IRON HORSE: THE LONGEST WALK (REVISITED)
“There’s an iron horse coming down the track; And it’s bringing the people back; Rolling thunder fills the sky; Wipe your tears, let’m dry.”
November 29, 2024 | Native Children’s Survival
As fallacious lores are debunked and unspeakable atrocities are confronted, the United States' call for celebration takes on profound significance. Against this backdrop, we mark Native American Heritage Day, which falls each year on the day after America's Thanksgiving during National Native American Heritage Month.
This year's honoring of Native Peoples began with a White House Proclamation, a tradition that started in 1990, issued by Joe Biden, the 46th President of the United States (2021–2024), in which is written, "During National Native American Heritage Month, we honor the history, rich cultures, and vast contributions of Native Peoples." "I urge all Americans, as well as their elected representatives at the Federal, State, and local levels, to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities." "Also, I urge all Americans to celebrate November 29, 2024, as Native American Heritage Day."
But, the honor and celebration are overshadowed by the stark reality that mars what U.S. President Joe Biden refers to as 'The Soul of America,' with the deep-rooted issues and a painful history that America must right.
Heartbreaking headlines reveal a darker side of 'The Soul of America.' A side where unmarked graves of Native children are found in abusive Federal Indian boarding schools and Indigenous women and girls are going missing and murdered at alarming rates, often with little to no justice served. A side where Native Peoples suffer the highest rates of suicide, more than double that of any other demographic. A side where human rights, treaty rights, and Mother Earth rights are violated, unleashing the worst form of violence: poverty. It is this side of America's failed policies and systemic issues that continue to plague Indigenous communities.
From a so-called discovery (the appropriation of Indigenous lands and resources) to the Trail of Tears (a forced relocation of Native Nations from their ancestral homelands) to Kit Carson's Long Walk, a campaign to remove and ethnically cleanse the Diné (Navajo) people, these and countless other violent and deadly unspeakable acts along with false and destructive narratives that have been perpetuated with them has caused devastating intergenerational trauma for centuries.
Yet Indigenous Peoples' unwavering resilience, collective strength, and determination shine through inspiring hope and refusing to be overshadowed by forced removal, relocation, or attempted genocide and deculturalization. Our solidity is a testament to the human spirit's ability to endure and overcome, and it's a story that deserves to be heard and celebrated.
With hidden truths bursting out from the darkness of colonial coverup, the call for more than proclamations and public apologies grows. It's about upholding the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and delivering justice, not just in words but in deeds.
When we embrace peace and overcome unjustness, violence, and misrule complicity, time for honor and celebration will be at hand. This is an Indigenous call to action, a path towards truth, reconciliation, healing, and progress that we must all walk together.
“The longest walk will reunite; We’re coming together into the light; Emancipation, one nation, in celebration, all our relations.”