Details

Storyteller: Rory
Tribe: Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe
Created: 2018
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Transcript: As a youth I was unaware of the genocide of Native peoples in the Americas. Mass extermination through means of unlimited war and scorched earth policies was not yet explained to me. I assumed that the stories I heard from my elders was limited to a brief time and space in history and that our government was solely responsible for blame. I believed the pop-culture view that American Indians gave way to a better way of living. Not knowing the real history of the Americas until going to college I accepted the status quo. I wore a Cleveland Indians hat with a sense of pride and authenticity as if I was one of few people that could wear the hat with honor. I thought the End of the Trail image was cool because it was an Indian on a horse that sacrificed for the greater good. I was brainwashed, assimilated and thoroughly colonized. My first glimpse in to the rabbit hole of genocide in the Americas was the parallels to Nazi Germany and dehumanizing imagery they used for Jews. It was described to me that the Cleveland Indians mascot, Chief Wahoo was the same image Nazis used to dehumanize Jews. The only difference in the imagery was that the Indians logo was red and had feathers. As my college career progressed, I learned more about the exterminations of Indian peoples by European immigrants and how it was reinforced by genocidal policies enacted by the U.S. government and the organized religions from Europe. The Catholic church granted permissions to Christians to enact genocide via the Papal Bulls while continued support from the U.S. government was excused through the idea of manifest destiny. These tactics were not supported by all Christians and government officials but those that opposed these tactics were powerless to stop it due to the power that tyrants were given through these institutions. What is worse is that our retaliation to genocide and unlimited war upon us was turned in to the cause of the problem. We were and still are villainized for standing up for ourselves and our natural resources. My work has many layers to it but what is most important is that I humanize us in the context of 21st century peoples. The same way that organized religions and U.S. Government destroyed Indigenous peoples of the Americas is the same way that U.S. governments and corporations are exploiting us all today. I want to help empower ourselves and our allies to stand up to these tyrants that continually abuse power. By using imagery from my art from pop-culture I empower contemporary Natives as the authentic peoples of the Americas. With these efforts I hope to subversively educate folks that have ingrained ideologies from false narratives. And not only hope that folks wake up and realize that Indigenous peoples are relevant in the 21st century and not villains in the way of progress but advocates for human rights and guardians of our natural resources. I want folks to realize that we can no longer allow tyrants to scorch this planet in the name of greed just because it’s "legal". I hope that my projects can inspire folks to educate themselves in the same way that the "Chief Wahoo" mascot inspired me to educate myself.