learntoquestion ltq discussions

1) What do non-Native folks need to do, moving forward, to better understand the experience of indigenous peoples in this nation? How do we fully confront that history?

As non-Native people, we need to educate ourselves on the truth behind what the Native Americans experienced. We need to help eliminate the stereotypes and myths about Indigenous people that result from misunderstandings and discrimination. We still have so much to learn about the Indigenous culture, and need to reeducate those around us. It's not fair to discriminate and form false accusations against a group of innocent people. We can confront this history by forcing school systems to educate their students truthfully about Native people's stories.

2) How do we address the stereotypes, misperceptions, the “twistory” that has been passed down among non-Native Americans about this population?

First off, we need to apologize and show appreciation for Native people, because of what we as a society have put them through. Although an apology can't make up for what they have been through, showing a better understanding and that we do truthfully care, can in fact go a long way. We need to listen to their stories and hear the torture that they endured. After watching the in class video, I along with other students were able to hear what some Native people experienced. Never before in school had I known what they had been through. School systems today go around the truth, and if it hadn't been for the video I still wouldn't have known the truth. Not only hearing what happened, but then listening to individuals tell stories from their perspective was very eye-opening.

3) How do we address the fact that Native peoples were murdered for who they are—the very definition of “genocide”? What apologies and amends do we need to make, if any?

An apology from the Nation should in no way be accepted or even close to make up for the mistreatment that Native people faced. Native people have been targeted and killed based off of their culture. They were treated horrible and often slowly beaten to face even more pain. Slowly people today have been advocating for Native people who may not have as big of a voice, and have taken steps in helping them. A woman named Deb Haaland banned the word "squaw" as a derogatory term that will never be used to name a place in the United States. Small steps like this should continue happening today, to help advocate for Native people.

4) How can non-indigenous folks become allies so that Native peoples become fully integrated members of society? What concrete actions can we take to move forward and build a nation with Native peoples?

To make the biggest change and help them, we as non-indigenous people need to listen to their voices. We don't specifically know what advice to give them or how exactly to help them, since we didn't experience the troubles that they did. We need to take a step back and help build a nation with Native people. From the documentary it explained how non-natives got upset when they were asked to be removed from the conversation that the Native American's were having. Personally, I feel that this wasn't ethical of non-natives since they don't know what they are going through and can't get mad if they aren't ready to share their experiences, this is when we step back. We need to realize when it is time to step back and when it is time to be ready to listen.

Non-indigenous folks can become allies by first learning more about the history of Native people. For example, being aware of the Phips Proclamation that was read in Bounty. An event as horrific as this is not widely known, but if we want to become allies, we need to understand and acknowledge the history of Native people more. One concrete action we can take is creating more physical status or plagues that acknowledge this land belonged to Native people. We can’t build a nation with Native peoples if we don’t address this big issue. Once we show we recognize our wrongdoings, Native peoples will be more inclined to build a nation with us.

Originally posted by SlicedBread on December 02, 2021 22:46

I think that truly the best way to understand the experience of Native people is to listen to Native people. Nobody can truly understand what it was like to experience something without having actually endured it, and since it is the Native people’s experience of course they should be the primary source of information consulted. Moreover, in order to confront this history we need to be actually teaching it and not using false and altered versions of it in order to make it more consumable for Americans. The way that we learn about Thanksgiving and early encounters with Natives in school curriculums needs to be readdressed and preferably with Native peoples present. In addition, the bounty proclamation, the forced sterilization of Native women, and the Native children taken from their parents by the foster system, are all really important components of history that we need to be addressing.

The harmful stereotypes and misconceptions that many people have about Natives come from the poor representation of them in the media, so in order to address and change the narrative people receive we need to change the way Native people are portrayed in the media. I think that the power and impact of the media is often underestimated. As we discussed in class, many children’s first exposure to Native American people comes from the Disney movie, Pocahontas, which tells an extremely false and romanticized version of the actual history. This also ties back to my first point about the value of educating people about the real history and not some falsified version of it. Furthermore, outside of the realm of media, it’s important to rid of outdated racist ideas in other places, as Deb Haaland is trying to do in getting rid of derogatory place names in the United States. As she says in the article, “Our nation’s lands and waters should be places to celebrate the outdoors and our shared cultural heritage — not to perpetuate the legacies of oppression.”

What happened to Native peoples at the founding of this country was a mass murder that was racially motivated which would fall under the definition of genocide. I think an important and attempt at some kind of an apology would to at least acknowledge that what happened to Native peoples was genocide. In calling this genocide it would also make it much more difficult for the government and people in general to ignore. One could even argue that the forced sterilization of Native women in the 60s and 70s was an attempt to continue this genocide by preventing and controlling the births of more Native children.

Truthfully, I’m not sure what kind of amends, apologies, or steps that we can take to become better allies to Native peoples. I don’t really feel qualified to give an answer, but I think listening to people’s stories and learning more of the truth is a good start. Also involving Native people in the decision making process about how to go forward is absolutely crucial.

I completely agree that the representation of Native Americans in media has played a big role in the stereotypes and misconceptions of Native Americans. The things people learn as children shapes their lives forever, so action needs to be taken to fix the image of Native Americans in media. One way to do this could be by creating new films that have input from Native Americans themselves to ensure that they are portrayed correctly.

I think in order to fully understand the experience and the history of Native Americans, we need to listen to Native Americans, and educate ourselves on the topic. There are multiple ways to do this, as there are films, articles, and documentaries on the topic that are educational and provide the necessary information in order to understand what has happened to Native Americans, and what is still happening today. On top of this, simply listening to what Native Americans have to say about the subject and giving your full attention goes a long way. In order to address the false information on the history of native Americans, I think the main way to fix this is teaching children in early education about the falsehoods that have been presented, and teaching them about what really happened. Many people do not really know about the real history of native Americans, as addressed in Erin Blakemore’s article titled “the little known history of the forced sterilization of Native American Women”. This article talks about how Native American women were being forced to be sterilized. Something like this is somewhat unknown to the general public, and learning about this would help get rid of any falsities that may be taught or learned by non native people. Addressing the topic of how Native American people experienced a genocide for many years is one that is very hard to address, but again, teaching about this to

Younger children in schools would set them up with the information necessary by the time they are in high school. I think the first step in becoming allies to the Native American community would be to simply listen to them and listen to their stories. Another way would be to step down when they want you to, and do not try to force yourself into any Native American traditions or practices. I think the government and non native people in general need to recognize the community, and acknowledge the hardships that these people have gone through.

Education is the most important thing in today's society. I feel as though through educating peers who may not understand or even know the history of the indigenous peoples in this nation is the first step in addressing the stereotyping of this group as well. Its hard to confront some of the cruel things that happen in history but again I believe understanding the history and educating those who may be ignorant to the experiences of the indigenous people is the most important and helpful thing that we as a nation can do.

I feel as though it is extremely hard to ignore the obvious stereotyping of indigenous people especially since it is so prominent in America. In the article about Deb Haaland, there are derogatory terms implemented in different aspects of American society that most people won't even realize it is derogatory. In class, we seen how indigenous people are portrayed in products as well which makes me question whether these stereotypes are kind of celebrated in this nation.

The thing is, I don't know if its possible to make up for what happened to indigenous people similar to how black people never received their reparations. I don't think the American government even cares enough to look into the reparations of indigenous people but I do feel like something either needs to be said for the public to hear or written.

This directly relates to the article "Recasting Views of Indigenous Life". The main takeaway from the article, to me, was that their simply needs to be more representation of indigenous people that completely opposes the stereotypes but is also accurate. It is definitely way harder than it sounds, but over time I think it can be done. Combating stereotypes is very hard, however, because most stereotypes are past down from generations. With that being said, I feel like these acts of representation need to be mostly be directed towards the older generation as well as whatever generation will be having children in the near future.