[Yale-forests-reading-group] Week 2: Erasure and the Myth of Wilderness

[Reid L]

*Erasure and the Myth of Wilderness*

Last week we reflected on the land we live on, work with, and call home. We
took time to learn whose homelands we now occupy, and we began to think
about differences between Indigenous and colonial concepts of land. This
way of thinking about the land you live on may have been new for you, as it
was for us when we first encountered it. This week, we'll dig into why that
is. We will examine the presence (or lack thereof) of Indigenous narratives
of place, space, and landscape in the way we communicate about our past,
present, and future.

Here in the Northeast, a dominant narrative about the Native nations of the
region is one of disappearance - that Indigenous peoples were here once,
but they didn't have much impact on the land, and they're not here anymore.
When we pause and look at this narrative more closely, it becomes clear
that it is false. Indigenous people are still here. The assumption that
Indigenous people are gone from the Northeast erases their continued life
and presence in the region. At the same time, it flattens and hides the
enduring web of connections between Native people and their homelands. This
assumption *claims* that once colonists occupied Indigenous homelands, the
connection between those people and that land was severed, and the people
ceased to exist.

Where does this narrative come from? Who does it serve, and who does it
erase? How does the assumption of absence impact the way we live and work,
especially in land-oriented fields such as forestry and environmental
studies? This week we're looking at a range of articles, interviews, and
podcasts to introduce the concept of Indigenous erasure, particularly in
the Northeast, and its role in the American conservation movement. The
concept of "wilderness," which underpins mainstream conservation, came out
of the active efforts by European colonists to erase Indigenous peoples
from their tellings of history, as well as from the landscape itself. We
hope that this week's resources help you to think more critically about the
stories you hear and tell about the land that you live on.


*Topic 1: Conceptual Framework: Erasure in collective storytelling about
our history *

"Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England," Interview with Jean
O'Brien (White Earth Ojibwe Nation) on Indigenous Politics from Native New
England and Beyond, a radio program hosted by J. Kehaulani Kauanui

Direct link to interview:
http://www.indigenouspolitics.org/audiofiles/2010/OBrien%202010.mp3

Archived program website: http://www.indigenouspolitics.com/

Original air date: 9/21/2010

"A People's Guide to Firsting and Lasting in Boston," Tumblr site

https://firstinglastingboston.tumblr.com/about

Jean O'Brien’s work traces the historical origins of the cultural myth of
the vanishing of Indigenous peoples in the Northeast. Her book on the
subject, "Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New
England" (University of Minnesota Press, 2010), explores the ways
colonists in Southern New England developed and perpetuated this myth
through the work of local historians, journalists, and creation of
monuments. In this interview, O'Brien discusses her work, and how these
myths reach into the present, informing current challenges with federal
recognitions and sovereignty.

O'Brien explains the work that led her to the linked concepts of firsting
and lasting, which she explains as follows:


"I approached the project with an idea about 'the last full-blooded Indian'
that you see accounts of in many of these histories … I found a lot of
versions of trying to put Indian peoples in the past by using this motif of
'the last of,' but as I read I was noticing alongside this what you're
getting are claims by non-Indians about them being the first people to
bring institutions that are worthy of notice into the 'new world,' as they
think about it… in very subtle ways by telling what I think of as mundane
stories about the first birth of the first white child, the first house
that was built here, where it was located, the first church. And all of
these things are a way of putting Indian history in the past, making it a
preface, making it an inauthentic beginning of a history of these places,
so these notions [of firsting and lasting] I think are coupled…. What ends
up happening, putting Indians in the past — what non-Indians are doing is
subtly seizing indigeneity for themselves by claiming to be those first
peoples who are creating these institutions that are about 'making
modernity.'"

If you are curious after listening to this interview, consider reading
"Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England,"
which explores this history in much greater depth.

The tumblr site reflects an effort to use O'Brien’s methods and the
"firsting and lasting" lens to explore the cultural landscape of
present-day Boston. The project's map traces the way that Indigenous
peoples are represented in statues, public art, and commercial branding
around the city.

*Topic 2: Stories of erasure and endurance, compare and contrast*


Monument to the Tunxis Indians of Farmington - photograph and transcription
of obelisk inscription

https://archives.lib.uconn.edu/islandora/object/30002%3A1370

Brothertown Indian Nation - tribal website

http://www.brothertownindians.org/heritage/tribal-alliance/

"The Betrayal of Samson Occom,"  "Journey to Brothertown," and "The
Brothertown Fight for Recognition," Mosaic podcast episodes 4-6

https://thepublicsradio.org/episode/ep-4-the-betrayal-of-samson-occom

https://thepublicsradio.org/episode/journey-to-brothertown

https://thepublicsradio.org/episode/ep-6-the-brothertown-fight-for-recognition

Compare the history of the Brothertown Indian Nation and connection to the
Tunxis, as described on the "Tribal Alliances" and "History" pages of their
website and the three episodes of the Mosaic podcast, to the story told by
this monument in Farmington, CT. The monument in this photograph was built
in 1840 and still stands. The inscription memorializes the "anish'd"
Tunxis, a nation whose homelands are west of the Connecticut River near
what is now Hartford. Yet, the people of Brothertown were alive in 1840, as
they are today. Which of these stories - of vanishing vs. persistence - is
more familiar to you? Why might people in Farmington in 1840 have felt
motivated to erect this monument? What story and assumptions does it
reinforce about Indigenous existence and belonging? This monument is an
example of the local efforts that O'Brien identified as part of a regional
shift in colonial storytelling about Indigenous peoples in the Northeast.

*Topic 3: Erasure from nature and the creation of wilderness*


"Defining Wilderness" from 0:00-8:35; interview with Mark David Spence on
the Living Planet Podcast

https://www.dw.com/en/living-planet-defining-wilderness/av-53760454

"How is 'wilderness' a colonial construct?" Organeyez (@organeyez.co)
Instagram post

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCeY9eZg3b6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

"The Myth of a Wilderness without Humans" by Mark Dowie

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-myth-of-a-wilderness-without-humans/

"Pristine Forests and other Lies" IGTV video by Justin Robinson
(@countrygentlemancooks)

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CC6D53Dn4rq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Optional foundational background reading: "The Trouble with Wilderness; or,
Getting Back to the Wrong Nature" by William Cronon

https://www.williamcronon.net/writing/Trouble_with_Wilderness_Main.html)

As in our mainstream understanding of the cultural history of the
Northeast, erasure of Indigenous peoples is also a foundational myth of our
understanding of nature in America. The *narrative* that colonists arriving
on this continent encountered a pure nature that had not been impacted by
humans is also a falsehood. It erases the long-standing, diverse, and
active relationships between Indigenous peoples, the land, and its many
plants and animals. The persistent idea that a pristine nature is one
without people is a central part of our dominant American cultural
understanding and valuation of nature and wilderness. The assumption of
human absence and "non-impact" on nature as good underlies much of the work
of American conservation and environmentalism from the past century.

These pieces delve into the way that foundational American conservation
projects like the creation of the National Parks hinged on simultaneously
1) erasing Indigenous people and lived relationships to land from the
narrative about that land and 2) physically removing Indigenous peoples
from their homelands. Does the language and storytelling about nature,
wilderness, and conservation discussed in these pieces feel familiar to
you? When situated within their larger historical contexts, how does your
understanding of those stories change?

We hope you've found this week's content engaging, challenging, and
informative. Here are two core questions we've been considering while
learning from these materials, and encourage you to think about as well:


   - How is the common thread of vanishing and absence woven through our
   dominant cultural assumptions about the "fate" of Indigenous people in the
   Northeast, and about our relationship to nature and the land?
   - Can you think of examples of the erasure narrative from your life
   (such as monuments in your town, how American history was taught in your
   school, or the signage for your favorite place outside)?


--


Thanks so much for following along this week, as well as your patience as
we fix any technical errors from last week. Have thoughts, comments, or
reflections you'd like to share? Are there resources you feel we should
have included? We hope you'll send an email our way:
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We would like to share our sincere thanks to those who are leading the way
in challenging the narratives of erasure and the myth of wilderness, and
have immense admiration for the energy and courage demonstrated in doing
so. We express our particular thanks for those creators whose knowledge we
have shared here. Thank you for your knowledge, commitment, bravery, and
kindness in sharing.
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