidence that despite generations of defeat, revitaliz[ing] their will to survive as a people</a>.”</p>
<p>Trouble for Indians did not end following the Civil War or the Lowry War. The decade following Reconstruction became informally known as the “<a href="https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/1560/only-land-i-know-the/">decade of despair</a>” for Lumbees. Despite the restoration of the Indian right to vote in 1868, the county witnessed violence against Indians and Blacks as the Ku Klux Klan made its presence known in southeastern North Carolina. </p>
<p>At the turn of the 20th century, Lumbees began their <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/08/20/feature/what-makes-someone-native-american-one-tribes-long-struggle-for-full-recognition/">fight for recognition</a>, not just as people of color but as Native Americans. <a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9780807871119/lumbee-indians-in-the-jim-crow-south/">Jim Crow laws</a> affected them as well as African Americans, and American Indians resisted segregation, setting out to <a href="https://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/show/american-indians-and-chapel-hi/the-croatan-normal-school--pem">better their communities through education</a>. </p>
<h2>Routing the Klan</h2>
<p>The Klu Klux Klan most famously entered the Lumbee story again in 1958. After the 1954 <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka">Brown v. Board of Education</a> Supreme Court decision outlawing school segregation, Klan activity increased across North Carolina. </p>
<p>Klan leader <a href="https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/0040/">James W. “Catfish” Cole</a> targeted Lumbees, denying their Indigenous identity and accusing them of being mixed-race people, partly white and partly Black. </p>
<p>Cole staged two cross burnings in Robeson County, one to confront a Lumbee family who moved into a white neighborhood and another to threaten an Indian woman dating a white man. </p>
<p>On Jan. 18, 1958, a Klan rally was planned in Robeson County at <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/battle-of-hayes-pond-the-day-lumbees-ran-the-klan-out-of-north-carolina-RN9W5-vIJUKsXc6TqZWO9g">Hayes Pond</a> to “put Indians in their place.” Word spread quickly around the county, and the 50 Klansmen found themselves surrounded by 500 Lumbee men and 50 Lumbee women, armed with guns and knives. Lumbees fired their guns into the air, causing Cole and his followers to flee.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345323/original/file-20200702-111247-asaesy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Life magazine spread from 1958 reporting on and showing images of the Battle of Hayes Pond, when Lumbees fought the Ku Klux Klan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Life magazine, Jan. 27, 1958.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this armed protest, Lumbees <a href="https://www.scalawagmagazine.org/2020/01/ambush/">ironically used the same type of lawless behavior</a> embodied by the Klan while taking the fight for justice into their own hands. </p>
<p>Just like the Lowry War, the legacy of the Lumbee routing of the Ku Klux Klan is complex. While “Catfish” Cole was charged for inciting a riot, many believed that the Lumbees were the aggressors, attacking the Klan’s right to free speech. Regardless, the Klan has not held a publicized rally in North Carolina in the more than 60 years since then – another victory for Indian resistance to white supremacy.</p>
<h2>A common ground</h2>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolph_Dial">Adolph Dial</a>, the first scholar to write a comprehensive history on the Lumbees, recognized that in his lifetime, issues of injustices still pervaded the Lumbee community. He famously noted that to be a Lumbee is “<a href="https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/1560/only-land-i-know-the/">to find some of one’s basic rights</a> as an American and a human being restricted if not denied. Indeed, shorn of all frills, the history of the Lumbees is a history of struggle.”</p>
<p>Lumbees have a shared experience of pursuing justice even though there have always been disagreements about how to accomplish it.</p>
<p>In her responses to the protest on June 26, 2020, Lumbee scholar Malinda Maynor Lowery also wrote, “<a href="https://www.fayobserver.com/opinion/20200629/letter-lumbees-should-not-have-abused-unc-p-black-lives-matter-protesters-in-pembroke">Black lives matter to Lumbees</a> because we have a responsibility to account for our own racism if we are to ever achieve our goals as an American Indian nation.” </p>
<p>If the Lumbee struggle is truly one for justice, it would appear contradictory not to support that goal for our Black neighbors and family members, or worse – to participate in their oppression ourselves.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/346202/original/file-20200707-194396-15q88t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Protesters carry signs in Pembroke, North Carolina.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Krista Davis</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the conclusion to Adolph Dial’s 1975 book, “<a href="https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/1560/only-land-i-know-the/">The Only Land I Know</a>,” he wrote, “The problems of today plead for attention and demand answers … The question now is, what is to come?” </p>
<p>During present times of social unrest, the Lumbee narrative continues to serve as a reminder that history is complicated. Despite disagreements and contradictions, history is a record of shared pasts, shared struggles and shared pursuit of justice and reconciliation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica R. Locklear is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.</span></em></p>The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina has a long history of struggle, protest and resistance to white supremacy and its social effects.Jessica R. Locklear, History Ph.D. Student, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411442020-07-09T10:31:33Z2020-07-09T10:31:33ZColumbus statues are coming down – why he is so offensive to Native Americans<p>Over the past few weeks, statues of Christopher Columbus have been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christopher-columbus-statue-boston-beheaded-confederate-monuments-torn-down/">beheaded</a>, covered with <a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/06/24/worcester-christopher-columbus-statue-defaced">red paint</a>, lassoed around the <a href="https://www.twincities.com/2020/06/10/protesters-tear-down-christopher-columbus-statue-on-minnesota-capitol-grounds/">head and pulled down</a>, set on fire and thrown <a href="https://www.nbc12.com/2020/06/09/christopher-columbus-statue-torn-down-thrown-lake-by-protesters/">into a lake</a>. Many of these protests have been led by Native American activists. But other statues have been <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/men-some-armed-with-guns-or-bats-surround-south-philly-columbus-statue/2433099/">defended</a> by people with guns. </p>
<p>California plans to <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/17/politics/christopher-columbus-statue-california/index.html">remove a statue</a> of Columbus from the state capitol building while others, including a <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/12/us/nyc-columbus-statue-trnd/index.html">famous statue</a> in New York’s Columbus Circle are repeatedly debated.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1270839254462201867"}"></div></p>
<p>In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, America’s multiple, entangled histories of racism are being thoroughly trawled in a search for the roots of ongoing prejudice. Planted deep within America’s psyche, one such root connects with the origin story of the nation itself: Columbus. </p>
<p>These recent attacks on statues and other figures <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/24/protests-target-spanish-colonial-statues-new-mexico">associated with colonisation</a> are part of a wider history of indigenous protests against longstanding settler narratives. </p>
<h2>A contentious holiday</h2>
<p>Columbus has endured as a particularly sacred national symbol. Despite the fact that the Italian explorer never set foot in what was to become the United States, he is lauded for “discovering” America and has been welded to the very idea of its modern nation state. In a speech marking Independence Day on July 4, the US president, Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-2020-salute-america/">suggested</a> that the “American way of life” began in 1492 “when Columbus discovered America”.</p>
<p>Columbus Day, originally on October 12, became a national holiday in 1937, energetically embraced by Italian-American communities <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Are_Italians_White.html?id=_yA7s3IfF6sC&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y">as a badge of whiteness</a> and acceptance in a nation that had been hostile to many Italian immigrants. Statues sprang up across the country, often donated by organisations such as the Sons of Italy. Columbus Day parades, some even <a href="https://www.columbuscitizensfd.org/columbus-celebration/wreath-laying.html">predating the official holiday</a>, featuring replica ships became commonplace, and Columbus increasingly became a symbol of courage and initiative, of pushing frontiers. </p>
<p>Presidents have lined up to praise his legacy. In 1988, <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/research/speeches/100388d">Ronald Reagan suggested</a> Columbus was the “inventor” of the American Dream, and in 2019, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-columbus-day-2019/">hailed him</a> as a “great explorer, whose courage, skill, and drive for discovery are at the core of the American spirit”. </p>
<h2>Indigenous protests</h2>
<p>Native American activists have long seen Columbus as a villain, an agent responsible for the <a href="https://www.mit.edu/%7Ethistle/v9/9.11/1columbus.html">invasion, conquest and subsequent occupation</a> of the Americas. He represents the genesis of forces that embraced slavery and colonialism, because he was <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/235622/pdf">personally involved</a> in enslavement, mass brutality and theft of indigenous land. </p>
<p>Today’s activists continue a longer tradition by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14775700.2020.1736459?scroll=top&needAccess=true">Native Americans who have confronted US monuments</a>. They have done so in ways that <a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-connecting/on-memory-and-activism-with-XVNsB3iqu9o/">offer a counter-narrative</a> that reveals hidden histories and gives voice to the silenced. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14775700.2020.1736459?scroll=top&needAccess=true">Red Power activism</a> by Native Americans has sought, often through symbolic acts, to achieve recognition of indigenous sovereignty and history, as well as decolonisation. At the height of Red Power movement protests in the 1960s-70s, activists occupied Mount Rushmore and protested on Thanksgiving Day at Plymouth Rock, seeking to contest these spaces of national memory and identity. </p>
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<p>Protests against the Columbus Day holiday and parades, as well as commemorative statues, have continued to be regular occurrences – particularly since a programme of 500th anniversary events in 1992. The anniversary amplified Native American protests against what they perceived to be the celebration of genocide and conquest. Since then, anti-Columbus Day protests have gathered enough momentum for more than a dozen states including Hawaii, South Dakota and New Mexico to stop marking Columbus Day or <a href="https://time.com/4968067/indigenous-peoples-day-columbus-day-cities/">else rename it</a> Indigenous Peoples’ Day. </p>
<p>A common feature of protests in recent years has been pouring red paint onto statues of Columbus to represent the blood lost over centuries. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX3sTvKCtXo">posters and banners read</a> “Columbus = genocide” or “Our history is truthless, Columbus was ruthless”. In a 2007 <a href="https://www.westword.com/news/88-arrested-at-columbus-parade-protest-5823792">Denver anti-parade protest</a>, body parts of dismembered children’s dolls, symbolising brutality and murder, were strewn in front of the oncoming floats that recreated Columbus’s ships. </p>
<h2>One-sided narrative</h2>
<p>Many states are now voting to remove statues from state buildings and public parks, acknowledging the pain that celebrating Columbus causes for so many, and the way it privileges the settler narrative.</p>
<p>Statues of Columbus are markers of how societies choose to remember their history. It is a selective and often politicised process: who is chosen to be remembered and, equally, who is not. Physically pulling down a statue of Columbus does not erase him from history, it removes a symbol that publicly and officially celebrates a particular historical narrative. Many indigenous <a href="http://www.dickshovel.com/colum.html">activists feel</a> that bringing down the symbol of Columbus is an important challenge to a national narrative that continues to erase indigenous history as well as a way to forefront their own history.</p>
<p>In 2007, after years of being involved in anti-parade protests, leading Native American activist Glenn Morris told me in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263684372_'It's_not_your_country_any_more'_Contested_national_narratives_and_the_Columbus_Day_parade_protests_in_Denver">research interview</a> that the rejection of the racist philosophy behind Columbus Day may be the most important issue facing Indian country today. It is clearly no longer acceptable to nationally honour a man who represents a celebratory settler narrative that continues to ignore indigenous histories.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Hitchmough does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The long history of celebrating Christopher Columbus discovering America is being challenged by indigenous voices and perspectives.Sam Hitchmough, Senior Lecturer in American Indian History, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1343722020-03-25T12:30:07Z2020-03-25T12:30:07ZTribal leaders face great need and don’t have enough resources to respond to the coronavirus pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322677/original/file-20200324-155640-mr8bie.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Leaders of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska voted to postpone the 85th Annual Tribal Assembly because of the pandemic. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://myemail.constantcontact.com/FOR-IMMEDIATE-RELEASE--Tlingit---Haida-s-85th-Annual-Tribal-Assembly-Postponed.html?soid=1124597381696&aid=OX6oTvSh2sI">Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The coronavirus is hitting <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/19/lives-are-at-risk-coronavirus-cases-cont.asp">American Indians and Alaska Natives</a> hard. <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">Tribal citizens are dying</a>, <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/suquamish-tribe-shutting-down-its-casino-to-contain-spread-of-coronavirus-more-casino-closures-expected/">Indian nations have closed casinos to protect the public</a>, and powwows and traditional gatherings have been canceled. </p>
<p>Among the crucial statistics that indicate how dire conditions are for American Indians and Alaska Natives: <a href="https://www.ihs.gov/">Indian Health Service</a> hospitals have only 625 beds nationwide, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">with six intensive care unit beds and 10 ventilators</a> <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/InfoGraphic_%20IHS%20and%20coronavirus.pdf">to serve</a> more than 2.5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives from 574 tribes. </p>
<p>Some tribes provide additional health services in their communities, but these programs <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">only supply</a> another 772 beds. That’s only 1,397 for 2.5 million people.</p>
<p>Governments at all levels have struggled to respond to the coronavirus pandemic as it spreads across the United States. </p>
<p>Tribal leaders have stepped up to protect their communities and prevent the spread of the virus, but they face unique problems in combating this pandemic. And the federal government’s <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035886/">historical</a> and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">current</a> reluctance to provide adequate resources and money to tribal governments and the Indian Health Service has compounded those problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=278&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322697/original/file-20200324-155666-xez6ev.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=349&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The homepage of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe in Michigan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sagchip.org/">Screenshot, http://www.sagchip.org/</a></span>
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<h2>Tribal citizens at great risk</h2>
<p>American Indians and Alaska Natives remain the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">most impoverished and marginalized</a> group in the United States. </p>
<p>Indian tribes have fewer resources than other communities in the U.S. to respond to the crisis. Many Native Americans lack <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/488458-how-the-coronavirus-threatens-native-american">basic access</a> to water, indoor plumbing and adequate housing. Overcrowded housing and <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/homeless-vulnerable-and-no-option-for-self-isolation--DGU3-v-FEWmTxrdIH73OA">homelessness</a> make social distancing difficult, and isolation impossible, for some.</p>
<p>Others do not have access to adequate health care services near their homes on tribal lands. The federally funded <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/InfoGraphic_%20IHS%20and%20coronavirus.pdf">Indian Health Service</a> provides health care to over 2.5 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, more than a quarter of whom do not have health insurance. </p>
<p>Native populations also suffer from diabetes, asthma and other chronic illnesses at <a href="https://www.ihs.gov/newsroom/factsheets/disparities/">a higher rate</a> than the U.S. population generally. These <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/488458-how-the-coronavirus-threatens-native-american">health disparities</a> place many American Indians and Alaska Natives at a higher risk to get COVID-19, and have more severe cases of it. An inadequate response to containing the virus may lead to deadly results for many American Indians and Alaska Natives. </p>
<h2>Lack of capacity</h2>
<p>The Indian Health Service has faced <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035886/">chronic underfunding</a> by Congress since its inception in 1955. Many have <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">criticized</a> the Indian Health Service for poor medical care, high staff turnover and untrained staff. </p>
<p>Like other health facilities, the ones run by the Indian Health Service are short on ventilators, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">coronavirus tests</a> and <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/InfoGraphic_%20IHS%20and%20coronavirus.pdf">personal protective gear</a> for health care providers. Less than half of tribal leaders and health care providers have indicated that they have the <a href="https://naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/InfoGraphic_%20IHS%20and%20coronavirus.pdf">capacity to isolate</a> suspected coronavirus patients. </p>
<p>Even if tests and basic medical supplies were available, Indian nations lack the capacity to <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/488458-how-the-coronavirus-threatens-native-american">track the virus</a> <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">and slow its spread</a>. The 12 regional tribal epidemiology centers do not have the relationships necessary with tribal and state health departments <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/488458-how-the-coronavirus-threatens-native-american">to share information</a> about prevalence or mortality rates. </p>
<h2>Tribes take action</h2>
<p>The pandemic has further compromised Indian nations’ resources because tribal leaders have chosen to close businesses – resorts, retail stores, entertainment venues and casinos – <a href="https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/additional-indian-gaming-facilities-closing-due-to-coronavirus-pandemic-threat/">to protect the public</a>. </p>
<p>For Indian nations, this means more than lost profits. The money those businesses make pays for tribal programs and services. Without this money, tribal governments can’t take care of their people. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322692/original/file-20200324-155620-ch8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Slot machine players at the Chickasaw Nation-owned WinStar World Casino and Resort in 2019. The casino, all retail stores and all casino restaurants are all closed temporarily.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Tribal-Power-Oklahoma/b9ce445f0e2a4c5e9c7872d98b581026/14/0">AP/Sue Ogrocki</a></span>
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<p>Despite these challenges, <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/23/weve-been-here-forever-well-be-here-fore.asp">tribal leaders</a> are taking action to protect Native people. </p>
<p>Over 50 <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/19/lives-are-at-risk-coronavirus-cases-cont.asp">tribes</a> have declared emergencies, more than 40 have imposed travel restrictions, dozens are trying to close their borders to slow the spread of the disease, and others have <a href="https://www.indianz.com/covid19/?p=1066">translated information</a> about the virus into their native languages to communicate better with their citizens. </p>
<p>Tribal leaders are also <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/19/lives-are-at-risk-coronavirus-cases-cont.asp">pressing the federal government</a> to respond to the elevated risks faced by Indian nations in this pandemic. </p>
<h2>Too little, too late?</h2>
<p>The federal government has a <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ana/resource/american-indians-and-alaska-natives-the-trust-responsibility">trust responsibility</a> to protect Indian nations. Based on its treaty relationship with and respect for the sovereignty of Indian nations, the federal government is obligated to support tribal self-government and economic prosperity and to protect tribal lands, assets and resources. </p>
<p>The federal government has yet to live up to its treaty and trust responsibilities to Indian nations and offer adequate assistance in responding to the coronavirus epidemic. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/322712/original/file-20200324-155620-1qtnon1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=756&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A public health poster from the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/ccthita/photos/a.208052386055771/1301788903348775/?type=3&theater">Facebook</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Enacted on March 6, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act authorizes <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/19/lives-are-at-risk-coronavirus-cases-cont.asp">US$40 million in emergency aid</a> to help American Indians combat the coronavirus. </p>
<p>But the Trump administration has yet to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/20/coronavirus-american-indian-health-138724">release the money</a>, and it took <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/23/trump-administration-moves-slowly-on-cor.asp">over two weeks</a> to devise a plan so that tribal governments and organizations could even access the funds. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2020/03/23/trump-administration-moves-slowly-on-cor.asp">plan</a> adopted by the Trump administration ignored requests from tribal leaders to have the Indian Health Service disseminate the funds, requires tribes to seek noncompetitive grants, and has yet to allocate any money to tribes in some regions. </p>
<p>Tribal leaders continue to pressure the federal government to take the spread of the coronavirus to their communities seriously and provide basic medical supplies, funding for medical services and economic aid to address <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/tribes-measures-slow-spread-coronavirus-69727117">lost revenues for tribal programs and services due to business closures</a>. </p>
<p>Some members of Congress appear to be paying attention. The <a href="https://www.indianz.com/covid19/">House Committee on Natural Resources</a> has initiated efforts to gather information from Native communities about how the coronavirus is affecting them and how the federal government could serve them better. </p>
<p>But Indian leaders remain concerned as <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/five-days-tells-the-coronavirus-story-caseload-jumps-from-two-to-26-vY4nuj3RdUGpbox3eB9PzA">the number of cases</a> in Indian country continue to rise. Despite their best efforts, it may turn out that too little aid came too late.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Matoy Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>American Indians and Alaska Natives are the most impoverished and marginalized group in the US. Tribes are working to protect their people from the coronavirus, but they have few resources to do so.Kirsten Matoy Carlson, Associate Professor of Law and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1324192020-03-11T12:20:18Z2020-03-11T12:20:18ZIndian Country leaders urge Native people to be counted in 2020 Census<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318363/original/file-20200303-66112-ydb37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C44%2C4883%2C3191&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alaska Native girls prepare to dance in honor of the beginning of the 2020 Census in rural Alaska. The Census count begins in this state out of necessity and tradition.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/America-Census-Begins/5366d63806004fe3a921d48c83cda2fe/35/0">AP Images/Gregory Bull</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Native Americans living on reservations and in traditional villages were the most <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb12-95.html">undercounted people in the 2010 U.S. Census</a>. This year, <a href="https://census.narf.org/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAhojzBRC3ARIsAGtNtHU3KOUOzLmvHiXnqDk9V4MwF7sOGjas2BJ4kWy6enI3vRunIfM0dI0aAjYzEALw_wcB">tribal leaders</a> throughout the U.S. are <a href="http://indiancountrycounts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ICC_WebView_12.03.19.pdf">urging American Indians and Alaska Natives</a> to be seen and counted in the 2020 U.S. Census. </p>
<p>The Census, <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/census-constitution.html">mandated by the Constitution</a>, counts all people living in the United States every 10 years. The resulting data is used by federal and state governments to determine political representation and allocate funds for education, social services and other programs. An undercount translates into less money, less political representation and access to fewer resources. </p>
<p>The Census Bureau estimates that it <a href="http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/economic-development-commerce/census">undercounted</a> American Indians living on reservations and Alaska Natives in villages by approximately 4.9% in 2010. This was more than twice the undercount rate of the next closest population group, African Americans, who had an undercount rate of 2.1%. This undercount was a significant improvement over previous Censuses. In 1990, the Census <a href="http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/economic-development-commerce/census">overlooked more than 12%</a> of American Indians and Alaska Natives living on their traditional lands.</p>
<p>The U.S. government has been <a href="https://www.census.gov/history/www/genealogy/decennial_census_records/censuses_of_american_indians.html">counting and tracking American Indians</a> since the early 19th century, creating numerous “rolls” or <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/rolls">lists</a>. These rolls have been used for many reasons – to remove tribes from west of Mississippi, to pay annuities outlined in government-to-government treaties or to <a href="https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/dawes/tutorial/intro.html">divide up tribal lands</a> into individual parcels. Given this long history of counting Native Americans, why has the Census Bureau undercounted so many Native people?</p>
<h2>Barriers to an accurate count</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/319131/original/file-20200306-118881-11c177n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some traditional Native American lands may not have street addresses, information requested in the census count.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Election-2018-North-Dakota-Voter-ID/6ee1117e900447d0b8a6414861e49112/315/0">AP Photo/Blake Nicholson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>American Indians and Alaska Natives have proven challenging to count for a number of reasons. Perhaps most importantly, many American Indians and Alaska Natives <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-americans-census-most-undercounted-racial-group-fight-accurate-2020-n1105096">do not trust</a> the federal government. Federal Indian policies have removed tribes from their traditional lands and forced Native children to leave their families to attend boarding schools. For some tribal citizens, the arrival of a federal official on their doorstep can conjure up memories of the <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/12/16/native-american-leaders-work-to-overcome-community-mistrust-of-census">historical trauma</a> their parents and grandparents faced at the hands of the U.S. government. </p>
<p>Some Native people who are willing to engage with the federal government may be wary about whether their information will remain <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/12/16/native-american-leaders-work-to-overcome-community-mistrust-of-census">confidential</a> and protected. Some researchers have <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/nace-steps-conducting-research-evaluation-native-communities.pdf">taken advantage of Native people’s trust</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/news/why-the-navajo-nation-banned-genetic-research">misused their information</a> in the past, making them leery of how data collected about them will be stored and used. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318403/original/file-20200303-66064-1e4x7wk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 2020 U.S. Census began in Toksook Bay, Alaska, a coastal village on the Bering Sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/America-Census-Begins/f8fdd53b45624bf0aa7c5e4c167eed2c/54/0">AP Photo/Gregory Bull</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>American Indians and Alaska Natives can be hard to count simply because more than 25% of them live in <a href="http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/census/2020/Fact-Sheet-AIAN-HTC.pdf">hard-to-count areas</a>. For example, the 2020 U.S. Census was kicked off in Alaska Native villages in January because it can be easier to reach remote villages before the snow melts.</p>
<p>Some American Indians and Alaska Natives share the characteristics of other <a href="http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/census/2020/Fact-Sheet-AIAN-HTC.pdf">hard-to-count populations in rural America</a> such as poverty, isolated locations, housing insecurity and a lower rate of high school graduation. </p>
<p>Finally, the Census is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-americans-census-most-undercounted-racial-group-fight-accurate-2020-n1105096">not well designed</a> for American Indians or Alaska Natives. Not all American Indians and Alaska Natives <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/15/we-are-still-here-native-americans-fight-to-be-counted-in-us-census">speak English</a>. This year, the census form is translated into a single Native American language, Navajo, even though there are approximately <a href="https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/native-american-languages-in-the-us">175 Native American languages</a> spoken in the U.S. today. Some Native communities in Alaska and New Mexico are providing <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/diversity-inclusion/478593-the-2020-census-starts-tomorrow-but-will-native">their own translations</a> and instructions in their languages. </p>
<p>Others face challenges because the forms do not provide enough space to write their names or the names of their tribes. They may not be able to provide the kind of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-americans-census-most-undercounted-racial-group-fight-accurate-2020-n11050">address</a> that is required because they use a post office box or because there are no street addresses. Still others, especially if they are mixed-race, <a href="https://millelacsband.com/news/census-update-be-sure-to-check-the-box">may struggle with which box to check</a>. Even if they are tribal citizens, in the past they may not have been counted as Indian people <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/aian_defs_of_indian_and_indian_tribe.pdf?">under federal law</a> or have been eligible to receive federal services for Indians.</p>
<p>In addition to these barriers, the 2020 U.S. Census will rely heavily on the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-americans-census-most-undercounted-racial-group-fight-accurate-2020-n11050">internet</a>, technology that a third of Native people living on reservations and in traditional villages still cannot access.</p>
<h2>What’s at stake</h2>
<p>Native leaders know that Census undercounts diminish their political power and the funding appropriated to them by the federal government. Politically, an accurate count ensures that Native peoples receive the <a href="http://indiancountrycounts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ICC_WebView_12.03.19.pdf">congressional representation</a> they deserve. </p>
<p>Census data also informs federal policy. The U.S. Constitution recognizes tribes as sovereign nations that engage in government-to-government relationships with the federal government. Congress, rather than the states, is authorized to make federal Indian policy. Federal officials, members of Congress and tribal leaders rely on Census data to <a href="http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/economic-development-commerce/census">develop policy</a> that effectively meets the needs of Native people. For example, inaccurate counts of Native youth may limit the behavioral health services provided to them, even though they face higher risks of suicide and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2759269/">substance abuse</a> than other youth. </p>
<p>The federal government allocates <a href="http://www.ncai.org/policy-research-center/research-data/prc-publications/CensusAdvocacy.pdf">nearly US$1 billion</a> in annual federal resources to Indian Country based on Census data. American Indian and Alaska Native <a href="http://civilrightsdocs.info/pdf/census/2020/Fact-Sheet-AIAN-HTC.pdf">governments</a> use this money to provide educational assistance for low-income children, employment and training programs, health services, special programs for elders, and Indian housing and community development. Without an accurate count, tribal governments do not receive adequate funding for these programs and are less able to meet the needs of their people.</p>
<h2>Overcoming mistrust</h2>
<p>Native leaders across the U.S. have been working to educate Native people about the importance of being counted in the 2020 U.S. Census. The <a href="http://indiancountrycounts.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ICC_WebView_12.03.19.pdf">National Congress of the American Indian</a>, the oldest, largest and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native organization, has undertaken a public education campaign and designed a toolkit to help tribes and native people participate in the Census. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/09/04/tribal-leaders-seek-accurate-census-counts-on-reservations">Tribes</a> have devoted considerable energy and resources to preventing another undercount. Beginning in 2015, they have <a href="https://www.census.gov/aian">consulted</a> with the Census Bureau on how to build collaborative relationships to overcome the barriers to counting people in Indian Country. Tribal leaders are using their expertise in reaching their own communities by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/15/we-are-still-here-native-americans-fight-to-be-counted-in-us-census">developing outreach plans</a> to encourage tribal participation and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-americans-census-most-undercounted-racial-group-fight-accurate-2020-n11050">hiring tribal citizens</a> to collect Census data. For tribes, an accurate count will enhance their ability to exercise sovereignty over their lands and people.</p>
<p>[<em>Want to learn more about the 2020 census?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/census-72">Sign up here for our new newsletter course</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132419/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Matoy Carlson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Native Americans who live in villages and on traditional lands have been undercounted by the U.S. Census for decades.Kirsten Matoy Carlson, Associate Professor of Law and Adjunct Associate Professor of Political Science, Wayne State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/995432018-07-12T20:08:40Z2018-07-12T20:08:40ZHaida manga: An artist embraces tragedy, beautifully<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227484/original/file-20180712-27012-qgjql3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A scene from the best-selling 'Red: A Haida Manga,' a revenge story.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://mny.ca/en/work/154/RED">Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>“Of all the arts of which traces remain, that of the First Nations of the Northwest coast is certainly one of the greatest.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These are the words spoken by French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss in 1974, at an <a href="https://www.museedelhistoire.ca/cmc/exhibitions/aborig/reid/reid09f.shtml">exhibition</a> of the work of <a href="http://theravenscall.ca/en">Bill Reid, one of the best-known artists of his generation</a> and a member of the Haida people, an Indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest.</p>
<p>The Haida community and its art also was an inspiration to another, more contemporary artist, <a href="http://mny.ca/en/">Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas</a>, inventor of a new graphic genre: “Haida manga.”</p>
<h2>Formline: A distinct style</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225652/original/file-20180702-116132-15e8y6r.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cover of <em>A Tale of Two Shamans</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Haida manga,” a somewhat incongruous term, describes a hybrid form of visual expression where the artist not only celebrates Haida cultural memory and merges it with Asian brush techniques, but also engages with the challenges facing all modern societies: conflict, war, the impact of human activity on the environment, climate change and intercultural relations.</p>
<p>Yahgulanaas brings to manga a visual and stylistic technique belonging to the cultures of the Pacific Northwest coast: <em>the formline</em>, or figurative line. The formline is a winding line painted in black that swells and contracts, outlining the contours of the picture’s subject.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225653/original/file-20180702-116139-nzk7ac.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cover of <em>Red</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The use of formline in mangas such as <a href="https://cotroafs.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=16622778549&amp;searchurl=&amp;cmtrack_data=cm_abecat%3D100203057"><em>A Tale of Two Shamans</em></a> (2001) and <a href="http://mny.ca/en/work/14/RED"><em>Red</em></a> (a 2009 best-seller), also conveys Yahgulanaas’ unwavering belief that, beyond differences in Indigenous and Western ways of thinking, people of all backgrounds can find common ground in shared concerns.</p>
<h2>Bridging communities</h2>
<p>Yahgulanaas was born in 1954 to a Scottish father and a Haida mother from a <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359183513486231?journalCode=mcua">long line of artists</a>, who brought prestige to Haida art over the course of the 19th century.</p>
<p>He is a descendant of the famous master sculptor and jeweller Charles Edenshaw (1839-1920), the father of his great-grandmother, on his mother’s side. In his thirties, he asserted his dual heritage by adopting – alongside the surname inherited from his father – the name of his mother’s clan, “Yahgulanaas,” meaning those from the middle of the village, from the Raven moiety – Haida are divided into two matrilineal descendant groups, the Ravens and the Eagles.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=798&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1002&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1002&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225654/original/file-20180702-116114-2idz6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1002&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The two shamans in the town of Sk’a.aaws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">_A Tale of Two Shamans_, 2011</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aware of the differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures, he strived from an early age to “<a href="https://www.straight.com/article-98050/re-collecting-the-coast">play the edge between the neighbourhoods</a>” and has clearly positioned himself at the bridge between two communities that are ignorant of, and even hostile toward, each other.</p>
<p>Like fellow Haida artist and activist <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/all-that-we-say-is-ours-guujaaw-and-the-reawakening-of-the-haida-nation-by-ian-gill/article4288266/">Guujaaw</a> (Gary Edenshaw), Yahgulanaas led a fierce struggle against the <a href="http://www.douglas-mcintyre.com/book/all-that-we-say-is-ours">deforestation of the Haida Gwaii archipelago</a> for many years, including the famous 40-day forest-road blockade on Lyell Island, in 1985.</p>
<p>The protest was a resounding success: The timber company backed down and eight years later, a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/flashbacks-to-bc-history/article1215732/">national park was created</a>, with agreements from both the British Columbian and federal governments.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=654&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225655/original/file-20180702-116152-5r4144.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=822&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graphic art intersecting several different worlds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Yahgulanaas <a href="https://www.blackdogonline.com/imported-products-20/the-seriousness-of-play">used his talent to serve his communities</a>, publishing comics denouncing logging, the impact of clear-cutting and the environmental risks posed by the movement of oil takers in the Hecate Strait, running between Haida Gwaii and the mainland.</p>
<p>His long years of activism, dedicated to protecting Haida land and the environment, have had a significant influence on his prolific work, which numbers in the thousands. Yahgulanaas is also a multimedia artist with a thriving imagination and a sculptor, creating both monumental works for public spaces and smaller pieces.</p>
<h2>Haida manga, a hybrid genre</h2>
<p>According to Yahgulanaas, the use of the term <em>manga</em> to describe the kind of images he creates was suggested to him by students who saw him as a <em>mangaka</em>, or manga artist, during a trip to Japan.</p>
<p>The name came at the right moment to define a new genre, blending a representational approach typical of Japanese manga with the Haida pictorial style, with touches of Chinese calligraphy, giving great fluidity of form to the lines contouring the panels, and opening up room for more creativity and freedom in storytelling.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225659/original/file-20180702-116117-67maxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author’s approach is different from that of traditional artists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Red</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He then coined the name “Haida manga.” The two terms, at once opposed and complementary, encompass several key themes close to his heart, relating to art, culture, politics and identity.</p>
<p>While Yahgulanaas is clearly proud of his roots, his approach is different from that of traditional Haida artists. A self-taught sketch artist and illustrator, he has mastered a vast range of techniques, including Chinese watercolour, which he learned in 1999 with Chinese painter Cai Ben Kwon. He also gleans inspiration from Japanese woodcuts of the <em>ukiyo-e</em> school – <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ukiy/hd_ukiy.htm">images from the floating world</a> – and the manga tradition.</p>
<p>Yahgulanaas strives to go beyond traditional art practices with his hybrid visual art, which draws on several different traditions – Haida, Western, Chinese and Japanese, borrowing both techniques and specific forms of representation.</p>
<h2>Beyond the schism of tradition and modernity</h2>
<p>His stories come from the Haida oral tradition. <em>A Tale of Two Shamans</em> is a personal adaptation of a legend gathered in three local dialects by ethnologist <a href="https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1959.61.4.02a00120">John Swanton</a> in 1900-1901.</p>
<p>Like that of a great number of Indigenous artists and intellectuals in the region, Yahgulanaas draws on the great classics of turn-of-the-century ethnology (including <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-Boas">Franz Boas</a>), which now constitute an inexhaustible source of information on the mythology of the societies of the Pacific Northwest coast.</p>
<p>The plot of <em>Red</em> (like many manga characters, the main character has red hair) is inspired by a true story from the distant past, handed down within the Yahgulanaas family. It tells the tale of a young man so blinded by his lust for revenge that he almost drags his community into a bloody war.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dBbLiEqUZ-g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Yahgulanaas talks about <em>Red</em> and his approach.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Yahgulanaas’ images are also inspired by visual documents and Haida artefacts.</p>
<p>Both stories are set against a backdrop of Haida Gwaii landscapes. Some scenes take place in traditional villages, with their rows of coastal houses before which stand heraldic and mortuary totem poles.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=813&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225656/original/file-20180702-116129-5rcy2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1021&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The shaman’s burial box.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">A Tale of Two Shamans, 2011</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225657/original/file-20180702-116147-1pkle8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Box collected by Charles Newcombe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Royal B.C. Museum and Archives</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some readers will easily spot the resemblance between the drawing of the burial box containing the body of the shaman and the artefact collected at Skedans by Charles Newcombe for the American Museum of Natural History, which bears a mountain goat symbol of one of its sides. The clothes and accessories worn by the protagonists are characteristic of “traditional” dress and indicate either the character’s role or social class.</p>
<p>Yahgulanaas also plays with different historical periods. The face of one male character, Elder, is obscured behind a large moustache, as was the style among Indigenous men of the Pacific Northwest coast at the end of the 19th century. One of the female characters, Jaada, wears a western-style dress and carries a satchel, whereas the shaman, Spirit Dangerous to Offend, appears as a bare-breasted young woman with large hoop earrings.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225658/original/file-20180702-116143-aa9p1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>A Tale of Two Shamans</em>, p. 108.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A genre suited to Haida traditions</h2>
<p>According to Yahgulanaas, manga is better adapted to the narrative style and specific characteristics of Haida oral traditions than Western comics which, he argues, have a tendency to depict either good or bad protagonists. The characters described in Pacific Northwest coastal myths are highly complex. Take, for instance, the Raven, <a href="https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01324646">famed trickster and creator of the world and men</a>, whose contradictory character is both generous and mean.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100267050">Yahgulanaas</a> said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“ I use a unique blend of comic and traditional style to ask the reader to question pre-existing assumptions and fantasies about the People who produced the morally ambiguous narratives – about the Raven for instance.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Duel stylistic reconfiguration</h2>
<p>From an artistic perspective, Haida manga allows the artist to adapt a <a href="https://www.billreidgallery.ca/products/the-seriousness-of-play?variant=12286244126803">traditional style with canonical rules</a> to another pictorial tradition while distancing himself from Western comic traditions through manga.</p>
<p>Yahgulanaas believes this dual stylistic reconfiguration opens up a new conceptual space, highlighting affinities between the different cultures of the North Pacific: those of the Pacific Northwest coast and those of East Asia.</p>
<p>The blending of the two styles is also a political statement, relegating European-American visual influences to the background, with their associations of colonialism and domination of Indigenous cultures:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I was attracted to manga because it is not part of a colonial tradition […] and it is not linked to the colonization of our country. [Also,] manga has roots in the North Pacific, just like Haida art,” <a href="https://www.blackdogonline.com/imported-products-20/the-seriousness-of-play">he explained</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>“The black line becomes a prop for the characters to play with”</h2>
<p>Yahgulanaas takes his experimentation and genre mixing to a new level, using curved formlines as outlines for his panels. This means that, according to the conventions of Pacific Northwest coastal art, the negative spaces created by the figurative black lines become positive spaces where the action takes place and the characters move.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225670/original/file-20180702-116139-7gujgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The line becomes the surface of the water.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">A Tale of Two Shamans, p. 13</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since positive space is the place where the story takes place, the formlines are part of the narrative itself. Sometimes a scene or a character – or part of their body – spills out of the frame, encroaching on another panel. The black line is also a prop for the characters to play with, what they grab, hang off, or lean over. It is transformed into part of the landscape. In <em>Tale of the Two Shamans</em>, it is the surface of the water where Elder rows his canoe. In <em>Red</em>, it is part of a tree or the edge of a forest, it traces the outline of a character and, in one instance, becomes a weapon, the bow that will kill Red, as if the bow were part of a whole.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=655&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225661/original/file-20180702-116126-1ll3hwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The formline becomes a bow, <em>Red</em>, p. 103.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some writers, such as <a href="https://anth.ubc.ca/faculty/nicola-levell/">anthropologist Nicola Levell</a> and art historian <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d1zFGQW2i4">Judith Ostrowitz</a>, have remarked that, for Yahgulanaas, formline is not a purely formal stylistic element used in his mangas.</p>
<p>Rather, it serves as a kind of visual metaphor or dialectic tool to juxtapose a Haida vision of the world with Western ways of seeing, when it comes to space-time, or the connections between the people in it and their relationship to the environment.</p>
<p>Yahgulanaas’ artistic approach goes against the grain of the Western comic tradition, with its white frames where space becomes time, structuring the narrative in a way that, for him, does not suit the Haida way of thinking.</p>
<p>He expressed this idea in picture form, in a comedic ink sketch titled <em>In the Gutter</em> (2011), which pokes fun at the way frames are used in Western comics, attributing political and historical meaning to these blank spaces.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=810&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=810&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=810&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1018&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1018&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225662/original/file-20180702-116139-1hy9zl5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1018&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>In the Gutter</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicola Levell, 'Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas: The Seriousness of Play,' 2016, p. 75.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Yahgulanaas, filling empty spaces or frames with images and the “full” nature of the formlines (as opposed to the empty gutter) act as a kind of history lesson. The lines denounce the commonly accepted narrative that the land colonized by Europeans was empty space – <em>terra nullius</em> – when it was in fact inhabited by autonomous peoples governed by their own laws. A prime example of this way of thinking can be seen in <em>Red</em>.</p>
<p>With his Haida mangas, he has opened up an international dialogue. In <em>Red</em>, the assembly of images connected by the winding – and seemingly fragmented – formlines cannot truly be understood until the reader has reached the end of the book.</p>
<p>There, a double-page image reproduces a five-by-two-metre fresco, made up of 108 panels painted in watercolour, which inspired the manga.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225663/original/file-20180702-116147-1cyyzgf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The formlines of the panels in <em>Red</em>, set side by side, form a new picture. <em>Red</em>, pp. 110-111.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the mural is reconstructed, you can see a stylized image of a supernatural entity, or Haida motif (an animal figure, ancestor or social group). This stylized image is in line with canonical two-dimensional art from the Pacific Northwest coast – although bearing no relation to the plot – links all the panels and pages of the book.</p>
<p>Always happy to explain his work, Yahgulanaas emphasizes that the unexpected presence of the motif should raise our awareness of the various, divergent realities outside of our own world:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The mural is a way of understanding how we are all connected to each other, and moving through the same space.”</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>This piece was published in collaboration with the blog of <a href="https://blogterrain.hypotheses.org/">Terrain</a>, a journal of anthropology and social sciences.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99543/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie Mauzé ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The “Haida manga” by Indigenous artist Yahgulanaas opens a graphic dialogue between the different cultures of the Pacific Northwest and East Asia.Marie Mauzé, Anthropologue, Directrice de recherche au CNRS, Laboratoire d'anthropologie sociale, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/931942018-04-13T10:39:27Z2018-04-13T10:39:27ZSupreme Court case tests weight of old Native American treaties in 21st century<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214601/original/file-20180412-587-1sl7mma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Culverts installed for roads have led to a decline in salmon, which Northwest Indian tribes were ensured access to by treaty.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Salmon-Culverts-Lawsuit/e9fc1f7c07e648168bf0ccc3181a5157/11/0">AP Photo/Ted S. Warren</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On April 18, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/17-269.html">Washington v. United States</a>, which pits the state of Washington against the United States and 21 Indian tribes. The main question in the case is narrow – whether the state must quickly replace hundreds of culverts that allow the flow of water under roads but also block salmon migration. Yet the underlying issue is far broader. </p>
<p>At stake in the case is the Supreme Court’s ongoing role as the nation’s highest arbiter of justice. Despite immense changes, that role remains grounded in a 229-year-old <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript">Constitution</a> premised on the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi">supremacy</a> of federal treaties and individual <a href="https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/bill-of-rights-transcript">rights</a>. </p>
<p>In previous cases, the Supreme Court upheld the tribes’ rights to fish salmon, spelled out by various treaties entered in the 1850s. But, having insulated those rights from destruction previously, the court must now decide their meaning for the 21st century and beyond. That decision may say more about what justice means in our modern legal system than it does about tribes, salmon or culverts. </p>
<h2>‘As justice and reason demand’</h2>
<p>In the mid-1800s, the United States’ zeal for expansion and growth resulted in the removal of Indian people and the acquisition of their territory, often through the use of <a href="http://www.peacecouncil.net/NOON/2row/docs/VenablesonTwoRow.pdf">treaties</a>.</p>
<p>Isaac Stevens, the first governor of the territory of Washington, negotiated treaties on behalf of the United States with tribes across the Pacific Northwest and did so using similar treaty forms and language. In the heart of salmon country, Stevens recognized the importance of fishing to the tribes and, to persuade them to cede vast swaths of land, he emphasized language in the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/pacific/ea/tribal/treaties/Nisqualli_Puyallup.pdf">treaties</a> that would preserve the tribal “right of taking fish, at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations…in common with all citizens of the Territory.” In fact, while negotiating one treaty, Stevens <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/443/658/case.html">promised</a> the tribes that the “paper secures your fish.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214603/original/file-20180412-577-1apgppf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northwest Indians pictured fishing for salmon in the middle of the 20th century, competing with a fishing wheel in the background.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fish_Wheel_and_Indian_Snagging_Salmon_at_Celilo_Falls_on_Columbia_River,_Oregon._Indians_have_perpetual_fishing_rights_at_the_falls_(69081).jpg">Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There was an abundance of salmon at the time. However, the explosion of settlers in the late 1800s and the proliferation of canneries and commercial fishing operations quickly created competition with tribal rights. Within decades, tribes’ rights to salmon were threatened by non-Indian interference and declining fish populations. The United States, acting on the tribes’ behalf, went before before the Supreme Court seeking to protect the terms of the treaties.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/198/371/case.html">1905</a>, the court was asked to resolve the question of whether non-Indians who erected <a href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/17/fish-wheels-effective-therefore-banned-united-states-threatened-salmon-population/">fish wheels</a> to capture salmon could fence off an area, thereby excluding tribal fishermen who sought to fish at their usual and accustomed ground. The court, saying it interpreted the treaties “as justice and reason demand,” upheld the treaty claims. </p>
<p>Recognizing their federal supremacy, the court rejected arguments that the admission of Washington to the Union on equal footing with other states destroyed the rights tribes previously secured in agreements with the United States. According to the court, the treaties “seemed to promise more, and give the word of the nation for more” than just fishing like all other citizens. </p>
<h2>Modern challenges to old rights</h2>
<p>Despite that early victory, both tribal treaty rights and salmon populations continued to be threatened. In the 1960s and 1970s, the state of Washington engaged in a concerted effort to denigrate tribal rights, leading to <a href="http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/fish-ins.htm">“fish-in” protests</a> by natives, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvKgXV-_fF0&feature=youtu.be">multiple arrests, and violence.</a> </p>
<p>Once again, the courts were called upon to render justice. The central case, brought by tribes and the United States on their behalf against Washington, was filed in 1970. And as in 1905, courts honored tribal rights, deciding that tribes were <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/384/312/1370661/">entitled to half</a> of the salmon harvest. In 1979, the Supreme Court <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/443/658/case.html">affirmed</a> this. Later decisions even included <a href="https://openjurist.org/759/f2d/1353/united-states-v-state-of-washington">fish raised in hatcheries</a>. </p>
<p>But salmon populations <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/as-salmon-vanish-in-the-dry-pacific-northwest-so-does-native-heritage/2015/07/30/2ae9f7a6-2f14-11e5-8f36-18d1d501920d_story.html?utm_term=.d17b15cbe9e1">continued to plummet</a>, putting more and more pressure on tribes’ ability to exercise their rights. As a result, <a href="https://nwifc.org/fixing-barrier-culverts-aim-of-treaty-tribes%E2%80%99-suit/">in 2001</a>, 21 tribes in Washington revived the 1970 litigation by asking the federal courts to decide whether the state of Washington was violating the treaties by building roads across salmon streams using culverts that closed off upstream migration. In doing so, the tribes <a href="https://nwifc.org/questions-and-answers-regarding-the-tribal-culvert-case/">relied upon</a> a 1997 study showing that hundreds of culverts blocked fish passage and that replacing even half of the culverts would produce 200,000 more salmon each year. </p>
<p>According to the tribes, though earlier decisions had preserved their rights, without additional protections for salmon habitat and populations, they would only retain the right to witness wild salmon go extinct. </p>
<p>Both the federal <a href="https://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/district-court-order-culverts.pdf">trial court</a> and the <a href="http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2016/06/27/13-35474.pdf">Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals</a> agreed with the tribes. Indeed, the trial court entered a permanent <a href="https://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/perm-injunction.pdf">injunction</a> requiring the state to replace hundreds of culverts within the next 17 years. Echoing the 1905 Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit determined that the treaties promised more than just access to fishing sites. The treaties also promised that there would be fish “sufficient to sustain them.” </p>
<p>The state of Washington claims the treaties did not promise that much. They point to other actions of the federal government that hurt salmon populations and argue that complying with the injunction would require reallocating billions of additional dollars, and now <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-269/36516/20180224122759789_17-269tsBrief.pdf">ask</a> the Supreme Court to reverse those lower court decisions. In the state’s view, the rights claimed by the tribes and recognized by the lower courts are “new” and not contemplated by the 160-year-old treaties. </p>
<h2>More than culverts</h2>
<p>The Supreme Court will now decide whether, despite having aged nearly two centuries, those 20 fateful words of the Stevens treaties from the 1850s still guarantee greater protection for tribal interests. </p>
<p>Its decision will have impact far beyond Washington state. While the “right to take fish” language of the Stevens treaties is unique to the tribes of the Northwest, tribes across the country continue to exercise treaty rights to hunt and fish in their historical homelands. </p>
<p>For example, the decision could provide more legal ammunition for those supporting recent tribal movements in support of <a href="http://bearsearscoalition.org/">Bears Ears</a> or to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-will-native-tribes-fight-the-dakota-access-pipeline-in-court-72839">stop</a> the Dakota Access pipeline. Even if the court sides with Washington, the case is already prompting <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/tribal-affairs-what-a-case-about-culverts-could-mean-for-tribal-treaty-rights-in-the-northwest">broader discussion</a> of tribal rights nationally and could lead to more state-tribal <a href="https://www.colorado.gov/governor/news/gov-hickenlooper-and-ute-mountain-ute-tribe-sign-brunot-agreement">cooperation</a> to avoid similar challenges in the future.</p>
<p>More importantly, resolving this case demands an accounting of “the word of the nation,” which the court has largely honored since that 1905 decision. Although much has changed, the words of treaties remain, in the Constitution’s words, the “supreme law of the land.” But, without meaningful protection like that sought by the tribes in Washington v. United States, arguably those words will soon be rendered meaningless. </p>
<p>Supreme law or not, what good is the “right to take fish” if there are no more fish to take? Therefore, the crucial question before the Supreme Court is whether, beyond simply preserving the words of treaty rights, doing right by our Constitutional ideals - doing justice - demands more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monte Mills does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Supreme Court case deals with the narrow issue of tribal salmon fishing rights in the Northwest, but raises fundamental questions about justice for American Indians.Monte Mills, Assistant Professor of Law & Co-Director, Margery Hunter Brown Indian Law Clinic, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/899052018-01-25T11:38:47Z2018-01-25T11:38:47ZThe hidden health inequalities that American Indians and Alaskan Natives face<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203117/original/file-20180123-33535-3qzge7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tribally led wellness encampment in Wyoming.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gordon Belcourt</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I was an American Indian student pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology in the 1990s, when I realized the stark contrast between my life experiences growing up on my home reservation and those of my non-Native peers.</p>
<p>Many incredible family members and friends had sacrificed and broken a trail for me to realize my academic dreams. My rich and generous native culture and traditional ways helped sustain my family over the years. </p>
<p>However, as each year of school unfolded, I lost family members due to early causes of death, including homicide, suicide, motor vehicle accidents, cancer and pneumonia. I had to drive over four hours to the nearest Indian Health Service provider for prenatal visits for my children and nearly lost one child due to lack of access to proper medical care. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my story isn’t uncommon for most Native Americans. As a collective, American Indians and Alaska Natives live <a href="https://www.ihs.gov/dps/publications/trends2014/">more challenging and shorter lives</a>. These are statistics I’m acutely aware of as researcher in clinical psychology. Understanding the sources of and solutions to these inequalities is the focus of my career. </p>
<p>The Indian Health Service is in the position to change these trends for the better. Outside of Native communities, few Americans know what this agency does, that its leadership is under fire and that the current nominee to head this IHS is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-nominee-to-lead-indian-health-services-faces-claims-of-misrepresentation-1515170335">a controversial figure</a>. There is much work to be done to reverse American Indian health problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203081/original/file-20180123-33571-r77zh9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author with her great-grandmother, on left, and grandmother, on right, on the Blackfeet reservation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gordon Belcourt</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Health inequality</h2>
<p>The IHS is the primary health care provider for most American Indians. It is responsible for providing health care under historical treaty agreements between the federal government and tribes.</p>
<p>In many ways, American Indian health has improved under the IHS over the past 20 years. For example, <a href="https://www.ihs.gov/dps/publications/trends2014/">infant mortality</a> decreased 67 percent between 1974 and 2009. </p>
<p>But there are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.20760">steep divisions</a> between the health of American Indians and other Americans. American Indians continue to have lower life expectancies than other Americans and lose more years of productive life. They also have the nation’s highest rates of death due to suicide. High rates of premature death due to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and accidents plague Native Americans.</p>
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<p><a href="http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/na0703/na0204.pdf">These disparities</a> are shaped by social inequality, historical trauma and discrimination. Most American Indians live in chronic poverty, with limited access to health care, adequate housing, quality education and adequate law enforcement services. </p>
<p>Early exposure to <a href="https://www.nij.gov/journals/277/Pages/violence-against-american-indians-alaska-natives.aspx">traumatic events and losses</a>, including sexual and domestic violence, are common for <a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/toxic-stress/">many American Indians</a>. This <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-childhood-trauma-can-affect-mental-and-physical-health-into-adulthood-77149">childhood trauma</a> can translate to a lower quality of life and a wide variety of poor health outcomes.</p>
<p>My home state of Montana includes seven reservations and multiple urban centers of American Indians, with tribal representation from many of the 657 federally recognized tribes. <a href="https://dphhs.mt.gov/Portals/85/publichealth/documents/Epidemiology/StateOfTheStatesHealth.pdf">American Indians</a> live on average 20 years less than whites in the state. Montana currently has the highest rate of suicide in the nation. </p>
<p>The IHS has historically been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2567901/#R7">inadequately funded</a>. Federal funding only provides for 54 percent of needed services. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035886/">Recent estimates</a> show increased patient use despite proposed funding cuts. What’s more, the majority of American Indians live in urban settings with very limited access to IHS facilities. </p>
<p>As a result, many American Indian patients <a href="https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-06-14-00011.pdf">receive health care</a> that may be inadequate or of minimal quality. Others must wait a long time for urgently needed care. These experiences have collectively led to a distrust of institutions, including health care centers. Many will avoid or delay necessary screenings and care. It should be a priority to find better ways to create outreach and directly provide services.</p>
<h2>Hope for health</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203243/original/file-20180124-107937-gv256v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ledger artwork ‘Survivor’ is meant to represent Native resiliency against experiences like cancer, abuse, colonialism and genocide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.johnisaiahpepion.com">John Isaiah Pepion</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These experiences have motivated many Native people to work toward health equity.</p>
<p>Native-led organizations like The National Council of Urban Indian Health, the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians have worked to improve health for all Native people. The National Indian Health Board has a number of public health initiatives working to inform tribes on best practices in obesity, violence, suicide and substance abuse prevention. The National Congress of American Indians advocates policies to improve health by engaging elected tribal leadership.</p>
<p>To improve access to health care, <a href="http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/education-health-human-services">some also call for change</a> in the way tribal health is funded and provided. Many tribal communities have even taken over the health care provision structure. </p>
<p>Many tribes have worked to bring back traditional healing methods, <a href="https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/education/native-education/teaching-the-whole-child-language-immersion-and-student-achievement/">education</a>, languages and traditional foods. This revitalization is showing promise to improve health the entire family and community. For example, <a href="https://www.pieganinstitute.org/our-schools/">The Piegan Institute</a> on the Blackfeet reservation created language and culture immersion schools to help restore these practices.</p>
<p>These efforts are important, due in part to the <a href="https://news.aamc.org/diversity/article/native-american-health-disparities/">significant lack of Native American health care workers</a>. Many Native patients respond better to Native providers. Some educational programs are working to increase Native health professionals, researchers and educators. </p>
<p>Personally, I have sought a career in public health to help communities explore potential solutions to the many challenges we collectively face as Native people. I sit in my office today, looking upon the photos of family members lost too soon, and reflect upon the hope of healthier futures for my daughters, my niece and all Native youth.</p>
<p>My late father wrote a poem some years ago, borrowing from the Minnie Louise Haskins’s poem “God Knows.” A portion of that prose resonates today:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I said to the old man who stood at the Door of the Lodge, “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” He replied, “Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of the Creator. That shall be to you better than light and safer than any known way.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is my hope that leaders in health harness the many gifts we have as Native peoples to build a healthier future. Our children are worth fighting for.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to include the poem’s correct attribution.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annie Belcourt receives research funding from the National Institute of Health and the JPB Environmental Health Fellowship program Directed by the T. H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health. She is also a volunteer board member for the YWCA Missoula. </span></em></p>Compared to the average US citizen, American Indians and Alaskan Natives live shorter lives and are at greater risk for a number of health problems.Annie Belcourt, Associate Professor of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/734242017-03-01T02:21:58Z2017-03-01T02:21:58ZDonald Trump and Andrew Jackson: More in common than just populism<p>At President Donald Trump’s request, a portrait of former President Andrew Jackson <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/316115-trump-hangs-portrait-of-andrew-jackson-in-oval-office">now hangs</a> in the Oval Office. Commentators have cast Trump’s populist appeal and inaugural address as “Jacksonian,” while others have tried to emphasize their major <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/andrew-jackson-donald-trump-populist-president-history-214705">differences</a>. <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/andrew-jackson-donald-trump-populist-president-history-214705">One writer</a> lauded Jackson as “the president who, more than any other, secured the future of democracy in America.”</p>
<p>However, these comparisons overlook experiences of marginalized people while defining history in terms of the ideologies of progress and American exceptionalism.</p>
<p>Jackson’s intolerant attitudes and harsh treatment of African-American and Native American peoples have not gone without mention. They are indeed inescapable. As a scholar who has written about <a href="http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/Books/bid2436.htm">Native American history</a> and <a href="http://unmpress.com/books.php?ID=20000000005880&Page=book">literature</a>, I am aware of just how often the perspectives of native people are neglected in conventional historical discourse.</p>
<p>The criticisms Trump has directed against <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/donald-trumps-long-history-of-clashes-with-native-americans/2016/07/25/80ea91ca-3d77-11e6-80bc-d06711fd2125_story.html?utm_term=.04e8f8a4c021">Indian casinos in the 1990s</a>, along with his insult of calling Senator Elizabeth Warren <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/whats-behind-trumps-pocahontas-attack-warren">“Pocahontas,”</a> casts his veneration of Jackson in a particularly disturbing light.</p>
<h2>Andrew Jackson and the Trail of Tears</h2>
<p>Jackson was a staunch supporter of slavery and policies that forcibly removed Indians from their lands. The passage of the 1830 <a href="http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3545">Indian Removal Act</a> was aimed at isolating native peoples to prevent conflict over territory and allow increased settlement. </p>
<p>The solution, originally conceived by Thomas Jefferson, was to empower the government to evict native peoples living east of the Mississippi River from their lands. Those subjected to removal would be moved <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3437t.html">“beyond the white settlements”</a> to distant reservations in the West, known at the time as “Indian territory.” It was a form of segregation.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158820/original/image-20170228-29942-1og6md.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=658&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">R. Ridgway, engraving, c.1859, Muscogee Creek Chief William Weatherford surrenders to Andrew Jackson after the 1814 Battle of Horseshoe Bend. As a result, Jackson forced the Creek to cede over 20 million acres of land in Alabama and Georgia, including almost two million acres claimed by Cherokee Nation, allies who had fought in support of Jackson’s forces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library of Congress</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1832, the Supreme Court struck down Georgia laws aimed at depriving the Cherokee people of their rights and property in <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/31/515/case.html">Worchester v. Georgia</a>. The court affirmed a degree of native political sovereignty and annulled state jurisdiction over native lands. It was the final case of the so-called Marshall trilogy, named for Chief Justice John Marshall – the author of the majority decisions – and established major precedents of federal Indian law.</p>
<p>The immediate effect of the decision was to grant protections to the Cherokee Nation, and by extension to other tribes. It could have prevented forced removals, but Jackson was reportedly indignant at the result. According to the famed journalist Horace Greeley, Jackson was said to have <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/antebellum/history2.html">responded</a>, “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.”</p>
<p>Whether Jackson spoke those words has been contested by historians ever since. But his strong support for removal policy and subsequent refusal to enforce the court’s decision made his position clear. The response was a stern rebuke of the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, the doctrine of the separation of powers, the rule of law and ultimately the Constitution.</p>
<p>The result was the <a href="http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/trail-of-tears">Trail of Tears</a>, in which Cherokee and other native peoples of the Southeast were forced at gunpoint to march 1,200 miles to “Indian territory.” Thousands of Cherokee died during the passage, while many who survived the trek lost their homes and most of their property. Ironically, much of the land on which the Cherokee and other removed tribes were settled was opened to homesteading and became the state of Oklahoma some 60 years later.</p>
<p>Yet, the violent manner by which removal was carried out had been ruled illegal and unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Worchester case.</p>
<h2>New assault on native rights?</h2>
<p>The new administration is showing similar malice toward the legal status and rights of native peoples secured in American law. For example, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/02/dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock-trump">Trump recently lifted</a> President Obama’s injunction halting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Last week’s eviction of pipeline opponents from Sacred Stone Camp, led by the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, under threats of arrest has led to renewed uncertainty about native rights.</p>
<p>Statements by Trump’s advisers and government officials calling for the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-tribes-insight-idUSKBN13U1B1">privatization of native lands</a> guaranteed by treaties to seize valuable natural resources have only heightened these concerns.</p>
<p>This rhetoric echos policies that oppressed native people in the past. These include <a href="https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=50">allotment</a>, extending from 1887 to the 1930s, which eliminated communal ownership and led to the taking of millions of acres of native land. This was followed by termination and relocation of the 1950s, aimed at eliminating the legal status of native people while sending individuals from reservations to urban areas, further depriving native peoples of their lands, liberty and culture.</p>
<p>Native treaties are unequivocally assured in <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/articlevi">Article 6, the Supremacy Clause, of the U.S. Constitution</a>. It states: “all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land…”</p>
<p>Tribal leaders negotiated treaties in good faith to reserve what amounts to a <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2014/06/17/interactive_map_loss_of_indian_land.html">fraction of their original lands</a>, with all attendant rights. Privatizing tribal lands would be a violation of these treaties. </p>
<p>The casual rejection of these covenants heighten the insecurity among native people evoked by Trump. His esteem for Jackson and their shared attitudes toward their legal rights and status should give us pause. That journalists and historians continue to offer positive views of Jackson’s presidency in light of this legacy underscores how the suffering of native people continues to be ignored.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73424/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Billy J. Stratton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Comparisons often ignore the troubling history of how Jackson treated Native Americans. An expert on Native American history draws parallels to the new administration.Billy J. Stratton, Professor of contemporary American literature and culture; Native American studies, University of DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/698812016-12-06T02:25:38Z2016-12-06T02:25:38ZVictory at Standing Rock reflects a failure of US energy and climate policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148750/original/image-20161205-8009-1u7rixc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gatherers in Cannon Ball, North Dakota celebrate news that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won't grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/David Goldman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The protesters have won. On Sunday, Dec. 4, swayed by possible violence over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) in North Dakota, the Obama administration declared <a href="https://www.army.mil/article/179095/army_will_not_grant_easement_for_dakota_access_pipeline_crossing">a new route</a> must be chosen. The decision came one day before the official deadline for the protesters to evacuate federal land and just as thousands of <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/04/veterans-arrive-at-standing-rock-willing-to-take-a-bullet-to-protect-water-protectors.html">veterans</a> were arriving to act as “shields” for the protesters should any need arise. </p>
<p>In the end, no need did arise, as authorities promised. The pipeline, said to cross sacred sites and to threaten water used by the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, will have to cross the Missouri River somewhere else – unless the incoming administration of Donald Trump <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-national-tribal-leader-praises-pipeline-decision-43981180">seeks to reverse the decision</a>.</p>
<p>The victory must be sweet, for some. But the issues revealed by this local-conflict-turned-national-movement are anything but resolved. A crisis is a terrible thing to waste, so it makes sense to ask hard questions about a troubled U.S. energy situation, which this conflict has illuminated.</p>
<h2>History and symbolism</h2>
<p>What is the big picture? A <a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-dakota-access-pipeline/">Native American group</a> and environmentalists, plus other supporters (celebrities, musicians, etc.), are on one side. And on the other is an oil pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP of Dallas, Texas), which is supported in part by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local police. </p>
<p>The protesters, some of whom called themselves water protectors, claimed the pipeline disrupted sacred sites and burial grounds and that its planned route under the Missouri River threatened the water supply of the Standing Sioux. ETP and the Army Corps of Engineers insisted the water would be <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2016/09/13/kelcy-warrens-energy-transfer-partners-responds-protest-dakota-access-pipeline">safe</a>, as all regulations were obeyed, and the company is 100 percent liable for any damage.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148751/original/image-20161205-8030-1gmf9lj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Delaying or scrapping an oil pipeline project of any kind means more oil will be transported by rail, which also has risks of spills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/royluck/12859842853/in/photolist-c6WknQ-kAo4fv-dLg2aE-dUKFmB-oaMiTc-c6Wm3q-vFEDXv-vYy8EZ-osepMy-vXwRrf-vYy8S2-v2hLeV-vXwPXo-vFxGFS-vXwQZJ-vFEDrk-vXwQyo-v2hLtc-vYy97a-v29jQf-vFxvad-vFxGxf-vXwR5J-vYy8t6-pRUB1u-v2hKgc-vFEDCn-vVQURb-vYy7Bg-vFxGRG-vXwRmA-vYy87z-vFxtMo-v29kNh-v29kao-vYy8oB-v2hL8c-vVQUd7-v2hLSi-vFxGD7-vVQUJC-vFxHbu-vFED84-vFxGro-vFEEMB-vFxJ5U-vYacK2">royluck/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A second question concerns context. Fundamentally, this comes back not to water, but oil. Petroleum powers <a href="http://www.iea.org/topics/transport/">over 90 percent</a> of transportation on Earth, and this won’t change for decades: Think of <a href="http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1093560_1-2-billion-vehicles-on-worlds-roads-now-2-billion-by-2035-report">a billion cars</a> (millions more each year), plus millions of planes, trains, trucks, boats and military vehicles – all powered by oil. This makes oil economically critical and a matter of national security.</p>
<p>The U.S., meanwhile, has hugely <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=20892">improved</a> its energy and national security due to the fracking “revolution.” Money leaving the country to support petrostate dictators is <a href="http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_imports">dramatically down since 2010</a> because of a domestic drilling boom. It is possible, if prices rise, that domestic oil companies will export to U.S. allies, reducing their dependence on such places. </p>
<p>North Dakota is a center of the new production. Because drilling grew very rapidly when prices were high (2011-2014), far more oil was extracted than existing pipelines could handle. This meant a surge in oil trains moving crude to East Coast, Midwest and West Coast refineries at much higher cost and risk to people, waterways and the environment. <a href="https://northdakotapipelines.com/rail-transportation/">Rail shipments</a> now total about 300,000 barrels per day (bbls/d). Planned for 470,000 bbls/d, the DAPL is therefore a much-needed way to get oil off trains and to market. Viewed in this way, the victory at Standing Rock is rough justice for those who want to stop seeing oil trains roll through their towns and cities. </p>
<p>A second element of context is the volatile mixture of history and symbolism. This involves a dark history of domestic colonialism, the innumerable crimes perpetrated by the government against Native Americans, touched on here by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-archaeological-review-behind-the-dakota-access-pipeline-went-wrong-67815">pipeline crossing burial and artifact sites</a>. </p>
<p>The matter is not academic history but a powerful part of present-day memory and identity. It should not be surprising that skepticism results when federal authorities offer assurances the pipeline will be safe. In truth, the DAPL is <a href="http://www.daplpipelinefacts.com/resources/faq.html">advanced</a>, with the latest sensors to detect even slight flow irregularities and valve systems to automatically shut down the line if problems occur. As an interstate pipeline, the DAPL is mandated to have a high level of engineering, inspection and monitoring. Yet, in the realm of broken history, little of this translates to confidence. </p>
<h2>Water and climate</h2>
<p>The question still must be asked: How real is the threat to water? Not very. The U.S. has roughly <a href="http://phmsa.dot.gov/portal/site/PHMSA/menuitem.6f23687cf7b00b0f22e4c6962d9c8789/?vgnextoid=a62924cc45ea4110VgnVCM1000009ed07898RCRD&vgnextchannel=daa52186536b8210VgnVCM1000001ecb7898RCRD&vgnextfmt=print">160,000 miles</a> of pipelines moving crude and refined oil. Over half the American population lives downstream from one or more lines. Many cross the Missouri River downriver from North Dakota. The DAPL itself will cross several rivers, including the Mississippi, before ending at a transport hub in southern Illinois. The chances of one tiny segment of a 1,200-mile pipeline rupturing, especially in a nonindustrial area, are very small. </p>
<p>Pipeline <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/pipelines-explained-how-safe-are-americas-2.5-million-miles-of-pipelines">safety problems are real</a>, true enough. But the risk is concentrated in certain kinds of pipelines, notably those that are old (over 35 years), local and poorly maintained. None of this applies to the DAPL. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148752/original/image-20161205-25742-1pzgbcm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protest in San Francisco: The months-long protests at Standing Rock have galvanized people from around the world because of the powerful symbol of the pipeline project.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/43005015@N06/25379625129/in/photolist-EEHdkB-NN5GSu-NN5Go3-PfJERt-EEHbLK-EEHbqV-NN5AB3-NN5zb7-NN5xYs-NN5wJd-EEDsL8-EEDsEX-EEDsye-EEBF9D-AMWR9Q-EEBEX6-AMWQXh-EEBENi-AMWQKJ-AMWQz3-AMWQpU-PfDxu4-EEBE8F-PfDxe4-EEBDTT-PfDwQ8-NMZikE-EEBD9g-NMZic3-EEBCQF-NMZhMA-EEBCCg-NMZhCY-EEBCsX-NMZhp1-EEBCdt-AMe3u9-NM7LsY-PbDip5-P25FTi-P25EE6-P25DmV-P25C4z-NGcZ7A-NGcXyW-P9Twer-P6Fe4s-P9Tt48-P6F9zh-P6F7uW">Peg Hunter/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How do the environmentalists fit in (I promise not to discuss celebrities)? A skeptic might say they came to exploit a ripe situation and to further America’s hate affair with the oil industry. True in part, this overlooks the larger reality and its symbolic charge. Stopping the pipeline in one spot, after all, won’t stop oil altogether. </p>
<p>Climate change, however, is a threat most of all to <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-native-american-pipeline-resistance-in-north-dakota-is-about-climate-justice-64714">indigenous peoples around the world</a>. These are people commonly without power who rely on immediately available resources for survival. In the wake of Donald Trump’s election, with its prospect of a great reversal in U.S. climate policy, environmentalists feel common cause with such groups and an intensified need to oppose fossil fuel projects, even the wrong ones. </p>
<h2>Example from Russia?</h2>
<p>Finally, what has been ETP’s stance? The company largely avoided the media spotlight. Oil companies know from long experience it is a waste of time to expect a fair trial in the court of public opinion. </p>
<p>ETP saw the DAPL as a major investment that would serve shareholders, North Dakota and the nation all at once – a winning combination. It played by the written rules, invested much time and money, designed a state-of-the-art pipeline, and worked with the Army Corps of Engineers in meetings with tribal leaders. Doubtless it feels betrayed by Sunday’s decision; it has supply deadlines to meet. </p>
<p>Yet it has <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/5/13840934/dakota-access-pipeline-energy-transfer-partners-army-corps-trump">rejected</a> the new decision, claiming the government is “currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency.” It will most likely wait for better weather under the Trump administration. This seems foolish and guaranteed to create more trouble if followed through. Even Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin, to avoid a public movement, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/apr/27/russia.oil">rerouted a major pipeline</a> in 2006 away from Lake Baikal. </p>
<h2>Adding it up</h2>
<p>The Standing Rock protest, then, is a keyhole into a landscape of unsettled relations regarding energy in America. These relations are tinged with distrust and hostility on all sides. </p>
<p>They include a public fearful about facing the realities of our current energy system, including the risk of oil spills, even as it consumes the largest volumes of oil per capita in the world. They involve activists who, out of frustration, blindly oppose any large-scale fossil fuel or nuclear project, practicing national nimbyism. They are rounded out by a deeply jaded energy industry, mistrustful of the media, the public and the Democratic Party. </p>
<p>Lastly, there is Washington, which has never put together a real domestic energy policy. With regard to fossil, nuclear or renewable sources, policy tends to swing from pro to semi-pro to con to semi-con with every change of administration. To deal with the real problems of energy, climate change above all, this situation needs to change – something all parties should recognize.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69881/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scott L. Montgomery does not work or consult for any company or organization mentioned in this article. </span></em></p>The protesters have scored a big victory in the Dakota Access Pipeline conflict, but it’s served only to illuminate the sharp divisions over energy policy in the US.Scott L. Montgomery, Lecturer, Jackson School of International Studies, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/678152016-11-21T01:21:30Z2016-11-21T01:21:30ZHow the archaeological review behind the Dakota Access Pipeline went wrong<p>This summer, Tim Mentz Sr. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EAWpI5L_Bc">took to YouTube</a> to tell the world about the destruction of his cultural heritage. A former tribal historic preservation officer of the Standing Rock Sioux, Mentz wore a baseball cap, rimless glasses and two thin braids of graying hair. He was upset and spoke rapidly about the area behind him, an expanse of the Great Plains cut by a new 150-foot-wide road.</p>
<p>Two days before, <a href="http://whowhatwhy.org/2016/09/19/grave-matters-pipeline-controversy/">Mentz had testified</a> to the D.C. District Court to report the area that lay in the path of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) corridor holds 82 cultural features and 27 graves. By the next day, DAPL construction workers <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/6/did_the_dakota_access_pipeline_company">graded the area</a>. Behind where Mentz stood in the video was a place known as the Strong Heart Society Staff, where a sacred rattle or staff was placed within stone rings. Here members of the elite warrior society would come to make pledges. Mentz explained the site is tangible evidence that Strong Heart members followed a “spiritual path.”</p>
<p>As an anthropologist who has worked with Native Americans for more than a decade to document their sacred places in the paths of new power plants, power lines, water pipelines and more, <a href="http://www.sapiens.org/culture/native-american-activism-standing-rock/">the battle in North Dakota</a> is all too familiar. </p>
<p>I have seen how the legal process behind environmental and archaeological reviews for energy projects, such DAPL, work – and often don’t work. The tragedy in North Dakota for cultural heritage – and the <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/6/full_exclusive_report_dakota_access_pipeline">violence against protesters</a> that has resulted – comes in part from a failure of the U.S. legal system. Consultation with tribes too often breaks down because federal agencies are unwilling to consider how Native Americans view their own heritage.</p>
<p>“Archaeologists – they don’t see these,” Mentz said in the video of features, including graves, within the Strong Heart Society site. “The [archaeological] firm that came through here walked over these. They do not have a connection that we have to our spiritual walk of life.”</p>
<h2>Irreplaceable heritage</h2>
<p>If completed, the <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/understanding-controversy-behind-dakota-access-pipeline-180960450/?no-ist">Dakota Access Pipeline</a> would run from North Dakota to Illinois for nearly 1,200 miles, carrying up to 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day. DAPL would meander across the landscape, through farms, around cities, buried underground and across more than 200 waterways. The passage of the pipeline over and under waterways requires permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This federal authorization in turns requires compliance with the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/history/local-law/nhpa1966.htm">National Historic Preservation Act</a> (NHPA).</p>
<p>Passed into law in 1966, the NHPA arrived in the churning wake of WWII, when America’s waiting future was threatening its irreplaceable past. The expansion of American infrastructure – highways, dams, electrical grids – was swiftly destroying ancient archaeological sites, cemeteries and historic buildings. With the NHPA, Congress declared that preservation of America’s shared heritage is in the public interest.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146618/original/image-20161118-19352-t6uxvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The stand-off between Native Americans in North Dakota and an oil pipeline project developer and police forces has inspired protests across the country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paulann Egelhoff/flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When considering a new undertaking, a number of effects on historic properties must be considered: direct (like physical destruction), indirect (like spoiling a viewshed), short-term, long-term, or cumulative (like how one pipeline may not harm a site, but perhaps a dozen of them will). The NHPA does not guarantee preservation. But it requires that decision-makers balance America’s interest in development with the need to honor its history.</p>
<p>For many years, Native Americans would have had little input on a project such as DAPL. But in 1992, Congress amended the NHPA to formally include <a href="https://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb38/">traditional cultural properties</a>. These are places that, because of their association with Native American cultural practices or beliefs of a living community, “are rooted in that community’s history” and “are important in maintaining the continuing cultural identity of the community.” </p>
<p>The amendments directed federal agencies, in carrying out their responsibilities under the NHPA, to consult with Indian tribes that attach religious and cultural significance to these sacred places. </p>
<h2>Beyond consultation</h2>
<p>In North Dakota, federal and state review and compliance measures for DAPL were combined. Archaeologists walked the pipeline’s 357 miles in North Dakota, locating 149 sites potentially eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Engineers rerouted DAPL to <a href="http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/09/09/pipeline-will-proceed-despite-tribal-protests.htm">avoid all but nine sites</a>.</p>
<p>Archaeologists serve an important role in documenting historic properties. But they tend to view the world through the lens of science and history. They search out buried villages, pottery shards, bones, broken stone tools. Yet in my experience, they rarely have the expertise and knowledge to identify traditional cultural properties, which are grounded in identity, culture, spirituality and the land’s living memory. </p>
<p>Traditional cultural properties in the U.S. can often be archaeological sites, artifacts that ancestors once touched and places that mark ancestral homes. But just as often they can be a mountain where spirits dwell or a spring where water is gathered for ceremonies. They can be a traditional area for collecting plants or animals that sustain and heal communities. They can be origin places where ancestors emerged onto the earth or named places recalled in ancient tongues. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146604/original/image-20161118-19365-c51pfe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zuni elders Octavius Seowtewa and John Bowannie, and archaeologist Sarah Herr, look at a shrine archaeologists misidentified.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chip Colwell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is why documenting traditional cultural properties requires not the work of archaeologists but Native Americans as well. On one project I conducted with the Hopi tribe to detail cultural resources along a 470-mile power line, we needed weeks of research to identify more than 200 plant species that the tribe uses in its traditional religious and healing practices. </p>
<p>On another project I conducted with the Zuni tribe, I watched as elders explained to the archaeologists excavating a site in the path of a new Arizona highway that they had placed a survey flag in a semicircle of rocks – which was likely a shrine used to bless and protect the ancient village. When it comes to traditional practices, Native Americans see what archaeologists overlook. </p>
<h2>Tribal surveys</h2>
<p>For DAPL, a tribal survey was not undertaken. In North Dakota the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tried to engage in consultation dozens of times, but the Standing Rock Sioux largely refused because the federal agency only wanted to consult on a narrow corridor at water crossings instead of the entire pipeline. </p>
<p>Once, though, consultation did occur at Lake Oahe on March 8, 2016. Current designs call for the pipeline to <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/army-corps-delays-dakota-access-pipeline-calls-review/">go under</a> this now controversial waterway, which the Sioux want protected. There Standing Rock representatives showed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers staff important cultural resources – a cemetery, ancient village and sacred stone. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers <a href="http://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/order-denying-PI.pdf">officials admitted</a> they were unaware of some of these sites.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146608/original/image-20161118-19365-363zje.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hopi elder Harold Polingyumptewa digs up a sööyöpi root, used for healing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chip Colwell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Sept. 21 and then again on Oct. 20, according to an email I received from the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office, delegations that included law enforcement, Standing Rock Sioux officials and tribal and state archaeologists went to the areas that Mentz suggested contained 82 sites and 27 burials. </p>
<p>They found on closer inspection – tribal archaeologists hadn’t been allowed on private land – that none of the features were disturbed by the 150-foot corridor, with the exception of four rocks that might have been displaced. Two bones were recovered, but analysis showed them to be from a horse, cow, or bison. It would seem that the main sites Mentz agonized over had escaped physical destruction. However, tribal input would be needed to determine if the sites, so close to the corridor, could still suffer from indirect and cumulative impacts. </p>
<h2>Not too late</h2>
<p>Because consultation broke down and so little of the pipeline has received tribal survey, we must wonder how much has been missed. Even worse, we’ll likely never know. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/previously-proposed-route-dakota-access-pipeline-rejected/story?id=43274356">Nearly 90 percent</a> of the pipeline has already been completed.</p>
<p>This is an unfortunate but common occurrence. Last month I went out with traditional leaders of the Zuni tribe in New Mexico to identify traditional cultural properties under the NHPA in the path of a massive network of water pipelines. When we arrived, we found dozens of construction workers busily laying the new pipe. An archaeological survey was already completed; the construction had begun with the consent of the federal agency. We were too late. </p>
<p>Given that <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/14/502069069/army-wants-further-study-of-dakota-access-pipeline-route">the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now saying</a> it needs more information before making a decision about DAPL, let’s hope in North Dakota there’s still time to finally listen to the tribe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chip Colwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What sacred sites have been damaged by The North Dakota Access Pipeline? We can’t really know for certain – and our legal system is partly to blame.Chip Colwell, Lecturer on Anthropology, University of Colorado DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/660152016-10-02T23:06:49Z2016-10-02T23:06:49ZIs changing one’s race a sign of mental health problems?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139329/original/image-20160926-31866-10jsd1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rachel Dolezal</span> </figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/16/us/rachel-dolezal/">Rachel Dolezal</a> was born to white parents and raised as a white child, but privately “transitioned” to a <a href="http://www.today.com/news/rachel-dolezal-speaks-today-show-matt-lauer-after-naacp-resignation-t26371">self-identified black woman</a> after attending (and <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2015/06/rachel-dolezal-sued-howard-university-racial-discrimination">suing</a>) the historically black Howard University. She first made headlines last year when she was <a href="http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/Raw-interview-with-Rachel-Dolezal/33533466">outed as white</a> by a local Spokane news reporter. She was in the news again in September for <a href="http://www.theroot.com/blog/the-grapevine/rachel-dolezal-is-headlining-a-natural-hair-rally-in-dallas/">hosting a black hair expo in Dallas.</a></p>
<p>The state of Dolezal’s psychological well-being seemed to be one of the prominent concerns when she first entered the public eye: Who in their right mind would just up and change their race? This person must be experiencing mental problems, right? </p>
<p>There were lots of opinions. <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/how-scientists-explain-rachel-dolezal-4a2ed99165ef#.v1cwjtfkd">Cognitive scientists</a> suggested Rachel’s deception could stem from a basic psychological motivation to create the best version of herself. Some suggested that, on the extreme end, the case could represent <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/body-dysmorphic-disorder/home/ovc-20200935">body dysmorphic disorder</a>, a mental illness described as a preoccupation with a perceived physical flaw. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://spectator.org/63140_activist-america-deserves/">conservative right chimed in</a> against calling her crazy, suggesting she recognized that a “profit could be had through participation in the race industry and its various scams.”</p>
<p>However, social scientists may have an alternative explanation for Dolezal’s transition. The explanation stems from the idea that <a href="http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/hcrcl29&div=7&id=&page=">race is a social construction</a>, meaning that racial categories are invented categories, often based on how we look or by ancestry, and that they are shaped by society and history.</p>
<p>For instance, who qualifies as black today in the United States is different than who would qualify as black in the 19th century. The socially constructed nature of race not only means that society’s conception of race changes over time, but that individuals might change how they themselves identify over time.</p>
<p>As a sociologist, I have sought to understand how individuals identify themselves racially, and whether there are consequences to having changing racial identifications, or what is called racial fluidity. </p>
<h2>Racial identification fluidity over time</h2>
<p>According to a <a href="https://www.census.gov/srd/carra/Americas_Churning_Races.pdf">report</a> that came out of the 2010 census, 9.8 million Americans changed their racial identification since the 2000 census. While it still remains rare for a white person to change his or her race to black, some racial groups have extremely high rates of change. </p>
<p>For instance, the rate of change over the 10-year period reached almost 50 percent for American Indians and Pacific Islanders. <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/05/is-elizabeth-warren-native-american-or-what/257415/">Elizabeth Warren</a> stands out as an example of a high-profile person who has identified as American Indian inconsistently in her lifetime. </p>
<p>Scholars have formulated various explanations for why people change racial identifications. Sociologists <a href="http://spx.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/04/03/0731121414523732">Saperstein and Penner</a> break it down into three main reasons: They are following classification norms; they seek to achieve higher prestige or move away from negative connotations; and/or because they have a wide range of available classifications to choose from. </p>
<p>What remains unanswered, however, is whether there are psychological consequences to racial fluidity. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://spx.sagepub.com/content/59/3/582">research study</a> released this fall, my colleague <a href="https://sociology.rice.edu/brown/.aspx">Tony N. Brown, associate professor at Rice University</a>, and I sought to answer that. We first tracked changes in racial identification among a large, nationally representative sample of adolescents at two points in time. </p>
<p>We then questioned whether changes to self racial-identification was detrimental to mental well-being. We were additionally curious whether changes to observed racial identification were also detrimental. </p>
<h2>American Indians in sample showed high fluidity</h2>
<p>The survey we analyzed allowed the youth respondents to identify their own race and also asked the interviewers to make a judgment of the respondents’ race. We looked at whether changes to race, by either the respondent (self) or interviewer (observer), were related to poor mental health. </p>
<p>Given the high proportion of racial fluidity among American Indians, we conducted this analysis on the subsample of youth who were identified, either by the self or observer, as American Indian.</p>
<p>We first calculated how many experienced racial fluidity. We found that 79 percent of the respondents expressed an inconsistent self-identification as American Indian. That is, of all of the youths who said they were American Indian at either rounds of the survey, only 21 percent said they were American Indian at both rounds. </p>
<p>Likewise, 77 percent were inconsistently observed as American Indian. So, of all the youth judged to be American Indian by the interviewers, only 23 percent were thought to be American Indian at both rounds. </p>
<p>In short, rates of racial identification fluidity – by self or interviewer – were high among American Indian respondents. As a comparison point, rates of fluidity for blacks and whites in the sample fell below 5 percent. </p>
<h2>Is changing your own race associated with poor mental health?</h2>
<p>We next used those measures of racial identification fluidity to predict mental health status – measured in our study as depressive symptoms, thinking about or contemplating suicide, and use of psychological counseling. Our analysis also controlled for basic social demographic factors, like socioeconomic status and skin color. </p>
<p>The unexpected answer to our first question was no: Changing one’s stated race over time had no association with poor mental health. </p>
<p>When we returned to the explanations for racial identification change, our findings began to make more sense. Deciding to adopt the category of American Indian could represent a newfound familial heritage. Alternatively, opting to drop the category could be a choice to avoid stigma associated with being a member of a group that has faced discrimination. </p>
<p>More broadly, though, “trying on” different racial identifications may be a normal process, especially during adolescence. We concluded that fluidity in expressed racial identification does not represent a weak or troubled sense of self. Instead, fluidity represents control over their identity. </p>
<h2>Are changing perceptions of your race by others associated with poor mental health?</h2>
<p>In contrast, the answer to our second question was yes: Changes to one’s perceived racial identification did damage mental health status. That is, when an interviewer observed a respondent as American Indian at one time but not the other, that respondent had an increased risk for mental health problems. </p>
<p>In addition, when those who were observed inconsistently also had lighter skin, the psychological problems were heightened. As the figure illustrates, falling into the light end of the skin color spectrum, and having observers inconsistently perceive your race, is associated with the highest number of depressive symptoms. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140524/original/image-20161005-14236-240y06.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Racial fluidity and skin color.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We turned to social psychology for an answer to this surprising finding. According to <a href="http://spq.sagepub.com/content/69/1/81.refs">identity change theory</a>, lack of control of one’s identity can be detrimental to psychological health. A person can become aware of their lack of control through the experience of an identity interruption. An example of a racial identity interruption could be the “<a href="http://theracecardproject.com/what-are-you-people-always-ask/">What are you?</a>” question that many light skin and racially ambiguous folks often encounter. </p>
<p>We reason that fielding queries about one’s race – or even perceiving others to be confused about your race – may cause distress. While other sociologists have found that <a href="http://asr.sagepub.com/content/72/5/750.short">misclassification of one’s race by others is harmful to mental health</a>, our findings lead us to conclude that people who are assigned inconsistent racial identifications by others may suffer as a result.</p>
<p>In regards to Dolezal, well, she continues to stand out as an odd case – none of the explanations typically applied to racial fluidity truly work for her. She is not an adolescent trying on different identities. She opted out a <a href="http://occupywallstreet.net/story/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person">privileged racial category</a> and into a category that is confronted with ample discrimination in terms of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/12/07/bme-women-runnymede-trust-jobs_n_2256589.html">jobs</a>, <a href="http://qz.com/436667/study-black-women-face-racism-and-sexism-in-the-mortgage-market/">housing</a> and <a href="http://newsone.com/2034695/african-american-women-health-disparities/">health</a>. </p>
<p>Perhaps she did face identity interruptions and was often asked, “What are you?,” particularly when she positioned herself in majority black surroundings. This could have even motivated her racial transition. </p>
<p>But what does this all mean for her mental well-being? While that is still unclear, this research does suggest that our fixation with other’s race can, indeed, be harmful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Whitney Laster Pirtle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rachel Dolezal isn’t the only one who experiences a transition in racial categories, but what are the implications of inconsistent racial identifications on mental health?Whitney Laster Pirtle, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of California, MercedLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/647142016-09-16T16:28:32Z2016-09-16T16:28:32ZWhy the Native American pipeline resistance in North Dakota is about climate justice<p>Over the past months, hundreds of indigenous persons and their allies have gathered near the crossing of the Missouri and Cannon Ball rivers in the ancestral territories of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Using nonviolent means, their goal is to stop the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that would connect production fields in North Dakota to refineries in Illinois. Their primary fear is that an oil leak would threaten water quality for many members of the tribal community. </p>
<p>On Sept. 9, a federal judge <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/09/493280504/judge-rules-that-construction-can-proceed-on-dakota-access-pipeline">denied the tribe’s request</a> for an injunction to halt completion of the pipeline. But shortly after, federal officials said they would <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/joint-statement-department-justice-department-army-and-department-interior-regarding-standing">temporarily stop construction</a> pending further review.</p>
<p>As a scholar of indigenous studies and environmental justice, I’ve been following these developments closely. The pipeline’s construction has already destroyed some of the tribe’s <a href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2016/09/04/standing-rock-sioux-tribe-condemns-destruction-and-desecration-burial-grounds-energy">sacred burial grounds</a>. During protests, the protectors – as many gatherers prefer to be called – have endured violence, including being <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2016/9/4/dakota_access_pipeline_company_attacks_native">pepper-sprayed</a>, <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/09/04/492625850/dakota-access-pipeline-protests-in-north-dakota-turn-violent">attacked by dogs</a>, <a href="http://m.bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/state-pulls-relief-resources-from-swelling-dakota-access-pipeline-protest/article_8be06089-ab85-57e4-a8a4-fbe28143eefd.html">denied nourishment</a> and threatened by <a href="http://www.startribune.com/dakota-access-pipeline-owners-sue-north-dakota-protesters/390210751/">lawsuits</a>.</p>
<p>But despite the national attention to this case, one point has gone largely ignored in my view: Stopping DAPL is a matter of climate justice and decolonization for indigenous peoples. It may not always be apparent to people outside these communities, but standing up for water quality and heritage are intrinsically tied to these larger issues. </p>
<h2>Disproportionate suffering</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.mrfcj.org/principles-of-climate-justice/">Climate justice</a> – the idea that it is ethically wrong for some groups of people to suffer the detrimental effects of climate change more than others – is among the most significant moral issues today, referenced specifically in the landmark <a href="http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9485.php">Paris Agreement</a> of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. </p>
<p>Climate scientists, through organizations such as the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> and <a href="http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/">U.S. Climate Assessment</a>, are finding more evidence of climate change from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. These destabilize the climate system, producing environmental conditions that disrupt human societies, through impacts such as rising sea levels, more severe droughts and warming freshwater.</p>
<p>The same climate science organizations also show that indigenous peoples are among the populations who will <a href="http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/sectors/indigenous-peoples">suffer more</a>, on average, than other communities from changing environmental conditions. Some are suffering right now.</p>
<p>Indigenous communities are among the first climate refugees, having to decide to relocate due to sea-level rise in the <a href="https://www.alaska.edu/uapress/browse/detail/index.xml?id=528">Arctic</a> and <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-013-0746-z">Gulf of Mexico</a>, as <a href="http://link.springer.com/journal/10584/120/3/page/1">well as other places</a> across the U.S. sphere. This is happening in <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ominous-story-of-syria-climate-refugees/">other parts of the world</a> too. </p>
<p>This is an injustice because, as indigenous scholar Dan Wildcat writes in <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Red_Alert.html?id=K0HFXHHx_B4C">“Red Alert!,”</a> the suffering is occurring “not as a result of something their Native lifeways produced, but because the most technologically advanced societies on the planet have built their modern lifestyles on a carbon energy foundation.”</p>
<p>DAPL, a 1,172-mile <a href="http://www.daplpipelinefacts.com/">connector</a> of the Bakken and Three Forks fossil fuel basins to major oil refining markets, maintains the carbon energy foundation Wildcat writes of. The protectors, meanwhile, are bringing public attention to the urgency of reducing a fossil fuel dependence. Because indigenous peoples suffer the effects of climate change disproportionately, continuing fossil fuel dependence will inflict more harms in years to come.</p>
<p>But there is more to this story, as climate change and U.S. colonialism against indigenous peoples are closely related.</p>
<p>While “colonialism” is not a term many nonindigenous persons typically use even in climate activism, it is the <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/formations-of-united-states-colonialism">academically rigorous</a> term for describing a significant part of the political relationship between the U.S. and indigenous peoples. It also sheds important light on indigenous understanding of what climate justice really means and what solutions are required. </p>
<h2>History of exploitation</h2>
<p>Put simply, colonialism refers to a form of domination that involves at least one society seeking to exploit some set of benefits they believe to be found in the territories of one or more other indigenous societies already living there. These benefits can range from farm land and precious minerals to labor. </p>
<p>Exploitation can occur through tactics including military invasion, coercion, slavery, policing and geographic removal of indigenous peoples. <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/19284">Sexual and gender violence</a> are integral to undermining indigenous leadership customs, many of which were tied to nonpatriarchal gender systems that empowered women and nonbinary genders. </p>
<p>U.S. colonialism is about continued U.S. control over how indigenous peoples govern themselves internally and their territories as Tribal Nations. The U.S. Congress officially has <a href="https://ais.arizona.edu/uneven-ground-american-indian-sovereignty-and-federal-law">plenary (absolute) power</a> over tribes. The U.S. considers indigenous jurisdictions, including reservations, as U.S. federal land held in trust for tribes. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/137998/original/image-20160915-30594-t1vd3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The view of the North Dakota Access Pipeline running between farms about a one-and-a-half hour drive from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/diversey/29357938502/in/photolist-LKZ2cA-M2KHMh-M5ntFB-M2JwwU-M5m4QH-M2HWC1-LKPBx9-M9nT6d-M5jUm4-M9mQXh-Mcv15a-M2FGtU-Lf7DbE-LKLCiJ-M2E6so-LJg7iu-LrrLn7">diversey/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While the U.S. federal government is required to consult tribes before it undertakes action that will affect tribal well-being, a brief glance at history reveals it is most often <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiVqKH3m43PAhVHjiwKHVaMALQQFggsMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.state.gov%2Fdocuments%2Forganization%2F136740.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHMUcTYy8qu9z4-rviOrFKFaf8_2A&sig2=Q_o34JsagBDko7D3r80VOg">a policy </a> that legitimizes federal infringement. Indeed, the U.S. <a href="http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/08/23/honor-treaties-un-human-rights-chiefs-message-150996">has not fulfilled</a> all of its treaty responsibilities to tribes, especially when treaty obligations interfere with the economic interests of settlers.</p>
<p>The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe at the center of this current protest has already suffered from this practice. Until U.S. mining interests were at stake, it retained sovereignty over the sacred Black Hills and parts of the Missouri River and certain off reservation hunting rights in the <a href="http://standingrock.org/history/">Treaty of Ft. Laramie of 1868.</a> But then in 1877, U.S. Congress, without tribal consent, passed an act removing the Black Hills from Standing Rock’s jurisdiction, curtailing tribal members’ capacity to honor the sacred places of the Black Hills. </p>
<p>U.S. colonialism, then, serves to pave the way for the expansion of extractive industries which scientists have now identified as contributors to human-caused climate change. Damming and deforestation of indigenous territories enable mining and industrial agriculture; pipelines, roads and refineries create dependence on fossil fuels for energy. </p>
<p>Colonial exploitation of indigenous lands through these industries has already inflicted <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/14077319?selectedversion=NBD12355770">immediate harms</a> on indigenous peoples, from water and air pollution to destruction of sacred sites. Many of these environmental harms can be compared to climate change, as land-use change alters land temperatures, soil composition and hydrology. Herein lies a pattern of harms arising from colonialism. </p>
<h2>Vicious pattern</h2>
<p>But not all of the impacts of carbon-intensive industries are felt immediately. Climate change impacts occur in greater force some years later, as the effects of changing environmental conditions are felt more and more, all of which is made worse by U.S. colonialism. </p>
<p>Tribes are susceptible to loss of cultural, spiritual and economic relations to species such as <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/moose-are-dying-in-horrible-ways-due-to-climate-change">moose</a> or <a href="http://www.critfc.org/fish-and-watersheds/climate/climate-change-strategies/">salmon</a> as habitats change occur faster because their reservations are too small or fragmented to allow indigenous communities to follow the species’ movements to more suitable ecosystems. U.S. treaties are supposed to <a href="http://treatyrightsatrisk.org/">guarantee continued</a> tribal access to the species even when they change location or their habitats are threatened by environmental stressors, but it’s not clear the U.S. will honor these treaties in this way. </p>
<p>When it comes to indigenous climate refugees, any decision to relocate is made particularly difficult by U.S. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378011001518">domination over decision-making</a> and <a href="http://www.haymarketbooks.org/pb/Kivalina">discriminatory bureaucratic hurdles</a>. </p>
<p>Moreover, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2399074">climate change also opens up more indigenous territories</a>, such as in the Arctic, to pressure from colonial exploitation, as thawing snow and ice open access to resources, such as oil and other hydrocarbons, that were previously hard to get to. </p>
<p>This further oil exploration will likely lead to the same detrimental effects we’ve already seen. The workers camps, or “man camps,” created to support drilling and mining in regions like the Bakken, introduce more sexual and gender <a href="https://maryturck.com/2016/06/21/the-beginning-and-end-of-rape/">violence</a> through increases in the trafficking of indigenous women and girls. Of course, some of the sites of violence are the very same North Dakota fracking fields that seek to send fuel down the DAPL. </p>
<p>Stopping DAPL, then, is about stopping a vicious pattern of U.S. colonialism that inflicts immediate environmental harms and <a href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55c251dfe4b0ad74ccf25537/t/579ff3375016e13b82ad298b/1470100279279/Is_it_Colonial_Deja_Vu_Indigenous_People+%282%29.pdf">future climate change impacts on indigenous peoples</a>. For indigenous peoples, then, <a href="http://decolonization.org/index.php/des/article/view/18630">decolonization is not a metaphor</a>. </p>
<h2>Broader movement</h2>
<p>It’s worth noting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not alone. A major supporter of stopping DAPL is the <a href="http://www.lummi-nsn.org/">Lummi Nation</a>, which has taken action to block the establishment of a coal shipment terminal and train railway near its treaty-protected sacred area of Xwe’chi’eXen in Washington state. The Lummi is part of a group of tribes that have documented the U.S. negligence in honoring its treaty responsibility to refrain from economic and consumptive activities that destroy the salmon habitat that the Lummi and other tribes in the region depend on. </p>
<p>The initiative, <a href="http://treatyrightsatrisk.org/">Treaty Rights at Risk,</a> suggests the vulnerability of salmon habitat to climate change is part of a larger story of environmental damage done by U.S. dams, agriculture, and other land-use practices. </p>
<p>Similarly, for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, shifting plant and animal habitats from climate change combined with loss of jurisdiction over land, both due to U.S. colonialism, will make it harder for tribal members to maintain relationships with those plants and animals into the future. </p>
<p>So as the protests and legal battles over the construction of the pipeline continue, we need to realize that protection of sacred sites and worries over contaminated water supplies are simultaneously concerns about climate justice and its relation to U.S. colonialism. Nonindigenous environmentalists are only allies if they work broadly toward decolonization, instead of aligning with indigenous peoples only when a particular issue, such as opposition to one pipeline, seems to match their interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64714/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyle Whyte does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What is the months-long North Dakota Access Pipeline protest really about? A Native American scholar connects the dots to environmental justice and the legacy of U.S. colonialism.Kyle Whyte, Timnick Chair in the Humanities / Associate Professor of Philosophy and Community Sustainability, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/510892015-11-25T05:04:53Z2015-11-25T05:04:53ZWhere are the voices of indigenous peoples in the Thanksgiving story?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103072/original/image-20151124-18225-1azmjab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What's missing in the telling of this history?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=first%20thanksgiving&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=238058800">Painting image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thanksgiving is an important time, when schools teach the story of who we are and where we come from as a nation. </p>
<p>My own students have told me about the Thanksgiving story they learned in school, which focused solely on the survival of the Pilgrims and the friendly meal shared with “Indians.”</p>
<p>In my research and experience as a teacher educator, I have found social studies curricular materials (textbooks and state standards) routinely place indigenous peoples in a troubling narrative that promotes <a href="http://zinnedproject.org/materials/indian-removal/">“Manifest Destiny”</a> – the belief that the creation of the United States and the dominance of white American culture were destined and that the costs to others, especially to indigenous peoples, were justified.</p>
<p>As we consider history and its place in our schools, it is important to ask: how do state-mandated history standards represent indigenous peoples in social studies education? And, in this season of “Thanksgiving,” should we revise our curriculum to be more accurate and culturally relevant? </p>
<h2>Placing indigenous peoples in the shadows of the past</h2>
<p>From late 2011 through early 2013, <a href="http://usu.academia.edu/RyanKnowles">social studies scholars Ryan Knowles</a>, <a href="http://missouri.academia.edu/GregSoden">Greg Soden</a>, <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Antonio_Castro20">Antonio Castro</a> and I conducted a thorough <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00933104.2014.999849#.VlRox7yMBE4">study</a> of state-mandated K-12 history standards across all 50 states and Washington, DC.</p>
<p>We analyzed the standards in two ways: 1) the percentage of standards that included content about indigenous peoples pre-1900 versus post-1900 and 2) how the standards presented the story of indigenous peoples in US history. </p>
<p>We found 87% of the standards placed indigenous peoples in a pre-1900 context. </p>
<p>In other words, these standards confined indigenous peoples to a distant past.</p>
<p>This pre-1900 time stamp is <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_vanishing_American.html?id=7qYrAQAAIAAJ&hl=en">significant</a> because the turn of the 20th century saw increased American military conquests of indigenous lands and peoples as the country expanded west toward the Pacific Ocean.</p>
<p>But the standards rarely, if ever, present these events and the loss of life and land from the perspective of indigenous peoples. </p>
<p>Other scholars have written about similar findings in their research. </p>
<p>For example, University of North Carolina-Greensboro’s <a href="http://uncg.academia.edu/WayneJournell">Wayne Journell</a> <a href="https://jaie.asu.edu/sites/default/files/482_2009_2_journell.pdf">found</a> that 10 states – California, Georgia, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia – conclude their coverage of indigenous cultures and histories in US history standards around the “removal policies” of the 1830s. </p>
<p>Removal policies, led in large part by President Andrew Jackson, forcibly moved indigenous peoples off their lands. These policies, legalized under the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Indian.html">Indian Removal Act</a>, opened territories to American settlers traveling west.</p>
<p>Our research on curriculum standards also found that while most states included the Indian Removal Act, many excluded any consideration of the consequences to indigenous peoples related to their forced removal.</p>
<p><a href="http://cech.uc.edu/programs/curriculum_instruction/employees.html?eid=chandlpe&thecomp=uceprof">Prentice Chandler</a>, who researches race and racism in social studies education at the University of Cincinnati, articulates the <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ887317">problem</a> of placing indigenous peoples in the distant past, in the following way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The treatment of American Indians in history texts pushes them to the fringes of the story: Native Americans are seen as having cordial relations with whites, being obstacles for Manifest Destiny, and eventually succumbing to white progress, never to be discussed again, as though they never existed.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Perpetuation of stereotypes</h2>
<p>Along with controlling when indigenous peoples are included, standards and textbooks also dictate how their experiences are told. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.history.ucr.edu/People/Faculty/Trafzer/">Historians Clifford Trafzer</a> and <a href="http://csusb.academia.edu/MichelleLorimer">Michelle Lorimer</a> <a href="http://abs.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/08/02/0002764213495032">found</a> that California social studies textbooks failed to include critical content about the kidnapping, rape, enslavement and murder of indigenous peoples during the Gold Rush era of the mid- to late-1800s.</p>
<p>The texts instead focused on the exciting lives of American pioneers who traveled West in search of wealth. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103074/original/image-20151124-18227-c2vevl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Native Americans are generally stereotyped and shown with feathers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/native+american/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=246628351">Woman image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In yet another examination of textbooks published between 1991 and 2004, social studies scholar <a href="https://www.utoledo.edu/education/depts/ci/faculty/sanchez/index.html">Tony Sanchez</a> <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10665680701493565">found</a> that although the quantity of content related to indigenous peoples increased over time, the quality – in terms of how accurately cultures and histories are represented – is lacking. </p>
<p>For example, Sanchez found most descriptions of indigenous people’s clothing were stereotypical. Instead of including a variety of examples of cultural dress, the texts used generalizations, such as showing indigenous peoples wearing feathers and breechcloth. </p>
<h2>Boarding school experiences</h2>
<p>There are many other such glaring omissions.</p>
<p>My own <a href="http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Doing-Race-in-Social-Studies">research</a> looked at how textbooks published between 2011 and 2013 wrote about the <a href="https://content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/marr.html">“boarding school era”</a> – the period after the Civil War and into the 1900s during which the federal government used legal means to remove indigenous children from their homes. </p>
<p>Six of the eight textbooks I studied wrote that these education policies were peaceful reforms. </p>
<p>These texts presented, above all, the perspectives of white American reformers. These reformers believed boarding schools should be used to Christianize and educate indigenous children in the white American way of life. </p>
<p>The perspectives of indigenous peoples affected by this education policy were largely ignored. The textbooks did not include the stories of indigenous parents’ efforts to fight the removal of their children. Very few of the texts featured testimonies from indigenous children themselves – either positive or negative. There was little discussion of the lasting effects of these policies today. </p>
<p>Even when indigenous peoples were included in the textbooks, it was only as short, simplified sidebars or at the end of chapters. </p>
<h2>Bringing this to Thanksgiving</h2>
<p><a href="http://evergreen.edu/faculty/instructor/rainsf">Francis Rains</a>, a scholar of Native American studies and history at Evergreen State College, and Karen Swisher, an education scholar and former president of Haskell Indian Nations University, have <a href="http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/se/6301/630108.html">asked</a> teachers to consider the following when teaching about indigenous peoples:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We believe that we should be asking what should be taught, when it should be taught, and how it should be taught. Perhaps most importantly, we should be asking, Why are we teaching about “Indians” or “Native Americans”? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>My own students, all education majors, regularly talk about how they learned Thanksgiving as children. We discuss how the story many of us grew up learning in school neglects the voices and experiences of the indigenous nations whose lands were invaded by Europeans, including the Pilgrims.</p>
<p>The late <a href="http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7Elibrary/collprog/cdp/nascdp.html?mswitch-redir=classic">Michael Dorris</a>, first Chair of Native American Studies at Dartmouth, <a href="http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ProdDetails.asp?ID=094296120X">articulated</a> the problem with Thanksgiving in this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If there was really a Plymouth Thanksgiving dinner, with Native Americans in attendance as either guests or hosts, then the event was rare indeed. Pilgrims generally considered Indians to be devils in disguise, and treated them as such.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This Thanksgiving, let us hear and learn the story of indigenous peoples – their past, present and future – through <em>their</em> voices and not through the voice of Manifest Destiny.</p>
<p>As Francis Rains <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=N5JtR56v_bgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=critical+race+theory+perspectives+on+social+studies&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIsfaD86WdyQIVAVU-Ch1rGwdX#v=onepage&q=critical%20race%20theory%20perspectives%20on%20social%20studies&f=false">reflected</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In social studies we have an opportunity to invite students to rethink things, to offer alternatives, even of past events, as a means of learning. As citizens of a country that prides itself on justice and democracy, we have an opportunity to help students understand the consequences of when justice and/or democracy fails.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/51089/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah B Shear does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>American textbooks confine the history of indigenous peoples to a distant past.
Should history textbooks be revised to include Native American voices?Sarah B Shear, Assistant Professor, Social Studies Education, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.