Genocide of the Mind:New Native American Writing

Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing, edited by MariJo Moore, Thunders Mouth Press/Nation Books, New York, 2003

From the essay, Home:Urban and Reservation by Barbara Helen Hill
"Clans follow the matrilineal line. In our home communities is you do not have a Clan to go home to, you are not considered and Indian. That presents a problem in itself because here in Canada the government has set up a line with patrilineal descendants. Legally you are an Indian in the eyes of the law if your father is an Indian but not in the traditional way if your mother isn't. We now have a lot of Indians with a card saying they are Indians but with the traditional people denying them anything. They are not considered Indians because they don't have a Clan, thus they are denied traditional information." (p. 26, speaking of Canada)

from the essay Everyone Needs Someone by MariJo Moore

"When I was growing up in the fifties, it wasn't as acceptable to be American Indian as it is now. There was no Dances With Wolves over which non-Indians romanticized. No rebellious young people totally distraught over the Vietnam War, looking for answers to society's ills through spiritual teachings. No one looking to become a medicine healer, shaman, or pipe carrier overnight. And very few who wanted to claim Indianness in order to escape the accusation of the raping of the environment. Indians were looked down on even more so that today. I still carry a bit of the pain of having Indian blood, although I have learned it is not only my pain I am carrying but also Granddaddy's and those who have gone before.

Through my writings and travels, I have met many people who claim Indian ancestry for various reasons. " (p. 42)

she then discusses how numerous people seek to be given "Indian names' as if that will make them Indian. (p. 43)

Chapter 5 Preface "Who We Are. Who We Are Not:Memories, Misconceptions, and Modifications"

"Today, after five centuries of Eurocentrism, most people have no idea which American Indian tribes still exist and which have been totally obliterated. Nor are they sure which traditions belong to what tribes. Over the years the public has been inundated with various presentations of Indian stereotyping thanks to movies and literature depicting Indigenous peoples as spiritual gurus, pagan savages, Indian princesses, or pitiful burdens of society-all this always with a mishmash of tribal cultures and traditions.

Fortunately, over the past decade there has been a rising interest in the accurate depiction of Native cultures and histories, as well as present-day struggles. More and more people (Indian and non) have become interested and respectful of the truths that somehow evaded history books." (P. 229)

From essay "Pyramids, Art, Museums, and Bones:Some Brief Memories" by David Bunn Martine

"During the 1950s, my family appeared on several TV shows. My (p. 258) grandmother described the history being depicted in the then-new movie Apache with Burt Lancaster and Jean Peters. This was a movie about the last days of the 'Geronimo War' and was quite accurate and sympathetic toward the Indian cause for the time. Grandpa and Mother sang Apache songs with Steve Allen, Ernie Kovacs, and Dave Garroway." (p. 259)

from the essay Raising the American Indian Community House by Mifaunway Shunatona Hines

"I gained self-confidence to the extent that one day on reading a New York Times story about black women organizing, I was inspired to call Charlotte Curtis, the Times special sections editor. She created history for us by appointing reporter Judy Klemesrud to do a story complete with head shots, which became the first New York Times story about New York City American Indian women. It was September 18, 1968, and this article was the springboard we needed. The overall story was about our efforts to promote the new 'Indianness' to combat the emerging 'Indian is in' fashion madness. " (p. 284)

"Meantime, the headlines continued, only now the inclusion of New York City Indian presence became almost routine. In 1971 New York Times stories covered the Puyallup fish-ins in Washington, the New York State Senate's bill to return wampum belts to the Iroquois, and similar, ..." (p. 281)