Decolonize the parks.

In his article “Return the National Parks to the Tribes” David Treuer reminds us that national parks are the result of Indigenous dispossession. Everglades National Park is Seminole land. Olympic National Park was created by a violation of a treaty with the Quinault tribe. The first white people to ever see what is now Yosemite National Park were members of a California militia, intent on slaughtering and driving Miwok people off the land and into reservations. “Native people need permanent, unencumbered access to our homelands,” wrote Treuer, an Ojibwe author and historian. “All 85 million acres of national-park sites should be turned over to a consortium of federally recognized tribes in the United States" (The Atlantic).

Happy Tuesday and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. There are over 85 million acres of land designated to the National Parks System across the U.S. But the conservation of this land came at a cost to the Indigenous communities that were displaced as a result. In today's newsletter, Andrew reflects on what should be done to account for this harm.

Are you a K-12 educator in the U.S.? We'd love to hear how conversations re: critical race theory are affecting your classroom. If you have a moment, please complete this survey (and yes, you can share this with your educator friends)!

Thank you for your support! This daily, free, independent newsletter is fully funded by contributions from our readers. Make a monthly or annual donation to join in.

TAKE ACTION

Use the Native Land app to identify the Indigenous communities native to the national park nearest you.
Understand the violent history behind the American park system.
Oppose colonialism in the name of conservation.

GET EDUCATED

By Andrew Lee (he/him)

There are around 7 million Native Americans in the U.S. today. Native Americans have the lowest average educational attainment and the highest poverty rate of any racial or ethnic group (NCRC). This follows an institutionalized practice of genocide dating back to the Declaration of Independence, which cites the Crown’s support of “merciless Indian savages” as a reason for independence. In 1824, all Native Americans were declared wards of the state under the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a part of the Department of War (Indian Country Today). In 1851, the governor of California called for a “war of extermination… until the Indian race becomes extinct.” And in 1864, the Colorado Third Cavalry murdered unarmed, sleeping Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women, and children and mutilated their bodies – carrying out explicit orders to “kill and destroy, as enemies of the country, wherever they may be found, all such hostile Indians” (University of Nebraska). In 1973, federal agents laid siege to an American Indian Movement occupation of Wounded Knee in protest of racial discrimination and conditions at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (History).

In the present day, Standing Rock Sioux tribe members were instrumental in opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline, a massive oil infrastructure project currently paused for an environmental review (MSN). Protestors convened to physically prevent pipeline construction and were met with pepper spray and attack dogs from the pipeline guards (Democracy Now). Police threw a grenade that nearly took off a woman’s arm (NBC). Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people are currently spearheading resistance to the Line 3 tar sands pipeline in Minnesota (MSP Mag). Some tribal nations and Native American organizations are already leading the fight for sovereignty and against extractive industries. Giving the land of the National Parks back would undo part of the harm of settler-colonialism and be beneficial to all of us. Nobody would have to figure out individual land titles since their territory is already directly owned by the Federal government.

To give back the National Parks would also put an end to some of the racism baked into American conservation from the beginning. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Madison Grant was inventing the concept of a wilderness park as we now know it. He made sure the last California redwoods weren’t logged. He advocated for the creation of Denali, Olympic, and Glacier National Parks. He was also a raving white supremacist whose 1916 The Passing of the Great Race warned of the “racial abyss” awaiting America thanks to Black people, Irish, Syrians, Italians, “Slovaks,” and “Polish Jews” (Mother Jones). His Bronx River Parkway project was specially planned to displace Black and immigrant communities. And “his model of uninhabited national parks” of course required “forced removals of indigenous populations.”

There is precedent for settler-colonial states executing mass transfers of land they have stolen. In Australia, over half the Northern Territory has been returned to Aboriginal peoples, including Uluru, previously known as Ayers Rock (The Atlantic). In the U.S., there was already a proposal to make the South Unit of Badlands National Park the country’s first Tribal National Park, administered directly by the Oglala Sioux tribe (NY Times).

It’s time to decolonize this nation’s parks.

Key Takeaways

The U.S. park system was created through indigenous dispossession and inspired by an active white supremacist.
Some advocate that all national park sites are turned over to Indigenous communities.
There is precedent for mass land transfers back to indigenous people, as in Australia’s Northern Territory.

11/26/2020 | Support the land back movement.

1/25/2021 | Unpack "This Land is Your Land".

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Thank you for all your financial contributions! If you haven't already, consider making a monthly donation to this work. These funds will help me operationalize this work for greatest impact.

Subscribe on Patreon | Give one-time on PayPal | Venmo @nicoleacardoza

Nicole Cardoza 7/7/21 Nicole Cardoza 7/7/21

Unpack the history of Indigenous boarding schools.

Residential schools were administered by various Christian denominations and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They were designed to force Indigenous children into assimilation by making them abandon their languages and cultures. Their hair was cut, their clothing was exchanged for uniforms, and they were banned from speaking their languages. These children were cut off from their families and often experienced physical and sexual abuse (The Atlantic). Many children disappeared entirely from these schools. The new discovery of unmarked graves offers a grim explanation.

Good morning and welcome back! The recent news on the atrocities that occurred at several Indigenous boarding schools isn't new, and reflects a long history of intentional erasure of those native to what's now referred to as the U.S. and Canada. As you read more about it in today's newsletter, consider: how else are schools used to erase or censor the diversity of our youth?

Thank you for your support! This daily, free, independent newsletter is made possible by your support. Make a monthly donation to support our team.

– Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Directly donate to survivors of residential boarding schools by donating to the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
Sign this petition for a national day of mourning in Canada for the lost children of residential schools.

GET EDUCATED

By Nia Norris (she/her)

In recent weeks, the bodies of some 1,200 Indigenous children have been discovered in mass graves at residential schools in Canada (Star Democrat). The US announced that they would be executing a similar effort to search former boarding schools for bodies in light of the discovery (NYT).

The first boarding school for Indigenous children in the United States was established in 1860 and schools remained open until 1978. By the 1880s, there were 60 schools for 6200 students including day schools and boarding schools. In 1879, Col. Richard Henry Pratt established an off-reservation boarding school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania under the premise that full assimilation would best be completed away from the reservation. His motto was “Kill the Indian, Save the Man,” and the schools sought to achieve that purpose by stripping Indigenous heritage entirely and replacing it with white culture. The schools also forced conversion to Christianity, and when parents resisted placement in the schools, rations were often denied to Indigenous communities (Native Partnership).

Canada established a similar network of schools with the mission to “kill the Indian in the child.” In the 1880s, the Canadian government began establishing residential schools and the 1920 Indian Act made it illegal for Indigenous children to attend any schools but these. Similar to the U.S., children were forced to cut their hair, wear uniforms, and were often identified by number. The children were physically and often sexually abused and suffered poor health. In 1907, it was reported that 24% of previously healthy children were dying in these schools. It is also important to note that this does not include children who died after being sent home due to illness. Anywhere from 47% to 75% of children died soon after returning home (Indigenous Foundations).

While Indigenous schools are often talked of as a thing of the past, they are a recent part of history. It wasn’t until the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act in the U.S. that Indigenous parents were granted the right to deny placement of their children in these schools (Native Partnership). In Canada, the last residential school did not close until 1996 (Indigenous Foundations).

In a previous issue, we covered inequities in the child welfare system (ARD). The boarding schools might be closed, but Indigenous children in Canada account for nearly half of the 30,000 children and youth that are in foster care in Canada (Imprint News). British Columbia did not end its controversial practice of “birth alerts,” which flagged at-risk mothers and disproportionately targeted Indigenous children, until 2019 (CBC).

On June 11, 2008 the Canadian government formally apologized for its involvement in the residential boarding school practice and in 2005, the Canadian government reached a settlement to compensate boarding school survivors as well as fund the Aboriginal Healing Foundation and form the Truth and Reconciliation Commision (Indigenous Foundations). In lieu of the recent discovery of children’s remains in Canada, Justin Trudeau made a public statement that Canadians are “horrified and ashamed” (PBS).

Although the U.S. interior secretary Deb Haaland has directed the government to take action in response to Canada’s discovery and investigate the boarding schools in the U.S. (The Guardian), the U.S. has not yet provided any form of reparations to boarding school survivors, nor issued a public apology. Although President Obama signed off on the Native American Apology Resolution in 2009, tribal citizens have stated that the quiet apology is a watered-down apology with no real public action (Indian Law). The Catholic Church also has not apologized for the genocide of Indigenous children (Washington Post).

The U.S. government and complicit churches must formally apologize for the systematic abuse of Indigenous children through boarding schools and offer reparations to survivors.

Key Takeaways

Boarding schools were established in the U.S. and Canada to assimilate Indigenous children. These schools stripped children of their language, clothes, and customs.
The schools perpetrated systematic abuse of Indigenous children for a hundred years. Many children were lost and recently their remains have been recovered in unmarked graves at former sites of residential schools.
Although Canada has publicly apologized for the abuse perpetuated by these schools and provided some compensation to survivors, the U.S. and the Catholic Church have not formally apologized or provided any form of reparations.

12/17/2020 | Respect Hawaii’s sacred land.

11/24/2020 | Stop violence against Native women.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 6/30/21 Nicole Cardoza 6/30/21

Unpack the term “Hispanic”.

The idea that there is a single category of Hispanic or Latinx people spanning every Spanish-speaking country is not the result of an organic organization between Spanish-speaking Latin Americans but rather a project of U.S. activists, government officials and media executives from the 1970’s through the 1990’s. According to G. Cristina Mora, the conscious ambiguity concerning the definition of the “Hispanic” was a fundamental part of its institutionalization.

Welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily! Today, Jumko joins us to share more about the history of the phrase Hispanic and how, similar to the term Latinx, broad generalizations of diverse cultures and origins fail to truly reflect us all.

Thank you for your support! This daily, free, independent newsletter is made possible by your support. Consider making a donation to support our work. You can start a monthly subscription on Patreon or our website, or give one-time using our website, PayPal, or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza).

– Nicole

TAKE ACTION

The term “Hispanic” was created in order to redirect funds to larger initiatives encompassing communities of the Latin American diaspora.
This term, however, does nothing to refer to the diversity of experiences within these communities and impedes us from having explicit conversations about racism and race.
Instead of using “Hispanic”, refer to the specific ethnicity, nationality or race you want to talk about, so as to avoid generalizations that don’t apply to “Hispanic” people as a whole.

GET EDUCATED

By Jumko Ogata-Aguilar (she/ella)

During the 2020 presidential elections, news outlets were full of predictions, analyses, and examinations of how the Latino/Hispanic sector would vote (NBC News). Many supported Donald Trump in the polls (New York Times), sparking many conversations and questions concerning the fact that a minority was apparently voting against their best interest. However, this information is hardly surprising when we consider the ambiguous nature of the term. “Hispanic” can easily refer to a person from Spain, Chile, The Philippines, or Equatorial Guinea. So where exactly did this term come from? Who exactly does it refer to?

“Activists thus described Hispanics as a disadvantaged and underrepresented minority group that stretched from coast to coast, a wide framing that best allowed them to procure grants from public and private institutions,” said Mora. “Media executives, in turn, framed Hispanics as an up-and-coming national consumer market to increase advertising revenue. Last, government officials, particularly those in the Census Bureau, framed Hispanics as a group displaying certain educational, income, and fertility patterns significantly different from those of blacks and whites” (University of Chicago).

The three main diasporas that were most visible at the time due to their political presence were Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban. According to Mora, the concept of Hispanic was an attempt to unify what were, in fact, wildly different priorities. “Immigration reform, for example, became an important Mexican American policy goal but was of little interest to Puerto Ricans, who were citizens by birth, and to Cuban Americans, who gained citizenship through their refugee status. Puerto Ricans in New York focused on issues of Puerto Rican independence, but this cause fell on deaf ears in Mexican American and Cuban American communities. And while there were certainly some issues that these groups shared, such as bilingual education and discrimination, many of the joint, pan-ethnic mobilization efforts addressing these topics were either highly local or short-lived.”

Populations within each Latin American country are also not homogenous. After they obtained independence from Spain, the white ruling elites crafted discourses whose purpose was to assimilate the Indigenous and Black populations into whiteness, creating racist discourses that are still prevalent to this day (Latin American Perspectives). Some Latin American governments promoted the idea that “We are all “Mestizo,” or mixed-race, to erase erasing anti-Indigenous and anti-Black practices (Critical Sociology). Overuse of Hispanic, Latinx, and Mestizo can make conversations around racist violence within these communities much more difficult due to their basic premise: “We are all Hispanic/Mestizos.”

Now, if we focus particularly on the three diasporas previously mentioned, we can see how even the homogenization of these populations according to their nationality impedes us from understanding the diversity of experiences the “Hispanic” label encompasses.

We can now understand “Hispanic” Republican politicians that seemingly legislate against the interest of the community at large. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are both white men of Cuban ancestry whose political posture rests on the fact that their families supposedly fled their country of origin because of the Cuban revolution. They legislate in favor of white, rich conservatives such as themselves (whether “Hispanic” or not).

The terms “Hispanic” and “Latinx” have become racialized categories in the US. Therefore many conversations in the public eye equate being “Hispanic” or “Latinx” to being someone who is non-white. This has not only allowed white women to indulge in self-exotization due to the way they are perceived in the U.S. vs. their countries of origin (ie. Shakira, Sofía Vergara, Kali Uchis) but has also created controversial conversations on the internet, such as the description of Anya Taylor-Joy as a woman of color (Tribune).

In order to adopt an anti-racist stance when referring to Latin American people, these labels must be understood in their historical context and left aside for more specific terms that refer to the community that we want to refer to explicitly. Hispanic and Latinx are not a race, ethnicity, or nationality. There is an immense spectrum of realities within the “Hispanic” term, therefore, we must explicitly name the communities we want to recognize lest they be made invisible by these homogenizing narratives once more.

Key Takeaways

Some outsiders think about immigrant communities as political tokens or only consider them in relation to the food, music, or other products they produce.
Corporations might support immigrants or other oppressed communities rhetorically while harming them in practice.
Solidarity must be a constant practice.

10/5/2020 | Protect undocumented Americans.

8/10/2020 | Respect the relationship between name and identity.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 5/6/21 Nicole Cardoza 5/6/21

Preserve Palo Santo and white sage.

The wellness industry in the U.S. is rooted in the concept of self-care. But, when we look beyond our own wellbeing, it’s clear how detrimental this approach can be to other communities. One popularized practice is the act of smudging, an Indigenous spiritual ritual to cleanse the soul and space around it (Huffpost). Many people use Palo Santo or white sage, which are medicinal, ceremonial, and sacred plants. As smudging moves its way into the mainstream, the demand for Palo Santo and white sage grows – negatively impacting the Indigenous communities from where the practice originates.

Happy Thursday, and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. The wellness industry is rife with cultural appropriation. Today, Isiah shares his insights on the appropriation of Indigenous practices, and how it relates to a long history of colonization and whitewashing.

This newsletter is possible because of our gracious supporters! Consider giving $7/month on our website or Patreon. Or you can give one-time on our website or PayPal. You can also support us by joining our curated digital community. Thank you to all those that support!

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Instead of buying sage and Palo Santo from large corporations, buy them from Indigenous-owned wellness companies like Sister Sage and Whispering Winds Shop.
Learn more about how sage is used in Chumash healing practices (Chumash people have stewarded the land now known as Southern California).
Follow Indigenous creators like @notoriouscree, @dineaesthetics, and @tiamiscihk, who continue to use their platforms to educate people about different Indigenous cultures and issues.
Consider: How do your wellness practices honor – not appropriate – their ancestral lineage?

GET EDUCATED

By Isiah Magsino (he/him)

While the practice of smudging began with Native ceremonies and traditions passed down from generation to generation, companies are now using the practice as a way to spread ideas of yoga and wellness (Beauty Independent). Back in 2018, fragrance brand, Pinrose pulled back their “Starter Witch Kit” from Sephora after receiving backlash from activists about the appropriation of Indigenous medicinal practice in commerce (Refinery 29). Urban Outfitters sold smudge sticks and marketed the product on social media with the caption “cleansing your Insta of negativity” (fashionista). These instances of major retailers profiting off of smudging perfectly demonstrate the definition of cultural appropriation. And, while some Indigenous people believe that selling smudging products is fine, they’re still concerned about whether mainstream consumption will erase its significance (Huffpost).

“We are in a battle of keeping the sacred sacred,” says Ahsaki Chacherie, the founder of the Ah-Shi Beauty. “And it hurts because it’s not being used for its true purpose.” Chacherie isn’t the only Indigenous person to think so. Palo Santo originates from Indigenous peoples in Central and South America. Translating to “Holy Stick” in Spanish, shamans used Palo Santo to offer grounded and clearing energy (Mitú). Native shamans used Palo Santo to aid the dying on their spiritual journeys to the afterlife (Yoga Journal). Some Indigenous people believe that this wood should be given to you only by a shaman to ensure it’s being used appropriately (Refinery 29).

White sage is native to the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. It was used by Indigenous communities native to those lands to cleanse, purify and ward off negative energy. Many Indigenous groups performed thoughtful rituals, which have been all but abandoned in its modern-day use. The ceremonial burning of white sage begins when participants ask an elder’s guidance to properly gather the plant. This ensures the harvest is sustainable, never taking more than necessary. These plants are not merely used as tools; they’re considered respected relatives that deserve gratitude and intention (Beauty Independent).

The demand for white sage and Palo Santo also contributes to a growing environmental issue. As beauty and wellness brands continue to gentrify the practice, these endangered plants are being overharvested (Beauty Independent). According to the United Plant Savers Medicinal Plant Conservation, there are less than 250 mature Palo Santo trees (Bulnesia sarmientoi, a species that grows in Paraguay, Argentina, and Bolivia) in the wild (Triluna Wellness). There are even instances of illegal harvesting of white sage (Daily Bulletin). While Indigenous companies harvest Palo Santo and white sage sustainably, consumers rely heavily on larger chains for the plant. Regulation for proper harvesting is proven difficult (Yoga Journal).

Often, the colonization and devastation of Native communities are considered part of the past. But these issues persist to modern-day (Beauty Independent). Indigenous people and their cultures continue to be exploited and ravaged for the sake of capitalism and “progression” in society while Westerners commodify sacred traditions for self-indulgence (Forage and Sustain). When White settlers first came to North America, they banned Native Americans from practicing their spiritual traditions, including using ceremonial white sage (Forage and Sustain). To commercialize a sacred ritual, then running the source to near extinction, and finally not using it for its true purpose is predation at the highest level. For wellness enthusiasts, answer this: Is your wellness worth the expense of Native practices and traditions?

Key Takeaways

Palo Santo and white sage are used by Native communities all over the Americas for ceremonial, spiritual, and medicinal purposes. They’ve served as grounding rituals throughout time.

As the wellness industry continues to push its use, the two sacred plants have become endangered as the demand is causing overharvesting.
Wellness brands often market Palo Santo and white sage in the wrong way. Each plant has specific uses and origins. Not just to “cleanse the bad vibes.”
Native Americans were prohibited from performing many ceremonial rituals when white colonizers first arrived.

12/17/2020 | Respect Hawaii’s sacred land.

11/24/2020 | Stop violence against Native women.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 3/31/21 Nicole Cardoza 3/31/21

Protect Indigenous water rights.

March 22 commemorated World Water Day, and each year people use this day to reflect on and celebrate water, the world’s most vital natural resources. People also aim to use this time to raise awareness that 2.2 billion people across the globe lack access to clean water. For certain Americans, this day can conjure up images of people in low-and middle-income countries. However, more than two million Americans live without running water (US Water Alliance). One of the biggest culprits behind the water crisis stems from vulnerable communities’ unprotected water rights.

Happy Wednesday! Earlier this month, dozens of countries worldwide signed the 30x30, a pledge to protect at least 30 percent of the Earth’s land and water (NYTimes). Indigenous communities already protect these resources and have so for generations. It's critical they have a seat at the table as these conversations unfold, especially because of a legacy of displacement and disenfranchisement. Today, Tiffany offers more context.

This newsletter is a free resource made possible by our supporters. We'd love you to consider making a monthly recurring donation on our website or Patreon. You can also give one-time on PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). Thank you for all your support!

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Donate to or volunteer with the Navajo Water Project, an Indigenous-led community organization dedicated to increasing water access for residents of the Navajo Nation.
Donate to the Native American Rights Fund, which has dedicated actions to improve water rights for Indigenous tribes across America.
Look at the Navajo Safe Water Maps, to find what areas in Navajo Nation provide safe water use for individuals without water during Covid-19.

GET EDUCATED

By Tiffany Onyejiaka (she/her)

Water rights refer to legislation that gives an individual or an entity the right to use water from a specific source of water (US Legal); it does not exist in an infinite capacity. Individuals, communities, developments, and corporations in society all have to use a finite water supply to power their lives or processes. Water rights help to delineate who can and cannot use specific bodies of water. Sadly, water rights for communities of color get ignored and disregarded by the U.S. government and big corporations.

Historically, the United States government has stripped, ignored, infringed on the water rights of Indigenous Reservations to the water supplies that help their people believe. Informally, the government has granted corporations permission to abuse and pollute the water supply in Black and Latino neighborhoods. The lack of protecting the water rights of vulnerable communities of color directly impacts these communities’ ability to have access to clean water.

Legislation regarding water rights has existed since the emergence of European settlers in America. Starting in the 1800s, the federal government began confining Indigenous Americans to a fraction of their native lands in reservations (Congressional Research Services). The US government often carved out the driest lands for Indigenous people to live on (GAR). Despite the legal dedication of land to Indigenous tribes, the water was not limited to their use. European settlers would use water around the reservation, and they created an infrastructure that would block or minimize how much water reached the tribe. In 1908, the Winters v. The United States case gave Indigenous communities the first law that stated they had essentially had first rights to the water surrounding their reservation lands (Water Keeper). This was not properly followed. Through the 1940s, the United States government's infrastructure projects continued to decimate the water supply near reservation lands (High Country News). In the 1960s, the expansion of cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Tucson used generator technologies that diverted water away from Indigenous communities towards these booming new cities (High Country News).

Not many gains in the realm of water rights have occurred for disadvantaged communities in the twenty-first century. Many tribal communities still have legal fights with the United States government over water rights for their lands.

In High Country News, author Andrew Curley wrote, “water settlements between tribes and states are a source of much of this continued underdevelopment. For Indigenous people, these settlements also represent colonial dispossession because they often suspend allocation of water rights and funding for water infrastructure until tribal leaders give in to the state’s demands” (High Country News).

Some states have had more positive water rights interactions. In 2020, the Senate passed the Utah Navajo Water Rights Settlement Act (Salt Lake Tribune). This recognized and legitimized the Navajo Nation’s rights to 81,500 acres of water in the Colorado River Basin. It’s not only Indigenous communities in America suffering from water rights violations. The construction of dams by the Chinese government in the Upper Mekong River Basin has negatively impacted Indigenous Cambodian communities’ wellbeing that live downstream of the River Basin (International Rivers).

Water equals life and vitality. World Water Day means so much because it helps us to reflect and re-center how much water affects our ability to survive and thrive. Take the Navajo Nation, for example. The Navajo Nation had the highest-per-capita coronavirus infection rate across the United States (CNN). This disproportionately high coronavirus rate was likely impacted by low access to clean water in these communities. In the Navajo Nation, a third of all citizens lack access to regular running water or indoor plumbing (Urban Institute) while the average American uses almost nine gallons of water daily. The average Navajo Nation resident uses less than ten percent (Urban Institute).

Without clean water, communities suffer. The lack of water rights exuberates many other conditions that negatively hurt communities of color. Protecting water rights helps protect Indigenous communities from harmful disparities that deny them the right to a full life.

Anyone can find a way to help communities protect their water rights and increase access to clean water. If you live in a place with lots of access to water, begin to converse water. Turn off your sink while brushing your teeth. Opt for some baths instead of showers every day. Conserving water can help decrease the diversion of water from disadvantaged communities. People can opt to look into legislation involving water rights for vulnerable communities. We all need water to live, and negative ramifications in one society will eventually catch up to others. Helping Indigenous communities protect their water rights can lead to positive changes that ensure the security and safety of clean water for us all.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

More than two million Americans live without running water.
One of the biggest culprits behind the water crisis stems from vulnerable communities’ unprotected water rights.
Historically, the United States government has stripped, ignored, infringed on the water rights of Indigenous Reservations to the water supplies that help their people believe.
The lack of protecting the water rights of vulnerable communities of color directly impacts these communities’ ability to have access to clean water.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 2/2/21 Nicole Cardoza 2/2/21

Rally against racist sports mascots.

Fans of the Kansas City team can often be seen wearing “war paint” and “headdresses” in addition to other caricatured aspects of Native cultures. While these acts were recently banned in the home field of Kansas City, Arrowhead Stadium, all bets are off as the team and fans travel to Tampa Bay. The team itself continues to use and encourage the “tomahawk chop,” a gesture widely used to mock Native peoples, most recently in the AFC Championship.

Happy Tuesday! The Kansas City Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl, and along with it comes a national stage for appropriation and disrespect to Indigenous communities. The organization IllumiNative joins us today with some easy ways to rally for change.

Are you signed up for our 28 Days of Black HIstory exhibition yet? It's truly something special. Camille Bethune-Brown and Shanaé Burch have curated an incredible series, and I've had the privilege to enjoy it alone for the past month. I can't wait for ya'll to see it unfold: 28daysofblackhistory.com.

Also I forgot to add this yesterday – we have a new podcast episode out! Listen to me chat with the inspiring Tyree Boyd-Pates about what it means to curate Black History in this moment (iTunes and Spotify).

Thank you all for your support. This newsletter is made possible by our subscribers. Consider subscribing for $7/month on Patreon. Or you can give one-time on our website or PayPal. You can also support us by joining our curated digital community.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Support and uplift Indigenous organizers who are impacted by racist sports mascots. Ahead of the Super Bowl, sign Not in Our Honor’s petition.
Share resources from the IllumiNative campaign and encourage sports teams to change their names: illuminatives.org/change-the-name
Educate friends, family, and loved ones on the true history of Native mascots, their harm, and why they need to end.

GET EDUCATED

By IllumiNative

Using Native people as mascots is unacceptable. Racist sports mascots like the Chiefs, used by the Kansas City football team, should be halted.

The images, gestures, and behavior connected to Native mascots negatively impact Native peoples, particularly Native youth. Research shows that these images and actions contribute to low self-esteem, increased rates of depression, increased rates of self-harm and substance abuse, and increased discrimination in schools against Native youth.

For the second year in a row, the Kansas City Chiefs will make an appearance in the Super Bowl. For many years, Native peoples have spoken out and protested against the Kansas City team because their name, history, and fan behavior is racist. Just this week, just outside Kansas City limits, the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas voted to update the district’s non-discrimination policy – effectively banning the four schools that use a Native mascot.

While many celebrated the recent change of the Washington Football Team, who for decades used a dictionary-defined racial slur as their team name, studies have shown all Native mascots are harmful. The largest study to date on the issue of mascots, “Unpacking the Mascot Debate,” found that:

65% of Native peoples surveyed are offended by the use of the “tomahawk chop” by fans
70% are offended by the wearing of headdresses by fans
65% of Native youth are highly offended and opposed to Native mascots.

In August 2020, the Kansas City team announced they would ban red face and headdresses at their home stadium, but fans continue to use the “tomahawk chop.” Furthermore, this ban won’t apply when they travel to Tampa for the Super Bowl.

Reclaiming Native Truth, research co-led by IllumiNative founder Crystal Echo Hawk (Pawnee), found invisibility is one of the most significant barriers impacting Native peoples today. Research tells us that 72% of Americans surveyed said they know little to nothing about Native Americans. For many Americans, the only representation that they see of Native peoples comes from racist mascots, which are inaccurate, disrespectful, and a mockery of Native cultures and traditions. Read more and take action on the website.

These mascots enforce ideas of white supremacy by stereotyping Native people as savages. Dr. Stephanie Fryberg (Tulalip), a leading researcher on discrimination and mascots, at the University of Michigan, has discussed how this racist imagery impacts peoples’ psychology (Politico). She further notes that the only group that “benefits” from using these mascots are white Americans. Research shows that white people are the only group to demonstrate higher rates of self-esteem when viewing stereotypical Native mascots.

These mascots aren’t just dehumanizing. They’re rooted in white supremacist origin myths about the United States. For decades, Westerns depicted myths about this country’s founding, idolizing western settlers and showing Native peoples as violent and aggressive. These false narratives misconstrue Indigenous people as antagonists in the origin story of America. During games, fans echo these inaccurate narratives by “playing Indian.'' By dressing up in war paint and using war whoops, they reinforce the caricatures, and inaccurate depictions of Native cultures once used to justify the genocide committed against Native peoples. Bans or empty statements asking for fans not to participate are not effective in ending these traditions. It’s only by completely eliminating these mascots and names that we can mitigate these harms.

These stereotypes have real consequences for our community. Native people have the highest rates of murder by police. According to the National Sexual Violence Research Center, 45% of Native women are likely to experience both sexual and physical violence, compared to 20% of all women. Native youth have higher rates of suicide and depression. There is an epidemic of murdered and missing Native women in the country that has persisted for decades because dehumanization creates less empathy for and more othering of Native peoples. Read more about MMIW in a recent newsletter.

Ending racist mascots would help create a world where Native people are recognized as contemporary people with rich cultural traditions. There would be greater respect for our unique wisdom, harmonious relationship with the planet, and towering legacy of leadership. Achieving this goal is an essential step to ending white supremacy, for Indigenous people worldwide have been subject to genocide and erasure for centuries. We cannot advance in our struggle against racial injustice without healing these deep wounds.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Racist mascots increase negative stereotyping of Native people and create the false perception of Native people as aggressive.
65% of Native people are offended—not honored—by the use of Native mascots.
Native mascots and the fan behavior associated with the use of Native mascots impacts Native youth by lowering self-esteem, increasing rates of depression, increasing rates of self-harm and substance abuse, increasing discrimination in schools against Native students.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 1/25/21 Nicole Cardoza 1/25/21

Unpack "This Land is Your Land".

The inauguration was heralded as one of the most inclusive yet, centering not diverse political leaders, but nods to various cultures and identities. But Indigenous communities were disheartened to hear “This Land is Your Land” performed during the ceremony, a song that celebrates the land this nation “owns” without acknowledging how it was acquired – by the genocide, oppression, and forced removal of Indigenous communities that initially call it home. And this conversation isn’t new; Indigenous activists have been naming this for decades (learn more from Mali Obomsawin’s comprehensive overview in Folklife).

Happy Monday, and welcome back to the Anti-Racism Daily. I never really paid attention to the language in this song until the feedback from the inauguration last week, and learned a lot from all the activists that shared their voices – including Jordan Marie Daniel, Allie Young, and Raye Zaragoza that spent time discussing it with me this past weekend. I hope you learn something from today's email, too.

This newsletter is made possible by our subscribers. Consider subscribing for $7/month on Patreon. Or, you can give one-time on our website, PayPal, or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). You can also support us by joining our curated digital community.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Find the Indigenous lands you are on. Use native-land.ca or text your zip code to 907-312-5085.
Learn how to host a land acknowledgment in your community and use whenever holding space (meeting, celebration, or other gathering).
Listen to All My Relations Podcast, which explore relationships to land, to our creatural relatives, and to one another.

GET EDUCATED

By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)

When the performance started “I couldn’t stop cringing,” said Jordan Marie Daniel, a Lakota advocate and professional athlete, in a phone interview. “‘This land’ has been stolen. It is stolen. We did not give up these lands. They were taken from us.” She stresses that the narrative in the lyrics contribute to the erasure of the centuries of colonization, enslavement, racism, and systemic oppression that Indigenous communities face, and have faced, in this country. The song contributes to the broader whitewashing that “this country is great and has always been great. And we know that it’s not true.”

Many are quick to note that the song itself wasn’t designed to be a patriotic anthem. Famous folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land is Your Land” in the 1940s as a sarcastic retort to Irving Berlin's classic "God Bless America,” that he felt was overplayed at the time. The original song included more critical lyrics that have been lost across the decades – and even more radical verses that were never released – juxtaposing farmers’ struggles, depicting struggles of toiling farmers, poverty, hunger, and land disenfranchisement (NPR). But today, only the sanitized versions remain, often sung alongside “God Bless America” or other patriotic songs at large events.

But, as Raye Zaragoza, a singer, songwriter, and podcaster of Indigenous descent, emphasizes, there’s a difference between impact and intent. Guthrie may not have intended for this song to come off as an anthem for colonization, but that’s exactly how it’s being used today. “As a songwriter,” she explains, “I can’t imagine how it would feel if someone chopped up my song, but that’s the impact.” She emphasizes that regardless of the other lyrics, the chorus itself is insensitive. Daniel agrees: “People can always say ‘but wait, that’s not what it’s supposed to mean’ but this is how it makes people feel – and isn’t that most important?”

This criticism doesn’t detract from the significance of having Jennifer Lopez, a Latina icon of Puerto Rican descent, performing this song after four years of Trump inciting racism and discrimination against the Latinx community (The Guardian). As Tatjana Freund notes in Marie Claire, “a Latinx woman calling for justice for all in Spanish speaks volumes,” especially when paired with the President’s commitment to reunite children separated at the border with their parents (Reuters). But the act becomes all the more muddled when we consider the impact that centuries of colonization have had on Puerto Rico and its Indigenous people (Mother Jones).

Allie Young, a Diné organizer, mentions that, despite the song, there was much to celebrate during the inauguration for Indigenous communities, which made its use all the more disappointing. Deb Haaland is serving as the Native American Cabinet secretary as head of the Department of Interior (Washington Post). Wahleah Johns, the founder of Native Renewables, was named Director of the Office of Indian Energy. Indigenous Enterprise, a dance crew from Phoenix, was included in the virtual “Parade Across America” celebration on Inauguration Day (Indian Country), and the president of the Navajo Nation was included in the National Prayer Service (NPR). Young hopes that this administration’s efforts towards inclusion mean they’re listening to this feedback and are open to continuing to evolve.

And what should they do, aside from (obviously) choosing a more appropriate tune? All agree that a land acknowledgment is a good place to start. “Land acknowledgments change our relationship to this land. Having that recognition, honor, and sense of respect in those spaces is critically important,” stresses Daniel. Young agrees. “People say that land acknowledgments are simple, and they are! But they are also significant”. They acknowledge the contributions of Indigenous communities and can apologize for the harm that’s occurred – which is the bare minimum, she notes, towards reparations. Anyone can practice a land acknowledgment, and everyone should (learn more about holding your own here).

She also reminds us that white supremacy in the U.S. began with the decimation of Indigenous communities and the forced removal from their lands. A blatant act of white supremacy occurred at the Capitol – on the same soil – just weeks previously. It would have been prudent to hold a land acknowledgment as a way of symbolizing that moment.

Zaragoza goes a step further to note that “it’s about time for some new anthems. Why are we still singing these same songs?” And it’s true – why are we still allowing these old songs to represent an emerging new nation? Zaragoza uses her music as a way to challenge these harmful narratives. Her song “American Dream,” written in reaction to Donald Trump's election, tells the story of her great grandmother, who was forced from her home and family to be assimilated into white culture. She notes singers like Ondara, a Grammy-nominated Kenyan singer-songwriter who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 20, who are also using folk music to tell the story of the U.S. from another perspective.

Young emphasizes that the only way we can move forward, the only way we can heal, is by naming our nation’s dark history. We have so much more opportunity to tell all of our stories through the music we choose to elevate.

Interested in music? Follow us on Spotify to listen to our playlist American Dream inspired by this article.

About the Voices in this Article

Jordan Marie Daniel leads Rising Hearts, an Indigenous-led grassroots organization committed to the heart work in elevating Indigenous voices and promoting and supporting intersectional collaborative efforts across all movements with the goals of racial, social, climate, and economic justice. Explore their work at risinghearts.org and follow her on Twitter at @_NativeinLA.

Allie Young is the co-founder of Protect The Sacred, a grassroots initiative created by Navajo organizers to support their community. You can support their COVID-19 relief efforts here. She also is the co-founder of Well-Read Native, an initiative to elevate Indigenous voices in academia and literature. Follow her on Twitter @allieyoung13.

Raye Zaragoza is a singer, songwriter, and co-host of the Create Well podcast. Her latest album, Woman in Color, is now available on Spotify. Follow her on Instagram @rayezaragoza.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The use of "This Land is Your Land" at the inauguration failed to recognize the violence against Indigenous communities in this nation's history
At a minimum, a land acknowledgment would have been a poignant way to recognize Indigenous communities
This nation's legacy of white nationalism and white supremacy started with its violence against Indigenous communities

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 12/18/20 Nicole Cardoza 12/18/20

Rest against capitalism this holiday season.

Because the United States of America has an unofficially Christian foundation, the Christmas holiday has always been front and center in winter holiday celebrations. Although the gift-giving aspect of the holiday stems from the story of the three wise men who bestowed gifts upon the newborn Jesus, the tradition has morphed into a modern-day capitalist monster. For most of history, this time of year was about spending time with one’s family. Still, after the publications of The Night Before Christmas (in 1823) and, especially, A Christmas Carol (in 1843), the idea of “Christmas shopping” flooded the Western marketplaces and changed the way we experience the holiday season forever (Bustle).

Happy Friday! As I reflect on the last few days of 2020, I'm making rest a priority. The holiday season often brings immense pressure, and the last days of the year often stress us to be more productive. Rest might feel like a selfish indulgence, but it's actually a revolutionary way to reclaim our sense of self and identity in a capitalistic society.

I appreciate how Shayna, the author of today's piece, draws the correlation between holiday expectations and the relationship between productivity and capitalism. Her words center the Black experience, but remind all of us that grace and ease is the greatest gift we can give ourselves and each other.

Tomorrow is our weekly Study Hall where we answer questions and share insights from the community. I'll have an exciting update about our community growing, too! As always, you can support our work by making a one-time gift on our website or PayPal, or subscribe for $7/month on Patreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza).

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Be honest with yourself and your loved ones this season: What is your financial situation this year? Is your spending linked to your idea of self-worth? Does this stem from racism?
Find communal ways to celebrate the holiday season, like volunteering at a food bank, gathering on a family Zoom call, having a holiday game night, or making gifts together.
If you can spend money on gifts this season, buy from Black and Indigenous-owned small businesses instead of Amazon or Wal-mart. Follow hashtags like #Blackownbusiness, #indigenousownedbusiness, #buyBlack, and #buyindigenous for ideas.
Follow @decolonizingtherapy and @thenapministry for practical ways to support BIPOC self-care this season.

GET EDUCATED

By Shayna Conde (she/her)

The capitalist history of modern Christmas

The toxic relationship between holiday capitalism and the intergenerational trauma of slavery

Intergenerational (also known as transgenerational) trauma is defined as a form of trauma whose “effects are not only psychological but familial, social, cultural, neurobiological and possibly even genetic” (American Psychological Association). The effects of the traumatic experience of transatlantic slavery are long-lasting and constantly being unearthed by those of us in the diaspora.

One way intergenerational trauma shows up is in the need to constantly work and produce as a means of identity. During slavery times, the monetary value of an enslaved African’s life was based upon what and how much they could produce (Measuring Worth). Although the time of transatlantic slavery is over, our current oppressive systems further instill in us that if we are not working until we drop (and can show proof of that labor), then we are worth less than others. The relationship between the ever-hungry capitalistic beast of modern-day Christmas and the ever-working, generationally traumatized Black person can be a dangerous one.

“Because the holiday season often requires us to keep track of and pay attention to a greater number of responsibilities than usual, the brain’s prefrontal cortex goes into overdrive. Over time, a high level of demand can decrease memory, halt production of new brain cells, and cause existing brain cells to die,” explains psychology professor Dr. Ellen Braaten (Harvard Medical School).

But must the holidays be such a stressful time, especially for communities that were struggling long before COVID became a pandemic? Consider this. 42% of Black people in the United States had hypertension between 2015-2016 (Center for Disease Control). As of 2015, over 46% of non-Spanish speaking Black US citizens had cardiovascular disease (American Heart Association). A 2014 study of Black women in a primary care setting found that 49% had symptoms of depression, and 10% experienced suicidal thoughts (Medical News Today). 18.8% of African Americans fell below the poverty line in 2019 (Poverty Talk). And all of these stats were taken before the coronavirus pandemic, and the economic crisis of 2020 even took place.

Self-care and rest are two means of self-motivated wellness that have not been widely encouraged in the Black community until recently. For much of my childhood years, I would hear that “If you had time to rest, you had time to work,” or other means of conflating rest with laziness. @thenapministry is an IG account that is changing the narrative of rest and recharge for Black people, specifically Black women, since we are afflicted with the “strong Black woman” stereotype (Healthline). Therapy is another form of self-care that has been highly stigmatized within the Black community. The account @decolonizingtherapy is fighting back to get more BIPOCs talking about mental health without focusing on the white perspective. @soyouwanttotalkabout is my means of staying up-to-date with what is happening in the world and the BLM movement without the risk of accidentally traumatizing myself with the mass of trauma porn on major news cycles. The end of this calendar year should be about growth, reflection and unashamed restfulness, especially for my fellow BIPOCs.

This November, I asked my grandmother, a 76-year old Black Jamaican woman: if she weren’t sick and if the world weren’t sick, what would she want to do with her life? I was expecting her to say that she would go on vacation or start baking with her grandkids or visit an old friend in Sedbergh, but instead, she replied, “I want to work again. It’s what I do best.” It can be difficult for all of us in the Black community to realize that we are more than what we produce when the world keeps telling us otherwise. If we do not know our worth, we will unintentionally pass these pains down to the next generation. Remember that you are not defined by your labor or what that labor can buy this holiday season.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

You are not defined by your labor or what that labor can buy.
Our oppressive systems instill in Black communities that if we are not working until we drop (and show proof of that labor), we are worth less than others.
The Black community’s intergenerational trauma and stress have direct links to serious health concerns that can be exacerbated during the holiday season. 42% of all Black US citizens between 2015 and 2016 had hypertension, and 1 in 2 Black women in primary caregiver roles had symptoms of depression. These numbers have undoubtedly grown during the pandemic.
This year has been particularly hard, so take a break without apologizing for it.

RELATED ISSUES

8/3/2020 | Stay awake.

10/14/2020 | Make the outdoors more equitable.

9/11/2020 | Protect Black women.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 12/17/20 Nicole Cardoza 12/17/20

Respect Hawaii’s sacred land.

To the average American, Hawaii elicits a fantasy. Palm trees swaying in the light wind. Hot white sands reflect a radiant sun and kiss a crystal clear ocean. Hula dancers wait at the doorsteps to a hotel overlooking the vast Pacific. But this fantasy is just that, and to many Native Hawaiians, their reality is quite the opposite. This continued exploitation of Hawaiian lands and culture to visitors, many of whom fail to appreciate its deep culture and culture, contributes to the systemic colonization of the Hawaiian islands.

Happy Thursday! Today we're joined by Isiah to acknowledge the impact of colonization on Hawaii, and more importantly, respect and revere its lands. I appreciate how this piece speaks to how pervasive systemic oppression is – how so many issues, both past and present, only exacerbate the challenges we face today.

Looking for a last-minute holiday present? Gift the Anti-Racism Daily to a friend. Or, simply share it with your community to unlock cool swag.

Our newsletter is free and made possible by generous contributions from our community – no advertising or sponsorships. Join in by making a one-time gift on our website or PayPal, or subscribe for $7/month on Patreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza).

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Learn, learn, learn. This simple task is one of the most critical requests by Native Hawaiians for visitors. Hawaii is more than a nice Instagram picture. It’s a land of complex history, sacred lands, and cultural meanings.
Contribute to local businesses, as opposed to larger companies that are foreign to Hawaiian islands.
Understand the importance of the sovereignty movement. To learn more, follow social media accounts such as Protect Mauna a Wakea and ANGRYANGRYHAWAIIAN.
Donate to organizations and sign petitions such as Stop Mark Zuckerberg from colonizing Kauai and The Immediate Halt to the Construction of the TMT telescope on Mauna Kea

GET EDUCATED

By Isiah Magsino (he/him)

“First and foremost, we don’t reject tourists,” begins Kayana Kamoku, a Native Hawaiian who currently resides on the Big Island. “But when our land is treated as a commodity or item of wealth, that’s an issue.” Last year, Kamoku joined hundreds of other protestors to march on Mauna Kea. The development of a 30-meter telescope continues to threaten more than Mauna Kea’s peak (Science Magazine). The telescope is slated to replace what happens to be one of the most sacred realms for the Hawaiian people: a revered place synonymous with a godly shrine (Oha).

Although this is a groundbreaking development currently affecting Native Hawaiians, it is certainly not the only one. Mark Zuckerberg continues to sue Native Hawaiians for pockets of land within, or nearby, his estate forcing a small family to have to bid for their land (The Guardian). On the island of Kauai, at a development site called Keonaloa, a well-known ancient Hawaiian burial ground was excavated to make way for luxury condominiums (MP Hawaii). On a more subtle level, as people from Asia and the mainland continue to immigrate to Hawaii, the cost of living continues to soar, pushing Native Hawaiians out of their very own island because it is no longer affordable (Cultural Survival). “Native Hawaiians who leave the islands for college dream of coming home. It’s a dream to live in the place our ancestors are from,” says Kamoku.

As Covid-19 continues to devastate the United States, Native Hawaiians face another issue: is tourism being put above their health and well-being? Since reopening in October, Hawaii has allowed tourists to bypass the 14-day quarantine if they proved a negative test that was taken prior (Washington Post). And although tourism plays a large part in Hawaii’s economy, Native Hawaiians are one of the ethnic groups hit hardest by COVID-19 (Star Advertiser).

The well-being of Native Hawaiians has been placed on the back burner. Locals receive citations for violating coronavirus regulations, while tourists are encouraged to flout them (NYTimes).

Together, these issues illustrate the umbrella effects of the systemic oppression of Native Hawaiians by American imperialism. Native Hawaiians continue to be pushed around and out of their own homes for the sake of catering to travelers (Cultural Survival). Investigate the motives behind Zuckerberg, the telescope, COVID travel, and the development of sacred burial grounds, and you get one common denominator: money from outside of Hawaii. This contributes to the growing wealth disparity between non-Native Hawaiians and Native Hawaiians, as Native Hawaiians have the highest poverty rate in Hawaii, nearing 13-percent (Maui Time).

Such outside business interests have long interfered in Hawaii. Since the late 1800s, Hawaii has suffered from imperialism. Hawaii’s sovereignty was stolen even though it was a sustainable nation recognized internationally. In 1893, 13 white businessmen staged a coup with the United States to get Hawaii annexed, disguised as a treaty. The coup led to the dissolving of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and in 1898, Hawaii was formally annexed by the United States. (Nisei).

A century later, we need to remember that the mountains and other natural elements that seem to illuminate the photos shared on social media are more than that. As Kayana Kamoku explains, “Our land is more than land. We hold it close to us. It is a cultural identity and community.” Hawaii’s sovereignty deserves to be recognized and respected.

If you are a Native Hawaiian involved in the sovereignty movement, please contact us at submissions@antiracismdaily.com — we’d love to share your story.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Native Hawaiians have strong ties to their land. Their land is an integral part of their identity and affects them physically, emotionally, and spiritually (Kanaÿiaupuni and Malone).
White colonizers stole Hawaii in correspondence with the United States. This racial scarring still runs deep with young Native Hawaiians (NEA).
Many Native Hawaiians suffer from poverty and are pushed out of their homes as residential prices rise (Ka Wai Ola).

11/24/2020 | Stop violence against Native women.

7/5/2020 | Support the Navajo Nation through COVID-19.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 11/26/20 Nicole Cardoza 11/26/20

Support the land back movement.

From 1778 to 1871, the United States signed some 368 treaties with various Indigenous people across the North American continent. The treaties were based on the fundamental notion that each tribe was an independent nation. But as white settlers began moving onto Native American lands, these treaties were abandoned, replaced by greed, dominance, and oppression (History).

Happy Thursday. Many of you asked if I could help provide ways to celebrate Thanksgiving better, but I don’t think that’s the right approach. When it comes to this work, we need to center marginalized communities outside of the lens of whiteness and oppression. So instead, I urge you to celebrate Indigenous resistance and resilience, and commit both today and each day to reparations. Today we’re analyzing the importance of the land back movement and how we can do our part to advocate for the return of stolen lands.

You may also benefit from reading about the myth of Columbus and the importance of Indigenous People’s Day.

Thank you to everyone that makes this newsletter possible! Support our work by making a one-time contribution on ourwebsiteorPayPal, or giving monthly onPatreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). To subscribe, go toantiracismdaily.com. You can share this newsletter and unlock some fun rewards bysigning up here. I'm grateful for each one of you that's with me on this journey.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Practice a land acknowledgment with your loved ones today. Use the Native Land app to identify to whom the land belongs, and follow these steps before participating.
Then, research how you can support the Indigenous community closest to you. Donate to a mutual aid fund, advocate for a local land back initiative, etc. Here is a broader mutual aid fund to support as an alternative.
Sign the petition to close Mt. Rushmore and return all public Lands in the Black Hills to the Oceti Sakowin,

GET EDUCATED

By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)

Another major contributor was the Indian Relocation Act of 1830, which forced around 100,000 Indigenous people from five tribal nations out of their homelands. Indigenous communities not only were forcefully separated from their land, and an estimated 15,000 Indigenous people from various nations died of disease and other causes during these forced marches (Atlas Obscura).

One of many of these broken treaties is The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, where the U.S. signed an agreement with Native communities historically known as the Sioux (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota) and Arapaho. It established the Great Sioux Reservation, a large swath of lands west of the Missouri River, and designated the Black Hills as “unceded Indian Territory” (Smithsonian Magazine). But when gold was found on that land, the U.S. changed their minds – and redrew the boundaries of the treaty to work in their favor, stripping the people of their own land.

In the five generations since the treaty was signed and broken, the Sioux Nations have steadily lost reservation lands to white development. They now live in small reservations scattered throughout the region. Meanwhile, the U.S. grew this region of South Dakota into a national tourist attraction by creating Mt. Rushmore, designed to be a “testament to American exceptionalism,” and centering presidents who themselves contributed to the violence and disenfranchisement of Indigenous communities (National Geographic). Protests at Mt. Rushmore during 4th of July weekend amplified the modern-day land back movement. Local tribes are still demanding the closure of this monument, in addition to the return of the stolen lands it occupies (NDN Collective).

Efforts to reclaim these lands – both in the U.S. and abroad – have been happening for generations. The magazine Briarpatch recently published a 100-year history of the land struggle with key wins in both the U.S. and Canada. And there’s been some progress this year. The Esselen tribe of Northern California reclaimed 1,200 acres of ancestral land after 250 years (The Guardian). And just this month, four dams on the Klamath River in Southern Oregon and Northern California were scheduled for removal, restoring river health and declining salmon runs (Oregon Public Broadcasting).

"
The only reparation for land is land.
Madonna Thunder Hawk, Lakota matriarch and Lakota People's Law Project organizer

Giving land back is a clear and obvious way to repair the legacy of violence and harm against Indigenous communities. But it’s also a way to repair our relationship with the environment. Indigenous communities have been stewarding this earth sustainably for generations, and never produced the amount of emissions and toxins we’re dealing with today. They also have an innate knowledge of how to encourage reforestation, preserve our waters, manage fires, and preserve biological diversity. In this way, land back is more than returning territory, but expanding tribal management, and centers Indigenous communities in the heart of climate justice. Read more in Lakota People’s Law Project.

In the absence of land return, other initiatives are focused on the return – or “rematriation” – of seeds from native lands. European settlers, and later, U.S. government officials, would attack the food supplies of Indigenous communities as a way to force them to move. Some would leave without these precious seeds, and others would relocate only to discover their seeds couldn’t grow in new terrains. For many Indigenous people, seeds represent the connection to the land and the ancestors that stewarded them. Efforts like The Indigenous Seed Keepers Network are working to bring those seeds back to the people and their lands, and cultivate the Indigenous food movement (Atlas Obscura).

Once realized, comprehensive land back can transform modern-day Indigenous communities. It has the opportunity to untether these lands from a history of white supremacy and systemic oppression, including the local law enforcement. It has the potential to re-establish access to basic utilities like clean water and air, and redefine what leadership looks like. But more importantly, it’s the right thing to do. I can’t imagine what it’s like to watch a nation celebrate erasure and land theft each year, but I can commit to advocating for reparations. This is work we can rally for today and throughout the year.

"
Land is more than the diaphanousness of inhabited memories; Land is spiritual, emotional, and relational; Land is experiential, (re)membered, and storied; Land is consciousness—Land is sentient. Land refers to the ways we honor and respect her as a sentient and conscious being. Therefore, in acknowledgment of the fundamental being of Land I always capitalize Land. I have come to know Land both as a fundamental sentient being and as a philosophical construct.

Sandra Styres (Kanien’kehá:ka) from Literacies of Land

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The federal government offered a series of treaties to Indigenous communities across the U.S., but broke nearly all of the agreements
The forceable removal of Native communities from their lands has stripped people of their culture and connection to their ancestors
Initiatives to return stolen lands aren't just reparations, but a clear way to disamantle white supremacy and center Indigenous communities in climate justice

11/15/2020 | Learn the key terminology.

10/21/2020 | Change racist sports team names.

10/12/2020 | Honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

7/5/2020 | Support the Navajo Nation through COVID-19.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 11/24/20 Nicole Cardoza 11/24/20

Stop violence against Native women.

Native women are facing a crisis of violence. Homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native girls and women aged 10 to 24, and the fifth leading cause of death for Native women aged 25 to 34. In the United States today, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women are nearly 2.5x more likely to be sexually assaulted than women in the general population. 70% of these violent victimizations are committed by persons of a different race (Department of Justice).

Happy Tuesday and welcome back. Today we're focusing on the violence that Native women, girls and Two-Spirit people experience in the U.S. and Canada through my conversation with Lauren Schad. This continues our focus on those missing and murdered, in part, because of longstanding bias and discrimination.

Thank you for making this newsletter possible! Support our work by making a one-time contribution on our website or PayPal, or giving monthly on Patreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). To subscribe, go to antiracismdaily.com. New! You can share this newsletter and unlock some fun rewards by signing up here.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Amplify the voices of MMIWG2 families and survivors of violence using the hashtags #MMIW, #MMIWG and #MMIWG2S on social media.
Donate to the Red Ribbon Skirt Society, which memorializes those lost to violence and supports their loved ones.
Consider: What local resources are available for missing, runaway, and exploited Indigenous youth? How can you help create more resources or raise awareness of the existing resources?

Action items inspired by the MMIWG2S & MMIP Organizing Toolkit, created by the Sovereign Bodies Institute. Read the full study to find more.

GET EDUCATED

Lauren Schad. Photo taken by Jean (@blstrt_) — *Lauren Schad. Photo taken by Jean (@blstrt_*)

By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)

Native women are facing a crisis of violence.

Homicide is the third leading cause of death among Native girls and women aged 10 to 24, and the fifth leading cause of death for Native women aged 25 to 34. In the United States today, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women are nearly 2.5x more likely to be sexually assaulted than women in the general population. 70% of these violent victimizations are committed by persons of a different race (Department of Justice).

As we’ve reported in the past, lack of media attention and misreporting has minimized this issue. According to a study by the Urban Indian Health Institute, many victims are often racially misclassified, skewing the data. In addition, there are tense relationships between law enforcement and American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This, paired with media bias in reporting missing and murdered persons cases, leads to a wide discrepancy in data. In 2016, there were 5,712 reported cases of MMIWG2S, but only 116 of them were logged in the Department of Justice website (Urban Indian Health Institute). However, community leaders and activists emphasize that this data doesn’t accurately represent the true number of the population that goes missing.

So, advocates are rallying for justice. Conversations with the hashtags #MMIW, #MMIWG and #MMIWG2S are garnering intention both in the United States and abroad. (The abbreviations stand for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women; Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; and Missing and Murdered Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people, respectively) (APA). This organizing is holding federal and local governments accountable; Savanna's Act, passed earlier this year, aims to increase data coordination and collection and improve protocol between law enforcement and Native communities (Teen Vogue).

It’s critical that we amplify efforts to raise awareness and take action. To learn more about this injustice and how we can support, I interviewed my friend Lauren Schad, athlete and activist, on her work advocating for MMIW.

How does being a professional athlete influence your advocacy efforts?

In my experience as a professional athlete, I have found that there is a lot of confusion and misinformation about us as Native peoples – not just in my homelands of the United States, but in Europe as well. Therefore, having the opportunity to live overseas for my career now allows me to reach an audience on an international level. The networking system that is naturally embedded within the sports community allows for information to travel quickly. Meaning, the work of others and myself regarding our advocacy for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn now become an open dialogue for people on a global spectrum.

You’ve been vocal about supporting MMIW throughout your career – on and off the court. Do you experience any pushback?

There is always going to be pushback or denial when you are fighting against a system inherently prejudiced against BIPOC womxn. People are often unaware of this decimation against Indigenous womxn and the staggering statistics we face, solely because of the lack of coverage, documentation, legislation, representation, and resources outside of Indigenous communities. Our people are fighting this daily, but when there is a systemic structure already in place to silence us, the battle for justice becomes that much harder.

On more than one occasion, I have had strangers come up to me and try to validate actions blatantly harmful to Native Womxn by telling me how I should have felt about the situation. I have been questioned about the authenticity of my testimony simply because people cannot believe that “In this day and age, this still happens?” I have even heard that MMIWG2S is not, in fact, a motion of people demanding justice, protection, and resources for our womxn and children, but a political movement. No matter how much you progress, there will always be people, governments, and corporations who choose to ignore and diminish the endless work our people have endured since the beginning of colonization – including the ongoing work and efforts by the community for our stolen sisters.

“
The way I overcome this is by remembering and honoring all of our stolen sisters. Reminding ourselves that this is not about us. It is about them – and giving them a voice when theirs has been silenced. It is our innate responsibility as Indigenous people to protect one another, to honor these lives and do right by them.

I look to other advocates and strong womxn fighting for the same objective. The Red Ribbon Skirt Society and Lily Mendoza in my hometown, Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Daniel, Rosalie Fish, Sunny Red Bear-Whitcombe, Ashley Callingbull, to name a few, alongside many many other phenomenal womxn, all show the power that one voice can hold. Now imagine if there is enough of us speaking up. The change we are looking for is inevitable. Protection for our womxn is inevitable. So choosing to give up, or stop, is not an option.

How do you feel social media plays a role in advocating for MMIW?

Social media can be a critical tool in relaying knowledge, especially for a motion like MMIW. When you have a group of people severely lacking representation in mass media, those people must find ways to spread that information across large platforms to larger audience to make an impact. For a cause as large-scale as MMIW, social media plays a key role in educating those who are unaware of this genocide happening to Indigenous womxn. On various platforms, you are confronted by many Indigenous advocates speaking up about what they believe in and find important. And because of this, this idea of harmless ignorance can no longer be used as an excuse. It has the ability to give us as Native peoples a voice on platforms you wouldn’t often see elsewhere. We can now create the content and narrative of our own stories and peoples without a go-between. It’s just us and our voices. There is something extremely powerful in that.

How do you wish other people, particularly those that are not a part of the Indigenous community, would take action?

For those not a part of the Indigenous community, I hope they take the time to educate themselves further – not only about MMIW, but the ongoing persecution Indigenous peoples have faced throughout history. Then, once they have listened to the attestation of Native peoples, open that dialect to the people in their circle. Become an ally and help champion an important cause. If I have learned anything by speaking up about MMIW, it is that the oppression we have faced is an ongoing effort to dehumanize and silence Native peoples as a whole.

Everything is interconnected with one another: the exploitation of the land, our stolen sisters, the hypersexualization and caricaturing of our people (read more)...each are a cause and effect of one another. Our voices are powerful entities, and if we use them, we can create intentional and impactful change.

Lauren Schad (she/her) is the youngest of three daughters born and raised in Paha Sapa (Black Hills) in Rapid City, South Dakota. She is currently a professional starter for Volleyball Nantes. Inspired by Rosalie Fish, Lauren dedicates each match to a woman/child on the ongoing list of Missing Murdered and Indigenous women, baring their name on her hand. With the amount of spectators that attend matches, she believes this movement plays an instrumental part in opening the dialogue on an international scale; that in order to educate and bring awareness to this epidemic, one must first get people to ask the question. Read her full bio >

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Native women are facing a crisis of violence.
Over 5,000 Native women are marked as missing persons, but a small percentage are recognized by the federal government
Media bias, misreporting, and distrust with law enforcement all causes discrepancies in reported cases, making it difficult to gather accurate data
Raising awareness about this issue helps drive action by local and federal government

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 11/15/20 Nicole Cardoza 11/15/20

Learn the key terminology.

If you’re active in social justice work (or have just been on the internet in the last 20 years), you’ve probably seen some of the terms, acronyms, and phrases used to describe ethnic and racial minorities in the US. You’ve probably used them too. Language has never been known to sit still, and so as our culture changes, the words change with it. More often than not, people are trying to hurry up and find the new “right” inoffensive words and move on without taking the time to learn the significance behind each term or, more importantly, learning when to use it (Vox).

Happy Sunday and welcome back. Thanks for being such an engaged, committed group of readers. Today, Charlie walks us through the terminology and definitions you read frequently in anti-racism work; terms that we use often in our newsletters! We're expanding key concepts we've discussed here into a glossary over the next few weeks, and these will be included. As you read, remember: definitions and how people relate to them are two different things. There is never just one answer or one perception, and how we each choose to identify ourselves is the correct answer, regardless of what the masses say. We must read, listen, and do our best to treat each other with kindness and respect.

This is the Anti-Racism Daily, a daily newsletter with tangible ways to dismantle racism and white supremacy. You can support our work by making a one-time contribution on ourwebsiteorPayPal, or giving monthly onPatreon. You can also Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). To subscribe, go toantiracismdaily.com.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Avoid using groupings like BIPOC if referring to specific ethnic or racial groups: If you mean Black, say Black.
Read this Vox comic by illustrator/writer Richard Blas for a visual explanation of the debates behind Latino/x/e.

GET EDUCATED

By Charlie Lahud-Zahner (he/him)

Recently, discussions about naming and the effectiveness of POC and BIPOC have been evolving (NPR). So, with this in mind, now is as good a time as ever to explore and learn the histories, meanings, and debates of the cultural vernacular.

POC

Today POC (person of color) can be a useful term because, unlike “non-white,” it defines Brown, Black, Indigenous, and Asian people as what they are, not what they aren’t (NPR). The term POC was initially developed by people of color themselves: Loretta Ross traces the term “women of color” to the 1977 National Women’s Conference in Houston when the phrase was used as a symbol of solidarity between different minority groups at the conference (Western States Center).

But some linguists and activists today worry that the original meaning has lost its teeth, now that POC is the fallback catchall word used by white people trying to be “not racist” (Vox). Many have also criticized how generally the term is used, as “person of color” fails to account that a Black woman’s experienced reality may be wholly different from that of an Asian or Latina woman (LA Times).

Some Americans remain confused by the differences between “of color” and “colored” and make the mistake of using them interchangeably (Chicago Tribune). The definition of “colored” has changed over time (NPR), but the predominant connotation of the word is a racial pejorative used toward Black Americans in the mid-20th century (PBS).

BIPOC

First mentioned on Twitter in 2013, the term BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) highlights the words “Black” and “Indigenous” in an attempt to acknowledge differences between Black and Indigenous people versus other people of color. Recognizing Indigenous identities as distinct reminds us that Indigenous Americans are not ethnic minorities or immigrants, they are this land’s original inhabitants (AICL). However, the term BIPOC still runs the risk of Black erasure, particularly in discussions of police violence (NY Times). Black Americans, especially Black men, are more likely to be killed by police than any other racial group, and more than twice as likely as white Americans (Washington Post). Hispanic children may be three times more likely than white children to have a parent in prison, but Black children are nine times as likely; Black women make up only 13% of the female US population, yet account for 30% of all females incarcerated (The Sentencing Project).To refer to Breonna Taylor and George Floyd as BIPOC glosses over the reality that the adversity Black Americans face is unique from any other racial group. Don’t use BIPOC if you mean Black or if you mean Indigenous; use BIPOC if you mean to include every identity in the acronym.

Latinx and Hispanic

The differences between Latinx and Hispanic can be really technical (NAS). But, for simplicity’s sake, the primary thing to know is that Hispanic more or less refers to descendants of Spanish speaking populations, while Latinx folk more or less refers to descendants of people from Latin America (ThoughtCo). However, for some individuals, identifying either as Latinx or Hispanic can be a matter of preference (Pew Research). Many have deferred to the term Latinx, as it distances itself from the colonial history of Spain in Latin America (Dictionary.com). (Side note: Neither Hispanic nor Latinx are racial categories – Latinx/Hispanic people can belong to any race.)

Latino, Latinx, Latine

Because Spanish is a gendered language, plural nouns that refer to groups including at least one male use the -o suffix. But critics have pointed to the -o in Latino and the rule of deferring to male pronouns as examples of embedded sexism in the Spanish language (Latina.com). Instead, they proposed the term Latinx, a way to acknowledge genders beyond the binary with the handy gender-neutral -x ending.

Opponents of this new word (which has been popularly used since around 2015 (Mother Jones) and was added to Webster’s Dictionary in 2018) claim that the term is an example of “linguistic imperialism” (The Phoenix): an instance of English speakers in the United States imposing norms on Latin America. Now, Latine is the latest alternative introduced to the modern lexicon. Much like Latinx, Latine is a gender-neutral alternative, but has been adopted by some because the ending -e, unlike -x, occurs more naturally after a consonant in Spanish. The word is also a lot easier to say (mitú).

Chicano/x

In the early 20th century, it was not uncommon for Mexican-Americans to want to be categorized as white to gain civil rights and respectability (NCBI). This choice was (and still is) less about skin color and other racial characteristics but economic status and perception of social inequalities (Pew Research). For this reason, the Chicano Movement in the 1960s was distinctive; it celebrated a Mexican-American identity rooted in social activism and celebrated Indigenous and African heritage as opposed to white European descendants (History.com).

With all this being said, identity can get complicated. Despite sharing genetic material, the last name, and a similar melanin count, my dad and I identify differently. He considers himself more Hispanic than Latino(let alone Latinx/e) and would emphasize his regional identity (Veracruz) above his racial/ethnic identity. Alternatively, I prefer Latinx/e to Hispanic to try and commit to gender-neutral language and as a way to show a preference for Mexico’s Indigenous identity. I feel comfortable with BIPOC as a term of community, but if you asked Ricardo Lahud-Zahner about that word, he’d say, “What?”

Our differences exemplify how what we call ourselves is both a sensitive and powerful topic. So when trying to decide what to write or say, use the terms the person uses to self-identify. When in doubt, err on the side of specificity (APA). It might seem like a small thing, but just like learning gender pronouns (or even someone’s name), it’s worth it for us to understand these terms--and to learn what someone wants to be called.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

POC stands for “Person of Color.” BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, People of Color.
When used indiscriminately, acronyms like BIPOC and POC can ignore differences between Black, Indigenous, and other people of color.
There is not always a default “right” word when referring to ethnic/racial groups. Take the time to use the most appropriate term for the situation. Defer how a person self-identifies, and be specific.

RELATED ISSUES

9/18/2020 | Reject racial gaslighting.

8/28/2020 | Start seeing color.

7/14/2020 | Embrace your race privilege.

7/9/2020 | Acknowledge the harm of microaggressions.

7/7/2020 | Honor the biracial / multiracial experience.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 10/21/20 Nicole Cardoza 10/21/20

Change racist sports team names.

This fall, after months of coronavirus restrictions, professional sports in the United States have returned to something close to normal (MarketWatch). MLB playoffs are in full swing, Lebron James won his fourth NBA championship last week, and the NFL regular season continues every Sunday. But as a large portion of the United States undergoes a racial reckoning, professional sports are working to adjust accordingly.

Welcome back, and happy Wednesday! Real talk: I don't watch much sports. So I was celebrating the name change of the football team based in DC without fully realizing how much further we need to go. I'm delighted to introduce Charlie Lahud-Zahner, who breaks down the importance of changing all the names of racist sports teams. And, if I add, extending the same sentiment to schools, cities and other spaces in need of a rebrand.

Nothing makes me happier than sharing this platform with other talented writers. And that's all because of you. Thank you to everyone that's chipped in to support our work. If you'd like, you can give one time on our website, PayPal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza). Or, subscribe monthly or annually on Patreon. I really appreciate it.

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Get educated about the specific histories behind sports teams' names. Start with this Texas Tribune article unveiling the violent history behind the original Texas Rangers.

Use social media to put pressure on these teams and team owners to change their problematic team names:

Cleveland Indians (@indians)

Texas Rangers (@rangers)

Braves (@braves)

San Francisco 49ers (@49ers)

Kansas City Chiefs (@cheifs)

GET EDUCATED

By Charlie Lahud-Zahner (he/him)

Back in July, the owner of the football team formerly known as the Washington Redskins bowed to pressure from corporate sponsors (including Pepsi, Nike, and FedEx) and agreed to change the team name to the Washington Football Team (Washington Post). However, as Suzan Shown Harjo (a Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee activist who has rallied against the Redskins name for more than 40 years) noted, one would hope that financial pressure from investors would come before a state-sanctioned killing, not after (Washington Post).

“All of a sudden...they’re saying, ‘Change the name,’ and what’s the difference — George Floyd was murdered before the world and corporate America woke up,” said Harjo (NY Times).

Though Indigenous activists like Harjo have been pushing against racist sports teams long before FedEx and Nike, only now that white/corporate America has expressed interest in racial inequality as “corporate activists” have popular sports teams undergone renewed scrutiny (NPR).

Even names that seem benign to most people, like the San Francisco 49ers, have a racist history. As a Mexican-American living in California, I know how this state that was once part of Mexico was originally Indigenous land (Library of Congress). Through celebrating and maintaining focus on California’s white colonial history, the 49ers are one of many teams that exemplify the erasure of Indigenous people through celebrating the “glory” of white colonial history.

The historical psyche of California’s Bay Area is built around the California Gold Rush (PBS). In January 1848, James Wilson Marshall discovered gold flakes in Northern California, near modern-day Sacramento. A few days afterward, after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, that land effectively passed from Mexico to the United States. The ensuing gold fever led to an international mass migration to the Bay Area in 1849—hence the name the“49ers” (History.com).

For many in California, the legend behind this period of economic growth is the legend of the American frontier: a mythology that rugged white settlers moved west to build and cultivate this land by the skin of their teeth (The Conversation). Accordingly, the San Francisco 49ers mascot is “Sourdough Sam,'' a goofy pick-ax wielding, Levi-loving Paul Bunyan looking character seemingly on the hunt for errant treasure.

However, this seemingly innocuous character and narrative ignore the fact that the Gold Rush happened in conjunction with the genocide of Native Californians. While the year 1849 was “historic” for white settlers, it was disastrous for the various tribes who had settled in the Bay Area for the 10,000 years prior (Culture Trip). The white miners, with help from the state and federal forces, murdered up to 16,000 Indigenous people of various Bay Area tribes. Today the Muwekma Ohlone tribe is recognized as a conglomerate of “all of the known surviving American Indian lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region” (Muwekma Ohlone).

Peter Hardermann Burnet, California’s first governor, told legislators in 1851 that “a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races until the Indian race becomes extinct...the inevitable destiny of the race is beyond the power or wisdom of man to avert” (History.com). Local and state militias receiving state funding systematically killed, and even scalped, Native Americans. Nearly 80% of the 150,000 Native Americans who lived in California pre-gold rush were wiped out through disease or killings (KCET.org)

The 49ers are only one of many professional (and semi-professional) American sports teams that reference to violence against Native peoples or directly use Indigenous imagery in their team names. In the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs are being pressured to change their name (USA Today), and in the MLB, the Braves, Indians, and Rangers have been the subject of discussion. When Kansas City played San Francisco in Super Bowl LIV back in January, writer Vincent Shilling accurately referred to the game as the “Genocide Bowl” (Indian Country Today).

Learning more about the history of racist team names brings light to the reality of the United States being built at the cost of—or on the backs of—Indigenous, Black, and Brown Americans. Changing team names isn’t about obscuring or erasing our history. It’s about refusing to glorify genocide and the gross characterization of Indigenous peoples. It’s completely possible to acknowledge a dark history without venerating false idols in sports. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Sourdough Sam).

Yet there is growing evidence that change can happen slowly. Besides the Washington Football Team, other organizations have also changed their team names or mascots in recent years. The Cleveland Indians removed “Chief Wahoo,” a racist caricature of a Native American man from their jerseys in 2019 (Global Sport Matters), the Chicago Blackhawks recently banned headdresses at home games (CNN) and, as of late September, the University of Illinois is moving closer to choosing a mascot to replace “Chief Illiniwek” (Chicago Tribune).

In 2013, when asked about removing the slur from the Washington Redskins’ name, owner Dan Snyder callously claimed, "We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps” (USA Today).

He was wrong. Seven years later, he changed the name. And if we can educate ourselves, keep the pressure on these teams, and advocate for change, more teams will follow suit.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Many professional sports teams, such as the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cleveland Indians, have names or mascots that revere genocide and/or racial violence.
The San Francisco 49ers are named after the gold miners of 1849 who, with help from the state, killed thousands of Indigenous residents.
We can create change. In 2013, the owner of the Washington Redskins claimed he would never change the team’s name. In 2020, bowing to public pressure, the name was changed to the Washington Football Team.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 10/12/20 Nicole Cardoza 10/12/20

Honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

As misinformation and conspiracy theories reach a peak over the past week, there’s been heightened scrutiny on the role that QAnon plays in the conversations we see dominate social media. In response, on Tuesday, Facebook announced a blanket ban on any pages, groups, and Instagram accounts representing QAnon from its platforms (The Verge).

I personally feel strongly about today’s topic at hand, and it frustrates me that we haven’t seen more progress in federally recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day. I’m embarrassed that I was a full-grown adult when I first learned of the full story of Christopher Columbus and the harm of centering colonization in our nation’s narrative. I hope that this newsletter sparks awareness of the symbols that perpetuate systemic oppression in our culture and encourages you to take this work past a “holiday” and into the everyday.

Thank you for all the support for this little newsletter that could! If you can, consider joining in by contribution to our website, PayPal, Venmo (@nicoleacardoza), or subscribe monthly on Patreon. Thank you for all the support!

Nicole

TAKE ACTION

Research the Indigenous communities that stewarded the land you live on today. Spend today learning more about their history and culture, and share with a friend.
Donate to the Indigenous Impact Community Care Initiative Fund, a COVID-19 mutual aid fund organized by Seeding Sovereignty.
Fight to disavow Columbus Day in your city and state. Do the research to determine the best course of action. Here’s a list of local petitions to start >

GET EDUCATED

By Nicole Cardoza (she/her)

If you go by the federal holiday calendar, today is Columbus Day. But, more fittingly, today is being recognized by people, cities, and states as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a day to honor and celebrate Indigenous communities across the U.S. and minimize the violence and harm that Columbus Day represents.

The genocide and displacement of Indigenous communities worldwide because of colonization have caused atrocious historical harm that persists through the present day. This discrimination is why the community of 370 million Indigenous peoples globally “make up 15% of the world’s extreme poor” and suffer ‘higher rates of landlessness, malnutrition and internal displacement than other groups” (Amnesty International). A 2017 study shows that over half of Indigenous communities living on tribal lands or other majority-Native areas in the U.S. say they have experienced racial or ethnic discrimination when interacting with police (55%) and applying for jobs (54%) (NPR). COVID-19 data on Native Americans has been called “a national disgrace” by leading researchers (Science). And it took all the way until 2020 for the NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins, a harmful slur against Native Americans, to have their name changed (Washington Post).

This campaign is a small step towards justice. But know that it is not new, even if it’s new to you. Activists have pushed for an alternative to Columbus Day since the 1970s. Berkeley, CA, was the first city in the U.S. to adopt this holiday in the early 90s (Time). Important to note: South Dakota started calling referring to Columbus Day as “Native American Day” in 1989 (Washington Post).

As of now, 14 states— Alabama, Alaska, Hawai'i, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and D.C – over 130 cities, and growing numbers of school districts celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day in place of or in addition to* Columbus Day (Smithsonian Magazine). You can dive into more about the process and any opposition for various locations in this NYTimes article.

"It's about celebrating people instead of thinking about somebody who actually caused genocide on a population or tried to cause the genocide of an entire population. By bringing Indigenous Peoples' Day, we're bringing awareness that we're not going to allow someone like that to be glorified into a hero, because of the hurt that he caused to Indigenous people of America.
Baley Champagne, tribal citizen of the United Houma Nation, for NPR.

After centuries of erasure and oppression, Indigenous people deserve to be celebrated more than one day a year. This initiative shouldn’t be considered merely a replacement for Columbus Day. But as we advocate for the change, we need to remember that Columbus Day itself is incredibly harmful, and disavowing it is a distinct issue. We need to reject the whitewashed and glorified story of Columbus as a famed discoverer and acknowledge the harm he created to native communities through his colonialization.

Christopher Columbus is not the famed explorer we learned about in school. His travels here sparked the rapid colonization of the Americas as we know them today. He enslaved and mutilated Indigenous peoples as soon as he arrived. Not only that, he was financially incentivized to reap as much value from the lands he visited as possible – economizing the harm (Biography). He wasn’t even the first to “discover” America; the Vikings had already visited five centuries earlier (Brittanica). He didn’t even step foot into the continental United States (Washington Post). Y’all, even the names of the ships are likely false.

But let’s take a step further and dismantle the “discoverer” part of his story altogether – because Indigenous people were already living here, so there was nothing to find. The idea that a place needed to be “discovered” by white people for its validation is part of the colonialization and oppression that influences our thinking to this day. And this colonialization has been used to validate the domination of Indigenous people around the world to this very day.

Some are opposed to switching from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day is because they don’t want to erase the Italian contribution to this country. Italian immigrants have celebrated Columbus Day in the United States since 1792 (Harvard), and Italian Americans lobbied to create Columbus Day as a nationally recognized holiday in the early 1900s (Time). This particularly resonates in New York, which has a large Italian American community. The state, often known for its relatively liberal slant on supporting similar issues, still recognizes Columbus Day. New York governor Andrew Cuomo said, while opposing the removal of a statue of Columbus in Manhattan's Columbus Circle statue, that it has come to "signify appreciation for the Italian American contribution to New York”(lohud). A bill to change the designation of Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day for the state of New York was introduced earlier this year but has not passed (NY Senate). *This also contributes to why some of the communities mentioned above celebrate “both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Google Calendar, for example, include both if you have “holidays in the United States” toggled on in your view.

But this is a conversation on not just the actions of one person, but the system that prioritizes one narrative over the other. Columbus Day stands for more than only Christopher Columbus. It’s a nationally recognized holiday that glorifies our nation’s history of oppression, enslavement, dispossession, and genocide against Indigenous communities. It positions the United States as the “land of the free” without acknowledging the free people that had their land taken from them for this country to be built. And as it persists, it works to justify the continued harm against Indigenous communities. I’d like to see a federal holiday that holds us accountable for repairing and restoring Indigenous communities’ rights.

That’s why it’s essential that, as you move to honor Indigenous Peoples’ Day, your efforts go past today and into tomorrow. Renaming a holiday alone is insufficient. It’s easy to acknowledge something one day a year, but far more necessary to center the voices and needs of Indigenous communities in all aspects of your life.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Advocates have been fighting for decades to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples' Day, a day to acknowledge and celebrate the diverse Indigenous communities across the U.S.
The narrative of Christopher Columbus has been whitewashed and glorified, removing how damaging his personal actions and the role of colocalization is to Indigenous communities
Upholding the whitewashed narrative of Columbus Day perpetuates systemic oppression and harm against marginalized communities, particularly Indigenous communities

6/18/2020 | Take down Confederate symbols.

7/5/2020 | Support the Navajo Nation through COVID-19.

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Nicole Cardoza 7/5/20 Nicole Cardoza 7/5/20

Support the Navajo Nation through COVID-19.

Get daily actions in your inbox. Subscribe Now ›

Happy Sunday,

This week looks at the impact of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation, and the systemic marginalization that has created vast inequities in basic infrastructure. This is part of our recurring Sunday series analyzing how racism exacerbates the impact of this global pandemic – you can catch up in the archives.

As our team of writers grows, you'll see new bylines within the newsletter to celebrate the diverse voices carrying the conversation forward. This team is possible because of your contributions – you can invest one-time on Paypal or Venmo (@nicoleacardoza) or monthly on Patreon to keep this community growing. Thank you for your support!

Nicole

Share | Tweet | Forward

TAKE ACTION

Donate to the local mutual aid fund Families to Families Ajooba’ Hasin, a grassroots mutual aid fund organized by ThunderVoice Eagle and his sister Alicia to support in the Bodaway / Gap area of Navajo Nation.
Visit the Tribal Communities COVID-19 Action Doc, organized by Diné poet Kinsale Hueston to stay up to date with recent needs on the ground in Navajo Nation.

GET EDUCATED

By Nicole Cardoza

As COVID-19 continues to ravage the country, none have felt its impact more acutely than the Navajo Nation, (the Diné People) the second largest Native American tribe. Although reported cases have slowed over the past few days, the community has been disproportionately impacted. Over 8,200 people have tested positive for the virus (according to the IHS), resulting in a higher per capita infection rate than New York and New Jersey (Native News). The death toll equates to a death rate of 177 per 100,000 (latest states show 375 total)– more than 16 states including Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota (The Guardian).

This is because of long-time systemic racism against the Native community. After the expansion of the U.S. westwards forced thousands of Navajo to leave their homes, America reserved a stretch of land where they could maintain an illusion of sovereignty. The federal government pledged to support Navajo Nation with necessary infrastructure – like funding for education, healthcare, and other services. But as coronavirus has swept through the reservation, it has underscored many of the unkept promises that have created social and economic inequalities that continue to affect the tribe, exacerbating the impact of the virus (BBC).

As a result, the Navajo community has limited access to the essentials. The Navajo Nation is a food desert with only 13 grocery stores (NPR). One-third of residents do not have running water, and in some towns, it’s 90% (Bloomberg Law). Staying at home and social distancing become problematic when residents have to travel and congregate frequently to get access to basic needs. And preventative measures like handwashing become incredibly difficult to practice without running water at home.

Beyond that, information – particularly the rapid developments of COVID-19 – is difficult to access. According to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, 60% of Navajo lack Internet access, which means many people can’t hear regular announcements from public health officials or tune in to frequent Facebook Live town halls with the Nation's president (NPR).

The underfunded healthcare system isn’t designed to meet basic needs, let alone a global public health crisis. The United States allocates just $3,943 per person for health care for Native Americans through the Indian Health Service, less than half the $8,602 spent by the Bureau of Prisons for health care per prisoner (NYTimes).

Fatality rates from COVID-19 are higher partially because of higher levels of pre-existing conditions, like asthma, diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease (NYTimes). As the virus peaked, the Navajo Nation sent the direst patients from the reservation to hospitals equipped with ICUs in neighboring states. But this may not be possible in the future, given that over 80% of Arizona’s adult ICU beds are full – almost 40% with Covid-19 patients (The Guardian). It will continue to prove difficult as the virus surges (NPR).

On March 27, the Trump administration pledged $8 billion in CARES Act funding to tribal governments across the country, which was desperately needed; by March 20, less than a month after the pandemic hit the reservation, the tribe already had spent $4 million on COVID-19 response efforts (AZ Central). But it took over 80 days, numerous lawsuits and public pressure for the Trump administration to pay tribal nations the COVID-19 relief they were promised by the federal government (Indianz). The Navajo Nation only received $600 million in May, a “Band-aid” to fix the systemic issues preventing adequate support for the community (NPR).

Despite this, about 25% of the population on the reservation have been tested, one of the highest rates anywhere. In comparison, Arizona has tested 5% of its population, and nationwide the figure stands at 8%, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Mutual aid – community-driven, volunteer support that benefits all – have made this possible.

ThunderVoice Eagle, an artist and local leader of Navajo (Diné) and Totonoc descent, shares more about how his community is responding to the impact of COVID-19.

By ThunderVoicee Eagle

The rapid response of the Navajo Community to build emergency mutual aid relief groups has been incredible. Rather than waiting on the government to fail the Diné people once again, the local communities have organized and mobilized to take care of one another, primarily led by women (a nod to the history of a matriarchal community).

From Ordenda Tribe and designer BYellowtail’s collaboration to get thousands of masks to remote parts of Navajo Nation, to Ethel Branch’s massive COVID-19 Relief fund that’s raised over four million dollars for mutual aid, to Kinsale Hueston’s social media campaign highlighting the disparities Navajo Nation faces in every sector of society and raising support for a wide range of mutual aid groups, to the Families to Families fund initiated by my sisters on the frontlines in my home Chapter of Navajo Nation (Bodaway / Gap), we have seen an overnight response that has transformed our community and saved lives.

“Though the systems that my people face are often stacked against us intentionally, we have come together to care for each other when others have once again failed. As we move into the next phase of Covid-19 response, along with aligning with our Black brothers and sisters, we as Diné and as Native people are working together to combat the systems that oppress us”.

Following in the push for the change of racist names and terminology in pop culture (BBC), along with the removal of colonizing statues (Indian Country Today), just this week’s traction has grown to get rid of dehumanizing mascots (Illuminatives). On July third and fourth the Sioux Nation has once again mobilized to put pressure on the government to return the sacred Black Hills land that was promised to them in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 (Newsweek). Discussions have been elevated around food sovereignty, access to adequate healthcare, Tribal Sovereignty, land rights, land reparations, combatting appropriation, and water rights.

The Diné people, along with many other sovereign Native Nations, will use the momentum our mutual care during COVID-19 has grown, to push further for equity for our people.

ARCHIVES

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

Key Takeaways

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

Key Takeaways

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

Key Takeaways

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

Key Takeaways

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

KEY TAKEAWAYS

RELATED ISSUES

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

TAKE ACTION

GET EDUCATED

PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT