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For my final event, I went to the Cultural Survival Bazaar at Prudential Center this past weekend. The Cultural Bazaar was a festival where Indigenous artists were able to share their culture and art to the public. I actually found this event through a friend, who saw the bazaar at Prudential. I initially thought that the artwork and artists were only Native American; however, I saw many different indigenous cultures from around the world on display. It was very interesting to see the variety of artwork in one scene as I was able to make comparisons and differences between the cultural artwork. One aspect of some of the native artwork that was fascinating was how they painted their dolls or figurines in black. I was confused as to why they were colored black as it seemed a bit racist in my eyes. Another aspect that was cool was how they included a lot of ancient or ancestral artwork. They had put up signs that talked about the deceased artists that explained where they lived and what culture their artwork represents. In addition to the Native American art, the artwork of indigenous Mayan artist from Guatemala particularly interested me because it bore a strong resemblance to the native artwork. I noticed how both cultures had a similar theme for their artwork, such as animal sculptures and woven textiles. 

One of the major highlights of this event was talking to an ambassador from a group called the Radical Grandma Collective. The woman explained to me how they are supporting women in Thailand that come from Indigenous tribes. The collective is also all women-lead, which I thought was interesting to compare to the impact of Native American women in their rights movements. For example, the last event I went to, the art gallery and movie, the movie “Warrior Women” explained how women were the “invisible organizers” of the American Indian Movement. While thinking about this women-lead movement, I also realized that almost all of the vendors, artists, and staff from across the world were women. 

After reading chapter 4, I found the chapter to depict many of the brutal incidents natives faced from Congress and white settler society. The first point that struck me was Estes writing on the Pick-Sloan dams and their main purpose of destroying vital, rich native land. I found myself to agree with Estes point that these dams were “nothing short of genocide” for native tribes throughout the chapter as he explains how one of the dams, Oahe Dam, destroyed over 160,889 acres of Standing Rock. Another major point that struck me in this chapter was Congress’ power over tribal nations and their blatant treaty violations. Estes heavily describes how Congress was the major force behind the atrocities towards natives. Some examples are the passing of the House Concurrent Resolution 108, Public Law 280, and the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act alone gave 1.5 million white families over 246 million acres of Indigenous land. One thing that also surprised me was how white society governed the usage of water by tribes who owned the water. Estes talks about how Supreme Court decisions have allowed society to determine how much water tribes are allowed so the rest of the tribe-owned water can be given to settler society. The final point in chapter 4 that make me feel a little uncomfortable was reading about how white societies utterly rejected natives from living in their towns because they are a “burden.” Estes describes this situation perfectly when he says, “White settlers want Indigenous lands, but they don’t want Indigenous peoples.” 

Chapter five offered a slight difference in tone than chapter four as it seemed more positive and described the native youth movements that are resisting settlers’ brutal attacks on their culture. The first point that I enjoyed reading about was the rise of AIM, which projected native rights into mainstream media and present tribalism as a “modern political identity.” Another point that Estes makes that I found fascinating was his idea that Black Power and Red Power movements are linked in a certain manner. He describes how both black and native groups had no say over how they would be incorporated into settler society. The next major point Estes makes is about the powerful role of women in the activist movement, which reminded me of some previous material we talked about in class about the impactful role of women. Estes explains how all the survival schools for native children were founded by women and how native women are able to be powerful while staying invisible from society and press. I liked how Estes also mentions how colonialism had a different effect on women than men as they faced sterilization and high levels of abuse, domestic violence, and rape. The final topic of this chapter that shocked me was the concept of “border towns” and the brutality natives faced when they were off the reservation. For example, Estes gives the example of a native man that was kidnapped, beaten, forced to dance as a “drunken Indian,” and left to die in the cold winter by a group of white men. Estes also mentions the practice of “Indian busting,” where white men would target intoxicated natives and torture or kill them for fun and as a pastime. I found these stories to be extremely horrific and impactful in a sense. 

Chapter six was a very interesting and informative chapter as I was able to learn about Indigenous relations with other nations around the globe. One of the first points that struck me throughout the chapter is how the U.S. blatantly ignores the efforts from natives to get access to their treaty rights and citizenship. Estes mentions numerous examples of U.S. diplomats ghosting global conferences where Indigenous tribes would be speaking to avoid their guilt and horrific actions towards the native communities. One example is Presidents Jimmy Carter through George W. Bush boycotting the UN “Decade” program due to the addition of a “indigenous peoples” category. Another point I enjoyed reading about in this chapter is how the Treaty Council worked to attain to international relationships with other countries to push their agenda forward. I have never actually seen or heard of a native group that has worked with another country. It was interesting to read how the Treaty Council was able to gain support from European and Asian nations to make their voices heard on the international level. Furthermore, I also enjoyed reading about the native relationship with the Palestinians because I never knew that Palestinians were also affected by settler colonialism. Israel’s adoption of settler colonial tactics from the U.S. and implementation on Palestinians allowed them to connect with the native community and help them on the international stage. 

For the final chapter on “Liberation,” I found Estes’ point on how settler society has continually played the angle in history that they are the victim, while natives are the aggressors intriguing. The point that the existence of native communities still poses a threat to settlers because they are a reminder of the settler’s “precarious” claims to the land was also interesting. Estes employs the context of the Standing Rock Protest to illustrate this as he talks about how DAPL saw the protest camps as a “place of death” and a place that “threatened to expose the legitimacy of settlement.” Furthermore, it was disturbing to read about TigerSwan, which called natives “terrorists” and even called them “jihadist insurgency.”

After reading chapter 2 I was able to learn about some of the ways in which the U.S. government and white settlers first began to destroy indigenous culture. One of the first points I found interesting was when Estes explained how Jefferson told Lewis and Clark to “make a friendly impression” on the natives due to their immense power. This shows how the main goal of the government was to take native power and rule and make it their own, and the best way for them to achieve this was by taking native land. It was also interesting to read how Lewis and Clark treated the natives like animals and even took a child hostage to give them some “security” while most historians paint a positive, colorful history of them and their encounters with the native people. Another point that Estes presents is that historians mostly push the view that the natives were responsible for the decline of fur-bearing animals, when it was truly the settlers who killed them for their fur trading. This left natives without their main food supply and became one of the many ways in which settlers aimed to destroy native life. The final point in chapter 2 that struck me was that the settlers had used gender division as another method to gain access to Indian land and resources. Estes explains how white settlers took Indigenous woman as their “property” to rape them and to also increase their access and influence on native land and political affairs.