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The trail of tears, Robert Lindneux,1942

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The trail of tears, Robert Lindneux,1942

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France Culture:  Histoire des Indiens d'Amérique

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France Culture:  Histoire des Indiens d'Amérique

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Histoire des Indiens d’Amérique : un podcast à écouter en ligne | France Culture

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Dans les années 1910-1911, la production cinématographique américaine se transporte sur la côte ouest des Etats-Unis et découvre les magnifiques décors en extérieur de la Californie. Dans ces années-là, à la suite du succès du Wild West Show de Buffalo…

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Article intéressant : Le western a-t-il encore un avenir au cinéma ?

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Article intéressant : Le western a-t-il encore un avenir au cinéma ?

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Le western peut-il encore avoir un avenir au cinéma ?

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Certes, le genre n’est plus dans son âge d’or. Cependant, dire que le western est mort serait un jugement bien trop péremptoire.

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Article intéressant : Comment Hollywood représente-t-il le génocide des Natifs américains ?

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Article intéressant : Comment Hollywood représente-t-il le génocide des Natifs américains ?

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Avant la colonisation européenne, qui s'étend du XV e au XX e siècle, 5 à 10 millions de personnes vivaient en Amérique du Nord, selon les estimations. Entre les épidémies de maladies importées par les Européens (variole, grippe, typhus), les massacres, les famines et les déplacements forcés, le recensement des peuples autochtones s'élevait à 250 000 personnes aux États-Unis à la fin du XIX e siècle. C'est à cette époque que naît le cinéma. Ceux qu'on appelle alors les Indiens en sont les premières vedettes. Leur culture en voie d'extinction fascine. Sorti en 1894, Buffalo Dance, une danse des bisons effectuée par des Sioux, est l'un des premiers films tournés avec une caméra Kinétographe.

De star des films muets au "sauvage" des westerns

Dans les années 1910 et 1920, plus d'une centaine de films muets prennent pour sujet des tribus amérindiennes, au point de former le genre des " Indians Pictures ". Joués par les concernés, ces personnages sont admirés pour leur force et leur sens de l'honneur. " Il y avait des réalisateurs et des comédiens indiens, explique David Kiehn dans le documentaire Hollywood et les Indiens, réalisé en 2009 par le cinéaste cri Neil Diamond. Ils exprimaient leur point de vue, on les écoutait. C'était une époque très ouverte. "

James Young Deer est considéré comme le premier cinéaste amérindien de l'histoire du cinéma. Il a écrit et tourné de nombreux films muets, à l'instar de Tragedies of the Osage Hills (1926), première adaptation fictive d'un fait divers marquant. Durant les années 1920, une série de meurtres d'autochtones osages est perpétrée par des Blancs, dans le but de s'emparer de leurs terres pétrolières. Dans L'ennemi silencieux (1930), le cinéaste H.P. Carver filme quant à lui les activités d'une tribu isolée dans les forêts canadiennes.

Mais, à partir des années 1930, la représentation des peuples natifs évolue. En plein essor, le genre du western adopte le point de vue des pionniers pour raconter la naissance de l'Amérique. Réalisé en 1939 par John Ford, La chevauchée fantastique devient le modèle par excellence. On y suit la périlleuse traversée, en 1883, d'une diligence de Blancs à travers la région de Monument Valley. Le groupe est attaqué par des membres de la tribu apache, menés par le célèbre Geronimo (incarné par Whitehorse).

Pour Jesse Wente, journaliste canadien des Premières Nations, La chevauchée fantastique est " l'un des films qui ont le plus nui aux Amérindiens, explique-t-il dans le documentaire. [...] Les Blancs sont assaillis de toutes parts par des sauvages. Les Indiens empêchent le progrès. Ils sont arriérés, méchants, sanguinaires. Ce film a conditionné pendant des décennies l'image que les Américains se son t faite des Indiens. [...] Et nous avons fini par nous-mêmes intégrer cette image. "

"Un bon indien est un Indien mort"*

Les westerns vivent leur âge d'or dans les années 1950, avec des films comme La flèche brisée (1950), La captive aux yeux clairs (1953) ou Convoi de femmes (1952) . Ils se concentrent en général sur la période historique dite des " guerres indiennes ", entre 1850 et 1890, durant laquelle les peuples autochtones se défendent face à l'expansionnisme américain. La figure du cow-boy bourru et héroïque, incarnée par John Wayne, excuse toutes les actions. Dans La prisonnière du désert (1956), son personnage profane une tombe indienne et tire sur le visage d'un Indien mort.

Environ 2 700 westerns ont été réalisés à Hollywood entre 1930 et 1954. Ils ont façonné le mythe de la conquête de l'Ouest dans l'imaginaire collectif. Dans cette histoire épique de la naissance de l'Amérique, les peuples natifs américains tiennent le rôle d'antagonistes, de caillou dans la chaussure des valeureux pionniers venus chercher une vie meilleure.

Les spécificités des peuples indigènes sont gommées pour créer un archétype reconnaissable, celui du guerrier féroce, qui scalpe les Blancs, se déplace sur son cheval, un arc sur l'épaule, vêtu de son costume en bison, sa coiffe à plumes et ses colliers de dents animales.

Les Indiens de cinéma vivent tous dans des tipis et pratiquent les mêmes rites, comme la danse du soleil. Le western met en place la dichotomie du " bon sauvage ", qui souhaite la paix entre les peuples, et du " mauvais sauvage ", qui fait la guerre aux Blancs. Les grandes stars blanches de l'époque, comme Chuck Connors, Burt Lancaster ou Anthony Quinn, jouent des rôles de chefs indiens, grimés avec du fond de teint. Quelques Amérindiens, comme Iron Ice Cody, Jay Silverheels ou Beulah Archuletta, parviennent néanmoins à faire carrière dans des rôles de second plan.

Les westerns prennent aussi d'assaut les foyers américains durant les années 1950, avec des succès comme la série The Lone Ranger (1949-1957) et son guerrier comanche, Tonto (Jay Silverheels). Le personnage sera repris en 2013 par Johnny Depp, accusé d' appropriation culturelle. D'autres séries, comme ​​ Gunsmoke (1955-1975) ou Bonanza (1959-1973) proposent parfois des intrigues centrées sur les peuples indigènes. De par sa nature épisodique, la télévision a permis aux Amérindiens une plus grande visibilité, mais elle a aussi perpétué des stéréotypes racistes.

Une vision plus nuancée

Les premières revendications de l'identité indienne voient le jour dans les années 1960. La contre-culture hippie, qui prône la vie en communauté et le retour à la nature, admire le mode de vie des peuples autochtones. Cependant, la fiction est rattrapée par la réalité. En 1973, Marlon Brando refuse son Oscar pour et envoie une membre de la tribu apache pour le représenter.

Sous les huées, Sacheen Littlefeather dénonce le mauvais traitement des Amérindiens par l'industrie du cinéma, de la télévision et attire l'attention sur la situation à Wounded Knee, où un affrontement a lieu entre des militants amérindiens et le FBI.

Situé dans le Dakota du Sud, Wounded Knee a été le théâtre de l'un des pires massacres de l'histoire américaine. En 1890, l'armée tire sur 300 personnes désarmées de la tribu Lakota, dont son chef, Big Foot. En 1970, plusieurs films représentent le génocide des Amérindiens de façon explicite.

Le soldat bleu raconte le massacre des Cheyennes par l'armée américaine, Un homme nommé cheval l'initiation d'un aristocrate anglais à la culture des Sioux, et Little Big Man la vie de Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), un blanc adopté par des Cheyennes. Arthur Penn utilise les codes du western, sans en reprendre les clichés racistes.

Il dépeint ses personnages amérindiens de façon plus juste. Par exemple, au sein de la tribu Cheyenne vit un Indien " Heemaney ", c'est-à-dire homosexuel, en harmonie avec les siens. Le film Jeremiah Johnson, réalisé par Sydney Pollack en 1972, explore la cohabitation d'un ermite (Robert Redford) avec diverses tribus amérindiennes, sans diabolisation ni angélisme.

Un génocide vu par les Blancs

Les néo-westerns des années 1970 ont créé un nouveau trope, celui de l'homme blanc qui adopte les coutumes indiennes. Le grand succès des années 1990, Danse avec les loups, joué et réalisé par Kevin Costner, reprend cette idée. Traumatisé par la guerre de Sécession, le soldat John Dunbar se lie d'amitié avec une tribu sioux. Il finit par vivre avec elle et s'opposer au colonialisme américain. Il assiste au génocide progressif de son peuple d'adoption.

D'un côté, ce procédé encourage l'empathie du public blanc envers les peuples amérindiens. De l'autre, le personnage tombe dans le syndrome du " sauveur blanc " et se révèle souvent meilleur guerrier que les membres de la tribu.

" On sent bien que ce film n'est pas réalisé par les Amérindiens, analyse Jesse Wente dans le documentaire Hollywood et les Indiens. C'est un film sur nous, fait avec bienveillance, mais il ne nous décrit pas tels que nous sommes. " En 1992, Le dernier des Mohicans de Michael Mann reprend ce trope en suivant l'épopée de Nathanael (Daniel Day-Lewis), un orphelin européen élevé par les Mohicans, qui va se révéler le plus héroïque des guerriers.

Ces succès au box-office ont le mérite de laisser une place à des acteurs amérindiens comme Graham Greene, Russell Means, Wes Studi ou Gary Farmer, qui tournent dans des films comme Cœur de tonnerre (1992), Geronimo (1993) et Dead Man (1995).

Le dessin animé Disney Pocahontas, une légende indienne (1995) critique quant à lui les ravages de la colonisation et de l'ethnocentrisme, tout en romantisant l'histoire de la jeune femme, bien plus tragique en réalité. À Hollywood, les femmes autochtones ont longtemps été reléguées à des seconds rôles stéréotypés d'épouses et de mères sacrificielles. Dans les westerns, elles servent de monnaie d'échange et leur temps de parole est extrêmement réduit.

Se réapproprier son histoire

À la fin des années 1990, une voix artistique indigène se fait entendre, partout dans le monde. En 1998, le film Phoenix, Arizona réalisé par Chris Eyre, membre des tribus Cheyenne et Arapaho, suit les péripéties contemporaines de deux ados amérindiens en road trip, avec un humour bienveillant. Le réalisateur confiait ainsi à : " La seule chose que vous obtenez en faisant des films d'époque sur les Indiens est la culpabilité. Je m'intéresse à ce que les cinéastes non indiens ne peuvent pas faire, qui est de représenter les Indiens contemporains. "

Dans les années 2000, le western renaît de ses cendres à la télévision et tente de diversifier les points de vue. La mini-série épique Into the west, produite en 2005 par Steven Spielberg, suit les vies entremêlées de deux familles au XIX e siècle, l'une de la nation Lakota et l'autre blanche. La double perspective laisse une vraie place aux personnages autochtones comme Loved by the Buffalo, qui cherche à préserver la tradition Lakota.

À la même époque, le très bon téléfilm de HBO Enterre mon cœur à Wounded Knee (2007) retrace le massacre historique de 1890 à travers les yeux de Charles Eastman (Adam Beach), un médecin sioux ayant réellement existé.

Pour le réalisateur Chris Eyre, le retour en force du western sur le petit écran est " vraiment le reflet de notre situation actuelle, à savoir que nous sommes toujours aux prises avec les questions de nos origines et avec notre identité en tant qu'Amérique unifiée ". Portée par Jason Momoa dans le rôle d'un hors-la-loi cri, la série Frontier (2016-2018) évoque par exemple les luttes des peuples autochtones au XVIII e siècle pour défendre leurs terres et leur culture face aux corporations.

Des séries plus réalistes

Lancée en 2018 et portée par Kevin Costner, la série Yellowstone suit de son côté les aventures contemporaines de la famille Dutton, qui possède le plus grand ranch des États-Unis, situé près d'une réserve amérindienne. Ce néo-western, très populaire outre-Atlantique, a été épinglé pour sa représentation des Natifs américains. Pour Liza Black, chercheuse à UCLA, le showrunner Taylor Sheridan " efface l'histoire entre les autochtones et les colons, transformant le Montana en un lieu de force brute sans passé national ".

Réalisée par Peter Berg et disponible le 9 janvier sur Netflix, la mini-série American Primeval ( À l'aube de l'Amérique en français) se présente comme un savant mélange entre Jeremiah Johnson et Danse avec les loups. Sara Rowell (Betty Gilpin), une femme blanche en fuite avec son fils, va croiser le chemin d'Isaac (Taylor Kitsch), un ermite blanc élevé par une tribu d'Amérindiens, et de Two Moons (Shawnee Pourier) une adolescente amérindienne muette. Le groupe hétéroclite tente de rejoindre Cook Springs, au milieu de la soif expansionniste des mormons, qui deviennent les " méchants " de l'histoire.

À l'image de westerns sériels comme Godless (2017) et The English (2022), la série explore la violence inhérente à la colonisation. Le génocide des Premiers Peuples est présent en arrière-plan, dans les terres volées, les massacres et les arcs narratifs des personnages secondaires.

Un regard natif américain tourné vers l'avenir

Avec le western, le polar est le genre dans lequel les peuples autochtones sont le plus représentés. En 2022, Chris Eyre réalise des épisodes de la série Dark Winds. Écrite par des scénaristes natifs américains, elle suit les enquêtes de trois officiers de la police tribale navajo dans les années 1970, riches en contestation.

L'excellente saison 4 de True Detective (2024,) tourne quant à elle autour de la résistance des femmes de la tribu Iñupiaq, en Alaska. Sorti en 2023, le film Killers of the Flower Moon de Martin Scorsese explore à son tour les tueries des Osages dans les années 1920 et révèle le talent de Lily Gladstone, première actrice native américaine à remporter un Golden Globe.

Écrite par des scénaristes autochtones - dont ses créateurs Taika Waititi et Sterlin Harjo - au début des années 2020, Reservation Dogs suivait le quotidien d'adolescents indigènes dans une ville de la nation Muscogee. Le personnage de Spirit (Dallas Goldtooth), un esprit amérindien facétieux, était alors une réponse burlesque aux stéréotypes des westerns. La série explorait ainsi les conséquences du génocide amérindien en s'intéressant aux générations qui portent cet héritage et perpétuent un esprit de résistance. Malheureusement, ces récits-là nous parviennent encore trop peu.
*Phrase célèbre attribuée au général Sheridan

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Comment Hollywood représente-t-il le génocide des Natifs américains ?

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Attendue le 9 janvier sur Netflix, la mini-série "American Primeval" ("À l'aube de l'Amérique") s'inscrit dans le renouveau du western sur le petit écran.

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The truth behind the boy in the picture  listening

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The truth behind the boy in the picture  listening

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In the first episode of season four, The Secret Life of Canada investigates the history behind one of the most referenced images connected to the Canadian Residential School system.

Often published with the title "Before and After", the photographs come with scant detail about the child in the photos. Who was this boy? What was his name? Where was he from and what happened to him after he was taken from home?

Co-hosts Leah Simone-Bowen and Falen Johnson go deep into the archives. With the help of filmmaker Louise BigEagle and journalist and writer Paul Seesequasis, creator of the Indigenous Archival Photo Project, they try to piece together the details and find that the images themselves may not be exactly as they appear.

What you'll hear this episode

A detailed description of the two images.

Why these photographs were taken and what they were used for.

The history behind the creation of the Regina Indian Industrial School.

An interview with filmmaker Louise BigEagle

Details about the life of Thomas Moore Keesick.

An interview with journalist and writer Paul Seesequasis, the creator of the Indigenous Archival Photo Project.

A closer look at the two photographs and what they can tell us.

How early photographic ethnographers constructed images of Indigenous people.

How the Indigenous Archival Photo Project is working to re-claim historical images.

More on one of Paul's favourite images (see below) from the archival project.

Key References

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The truth behind the boy in the picture | CBC Radio

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In the first episode of season four, The Secret Life of Canada investigates the history behind one of the most referenced images connected to the Canadian Residential School system. Often published with the title "Before and After", the photographs come with scant detail about the child in the photos.

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Pope’s apology to Indigenous peoples for abuse at residential schools insufficient, Canada says

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Pope’s apology to Indigenous peoples for abuse at residential schools insufficient, Canada says

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QUEBEC CITY (AP) - The Canadian government made clear Wednesday that Pope Francis' apology to Indigenous peoples for abuses in the country's church-run residential schools didn't go far enough, suggesting that reconciliation over the fraught history is still very much a work in progress.

The official government reaction came as Francis arrived in Quebec City for meetings with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon at her Quebec residence, the hilltop Citadelle fortress, on the second leg of Francis' week-long visit to Canada.
WATCH: Pope apologizes for 'evil' school abuses committed against Indigenous peoples in Canada
The government's criticisms echo those of some survivors and concern Francis' omission of any reference to the sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children in the schools, as well as his original reluctance to name the Catholic Church as an institution bearing responsibility.

Francis has said he is on a "penitential pilgrimage" to atone for the church's role in the residential school system, in which generations of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes and forced to attend church-run, government-funded boarding schools to assimilate them into Christian, Canadian society. The Canadian government has said physical and sexual abuse were rampant at the schools, with students beaten for speaking their native languages.

Francis on Monday apologized for the "evil" of church personnel who worked in the schools and the "catastrophic" effect of the school system on Indigenous families. In a speech before government authorities Wednesday, Francis apologized anew and blasted the school system as "deplorable."

Francis noted that the school system was "promoted by the governmental authorities at the time" as part of a policy of assimilation and enfranchisement. But responding to criticism, he added that "local Catholic institutions had a part" in implementing that policy.

Indigenous peoples have long demanded that the pope assume responsibility not just for abuses committed by individual Catholic priests and religious orders, but for the Catholic Church's institutional support of the assimilation policy and the papacy's 15th century religious justification for European colonial expansion to spread Christianity.

More than 150,000 Native children in Canada were taken from their homes from the 19th century until the 1970s and placed in the schools in an effort to isolate them from the influence of their families and culture.

Trudeau, a Catholic whose father, Pierre Trudeau, was prime minister while the last residential schools were in operation, insisted that the Catholic Church as an institution bore blame and needed to do more to atone.

Speaking before Francis, he noted that Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 had called for a papal apology to be delivered on Canadian soil, but that Francis' visit "would not have been possible without the courage and perseverance" of survivors of First Nations, Inuit and Metis who travelled to the Vatican last spring to press their case for an apology.

"Apologies for the role that the Roman Catholic Church, as an institution, played in the mistreatment on the spiritual, cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse that Indigenous children suffered in residential schools run by the church," Trudeau said.

The Canadian government has apologized for its role in the school legacy. Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a formal apology over the residential schools in Parliament in 2008, calling them a sad chapter in Canadian history and saying the policy of forced assimilation caused great harm.

As part of a settlement of a lawsuit involving the government, churches and the approximately 90,000 surviving students, Canada paid reparations that amounted to billions of dollars being transferred to Indigenous communities. The Catholic Church, for its part, has paid over $50 million and intends to add $30 million more over the next five years.

Trudeau implied that much more needed to be done by the church, and that while Francis' visit had "an enormous impact" on survivors, it was but a first step.

Aside from the content of his speech, Trudeau's remarks broke customary protocol for papal trips. According to diplomatic protocol, only Simon was supposed to address the pope in her capacity as the representative head of state. Simon, an Inuk who is the first Indigenous person to hold the largely ceremonial position governor general, did address Francis.

But the Vatican said Trudeau's office requested the prime minister be allowed to offer some introductory remarks, a request that arrived in the days before Francis left Rome but after the pope's itinerary had been finalized and printed.

A senior Canadian government official said Trudeau typically delivers remarks during visits by foreign leaders and that it was important for him to address Canadians during Francis' visit "particularly given the importance of the matter." It was, however, added in at the last minute.

Before Francis arrived in Quebec City, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said the "gaps" in Francis' apology could not be ignored.

Echoing criticism from some school survivors, Miller noted that Francis didn't mention sexual abuse in his list of abuses endured by Indigenous children in the schools. Francis on Monday listed instead physical, verbal, psychological and spiritual abuse. In addition, Miller noted that Francis on Monday spoke of "evil" committed by individual Christians "but not the Catholic Church as an institution."

Phil Fontaine, a survivor of sexual abuse at the schools and former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, said the additional reference Wednesday to "local Catholic institutions" went beyond Francis' original apology and was significant and the closest he could get to apologizing for the entire Church in Canada.
READ MORE: Pope's 'penitential pilgrimage' to Canada marks rethink of Catholic Church's legacy on First Nations people
"It reflects the reality that the Catholic Church in Canada is not one institution. It is made up of about 73 different legal institutions, all of which were defendants in the lawsuits," Fontaine said in a statement.

Francis' visit has stirred mixed emotions among survivors and their relatives, as well as Indigenous leaders and community members. Some have welcomed his apology as genuine and useful in helping them heal. Others have said it was merely the first step in a long process of reconciliation. Still others have said it didn't go far enough in assuming responsibility for institutional wrongs dating back centuries.

Francis himself has acknowledged that the wounds will take time to heal and that his visit and apology were but first steps. On Wednesday he committed himself and the local Canadian church to "move forward on a fraternal and patient journey with all Canadians, in accordance with truth and justice, working for healing and reconciliation, and constantly inspired by hope."

"It is our desire to renew the relationship between the Church and the Indigenous peoples of Canada, a relationship marked both by a love that has borne outstanding fruit and, tragically, deep wounds that we are committed to understanding and healing," he said.

But he didn't list any specific actions the Holy See was prepared to take.

Trudeau, too, said the visit was a beginning and that reconciliation was the duty of everyone. "It's our responsibility to see our differences not as an obstacle but as an occasion to learn, to better understand one another and to move to action."

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Pope's apology to Indigenous peoples for abuse at residential schools insufficient, Canada says

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The government's criticism echoes those of survivors and concern Francis' omission of any reference to the sexual abuse suffered by Indigenous children in the schools, as well as his refusal to name the Catholic Church as an institution bearing any responsibility.

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Trudeau's speech : 'A painful chapter of Canada's history'

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Trudeau's speech : 'A painful chapter of Canada's history'

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized to former students of five Newfoundland and Labrador residential schools on Friday, calling the statement long overdue.

Read the prime minister's full speech.:

Kuei (Kw-ay),

Atelehai (Ah-teel-Lee-hi).

Hello everyone.

Thank you all for being here.

Before we begin, I'd like recognize that we are in the homeland of the Inuit and Innu.

We are here today to acknowledge a historic wrong.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Moravian Mission and the International Grenfell Association, with the support of the provincial government, established schools with dormitory residences for Indigenous children in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Five residential schools were built and operated with the stated purpose of providing education.

To Innu, Innuit, and NunatuKavut children, those who ran the schools promised better jobs, better opportunities and a better life.

And to their parents, they promised that their children would be cared for and provided for.

They promised that their children would be safe at the Lockwood School in Cartwright, Makkovik Boarding School, the Nain Boarding School, the St. Anthony Orphanage and Boarding School, and the Yale School.

However, we know today that this colonial way of thinking led to practices that caused deep harm.

Punished for speaking their language, prohibited from practising their culture, the children were isolated from their families, uprooted from their communities and stripped of their identity.

They were made to feel irrelevant and inferior.

They were taught to be ashamed of who they were, of where they were from.

We know this because of the exceptional courage and strength of survivors, and other former students, who came forward and shared their stories.

Because of them, we now know the truth about the abuse students suffered and the trauma they endured.

Many were sorely neglected, and not properly fed, clothed or housed.

Others suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

All were deprived of the love and care of their parents, families and communities.

These are the hard truths that are part of Canada's history.

These are the hard truths we must confront as a society.

Today, I humbly stand before you to offer a long overdue apology to the former students of the Lockwood School in Cartwright, the Makkovik Boarding School, the Nain Boarding School, the St. Anthony Orphanage and Boarding School and the Yale School in Newfoundland and Labrador on behalf of the government of Canada and all Canadians.

Pijâgingilagut (pe-yah-gin-gi-lah-goot)

Apu ushtutatat (a-poo oos-too-ta-dat)

Sadly, not all former students are here with us today, having passed away without being able to hear this apology.

We are sorry for not apologizing sooner. For not righting this wrong before now.

We honour their spirits and cherish their memories.

To the families, loved ones and communities impacted by the tragic legacy of these schools:

Pijâgingilagut (pe-yah-gin-gi-lah-goot)

Apu ushtutatat (a-poo oos-too-ta-dat)

To all of you, we are sorry.

For far too many students, profound cultural loss led to poverty, family violence, substance abuse and community breakdown. It led to mental and physical health issues that have impeded their happiness and that of their family.

Far too many continue to face adversity today as a result of time spent in residential schools and for that we are sorry.

We are sorry for the misguided belief that Indigenous children could only be properly provided for, cared for or educated if they were separated from the influence of their families, traditions and cultures.

We are sorry for a time when Indigenous cultures were undervalued, when Indigenous languages, spiritual beliefs and ways of life were falsely deemed to be inferior.

This kind of thinking - the kind of thinking that led to the establishment of the residential school system and left deep scars for so many - has no place in our society.

It was unacceptable then, and it is unacceptable now.

For too long, Canada has let you carry this burden alone.

In 2008, the government of Canada issued an official apology to the former students of Indian residential schools, but they failed to tell your story.

We know that the delay has caused you greater pain and suffering. The absence of an apology recognizing your experiences has been an impediment to healing and reconciliation.

Saying that we are sorry today is not enough.

It will not erase the loneliness you have felt; it will not undo the harm you have suffered.

It will not bring back the languages and traditions you have lost.

It will not take away the isolation and vulnerability you felt when separated from your families, communities and cultures.

It will not repair the hardships you endured in the years that followed as you struggled to recover from what you experienced in the schools and move forward with your lives.

But today I'm here to tell you, on behalf of the government of Canada and of all Canadians, that this burden is one you no longer have to carry alone.

It is my sincere hope that you can finally get some closure - that you can put your inner child to rest.

That you can finally begin to heal.

The treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools is a painful chapter of Canada's history that we must confront.

For too long, it's a chapter we chose to skip; a chapter we chose to leave out of our textbooks.

Out of shame, out of denial, Canadians and their governments have turned a blind eye on this story because it runs counter to the promise of this country and the ambition of its people.

It's time for Canada to acknowledge its history for what it is: flawed, imperfect and unfinished.

It's time for us to recognize our failings in tandem with our successes, and live up to our principles we cherish and ideals we hold.

Reconciliation between the government of Canada and Indigenous peoples and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples is an ongoing process.

We know that it won't happen overnight.

But it is my hope that in apologizing today, in acknowledging the past and asking for forgiveness, that as a country, we will continue to advance on the path of reconciliation together.

The Newfoundland and Labrador residential schools settlement is an example of reconciliation in action, a settlement with healing and commemoration at its core.

All Canadians have much to learn not only from the hardship former students have endured, but from the incredible strength they have displayed in the face of adversity.

The bravery shown by former students, who made this settlement possible, and the resilience displayed by entire communities cannot be overstated.

I hope that you will continue to tell your stories in your own way and in your own words as this healing and commemoration process unfolds.

Let this day mark the beginning of a new chapter in our history - one in which we vow to never forget the harm we have caused you and vow to renew our relationship.

Let this new chapter be one in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous people build the future they want together.

Tshinashkumitin (Ta-Na-qwo-mit-in),

Nakummek (Nuck-kum-meek).

Thank you.

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'A painful chapter of Canada's history': Read the PM's apology for N.L. residential schools | CBC News

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Calling it a "hard truth" Canada must confront, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau formally apologized to former students of Newfoundland and Labrador residential schools on Friday. Read his full speech.

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How the idealized cowboy helped build an imagined America

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How the idealized cowboy helped build an imagined America

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This episode is part one of a two-part series called The Cowboy's Lament.
There's no more powerful story in the American imagination than how the West was won.

For many, the story of the cowboy on horseback, the sheriff with the tin star, and the ranchers on cattle drive all make up a myth of how the republic came to be. It's a story of romance: gunslingers and poker cheats and men who got rich on mines and railways.

But the myth of the West - a tale of endless expansion on the frontier - has for 200 years been more than a story to tell around the campfire. It has become a tool to explain a political ideology, and a way to sugar-coat the expulsion and mass murder of Indigenous peoples.

"It has to do with conquering nature and conquering the peoples that are encountered in the American West," says William Deverell, professor of history at the University of Southern California.

"And so the myth is, on the one hand, triumphant. On the other hand, [it's] deeply disturbing because of the damage the myth has provoked on the landscape and in the hearts, minds and lives of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people."

Deverell says the roots of the myth have to do with a very American idea of independence and self-reliance that persist to this day.

"The United States was a country that essentially had no past," asserts H.W. Brands, of the University of Texas at Austin and author of Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West.

"So it had to create a future. And the future for Americans meant westward expansion."

'Unmapped' land open for business

It began with the Louisiana Purchase. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson bought an unmapped territory from the French that stretched from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico, from the Mississippi to the Great Divide. He opened it up for exploration, which really meant opening it up for business.

A railway followed and from there grew settlement and the goal of turning wild resources into capital: gold, silver, untilled farmland were up for grabs.

The problem, of course, was that the "unmapped" territory wasn't empty. People lived there, and had for thousands of years.

"Manifest Destiny, the right to go and seize land, is the foundational myth of the United States," according to Julian Brave NoiseCat, an Indigenous writer in Washington, D.C.

"There was this idea that the common man could just go west, and become a landowner, build a successful farm, and escape."

Indigenous people, such as the Lakota Sioux in what is now South Dakota, were simply 'in the way' and with the intervention of the U.S. Cavalry, the federal government moved the tribes onto reservations or killed them in the process. The myth mostly glosses over this chapter of the story of the West, says NoiseCat.

"You know, we often turned the reality of how that land was procured and taken into a footnote where Native people were engaged in warfare and their lands were taken, and then they were put on reservations and, you know, we pat our hands together and that's that."

After the frontier closes

By the end of the 19th century, the myth of the West had taken hold. Historians downplayed the fate of the Indigenous nations who'd been in the way of commercial progress, and instead told a story of an America that built success from scratch, through the effort of settlers and farmers and cowboys.

The problem, as a young historian named Frederick Jackson Turner told his colleagues at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, was that America had reached the finish line: the West was full. There was no more land to conquer. And that fact points to a massive question.

"What comes after the frontier is imperialism, right?" says Philip Deloria, a professor of Native American History at Harvard University.

"It's the continuation of this process of going out and conquering other people and taking their stuff, taking their land, and now it's just going to be global."

After the closing of the frontier came the annexation of Hawaii, then the Philippines. From there, the story of American foreign policy in the 20th century unfolds: satellite states, Vietnam, the global marketplace, even outer space.

The myth of the West continues to drive a political ideology of expansion.

According to Deloria, that expansion occurs through popular culture: dime novels, the stories of the Riders of the Purple Sage and - of course - Hollywood and the western movies.

These artifacts of culture play up the romance of the West and keep the ideas of expansion and progress fresh in the American imagination.

"It's a massive cultural infrastructure," argues Deloria, "that convinces everybody that there is this thing called the frontier, and that it's important."

William Deverell is professor of history at University of Southern California Dornsife in Los Angeles.

H.W. Brands is professor of history at University of Texas at Austin, and author of Dreams of El Dorado: A History of the American West.

Philip Deloria teaches Native American History at Harvard University. He is of Dakota descent, and his father, the late Vine Deloria Jr., was an Indigenous activist who wrote Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto (1969).

Julian Brave NoiseCat is an Indigenous writer in Washington D.C.

Jennifer McMahon is professor of philosophy and English at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.

Joseph McBride is a film historian and author of Searching for John Ford.

Martha A. Sandweiss is professor of history at Princeton University.

Greg Grandin is professor of history at Yale University, and author of The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2020.

*This episode was produced by Tom Jokinen with help from Nicola Luksic.

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How the idealized cowboy helped build an imagined America | CBC Radio

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The potent Images of the cowboy and the six shooter have shaped the myth of the American West: pioneer freedom and frontier towns. In this first episode of a two-part series, IDEAS explores the myth of the West, and how the values of individual freedom and boundless conquest continue to feed America's political ideology.

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The Time Marlon Brando Boycotted Oscars to Protest Hollywood's Treatment of Native Americans

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The Time Marlon Brando Boycotted Oscars to Protest Hollywood's Treatment of Native Americans

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The Time Marlon Brando Boycotted Oscars to Protest Hollywood

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Marlon Brando rejected his 1973 Oscar Award for The Godfather:

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Marlon Brando rejected his 1973 Oscar Award for The Godfather:

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Marlon Brando's Best Actor Oscar win for "The Godfather" | Sacheen Littlefeather

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Marco is sent by Effing, the old man he is taking care of, to observe a painting in the Brooklyn Museum.

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2 The Loss of Native American Lands Within the US Every Year

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What Life On the Trail of Tears Was Like

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The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants were required to live on and "improve" their plot by cultivating the land. After five years on the land, the original filer was entitled to the property, free and clear, except for a small registration fee. Title could also be acquired after only a six-month residency and trivial improvements, provided the claimant paid the government $1.25 per acre. After the Civil War, Union soldiers could deduct the time they had served from the residency requirements.

Although this act was included in the Republican party platform of 1860, support for the idea began decades earlier. Even under the Articles of Confederation, before 1787, the distribution of government lands generated much interest and discussion.

The act, however, proved to be no panacea for poverty. Comparatively few laborers and farmers could afford to build a farm or acquire the necessary tools, seed, and livestock. In the end, most of those who purchased land under the act came from areas quite close to their new homesteads (Iowans moved to Nebraska, Minnesotans to South Dakota, and so on). Unfortunately, the act was framed so ambiguously that it seemed to invite fraud, and early modifications by Congress only compounded the problem. Most of the land went to speculators, cattle owners, miners, loggers, and railroads. Of some 500 million acres dispersed by the General Land Office between 1862 and 1904, only 80 million acres went to homesteaders. Indeed, small farmers acquired more land under the Homestead Act in the 20th century than in the 19th.

Transcript
CHAP. LXXV. -An Act to secure Homesteads to actual Settlers on the Public Domain.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said person may have filed a preemption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to preemption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed: Provided, That any person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or shall have performed service in the army or navy of the United States, and that he has never borne arms against the Government of the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or, if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death; shall. prove by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has borne rue allegiance to the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided for by law: And provided, further, That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an Infant child, or children, under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall ensure to the benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children for the time being have their domicile, sell said land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States, on payment of the office fees and sum of money herein specified.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the register of the land office shall note all such applications on the tract books and plats of, his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That if, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and before the expiration of the five years aforesaid, it shall be proven, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land office, that the person having filed such affidavit shall have actually changed his or her residence, or abandoned the said land for more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the government.

SEC. 6. And be it further enacted, That no individual shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter section under the provisions of this act; and that the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices shall be entitled to receive the same compensation for any lands entered under the provisions of this act that they are now entitled to receive when the same quantity of land is entered with money, one half to be paid by the person making the application at the time of so doing, and the other half on the issue of the certificate by the person to whom it may be issued; but this shall not be construed to enlarge the maximum of compensation now prescribed by law for any register or receiver: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to impair or interfere in any manner whatever with existing preemption rights: And provided, further, That all persons who may have filed their applications for a preemption right prior to the passage of this act, shall be entitled to all privileges of this act: Provided, further, That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years.

SEC. 7. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," approved the third of March, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits, required or authorized by this act.

SEC. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the government, as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting preemption rights.

APPROVED, May 20, 1862.

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EnlargeDownload Link Citation: Act of May 20, 1862 (Homestead Act), Public Law 37-64 (12 STAT 392); 5/20/1862; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789 - 2011; General Records of the United States Government, Record Group 11; National Archives Building, Washington, DC.

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Journeys, territories, borders

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10. They called me Number 1, Bev Sellars

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10. They called me Number 1, Bev Sellars

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I know you're sorry,Anishinaabe MC, Leonard Summer

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I know you're sorry,Anishinaabe MC, Leonard Summer

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'I Know You're Sorry:' one Anishinaabe MC and poet's response to all of Canada's apologies

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Why residential schools in U.S. have remained part of the country's buried past , National Post,2021

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Why residential schools in U.S. have remained part of the country's buried past , National Post,2021

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Custer's Last Stand, the battle of Little Big Horn

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Custer's Last Stand, the battle of Little Big Horn

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Kids learn about the Battle of the Little Bighorn (also called Custer's Last Stand) including the leaders, what caused the battle, interesting facts, and the aftermath.

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9. We were all wounded at Wounded Knee, Redbone

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9. We were all wounded at Wounded Knee, Redbone

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Redbone - We Were All Wounded At Wounded Knee  - Lyrics

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Kids learn about the Wounded Knee Massacre including events leading up, the Ghost Dance, Sitting Bull's death, what happened at Wounded Knee, aftermath, and interesting facts.

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9. We were all wounded at Wounded Knee,Redbone

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9. We were all wounded at Wounded Knee,Redbone

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Kids learn about the biography of Sitting Bull. Chief of the Lakota Sioux Nation and leader of the Indians at the Battle of Little Big Horn.