Shannon's Blog

Recognizing the darker aspects of history have been at a crossroad in recent years. I keep noticing people encouraging discussions regarding discrimination and violence while others choose to boldly ignore those parts. With controversies surrounding recognition of cases of displacement, tragic parts of history and culture are being demonstrated to modern audiences. Recognizing displacement has its own problems, as there are many methods of doing so that not every negatively affected agree upon. When researching methods of amends, I noticed that land acknowledgement of land originally resided by Native Americans, while rather simple in definition, often creates wide-ranging discussions regarding history and its censorship and the erasure of Indigenous culture. Upon making that realization, I decided to make it the topic of my essay.  Henry P Huntington's "What Do Land Acknowledgements Acknowledge?" highlights the depths of land acknowledgement. The simplicity of land ackno

(villages of the Tongva tribe) European colonizers often tore apart Native American tribes through their mapping, as the maps were more focused on trade and sympathy toward Indigenous people was extremely small. The maps made by the colonizers were maintained for centuries, so the true location of some tribes was lost. The Tongva tribe was located in Southern California, with most of their villages being spread over Los Angeles. Since LA has now largely forgotten those that once occupied the land, descents of the Tongva have felt disconnected from their culture.  Making amends for a culture that was displaced centuries ago can be difficult, as the descents may not feel the effects of their ancestors losing their homes. The proper method of apology differs between Indigenous people. Remapping, however, is a form of amends that many accept, as it connects them with a culture they thought was lost. With the help of the LA Times, the Tongva were able to learn where the villages of their an