November 22, 2008

Light shines on apologies

NMAI spotlights apologies to indigenous peoplesThe Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian illuminated the evening sky last week with a massive column of white light.

The display was the climax of a symposium called “Harvest of Hope,” about the role of national apologies to indigenous peoples. In 2008, both Canada and Australia issued sweeping apologies for boarding schools and other assimilation practices historically imposed on indigenous peoples.

The U.S. Senate also passed legislation to make a national apology to Native Americans last spring, though the Reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act that contained the apology failed to pass the House.

The light rose from the top of the museum’s rotunda, located 400 yards from the U.S. Capitol, and shined for three nights between dusk and 10 p.m.

The illumination was timed to coincide with a city-wide celebration of photography, called FotoWeek DC. The museum kicked off Washington’s FotoWeek with a multi-story projection of photographs on its eastern exterior wall. Notably, the faces of Indian delegations that traveled to D.C. to meet with federal officials over the last two centuries were visible.
Below:  "Otoe delegation to Washington, D.C., January 1881. Seated from left: Standing Eating, Baptiste Deroin, and Harikara (Standing Buck); (standing from left) Crawfish Maker, and James Arkeketah." (Photo by John K. Hillers)



P.S. Notice how none of the Otoe Indians were named after eagles, hawks, wolves, or bears? Real Indians rarely have clichéd Indian names.

2 comments:

dmarks said...

"P.S. Notice how none of the Otoe Indians were named after eagles, hawks, wolves, or bears? Real Indians rarely have clichéd Indian names."

Depends on where you are. I was in a community once where most of the Natives I met and talked to had Bear, Bird, or Fox in their surnames. There were a bunch of Bear names, indeed.

After I typed the above, I followed your link. This community happened to have been New Town, N.D., on the Fort Berthold Reservation.

Rob said...

Unlike eagles, hawks, wolves, and bears, birds and foxes aren't big Indian clichés. And a name such as Ten Bears or Frank Spotted Bear is just a "normal" use of the word "bear." Unlike a name such as "Brave Bear," it isn't trying to heighten the person's appeal by associating him with a romantic Indian image.