In this post, I wanted to discuss
resistance like we have been in past few classes. I found an interesting Ted
Talk describing how indigenous people have suffered through generations of
oppression and suffering. The woman speaking is named Tara Houska and is of Native
American descent. She describes herself as a product of genocide and how hard
it is to be herself in this world. Tara has gone to Washington D.C. as a tribal attorney to represent Native
Americans across the United States. She tried to lobby for better schools and
hospitals for Native Americans, but she was told repeatedly that they cannot handle
their own affairs.
Even today, Native Americans are
not viewed as real people to the government. Tara repeats a quote throughout
the video stating, “when you’re not viewed as real people, it is a lot easier
to run over your rights.” Before this Ted Talk, I did not know Native Americans
are not able to have basic government services provided to them. I was shocked
that this topic has not been talked about on the news more frequently. I found
it ironic that despite America being named the “land of the free,” Native Americans
are still not given basic government rights. The issue of Native American rights
came up recently during the Standing Rock protests.
Tara says when she went to the
Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, she finally saw resistance happening. Especially
when Barak Obama received the message that this was happening, the news spread,
and people came from all over to protest. The problem with projects like the pipeline at Standing Rock is not only the environmental destruction. Tara goes on to say
that when an influx of workers come in to a reservation, there is a high chance
of sex-trafficking, rape, and the murder of Native women. The reality is that
Native women in America do not have the same rights as other American women.
When they get raped, they do not have the same protection under the supreme
court and their case will likely get turned down 40% of the time.
This is why the resistance in
Standing Rock was so important to Native Americans. They were finally saying
enough is enough because their lives matter. Tara describes herself along with others
as being resilient and who are teaching others how to reconnect with the earth.
She wants society to remember where we come from because her culture still
remembers. Lastly, she concludes by saying most important way we can help is to change
the conversation surrounding Native American people. This is by educating our
children of modern treaties and Native American people, and by asking our
representatives if their budgets are fulfilling treaty obligations.
You can watch her Ted Talk here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/tara_houska_the_standing_rock_resistance_and_our_fight_for_indigenous_rights?language=en#t-568341
You can watch her Ted Talk here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/tara_houska_the_standing_rock_resistance_and_our_fight_for_indigenous_rights?language=en#t-568341
When I read your post, I was reminded of our class discussion with Summer and Safia. Summer pointed out that what usually gets represented by the media is what has the most shock value to the viewer and how other issues are pushed aside because they don't capture attention as well. As for the Native American population, this issue that affected their land gained attention from an environmental perspective that forced people to take action, but it was also only big news because it was so hard to hide from the public. There are other atrocities being committed towards indigenous people but nobody will hear about it and it isn't portrayed in the media because things like rape and government injustice isn't as shocking when it happens to someone who isn't white. This also bears similarity to the immigration crisis in that women and children are being shown as victims in the media while hispanic men are targeted in a negative way. It seems as though there has to be a competition for which injustice is deserving of aid and attention, especially in the US. It seems like our current solution is waiting until the already urgent issues erupt in our faces.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post! I watched this TedTalk too and also found it incredibly interesting. I was also unaware of some of the facts that Houska presented in her talk. The most noteworthy for me, like you said, was when she discussed how non-Native workers pose a threat to Native women, bringing an influx of sex-trafficking, rape and murder to the reservations with them. I just didn’t think the government would let that happen, and it’s shocking to know that they still won’t let Native American people have agency in 2018. I think that the strength of Native Americans to stand up against the government’s unfair treatment of them is incredibly admirable, especially since their protests worked for a while to prevent the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline. However, I feel like ever since the DAPL was built that the conversation ended. “No DAPL” was spread across social media and the news for months, but after the protesters returned to their normal lives, we seemingly forgot about Natives. Out of curiosity, I googled “Dakota Access Pipeline” and one of the first articles to show up was by Forbes with the headline “What Ever Happened To The Dakota Access Pipeline?” which proves the point again that we just forgot. Resistance is paramount with a corrupt governing system, but without allies I feel like Native Americans won’t be able to get far (as there’s almost zero representation for them in a white, Republican-dominated government), so we cannot forget about them and let resistance continually die out without results. We can help and we should.
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