Erasing Indigenous History, Then and Now

By

Deondre Smiles

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A depiction of an Ojibwe widow.

An Ojibwe Widow

A depiction of an Ojibwe widow from the 1830s.

Eight Crow prisoners under guard in Montana.

Crow Prisoners

Eight Crow prisoners under guard in Montana, 1887.

Three Native American women are pictured at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.

Women on the Reservation

Three Native American women are pictured at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Wasco County, Oregon, ca. 1902.

A white teacher at a Navajo day school gives English instruction.

Navajo Day School

A white teacher at a Navajo day school gives English instruction with picture cards to Navajo children, 1954.

A picture of a Navajo woman and infant at the Canyon de Chelle in Arizona.

Navajo Woman

A picture of a Navajo woman and infant at the Canyon de Chelle in Arizona, taken by Ansel Adams between 1933 and 1942.

American Progress (1872) by John Gast.

American Progress

American Progress (1872) by John Gast

Rick Santorum giving a speech.

Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum giving a speech at the Young American Foundation event, 2021.

A group of Apache Native American children pose for a portrait four months after arriving at Carlisle Industrial Indian School.

Carlisle Boarding School

A group of Apache Native American children pose for a portrait four months after arriving at Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania, ca. 1880s.

Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap (1851–52) by George Caleb Bingham.

Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers

Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap (1851–52) by George Caleb Bingham.

Drawing of the 1862 mass execution in Mankato, Minnesota.

Mass Execution

Drawing of the 1862 mass execution in Mankato, Minnesota following the U.S.-Dakota War.

This illustration portrays militia men massacring Native Americans in California.

Settler Violence

This illustration titled "Protecting The Settlers" is found in JR Browne's work "The Indians Of California" from 1864. It portrays militia men massacring Native Americans in California.

Pupils at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Pennsylvania.

Boarding School Pupils

Pupils at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Pennsylvania, ca. 1900. It is estimated that from 1879 to 1918, over 10,000 Native American children from 140 tribes attended Carlisle.

Sacagawea (right) with Lewis and Clark at the Three Forks.

Sacagawea

Sacagawea (right) with Lewis and Clark at the Three Forks, as depicted in a mural at the Montana House of Representatives.

A Standing Rock solidarity march in San Francisco.

Standing Rock Solidarity

A Standing Rock solidarity march in San Francisco to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline that would run through Sioux land, 2016.

Protest against the name and mascot of the Washington Redskins.

Mascot Protest

Protest against the name and mascot of the Washington Redskins in Minneapolis, 2014.

Samoset entering the Plymouth settlement in 1621.

Samoset Visits Plymouth

Samoset entering the Plymouth settlement in 1621, thus making the first contact between Native Americans and the Pilgrims.

A statue of Christopher Columbus lays toppled outside the Minnesota State Capitol.

Christopher Columbus Statue

A statue of Christopher Columbus lays toppled outside the Minnesota State Capitol in June 2020 during the George Floyd protests.

$Members of the Indigenous Environmental Network protest the Keystone XL pipeline and fracking.$

Indigenous Environmental Network

Members of the Indigenous Environmental Network protest the Keystone XL pipeline and fracking in Washington D.C., 2013. (Image by Ben Schumin)

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