Day 3: Colonization
Choose one thing to read, watch, listen to, do, or engage with today. Try to mix it up each day between the categories!
READ
5 Ways The Government Keeps NAs In Poverty What might happen if tribes were given the dignity and access to resources they deserve? by Shawn Regan Forbes (2022)
American Lands | Ownership and Governance U.S. Department of the Interior landing page about forced relocation that links to multiple other pages and documents.
Native Americans in the US and Property Rights: A Comparative Look at Canada's First Nations Property Ownership Act The United States' impoverished tribes cannot buy or sell reservation land. Changing federal policy could improve their fortunes. By Naomi Schaefer Riley The Atlantic (2016)
The "Set-Up" of Settler Colonialism: From the U.S. to Ireland to Palestine How the rich and powerful have used settler colonialism to divide and rule over the global 99%. Can be done as listen or watch. by David Dean Toward Solidarity (2023)
WATCH
Divided Island: How Haiti and the Dominican Republic became two worlds Follow video journalist Johnny Harris as he investigates the dramatic disparity between two neighboring countries and how that disparity came to be. Vox Borders series (2017) 15 minutes T CC
CONTENT WARNING: Blood and gore (violence of war) Unbreakable: A Story of Hope and Healing in Haiti Haiti is the first place where Europeans and Indigenous made ongoing contact. What is happening there now? How is it related to colonization? (2016) 73 minutes
‘We the People’, the three most misunderstood words in US history Mark Charles [Navajo] explains the 15th Century Papal Bulls which are embedded in US founding documents and have been used to keep “We the People” from including all the people. Bonus: Great example of a land acknowledgement! TEDx Talks (2019) 17 minutes T CC
Mount Rushmore Explains how colonial settlers stole the sacred Black Hills and carved them in their own likeness without Lakota permission Adam Ruins Everything (2017) 5 minutes T CC
LISTEN
Universal Soldier Song and narration by Buffy Sainte-Marie [Cree] (2008) 4 minutes T lyrics available
Up Where We Belong is a song by Buffy Sainte-Marie [Cree] (2008) 5 minutes lyrics available
Have You Ever Been Told To “Go Back To Where You Came From?” Jacqueline Keeler [Diné and Ihanktonwan Dakota] asks KBOO listeners in light of Congress passing a resolution condemning Trump’s racist tweets telling unnamed “Progressive Congresswomen” to “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” have you ever been told “to go back to where you came from?” KBOO (2019) 60 minutes
BRING IT HOME
Google: What is the impact of colonization on non-indigenous people? Take time to explore AI’s key points with the young person/people in your life.
Hannah Dustin statue in Haverhill, MA
DO
Identify your local or state Indigenous groups and join and support their organizations. Follow them on social media and/or subscribe to their mailing lists. If Indigenous people are promoting events to the public, all are welcome, so go!
EXPLORE & REFLECT
As you move about around your area, look for signs of Indigenous peoples.
State’s name
Street names
Parks, lakes, mountain names
School and other building names
Get curious by asking yourself a question each time you uncover something new to you
21-Day Questions
Are the names connected to the original people of the area?
Are the names stereotypical and disconnected?
Can you find out the meaning of the name[s]?
What language is the name from?
Once you discover [hello, google!] what the meanings of Indigenous names are, notice if you think or feel differently about this word you’ve seen and said so many times before.
T Transcript Available
CC Closed Captions Available