Native America: From Genocide to Resistance
The centuries-long genocidal policies of the U.S. settler-colonial regime has largely been omitted from history. The ferocity and savagery of the U.S. attack on Native Americans is usually turned on its head. The colonists were the victims. They had to defend themselves against the heathens. The sheer hatred for indigenous people manifested in genocide. George Washington called them “beasts.” Jefferson declared, “We will destroy them all.” The notorious Indian killer Andrew Jackson said, “They must disappear.” Jump to Barack Obama who pronounced “America was not born a colonial power.” Really? Native Americans are still here. They have survived. The coalition of many nations resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock was inspiring. Though the pipeline is being built the resistance generated a consciousness and awareness about the situation of indigenous people and land and water issues.
Speaker
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortíz
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz grew up in rural Oklahoma, the daughter of a tenant farmer and part-Indian mother. A distinguished scholar, she has been active in the international Indigenous movement for many years and is known for her commitment to social justice issues. She is the recipient of the 2017 Lannan Cultural Freedom Prize. Her 1977 book The Great Sioux Nation was the fundamental document at the first UN conference on Indigenous peoples of the Americas. She is the author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, winner of the 2015 American Book Award, Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, All the Real Indians Died Off and 20 Other Myths about Native Americans and Not a Nation of Immigrants.
“Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz is a one-woman wrecking ball against the tower of lies erected by ‘official’ historians.”- Ishmael Reed
Magdalena Budziakowska –
Very informative. It is so nice to be able to continue to learn about the history of our world. It is important to know the history so that way we may learn from it and not make the same mistakes in the future.