History

It's text over a picture. It's certainly an element of culture passed between people.

Hate to break it to you, but a meme, by definition, is political propaganda.

Yes, all those images you've been laughing at these years were part of a political project. They looove hiding in plain sight.

tHiS iSn'T a mEmE

Additionally, most of Oklahoma is still various reservation lands. That was a recent court ruling, so I suspect this is a few years old.

There's a ton missing. The point still stands, but the bottom map is more like "places that are 70%+" indigenous people, rather than a comprehensive list. Is mislabeled to make a point, which is a stupid thing to do.

Pretty sure this is saved from an attachment from a forwarded email of a scan of a photo copy of a mimeograph.

That's ok, this map of native American lands is definitely outdated. The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) lands are much smaller than it should be. As that's the only tribal name I can actually read, I imagine it's a similar story for the other tribes.

me2

How's the genocide of a whole continent "average history"? The magnitude of destruction in the Americas is not common and this downplay of a continent-wide genocide is annoying.

So... Average history?

No

I've been reading 1491 by Charles C Mann and telling my 14yo a lot of what I've been learning, it's a fascinating book. We live in the rural southern Appalachians and I know for damn sure those teachers aren't including nuance with their history.

Of course I’m gonna assume good faith from you here, but I feel like some people boil down issues like this to “well I mean I didn’t do it so stop complaining”, and that’s wildly reductive and irresponsible at minimum.

Arguing the situation in this way sidesteps the uncomfortable and inconvenient reality that the United States is yet still occupying native land, whether it be Hawai’i, Alaska, or the contiguous territories. Yes it’s entirely possible that mine or your ancestors didn’t perpetuate these things as immigration is and has always been ongoing, but the point everyone misses is that we are still here.

I couldn’t possibly imagine belittling natives for acknowledging the fact that their land was taken from them by force. Some real colonialist shit.

That doesn't mean everyone living on stolen land gets a pass just because they weren't the ones to steal it. They have an obligation to make it right.

If you steal someone's TV and give it to your kid, does that mean the person who it was stolen from shouldn't get it back? Its the kid's now???

This is probably the third meme in two days where the top comment says it's not a meme.

I don't doubt this at all, but any resources on this?

Unfortunately, not really for the majority of tribes. What we so know is that by the time Europeans had made real efforts to expand westward in North America, The Great Dying had already killed 75-90% of the native population.

Basically, North America had already endured around 200 years of civilization and population collapse starting in 1450. So even what the tribes know about themselves has to be viewed in the perspective of a people who had just lost 90% of their population in a few generations.

Check out the book, 'An Indigenous People's History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.'

It's claims are backed up w/ extensive citations.

The Canary Effect is an amazing documentary about the genocide of Indigenous peoples in North America. It is free on YT. It was where I first learned how brutal the reality was and how devastating to the population. It also shows how it meets the UN definition of genocide. Amazing how we are raised in the US and this is not only ignored in history class, but is instead framed as Indigenous people living happily in Spanish missions and having Thanksgiving with pilgrims.

If you get a chance to read about John Trudell, he had a fascinating life. He was the spokesman for the American Indian Movement when they occupied Alcatraz in protest of the US breaking their land treaty. The government did not stop terrorizing him and his family after that. There's also an amazing documentary about him but it's been a long time since I've seen it. I think it may just be called "John Trudell."

Both of these will make you walk away angry though.

When it comes to extant tribes, many of them have web pages with info about them. The depth of information varies from tribe to tribe, I think typically encapsulating whatever the tribe feels comfortable sharing publicly. However when it comes to extinct tribes, much of what you'll find will probably be spotty and questionable, as what is known is likely the result of archeology and accounts from nearby tribes.

It's really frustrating how difficult it is to learn about the native cultures as someone on the outside. It gets glossed over in school and what you hear in pop culture is often heavily skewed or butchered to put on a good show for the audience. Then, because of how much of it gets butchered, chopped and screwed, the people who actually know the real stories become understandably protective and reluctant to share them. It'd be nice if there was a central, wikipedia-like site run by the tribes where you could learn about their stories and traditions.

Very cool, thanks! Link for those too lazy to type.

Human history is not really a constant war, but that is how Americans have been taught history: as a sequence of wars.

What's relatively new are the concept of mass conscription, economic warfare, and total war. The ability to enact war and destruction on a global and constant level is new. The brief cessations in conflict aren't peace, you're right, but it is also a newer concept that we are constantly in a forever war.

I've seen a multitude of other comments here proclaiming all those other genocides were okay because they were thousands of years ago.

Where did anyone say it was okay because it was longer ago? Please point me to it, because I read the entire thread and did not see this once.

The genocide of native new worlders is historically unprecedented and that is fact. I highly doubt that genocides on the same scale, magnitude and horror are commonplace throughout history. I would urge you to support your claim with evidence or examples if you are going to repeat it, otherwise it is entirely baseless.

How much of the tab am I supposed to pick up?

However much it takes to bring up the status of the natives to what it would have been had they not been massacred and expelled, and undo the propping up of Western civilization on their backs. If you'd like more specific examples, I'd be glad to give them to you. Just ask.

We're in a (relatively) peaceful era now

Source? That's a pretty big claim.

Here is an interactive map that shows current ongoing conflicts around the world.

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker

Nah, not even close. Educate yourself on the history of other countries before you try calling them out.

Yeah uhh... Not at all, actually.

Not really, actually.

That's usually just an empire thing.

Technically the Bri'ins (living in Bri'in) are indigenous.

"Oi Bruv, i'm indigginus."

If more than one entity massacred people, it means massacre is okay? Very strange logic. Do bad things have to be done by only one entity to be considered bad?

Is this a bad time for you?

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