Why The Indigenous Genocide In America Never Ended
thinkbigpicture.substack.com
Foster care took over where boarding schools left off with Indigenous children, so the Indian Child Welfare Act was passed. But now that protection is under attack.
Mar 9·edited Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
By the time I got to the end of this article all I could do was take deep breaths to slow my outrage. I've long dwelt on the fact that the United States of America in which I grew up was in reality based on a genocide, but this article (and I admit recent viewing of the Yellowstone prequel, 1923) have brought me awareness of how much deeper and ongoing that genocide is. I'll skip my outrage at the hypocrisy of the so-called "Christians" behind this, but the 2023 reach of the "Christian Nationalist" movement is increasingly outrageous and infuriating. I'm deeply saddened and increasingly disillusioned with Christianity and the country I grew up believing in. I will add this cause to the long list of issues for which I've sought to advocate. I may not be able to do much, but I'll do whatever little I can.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
I knew about the past horrific actions of the US government and US religious groups against indigenous communities. I was not aware of the continued horrific actions as regards US foster care. This is shameful and must stop. How can we be a nation of laws when we habitually ignore our treaties with the indigenous tribes. Thank you so much for writing about this and for providing links to groups that work against these actions. I truly do not understand this hatred, and there is nothing about it that is Christian, but it has to stop.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
This is so sad! Like Patricia J said before me, I had no idea that White Christian nationalists even had their nasty fingers in this. I don't have much faith in our current SCOTUS, but I hope that even they can understand the sovreignity of tribes and that their views of family must win out over those of American religious nuts.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Horrifying to realize how much has been omitted from the "history" that we were taught in K-12 as well as from the general news throughout our lives in the US. Most of what I've been learning about our country's history has only been in the past several years, and only because I started following history professors like Heather Cox Richardson and others on Substack. This new (to me) information on how even more badly indigenous people here have been treated, with the ongoing genocidal intent in breaking apart families fills my heart with sadness and outrage. I have no words. 💔
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Along these same lines, I invite readers to watch the TV show "Alaska Daily". It is a drama about the unsolved and unaddressed murders of Indigenous girls in Alaska. Season w has just started but it is best to start with season 1.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
It is things like this that make my blood boil.You are correct,it's just another form of genocide,taking these kids away from their families and their culture and expecting them to"become civilized".Bullhockey!I for one am very tired of these so-called White Christianists forcing their religion on everyone else,and still after four hundred years trying to deny the soventry of the Tribal Nations that were here long before Columbus was ever even dreamed of.
White Europeans still trying to think and act as if only they matter,and that only their religion and culture matter,and everything and everyone else are by their default considered wrong.Its been that way for centuries,and not only in The Americas.The continent of Africa's nations have this same issue with the White Europeans,who also think they are superior to those people as well.
It is well past time for this to be resolved and permanently fixed,and the White folks to butt out of anything to do with how Tribal Nation peoples take care of their own.And also to keep their Christianist bullhockey to themselves,and to make sure it's coded that it can no longer be forced on any Tribal Nation person or group.We all know they hide behind their ideology to impose on Tribal Nations.Its been going on for over 400 years and it's long past time it is stopped.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Me too...No idea this was happening! Kinda goes to show just how far away Evangelical Christians are from a societal norm. This has to stop, and WE need to look into our state structures to make sure it doesn't happen within our states. Because obviously, the Federal government cannot be counted upon, and SCOTUS is so compromised they need to be ignored.
Mar 10Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
For-profit foster care is an abomination, in all 50 states, and overwhelmingly discriminates against all minority children. But trying to justify adoption based on the assumption that a christian family has more to offer a child than families with different belief systems is just racist in the extreme, and this bigotry disguised as self-righteousness is more than disgusting - it's immoral. Unfortunately, I'm under no illusion that SCOTUS will rule in favor of the child, since both christian nationalism and parental rights seems to be the default stances of the terrorist right.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Thank you. I'll be sharing this with everyone I know. We can only try to be allies for indigenous peoples. I have no faith in the current SCOTUS to view this as anything but "saving the poor Indian babies" and giving them to Christ. It makes me want to vomit.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Wow. That was a wake-up call for me, but am I surprised this has been going on? No, not really. Christian Nationalism has its tentacles into every aspect of American life. I’m just done with Christianity. Done.
Mar 9Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Just as Canada 🇨🇦 made an accounting for past wrongs to indigenous children wrongfully taken from their tribes, so too must America 🇺🇸. Even Pope Francis wholeheartedly 🙏 asked for the tribes forgiveness during his recent visit to Canada 🇨🇦 . These so called fundamentalist predominantly white Christian nationalists attempting to proselytize by assimilated adoptions of children over the objections of their tribes not being given 1st chance to raise them is entirely wrong. Hopefully this lawsuit before the SCOTUS will reaffirm that, but with the Trump and McConnell stacked majority it's so hard to know what to expect unfortunately. All the more reason to increase the number of Supreme Court justices ⚖️ too, besides the other calamities they are inflicting on all of America 🇺🇸.
I thought there was always supposed to be native American representatives in Congress per treaties in the past 🤔 too. Thankfully Deb Haaland is the Secretary of the Interior, so that will hopefully help with reparations.
George and Amelia, I have known about these abuses for some years now, as I went to a talk in Carbondale, CO, back in 2018 I believe, where Lakota representatives from South Dakota spoke about and showed a film depicting the assimilation/boarding school program going back to its origins. They emphasized how it persists today, and most of us were beyond belief. I have been donating monthly to two organizations that address numerous indigenous issues, including this one of unfair foster care practices: Native Hope and Lakota People's Law Project. So, as a result, I get frequent newsletters that keep me up to date on what they are working on and fighting against. I recommend donations to both of these groups for those who can afford it. The scourge of white Christian nationalism is a very dangerous and destructive trend in this country that affects anyone who is not white. It is especially important that Christians who see this happening address it head on, because too many people who are appalled at what is happening in their own religious traditions remain silent. I was raised Catholic, but have not considered myself a practicing Catholic for decades, because I cannot abide the genocidal practices of the church during its long and sordid history. Even today, it's multitudinous abuses continue unabated. Thank you for this essay showing us that the more things seem to change, the more they remain the same, unless we do something! I think an important act for every non-native American is to go to the site of one of these massacres of indigenous peoples to honor their lost ancestors. It's like standing among ghosts that you can almost feel around you. Finally, although it took too long, Colorado finally changed the name the the Sand Creek site to "Massacre" instead of "Battle," and History Colorado is now teaching the correct version of that event. Small steps, but steps nonetheless.
Mar 10Liked by Amelia Mavis Christnot, George Takei
Thank you for writing and posting this most enlightening essay. I was aware that the foster care system in general is wanting but I had no idea that the fostering of indigenous children was so genocidal. The christian nationalists will not be happy until everyone (including atheists) is forced to follow their world view, but their removal and indoctrination of indigenous children is shameful and must be universally recognized as such.
By the time I got to the end of this article all I could do was take deep breaths to slow my outrage. I've long dwelt on the fact that the United States of America in which I grew up was in reality based on a genocide, but this article (and I admit recent viewing of the Yellowstone prequel, 1923) have brought me awareness of how much deeper and ongoing that genocide is. I'll skip my outrage at the hypocrisy of the so-called "Christians" behind this, but the 2023 reach of the "Christian Nationalist" movement is increasingly outrageous and infuriating. I'm deeply saddened and increasingly disillusioned with Christianity and the country I grew up believing in. I will add this cause to the long list of issues for which I've sought to advocate. I may not be able to do much, but I'll do whatever little I can.
I knew about the past horrific actions of the US government and US religious groups against indigenous communities. I was not aware of the continued horrific actions as regards US foster care. This is shameful and must stop. How can we be a nation of laws when we habitually ignore our treaties with the indigenous tribes. Thank you so much for writing about this and for providing links to groups that work against these actions. I truly do not understand this hatred, and there is nothing about it that is Christian, but it has to stop.
This is so sad! Like Patricia J said before me, I had no idea that White Christian nationalists even had their nasty fingers in this. I don't have much faith in our current SCOTUS, but I hope that even they can understand the sovreignity of tribes and that their views of family must win out over those of American religious nuts.
Horrifying to realize how much has been omitted from the "history" that we were taught in K-12 as well as from the general news throughout our lives in the US. Most of what I've been learning about our country's history has only been in the past several years, and only because I started following history professors like Heather Cox Richardson and others on Substack. This new (to me) information on how even more badly indigenous people here have been treated, with the ongoing genocidal intent in breaking apart families fills my heart with sadness and outrage. I have no words. 💔
White saviors ARE the worst. I despise the arrogance of so-called Christians who insist that everyone else has to live by their beliefs.
Along these same lines, I invite readers to watch the TV show "Alaska Daily". It is a drama about the unsolved and unaddressed murders of Indigenous girls in Alaska. Season w has just started but it is best to start with season 1.
It is things like this that make my blood boil.You are correct,it's just another form of genocide,taking these kids away from their families and their culture and expecting them to"become civilized".Bullhockey!I for one am very tired of these so-called White Christianists forcing their religion on everyone else,and still after four hundred years trying to deny the soventry of the Tribal Nations that were here long before Columbus was ever even dreamed of.
White Europeans still trying to think and act as if only they matter,and that only their religion and culture matter,and everything and everyone else are by their default considered wrong.Its been that way for centuries,and not only in The Americas.The continent of Africa's nations have this same issue with the White Europeans,who also think they are superior to those people as well.
It is well past time for this to be resolved and permanently fixed,and the White folks to butt out of anything to do with how Tribal Nation peoples take care of their own.And also to keep their Christianist bullhockey to themselves,and to make sure it's coded that it can no longer be forced on any Tribal Nation person or group.We all know they hide behind their ideology to impose on Tribal Nations.Its been going on for over 400 years and it's long past time it is stopped.
Me too...No idea this was happening! Kinda goes to show just how far away Evangelical Christians are from a societal norm. This has to stop, and WE need to look into our state structures to make sure it doesn't happen within our states. Because obviously, the Federal government cannot be counted upon, and SCOTUS is so compromised they need to be ignored.
For-profit foster care is an abomination, in all 50 states, and overwhelmingly discriminates against all minority children. But trying to justify adoption based on the assumption that a christian family has more to offer a child than families with different belief systems is just racist in the extreme, and this bigotry disguised as self-righteousness is more than disgusting - it's immoral. Unfortunately, I'm under no illusion that SCOTUS will rule in favor of the child, since both christian nationalism and parental rights seems to be the default stances of the terrorist right.
Thank you. I'll be sharing this with everyone I know. We can only try to be allies for indigenous peoples. I have no faith in the current SCOTUS to view this as anything but "saving the poor Indian babies" and giving them to Christ. It makes me want to vomit.
Wow. That was a wake-up call for me, but am I surprised this has been going on? No, not really. Christian Nationalism has its tentacles into every aspect of American life. I’m just done with Christianity. Done.
Just as Canada 🇨🇦 made an accounting for past wrongs to indigenous children wrongfully taken from their tribes, so too must America 🇺🇸. Even Pope Francis wholeheartedly 🙏 asked for the tribes forgiveness during his recent visit to Canada 🇨🇦 . These so called fundamentalist predominantly white Christian nationalists attempting to proselytize by assimilated adoptions of children over the objections of their tribes not being given 1st chance to raise them is entirely wrong. Hopefully this lawsuit before the SCOTUS will reaffirm that, but with the Trump and McConnell stacked majority it's so hard to know what to expect unfortunately. All the more reason to increase the number of Supreme Court justices ⚖️ too, besides the other calamities they are inflicting on all of America 🇺🇸.
I thought there was always supposed to be native American representatives in Congress per treaties in the past 🤔 too. Thankfully Deb Haaland is the Secretary of the Interior, so that will hopefully help with reparations.
This is history that needs to be taught!
Thank you for this article. Well researched, thought provoking, and eloquently stated. A vibrant call to action.
George and Amelia, I have known about these abuses for some years now, as I went to a talk in Carbondale, CO, back in 2018 I believe, where Lakota representatives from South Dakota spoke about and showed a film depicting the assimilation/boarding school program going back to its origins. They emphasized how it persists today, and most of us were beyond belief. I have been donating monthly to two organizations that address numerous indigenous issues, including this one of unfair foster care practices: Native Hope and Lakota People's Law Project. So, as a result, I get frequent newsletters that keep me up to date on what they are working on and fighting against. I recommend donations to both of these groups for those who can afford it. The scourge of white Christian nationalism is a very dangerous and destructive trend in this country that affects anyone who is not white. It is especially important that Christians who see this happening address it head on, because too many people who are appalled at what is happening in their own religious traditions remain silent. I was raised Catholic, but have not considered myself a practicing Catholic for decades, because I cannot abide the genocidal practices of the church during its long and sordid history. Even today, it's multitudinous abuses continue unabated. Thank you for this essay showing us that the more things seem to change, the more they remain the same, unless we do something! I think an important act for every non-native American is to go to the site of one of these massacres of indigenous peoples to honor their lost ancestors. It's like standing among ghosts that you can almost feel around you. Finally, although it took too long, Colorado finally changed the name the the Sand Creek site to "Massacre" instead of "Battle," and History Colorado is now teaching the correct version of that event. Small steps, but steps nonetheless.
Thank you for writing and posting this most enlightening essay. I was aware that the foster care system in general is wanting but I had no idea that the fostering of indigenous children was so genocidal. The christian nationalists will not be happy until everyone (including atheists) is forced to follow their world view, but their removal and indoctrination of indigenous children is shameful and must be universally recognized as such.