Today Confluence honors Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This day, and everyday, is a time to celebrate Indigenous histories and cultures and remember whose land we’re on. This work continues beyond today, and so between now and Thanksgiving, we will be sharing highlights from Oregon’s Tribal History/Shared History curriculum. Each week we’ll share one or two Essential Understandings (Since Time Immemorial, Sovereignty History, Tribal Government, Identity, Lifeways, Language, Treaties, and Genocide/Federal Policy/Laws) to our social medias along with resources from our Digital Library that match each theme. Last year we did a similar social media campaign surrounding the Six Critical Orientations created by Dr. Leilani Sabzalian and like that one, this year’s campaign is designed to elevate our collective understanding of Indigenous history, culture, and lifeways and to reframe holidays such as Thanksgiving.
While these Essential Understandings were crafted for educators, they can help anyone to gain a broader perspective, whatever background or career path you have.
Keep an eye over this week for videos and podcasts highlighting “Since Time Immemorial” and “Sovereignty.” To read more about the Essential Understandings go here.
Please share with your network and feel free to leave comments on the posts with any thoughts the resources spark!
Resources will be added here throughout the coming weeks, in addition to being shared on Facebook and Instagram.
Week 1, October 11th
Since Time Immemorial
Bobbie Conner: Native People Have “Intestinal Fortitude”
In this excerpt, Bobbie Conner talks about how Native people are always going to be here and always have. We’re sharing this excerpt as part of our Indigenous Peoples’ Day to Thanksgiving Social Media 2021 Campaign, focusing this week on the themes Since Time Immemorial and Sovereignty. You can read more about the campaign by going to the link in our profile.
Christina Larson. “Oldest human footprints in North America found.” Indian Country Today, 24 September 2021. Read here. https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/oldest-human-footprints-in-north-america-found?
Nick Martin. “The White Sands discovery only confirms what Indigenous people have said all along.” High Country News, 24 September 2021. Read here: https://www.hcn.org/articles/indigenous-affairs-archaeology-the-white-sands-discovery-only-confirms-what-indigenous-people-have-said-all-along?
Greg Archuleta: Honoring the Ancestors.
Greg Archuleta (Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde) talks about honoring one’s ancestors through traditional techniques and practices.
Sovereignty
Video: Mike Iyall: “Tribal sovereignty is covered in the Declaration of Independence.”
Mike Iyall talks about how tribal sovereignty is covered by the Constitution and the legalities surrounding sovereignty and governments at the federal, city, and county levels.
Podcast: Gather, Indigenous Food Sovereignty
In this episode, speakers discuss a recent documentary on Native American food sovereignty called “Gather.” Our conversation includes two of the people featured in the film: Nephi Craig, a chef from the White Mountain Apache Nation in Arizona, who opened an Indigenous café as a nutritional recovery clinic and Samuel Gensaw, the co-founder of Ancestral Guard, a group of environmental activists from the Yurok Nation (Northern California), trying to save the Klamath River. Mary Lee Jones, a traditional gatherer, and member of the Yakama Nation, who has coordinated traditional food seminars throughout the Pacific Northwest, hosted the discussion.