Non-Native residents of the Americas have had a vested interest in denying the vast intellectual, governmental, technological and agricultural achievements of the aboriginal mind. In order to rationalize the subjugation of Native nations through wars, diseases and forced integration western culture deliberately created and sustained false histories and harmful stereotypes about this land’s first peoples. Western religions demanded nothing short of the total eradication of aboriginal spirituality while “educators” tainted generations of schoolchildren with outright lies about Native culture.
There is virtually no aboriginal person in the western hemisphere who has not suffered the indignities of having these myths thrown at them or used to justify their ongoing subjugation whether in school yards, before ignorant judges or in bad movies. Given the outright hostility governments, schools and churches have towards the preservation of a distinct aboriginal identity it is truly amazing Native people have survived to the present day.
As a child raised on the Akwesasne Mohawk community I received formal instruction within the walls of a Catholic school. What little was taught about the Mohawks was invariably bad. Mohawks were the offspring of devils, barely able to control their passions for murder and theft. We, as the descendants of those cannibal pagans, carried the collective guilt for the martyrdom of Jesuit priests.Little good ever came from our ancestors. Perhaps corn, canoes and scalping but precious little else. We were nomadic barbarians who may have well never existed for all the influence we had on the world.
Such craziness had a terrible effect on the hearts and minds of the school children. Most of my peers hated school and left its confines as soon as they could. We all endured periods of doubt as we tried to reconcile the benevolence of our elders with the images of wild, war club wielding Mohawks invading European settlements to club, burn and devour its God fearing, terrified inhabitants.
Never mind that these same settlers were intruding on our lands, wiping out the game, leveling the forests and fouling the waters. We were genetic savages whose only hope for salvation was to humble ourselves before Mother Church and beg for forgiveness.
Yet at Akwesasne there was one brave soul who thought, and taught, otherwise. Ray Fadden, the legendary fifth grade teacher, bucked the system when he had his Mohawk students do research into Native history beyond the standard texts.Fadden’s students uncovered facts which completely changed their attitudes towards themselves and the world.
They learned Native people developed the most significant food crop in human history: corn. They found that it was the Native genius which invented rubber and athletic games such as basketball, hockey and lacrosse.It was Native people who first cultivated pineapples, chocolate, chewing gum and potatoes. These supposed ‘savages’ created sleeping bags, canoes, kayaks and toboggans. How different the world would be, Fadden taught, without tomatoes, quinine, popcorn and deodorants: all developed by the Native mind.
After years of such instruction Fadden’s students went on to become advocates for a new scholarship, one in which Native people were freed from the bonds of racism and given the credit for revolutionizing humanity.
In recent years others have heeded the Fadden call even if they never heard of this remarkable Mohawk instructor. New, objective research has shown the profound Native influence on the rise of democratic states while forming the economic foundation upon which the world currently exists.
Now add to the list the most impressive summation of Native contributions to this planet: The Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World. This text must become the new cornerstone upon which Native studies are taught. In its 384 pages are summaries of Native accomplishments arranged alphabetically from the abacus to zoos with each page revealing fact after startling fact.
This book ranks along “Lies My Teacher Told Me”, “Indian Giver” and “A People’s History of the United States” in its myth shattering potential. Can any teacher ignore the truth when it is now set so clearly before them?
I would strongly urge anyone with a kernel of intellectual curiosity: teacher, administrator, researcher, lawyer, politician, writer, to buy this book. I guarantee it will enlighten, stimulate and entertain.
The Encyclopedia not only contains well written summations but has photographs, illustrations and maps. Each Native nation is listed along with their specific contribution followed by an index according to subjects.
Native students and indigenous instructors must obtain their own copies of the Encyclopedia. Whether Cree, Mayan or Penobscot they will find a deep source of pride on each and every page. I can well imagine the excitement of Native teachers when they obtain the book followed by an eagerness to share its contents with everyone within reach.
I hope the Encyclopedia will serve as the basis for an entirely new approach to Native history, one in which the scholar is liberated from the anti-Indian texts of the recent past.
Ideally, a copy of the Encyclopedia should be in every class in every school across the hemisphere.
Doug George-Kanentiio, Akwesasne Mohawk, is the former editor of Akwesasne Notes-Indian Time, he is a cofounder of the Native American Journalists Association and the Akwesasne Communications Society. He is the author of the books "Iroquois Culture" and "Skywoman". He is married to Joanne Shenandoah and resides on Oneida Territory.