Indigenous Peoples in Maine are Not Mascots | Maulian Dana | TEDxDirigo

[Applause] happy belated indigenous peoples day as a child I was anxious you could tell just by looking at me I had long unruly hair that frizzed up around my face my eyes were a deep shade of brown and I often worried so much and slept so erratically that I form dark circles under those eyes it was kind of a mess I worried a lot I worried about big things like the wind and the rain knocking our house over or my dad not making it home safe from work I worried about little things like squabbles with my siblings or having to constantly pronounce my unusual name for my teachers at school what we now call anxiety my parents affectionately but maybe a bit exhaustedly refer to as my fears I've moved through life now with this anxiety and I've learned to use it to give me a bit of an edge I have something in me that sends me very strong signals when things feel wrong and I get very motivated and driven to fix them until they feel right although I struggled with my fears I was not an unhappy or miserable child I loved long walks in the woods with my dad learning about birds and animals and throwing rocks into the stream I loved my mother's delicious cooking and how her hands felt cool on my forehead when I had a fever I loved my younger siblings most of the time and I loved my Penobscot culture the songs dances language stories were all a constant source of comfort and relief they grounded me in the world I learned about the mighty hero goose cavae in our legends and how he was once a young boy learning lessons and making mistakes the little girl in me still finds solace in this ancient wisdom I can vividly remember the first time I felt self-conscious about Who I am it was a heavy blow dealt to me by a popular children's movie Peter Pan by Walt Disney we are probably all familiar with this story peter is the eternally young boy who travels from never Neverland to take children from their home to go have adventures one of these adventures takes them to an Indian encampment now why would we place Indians and never Neverland we're make-believe things live like mermaids pirates and fairies now when I first saw these Indians on screen I thought wow these people are like me however any sense of possible pride or representation quickly faded away when I saw how we were portrayed they look silly they look stupid the Indians had red skinned faces they spoke in broken English they used the triggering and violent racial slur to refer to the women it's hard for me to say the women were either troll ish and mean or sexy and silent when they sang a song called what makes the red man red I was filled with so much confusion and shame that I sank back in my seat and I felt that maybe I didn't even understand who I was I was 6 years old little did I know all of this internal conflict and unease would manifest itself decades later in being able to create positive social change for my people and even help right state laws I move through life and I hold my culture close I learned about the beauty and the pain of being indigenous five hundred years of the intergenerational trauma the rippling effects of colonization attempted genocide it can be really overwhelming however it is balanced with the fact that we are still here indigenous people have shown a fierce resilience and we have held on to our culture and values with a grip that is thousands of years in the making I and my ancestors dream come true simply by living and existing and knowing who I am and I owe it to them to use my voice often and honorably and to break destructive cycles so that's what I did I became active and advocating for the removal of Indian mascots for sports teams when I was in high school okay I saw my peers and other schools dancing around and fake headdresses fake war paint basically wearing my existence as a costume I got angry it was a lot of the same feelings that were stirred up when I watched Peter Pan but now I was ready to do something about it these mascots are not just offensive they are actually harmful they are degrading they are dehumanizing they mock and marginalize important sacred parts of our culture they are wrong I made it my mission to fight back when I was appointed as ambassador for the Penobscot nation I was able to use my years of activism experience and my new role helping to shape and create public policy and law this year in 2019 Maine passed a law to ban the use of Native American mascots in its public schools and universities we are the first state in the nation to accomplish this I will forever cherish the role that I played in making this happen and I have the deepest gratitude for everyone who has fought this battle with us as I stood in the Statehouse with my daughter's by my side as the governor signed this bill into law I felt a sense of powerful peace I wanted to reach back in time and hug that frizzy-haired anxious little girl and tell her to keep fighting for what is right she will face a lot of hard work self-doubt she will stand in front of rooms of people and tremble because they are so angry at her for speaking her truth and she will speak it anyway changing the world for the better has never come about easily shaking up power structures and having to convince other people that you are just as human as they are is exhausting but when I think about what my ancestors went through when I think about the future I want for my children and when I look deep within myself what choice have I ever had but to keep fighting this fight social justice is a marathon not a sprint we plant seeds of change and if we are lucky we see them grow into lasting and meaningful cultural shifts the Indian mascot fight in Maine has not always been a success story a lot of us have faced a lot of ugliness and racism I've been threatened with rape with murder I've been told that a lynch mob will come find me I've been called a I've been nicknamed princess runs her mouth all of this from people who think they're Indian mascot honors me right I get angry hate mail to my email voicemail even deliver to my house all of these things need to be handled with care and I don't take it lightly but they don't scare me what truly scares me is when we lose our sense of shared humanity when we see other human beings as enemies or obstacles one-dimensional objects not worthy of respect or equality because they're different from us and we don't understand them when we lose our ability to have compassion and love that is when we will crumble as a society the Indian mascot battle has always served as a study in psychology and empathy if we tell you something hurts you don't get to decide that it doesn't I even called a lot of terrible things some of which I won't share here but I've also been called a powerhouse a hurricane a rockstar a changemaker and a truth teller now I've learned to love this side of myself and I appreciate her for her courage but most days I see myself as that nervous little girl caring too much about too many things working so hard to find those plateaus of peace and progress now that I am a mother I get to soothe that part of myself by teaching my daughters to be empowered and to be confident but to also share the burden and engage others to speak truth to power and elevate the voices of the oppressed I've even learned to love my anxiety it does give me an edge on my good days and it teaches me how to cope on my not so good days I have been hesitant to discuss it publicly because let's face it as a woman of color I need to work extra hard to be taken seriously so why would I put anything out there that may make me seem weak or crazy however it is such an important part of my journey and has really helped shaped Who I am and it also serves as a reminder that we are all fighting battles that nobody knows about all the more reason to remember that shared humanity the ban on Indian mascots in Maine has made this state a safer and more inclusive place for my people it's a huge accomplishment we do have work left to do at the state and national level but I think it's ok to stop in this moment and really smell these flowers indigenous people are still here we are not a died out race that lives and never Neverland we are not Halloween costumes and we are not sports mascots I celebrate that existence and that resilience every day and I invite you all to celebrate with me I also challenge you to think about what that means to you how will you move about all your spaces and make them safer more tolerant more inclusive we are in a time right now where our differences can really divide us and scare us so how will all of us come together and work towards good I am a multitude of things I am a mother I am a daughter I am a sister I am an ambassador I am a Penobscot indigenous woman and I am NOT a mascot she will Imani thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 6,145

Rating: 4.8863635 out of 5

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Humanities, Activism, Culture

Id: XVAdGXrU60w

Length: 13min 24sec (804 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 13 2019