General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNovember is Native American heritage month.
There are many online sources of current political and social issues that Native Americans face today, as well as sources on cultures and Native American history.
https://www.nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/
As with any ethnic or cultural group, not all Native Americans agree on politics, but they are a significant voting group when motivated to turn out, and often lean Democratic. Following is an analysis of Native votes in recent elections.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/native-americans-support-democrats-over-republicans-across-house-and-senate-races/#:~:text=Native%20Americans%20remained%20solidly%20Democratic,who%20reported%20voting%20for%20Republicans.
You can learn more about this often overlooked part of our big tent this month through Native American Heritage Month programs and celebrations.
leftstreet
(36,113 posts)Deuxcents
(16,341 posts)And documentaries. Ken Burns has The Buffalo..a two part history and its great, as usual.
wnylib
(21,611 posts)Native American news. They also have a twice daily program called What's Next?, which began as a result of the racist massacre in a Buffalo supermarket to help AAs cope and make changes for Blacks in Buffalo.
It has since expanded to include other groups that experience racism and other prejudices. Today and yesterday, in honor of Native American Heritage Month, the program covered local Seneca culture, a past local forced boarding school, preferred terminology, and public schools that have a mix of Native and non Native students on and off of Seneca territory. Seneca language instructors teach Seneca culture and language at those schools.
There is an originally non Native city, Salamanca, on the Allegany Seneca territory. Today there are Seneca, Cayuga, and some other Native people who have homes and businesses in Salamanca, plus a Seneca Cultural Museum, a Seneca library, and a Seneca owned casino in Salamanca. Most of the Seneca live in an adjacent community called Jimmersontown.
The schools are mixed, Native and non Native. The sports teams are called Salamanca Warriors, with approval from the Seneca Nation.
Deuxcents
(16,341 posts)Honoring women for Women History month, Black History, and other events. Ken Burns documentary, the Buffalo was about the bison and what it has meant for thousands of years in the Native culture. The episodes youre watching may be local or state based? Still, I like to watch their episodes.. I learn a lot about our history I never heard about in school
wnylib
(21,611 posts)It's good that PBS is giving coverage to Native cultures. The Plains cultures who depended on the buffalo in the past deserve recognition. However, they are just one part of Native cultures, yet the default one that most people think of when they hear Native or Indian. That's largely due to the dramatization of the "Wild West" in cowboy western films and TV programs.
I'd like to see coverage of other Native cultures, too. I have not seem the PBS program. I hope that it covers more than the past when both buffalo and people lived freely on the Plains and includes current issues of poverty, nutrition, health care, jobs, and recovering from the effects of boarding schools on the family and social structures.
Deuxcents
(16,341 posts)These episodes feature many tribes and their desire to teach their young people to read and write their language, carry on tradition, etc. those Wild West stories/movies of old, did not portray the real story but the documentaries are in depth and give us historical context