Jacqueline Keeler: What happened at the Lincoln Memorial proves most Americans are still not hearing the Native American experience

A well written piece by Jacqueline Keeler for Sierra Club which should be read and shared by all.  Not all see the same thing in the issue with Nathan Phillips, the Israelite Hebrews and the students from Covington.

The video reveals the triumvirate of experiences that largely define American history: Red, Black, and White. The question posed by the unspeakable truths uttered in the video is the question that will make or break America: Can we find a way to hear each other? 

Since the incident occurred last Friday, a swirl of competing interpretations have emerged about what, exactly, happened at the Lincoln Memorial, and along with it a maelstrom of arguments for what it all means. Here’s what we know about the conflict: 

Some videos show that the confrontation began when a group of Hebrew Israelites started shouting at the high school students, who had traveled to Washington, DC to attend a “Pro-Life” march. But the confrontation was first sparked when the Hebrew Israelites started to sermonize to the Indigenous marchers, telling them that, “You are not savages, you are children of Israel. Stop worshiping totem poles and worship God.”  

The speaker goes on to state that the reason Native nations lost their lands is because they stopped worshipping the Creator and worshipped creation instead. A young Native man carrying a staff approaches them and asks them to leave. After being yelled at further, he gives up and walks away. 

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