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[ivyfic]

So I am watching a PBS documentary series called We Shall Remain about Native American history. The first part was the Mayflower through the Pequot War and King Phillip's War. Then was Tecumseh, which I had to stop in the middle to take a break and has made me hate William Henry Harrison forever. And I just watched the part on the Trail of Tears.

Excuse me while I go cry for a bit. God. The more you learn, THE WORSE IT GETS.

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[ivy03.livejournal.com]

This all started cause I watched the documentary Reel Injun, about the portrayal of Native Americans in Hollywood, and they talk about the siege at Wounded Knee. Which I'd never heard of. (The Massacre, yes. The 1973 protest? No.) I'd never heard that Marlon Brando refused his Oscar for The Godfather because of it. Can I take Civil Rights Movements I've Never Heard Of, Alex? I'm quite incredibly disappointed in my public school education. Cause we were very rah rah Native Americans, and boo to Columbus on the 500th Anniversary of his discovery of America, and still I learned jack and shit about what was actually done by our government to these people, on an ongoing basis. I'd never heard of the Pequot War. I'd heard of the Trail of Tears, but I only just found out that Andrew Jackson broke the ruling of the Supreme Court to enforce the evacuation. I knew about reservations (cause, you know, casinos), but somehow they fail to mention that they're basically internment camps that we forced the tribes onto in the late 1800s and still keep them on.

aaaaaa

Everything about it is so, so awful. Doesn't help to know that in many cases, it's my ancestors, specifically, that did it. I benefit directly from ethnic cleansing. woo