M5 Wilma Mankiller Speech

     The speech “Challenges Facing the 21st Century Indigenous Peoples” was the focus of Wilma Mankiller's views, thoughts, research and perception of what is required for the Indigenous Peoples to succeed in the 21st century.  Her thesis of the speech centered around the process of “acknowledge the past injustices but don’t let that paralyze you through anger” (Mankiller) for the success of the Indigenous peoples rely on the preservation of culture and knowledge of every tribe, while creating a model to pass on the culture to the future generations.  The future of the Indigenous peoples must be dependent on Tribal Identity.  The Indigenous Peoples must never give up on the sense of dependency of each other and of the land.  There must be a continuation of cultural practices, ceremonies and languages along with a diversity of each tribes cultural understanding for the common ground of mother earth.  She further stated that “Indigenous peoples must have cooperative agreements, not only between the tribes, but also between the non-native communities” (Mankiller).  If Indigenous People are to survive they must encourage the peoples to tell their stories, preserve the natural and spiritual world, to educated those that lack in the history and culture of Native Peoples.  Indigenous Peoples must educate all people; native and non-native; for the preservation of culture and knowledge, sustain and improve the social and economics of the tribes and build reciprocal relations which are the key to the clan (Mankiller).

Citation:

Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous Peoples, Hurd Museum, Wilma Mankiller, ASU Video Library,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K_rVUmV7Y8&feature=youtu.be



Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 18, 2017 at 1:49 PM

    I found this video to be very powerful. It also caused me to research more on Wilma Mankiller and her passionate writing and speeches. I think you've captured one of her best statements "acknowledge the past injustices but don’t let that paralyze you through anger" - so simple yet so profound. Her ability to fight for the causes of the Indigenous people's rights is so admirable. I never met her but from what I've read and what I've seen in the videos have me comparing to many of the violent protests and activists of today. I believe that Wilma Mankiller was far more successful in her cause than the violent nature of many protests today. Her peaceful approach and committment to her cause could be held up as a guide for activists today.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Santa Fe boarding school

I reviewed the video on Educating to End Inequity. I thought this was a very noteworthy source within our resources to acknowledge. It is my opinion this was chosen as the material for this class to show some of the changes that are occurring within Native American Culture and a great example of the preservation of culture by Pueblo Indians. Santa Fe Indian School was opened in 1890 as an Indian boarding school. The Department of Indian Affairs created this school along with several other boarding schools to “Assimilate native children to American Culture”. Joel Spring, Professor of Educational Studies describes the intent of the Santa Fe Indian School as “a way to deculture Indians. (Video). In 1975 The Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act changed the control of such schools like Santa Fe Indian School who gained control of their school in 1976. This allowed contracts with tribal governments to receive Federal Services. These contracts gave grants to tribes to ...
Read more

POWWOW

  The meaning of a powwow is derived from the term meaning " Spiritual Leader ".  Today's events are mainly secular not ceremonial.  The Powwow is a cultural gathering of Native and Non-Native Peoples displaying the traditions of song, dance and dress from all tribal communities and parts of the land.  The gatherings are intended to provide a community adhesion offering a safe, sober environment for people of all ages and sexes (1).  These events are a means for tribal participants to honor and display their people's culture through songs, dance and cultural attire/dress.     These gatherings are mainly a dance event that can range from one to three days and located throughout North America.  Tribal Governments have provided financial resources through meals, payments to dancers and singers and even Prize Money for the various categories of dance and song to encourage participation (1).      Towards the end of the Powwow, t...
Read more

Pacific Northwest Tribes Social Hierarchy Module 2.

   The political and social hierarchy of the Native Peoples of the Pacific Northwest really surprised me to learn that their social hierarchy was extremely similar to that of European and early societies of the United States.  Early American societies were based on ranking or social classes from the richest to the poorest.  Wealth defined the person and the perceived power associated to the person’s wealth.  The perceived power and wealth enabled certain rights and privileges to the person.  American society’s hierarchy was based on wealth and power.                 So too were the Native Peoples of the Pacific Northwest tribes.  Most tribes were highly layered in a social and hierarchy standing based on wealth leading to power.  Among the tribes of the Northwest, there were Nobles, Commoners, and even slaves (1); sounds a lot like early America.  The separation of cla...
Read more