2018 Fall SUNY First Peoples of North America

One thing that really stuck out to me in Willma Mankiller’s speech was her discussion on Indigenous people and how they are environmental experts of the land. She mentioned that Indigenous tribes all over the globe should be consulted on the panel of environmental protection. I was interested to see if there were any governments out there utilizing this strategy. I was thrilled to discover that Australia has created the ACT Natural Resource Management plan.   (NRM)         The NRM recognizes that I ndigenous people have significant knowledge and skills to offer and responsibilities to fulfill in the protection of Australia’s natural resources. They believe that understanding, learning, respecting and applying Indigenous knowledge systems and including Indigenous people in decision-making in natural resource management is key to reconciliation. They feel having a strong connection to community, country and culture is fundamental to Indige...

I very much enjoyed watching the presentation, Wilma Mankillers presentation "Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People".  She made two really great points, the first being "the difference between non-indigenous and  indigenous people who are engaged in that fight is that indigenous people have the benefit of being regularly reminded of their responsibility to the land through the stories and ceremonies, that's the difference".  The environment is something that many people take for granted.  We, non-indigenous people need to learn how to appreciate just as the Indigenous do because soon, at the rate we are going it will be destroyed.  It is really sad how careless we become not thinking about some of the repercussions of our actions.  I think we all need to take some lessons from those Indigenous people, listening to their stories and taking part in ceremonies to give us some perspective.  Wilma Mankiller brought up the topic of "the next g...

The Mohawk Proverb, Mankiller’s favorite, “It’s hard to see the future with tears in your eyes,” which she shared at the end of her video gives us insight into what she believes – there is a future for Native Americans, and they will not let tears cloud their vision. Her attitude is one of encouragement, but we must also acknowledge that her motivation is not only for the natives and that they will make room for the non-natives including them in their forward movement into a new season of self-determination. It is important to note that Mankiller does not sugar coat the historical trauma that the Native Americans suffered; she reaches out to her audience and brings them into the events without criticism or judgmentalism sharing the facts of the past and leading all into the contemporary momentum of the Pan Indian movement. Mankiller gives the audience a glimpse into the partnerships that can develop when work is conducted outside of a vacuum. She states that the Arizona tribal...

Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People. Presented by Wilma Mankiller The speech presented by Wilma Mankiller, the former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief, was indeed very powerful. She spoke about the past history of indigenous people in American land but that was not the main purpose of her voice. She acknowledged the differences of the indigenous people around the world but pointed out the common values that all of them share - they all are strongly connected with the Nature. Nature means the environment that cannot be separated from the people. Mankiller stated that people are not unique to be disconnected from Nature and it is important to restore the balance in it. Indigenous people have the power and benefit despite their tragic history, not only in America but around the world as well, through their stories and rituals to be reminded of their responsibilities to the land. They live closely to the land not only in the way they live but also in their hearts and the ...

We reviewed the video of Wilma Mankiller speaking at Arizona State University, describing the challenges that Native American tribes will face in the 21 st Century. It is meant to display the point of a view of Wilma Mankiller, a former chief of the Cherokee tribe, and her views on the future of indigenous groups, the challenges they will face and how indigenous groups can best approach these issues. Her words speak with the authority of a community leader and as an expert not only on Native American people but on indigenous people around the world. She speaks of the connectiveness and similarities that indigenous groups have world wide. She speaks of how these groups can and should unite around. These groups face both unique challenges that are present only to indigenous groups but also larger issues such as climate change, that all humans across globe face. It is important I believe as sometimes Native American groups and all indigenous groups can be marginalized and people can fo...

I reviewed Wilma Mankiller’s speech “Challenges Facing 21 st Century Indigenous People.” Mankiller spoke at the Heard Museum, in conjunction with Arizona State University. Wilma Mankiller was the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, but she made it very clear that the only perspective she had the authority to convey was her own, and that she was speaking for herself. She was advocating for native rights, and for environmental responsibility, but explicitly stated that the various people in each of the indigenous groups around the world are unique, and she could only represent her own view. I think this video was selected for this course because Wilma Mankiller was one of the most prominent Native Americans of her time, and still continues to be, years after she died. As she was giving a speech, rather than writing a book, she had to condense her thoughts into a succinct form, making her half hour an incredibly informative one. My position on what exactly makes...