Last week was the first time I attended the Becker-Rose Café series because my Wednesday evening course was canceled that night.  Professor Eric Cheyfitz’s brief talk about the circumstances of Native American lives was an excellent refresher on that segment of American history quickly went through by my high school teachers.  What surprised me the most was that only a few hands were raised when he asked whether we have learned these topics in high school.  There was a pang of indignation, then a sense of apprehension.  I was not born in America but I did learn about the unfair and demeaning treatment received by the natives at the age of Colonialism and beyond.  However, it then occurred to me that this fact was not so surprising after all.  I remembered there was such a thing called “Holocaust denial,” and thought it similar to this situation.  Americans could get so uncomfortable discussing black slavery and racism, how willing are they to learn or teach about the ethnic cleansing of native tribes?

However, I am no expert on the matters.  I read about the Wounded Knee Massacre, the Trail of Tears, the Indian Removal Act, etc.  What I did not know was that there is a reservation about 45 minutes from my home and an Indian-operated casino 20 minutes away.  What I took away from the seminar was that it is important for Americans to learn about what the natives have and are still going through, such as the crimes committed on reservations, workplace discrimination, poverty, etc.  Acknowledge their sovereignty and struggles is the least we can do while inhabiting a land that is never rightfully ours.