(I posted this to Facebook today and got a wonderful, thoughtful response from a great many people. I am reposting it here with links to some of the references they suggested.)
The Alewives discussed equity and justice and agency last night. No, we did not have a fire. We did sit around the fire bowl in the muddy air of a mountain gloaming, however, which could have influenced our thinking about patriarchy’s decline and voodoo lilies and Tower Time. And we talked about outgoing Chief Michell Hicks and how things have changed out on Qualla Boundary. Which got us thinking about this–why isn’t there more talk about the First Nations peoples and their struggles and challenges? When we are talking about injustice in America, surely we must open that wound and look hard at it. Why are we not? Why do we honor some groups but not others? Why is a confederate battle flag more compelling than the grinding poverty in Native communities? So I found this, which is from 2012 but readable. The author is Jennifer Thomalla.
Poverty Across America: American Indian Reservations
My sister and friend Venice suggested I acquaint myself with the work of Katsi Cook and posted a link to this article–
So I am reposting this here to see what your thoughts are about this issue. I am still meditating on mine.
I do actually think about Native rights quite a lot, and have worked with a non profit that assists Native Americans in the arts. I have no grand answers, except that perhaps it is time to find a way to gather more attention to Indigenous peoples issues in the way that people have become galvanized around African American issues.
Thanks for that, Helena. I’d love to hear more about your work when we next meet. And I’m open to ideas about how we draw some attention to those issues.