Native American and Indigenous People: Introduction

The original Indigenous peoples residing in what is now known as Washington D.C. were the Anacostans (also known as the Nacotchtank) and Piscataway. The colonization of the land by European white settlers brought disease, war, and many tribes were forcibly removed from their lands and made to settle elsewhere. 

History of Howard University and General Oliver Otis Howard 

• Chief Cochise and the Chiricahua Apache: General Oliver Otis Howard negotiated a peace accord with Chief Cochise that was essentially an agreement between the two parties regarding the boundaries of the Chiricahua Apache Indian Reservation. This agreement never became a formal treaty ratified by the U.S. Senate. 
• Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce: Though a champion for black rights in the South, General Oliver Otis Howard was instrumental in the claims of the Wallowa Valley and the subsequent crimes and violence against the Nez Perce (Niimíipuu). 

Settler Fragility: Why Settler Privilege is So Hard to Talk About

Settler Fragility also refers to a settler move towards innocence in which actions are taken to alleviate settler guilt without any meaningful action to undo the harm done to Indigenous communities. 

Settler privilege is not limited to racism, which is why even non-Native people of color can experience and perpetuate this privilege and fragility. The settler move to innocence stems from the need to distance oneself from being complicit in the realities of settler colonialism, and especially in the United States--a country built on the ideals of democracy and equality--and those who have experienced oppression in other ways. The U.S. settler state is designed in such a way that it uplifts the "melting pot" of US society, and Indigenous peoples and communities call in to question the legitimacy of this state, and belonging on the land. 

Settler privilege is systemic. To deny it, does not mean one does not possess it, or has been complicit in it. 

Settler Moves to Innocence

Settler moves to innocence are attempts by the settler to remove feelings of guilt or responsibility without giving up land, power, or privilege. It is the appearance of change without having to change much at all. 

• Settler Nativism : An attempt to deflect settler identity, by claiming to have Indigenous or Native ancestry, while still reaping the benefits of settler privilege and the occupation of stolen land. 
• Settler Adoption Fantasies: The act of adopting Indigenous ways and so to be adopted by the Indigenous to alleviate the guilt of settler privilege. 
• Colonial Equivocation: The idea that all forms and experiences of oppression are colonization, particularly that all struggles against imperialism are "decolonization" enforcing the idea that decolonization is the equivalent of social justice especially among minorities. 

Native American: a member of any of the Indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America, especially those indigenous to what is now the continental US.
Indigenous: (of people) inhabiting or existing in a land from the earliest times or from before the arrival of colonists.

When speaking about individual Native people, use their preferred Native nation affiliation. When referring to a group who are all from the same nation, use their nation's name. 

Indian Country: Legally, Indian country refers to "all land within the limits of any Indian reservation under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, notwithstanding the issuance of any patent, and, including rights-of-way running through the reservation, (b) all dependent Indian communities within the borders of the United States whether within the original or subsequently acquired territory thereof, and whether within or without the limits of a state, and (c) all Indian allotments, the Indian titles to which have not been extinguished, including rights-of-way running through the same."

While the National Congress of American Indians agrees with this legal definition, they define Indian Country as "wherever American Indian spirit, pride, and community are found. It resides not only in law books, legislation, and historical treatises, but also on ancestral homelands, within our homes, and in the hearts of American Indian and Alaska Native people everywhere."

Sovereignty: The right of tribal nations to govern themselves.

Decolonization is not a Metaphor

Decolonization is the process of deconstructing colonial ideologies of the superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches. Decolonization involves the dismantling of structures that perpetuate the existing conditions and addressing the current dynamics of power that have driven these conditions. Decolonization involves valuing and bolstering Indigenous knowledge and eliminating settler biases that have vastly impacted Indigenous ways of being. 

For non-Indigenous individuals this includes examining your own beliefs about Indigenous people and Indigenous culture by learning about yourself in relation to the local communities where you live and those you interact with. Decolonization is ongoing, and personal work that requires collective involvement and responsibility in order to create spaces which are inclusive, respectful, and honoring to Indigenous peoples.