In June of 2016, we put out a survey to our readers about the changes in the currency that have now been proposed and related issues. Over the summer we received more than 2200 responses. Here we want to take the opportunity to highlight certain parts over time to expand on different topics.
Native American Related Survey Questions
Native American Survey Questions
Over Labor Day weekend in particular, there will be many Pow Wows celebrated across the country. It is a good way to tune in to Native American culture and heritage in your community. Here is a list of some of these celebrations. https://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/pow-wow-list
Make sure you arrive on time for specific events, and respect the rules set forward for these family oriented events.
Question 6
Most of our respondents, over 63% want to know more about the treatment of Native Americans.
There is much to learn as much of what was taught in history class about Native Americans was falsified and sanitized. In fact, what was taught was harmful to understanding what happened in the U.S. and made non Natives oblivious to the conditions and treatment of Native Americans, treatment that is racist and persists to this day.
Question 7
Almost 83% of respondents feel that Native Americans should be depicted more accurately on our currency. There is overwhelming agreement on this…but it also speaks to that Native Americans are not actually depicted sufficiently with direct references on our currency.
W20 will take this message to the Secretary of the Treasury again to advocate for respectful representation of the Native American stories that have been omitted in general American history. We borrowed much of their philosophy without attribution, stole much of the land and broke many promises and treaties. To heal these wounds we need the truth to be told and representations thereof to be accessible in our everyday experience.
Reading List
Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations by Suzan Shown Harjo
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History) by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophecy to the Present, 1492-2000, Revised Edition by Peter Nabokov
Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact by Vine Deloria Jr.
American Indian Politics and the American Political System (Spectrum Series: Race and Ethnicity in National and Global Politics) by David E. Wilkins
American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World by David E. Stannard
The State of the Native Nations: Conditions under U.S. Policies of Self- Determination by Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development