I found Sonja Thomas\u2019 lecture, \u201cIndians on the Reservation: Missionary Priests from India and Catholic Settler Colonialism\u201d, to be extremely moving. This past semester I attended the showing of the film Dawnland, which I consider to be my first true exposure to the narratives of Native American people in my home state of Maine. Looking through the other posts by my peers, it is overwhelming that many of us share in the perspective that we were not well educated in elementary school (and even high school) around the issues of cultural genocide that has taken place here in the United States. I can vividly remember reading picture books in November leading up to Thanksgiving holiday that romanticized the relationship between American Indians and the white settlers. I can honestly share that my personal misconceptions and misunderstandings of American Indians continued until I was a collegiate student (and even still I am sure I do not truly understand fully). Professor Thomas\u2019 talk brought to light additional aspects of this genocide that I would not have otherwise considered.<\/p>\n
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I can remember moments in watching Dawnland that sent shutters down my spine and I again had instances during Sonja\u2019s talk that caused a similar response. One of which that particularly stands out to me is when she discussed the interaction she had with a young Indian girl who wished to learn the tribal language that her grandmother would speak on occasion in front of he. The girl\u2019s grandmother would refuse to teach her because the girl must \u201conly speak English\u201d in order to \u201ccompete with the white man\u201d. Sonja discussed this in terms of violence and erasure as the cultural genocide of language. The girl was in turn disconnected with a sense of space and belonging with her heritage and forced to exist as a member of a society that was chosen for her. Sonja also discussed other forms of stigmatization against the Indian people in her home state of Montana, specifically alcohol abuse. I too had heard similar stories in Maine of people from Indian reservations spending all of their money on alcohol instead of taking care of their families. Sonja\u2019s talk ultimately allowed me to question the many misconceptions that I had about the people in her evaluations and build upon my frustrations towards the education systems that help to contribute to these stigmas.<\/p>\n
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My question therefore becomes, why does it feel as though a sheet has been pulled over the eyes of Americans when it comes to the genocide of Native Americans in this country? The existing narratives around these issues within the public (and likely even private) school systems are not acceptable. I am curious at what point in time will it become impossible to continue to cover up? If it is the belief that the actions of the U.S. government in forcing Native Americans onto reservations and removing their way of life is too awful to teach children, how awful do we think it may have been to experience?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I found Sonja Thomas\u2019 lecture, \u201cIndians on the Reservation: Missionary Priests from India and Catholic Settler Colonialism\u201d, to be extremely moving. This past semester I attended the showing of the film Dawnland, which I consider to be my first true exposure to the narratives of Native American people in my home state of Maine. Looking … <\/p>\n