As my mom and I left Arkansas, we traveled north through Missouri and Illinois to Chicago, then east to Detroit and up through Canada to Niagara Falls. At all of these stops, we never really ran into anything that had obvious Indigenous ties. Once we crossed back into the United States, we still didn’t run into anything explicitly Indigenous. While this may be surprising to you, it was anything but surprising to me.
Once you cross east of the Mississippi River, there is a distinct air of Indigenous erasure thanks to the ‘vanishing Indian’ trope. Indigenous people were forcefully displaced through actions such as Indian removal policies started by President Andrew Jackson in the 1830s, as well as through decline in political autonomy and economic devastation from colonial wars like King Philip’s War (1675–76). Detribalization — legislating Indigenous nations out of existence — compounded this erasure, effectively ‘vanishing’ Native peoples from society and the historical narrative. The book “Firsting and Lasting” is an excellent look into this process, if you are curious.
But while Indigenous people were ‘erased,’ evidence of their existence is scattered everywhere, if you look closely enough. For example, many states are named using Indigenous words. Just from the 15 states I drove through on this trip, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah all have names with possible Indigenous origins. Indigenous place names fill our country, naming roads, lakes, woods and more. As my mom and I traveled the country, encountering these names on road signs brought me the comfort that Indigenous knowledge and languages have survived — even in small forms like this.
Indigenous people, too, make their presence known. By fighting for federal recognition and revitalizing their cultures, Indigenous groups are fighting against their erasure daily. Part of the reason this column exists is to acknowledge Indigenous opinions and continued Indigenous existence. I firmly stand with all Indigenous communities, both within the United States and beyond, as they fight for sovereignty and recognition.
Now, in terms of my mom and I, one highlight during the latter end of our road trip was visiting Fort George National Historic Site in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. The fort is now an open-air museum with historical reenactments of 19th century life and is run by the Canadian government as a national historic site. Fort George is significant to the history of the War of 1812, and one exhibit included Indigenous perspectives to give a fuller scope of the participants’ motives. The exhibit was, in my opinion, well done. While Canada’s history with First Nations peoples is very fraught and far too complicated to get into here, this exhibit did a good job giving space to the Indigenous peoples during the War of 1812. Even so, this was only one part of a giant historical site; one exhibit that includes Indigenous perspectives is not enough.
As this is my final column of this semester, I want to thank my mom for making this trip possible. I was able to see and learn so much that I wouldn’t have without her. I also want to thank all of you for tuning in! Indigenous people are often put into traumatic spaces because of colonialism, and seeing the various ways in which Indigenous people are presenting themselves was eye-opening. Non-Indigenous portrayals of Native life were also varied; there were many examples I was unable to fit into this column but would have loved to explore further.
If you take anything away from my writings this semester, let it be that Indigenous people are not monolithic. From Arizona to New York, Indigenous peoples have carved their own paths, shared their cultural practices. Even on our own campus, Indigenous people hold varied opinions, backgrounds and desires for their futures. I am proud to be from such a resilient community that has thrived despite our erasure. On that note, I hope you will all continue tuning in to the next chapter of “Through Indigenous Eyes!”
