Native American Heritage Month By: Chau Anh Nguyen
With November being Native American Heritage Month, it is especially important for us now than ever to learn more about indigenous history and issues, as well as uplift and support indigenous creators! Here are just a few ways you can honor Native American Heritage Month if you’re not of indigenous background! 1. Knowing the Land We Are On One of the best and most crucial ways we can honor Native American Heritage Month is by learning about the land that we reside on. Long before Stockton was established, this land was home to the Yatchicumne, which is a group of the Northern Valley Yokuts that have lived here for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans. They had established villages alongside areas, such as Mormon Slough, the Stockton Deepwater Channel, and Bear Creek. They also built their structures on low mounds to keep their homes above floods. The Stockton Channel, located between Edison and Harrison Streets, in actuality, is originally the Yokut village called Pasasimas.
being Native American Heritage Month, we can and must further educate ourselves on the Yokuts’ history in order to properly acknowledge the land that we’re on. You can learn further information from numerous places, such as Stockton’s Haggin Museum (they have a detailed Native American gallery) and San Joaquin Delta College Library (they offer numerous books on the indigenous people of the San Joaquin county). 2. Learning About the History of Native Americans During this month and thereafter, you can also explore the history of indigenous people in the Americas alongside learning about the history of the Yokuts. There are over 574 federally recognized Native American tribes in the U.S., and learning about indigenous history is critical to being an ally to the Native American community.
Films and documentaries about indigenous history: We Shall Remain - A PBS docuseries, these five incredibly informative episodes explore the history of Native Americans spanning from the 17th century to the 20th century and highlights events surrounding and following the Mayflower, The Yokuts prospered due to the vast natural resources of Tecumseh’s Vision, the Trail of Tears, Geronimo, and their land, the Delta being one of their biggest. According Wounded Knee. to the Record, Stockton’s local newspaper, “In addition How the West Was Lost - This documentary miniseries to providing fresh water, [the Delta] produced fish, which presents the westward expansion and the effects on tribal were a staple of their diet, and attracted waterfowl, which land from the perspectives of indigenous people. Educationalso fed them. They gathered acorns for their food and the al and impactful, this docu series is blunt and eye-opening. endless supply of Tule reeds fed them — they were ground The Long Walk: Tears of the Navajo created by John into meal — and were used in basket making and to cover Howe, this series illustrates one of the most heartbreaking their dwellings, which were built on low mounds to prostories of the Navajo Nation (told from the perspective of tect against floods.” The Valley oaks also provided Yokuts Navajo Elders) and reveals the horrible U.S. military’s camwith acorn produce, which became one of the most crucial paign against the tribe in the early 1860s. aspects of their diet. In a White Man’s Image - This PBS series details the disguised cultural genocide of forced assimilation and speaks Their numbers began to dwindle after the arrival of the about historical government actions taken against the Europeans. The Spanish forced many of the Yokuts to go Native Nations (such as the removal of Native children and through mission systems for religious assimilation; the the boarding school experiences) and the longlasting effects white settlers started a ruthless campaign to drive that these historical events still have on Native Americans today. The Yokuts off their land; and the United States government True Whispers: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers - A forced them onto reservations. Many tribal members also PBS series, this documentary informs viewers about the died from the epidemic of diseases brought by the Spanish. recruitment of young Navajo men from horrid government boarding schools to serve in the Marines during World War Today, around 2,106 Native Americans reside in Stockton. II. However, the Yokuts’ history contains more detail and richness than what can be expressed here, and with this month
Books about indigenous history: Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk and John G. Neihardt -
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