How to get educated on our national parks | Emma Lankford | TEDxWilliam&Mary

Key Concepts

• Eminent Domain: The right of a government to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
• Indigenous Land Relations: The historical and ongoing relationships between indigenous peoples and the land, including issues of displacement, sovereignty, and cultural significance.
• National Parks and Indigenous Peoples: The complex and often fraught relationship between the establishment and management of national parks and the indigenous communities who have historically inhabited those lands.
• Brafford Indian School: An early education effort by colonists at William & Mary to educate native children in English.
• Residential Boarding Schools: Schools implemented in the 19th and 20th centuries that aimed to assimilate indigenous children into white culture.
• Medicine Wheel: A symbol used by some Native American tribes, representing interconnectedness and balance.

Shannondoa National Park and Personal Connection

The speaker begins by describing a deep personal connection to Shannondoa National Park, where they spent much of their childhood. This connection inspired their artwork, career in conservation, and quest to visit all national parks. They feel so connected that they claim to "live at Shannondoa National Park."

Discovery of Forced Removal at Shannondoa

During a visit to the Shannondoa National Park visitor center, the speaker encountered text describing the forced removal of people who lived at Shannondoa when the park was created through eminent domain. This discovery was shocking and prompted a desire to learn more about the relationship between national parks and indigenous peoples. The text read, "Thus the submerged mountain individual is irresponsible untaught untrained and unfitted to meet the competition of modern life."

Road Trip to Investigate Indigenous Land Relations

The speaker embarked on a road trip to various national parks with histories of indigenous inhabitation to understand firsthand the lands these people lived on and the information provided about them in visitor centers.

Mount Rushmore National Monument

At Mount Rushmore, despite its location in the Black Hills, a region of spiritual significance to the Lotasu, the speaker found no information about the native inhabitants impacted by the monument's creation. A park ranger offered a map for Devil's Tower National Monument but no further information about Mount Rushmore's relationship with indigenous peoples.

Wind Cave National Park

In contrast to Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave National Park, also in South Dakota, provided significantly more information about its relationship with native peoples. The natural cave entrance is considered the emergence location for the lot people as part of their creation story. The visitor center featured three-dimensional building reconstructions, signage in the lotto language, and an exhibit layout based on the symbolic medicine wheel. Despite this, Wind Cave receives four times fewer visitors than Mount Rushmore annually.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park in California, situated on the land of 15 federally recognized tribes, reflects tribal diversity in its visitor center. Signs are made by the tribes they represent, including their languages, cultures, customs, and traditions. The building representing tribal diversity is a centerpiece in the park and is visited by many visitors.

William and Mary and the Brafford Indian School

The speaker discusses William and Mary's relationship with native peoples, mentioning the Brafford Indian School, which aimed to educate native children in English. The speaker notes that they did not learn about the Brafford until taking an anthropology course, highlighting a lack of awareness despite available information.

Personal Responsibility and Call to Action

The speaker, acknowledging their own background as a white person without indigenous ancestry, emphasizes the responsibility to understand the history of the land they live on. They encourage the audience to seek out deeper levels of information, emphasizing that anyone can learn more about these issues. The speaker issues a challenge to the audience to pick one thing they are passionate about and use the power available to them to understand it better.

Conclusion

The speaker concludes by reflecting on their journey in their hiking boots, which took them on a powerful journey into the past. They encourage the audience to look at the ground beneath their feet and consider whose footsteps they are walking in. The main takeaway is that understanding the history of the land and its indigenous inhabitants is a responsibility for everyone, regardless of their background.