#native perspective

[REVIEW] Teen Novel from a Diverse Perspective - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Image credit: Ellen Forney (illustrator)

GALLERYYUHSELF - JANUARY 9th 2023 GUAMA TV DOCUMENTARY FILM go online for FREE viewing on our youtube channel - subscribe here so you don't miss it: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXZ3PIPXKu2xuMJUusZqAPg

The OFFICIAL VIP screening will be held in Barbados first before it gets posted online. 

GUAMA the 22-minute TV Documentary version tells the tale of the often unsung hero - the Great Cuban Taino Chief Guama, and leaves you wanting more,

Hatuey (Supreme Taino Chief in Cuba in the rebellion against the Spaniards in 1512)Caonabo & Mayneri (the destroyers of the first Spanish settlement of La Navidad in Hispaniola)Mabey (Hispaniolan Taino leader who fought Spaniards in Cuba)Luquillo (one of the last Taino Chiefs in Puerto Rico to wage war against the Spaniards)Guayacayex (Taino Chief in Cuba who successfully massacred the Spaniards in 1510 in a revenge attack for Spanish atrocities) Guatiguana (the first Taino Chief in Hispaniola to organize a rebellion against the Spaniards)Guarocuya (Enriquillo - leader of a Taino rebellion against the Spaniards in Hispaniola)Agueybana II (leader of the Taino Rebellion of 1511 in Puerto Rico)

 Instagram also @firstnationsproductions - the ONLY grassroots Caribbean 100% owned and operated Indigenous film company.

This TED talk features the author of the previous article, Tara Houska, and for eleven minutes she dominates the stage, telling us what we can do to help change the conversation surrounding indigenous peoples, her experience of the Standing Rock protests, and her efforts of preserving and protecting the cultural identity that was beaten out of her ancestors. In regards to the government’s neglect of indigenous rights, she says, “When you aren’t viewed as real people, it’s a lot easier to run over your rights” (2:28). This video is so important not only to document one of the perspectives of the horrific events of Standing Rock but also serves as a loud and clear message of how settler colonialism and the U.S. government is and has been trying to oppress indigenous peoples for hundreds of years, and despite their actions, these peoples have proved themselves to be resilient. 

Anishinaabe artist Jim Denomie’s painting depicts the attack dogs that were let loose upon protestors at Standing Rock in a more demonic manner, and one of the men wears a shirt with the Cleveland Indians’ mascot on it. The background of the painting features an American flag flying proudly from a bulldozer, the cherry on top of a painting that taps into the racialized violence at Standing Rock.

Denomie, Jim. “Dog Day Afternoon,” 2018. 

Charles Rencountre is pictured with LaDonna Brave Bull, alongside his statue Not Afraid to Look, that he completed in October 2016 on a hill above the Sacred Stone campsite. The statue is based on a Lakota effigy pipe from the mid-nineteenth century called Not Afraid to Look the Whiteman in the Face.

Gregg Deal talks about stereotypes, indigenous art being informed by a Western buyers’ market, and how even the most gruesome stories of indigenous culture matter whether or not non-Natives want them to. In regards to our perspectives of important American figures who were actually responsible for wrongdoings towards Natives, he says, “When we omit things from history, then we immediately give value to those things.” (5:15) He ends the talk hoping he has shared new stories, shocking stories with the audience, and that if they choose to do nothing with the information they have been given regarding indigenous history and culture, they are complicit in the actions of those who came before them.

Nick Estes

Another quote from Nick Estes’ Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance, it articulates that for any real change to happen, it must occur through decolonization, which is highly unlikely since settler colonialism has been deeply ingrained in our state for hundreds of years.

This work alludes to the number of treaties and agreements that have been broken by the government. The image is rather disturbing, and the text references the number of men, women, and children that were massacred during Wounded Knee (300+). This piece, although created some thirteen years before the events at Standing Rock, strangely mirrors the horrific events and cruelty that occurred.