On a recent Saturday night, several of us at Concord Friends Meeting gather via Zoom to watch and discuss the movie Dawnland, the untold story of Indigenous child removal in the U.S. through the nation’s first government-endorsed truth and reconciliation commission. This documentary opened our minds and hearts to a host of issues. The film simply follows the Maine Truth and Reconciliation Commission as it struggles with the process of documenting the stories of those who suffered through the foster care system as Native American children. They were forced to assimilate into an alien white culture, with their language and cultural identity stripped away.
Through their own words, sometimes told for the very first time, we could feel the pain of being ripped from their home, and of the abuse they suffered. We could sense the courage it took to open up and tell their stories to a commission of mostly white people. The reluctance to recall and tell these stories was palpable. The movie was able to engage us on a deep emotional level.
Recognizing and relating to the truth and pain that is still present among us will, I hope, prepare us to engage further with other truths that are involved in our relationship with Native Americans. It is not enough to learn the histories of cultural and physical genocide; to become aware of the current pain, makes the pain of the histories real and present.
Here are some of the questions that this movie brings into a discussion.
- What does it mean and how does it feel, as a child, to be torn from all you know and forced to exist in a different culture? To then return to your own culture as a stranger?
- How has trauma been passed down through many generations? How do you think this affects current Native Americans and their ability to be whole emotionally?
- What role do white people who wish to be allies play in this healing? Should they witness or not? How do the white people feel when asked to leave spaces so there is more room for Native voices? How is white privilege manifest in this process?
- What meaning does this story have for us as we lead our lives perhaps even helping foster children or those removed from their culture and being taught here in America?
- Is this process similar or different from the Indian removal to boarding schools?
I recommend this movie as a way for meetings and other groups to understand the trauma of having your entire culture stripped away and replaced with an entirely different way of life. It may help you prepare emotionally to understand the struggles of Native Americans today and in the past. It will help you understand the importance of cultural identity and belonging, and the healing that it brings to experience that culture. Truth and reconciliation is possible, but we must first step into the truth to begin this journey. There are many other steps in this journey, which is truly a journey of the heart. A journey that will allow us to live more fully present in the world of today.
To learn more about viewing the film, visit the website.