Ivan Star Comes Out
Digging into America’s veiled history
By Ivan F. Star Comes Out Long before I was born my ancestors endured genocide under the banner of Manifest Destiny. We continue to endure the vilest of what is now referred to as racism. Most things evolve, but I continue to endure the majority’s insensitivity which is often laced with outright hatred. Naturally, I thought about why a group of people consider themselves superior to all others, specifically Native Americans. The common English dictionary defines Racism as “the notion that one’s own ethnic stock is superior.” Manifest is defined as “clearly apparent to the sight or understanding” and Destiny as “the predetermined or inevitable course of events considered beyond the power or control of people.” These descriptions have dominated “Indian” country since 1492 and continue hand-in-hand today. In all honesty, this pervasive public demeanor was so prevalent that I grew up not wanting to be “Indian.” With the exception of the academics, the overall atmosphere of my 50s and early 60s boarding school experience was bad. I was not totally aware at the time, but I later learned that their American history curriculum was largely devoid of indigenous peoples. I am a humble Lakota person, meaning I am not of European origin, but I “discovered” many reasons for this all-encompassing self-centered and overconfident demeanor of nearly every American citizen. So, with weary but determined voice, I am directing a small bit of light on this long-standing insensitive conviction that European characteristics and abilities are God-given and therefore superior. I allude to a historical document that aided the colonists in gaining freedom from tyranny. Sadly, it also gave rise to a mass departure from humanity to a group of avaricious people “hell bent” on acquiring as much worldly wealth as possible at any cost, including human lives and the wellbeing of the earth itself. Awkwardly, this renowned document continues to emphasize this one-sided disposition. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson June 11, 1776 and as such is now considered the new nation’s most cherished symbol of liberty. The document’s noble and haunting terms captured the sentiments of the minds and hearts of the colonists. Their ideals for individual and collective liberty are expressed as “self-evident truths.” It is ironic though that, according to this document, the United States was founded on equality, a new concept in the minds of the early colonists. I believe the colonists, including their descendants, did not fully understand that the significance of parity, classlessness, fairness, impartiality, and equal opportunity is meaningless unless everyone is included, even other “lesser” races. Otherwise, it is racism. We must always preserve in our minds the fact that the aristocratic monocracies of Europe denied the colonists freedoms the likes of which they never experienced in Europe. The declaration is a list of grievances against the Crown justifying their break from Britain. This document is also called the “27 Complaints Against King George III.” Since the treasured historic document is lengthy, I am using only portions of it to point out its odd and awkward predisposition to my existence as a Lakota person. The first two complaints appear to have been the most pressing situation for the colonists. Interestingly, these particular grievances describe our current relationship with Congress. First complaint, “He has refused to assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Second, “He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be attained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.” Actually most of the points written in this list of complaints mirror the relationship between indigenous people and the United States government. If a reader can substitute the words Crown and Colonists with U.S. and Indigenous peoples, one may be able to see the similarities. Of course it may be impossible from the oppressor’s lofty disposition. Anyway, the 27th “self-evident truth” is the most awkward for me as a Lakota person as it epitomizes my lifelong struggle within modern society. “He has excited domestic insurrections against us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguishable destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.” The erroneously degrading discernment within this complaint remains prevalent today among the majority. I have seen it as well on my home reservation. Internalized oppression has become the norm here on the Pine Ridge indicating that it may be prevalent among indigenous people themselves. All of this began in 1452 with Pope Nicholas V’s papal decree Dum Diversas (Until Change) granting King Alfonso V of Portugal the right to reduce non-Christians in West Africa to hereditary slavery, thereby legitimizing the colonial slave trade. The king was conferred with the right to “attack, conquer, and subjugate Saracens, Pagans, and any other enemies of Christ wherever they may be found.” This decree is now perceived by many as the precursor to Manifest Destiny in the Americas. The cherished Declaration of Independence embodies imperialistic expansion. I find it very awkward when people defend Manifest Destiny as necessary and benevolent. Meanwhile, I am trying, vainly of course, to enjoy life under the banner of equal, political, economic, and legal rights for all of humankind. The bottom line being that this hallowed declaration of freedom reinforces the largely biased and adverse attitudes and actions of the majority regarding “Indians.” Consequently, Native Americans continue to cope with a long list of negative social statistics, like high dropout rates and academic underachievement, alcohol, drug, and domestic abuse, suicide, poverty, and that ever-present bigotry. After a lifetime of survival, I now take this document for what it is, a declaration of independence exclusively for colonists and their descendants. For Native America, it has been and still is an agonizing existence. I can “see” now how this important and treasured document fortifies the national predisposed arrogance in these modern “civilized” times. I am a veteran who defended this nation courageously and honorably. What I fought for is now hazy but it certainly is not freedom. I am a baptized Catholic but I am able to respect that faith so long as it stays within its own boundaries. Meanwhile, I found my own meaningful spiritual observance. The only option left for me is to continue digging into this country’s veiled history, specifically those historical facts relevant to “Indians,” and to continue sharing those truths with the misinformed masses until I am silenced in the name of Manifest Destiny and its partisan freedoms. Ivan F. Star Comes Out can be reached at POB 147, Oglala, SD 57764; 605-867-2448; or mato_nasula2@outlook.com Copyright permission Native Sun News
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