First Parish Social Justice Initiatives
2022: Indigenous Peoples
Engagement in educational activities to broaden our knowledge and perspective regarding Indigenous Peoples
Events in this series:
- Fourth Sunday Donation: Plate donations not earmarked for pledges went to support the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project, a joint collaborative effort of members of the Assonet Band of Wampanoag, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and the Herring Pond Band of Wampanoag. Their mission is to return language fluency to the Wampanoag Nation as a principal means of expression.
- Documentary Screening and Discussion: First Parish presented a screening of the documentary Up Heartbreak Hill, from filmmaker Erica Scharf.
- Book Discussion: First Parish held a moderated discussion of "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Resources about Indigenous Peoples
For anyone who is interested in learning more about Indigenous Peoples on their own, our resource lists contain suggestions from different types of media (articles, movies, podcasts, TV shows and books). Please also check First Parish Scituate's newsletters and social media pages for updates including calls to action, local events, and opportunities to connect with Indigenous Peoples in our area.
ACTION:
- Prepare yourself to interrupt racial jokes about Indigenous people or other people of color.
- How Do You Handle a Racist Joke? (MTV News video)
- Attend a Pow Wow. Here's how to prep for Pow Wow:
- Watch this short video: What is a Pow Wow? (Washington University, MO)
- Learn about Pow Wow etiquette and more: Pow Wow Visitor's Guide (video, popwows.com)
- Read about the importance of Indigenous Peoples' cultural dance: How the Indigenous Community Is Using Dance as a Way to Heal (Christian Allaire, Vogue, March 2020)
- Explore the online cultural community space in the Social Distance Powwow Facebook group.
- Join and support Indigenous Organizations in Massachusetts, such as the United American Indians of New England (UAINE), the Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project (WLRP), the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and the North American Indian Center of Boston (NAICOB).
ARTICLES:
VIDEO RESOURCES:
AUDIO RESOURCES:
Social Media
The 21-Day Challenge
- *Four Ways to Honor Without Appropriating Culture by Taté Walker (Lakota).
- Josias Wampatuck sold Scituate for 14 pounds! Scituate Mariner; Aug. 1993 (PDF)
- *Native Perspectives on the 40th Anniversary of the American Religious Freedom Act – by Dennis Zotigh (Kiowa, San Juan Pueblo, Santee Dakota). Smithsonian Magazine Nov 2018.
- A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgement – short article from Native Governance Center; Oct. 2019
Beyond Land Acknowledgement Series – Additional online articles posted in 2021 - The 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) was created in response to the systematic removal of many Native American children from their homes in the 1950’s and 60’s to support Indigenous tribes’ efforts to maintain cultural and familial ties to its children. Its constitutionality is being contested in recent court cases that have landed in the US Supreme Court. Some reading as reference:
- ICWA History and Purpose – a brief description of the law and its rationale — Montana Dept of Public Health and Human Services
- The Nation’s First Family Separation Policy – by Christie Renick; The Imprint (from non-profit news outlet FMC), Oct 2018
- Brackeen v Haaland, Part 2: Challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act – Non-partisan summary of the basic facts and issues of the case as well as lower court outcomes; by Meredith Polm; Close Up (non-profit civic engagement org), Nov 2021
- Both Sides Ask the Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Indian Child Welfare Act – by Chuck Carroll; The Imprint, Sept 2021
- In 1621, the Wampanoag Tribe Had Its Own Agenda – by David J. Silverman; The Atlantic Magazine, posted online 11/27/19
- Anti-racism: Including the Indigenous First Nation Perspective – by Claudia A. Fox Tree (Arawak) on the 'Native American Resources' blog; posted 6/07/20.
- Eight Native American Scientists You Should Know – by Marisa Sloan; Discover Magazine, posted Nov. 16, 2021
VIDEO RESOURCES:
- Here is a list of documentaries on pbs.org that raise up the voices of Native Americans and Alaska Natives:
- Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On - Available Nov. 22. Experience the story of the Oscar-winning Indigenous artist from her rise to prominence in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene through her six-decade groundbreaking career as a singer-songwriter, social activist, educator and artist.
- Alter-NATIVE: Kitchen - Meet three talented young Indigenous chefs — Brian Yazzie, a Navajo/Diné chef originally from Arizona, now based in Minnesota; Kalā Domingo, a Hawaiian culinary student and heir to his dad’s catering throne; and Hillel Echo-Hawk, a Pawnee-Athabaskian chef and caterer in Seattle – all preparing foods from their native cultures that sustained their communities for generations.
- If Cities Could Dance: Indigenous Enterprise Brings Powwow Dance to the World Stage - Indigenous Enterprise, made up of a new generation of Native American Powwow dancers from across the U.S. and Canada, is on a mission to bring Native culture to new heights and audiences.
- A Qayaq to Carry Us - Get to know the Sugpiat community as they come home to Kodiak Island in Alaska to learn and build Indigenous knowledge. Merging Indigenous knowledge with western science, Dr. Sven Haakanson and other Sugpiat people in Akhiok pass along the ingenuity of traditional knowledge in a living context to young Sugpiat while building a kayak from wood gathered on the treeless beaches of Cape Alitak.
- Local USA, Season 6. Ep 8: In Their Element - The film features indigenous leaders from four communities across the United States, each working to protect a different natural resource: earth, air, fire, and water. For people whose existence is inseparable from their native land, climate change is not a tale of the future - it is the present.
- Conscience Point, Season 21, Episode 4 - A Native American activist fights to protect her tribe from the onslaughts of development in the Hamptons.
- Bounty Penobscot parents and children read and react to one of many government-issued bounty proclamations that led to settlers hunting and scalping indigenous men, women, and children. (9 minute video)
- *A Conversation with Native Americans on Race (6 minute video)
- Dear Georgina A Passamaquoddy woman who was removed from her home and indigenous community in 1942 tries to fill in some of the details of her early life in foster care. (14 minute video)
- *Tedx Talk "We the People" by Mark Charles (Navajo): "The three most misunderstood words in US history" (17 minute video)
- *Dawnland – Documentary about the investigation by the first official Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the United States into the removal of Native American children from their homes in Maine to teach them how to be white. Next online screening March 9, 2022. Emmy award winner (86 minutes).
- Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World - 2017 documentary by filmmaker Catherine Bainbridge examining the role of Native Americans in contemporary music history. She exposes a critical missing chapter, revealing how indigenous musicians helped influence popular culture. Available on Amazon Prime, also in local libraries. (1 hour 42 minutes)
- Reservation Dogs – Sitcom about Native American Teens streaming on Hulu. Link here is to an article about the series.
AUDIO RESOURCES:
- *The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women from Across the U.S. NPR host Sacha Pfeiffer interviews Annita Lucchesi (Cheyenne). Transcript included. (4 minute radio feature)
- *Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild – What it Means to be an Elder. (O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree) Six elders from Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqey and Passamaquoddy communities in New Brunswick share their stories – about their life, the work they do and the change they're bringing for their people. (50 minute podcast)
- *Uprooted: The 1950’s Plan to erase Indian country. Podcast about the genocidal Indian relocation and termination policies of the US government in the 1950s and 60s. At the time, "blackness" was defined by the "one-drop rule," but "Indianness" could be washed away in just a few generations through intermarriage with whites. More black Americans meant more workers to exploit. Fewer Native Americans meant more land to take. (52 minute podcast) List of all episodes
- *All My Relations: Episode entitled, “Beyond Quantum Blood” Podcast hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip), Desi Small-Rodriguez & Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation); a discussion on what blood quantum means, its complexities, and how it has been used historically and is being used and discussed currently. 10/8/2019 (55 minute podcast)
- What Would Tribal Leaders Want from the First Native American to Lead the National Parks Service? – Podcast episode (and transcript) hosted by Dave Miller (non-Indigenous) of Think Out Loud; a discussion with a journalist on 3 Native American leaders about their hopes for Biden’s nomination for the Director role, Chuck Sams III, who was later confirmed (18 minutes).
Social Media
- Explore organizations:
- Explore hashtags: #MMIW, #NODAPL, #Idlenomore, #NativeVoices
The 21-Day Challenge
- The 21-Day Racial Equity Indigenous Challenge Many of the resources included above (*asterisked) appear in America & Moore's comprehensive list of resources and ideas that challenge non-Indigenous people to select one activity per day for 3 weeks that will broaden your knowledge and perspective regarding Indigenous Peoples.