1 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:16,420 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:19,420 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 2: There's a sentence in the Declaration of Independence that almost 3 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 2: no one talks about. It's the last grievance, the climax, 4 00:00:26,700 --> 00:00:29,700 Speaker 2: the thing the founders were most angry about. And it 5 00:00:29,790 --> 00:00:34,150 Speaker 2: isn't about taxes or representation, like we've been told. It's 6 00:00:34,190 --> 00:00:39,510 Speaker 2: about Native Americans. He has excited the merciless Indian savages, 7 00:00:39,850 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 2: it reads, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished 8 00:00:43,620 --> 00:00:49,510 Speaker 2: destruction of all ages and sexes, and conditions. America celebrates 9 00:00:49,550 --> 00:00:53,690 Speaker 2: the 250th anniversary of its founding this year. And somehow, 10 00:00:53,990 --> 00:00:56,850 Speaker 2: for a century and a half, America managed to skim 11 00:00:56,950 --> 00:01:00,530 Speaker 2: right past that line, or explain it away, or simply 12 00:01:00,610 --> 00:01:04,110 Speaker 2: forget it was there. How does a whole country miss 13 00:01:04,170 --> 00:01:08,190 Speaker 2: a point of its own founding document? That's the question 14 00:01:08,530 --> 00:01:11,089 Speaker 2: at the heart of a new podcast called First America. 15 00:01:11,750 --> 00:01:15,320 Speaker 2: It's hosted by Rebecca Nagel, an indigenous journalist, and the 16 00:01:15,340 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 2: host of Crooked's This Land podcast. First America reveals the 17 00:01:20,020 --> 00:01:23,050 Speaker 2: real story of why the colonists rebelled, what kind of 18 00:01:23,130 --> 00:01:27,209 Speaker 2: government they created, and crucially, how our current political moment 19 00:01:27,569 --> 00:01:31,010 Speaker 2: was 250 years in the making. We have a word 20 00:01:31,090 --> 00:01:34,289 Speaker 2: for the stories nations tell about themselves that leave out 21 00:01:34,350 --> 00:01:38,749 Speaker 2: the uncomfortable parts. We call it a myth. First America 22 00:01:38,910 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 2: isn't interested in myths. is interested in unveiling how the Founders' 23 00:01:43,780 --> 00:01:49,260 Speaker 2: treatment of Indigenous nations and their resistance shaped U.S. democracy. 24 00:01:50,340 --> 00:01:53,540 Speaker 2: Here's the first episode of First America. Hear more episodes 25 00:01:53,580 --> 00:01:57,540 Speaker 2: of First America on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get podcasts. 26 00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 3: Where do you want us to park? Should we park 27 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:07,140 Speaker 3: right here? 28 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:08,340 Speaker 4: I think you have to park in here. 29 00:02:08,540 --> 00:02:09,619 Speaker 3: The port is that way? 30 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:10,269 Speaker 4: Yeah, the port's that way. 31 00:02:11,060 --> 00:02:14,739 Speaker 5: On a cold day in January, I visited Fort Snelling 32 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,780 Speaker 5: in Minneapolis. I was there with my friend Nick Estes. 33 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 5: He's a history professor at the University of Minnesota and 34 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 5: a citizen of the Lower Borough Sioux Tribe. 35 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:30,260 Speaker 4: This is the historic Fort Snelling. Do you want to 36 00:02:30,340 --> 00:02:31,340 Speaker 4: walk closer to it? 37 00:02:31,580 --> 00:02:33,900 Speaker 3: Can you just describe what the fort looks like? 38 00:02:34,500 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 4: Well, the fort has a guard tower, and then there's 39 00:02:38,140 --> 00:02:39,920 Speaker 4: a wall that surrounds the entire fort. 40 00:02:42,290 --> 00:02:45,310 Speaker 5: Next to the historic buildings are modern-day trash cans to 41 00:02:45,350 --> 00:02:49,050 Speaker 5: let you know this is a tourist attraction. School kids 42 00:02:49,190 --> 00:02:50,230 Speaker 5: come here on field trips. 43 00:02:51,690 --> 00:02:56,460 Speaker 4: This is a sacred site for Dakota people, which was 44 00:02:56,490 --> 00:02:59,580 Speaker 4: later appropriated by the U.S. military to build their fort. 45 00:03:00,060 --> 00:03:05,820 Speaker 4: So look at that bald eagle. Told you we were 46 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:06,380 Speaker 4: going to see one. 47 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:07,140 Speaker 5: Yeah. 48 00:03:09,270 --> 00:03:11,530 Speaker 4: I wish the United States never appropriated the eagle. 49 00:03:11,550 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: Do you hear him? 50 00:03:17,060 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 4: Look at him. He's coming right towards us. I mean, 51 00:03:20,820 --> 00:03:23,740 Speaker 4: I don't know, man. I don't know how you can't 52 00:03:23,780 --> 00:03:26,810 Speaker 4: believe in the power of this stuff because those things 53 00:03:26,850 --> 00:03:31,030 Speaker 4: happen for a reason. I told you we were going 54 00:03:31,050 --> 00:03:31,550 Speaker 4: to see one. 55 00:03:34,650 --> 00:03:37,590 Speaker 5: The history of what happened at Fort Snelling is significant 56 00:03:37,620 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 5: to the Dakota people. And that history is acknowledged at 57 00:03:41,340 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 5: the site. 58 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 3: But you have to go and find it. 59 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,940 Speaker 1: It's like a healing site right over here. 60 00:03:48,100 --> 00:03:51,830 Speaker 5: It's next to an underpass. Down a long set of 61 00:03:51,890 --> 00:03:58,070 Speaker 5: stairs on the edge of the woods. Can you describe 62 00:03:58,170 --> 00:03:59,770 Speaker 5: what the memorial looks like? 63 00:04:00,210 --> 00:04:05,300 Speaker 4: Yeah, so it's like a camp circle. But in the center, 64 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:09,340 Speaker 4: it looks like there's prayer ties, sage, tobacco, et cetera, 65 00:04:09,580 --> 00:04:13,170 Speaker 4: wrapped in cloth. And there are also prayer ties in 66 00:04:13,190 --> 00:04:15,090 Speaker 4: the trees that surround us. 67 00:04:15,110 --> 00:04:19,050 Speaker 3: Who do you think left the prayer ties in the trees? 68 00:04:19,070 --> 00:04:24,859 Speaker 4: I'm assuming it's the descendants of those who experienced that genocide. 69 00:04:26,380 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 5: Over 1,600 Dakota people were held here during the winter 70 00:04:30,540 --> 00:04:32,580 Speaker 5: of 1862. 71 00:04:32,780 --> 00:04:36,380 Speaker 4: This is the area actually where the concentration camp was 72 00:04:36,460 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 4: actually at. Dakota people, people who dared to stand up 73 00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:45,700 Speaker 4: to the United States, were put into a concentration camp 74 00:04:46,820 --> 00:04:50,300 Speaker 4: and all kinds of atrocities happened. 75 00:04:51,050 --> 00:04:54,130 Speaker 5: The concentration camp was just one part of a broader 76 00:04:54,190 --> 00:04:56,670 Speaker 5: campaign to expel all Dakota. 77 00:04:56,330 --> 00:04:58,410 Speaker 3: People from the state of Minnesota. 78 00:04:58,430 --> 00:05:04,010 Speaker 5: The campaign also included death marches, massacres, Bounties placed on 79 00:05:04,050 --> 00:05:08,250 Speaker 5: Indigenous heads, open-air prisons, and mass executions. 80 00:05:08,870 --> 00:05:14,350 Speaker 4: There was a lot of malnutrition, purposeful starvation. There were 81 00:05:14,450 --> 00:05:20,620 Speaker 4: reports of women being raped and violated. You know, it's 82 00:05:20,660 --> 00:05:21,950 Speaker 4: a site of horrors. 83 00:05:24,540 --> 00:05:25,860 Speaker 3: Do you think most. 84 00:05:25,660 --> 00:05:27,980 Speaker 5: People who come to this spot, do you think that 85 00:05:28,020 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 5: they come here to honor the atrocity that happened here? 86 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,580 Speaker 4: No, they're doing winter sports, recreation. I mean, you can 87 00:05:35,620 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 4: see right here, you can see these parallel tracks. People 88 00:05:40,580 --> 00:05:42,060 Speaker 4: cross-country ski through this area. 89 00:05:43,090 --> 00:05:46,430 Speaker 3: While we were standing there, some hikers walked by. Hi. 90 00:05:49,390 --> 00:05:52,230 Speaker 5: Walking around Fort Snelling with Nick, it felt like this 91 00:05:52,390 --> 00:05:54,550 Speaker 5: perfect metaphor for our country. 92 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,810 Speaker 3: All our terrible history... It's there. We just don't know 93 00:06:00,850 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 3: how to talk about it. 94 00:06:05,810 --> 00:06:09,150 Speaker 5: This all started as a conversation between Nick and me 95 00:06:09,290 --> 00:06:13,750 Speaker 5: about four years ago. We were frustrated, well, I was pissed, 96 00:06:14,010 --> 00:06:15,349 Speaker 5: at how Native people. 97 00:06:15,170 --> 00:06:17,710 Speaker 3: Are erased from the story of America. 98 00:06:18,370 --> 00:06:20,910 Speaker 5: We wanted to tell the history of the United States 99 00:06:21,150 --> 00:06:23,170 Speaker 5: with Native people written back in. 100 00:06:23,830 --> 00:06:29,840 Speaker 3: I wanted to correct the record. Uh-oh, okay, I need 101 00:06:29,980 --> 00:06:32,539 Speaker 3: to merge. When we were in the car, Nick's phone rang. 102 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:34,110 Speaker 6: My wife called me. 103 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,469 Speaker 3: Somebody got shot. He pulled up the news on his phone. 104 00:06:38,910 --> 00:06:42,630 Speaker 4: Breaking witnesses report a woman was shot in the face 105 00:06:42,690 --> 00:06:45,570 Speaker 4: by ice while trying to flee in central Minneapolis. 106 00:06:47,170 --> 00:06:51,630 Speaker 5: Earlier that day, a woman named Renee Nicole Good had 107 00:06:51,670 --> 00:06:54,990 Speaker 5: tried to block ice agents with her car. An agent 108 00:06:55,070 --> 00:06:57,150 Speaker 5: had just shot and killed her. Damned. 109 00:06:57,560 --> 00:06:58,820 Speaker 4: The photos are really bad. 110 00:06:58,840 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: Oh, God. 111 00:07:00,540 --> 00:07:03,700 Speaker 4: It looks like a deployed airbag is just covered in blood. 112 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 3: We parked and watched the video. 113 00:07:10,660 --> 00:07:11,020 Speaker 2: Wow. 114 00:07:12,620 --> 00:07:13,990 Speaker 1: Wow. That's awful. 115 00:07:14,230 --> 00:07:14,930 Speaker 3: That's awful. 116 00:07:16,710 --> 00:07:20,190 Speaker 5: When I was in Minneapolis last January, thousands of ICE 117 00:07:20,250 --> 00:07:21,450 Speaker 5: agents were on the ground. 118 00:07:21,630 --> 00:07:23,210 Speaker 4: It's in, like, a residential neighborhood. 119 00:07:24,390 --> 00:07:28,180 Speaker 5: Federal agents had been rounding people up. including children, and 120 00:07:28,220 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 5: sending them to detention facilities. People were afraid to leave 121 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,100 Speaker 5: their homes. Parents stopped sending their. 122 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 3: Kids to school. 123 00:07:36,970 --> 00:07:39,110 Speaker 5: Interesting, given what we were talking about this morning of 124 00:07:39,430 --> 00:07:43,850 Speaker 5: the history of Dakota people being rounded up and violently 125 00:07:43,930 --> 00:07:50,970 Speaker 5: forced out of Minnesota. When I started this project, I 126 00:07:51,010 --> 00:07:52,870 Speaker 5: thought I was making a history podcast. 127 00:07:53,390 --> 00:07:54,000 Speaker 3: I read books. 128 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 5: I interviewed historians. I went to important sites. I traveled 129 00:07:57,540 --> 00:07:58,540 Speaker 5: across the country. 130 00:07:59,220 --> 00:08:01,360 Speaker 3: But then this thing kept happening. 131 00:08:01,380 --> 00:08:05,430 Speaker 5: I would be in a place learning about America's past, 132 00:08:06,050 --> 00:08:10,190 Speaker 5: and then the same thing would happen right here in 133 00:08:10,230 --> 00:08:28,250 Speaker 5: our present. You're listening to First America, the true story 134 00:08:28,390 --> 00:08:31,110 Speaker 5: of how the United States came to be and how 135 00:08:31,150 --> 00:08:35,090 Speaker 5: our current political moment is 250 years in the making. 136 00:08:35,829 --> 00:08:40,540 Speaker 5: From Pushkin Industries and Critical Frequency, I'm your host, Rebecca Nagel. 137 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 3: Citizen of Cherokee Nation. 138 00:09:10,410 --> 00:09:13,769 Speaker 5: I didn't go to Minneapolis to report on ICE. I 139 00:09:13,809 --> 00:09:17,579 Speaker 5: had come to interview Nick. We just happened to be 140 00:09:17,739 --> 00:09:21,179 Speaker 5: at Fort Snelling the day ICE shot and killed Renee Good. 141 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:26,020 Speaker 5: I don't know about you, but I don't believe in coincidences. 142 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,389 Speaker 5: I canceled my flight home and stayed to report on 143 00:09:32,449 --> 00:09:39,130 Speaker 5: what was happening. The next morning, there was a protest. 144 00:09:39,809 --> 00:09:46,410 Speaker 5: back at Fort Snelling. Because Fort Snelling is also the 145 00:09:46,469 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 5: site of ICE's headquarters in Minneapolis. I was curious why 146 00:09:50,900 --> 00:09:53,179 Speaker 5: you guys came today because, I mean, you know, someone 147 00:09:53,219 --> 00:09:56,179 Speaker 5: was literally killed yesterday for standing up to ICE. So 148 00:09:56,339 --> 00:09:58,820 Speaker 5: is it scary to be here today knowing the violence? 149 00:09:58,979 --> 00:10:02,989 Speaker 1: Yes, it's scary and I'm angry and the anger overcomes 150 00:10:03,069 --> 00:10:03,529 Speaker 1: the fear. 151 00:10:03,550 --> 00:10:04,950 Speaker 3: I have a good. 152 00:10:04,849 --> 00:10:08,569 Speaker 1: Friend and she lived in Denmark during the German occupation 153 00:10:08,849 --> 00:10:11,019 Speaker 1: and she has told me over and over again, you 154 00:10:11,239 --> 00:10:15,700 Speaker 1: cannot be quiet. You must stand up because silence is 155 00:10:15,739 --> 00:10:18,079 Speaker 1: what allowed this to happen in the Second World War. 156 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,599 Speaker 5: How far are we from the historic Fort Snelling? 157 00:10:25,079 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 4: Just right across Highway 62 here. 158 00:10:28,300 --> 00:10:29,819 Speaker 3: And do you know what happened there? 159 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,670 Speaker 5: Oh, no, no, don't ask me those kinds of questions. 160 00:10:33,770 --> 00:10:42,689 Speaker 5: I'm not good with history. It's a historic fort. It's historic. Yeah, 161 00:10:42,709 --> 00:10:44,239 Speaker 5: sorry to put you on the spot. 162 00:10:44,260 --> 00:10:46,220 Speaker 1: I mean, the reason this is all happening here is 163 00:10:46,260 --> 00:10:49,179 Speaker 1: because of the ice offices that are there, not because 164 00:10:49,219 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: of the historic fort. 165 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:50,980 Speaker 7: Yeah. 166 00:10:53,140 --> 00:10:57,079 Speaker 5: And the 1860s was actually a concentration camp for Dakota people. 167 00:10:57,339 --> 00:10:59,650 Speaker 5: I'm just curious if any of that history feels relevant 168 00:10:59,670 --> 00:11:00,609 Speaker 5: to what's happening now. 169 00:11:01,250 --> 00:11:02,449 Speaker 3: Yes, clearly. 170 00:11:02,670 --> 00:11:03,870 Speaker 5: But I mean, our state. 171 00:11:06,290 --> 00:11:10,130 Speaker 1: I mean, you watch that video. Thank God that person 172 00:11:10,170 --> 00:11:13,530 Speaker 1: was there taking the video on their cell phone yesterday. 173 00:11:13,589 --> 00:11:16,370 Speaker 1: So everyone can see what happened. 174 00:11:19,530 --> 00:11:22,050 Speaker 5: After leaving the protest, I went back to see Nick 175 00:11:22,130 --> 00:11:23,390 Speaker 5: Estes at his office. 176 00:11:26,770 --> 00:11:30,590 Speaker 4: The murder of Renee Good and the history of Fort 177 00:11:30,609 --> 00:11:35,450 Speaker 4: Snelling are actually inseparable. First of all, ICE is headquartered 178 00:11:35,829 --> 00:11:37,830 Speaker 4: on the Fort Snelling area campus. 179 00:11:38,809 --> 00:11:41,590 Speaker 5: Do you know if that's because it's federal land? 180 00:11:41,609 --> 00:11:44,189 Speaker 4: Yeah, it's headquartered there because it's federal land. 181 00:11:44,829 --> 00:11:46,050 Speaker 3: And why is it federal land? 182 00:11:46,150 --> 00:11:49,189 Speaker 4: It's federal land because it was once a military reservation. 183 00:11:49,959 --> 00:11:54,239 Speaker 4: from the Zebulon Pike Treaty of 1805. And that was 184 00:11:54,300 --> 00:11:57,610 Speaker 4: a treaty signed between some Dakota leaders and the United 185 00:11:57,650 --> 00:12:00,210 Speaker 4: States government to create a military outpost. 186 00:12:01,609 --> 00:12:05,770 Speaker 5: It's not just the same place. The same thing is happening. 187 00:12:06,329 --> 00:12:09,429 Speaker 4: People are being hunted in their neighborhoods, in their schools, 188 00:12:09,530 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 4: places that were considered sanctuary sites, such as hospitals and 189 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,979 Speaker 4: churches are no longer off limits. 150 years ago, They 190 00:12:19,020 --> 00:12:21,979 Speaker 4: were hunting us down to kill us, and now they're 191 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,219 Speaker 4: hunting down immigrants to deport them. 192 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,580 Speaker 5: While I was out reporting this project, a lot happened. 193 00:12:31,900 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 5: ICE killed people in the streets. I watched a kid 194 00:12:35,479 --> 00:12:39,889 Speaker 5: in bunny ears get detained. Our government abducted the leader 195 00:12:39,989 --> 00:12:41,189 Speaker 5: of Venezuela and. 196 00:12:41,170 --> 00:12:42,469 Speaker 3: Started a war with Iran. 197 00:12:43,699 --> 00:12:48,080 Speaker 5: Analysts kept talking about the stages of authoritarianism, and I 198 00:12:48,140 --> 00:12:51,579 Speaker 5: found myself asking this question I think a lot of 199 00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:58,059 Speaker 5: people are asking. How is this happening? How is all 200 00:12:58,079 --> 00:13:06,969 Speaker 5: this happening in the United States? The answers I kept hearing— YouTube, 201 00:13:05,770 --> 00:13:11,419 Speaker 5: lonely white men, the economy— didn' t feel like enough. I started 202 00:13:11,459 --> 00:13:15,119 Speaker 5: to wonder if maybe the explanation was deeper than all that, 203 00:13:15,780 --> 00:13:19,649 Speaker 5: deeper than anything going on right now. I'm still trying 204 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,670 Speaker 5: to figure it out, but the more time I spend 205 00:13:22,770 --> 00:13:27,829 Speaker 5: in the past, the more the present makes sense. Maybe 206 00:13:27,900 --> 00:13:31,059 Speaker 5: the answer is in that history we don't know how 207 00:13:31,099 --> 00:13:43,650 Speaker 5: to talk about. The first place I went on my 208 00:13:43,729 --> 00:13:45,969 Speaker 5: quest to put Native people back in the story of 209 00:13:46,050 --> 00:13:51,020 Speaker 5: America was the Declaration of Independence. This year is the 210 00:13:51,209 --> 00:13:55,100 Speaker 5: 250th anniversary of the signing of that famous document. And 211 00:13:55,140 --> 00:13:57,900 Speaker 5: it made sense to me as a starting place. I mean, 212 00:13:58,199 --> 00:14:01,020 Speaker 5: it's the most popular origin story of our country, right? 213 00:14:01,939 --> 00:14:04,750 Speaker 5: But it turns out what I thought I knew about 214 00:14:04,790 --> 00:14:09,010 Speaker 5: the Declaration was wrong. Native people aren't missing. 215 00:14:09,770 --> 00:14:10,229 Speaker 3: We're there. 216 00:14:11,469 --> 00:14:14,749 Speaker 5: Were one of the most important lines in the document. 217 00:14:16,260 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 5: But somehow, no one knows about it. 218 00:14:19,940 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 6: When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 219 00:14:25,260 --> 00:14:29,300 Speaker 6: for one people to dissolve the political bands which have 220 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:30,700 Speaker 6: connected them with another. 221 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:33,820 Speaker 5: A couple of summers ago, on a hot July day, 222 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,890 Speaker 5: this man in a large coat and a feathered hat 223 00:14:37,010 --> 00:14:41,170 Speaker 5: walked up a small set of stairs. Surrounded by Revolutionary 224 00:14:41,250 --> 00:14:45,390 Speaker 5: War reenactors, bayonets, and the twin speakers of the Park 225 00:14:45,430 --> 00:14:50,560 Speaker 5: Service's PA system, he began reading the Declaration of Independence. 226 00:14:50,660 --> 00:14:56,940 Speaker 8: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 227 00:14:57,239 --> 00:15:03,420 Speaker 8: are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator 228 00:15:03,479 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 8: with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, 229 00:15:10,940 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 8: and the pursuit of happiness. 230 00:15:13,859 --> 00:15:16,310 Speaker 5: At the time of the document's creation, a lot of 231 00:15:16,350 --> 00:15:20,190 Speaker 5: people were illiterate, and printing stuff was slow and expensive. 232 00:15:20,870 --> 00:15:23,510 Speaker 5: So word spread through public readings like this one. 233 00:15:23,630 --> 00:15:30,090 Speaker 8: The history of the present king of Great Britain is 234 00:15:30,410 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 8: a history of repeated injuries and usurpations. 235 00:15:34,180 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 5: I think of the Declaration of Independence like a breakup letter. 236 00:15:38,109 --> 00:15:42,300 Speaker 5: Our founders are breaking up with George III, King of England. 237 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:45,340 Speaker 5: And the Declaration is that part of every breakup, or 238 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,879 Speaker 5: at least every bad breakup, where you tell the other 239 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:53,060 Speaker 5: person everything they did wrong. If Thomas Jefferson and King 240 00:15:53,100 --> 00:15:55,930 Speaker 5: George were having it out on the front lawn, Jefferson 241 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,650 Speaker 5: would have his finger in George's face yelling, and another thing. 242 00:15:59,770 --> 00:16:03,629 Speaker 8: For imposing taxes on us without our consent. 243 00:16:04,630 --> 00:16:08,690 Speaker 5: And so the Declaration is basically this long list of complaints. 244 00:16:08,910 --> 00:16:11,710 Speaker 8: He has plundered our sea. 245 00:16:11,910 --> 00:16:14,790 Speaker 5: A lot of historians say that list has an order. 246 00:16:14,989 --> 00:16:16,489 Speaker 4: Ravaged our coast. 247 00:16:16,650 --> 00:16:18,629 Speaker 3: It starts with smaller grievances. 248 00:16:18,650 --> 00:16:20,310 Speaker 8: Burnt our towns. 249 00:16:20,470 --> 00:16:21,970 Speaker 3: And ends with the biggest ones. 250 00:16:22,350 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 8: And destroyed the lives. 251 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:30,580 Speaker 5: Of our people. We've been told the American Revolution was 252 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 5: fought over taxes and representation. But the last complaint, the 253 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,999 Speaker 5: thing our founders were most angry about, goes like this. 254 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 8: He has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, 255 00:16:45,900 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 8: the merciless Indian savages. 256 00:16:49,479 --> 00:16:54,100 Speaker 5: There's a racial slur in the Declaration of Independence. Native 257 00:16:54,140 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 5: people are called savages. Alongside those lofty ideals, our founders 258 00:17:00,220 --> 00:17:03,300 Speaker 5: included their deep hatred for indigenous people. 259 00:17:04,109 --> 00:17:09,109 Speaker 8: The merciless Indian savages whose known rule of warfare is 260 00:17:09,290 --> 00:17:15,390 Speaker 8: an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes. 261 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:17,180 Speaker 4: And conditions. 262 00:17:20,340 --> 00:17:23,140 Speaker 5: In case you need a refresher, the popular story of 263 00:17:23,180 --> 00:17:28,330 Speaker 5: the American Revolution goes like this. Britain unjustly imposed taxes 264 00:17:28,430 --> 00:17:30,290 Speaker 5: on the colonists and they got mad. 265 00:17:31,710 --> 00:17:33,590 Speaker 3: But every time they protested, like. 266 00:17:33,510 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 5: When they threw tea into the Boston Harbor, the king 267 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 5: just imposed harsher laws. The colonists started to see their 268 00:17:43,860 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 5: king as a tyrant. Some started talking about independence. Late 269 00:17:53,700 --> 00:17:56,900 Speaker 5: one night, Paul Revere rode his horse to warn militias 270 00:17:56,980 --> 00:18:00,889 Speaker 5: waiting outside Boston that the British were coming. The next morning, 271 00:18:00,910 --> 00:18:05,910 Speaker 5: the militia squared off against the Brits and the Revolutionary 272 00:18:05,970 --> 00:18:06,850 Speaker 5: War began. 273 00:18:06,870 --> 00:18:10,169 Speaker 3: A year later, our. 274 00:18:10,530 --> 00:18:16,190 Speaker 5: Founding fathers gathered in Philadelphia to write the Declaration of Independence. 275 00:18:28,090 --> 00:18:32,390 Speaker 5: But for two and a half centuries, that document has 276 00:18:32,430 --> 00:18:37,920 Speaker 5: been telling a different story. According to our founders, in 277 00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:43,820 Speaker 5: their own words, what they were most angry about was Indians. 278 00:18:45,980 --> 00:18:49,390 Speaker 3: How did we all miss that? Can you please introduce yourself? 279 00:18:50,230 --> 00:18:51,250 Speaker 7: Hi, I'm Ned Blackhawk. 280 00:18:52,140 --> 00:18:53,980 Speaker 5: I went to Connecticut to find out. 281 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:55,940 Speaker 3: And what's your tribal affiliation? 282 00:18:56,480 --> 00:18:57,540 Speaker 7: I'm Western Shoshone. 283 00:18:57,960 --> 00:18:58,970 Speaker 3: And what do you do, Ned? 284 00:18:59,290 --> 00:19:00,110 Speaker 7: I teach history. 285 00:19:01,490 --> 00:19:01,850 Speaker 1: Where? 286 00:19:02,170 --> 00:19:06,129 Speaker 7: Yale University. I was the first tenured American Indian to 287 00:19:06,170 --> 00:19:06,830 Speaker 7: teach at Yale. 288 00:19:06,910 --> 00:19:08,270 Speaker 3: Wait, I just kind of want to back up. Like 289 00:19:08,290 --> 00:19:11,130 Speaker 3: in the entire history of Yale, you're the first Native 290 00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:12,740 Speaker 3: person to get tenure here? 291 00:19:13,090 --> 00:19:14,500 Speaker 7: Yes, and I'm still the first. 292 00:19:15,540 --> 00:19:16,200 Speaker 3: Still the only? 293 00:19:16,820 --> 00:19:18,180 Speaker 7: Tenured faculty member, yes. 294 00:19:19,180 --> 00:19:20,399 Speaker 3: Is it ever lonely here? 295 00:19:24,550 --> 00:19:27,270 Speaker 5: Ned wears a long ponytail and the kind of sweater 296 00:19:27,350 --> 00:19:30,490 Speaker 5: you imagine a professor would wear. Ned and I have 297 00:19:30,510 --> 00:19:31,510 Speaker 5: been talking about this. 298 00:19:31,390 --> 00:19:34,990 Speaker 3: History for years. He, along with Nick Estes. 299 00:19:34,650 --> 00:19:37,649 Speaker 5: And some other Indigenous scholars, helped shape the idea for 300 00:19:37,690 --> 00:19:41,250 Speaker 5: this podcast. I wanted Ned to tell me the story 301 00:19:41,430 --> 00:19:45,130 Speaker 5: of why the founders hated Indigenous people so much they 302 00:19:45,210 --> 00:19:49,580 Speaker 5: put it in the Declaration of Independence. Ned says that 303 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:53,690 Speaker 5: story starts a couple decades earlier with this big, big war. 304 00:19:53,900 --> 00:19:55,790 Speaker 3: Was it kind of like World War Zero? 305 00:19:55,810 --> 00:19:57,870 Speaker 7: No, it is the First World War. 306 00:19:58,690 --> 00:20:02,270 Speaker 5: It started as a fight. over who would control North America, 307 00:20:02,290 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 5: and it eventually covered the globe. Great Britain won, and 308 00:20:05,980 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 5: they got a bunch of land from France. This land 309 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 5: spans from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from 310 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:12,700 Speaker 5: present-day New. 311 00:20:12,620 --> 00:20:13,820 Speaker 3: York to Minnesota. 312 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,380 Speaker 5: The colonists are thrilled. 313 00:20:16,700 --> 00:20:20,930 Speaker 7: All across British North America, Columnists are rejoicing. Sermons are 314 00:20:20,950 --> 00:20:24,910 Speaker 7: being offered and Sunday's pamphlets and almanacs are being written 315 00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:28,270 Speaker 7: about land possibilities in the interior. And there's this kind 316 00:20:28,290 --> 00:20:34,330 Speaker 7: of growing sense of shared kind of euphoria that the 317 00:20:34,350 --> 00:20:37,750 Speaker 7: British government and the British Empire are not just the 318 00:20:37,850 --> 00:20:41,129 Speaker 7: largest in world history, but also the most virtuous and 319 00:20:41,230 --> 00:20:42,030 Speaker 7: or free. 320 00:20:42,850 --> 00:20:47,530 Speaker 5: Those celebrations come to a halt in the summer of 1763. 321 00:20:47,530 --> 00:20:52,050 Speaker 5: when news spreads of an Indigenous uprising. The land England 322 00:20:52,090 --> 00:20:56,140 Speaker 5: took over from France is still controlled by Indigenous nations. 323 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,780 Speaker 5: What England actually wins in the war, in real terms, 324 00:21:00,060 --> 00:21:03,740 Speaker 5: is forts. About 13 forts stationed around the Great Lakes. 325 00:21:05,180 --> 00:21:07,740 Speaker 5: As a new Fort Boston town, England thinks it can 326 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:09,260 Speaker 5: push Native nations around. 327 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,280 Speaker 7: They don't listen to the Native peoples. They don't trade 328 00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:13,100 Speaker 7: with them adequately. 329 00:21:13,810 --> 00:21:18,270 Speaker 5: And that angers indigenous leaders. An Odawa chief named Pontiac 330 00:21:18,390 --> 00:21:23,889 Speaker 5: forms a multinational indigenous military alliance to push back. Rick, 331 00:21:23,910 --> 00:21:25,450 Speaker 5: could you just tell me a little bit more about 332 00:21:25,590 --> 00:21:26,650 Speaker 5: who Pontiac is? 333 00:21:27,250 --> 00:21:32,750 Speaker 7: Pontiac is an Odawa leader, and he's fallen into close 334 00:21:33,350 --> 00:21:38,930 Speaker 7: affinity with a preacher who's Delaware, or Lenape, named Neolan. 335 00:21:39,540 --> 00:21:42,680 Speaker 7: Nyolan is the Delaware prophet. Pontiac is the political leader. 336 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,060 Speaker 7: And together they start articulating a vision for the future 337 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:51,940 Speaker 7: that is transformative. They decide that they no longer want 338 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:57,630 Speaker 7: their followers to rely upon the goods of Europeans. 339 00:21:58,490 --> 00:21:58,830 Speaker 4: And it's a. 340 00:21:58,850 --> 00:22:01,770 Speaker 7: Process kind of similar to what the colonists are going through. 341 00:22:02,630 --> 00:22:06,690 Speaker 7: Because once they start reimagining themselves in these ways... They 342 00:22:06,710 --> 00:22:09,230 Speaker 7: decide that they're going to drive the English out. 343 00:22:10,970 --> 00:22:14,260 Speaker 5: Pontiac and his soldiers go around and attack British forts. 344 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:19,820 Speaker 5: One of those attacks was particularly brilliant. Some Anishinaabe warriors 345 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:22,640 Speaker 5: go to this fort in northern Michigan, as they often 346 00:22:22,700 --> 00:22:25,980 Speaker 5: did to trade. But while they're there, they pretend to 347 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,870 Speaker 5: play a game of lacrosse right outside the fort. 348 00:22:29,470 --> 00:22:33,410 Speaker 7: And one ball makes it over the fence. And so 349 00:22:33,450 --> 00:22:36,270 Speaker 7: they ask if they could kind of get their ball returned. 350 00:22:36,310 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 7: And so the fort officials are opening the doors to 351 00:22:39,850 --> 00:22:42,980 Speaker 7: return the ball that's been taken. And a flood of 352 00:22:43,020 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 7: warriors come in and destroy the fort. 353 00:22:50,460 --> 00:22:56,590 Speaker 5: Pontiac's military alliance attacks forts all over the Great Lakes region. Remember, 354 00:22:56,950 --> 00:23:00,869 Speaker 5: England took over about 13 forts, while Pontiac and his 355 00:23:00,930 --> 00:23:02,610 Speaker 5: alliance destroy eight. 356 00:23:03,710 --> 00:23:06,510 Speaker 7: They signal to the English that peace is going to 357 00:23:06,530 --> 00:23:08,170 Speaker 7: be more costly than war has been for you. 358 00:23:08,970 --> 00:23:12,530 Speaker 5: And another costly war for the crown is a big problem. 359 00:23:13,070 --> 00:23:18,290 Speaker 5: England is broke, like broke, broke. That global war England 360 00:23:18,330 --> 00:23:22,770 Speaker 5: spent almost a decade fighting, it was expensive. The crown 361 00:23:22,810 --> 00:23:24,210 Speaker 5: doesn't want to pay for another one. 362 00:23:24,710 --> 00:23:27,720 Speaker 7: And they decide, OK. We'll make peace with Pontiac. 363 00:23:27,780 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 3: And why would the king do that? 364 00:23:29,740 --> 00:23:32,960 Speaker 5: Because England is a global empire, so why wouldn't the 365 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,450 Speaker 5: king of England want more land in North America? 366 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:36,970 Speaker 7: Have you ever been to India? 367 00:23:37,830 --> 00:23:38,110 Speaker 2: No. 368 00:23:38,290 --> 00:23:40,149 Speaker 7: Have you heard of the Caribbean? 369 00:23:40,650 --> 00:23:40,970 Speaker 3: Yes. 370 00:23:41,410 --> 00:23:45,990 Speaker 7: Okay, the English crown governs millions of people around the world. 371 00:23:46,690 --> 00:23:49,750 Speaker 7: The British colonists in North America are a small percentage 372 00:23:49,790 --> 00:23:53,110 Speaker 7: of that. The overwhelming economic priorities that the British empire 373 00:23:53,150 --> 00:23:57,020 Speaker 7: has in the Western Hemisphere... revolve around places like Jamaica 374 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,710 Speaker 7: and Barbados, not Virginia or Massachusetts. 375 00:24:02,030 --> 00:24:04,390 Speaker 3: Is that because Barbados makes the crown more money? 376 00:24:04,610 --> 00:24:05,070 Speaker 4: Correct. 377 00:24:05,630 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 7: Because Barbados produces large quantities of slave-produced alcohol and sugar 378 00:24:12,590 --> 00:24:14,940 Speaker 7: that can be consumed across the British Empire. 379 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 5: So in the interests of Britain, this global empire, peace 380 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:23,550 Speaker 5: with indigenous nations makes the most sense. It saves the 381 00:24:23,590 --> 00:24:27,410 Speaker 5: crown money. It serves the crown's interests. To preserve peace, 382 00:24:27,590 --> 00:24:31,470 Speaker 5: the king of England gives Pontiac and his confederacy what 383 00:24:31,530 --> 00:24:31,990 Speaker 5: they want. 384 00:24:32,670 --> 00:24:37,660 Speaker 7: The proclamation line of October 1763 draws this perimeter along 385 00:24:37,740 --> 00:24:39,859 Speaker 7: the crests of the Appalachian Mountains. 386 00:24:40,540 --> 00:24:43,820 Speaker 5: The crown promises to keep settlers off their land. 387 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 7: So everything east is British North America. Everything to the 388 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 7: west is to be reserved for the Indians. 389 00:24:51,270 --> 00:24:55,290 Speaker 5: While peace with indigenous nations serves the crown's global interests, 390 00:24:55,890 --> 00:24:59,830 Speaker 5: it angers the colonists because it takes from them what 391 00:24:59,890 --> 00:25:02,410 Speaker 5: they want most, more land. 392 00:25:03,430 --> 00:25:09,110 Speaker 7: Land mania, we might say, overwhelms the colonial system. Gentry leaders, 393 00:25:09,590 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 7: people like George Washington, understood that their lands were becoming 394 00:25:13,260 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 7: increasingly less valuable. People like Washington, in commanding their enslaved 395 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,500 Speaker 7: populations to help bring nutrient-rich soils from the bottom of 396 00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:23,360 Speaker 7: river beds. 397 00:25:24,020 --> 00:25:25,220 Speaker 3: Because the fields are so depleted. 398 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:26,820 Speaker 7: Because the fields have become so depleted. 399 00:25:27,430 --> 00:25:30,630 Speaker 5: People like George Washington made money from this thing called 400 00:25:30,730 --> 00:25:34,350 Speaker 5: land speculation. They'd buy up land that still belonged to 401 00:25:34,390 --> 00:25:38,000 Speaker 5: indigenous nations to sell for profit once indigenous people were 402 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:41,340 Speaker 5: pushed out. The king's new boundary? It messed up their 403 00:25:41,420 --> 00:25:45,710 Speaker 5: whole scheme. The boundary line angered regular and poor people, too. 404 00:25:46,230 --> 00:25:47,210 Speaker 3: People who couldn't. 405 00:25:46,990 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 5: Afford to buy private property often squatted on indigenous land. Pioneers, frontiersmen, settlers, 406 00:25:54,700 --> 00:25:57,520 Speaker 5: whatever you want to call them, were already living west 407 00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:58,639 Speaker 5: of the king's line. 408 00:25:58,660 --> 00:26:01,780 Speaker 7: And there are numbers of settlers who are forced back east. 409 00:26:02,660 --> 00:26:03,310 Speaker 7: And they don't like it. 410 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 5: And there's this other thing about the king's concession to 411 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:08,830 Speaker 5: Pontiac the colonists don't like. 412 00:26:09,750 --> 00:26:10,090 Speaker 2: Peace. 413 00:26:10,110 --> 00:26:10,210 Speaker 1: Peace. 414 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,820 Speaker 5: You have to understand that the colonists have been at 415 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 5: war with indigenous nations for most of their lives. And 416 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:21,270 Speaker 5: now the king wants to make peace with their enemies. 417 00:26:21,790 --> 00:26:24,630 Speaker 7: In fact, the British are going to give them ammunition. 418 00:26:24,670 --> 00:26:27,150 Speaker 7: They're going to trade with them. They're going to recognize them. Hey, 419 00:26:27,370 --> 00:26:29,889 Speaker 7: wait a minute. Didn't we just fight with you to 420 00:26:29,930 --> 00:26:30,670 Speaker 7: control this world? 421 00:26:31,610 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 5: To help cement peace with Pontiac, England arranges to bring 422 00:26:35,370 --> 00:26:39,640 Speaker 5: gifts and supplies. This was how diplomacy between indigenous nations 423 00:26:39,780 --> 00:26:41,860 Speaker 5: and European powers worked back then. 424 00:26:42,340 --> 00:26:47,690 Speaker 7: Eighty supply of mule trains are coming. Massive, actually, logistical undertaking, 425 00:26:47,730 --> 00:26:51,270 Speaker 7: if you think about it. At Pittsburgh awaits these traders 426 00:26:51,470 --> 00:26:55,629 Speaker 7: who are going to take these goods to Pontiac's confederate. 427 00:26:55,890 --> 00:26:59,250 Speaker 5: The colonists organize a militia, basically a band of angry 428 00:26:59,310 --> 00:27:01,890 Speaker 5: white men with guns, and attack the convoy. 429 00:27:02,410 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 7: The first shots of the American Revolution are fired in 430 00:27:04,810 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 7: March of 1765, when one of these backcountry militia groups 431 00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 7: known as the Black Boys attacks a British force escorting 432 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 7: trade goods to Pontiac. 433 00:27:14,300 --> 00:27:18,980 Speaker 5: They're not attacking indigenous people. The Black Boys are attacking 434 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 5: British troops. 435 00:27:20,940 --> 00:27:23,980 Speaker 7: They say things like, we are willing to die to 436 00:27:24,020 --> 00:27:27,000 Speaker 7: disrupt America. and destroy these relationships. 437 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,800 Speaker 5: So before the colonists are willing to die for lofty 438 00:27:30,900 --> 00:27:36,100 Speaker 5: ideals like freedom and liberty and independence, they are willing 439 00:27:36,210 --> 00:27:39,710 Speaker 5: to die to stop the crown from making peace with 440 00:27:39,770 --> 00:27:43,990 Speaker 5: indigenous nations. And we know why they are willing to 441 00:27:44,030 --> 00:27:47,040 Speaker 5: die for this cause, because they wrote a song about it. 442 00:27:48,270 --> 00:27:52,480 Speaker 7: The Black Boys create an anthem, and that anthem calls 443 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,800 Speaker 7: Native people's the enemies of mankind. 444 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:58,500 Speaker 5: I asked Ned to read part of it for me. 445 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 7: On March the 5th in 65, their Indian presence did arrive. 446 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,510 Speaker 7: But when this property is designed to serve the enemy 447 00:28:07,630 --> 00:28:12,169 Speaker 7: of mankind, it's high treason in the amount. What does 448 00:28:12,210 --> 00:28:17,970 Speaker 7: that line mean? It means that the British trading policies 449 00:28:18,730 --> 00:28:24,580 Speaker 7: of supplying Native peoples are supporting the enemies of of 450 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 7: not just settler society, but mankind more broadly. That Britain 451 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,040 Speaker 7: is committing treason, not to the crown, but to humanity. 452 00:28:32,660 --> 00:28:33,060 Speaker 5: As a whole. 453 00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 7: And so this vision of life, liberty, and the pursuit 454 00:28:37,580 --> 00:28:42,690 Speaker 7: of happiness for mankind, the first time mankind is being 455 00:28:42,730 --> 00:28:47,550 Speaker 7: articulated that I'm aware of, is in deeply anti-Indigenous settings. 456 00:28:49,610 --> 00:28:55,430 Speaker 5: Hating Indigenous People Seeing us as less than human helps 457 00:28:55,510 --> 00:28:59,150 Speaker 5: the colonists come together and form a unified identity. 458 00:29:00,110 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 3: It helped them come together to fight for independence. 459 00:29:04,580 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 7: I do believe the start of the fall of the 460 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:10,140 Speaker 7: British Empire in North America began on the Pennsylvania frontier. 461 00:29:11,860 --> 00:29:17,410 Speaker 7: The sense of lawlessness or essentially fashioning one's own self-governing 462 00:29:17,510 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 7: principles and practices, this is happening now. in Pennsylvania before 463 00:29:22,860 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 7: it's happening in Massachusetts. 464 00:29:26,100 --> 00:29:30,190 Speaker 5: We teach the origins of the American Revolution as this 465 00:29:30,330 --> 00:29:35,090 Speaker 5: drumbeat of violence and protest happening in Boston over taxes. 466 00:29:35,990 --> 00:29:41,170 Speaker 5: But years before any of that, colonists are firing guns 467 00:29:41,370 --> 00:29:44,710 Speaker 5: at British troops over Native land. 468 00:29:45,870 --> 00:29:48,250 Speaker 7: And to my knowledge, that Black Boy's history that we've 469 00:29:48,270 --> 00:29:51,290 Speaker 7: been discussing has yet to appear in any U.S. history textbook. 470 00:29:52,770 --> 00:29:55,590 Speaker 7: Why we can't tell that story is a mystery to me. 471 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 5: Before I left Yale, I gave Ned a present. 472 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:02,380 Speaker 7: You want me to open this? 473 00:30:02,460 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. You may or may not want it. 474 00:30:04,180 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 4: All right. 475 00:30:09,150 --> 00:30:12,850 Speaker 7: Declaration of Independence shot glass. Thank you so much. 476 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:14,300 Speaker 3: What does it say? 477 00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:15,780 Speaker 7: We the people. 478 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 5: What to you does that shot glass represent if we 479 00:30:20,540 --> 00:30:24,140 Speaker 5: think about how Americans think about their history? 480 00:30:28,380 --> 00:30:30,620 Speaker 7: I wanted to say something that is easily digestible. 481 00:30:32,510 --> 00:30:33,250 Speaker 3: Goes down smooth. 482 00:30:34,130 --> 00:30:39,870 Speaker 7: I think we as a country are losing... a real 483 00:30:41,150 --> 00:30:47,810 Speaker 7: sense of understanding about our nation's past. The Declaration, which 484 00:30:47,870 --> 00:30:53,090 Speaker 7: is full of these beautifully rendered sentences and paragraphs about 485 00:30:54,020 --> 00:30:57,930 Speaker 7: Enlightenment ideals, does also have this darker history to it. 486 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,180 Speaker 5: Why is it important for the darker part of the 487 00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:06,300 Speaker 5: Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution? Why is it 488 00:31:06,340 --> 00:31:07,860 Speaker 5: important that Americans know about it? 489 00:31:09,540 --> 00:31:12,880 Speaker 7: Well, if we don't understand the full context in which 490 00:31:12,940 --> 00:31:17,860 Speaker 7: our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context 491 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:19,510 Speaker 7: in which our nation now finds itself. 492 00:31:22,950 --> 00:31:25,470 Speaker 5: I'm mad that Native people have been written out of 493 00:31:25,510 --> 00:31:29,900 Speaker 5: the story of the revolution, but I'm also baffled by it. 494 00:31:30,130 --> 00:31:32,270 Speaker 3: I mean, it's kind of wild, right? 495 00:31:32,510 --> 00:31:34,670 Speaker 5: It's not like you have to dig through the archives 496 00:31:34,730 --> 00:31:37,990 Speaker 5: to find out that hunger for Indigenous land drove the revolution. 497 00:31:38,770 --> 00:31:42,410 Speaker 5: It's right there in the Declaration of Independence, in one 498 00:31:42,430 --> 00:31:46,210 Speaker 5: of our country's most famous documents, in one of the 499 00:31:46,250 --> 00:31:50,910 Speaker 5: most famous documents in all of human history. But somehow 500 00:31:51,310 --> 00:31:55,170 Speaker 5: no one knows about it? It feels like a magic trick, 501 00:31:55,610 --> 00:31:59,720 Speaker 5: like making a rabbit disappear into a hat. And when 502 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:02,300 Speaker 5: I started this project, that's what I thought I was 503 00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 5: up against. The pervasive and systemic erasure of Native people 504 00:32:07,020 --> 00:32:07,620 Speaker 5: from U.S. 505 00:32:07,660 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 3: History. 506 00:32:08,740 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 5: I thought the thing people couldn't see was me, my community. 507 00:32:13,260 --> 00:32:16,100 Speaker 5: And then I started to realize what's missing from the 508 00:32:16,140 --> 00:32:21,250 Speaker 5: story of America, it's bigger than that. After I left Minneapolis, 509 00:32:21,630 --> 00:32:23,910 Speaker 5: I kept hearing politicians say the same thing. 510 00:32:24,250 --> 00:32:27,090 Speaker 7: What is happening right now in America is fundamentally un-American. 511 00:32:27,150 --> 00:32:28,830 Speaker 4: This is just so un-American. 512 00:32:29,570 --> 00:32:32,650 Speaker 5: I understand where this comes from. It comes from the 513 00:32:32,710 --> 00:32:36,670 Speaker 5: part of the Declaration of Independence we were taught. the 514 00:32:36,850 --> 00:32:40,930 Speaker 5: all men are created equal, life, liberty, and happiness part. 515 00:32:42,030 --> 00:32:45,270 Speaker 5: But when we tell the whole story, the truth of 516 00:32:45,410 --> 00:32:49,930 Speaker 5: how and why our country was founded, the present moment 517 00:32:49,970 --> 00:32:55,540 Speaker 5: doesn't feel like a contradiction. Violently rounding people up, putting 518 00:32:55,570 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 5: people in detention, even shooting anyone who gets in the way, 519 00:33:00,660 --> 00:33:05,700 Speaker 5: our government has done this before. Not once, not twice, 520 00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:11,170 Speaker 5: many times. We just don't talk about that history because 521 00:33:11,210 --> 00:33:15,670 Speaker 5: it happened to indigenous people. I keep hearing people go 522 00:33:15,690 --> 00:33:21,100 Speaker 5: to Nazi Germany or Putin's Russia to try and understand. 523 00:33:20,370 --> 00:33:21,840 Speaker 3: The rise of fascism. 524 00:33:22,940 --> 00:33:26,380 Speaker 5: We don't need to leave the United States to understand 525 00:33:26,420 --> 00:33:31,290 Speaker 5: the horrors of authoritarianism. It's right here in our own history. 526 00:33:32,170 --> 00:33:36,530 Speaker 5: And if we want to root that authoritarianism out, we 527 00:33:36,590 --> 00:33:40,470 Speaker 5: have to know where and how it started. If we 528 00:33:40,510 --> 00:33:43,460 Speaker 5: think we can win by defeating one leader, it will 529 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:47,400 Speaker 5: be like pruning a weed. It will only come back stronger. 530 00:33:49,580 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 5: I thought what was missing from the story of America 531 00:33:53,180 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 5: was Native people. But then I realized without us, that 532 00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,090 Speaker 5: story is wrong. What's missing from the story of America 533 00:34:02,970 --> 00:34:08,630 Speaker 5: is the truth. I want us to know how. 534 00:34:08,430 --> 00:34:09,149 Speaker 3: We got here. 535 00:34:10,330 --> 00:34:13,810 Speaker 5: Because without that, we will never find our way out. 536 00:34:18,859 --> 00:34:21,700 Speaker 5: Coming up on this season of First America. 537 00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:22,600 Speaker 3: Are you guys. 538 00:34:22,540 --> 00:34:23,400 Speaker 5: Big Chiefs fans? 539 00:34:23,540 --> 00:34:24,620 Speaker 1: Hell yeah. Yes. 540 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:25,559 Speaker 8: Chiefs on three. 541 00:34:25,580 --> 00:34:26,059 Speaker 4: One, two, three. 542 00:34:26,100 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 1: Chiefs! 543 00:34:30,580 --> 00:34:32,340 Speaker 3: I feel like that's going to happen a lot. 544 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,089 Speaker 8: Do Native Americans still exist? 545 00:34:36,609 --> 00:34:37,009 Speaker 7: Maybe. 546 00:34:37,029 --> 00:34:38,529 Speaker 5: I don't really think so. 547 00:34:38,549 --> 00:34:42,469 Speaker 4: So the entire plan for funding the federal government was 548 00:34:42,569 --> 00:34:44,940 Speaker 4: acquiring indigenous land and selling it. 549 00:34:46,029 --> 00:34:50,029 Speaker 6: You were running for your lives, and you saw behind 550 00:34:50,069 --> 00:34:52,520 Speaker 6: you everything you knew being burned down. 551 00:34:54,330 --> 00:34:58,830 Speaker 5: What democracy rounds an entire ethnic group up at gunpoint 552 00:34:59,250 --> 00:35:03,759 Speaker 5: and puts them into a concentration camp? Like, not a 553 00:35:04,020 --> 00:35:07,859 Speaker 5: strong democracy, not a durable democracy. I would say not 554 00:35:07,919 --> 00:35:08,879 Speaker 5: even a democracy. 555 00:35:10,210 --> 00:35:10,649 Speaker 2: It's not. 556 00:35:11,029 --> 00:35:13,509 Speaker 3: It's not a new thing. This is what we've done. 557 00:35:13,930 --> 00:35:14,509 Speaker 7: We're good at this. 558 00:35:19,109 --> 00:35:21,170 Speaker 5: If you like what you're hearing, please leave a review. 559 00:35:21,310 --> 00:35:23,049 Speaker 5: It's one of the best ways to help listeners find 560 00:35:23,069 --> 00:35:25,960 Speaker 5: this show. You can also support First America by subscribing 561 00:35:26,129 --> 00:35:38,839 Speaker 5: or sharing episodes with your friends. Additional support came from 562 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:43,319 Speaker 5: Indian Collective, First Nations Development Institute, Yahavia Tom of San 563 00:35:43,339 --> 00:35:48,969 Speaker 5: Manuel Nation, Borealis Philanthropy, and Black Liberation Indigenous Sovereignty Collective. 564 00:35:49,270 --> 00:35:53,009 Speaker 5: Our fiscal sponsor is Red Media. I dreamed this project 565 00:35:53,069 --> 00:35:55,830 Speaker 5: into the world in collaboration with an amazing group of 566 00:35:55,910 --> 00:36:00,840 Speaker 5: Indigenous scholars, including Maggie Blackhawk, Fond du Lac Ojibwe, Ned Blackhawk, 567 00:36:00,919 --> 00:36:04,859 Speaker 5: citizen of the Timok tribe of Western Shoshone, Phil Deloria, 568 00:36:04,940 --> 00:36:08,339 Speaker 5: descendant of the Standing Rock and Yankton Sioux Tribes, and 569 00:36:08,399 --> 00:36:12,950 Speaker 5: Nick Estes, citizen of the Lower Burrell Sioux Tribe. I, 570 00:36:13,069 --> 00:36:17,790 Speaker 5: Rebecca Nagel, citizen of Cherokee Nation, also reported, wrote, hosted, 571 00:36:17,910 --> 00:36:21,790 Speaker 5: and executive produced the show. First America is produced by 572 00:36:21,879 --> 00:36:26,339 Speaker 5: Critical Frequency and distributed by Pushkin Industries. Our managing producer 573 00:36:26,460 --> 00:36:30,460 Speaker 5: is Amy Westervelt. Senior producer and sound designer is Brendan Baker. 574 00:36:30,799 --> 00:36:36,149 Speaker 5: Our story editor is Audrey Quinn. Jules Bradley, Kim Nettervee-Petersa, 575 00:36:36,350 --> 00:36:41,070 Speaker 5: and Jordan Gaspore are our producers. Our editorial consultant is 576 00:36:41,149 --> 00:36:45,269 Speaker 5: Connie Walker, citizen of the Okenese First Nation. Fact-checking by 577 00:36:45,330 --> 00:36:49,950 Speaker 5: Naomi Barr. Our partnerships director is Lindsay Crowder. Our development 578 00:36:49,989 --> 00:36:54,039 Speaker 5: consultant is Jenny Lawton. Our theme song is by Raven Chakan, 579 00:36:54,230 --> 00:36:57,439 Speaker 5: who is Diné. Scoring by Laura Ortman, citizen of the 580 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:02,049 Speaker 5: White Mountain Apache Tribe and Raven Chakan. artwork by Kelly Gonzalez, 581 00:37:02,310 --> 00:37:07,319 Speaker 5: citizen of Cherokee Nation. The team at Pushkin is Greta Cohn, CEO, 582 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:12,700 Speaker 5: Eric Sandler, Chief Strategy Officer, Grace Ross, VP of Business Development, 583 00:37:13,100 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 5: Morgan Ratner, Director of Marketing, Owen Miller, Content Delivery Associate, 584 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:22,980 Speaker 5: Kira Posey, Creative Partnerships Manager, Jordan McMillan, Social Media Manager, 585 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:27,950 Speaker 5: Brian Strabinick, Senior Analytics Manager, and Jake Flanagan, Production Counsel.