Status Updates From The Rediscovery of America:...

omg they were scared for the first nation people dancing 😱

A very rushed ending after the Cold War and I wish more was explained through the 70s-90s as landmark legislation was passed and some autonomy was regained in addition to gaming rights for income. The NIYC was an awesomely influential group sand I wish Alcatraz’s two occupations were explored in more detail. Freedoms were won though but from the 90s, a new political regime targeted Indians and the cycle began anew.

devastating that termination & assimilation programs kidnapped children for foster care to strip identities. Even legal battles gave foster care custody despite evidence of abuse. Rely on welfare? Can’t be a parent. Leave a few w/ relatives to go rescue taken kids? Those left are kidnapped too. Can’t find them due to confidentiality. Institutes were hell but at least had relatives. Native adoptions topped charts.

Native involvement in WWII went unnoticed for the most part despite the famous Iwo Jima flag photo. Films and shows made racist westerns the public gobbled up. Cold War policies promoted termination and many natives even voted to cede their land for fair value without knowing it’d lead to termination. Almost to the end of the book!

Henry Roe Cloud and others start their own schools and rise in prominence during the Great Depression but funding also drops so they’re unsuccessful in some ways, but they got many students to university as well as raising awareness about the centuries of injustices and some natives begin drafting and pursuing legal recourse to some positive outcomes.

Kellogg and others form the SAI to advocate for Indian rights and citizenship as the current wardship practice was ripe for corruption. Some men even wanted to leave women out of it until she brought up the 5 Nations and how women controlled most everything based on their historical culture.

Very depressing seeing Congress take unconstitutional power superseding treaties and claiming land & doling “justice”. As 19th century century closes, the Carlisle school destroys culture. Sullivan, Craft, & another guy start the American myth we still believe today about history. The many fairs, including Buffalo Bill’s, reinforce their point of Native primitivism but Natives join to show positivity of culture