Within a decade after Pilgrims arrived in 1620, Wampanoags were a minority in their own land. Europeans were converting Indian land to European owned land, and by 1930 they were converting Indians to Christianity. Neither conversion was gentle. By 1879 Native children were forcibly sent to US government run boarding schools where “Indian ways” of culture, religion, language and government were crushed under the motto of “kill the Indian, save the man.” Read More

Instead, in commemoration of Independence Day, he stood at the foot of Mount Rushmore, the smallness of his character reinforced as he used the majestic Black Mountains for a stage to proclaim American heritage won’t be stolen—oblivious to the sad and hypocritical irony of trampled Indigenous American’s sovereignty on that sacred site. Read More