Moderating History with Present
My 8 year old is studying Maryland's indigenous people in her history class. Because it's history and because there are so few (no) visible Native Americans in her daily life, it unfortunately provides the implicit message that there are no indigenous people left (at least in Maryland).
While I have explained that the lack-of-visibility is because Native Americans were forced out of Maryland, or killed, or assimilated into white society to try to save their lives, it still gives the idea that this is history, not present.
There is a tribe in Maryland that's not Federally recognized, the Piscataway Conoy tribe. That brings up all the issues of what it means to be made legally invisible, and the continuing affect that has on a people and their culture. But aside from talking about these things, and making it clear that this isn't just history but present day, what other ways might counteract the idea that there are no more indigenous people?
While I have explained that the lack-of-visibility is because Native Americans were forced out of Maryland, or killed, or assimilated into white society to try to save their lives, it still gives the idea that this is history, not present.
There is a tribe in Maryland that's not Federally recognized, the Piscataway Conoy tribe. That brings up all the issues of what it means to be made legally invisible, and the continuing affect that has on a people and their culture. But aside from talking about these things, and making it clear that this isn't just history but present day, what other ways might counteract the idea that there are no more indigenous people?