RE: Indigenous Erasure on the 4th of July: Prayer for a Common Memory
And even the free education... did you know that the current administration ended the funding for transportation to the American schools off the rez? So the dept. of the Interior had to scramble to come up with something and now the kids can go to school 2-3 days a week. Could you have kept up in math going to school only 2-3 days a week? I know how hard it was any time I was out for a few days sick within just one week, not a whole school year.
And yet today I sat with a Native American man (part Taos, Navajo, Blackfeet (like me) and Hopi) and talked about a Steemit project I'm planning for the rez there. He was giving me all the info I need on how I could make the right connections to get started. We talked about that and the importance of all people coming together with respect for each other and letting their be kindness among us all.
There is hope. The hope is that Americans start learning from Native Americans instead of thinking we are the superior culture. I say this as someone who, though part Native myself, has been acculturated with the mentality of an American. There is much to unlearn and much to learn. And so it goes.
Yes precisely... your last paragraph...✨✨
I didn’t know that about the transportation...
The people of Taos Pueblo have such a rich culture and as u know the longest standing Pueblo in the nation... they never were forced to move (what a horrendous thing to be an anomaly because of)... I have a memory of being invited to one of their sweat lodge ceremonies... so open to me being there while they held their ceremony- they didn’t have to let me come, but they did and I am immensely richer for it. I’m excited for your project and hope to hear more about it as it unfolds.
Kindness, respect and coming together yes, and yet I see so many harmful American cultural ideologies and (incomplete or even straight up wrong- oppressor often writes history) histories informing realities. we must bring this to light as we are coming together. So much division in this country... I know it in my family, local community, I see it everywhere on the internet. so much to unlearn as you say and then share as we are unlearning. I know I didn’t learn any of this in school. So it goes indeed 💙🌀