Day 13: Achievements & Contributions
Choose one thing to read, watch, listen to, do, or engage with today. Try to mix it up each day between the categories!
READ
Last Lakota Code Talker Clarence Wolf Guts (Lakota), just by the good fortune of staying alive, became one of the most acclaimed WWII vets in South Dakota. by Bernie Hunhoff South Dakota Magazine (2013)
10 Native American Inventions Commonly Used Today From kayaks to contraceptives to pain relievers, Native Americans from a range of tribal nations developed key innovations long before Columbus reached the Americas. by Patrick J. Kiger History Channel (2023)
Native American Pioneers in Medicine Profiles of Indigenous people past and present who’ve made enduring contributions to medicine. American Neurological Association living webpage
WATCH
Hear the Untold Story of a Canadian Code Talker from WWII The story of Canadian code talker Charles “Checker” Tomkins [Metis] and how the top-secret cree-language mission he helped lead contributed to the winning of WWII. National Geographic (2018) 14 minutes T CC
The Iroquois Influence on the Constitution Host and producer of First Voices Indigenous Radio’s Tiokasin Ghosthorse explains how US founding fathers used what they learned from Iroquois law in the US Constitution. Massachusetts School of Law at Andover (2011) 4 minutes T CC
Learn about 5 Native American Actors Quick bios and video shorts of Indigenous actors Wes Studi (Cherokee), Zahn McClaron (Hunkpapa Lakota), Adam Beach (Anishinaabe, Saulteaux), Irene Bedard (Inuit and Cree), Graham Greene (Oneida) powwows.com (2024) 1-7 minutes per video short T CC
Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World Filmmaker Catherine Bainbridge examines the role of Native Americans in contemporary music history. She exposes a critical missing chapter, revealing how indigenous musicians helped influence popular culture. PBS: Available on iTunes and Amazon Prime, also in local libraries (2017) 2 minutes
Native America Four-episode series exploring the world created by America’s First Peoples. PBS: Available on iTunes and Amazon, also in local libraries Native America in the Classroom offers lessons with clips from the film.(2018) 60 minutes per episode
Finding the Truth Anthropologist Jack Weatherford shares the findings he writes about in his book Indian Givers, which describes how Native American ideas, such as Federalism, helped shape American society. PBS (1991) 27 minutes CC
Indian Givers - A Rant Wild Stag review of the book Indian Givers by Jack Weatherford (2024) 17 minutes T CC
LISTEN
Let the music move you!
AIM Unity Song (American Indian Movement)
Cradle Song and Colors of My Heart by Sharon Burch (Navajo)
Prayer Loop Song by Supaman (Apsáalooke/ Crow Nation)
Why by Supaman (Apsáalooke/ Crow Nation) also has a Jingle Dress Dancer
Blackbird by The Beatles sung in Mi’kmaq by Emma Stevens (Mi’kmaq)
The Climb by Miley Cyrus, sung in Mi’kmaq by 10-year-old Kalolin Johnson (Mi’kmaq)
Gentle Warrior featuring Devon Paul and Thunder Herney by an older Kalolin Johnson (Mi’kmaq)
Wishi Ta by Brooke Medicine Eagle (Crow)
Come and Get Your Love by Red Bone (various nations)
Invisible No More Spotify’s first-ever playlist of Native American musicians
A new era of archaeology The Standing Rock and the #NoDAPL movement was part of a longstanding relationship between Indigenous peoples and environmental justice as well as legacy of Indigenous resistance and protest. Unreserved podcast (2023) 55 minutes T
Environmental Justice and Indigenous History guest Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) talks about the intersection of environmental justice, critical sports studies, "public" lands, and surfing 15 Minute History (2021) 39 minutes T
BRING IT HOME
Review this list of culinary and food contributions.
How many of these foods do you use in your own diet?
Did you know they were Indigenous to the Americas?
If not, where did you learn/ think they were from?
Does your own ethnic ancestry use or claim some of these foods as their own? Or in their own cuisine?
Pumpkins, and all squashes, are Indigenous to what we now know as North and South America, 2024 (photo by Claudia A. Fox Tree)
DO
Notice what sports you have played or watched.
How many involve rubber or a stick and ball?
Are they team against team or one-on-one?
Many sports owe their origins to Indigenous Peoples if they use rubber [an Indigenous plant] or are played in teams [other places in the world created two-player games like chess and checkers]
EXPLORE & REFLECT
You’re a little more than halfway through the challenge.
21-Day Questions
Are you surprised by how much you’re learning and how many resources are available to learn from?
List five reasons you think these resources are less present in your life than those you regularly consume.
Who are the Indigenous leaders (well-known figures) that you learned about when you were in school? Did you think of Squanto, Pocahontas, and Sacagawea?
21-Day Questions
What was their role/ occupation?
Who did they help (colonizers/ settlers or their own Indigenous Nations)?
Can you name any historical Indigenous leaders who fought for their Nations (treaty rights, protecting land, fighting for culture and family, etc.)?
Can you name any contemporary Indigenous leaders who fought for their Nations (treaty rights, protecting land, fighting for culture and family, etc.)?
T Transcript Available
CC Closed Captions Available