Week 4
Our trip to the “birthplace of American Freedom” left me with a deep sense of cynicism in the potential for Native peoples to see themselves accurately reflected in the archival institutions of the United States, much less achieve true safety and sovereignty.
Backdropped by the current genocide against the Indigenous people of Palestine, funded and armed by the U.S. government and its allies, I was left with a sense of disillusionment as to whether it was a viable option to trust Indigenous histories and futures to American institutions period. What I did find on this trip was a comradery with other young Indigenous people in intersecting professions with equally deep commitments to our peoples and their futures.
When we first arrived, we walked through TSA-like security, one of many reminders of the increasing surveillance of bodies, particularly those of marginalized populations. One of our cohortmates was even pulled aside and searched by the security team while others of us reflected on the state violence and surveillance we ourselves had experienced in a variety of circumstances.
Within the building, there were two stages of our tour – tagging along with a public tour on the first floor and then a private tour on the second. The first consisted of a guide escorting a mixed group through the national myth of America and its supposed commitment to democratic and egalitarian ideals.
The tour guide, to her credit, mentioned the original draft’s inclusion of a condemnation of American slavery, following it up with the fact that this was removed before the official adoption of the Declaration. I was left with yet another reminder from this the agency and power of the Founding Fathers to chart the course of American history through their personal choices.
While the practice of slavery and Indigenous genocide were ones made up of thousands and thousands of individual decisions, I was reminded of the importance of this piece of writing and the supposed critical thinking and dedication to individual rights that went into its adoption.
To put it simply, the Founding Fathers made a choice to continue the oppression of groups within the borders of their so-called United States, choosing their economic and political power over the rights of millions. None of this was spoken of past the tour guide’s original comment.
The tour closed with the tour guide calling the children on tour to the front and explaining to them the power they held in a democracy and the way that they could change the society if they wanted. Against the backdrop of American settler colonialism and the fascism that presents itself in this country today, this claim rang hollowest of all.
Throughout this trip I have received solace in the face of these circumstances from the immediate community I have formed with other Storymakers involved with this project. Investigating archives, brainstorming ways to get resources back in the hands of our respective people, I was left with a general feeling of hope and faith that things could be better. I believe that there are ways in which we can conduct activism in the archive and move toward further Indigenous Data Sovereignty and data ownership through the collection of all our actions.
