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SCRIPT:

Introduction (Ally):
AGS stands for Academy for Global studies, this program inside of our
school is dedicated to getting students involved with community, national and
global problems and to take action. throughout our time in AGS we have traveled
to arkansas for a simulation, costa rica for service work and now we are in
washington. We are here to propose a monument for a long lasting problem of
discrimination and inequality in the native American community. we first got
introduced to the idea of creating a monument or memorial through a timed
writing prompt in our english class. This writing got us emerged in the idea of
preserving memories of people and events that truly deserved it. once we were
assigned this project to come and propose a memorial, our group believed that
Native Americans deserved to be memorialized for their long lasting cultures and
ideals. The Ghost Dance
Background (Dayna):
Around the 1800s the Ghost Dance movement was created by a Paiute
Indian named Wovoka who preached non-violence which made indians abandon
their war like ways to prepare themselves for a future of happiness. The
foundation that started this movement was the dream that Wovoka was said to
have where the Earth would revert back to its natural state, and by dancing in a
round movement continuously that dream would become a reality. The
movement unified the people, even with tribes who had traditional conflicts. It
was said and believed that while performing it they could see fallen loved ones
and was viewed as a healing ceremony. From this idea and ritual, it expanded to
another belief that if they were to wear a particular clothing design would protect
them in battle. With so many indian people being united together, it frightened the
government officials. Between 1888-1890, multiple tribes sent emissaries to
Wovoka, eventually spreading to Lakota where the respected leader by the
Sioux, Sitting Bull, was located around the time. BIA agents, which were from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, when told of the movement led to the attempted arrest
of Sitting Bull and the result of his death. After his death BIA agents still wanted
to stop the movement and disarm/take control of Lakota, this ultimately led to the
massacre of more than 200 Sioux people just after movement reached its peak
on December 29, 1890.
Quote: Anthropologist James Mooney was one of the first to study the circle dance. He
observed striking similarities in many Native American rituals. However, he also claimed
that "a hope and longing common to all humanity, manifests through behavior rooted in
human physiology and common experience", therefore alluding to either the notion of
universal imprints on the human mind or to ubiquitous behaviors drawn from universal
life courses that led to the ritual form.

National (Gisela):
Opening statements:

Racism exceeds black and white and Hispanic and Asian. Often forgotten,
the American Indians have experienced a great deal of racism in the U.S.
throughout history and even now. Much of this is overlooked and the behaviors
are excused. Although the ghost dance speaks about the traditions and
injustices that Native Americans have faced in the past, Native American culture
and discrimination still exists today. The federal government has special trust
obligations to protect tribal lands and resources, protect tribal rights to selfgovernment, and provide services necessary for tribal survival and advancement.
Effects on society today:
Children are at a disadvantage because of the ongoing cycle of poverty
passed down through generations that is due to the lack in the educational
systems on reservations.
Children are attending below standard schools where the government rarely, if
ever, intervenes and aids with resources. Many of these schools are home to
mice, mold, and other harmful fungi and bacterias.
Facts:
In 2013, fewer than 25% of LittleSinger Community School's students
were proficient in reading and math
The federal government is responsible for 183 native American schools
across 23 states.
schools are underfunded, marked by extreme poverty which lead lifelong
implications
later results in social, economic, and political hardships
have survived genocide and cruelty to keep their culture alive, suffered
through relocation, ethnic cleansing, disease
schools are responsible for the failure of the last seven generations of
Indian young people
Atlantic report: native American schools have much lower marks on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress (even with lawsuit giving
them 554 dollars)

Global Implications (Sam):


Anne May Aquash was a well known AIM activist and even marched on the trail
of broken treaties. She was also apart of the occupations of canada and minnesota.
During 1975 she unexplainably disappeared and was not found. in the following year she
was found on the pine ridge indian reservation presumably dead from exposure. A
gunshot was unrecognized during the initial investigation but reports describe an
execution style death. Only in 2008 was Dick Marshall charged with aiding the murder,
but no killer has ever been identified. Annes death is one of many native american lives
that has yet to be redeemed by American justice.
Methamphetamine has become a problem within many reservations around the
US. Drug regulations in the reservations differ from those of the United states. The
regulations of the reservations are rather faulty and in the case of the pine ridge
reservation, methamphetamine can be sold. On the pine ridge reservation, members of
the drug cartel are distributing the drug to the residence and in turn the natives are

selling the drug outside of the reservation. This is all due to a lack of political and social
intervention from the United States government. It also can be clearly linked to the
mistreatment of the natives. Having put natives on reservations separate from the rest of
the US, the natives were able to live off of the government's funding which slowly ate
away at the Natives independance and culture

-Residents within reservations continued abuse of methamphetamine has


led to Mexican drug cartels manipulating the reservations faulty drug laws in
order to distribute illegal substance.
-The prolonged poverty has caused abuse ranging from alcohol to
cocaine. Though alcohol is the primary cause of the reservations domestic
violence methamphetamines are on the rise.

connection to treatment of Aborigines in Australia: institution boarding


schools, Aboriginne 2 percent 22 million, both alcohol and child abuse
issues,
other groups worldwide that have struggled to maintain their culture,
language, and way of life in their homelands

forced removal of Native/Aboriginal children from their homes in Australia,


Canada, and the United States

suffer from marginalization, poverty, loss of culture

Memorial (Ana):
After learning about Native American history in our AP US History class and
learning about modern discrimination and struggles that they still face on
reservations in AP English and researching the global and national implications
of all this background, my group knew that we needed to memorialize Native
American culture. Yet we didnt want to dwell on the the injustices that they faced
in the past, but instead wanted to celebrate their culture as a whole. With more
research we found the Ghost Dance movement and found it was a perfect
representation of the unique cultural identity of multiple tribes of Native American
throughout Western United States even in the midst of government reversal of
treaties and forced oppressions into reservations.
By opening up the brochure in front of each of your desks, you will find a
map of our Nanissaanah Gardens. It is built around a lake with four different
stations that are arranged in the shape of multiple circles. We made this plan with
the Ghost Dance in mind as, originally, tribes danced around a circle by moving
circling westward to the beat of drums.
Our garden starts in station 1 with the Museum of the Ghost Dance and
Visitor Center. Here there would be artifacts from different tribes affected by the
Ghost Dance. It would showcase clothing and hunting tools of the Norther Paiute
tribes that birthed the Ghost Dance movement, or even literature pieces from
people such as Sarah Winnemucca, Sioux and Cheynne Tribes that modified it,

and Lakota tribes that enthusiastically participated in it. Special garments made
to both call on spirits and protect warriors from bullets will also be in that
museum, alongside other exciting artifacts. Videos from tribes of the Caddo
Nation will also be shown, as some of them still practice aspects of the Ghost
Dance.
Next visitors will travel to the left and visit the Grasslands Performance and
Picnic Area. This represents a vision that Wodziwob, who had the first vision
relating to the Ghost Dance movement, had in which he saw a beautiful new
earth covered with new grass. Here school children and families can eat on
picnics from the Great Plains Snack bar and possibly watch performances from
the National Museum of the American Indian and Center for Native American
Youth.
Next visitors will travel through the rest area and experience a hands-on
learning station where kids can learn how to do the Ghost Dance and eat at the
Mazie Snack bar, as well as stopping to use the restroom
Next visitors will travel to the Garden of Wovoka in which they can sit on benches
with plaques that commemorate important figures form the Ghost Dance
movement. This includes Wodziwob and his visions, Wovoka and his spreading
of the movement, and Sitting Bull and his sacrifice.
Last but not least, visitors will go to the Ancestor Oak. This tree represents the
deep importance of remembering ancestors for Native American tribes
participating in the Ghost Dance movement. For many tribes, they even danced
in belief that their ancestors would raise from the dead.

Conclusion (Allly)
Thank and thank everyone! Dr. Genetic-Pilawa and Mr. Guest from the Native
American Rights Fund, alongside everyone else in the room.

Sources used:
http://mic.com/articles/101804/this-is-what-modern-day-discrimination-againstnative-americans-looks-like
http://time.com/3764272/native-history-washington-d-c/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-giago/american-indians-andaust_b_5780434.html
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-ghostdance2.html - second page has a
primary source
http://www.un.org/WCAR/e-kit/indigenous.htm
http://native-americans-online.com/native-american-ghost-dance.html
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3775.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Dance

202 785 4166 Richard guest


Embrace tribal building
Monday staff meeting

1514 ps treat
1516 p street northwest
1 PM Hook into a PowerPoint - bring a laptop
richardg@nars.org

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