Native American history has been largely erased or poorly portrayed throughout most of American History including now. Native Americans are often portrayed as stereotypical images of savage uneducated tribes with no real structure. The only representatives of Native Americans in media matched these stereotypes wether that be Disney's Pocahontas who was "rescued" and brought back to England, or the classic "cowboys and Indians" conflict that plays out in endless examples with the cowboys always being the good guys or the use of Native Americans as mascots for American sports teams.

You can absolutely make and defend the claim that there was a genocide on Native Americans and there are countless examples to back this up. The most damning evidence of this is probably the forced sterilization of thousands of native women. Starting in the 1960's which is only 60 years ago Native women thought they were getting treatment for things like appendicitis and were sterilized against their will for the sole purpose of limiting the native population. Eventually in 1974 legislation was passed to protect women for forced sterilization but this didn't have significant impact as from 1970 to 1976 somewhere between 25% and 50% of Native women were sterilized against their will. There are other evidence of genocide as well like, various massacres like that at wounded knee and many others, along with the forced trail of tears where many more native people died due to poor conditions. Even in our home state Massachusetts there were bounties given to those who killed Native Americans with no justification and bringing back their scalps as evidence.

There is still many problems facing the Indigenous communities including high rates of poverty, incredibly high rates of covid infection compared to the rest of the country and the continued epidemic of murder and assault against Native American women and girls. Native American women are sexually assaulted at a ten times higher rate than the average of certain US Counties. The culprits are primarily outside the native community and due to legal loopholes often get away with it allowing them to potentially victimize more people.

As a student the best thing we can do moving forward is to continue to be educated on Native American issues and to share this information we have as much as possible. As a country i think we are slowly moving forward but theres still a-lot to do and likely will be for a very long time. While its nice to see symbolic victories like the Washington redskins changing their name to the Washington football team this isn't nearly enough and though it is a step in the right direction it doesn't even begin to undo the systemic oppression faced by native communities historically and continuing to this day.

I believe that to better understand the experience of Native Americans in this nation, we must listen to and uplift Native American voices. White allyship is highly necessary, but when white people become the speakers rather than the amplifiers, the truths that are being shared become diluted and lessened. I think that textbooks, school systems, and governments should pay Native Americans to update school curriculums to reflect the harsh truths of our nations. The payment is one of the most important aspects of the idea of amplifying Native voices. We cannot expect these people to teach and speak about their personal and generational trauma, about the genocide of their people, and give nothing in return. As seen in the film and as can be assumed by common sense, these topics are not easy to talk about, especially to the very type of people that caused the trauma. And like the increasingly popular land acknowledgements, there is little meaning behind the acknowledgement of the past without doing something to fix that, and as there is nothing we can do to undo the genocides of years past, we must help to equip Native Americans to face the racism and hatred of today. Currently, the best way we can do this is in giving back to the Native Americans in the form of money.

I think that reforming the curriculum will be highly beneficial for younger generations, but that it will be much harder to help older generations understand the experiences of Native Americans. I think one of the most effective ways of expanding understanding is through art, such as the pieces that Madeline Sayet directs, should be given grants so that they can reach more people and help spread more knowledge.

I think that sharing art, having conversations, and changing curriculums will hopefully address many of the harmful stereotypes perpetuated about Indigenous people in the United States. I also think that institutions that have profited off of these stereotypes and images should first remove any remaining images and names referencing Native culture, and then set up yearly donations to different funds that support Native Americans in the US. It is not enough to stop doing the harmful thing, they must also do something to begin repairing the damage they made in the past.

Some of the specific corporations that I believe need to go to extra work to apologize and make amends include the Washington NFL team, Land O’Lakes Butter, and American Spirit, as well as the many other companies that continued to use Native images to promote themselves after it was widely viewed as incorrect.

I think the first step to acknowledging that Native Americans were and are murdered for who they are, is just that - acknowledgement. I think this acknowledgment starts with exactly what we are doing right now - being taught about the murders and having productive and thoughtful conversations about why we were not previously taught about it. This movement must grow through people continuing the conversations outside of formal learning environments, and continuing to give back to the Native communities - that is how I believe people can become allies (although as a white American I cannot truly determine what is and isn’t proper allyship). I also wholly believe that one cannot call themselves an ally - they must always work to earn that title and further their allyship.

Of the many narratives entertwined throughout the history of the United States, all too often the real story of the plight of Native Americans is neglected. Clearly, it would be impossible for the United States to truly make up for their destruction of Native populations and communities. However, it is still important to recognize past injustices and elevate the voice of Native Americans still living today. I believe that these efforts begin in education. As we know, history is told through the eyes of the “winners”, meaning that the perspective of Native Americans is too often overlooked in teaching about the rise of the United States. Textbooks often speak of the general decline of Native populations due to disease and war with Eurpoeans settlers, but fail to mention other important details of the Native experience. For example, many people are unaware of the haunting histoty of praying towns used to convert Natives to Christianity, boarding schools like Carlisle aimed at eliminating Native cultue, with mottos such as “Kill the Indian: Save the Man'', prolomations providing bounties for the kidnapping and or killing of natives, and as recently as in the 1970’s, the forced sterilization of Native women. These disturbing facts are difficult to reckon with, but are important in painting the full story of the history of the United States. As the Aeon article states, “Native peoples may be a small minority, but their history poses a fatal challenge to triumphalist narratives of the US.” Ultimately, it is important that everyone be made aware of these facts to truly understand the Native American experience and confront this dark part of our history.

Another key factor in the United States efforts to address their maltreatment of Native Americans is attempting to change the current perception of Native Americans. Often, Native Americans and their culture within the United States are relegated to simply being symbols of violent and primitive life. American military equipment such as helicopters are named after Native American tribes, Native Americans and their spears, bows and arrows, and tomahawks are portrayed in sports logos, and in movies, Natives are often depicted as very quiet, speaking broken english, despite the vast range of Native Languages. Native people often feel others perceptions of Natives are defined by these harmful stereotypes. Madeline Sayet, a Native American in the National Geographic Article mentions her feeling that Natives do not even get to tell their own story, but instead there are strange modifiers of Native Culture. Ultimately, I feel this gets to the root of the problem. Non Native peoples have so heavily appropriated Native Culture to the point where Natives no longer get to define or have ownership of their own culture. As @thesnackthatsmilesback said, I believe that we need to listen to the voice of Natives to learn about their culture and form more accurrate perceptions of who they are, eliminating the racist and false imagery of Natives throughout United States Culture which have had such harmful effects.

While acknowledging the damage done to Native Americans is important, I agree with @cookie that empty apologies and the idea of making amends are useless and impossible, because we can not bring back the lives of millions of natives, eliminate the trauma many expereinced, and return and restore all their land. Instead, it is more important that we do our best to uplift Native Americans living in the United States today, as we should try to do with any other oppressed community. It is clearly an issue that Native American women in some places are being murdered and assaulted at rates much higher than in the United States as a whole, and many of these crimes are going unpunished and even uninvestigated. Providing proper criminal justice to Native Communities is one example of a step toward helping current Native Americans.

In order to fully recognize the damage done to Native Americans, I think it is important to label the murder of their people as genocide. It is clear that the agenda of the United States was to wipe out Natives and their culture with boarding schools, the separation of Native families, and the neglect of much of the true history of Native American experiences. Denying this reality will not allow us to make progress in healing and recovering from the history of injustices faced by Native Americans. Again, it is impossible to make up for this genocide, so I think that doing our best to educate on the history of genocide and listen to and uplift Native communities is the best way to address the dark history. The TRC and similar groups aimed at raising the voice of Natives and unveiling their stories are tremendously important in this effort.

Concrete examples of reforms to move forward as allies of Native Americans while uplifting their communities might include the mandatory inclusion of Native American studies as an offered course in schools. Additionally, the inclusion of more focus on Native Americans and their experiences in US history courses are an important step, as I think progress begins with better education. Also, better criminal justice can be included in Native communities, as clearly this is a problem with the heightened levels of abuse and murder of Native women. Finally, as with other oppressed communities, analyzing statistics and trying different approaches of uplifting Native Communities is essential. Although it will be impossible to fully make up for the genocide of Native Americans, I think these steps will be crucial in making progress.

Films like Dawnland, depicting the untold history of our very own nation, are absolutely crucial if we want to make progress towards examining our whole truths. It is easier (but, of course, not in any way comfortable) to see a slideshow presentation giving numbers about Indigenous children in foster homes. It is much more difficult, much more burdening, to watch and listen as a woman cries in court because she could not see her son for years after leaving him with a babysitter, having been deemed a "bad mother" by white Americans no more qualified than herself.

Dawnland, if anything, shows the rocky road to recovery — what works and what doesn't, the extreme mistrust and eventual gratitude. If we are to create change in our country, observing efforts through Dawnland is a great place to start.

I think one important step to recovery and moving forward is recognizing the drastic efforts of white people — in foster homes, at boarding schools, in the state — for suppressing and essentially killing the cultural identities of Indigenous people, especially from a young age. Neptune's story, that after she left her racist foster home and went to a meeting with her tribe, she felt ashamed because she couldn't dance, definitely exemplifies how culture was taken away from her. As a child of immigrant parents, I too feel isolated from the culture of my family and ancestors, so her story really touched me. However, while we might have both experienced societal pressures to assimilate, Neptune — and Native children like her at the time — also experienced deliberate cultural suppression by the state, by school policies, and by her own childhood home. The amount of active cultural erasure that Indigenous people have undergone for centuries is absolutely devastating, and often overlooked. For allies, we must be able to see the harm done to these people. I completely agree with @speedyninja in that we absolutely have to "label the murder of their people as genocide." How can we not? We have to make reparations, memorials, acknowledgments, etc. to Native Americans with the fact in mind that we committed genocide on their people and culture, and America's hands are not clean of that. I think that moving forward also requires that Indigenous peoples and their cultures be renewed and remembered. From the screening of Dawnland, Native peoples expressed that, when given spaces to wear clothing, speak, dance, and gather together freely, they can remember their culture and their ancestors and heal better as a community. As allies, we have to see the importance of community, which just goes to show how detrimental separating children and families was to Indigenous peoples.

Another way of moving towards becoming better allies is by breaking down barriers of white fragility so that we are able to see through the perspectives of Indigenous peoples. One striking point in Dawnland was when white members of the TRC were indignant at having been "shut out" of the room where Indigenous peoples were recounting their stories. I think this is because of a lack of perspective — they are focused on becoming these "perfect allies," and maybe of enriching themselves, instead of allowing Native individuals to use as much time as they need to heal and gain trust. They cannot see that white social workers were the exact people who had betrayed them, taken them from their families, and stood by as they suffered abuses — it is only natural that many people would not want non-Natives to be watching them as they shared the most vulnerable and agonizing parts of themselves, experiences that we could never understand. I completely agree with @user1234, who said that "people who are being vulnerable should be the ones who feel safe." We need patience and concrete, sincere demonstrations of progress in order to gain trust, and even then, trust is given, not earned. as allies, we have to accept that we might never be in their confidence, and we are not entitled to be, no matter how much we are ""trying to help them."" I think perhaps we would all be quite defensive, despite coming into conversations resolving to have an open mind, and this act of protecting ourselves and actions is wrong and not at all productive. To see into perspectives of Indigenous peoples, I think education in schools is really important, as it is a space where we are supposed to have open minds and discover what we did not know before. Media is so important, so Dawnland was impactful because we were able to hear about how Georgina and her sister thought sitting in bleach would make them whiter, how Denise Altvater got the "worst beating of her life" when seeking help from a social worker. Films and books have a way of touching people, so I think these forms of media amplifying diverse voices should definitely be incorporated into school curriculums. Also, when gkisedtanamoogk of the Mashpee Wampanoag was lecturing at a school about what his culture meant to him, I think this can also break down defensive barriers, and we could have more Indigenous people speak directly to us students.

There are undoubtedly so many more aspects to cover, but Dawnland really highlighted just how serious the damage our country has made upon its Native populations is, and how recovery is so difficult, but essential to move towards.

Ever since kindergarten, we have been fed a false, over simplified narrative of settler and Native relations. This story of cameraderie and mutual benefit, centered on the Pilgrims, is at core of our country’s identity, but it is not the truth. If we want to reconcile with the atrocities of our shared past, we need to fully unlearn the false narrative that has been normalized within our culture for generations. It is much easier on the conscience to teach elementary school children an illusory narrative of friendship and harmony, one that encourages pride for their nation rather than shame. But what is a little bit of shame compared to centuries of systemic oppression, genocide, enslavement, displacement, rape, and silence? Fully acknowledging the crimes our forefathers committed is the first step to addressing the issues that continue to ravage Native tribes and communities to this day. Why is it that the story of the people branded as the first “Americans” (rather than the tribal identifications they actually associated with) is so misrepresented and oversimplified by American history? This unlearning should begin in schools, where the original myth is first introduced, and expand to the reimagining of many parts of American culture.

In “The Invention of Thanksgiving” Philip Deloria explains the hypocrisy of elementary school staples like “This Land is Your Land” when you consider the fact that all “our” land is stolen. American classics like Little House on the Prairie detailed the perseverance of Western pioneers braving “uncharted” territories, but they forgot to mention that these lands were already inhabited, and had been for centuries prior. Native Americans were counted among the natural elements and wild animals as threats, or just another part of the frontier setting. I remember one Charlie Brown Thanksgiving episode that features a Tisquantum/Squanto who is eager to aid the pilgrims, and is grateful for the English education bestowed upon him by his kidnappers.Throughout most of American popular culture, Native Americans are portrayed as companions, allies, adversaries; anything but the resistant victims that they were. It is shocking just how many of our childhood traditions are rooted in this false narrative. School children dressed in feathers and fringe shaking hands with their hat-wearing peers may not bear any malicious intent, but it is a mark of our collective ignorance when it comes to the truth of our country’s founding. Until recently, I doubt that any of us even knew that the land around our school used to be home to the Massachusett people, or that Deer island was formerly the location of a concentration camp, and now a mass grave. Maybe these subjects aren’t appropriate to be taught as early as elementary school, but we can at least stop idolizing the people who initiated them.

In addition to educating ourselves in the broken treaties and bloodshed that comprise this nation’s history, we must also spread awareness for the many ongoing struggles of Native communities. We need to dismantle the notion that Native American’s suffering is a thing of the past, something we can briefly express our sympathies for before sitting down at our Thanksgiving tables. Even the Native American identity is portrayed as something outdated and archaic. I heard in the podcast All My Relations that when you look up any other racial group on google images, you will be met with photos of modern people and families. However, when you look up “Native American” most of the images are black and white, feature traditional clothing, and seem to be from a distant era. I was reminded of this when reading Deloria’s piece by the line “Could we acknowledge that Indians are not ghosts in the landscape or foils in a delusional

nationalist dream, but actual living people?” Dawnland even featured a clip of someone referring to Native Americans as “ancient patriots”, which sums up how our current culture regards them pretty well. As Madeline Sayet said, “‘ Americans feel like they own native culture in this really twisted way.”’

I don’t think most of us interact with Native people on a day to day basis, and it seems like news from Native communities rarely make it to mainstream news cycles. The last time I can remember this happening was at the height of the pandemic. Similar to other communities of color, Native Americans living on reservations have been facing the worst of the pandemic, as a result of preexisting inequities in healthcare. But there are so many other systemic issues that we don’t often hear about, like the government’s efforts to eradicate Native culture by capturing and assimilating their children. I knew about a similar practice happening to Aboriginal children in Australia before I learned it happened here. Hearing testimony from Wabanaki parents, victims, and seeing pictures of rows and rows of children in Dawnland really put it into perspective, and is something every American should experience. With so many children being put into abusive homes, we already knew the entire foster care system is deeply flawed, but the fact that in some states Native American children are 20 times more likely to be in the system is just appalling. The federal government needs to work harder to defend and improve legislation like ICWA in order to protect these children from being removed from their cultures. The government should also prioritize addressing the many other issues that contribute to children being taken from their families, as their destruction of Native communities is a big factor in why some parents might qualify as unfit.

I assumed that most people knew of the situation of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls after an influx of MMIWG hashtags on social media in previous years, but there is really still a lot of obscurity around the topic. Domestic and sexual violence alone does not get enough attention in our society, but Indigenous women are even more likely experience and even die from this. However, most data used by the federal government is inadequate and inaccurate to the true amount of cases. The Urban Indian Health Institute recently found that out of 5,712 cases of missing or murdered Indigenous women, only 116 were logged by the Department of Justice. In addition to this, the federal government also limits tribal courts’ ability to prosecute the perpetrators of those crimes. In some tribal nations, they are only able to sentence those guilty of rape or murder to ONE year in prison. This stems from the idea that tribal courts are somehow unable to properly handle this type of case, but the federal government is clearly not managing them any better, they have failed to even recognize thousands of these women as missing. It’s infuriating that the reauthorization that would narrow the boyfriend loophole and allow tribes to prosecute stalking and sexual violence was met with opposition from Senate Republicans and the NRA, all on the grounds that it would violate 2nd Amendment rights. Hopefully with our change in administration we will be able to make some progress in these areas, and pass legislation like Savannah’s Act, which targets federal data collection. Police departments on tribal land are also severely underfunded and understaffed. They do not have the resources to monitor the areas where these crimes often take place, or to thoroughly investigate them once they do. It’s often up to the families or local activists to find out what has happened to the women who have been stolen from them. This victimization of Native women is also a result of how they have consistently been sexualized and objectified by American culture. Pocahontas is problematic for many reasons, especially for how it twists the story of a real girl, raising her age, dressing her in an ahistorical, revealing outfit, and pairing her with a white man to appeal to American audiences. Traditional Native American dress is appropriated for “sexy Indian” Halloween costumes and lingerie flaunted by models on catwalks. Not only is this offensive, but it further endangers a vulnerable population by invalidating the generations of sexual violence they have endured, similar to how certain sports team’s mascots make light of the brutal history of scalping. In Dawnland, one woman spoke of how even as a child, bullies would tell her she and other Native girls were “only good for one thing”. These stereotypes and images of Native women have a lasting impact, and we can’t be complicit in their propagation.

It would also be wrong for us to view Native Americans as no more than victims to all that has been done to them. Like any marginalized group, they are much more than just their suffering, and shouldn’t be defined by that. We must make an effort to treat individuals and their cultures with respect by rejecting stereotypes, using proper terminology, educating ourselves, supporting their art and work, and above all, just listening to Native voices and perspectives. They are the only ones who can tell us what we need to do in order to finally make amends.

The American ideals, the idea that all people (thought to be men for almost all of history) are entitled to equality, liberty, and freedom, had been forming and growing ever since white colonists landed on this country. American nationalism exploded in the 19th century, correlating with the rise of “Manifest Destiny” and the expansionist ideals of many Americans. This is perhaps why some of the worst Native acts in US history had been committed during this period and why America was so eager to exterminate the Native tribes, or at least shut them away in a far-off and isolated area of land.

Almost all countries around the world have extreme pride in themselves, that’s why their textbooks have misleading information, biased perspectives, or missing important information. They believe having absolute pride in their country will make them a better, happier citizen. America is the same. It really is so disheartening to see our current political administration denouncing the branching of the usual narratives and topics as attacks because it sets us back and prevents us from going forward. However, I agree that with @itscauseofme the power of art. Even though reforming the education curriculum (and even just the education system in general) is going to be an uphill battle, art is not confined to that extent.

We often forget it’s the simple things that influence us, like food. People don’t realize that current “American” food is vastly different from the ingredients used in America for the past tens of thousands of years. Food is a sensitive topic for a lot of us, but it is also something that can bring us together. Even something as simple as eating a different culture’s cuisine can help you appreciate how different America is from how you initially perceived. That’s why I really am grateful for restaurants like Echo-Hawk’s. Her story shows not just perseverance, but that everyone can do something and help change the narrative even if you are limited.

We forget about the different tribal voices on this land because American media rarely comprises of Natives. Madeline Sayet is an impressive playwright whose goal is to provide a genuine and rich depiction of Natives, to breathe life and joy into who they are instead of letting the white-dominated media to portray them in a way that they think will give them the most money. However, Native playwrights or Native actors are so scarce because America doesn’t give them the equal opportunity to become one. How can we encourage more of them to speak up and write and uplift Native voices and stories when their history, culture, and their painful decades-old battles are simultaneously being silently swept under the rug? Even though I completely agree with @Cookie Monster that we definitely need to form more diverse boards in schools and legislation, in order to make sure more people have the opportunity to do so, we have to focus on the root of the problems as well.

In Dawnland, many of the tribal members feel intimidated or scared or uncomfortable in speaking out, especially in front of people they are not familiar with. Their reasons are completely understandable, a jar that had been tightly-capped for a long time would naturally need a lot of patience and strength to undo the seal. “Trauma” isn’t just sterilization. It isn’t just “re-education” (a common occurrence in world history, a prime example being today’s Uighur camps), it isn’t just the horrendous foster care system, it’s all of those horrible ordeals and more.

It’s the language and culture in which American society is grossly ingrained in. It’s not enough to be patronized, they’re also simultaneously “savages” while being “exotic” enough to be fetishized and treated as a prop. It was so appalling when I realized that it’s not just in the language and messaging we see, but also directly in names such as “Mankiller.”

It’s also the utter lack of care and effort from the government. Even when Natives think they have finally won this tiny piece of land after years of fighting and violence and bloodshed with white Americans and the government, as @vare notes, the government can still take away these reservations. It shows, at the end, that Natives are powerless. It’s horrific to not just see that 41% of Native women are victims to physical and sexual violence, but that an astounding 84% of Native women experience some form of violence. We see that the government does not pay attention to the massive amount of missing cases for these girls and women. We see that the government does not care about the 25% of Natives who live in food deserts, nor the severely underfunded and understaffed hospitals, nor the outcries of Natives against the contamination of their water. Even now, Natives who had been forcibly put into foster care are still only finding out who they truly are years later. Even now, the Trump administration initially refused to hand them the relief bill despite them dying and being affected in alarming numbers. History repeats, and repeats, and repeats…

I think the commission idea is a step in the right direction. It’s definitely a very difficult process for everyone involved, and we still may not get the full story or give every victim the justice they deserve, but the most important thing is to get it out there. Their stories, their history, their trauma, but also their success and triumphs. Nothing can be changed until the government takes action, but steps like these give me hope for the future. A quality and complete education seems to be a struggle right now, but that’s what we desperately need. America is as divided as it has been. It’s not the only time it has been and it certainly will not be the last, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to normalize the truth so that we can finally do the right thing and change the subtle messaging in our culture and the legislation to address the policies, funding, health, and more.