Sometimes a simple, coincidental gesture sheds a bright light on a new discovery. This time it was a click (courtesy of Rocketboom).
When I visited Compact Histories of Native Tribes in the Americas I thought I was going to find some interesting historical information about First Nations, and I did. Vast amounts of it in fact, well organized and fascinating. What I hadn't given much thought to is how powerful the content on the site would be and the tremendous emotional connections people would obviously have to the stories. In retrospect it seems insensitive that my initial interest was largely historical, not emotional. I know very well that European settlers devastated the indigenous societies of the Americas. The fact is, I'm largely unaware, uneducated, out of touch, disconnected. I woke up, at least a little bit, when I read the following quotation from a reader of the site:
"I am crying and the tears signal my relief. After reading more than I have ever been told by my family about our history, I am overjoyed to know that we are documenting ourselves and not losing history. The history of the powerful Ojibewa Nation is everyone's history.
My mother, born at Turtle Mountain, sent to boarding school in Alberta, and eventually adopted by a white family, was a chronic runaway. She was full of war. Her inability to overcome her anger lead to her early death. Without her, I seek answers to where she/we came from. Who were her/our people?
I am in the middle of final exams and am searching the web for statistics on Native American death rates. I am struggling with how much theory I am taught in my classes. I must write critically, analytically, theorhetically about something I intuitively understand. Being able to check in with this site takes the morbid edge off my homework. Writing about how we die becomes depressing and reinforces the myth that native peoples are dissappearing.
This site renews my energy for finishing my projects."
(link)
I was reminded that we are not alone in our pain. That we all have to take responsibility for the legacies of our ancestors. That in some way we must share the pains and the joys of everyone we are even remotely connected to. That is everyone. That there is so much more to know and that we can never know it all. That our history is everyone's history.
I continue to uncover more stories on the site and know that I have barely scratched the surface. I'm certain that Compact Histories of Native Tribes in the Americas will be an invaluable resource to many and a powerful means of connecting people to our shared history. I hope that posting this will help someone else find their way.
Perception. I think it's Thomas King who talks about people rushing through life in The Truth About Stories. Life doesn't rush by you. And then I guess there's the opposite: sitting, waiting for life to happen. A friend once said, "It's like you're sitting at a stop sign, waiting for the light to change."
