National Museum of the American Indian

Final Blog - Wilma Mankiller

Wilma Mankiller, former Principal Chief of the Cherokee in the video Wilma Mankiller, Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People, by Samuel Ortiz presents and reinforces the theme of Native American’s, and Indigenous peoples around the world, responsibility to the land, Mother Earth, and all living things that dwell upon her.  She starts by mentioning the Hila River water settlement in Arizona being an example of cooperation between native and non-native people to observe land and treaty rights for the betterment of all.  She tells us that there are over 300 million indigenous people around the world and that a common value shared by all is the inseparable relationship of all life with the land and the need to conserve the earth for all.  She mentions the traditional stories that describe the peoples’ obligation to protect the land and all life and the predictions in many of these traditional stories that the world will end if we forget our responsibility to the environment.  Wilma makes the point that Indigenous peoples are regularly reminded of their commitment to the land by stories and ceremony.  Non-native peoples due the lack of stories and ceremony have moved away from the land and their responsibility to care for it and life.  She also tells us that the lack of accurate information in the media contributes to the lack of understanding by non-native people.  Indigenous people must frame the story from their own experience and traditions and non-native people can learn from these traditions.  As she ends her discussion she mentions human rights and self determination and that Indigenous people around the world must understand past injustice but not be angry and continue to move forward to teach the ceremonies and the stories to the rest of the world.  She quotes a Mohawk proverb that says “it is hard to see the future with tears in your eyes.”

The presentation by Carol Jacobs to the United Nations points to the same theme as Mankiller with “bringing our minds together in thanks for every part of the natural world.”   She too mentions ceremonies and stories about maintaining the relationship with the land with “we must tread lightly on the earth, for we are walking on the faces of our children yet to come.”  She tells us native peoples carry the knowledge to help the world combat our environmental problems and that we should work together as partners because “every living thing relies on us to fulfill our responsibilities…”

From Is Nothing Sacred, Lyuba Zarsky we read about the battle between Native Americans and large corporations regarding land rights and the right to maintain sacred places rather than mine or develop these sights.  This is another example of maintaining the land, Mother Earth, for all.  She says that we must “define what corporate good practice might look like with regard to protecting scared sights.”

In the Sunday December 8, 2019 issue of the Rochester, N.Y Democrat and Chronicle there is an editorial about how climate change and the degradation of the natural environment is affecting animals around the world.  We so often associate the negative effects of climate change with humans, but forget about other life on the planet.  This editorial tells us that “for humans the consequences of global warming are difficult to internalize…but the impact on ecosystems can be catastrophic.”  They mention songbird and other massive animal die offs and that “a United Nations study this year found that a million plant and animal species risk extinction because of several human-induced factors…”  This editorial finishes with “the animals can’t do anything about global warming.  People can.”

Perhaps if we would all listen to Wilma Mankiller when she tells us that we can all learn from Indigenous peoples around the world, from their stories and ceremonies, that we must take responsibility for Mother Earth and all plant and animal life we could help the planet survive these struggles together.

Each of these websites conveys the story of Indigenous peoples place in the world and helps us better understand why it is important to see the story from the Native American viewpoint.  This helps us to frame these issues in a different perspective so that we see the whole story, not just a part.  Sharing this understanding in a blog that can be seen and read by many other people can help put forth a wider understanding of these issues and perhaps promote better relationships between the Native world and the non-native world.

Jacobs, Carol. Presentation to the United Nations by Cayuga Bear Clan Mother, Carol Jacobs,https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/PresentToUN.html

Ortiz, Samuel. Wilma Mankiller, Challenges Facing 21st Century Indigenous People, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K_rVUmV7Y8&feature=youtu.be

Zarsky, Lyuba. Is Nothing Sacred? Corporate Responsibility for the Protection of Native American Sacred Sites,http://sacredland.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/csr_dl.pdf

Editorial; Only People Can Help Animals, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, N.Y., 12/8/19, pg 36A