Advance Preparation: Please read Chapters Nine and Ten of An Indigenous People’s History of the United States (“U.S. Triumphalism” and “Ghost Dance Prophecy”).

Either in advance of your meeting or as a group, please read this article from Indian Country Today, which shows how the 1950s era of “Termination” in U.S.-Indigenous relations still finds echoes in our contemporary politics.

Discussion:

Dunbar-Ortiz divides the twentieth century history of U.S.-Indigenous relations into three broad eras: 1) The New Deal; 2) Termination; and 3) the Civil Rights/ Great Society era.

• What, in your understanding, is Dunbar-Ortiz’s overall assessment of the achievements and failures of these three eras?
• Having read these chapters, what do you think are the noteworthy positive developments in any of these eras?
• What do you think are some injustices and failures in this recent history that people can learn from today?
• In light of the article from Indian Country Today, how would you relate these victories and setbacks for Indigenous rights in the twentieth century to debates in our contemporary politics?