Wilma Mankiller and the Stolen Generation



            Wilma Mankiller’s speech “Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People” (found here www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K_rVUmV7Y8&feature=youtu.be) presented by Arizona State University at the Heard Museum in Phoenix , Arizona is an oral presentation about Indigenous rights of over 300 million Indigenous Peoples that were estimated to be on earth at the time of the presentation (October 2, 2008). Wilma Mankiller, who was a former chief of the Cherokee tribe, speaks about the connection, uniqueness, and similarities that indigenous people have throughout the world. Indigenous people, although separate in culture in many ways, are common in that they share a deeply felt sense of interdependence upon the earth, and all the other living things and must conserve and protect the natural world that humans need for food, medicine and spiritual nourishment (Mankiller).

            One theme addressed during her speech that relates directly to this class is the common tradition of storytelling and oral history being passed down from generation to generation among indigenous people throughout the world. In many Indigenous communities, stories are told over the years and tell the collective memory of people describing events of the distant past, what happened to cause the world to be as it is currently, and the prophecies of projections far into the future (Mankiller 21:44). Many of these prophecies share a common theme: that the world will end “when the people are no longer capable of protecting nature or restoring its balance”.
            Another part of her speech talks about the “Stolen Generation”, which is something I learned about from watching her presentation. Between 1910 and 1970 Indigenous children were taken from their home and families as a result of several government policies. Based on the assumption of black inferiority/white superiority, the stories of these people, like the one Told by Ruth (link below) of Queensland, Australia, are exactly like those that we have read, viewed or written about throughout our semester.
https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/stolen-generations

The report, “Bringing Them Home”, done by the Australian government to inquire more information about the damage done from these policies in Australia. Almost 1/3 Indigenous children were separated from their families between 1910-1970.
Australia and the U.S. have very much in common if you look at the way we handled people native to the land causing seemingly irreversible damage to entire generations of people. Despite the presence of native inhabitants, Australia was declared void of any pre-existing civilization by the British after arriving there in the late 1700’s. The people there became victims of colonialism just like those of North America, stories seemingly interchangeable in most ways.

Mankiller, Wilma. “Wilma Mankiller: Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People.” YouTube, ASU Libraries, 10 Dec. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K_rVUmV7Y8&feature=youtu.be.

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