Context Is Education

Figure 1. Wilma Mankiller via: http://www.destinysrehab.com/2013/03/08/happy-international-womens-day/

In 2008 Wilma Mankiller was invited to give a speech in front of a small audience at the University of California at Sonoma. She was the first female leader of the CHerokee Tribe, and was instrumental throughout her life in developing a sense of awareness towards the unique issues of the Indigenous Peoples of California. 

One of Wilma Mankiller’s first statements during this speech (see the entire video below) was that “context is everything”. I have never been more acutely aware of this than I have been while undergoing this course of study at Empire State College. First People of North America started out as the last course I needed to complete my Bachelor’s degree. 

Originally I had been scheduled to take Politics and Religion, I was not tracking any courses relating DIRECTLY to Native Americans. When the aforementioned course became unavailable this FPONA class became a last minute addition to my degree plan. Now that you know the context with which I approached this class, I can highlight to you how important it has become. 

Through viewing Wilma’s comments, and throughout this courses readings, it has become clear to me that United States history truly begins long before the “discoveries” of Christopher

Figure 2. Columbus' Arrival
 via: http://jamaicanechoes.com/columbus-second-voyage/

Columbus. The contextual backdrop of Euro-American history, lies within the clues that are available in learning about the over 500 distinct and individual tribal nations that currently exist in North America today. 

Wilma highlighted throughout her message that the basis of North American civilization started not with the arrival of European Colonial powers, but with the indigenous people that were already forming organized governments before their arrival. As a Nation our context is much larger than the history books have shown. As a People, we should be striving to learn about this more accurate view of American History and the process of becoming a more united nation can begin in earnest.

Education Disguised...

The wide world of the inter-webs; it provides us with an excellent way to research, study, collect data and waste time all at once. Going to school through an on-line setting is not conducive to ensuring that most of my time is spent in a productive manner. THANKFULLY, we have great resources for our FPONA class that come in line with some of the ways that I have been known to waste time. Looking at maps and learning interesting facts seems more like a time waster than a productive use of my afternoon. Having a plethora of choices with multitudes of interactive maps to choose from was a great way for me to “research and collect data”, which also ended up delaying the writing of this post for a bit longer than I preferred. OOOPS!

Looking over the wondrous choices for this modules blog assignment, I saw one that really struck my fancy. Developed by a Minnesota based non-profit organization the Map of United States Indians by State is a cartographic gold mine. The non-profit that developed the site called Native Languages of the Americas, who are “dedicated to the survival of Native American Languages” (Lewis). The sheer volume of information available through this site, which could/should be more aptly named a portal, is incredible. I think the access that this site provides to other works around the internet is amazing.

There are very few frills with the Native American Language information repository (sounds a bit well, more… don’t you think?), but what they lack in gadgets and gizmos they make up for in quantity and quality. I am learning a lot about the Nez Percé, or Nimi'ipuu, and looked into their traditional homes in Washington, Oregon and Idaho via their interactive map (Lewis). I had the opportunity to wade through picture based language glossaries, peruse through ethnographic tomes discussing the Nimi'ipuu people via Northwestern University’s digital library, and read the biography of one of the great Nez Percé chieftains, Chief Joseph.

I believe this online resource to be top-notch and really give an average-Joe the ability to get at the very least a wave-top view of the various tribes and regions of Native Culture in the United States. By utilizing information portals such as this one, it is truly possible for people to grasp how expansive the cultural history of Native Peoples in North America really is.

Last time I left you with a quote from an excellent movie, and this time I would like to present the answers to the challenge posed:

Movie Title: Dances with Wolves (1990)

Speaker: Lt. John J. Dunbar, played by Kevin Costner

Number of Oscars wins: 7 (incl. Best Picture and Best Director via IMDB.com)

Works Cited

Lewis, Orrin ed. Native Languages of the Americas: Preserving and promoting American Indian Languages. Native Languages of the Americas, 2013. Web. 15 Mar 2014. http://www.native-languages.org/states.htm

Sovereignty and Scales

Figure 1. Invisible Man - Invisible Sovereignty http://www.fascinatingpics.com/invisible-mans-shadows-2/ 

For my FPONA studies at Empire State College the current module of study is on Native America from “Reservation to Resurgence”. This is a very rich and diverse timeframe, which covers the mid 1800’s through to the twenty-first century, for America as a whole; there were many resources available to choose from in regards to the role of American Indians during this period. One place the course focused on studying was the way the United States government has crafted law and policy to deal with the “Indian Problem” of sovereign nations operating inside of United States territory.

Trying to sift through the myriad of subjects and authors I came across a few articles by Peter d’Errico. Throughout his work, he references sovereignty, which is the basis of any nation to have legitimate authority, legal proceedings and the work of other scholars to discuss Native issues. The work of one article in particular was very useful while preparing my efforts for other assignments.

Figure 2.  Cantino Planisphere http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cantino_planisphere_(1502).jpg

In American Indian Sovereignty: Now You See it, Now You Don’t d’Errico lays out how he sees the foundation of the United States policy towards Native Americans. I have to be honest and say that everything that I know about sovereignty, outside of its definition, has been developed and learned during my course of study on the First Peoples of North America; having said that, the viewpoint of d’Errico makes sense to me. His viewpoint is basically that all decisions revolving around sovereignty have been based on the Papal decrees that spilt the world between Spain and Portugal (represented by the vertical blue line on Fig.2). In these authoritative documents, set forth in 1493, the Pope sought to allow Christians the right to “invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all… pagans whatsoever”.

Throughout the article d’Errico is methodical at tying Supreme Court decisions, United Nations declarations, and other Federal Indian law together into a firm foundation which presents the reader with his view that the decisions are all based on centuries old prejudices and religious bias. For as long as I can remember, in history courses the issues revolving around Native America were never really discussed. By getting the opportunity to read articles like this and tie them in with firsthand accounts of Euro-Native interaction, I have been able to form a MORE complete idea of how things have been shaped the way they are. The question that will always remain when discussing how to make up for the past or how to work equitably for the future is:

“Which way should the will of justice tip?”

Figure 3. Scales http://www.ps3hax.net/2011/06/new-class-action-lawsuit-filed-against-sonyscea/scales-justice/

Establishing Historical Context for Content

Throughout American history the First People of North America (FPONA) have been labeled Indians, Native Americans or “red-man” depending on how current popular

Figure 1 Columbus' Arrival
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/america/gallery.shtml

culture felt about them. As a History Major at Empire State College, especially one with a concentration in American History, I would be negligent in my course work if I had not included a course of study on those people who were in North America when Europeans arrived.  Native Americans are not "one group" that fits conveniently into a simple definition of who they are and what they believe. By looking into the past and see how culture has come to group all Native people together we can see the variances and begin to understand what the native culture has lost.

As I was perusing the Online Resource guide for our first module of study, I came across an interesting website that was developed as a companion to a PBS series titled The West. PBS has developed quite a few series/website collaborations to varying degrees of success. Most people have heard of Ken Burns Baseball and some have even heard of the small children’s show Sesame Street.



The West appears to be  one of the little gems of PBS that was not on my radar. While the program covers over five centuries of Western North American history, it has the potential to provide interesting look into

Figure 2 The West Timeline 

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/events/

some of the various initial and continued contact experiences between Euro-American and Native American Cultures. From the interactive timeline highlighting different decades, to the full episode availability, and onto the linked People page that gives a general background on the major "players" in the West, there is a sense of depth that this website and series can provide a consistent and solid historical framework for this history course. I am expecting this framework to provide quality context to the events and happenings that have shaped and molded Native American culture from the time Europeans arrived in North America.
I would like to send you all off with a movie quote that highlights what the ultimate goal of this course of study on FPONA (serious Bonus Points to the one who guesses the movie, the actor or how many Oscars it won):
“Nothing I have been told about these people is correct. They are not thieves or beggars. They are not the bogeymen they are made out to be. On the contrary, they are polite guest and I enjoy their humor.” 
        - LT. John J. Dunbar