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Authors: Sally Roesch Wagner

BOOK: Sisters in Spirit: Iroquois Influence on Early Feminists
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Jeanne Shenandoab,
Onondaga Nation
Who Gets to be Part of History?
 
“Fourteen Strings of Purple Wampum to Writers about Indians” by Tehanetorens (Ray Fadden)
 
We hold in our hand fourteen strings of purple wampum. These we hand, one by one, to you—authors of many American history books; writers of cheap, inaccurate, unauthentic, sensational novels; and other writers of fiction who have poisoned the minds of young Americans concerning our people, the Red Race of America; to the producers of many western cowboy and Indian television programs and moving pictures shows; to those Treaty-breakers who delight in dispossessing Indian Peoples by constructing dams on Indian lands in violation of sacred treaties; and to those of this, our country, who are prone to build up the glory of their ancestors on the bonds and life-blood of our Old People:
—With this first string of wampum, we take away the fog that surrounds your eyes and obstructs your view, that you may see the truth concerning our people!
—With this second string of wampum, we pull away from your imprisoned minds the cobwebs, the net that prevents you from dealing justice to our people!
—With this third piece of wampum, we cleanse your hearts of revenge, selfishness, and injustice, that you may create love instead of hate!
—With this fourth string of wampum, we wash the blood of our people from your hands, that you may know the clasp of true friendship and sincerity!
—With this fifth string of wampum, we shrink your heads down to that of normal man, we cleanse your minds of the abnormal conceit and love of self that has caused you to walk blindly among the dark people of the world.
—With this sixth string of wampum, we remove your garments of gold, silver, and greed, that you may don the apparel of generosity, hospitality, and humanity! —With this seventh string of wampum, we remove the dirt that fills your ears so you may hear the story and truth of our people!
—With this eighth string of wampum, we straighten your tongues of crookedness, that in the future you may speak the truth concerning Indian People!
—With this ninth string of wampum, we take away the dark clouds from the face of the sun, that its rays may purify your thoughts, that you may look forward and see America, instead of backward toward Europe!
—With this tenth string of wampum, we brush away the rough stones and sticks from your path, that you may walk erect as the first American whose name you have defamed and whose country you now occupy!
—With this eleventh string of wampum, we take away from your hands your implements of destruction—guns, bombs, firewater, diseases—and place in them instead the Pipe of Friendship and Peace, that you may sow brotherly love rather than bitter hate and injustice!
—With this twelfth string of wampum, we build you a new house with many windows and no mirrors, that you may look out and see the life and purpose of your nearest neighbor, the American Indian!
 
—With this thirteenth string of wampum, we tear down the wall of steel and stone you have built around the TREE OF PEACE, that you may take shelter beneath its branches!
—With this fourteenth string of wampum, we take from the hen-coop the eagle that you have imprisoned, that this noble bird may once again fly in the sky over America!
 
I,
Te-ba-ne-to-rens,
say this!
1
Wampum—purple and white shell beads strung or sewn onto belts of material—carries the history of the people. (European settlers corrupted wampum into currency.) Wampum also instructs in the importance of responsibilities. Mohawk historian Te-ha-ne-to-rens (Ray Fadden) guides non-Native writers in what we need to do to prepare ourselves to write. His words are fueled by indignation at the damage white writers have caused Indians.
I read Ray’s words when I sit down to write about Native people. They remind me that the greatest likelihood is that, as a white person, I will get it wrong; the highest probability is that I will cause damage. Filled with centuries of justifications for genocide, popular as well as academic stereotypes that mask the truth, and a cultural belief that I have the right to tell someone else’s story my way, I am dangerous. If I wish to create accurate, inclusive history I must first open my ears to hear, my eyes to see, and my mind to absorb the story before me.
2
I am not alone. We EuroAmericans are filled with the poison of misinformation. Great gaps of knowledge accompany the lies. Omissions teach us equally, and more insidiously, than misinformation. The lesson of exclusion is clear. Groups of people
included
in the interpretation of history are respected, while
excluded
groups are outsiders and can easily be ignored. If our teachers do not tell us about a group of people, we assume they are unimportant.
The message of omissions is an educational foundation of racism. Through the silence in our education, many of us have learned
not
to listen to the histories of people of color, women, and other excluded groups. We have been trained to pay attention to what is “important” and to ignore what is not. Therefore it is not enough to be exposed to new information. We must first be able to receive it. Essentially, we must remake ourselves in order to absorb what we have been taught from childhood to ignore.
It is important, of course, to know that “In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue,” as that date marked the beginning of EuroAmerican settlement in this hemisphere. However, recognition of diversity comes about when we revisit the Columbus story, identify the participants, and consider how they each experienced the event. If indigenous people do not exist in the story we are told, we conclude their story has no importance and neither do they. We need to ask basic and simple questions to break this silence. What was the view from the shore? What did those who were living on Turtle Island (the Native Americans’ term for North America) see as the boats approached and the occupants disembarked ? How did each group interpret what they saw? What was going on that both the Natives and those on the boats did not have “eyes” to see? Columbus described the world he “discovered” as a virtual utopia—the happy, well-fed, peaceful inhabitants a mirror contrast to the militaristic, cruel, harsh world from which he had sailed. What would have happened if he had asked, “How do you do this?” rather than scheming how best to exploit the Natives and their resources?
Multidimensional Thinking
 
Human interactions are complex, and there is never one way to tell a story. In fact, people throughout history have experienced conflicts and friendships simultaneously. It should come as no surprise then, that in our history, we find intermarriage among cultural groups at war with each other. Similarly, EuroAmerican women taken captive by Native American nations often chose to continue to live as adopted members of the nation rather than return to the EuroAmerican world. Their enemies had become family; their identity Indian.
Influence is a basic theme of history. As groups come into contact (in violence and/or friendship) they influence each other and adapt to one another. Each group takes on the others’ ways. Influence does not necessarily mean bias-free interaction. We can believe we are superior to a group of people at the same time we are influenced by them. Rap music’s popularity with white youth does not mean we have eliminated racism, any more than the popularity of jazz did with their parents.
The Historical Development of History
 
There is nothing inherent or inevitable about history. Created by people, it is shaped by the same socio-political-economic forces that determine the telling of it. History changes, like institutions, when people demand change. As excluded groups seek inclusion in institutions, they also celebrate their histories, demanding to be remembered. United States history has gone through phases in the last fifty years reflecting cultural and social shifts toward greater inclusion and diversity.
The history of powerlessness: Great white men, great victories.
 
Baby boomers grew up learning a history of the winners, from the winners’ perspective. A history told for the benefit of those in the position to decide how history should be told. This phase of history gave the message that wars are the most important events. Dates had importance in and of themselves, without context. Indirectly, this phase of history also conveyed the message that the only people that matter are wealthy white men and that common people have no influence over the course of events.
Stories of the silenced: Victim history.
 
As various groups began to demand their civil rights during the 1960s, they also demanded to tell their version of history. From people of color, from women, children, gays and lesbians, from differently-abled and poor people, unfolded a story of injustice, violation, and victimization. Viewing the underbelly of the “great white men” story revealed the price paid by those who were subjugated. After initial resistance to these stories, it became possible to comprehend the extent of the exclusion and destruction and depth of oppression each group suffered.
Stories of empowerment: Survival, resistance, and overcoming.
 
Oppressed people survived; and more than that, they accomplished seemingly impossible tasks and successfully demanded improvements in their condition. Courage, adaptability, and strength of spirit are revealed by their stories. Despite the overwhelming institutional power of slavery, for example, African Americans maintained integrity, families, and community.
Friendship and influence in the midst of oppression.
 
Recognition of historical injustices opened the way to see the triumphs of those who resisted, overcame nearly overwhelming odds, and survived. Most recently, we have begun to explore the unexpected and largely unknown stories of friendships established during colonization and coexistence, and of the way groups influenced each other. The revelation that our Founding Fathers received tutelage in democracy from the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) is one eye-opening example. Native influence on the non-Native woman’s rights movement is another story of friendship and influence.
Identifying the Players and the Issues
 
Who first comes to mind when we mention suffrage?
Susan B. Anthony.
Her name is linked with the vote; the two have become synonymous. If we look at the story of the victory won (woman’s struggle for the vote), Susan B. Anthony’s name is primary, but this story is not a complete history. If we look beyond the vote we find a much broader movement for the rights, privileges, and protections under the government in which suffrage was the capstone. Suffrage, in turn, was only one of many issues raised by the nineteenth century woman’s movement ranging from an acknowledgment of the Motherhood (as well as the Fatherhood) of God to a drive for a woman’s right to control her own body. From a campaign for equal pay for equal work to a demand for an end to marital rape and battering, activists a hundred years ago articulated most of the demands of the current feminist movement. Yet we know little of this bigger story. We may be uncomfortable telling this fuller history because we have not yet resolved these questions, and people on each side still feel passionately about them today.
We may not find anyone today who believes that woman’s struggle for the vote was a radical and heretical challenge to the God-ordained authority of man. However, a majority of the population, male and female, believed this to be true at the time of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. We proudly tell the tale of women in the early 1900s chaining themselves to the White House fence for the vote. Yet we may not celebrate the courage of the friends and colleagues of Susan B. Anthony who served time in jail for telling women how they could
prevent conception. It is easy to tell the story of Susan B. Anthony and the successful struggle for the vote. When we move beyond these “finished” stories, however, telling the historical truth may take courage and care, because unresolved issues create controversy. We run the risk of being fired or not having our textbook accepted if we tell the history of radical challenge to the status quo. Such examination, however, is at the heart of decision-making in a democracy. When we knowingly avoid teaching the history of controversial issues, we deprive citizens of the tools needed to make wise decisions.

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